Blessed Beyond Measure

Our Give1, Save1 time just ended and we have received $826!!!! I am amazed at how many people gave and shared the link on their FB pages. God is so good! One thing we have talked about multiple times this week is that you can really tell who is guided by The Holy Spirit. Our church family and other Christians in our circle of friends, relatives, and even strangers really stepped up and not only gave financially, but continue to pray for us, as well. It is so humbling to know so many people give of their time and resources to help bring Ethan home! Blessed is the only word I can think of to express how I am feeling. I pray that someday Ethan will be able to understand how many people were a part of his adoption. It has been awesome to be able to talk with Isabella, Becca, and Reagan about their adoption stories so they can start to comprehend how big our God is! We are "nesting" just a little bit at this point! I went on a mission in the kitchen to clean everything. You just don't realize how gross things get! We decluttered and organized all the cabinets, drawers, and countertops. It's a bummer we already had the garage sale because I found quite a bit of stuff that I have now decided I can live without! Oh well! Ethan's room is cleaned up and organized, except for the crib, which is now full of stuff to pack! We have been trying to collect things, like medicine, snacks, etc. over the last few weeks so we don't have to get it all at once. I am so ready to just pack once and for all and get on the plane. I am nervous about leaving Isabella and Becca. I know that they will be fine and we will survive, but I really prefer us all together. I am excited to see how this trip will change Ryleigh and Reagan's lives. I remember how it affected Ryleigh when we adopted Reagan and I just think it is going to be neat to experience it again with both of them. It was such a hard decision to make to spend the extra money for them to go, but I feel so at peace about our final decision. I know that it opens us up for criticism, but no matter what we do there's that potential. People can get over it if they have a problem because really at the end of the day, we know what is best for our family! God knows the right timing and the best way and I trust in His plan. We are really hoping we hear about our TA early this week so we can be on track to leave on August 17th. I know that I shouldn't have my heart set on it, but I really would love for Tim and the girls to have a couple of days of school and I really, really, really, I mean, really do not want to miss Isabella's 16th birthday on September 5th. I know we could celebrate before or after, but it's not the same. She never had a real birthday in Latvia, so she has only had 2 special days in her whole life. She wants to go bowling this year and get her ears pierced. Very thankful that we are not worrying about driving yet. Coming from a background of barely ever riding in a car for most of her life, she just isnt' ready to learn that yet. I think she will be very nervous to start learning. We have been watching the Olympics and the girls really like it! I love watching all the countries come together. Kinda cool to think we have 3 countries represented in our house! And several more in our church family! I love it! Coming from a girl who never cared much about geography, I am pretty fascinated by it now! Reagan is super excited about the "girl's gymnastics" she was not so impressed with the "boys" because "they don't even get to wear pretty outfits". She didn't even realize there was such a thing as boys doing gymnastics. So cute! She also doesn't understand how the volleyball players and divers can have wedgies without wanting to pick them. She is constantly picking wedgies out of her behind! Funny girl! Hopefully we will be posting our travel dates SOON!

Give1Save1

There are many reasons people choose to be involved in adoption. I don't mean just adopting a child, rather getting involved by actively praying for adoptive families, giving financially to adoptive families or adoption ministries, advocating for orphans, etc. I believe James 1:27 is for everyone, as I have mentioned before! I love when people want to be involved with Ethan's story. Our family feels so blessed to have the support of family members, friends, church, co-workers, other adoptive parents, and even some strangers! We have raised about $4500 in various fundraisers because of so many wonderful people! Praise God! We are very thankful for each and every dollar that has been given. Because Ethan's adoption is going to total about $31,000, we have applied for several grants and two different loans. We have been denied 2 of the grants already, due to a lack of funds in these various organizations. We are praying that we receive good news soon from the other places we have applied. We did get chosen to be featured on the Give1Save1-Asia site! We heard about this opportunity from some friends of ours, The Belotes, who were featured there also. We are the first family on the new Asia site that was just launched today! We feel this is an answer to prayer, as it is one more way to raise money and awareness about adoption. Please consider giving, even $1 helps! Thanks! We know some people do not understand our constant asking for money. Some have the mentality that if you can't afford it, don't adopt. If you feel this way, please just go ahead and stop reading this blog. We do not need any more criticism, judgement, or negativity! Take your closemindedness and go on your way! I can think of a lot of people who could afford it, but shouldn't adopt! I know that it was our choice to adopt and we are responsible for all aspects of it, including the money. I think it is a good lesson to share with others that as a society we waste a lot of money every day. We overspend and foolishly spend as Americans. All we are asking is for each individual that hears our story to stop for a moment and think about the plight of orphans. Giving a little bit (not even enough to hurt)to us, or any other adoptive family who has limited financial means, should hopefully make you pause and think about the orphan whose life is about to change. We want Ethan's testimony to start with the way God provided the finances to bring him home. We love to tell stories of how generous people are and how the money really does come in just when you need it. So many families tell us that they would adopt if it wasn't so expensive. I say go for it, and watch God work it out. In the future I want to tell people about how amazing the Give1Save1 site was for us! We do not like asking for money. I feel uncomfortable, intimidated, and down right guilty for asking people to donate to us. But I do feel like God will provide for us when we humble ourselves and let Him work through people. He doesn't want us to be alone in our journey to Ethan. He has laid it on many hearts and many people have answered the call. Maybe there is someone out there that has thought they might want to do something but didn't know how. If this is you, please consider going to the Give1Save1 site and donating to us. Be an active part of James 1:27 and help us reduce the debt that we will accumulate in the next month. Thank you!

Waiting for TA!

If you are not in the International Adoption community, there are some acronyms that mean nothing, but to adoptive parents, they mean a great deal!  TA is one of those things!  We are officially waiting for Travel Approval, which could come this week or next (I suppose, technically it could be longer, but that is what the TA's are averaging).  After that, our agency will request CA (Consulate Appointment) which will set our travel dates.  So, we are looking at less than a month until we meet Ethan!  After all these months of waiting, all the disappointments, set-backs, fundraising, praying, stressing, rejoicing, sharing, crying, smiling, anticipating, and connecting WE ARE SO CLOSE to the end of the process and the beginning of Ethan's new life.  We are expecting that he is going to have a difficult time and ask that everyone please pray for a smooth transition for him.  Although we have been preparing for him, there has been no way for him to comprehend or prepare for the changes that are about to happen.  We already love him so much, but it will more than likely take him awhile to trust and love us.  For this reason, we will not want him to be held, fed, or changed by anybody but us.  Adopting an almost two year old is very different than adopting Reagan at age 9 months or Isabella and Becca at ages 12 and 13.  He will have to have time and opportunity to grieve the life he has been used to and the nannies who have cared for him.  Even though he can't remember his birth parents and being abandoned by them, it is still the second huge loss for him in his short life.  Not to mention his health problems that he has faced without the love and care of a family.  We can never go back and change his past, but we can try to give him the best possible future.  I am so thankful that God chose us to be his family!  I am in awe at how all the right people and circumstances led us to him.  It's been a long road, but I know we have learned lots of lessons, learned to rely on others, and made a lot of friends along the way.  Adoption is not for the faint of heart, but it's a community (or Club, as my friend, Angie says :) )  I can't imagine not being a part of! 

We went to an adoptive family get together last night with families from our church who have been blessed by adoption already or are in the process or both!  We had kids from Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and China, plus some American born, too!  Soon there will be a few more Ethiopian, Chinese, and Thailand!  Who knows where else God will send Lifepoint members!  We were hoping we could someday see a child from every continent at our church.  So, it was so much fun to watch all 18 kids play, swim, and laugh with eachother.  What a great reminder that God doesn't see color!  He loves and cherishes each one of us.  Thank you, Lord for planting us at Lifepoint and surround us with the Ledbetters, Jays, Segebarths, Doughtys, Zacharys, and the Rhoades.  We are blessed...