I want to thank our dear friends who have shown such support and love for us since we announced that we're adopting this week and kicked off our fundraising. We've had someone donate babysitting, we've had donations for a future yard sale fundraiser, we've had a friend watch two of our boys while I took the other to the doctor (this benefited my sanity), we've had notes of heartfelt support, we had a friend take a stack of shirts to sell herself, and we've had friends go on their knees before our Father on behalf of our family. We even sold or reserved enough shirts in a few short days to cover the application fees and get us on our way to the next fees. We thank God for this support and encouragement.
While this week was the start of our fundraising, it also marked the beginning of our formal adoption process. Our phone conversations with the agency have been very encouraging, and we are working to get the necessary documents together to complete our application. We have decided to adopt from Ethiopia. We received an estimate of 18 months or more before we bring home our baby. (When the agency contact said these words, I teared up at the thought of arriving back in the US with our baby girl in my arms.) We know that little is certain in this process, or in our life for that matter, and we cling to the loving promises of our Father that He goes before us and is working all things for our good. There is nothing to come that He is not sovereign over or incapable of carrying us through.
To say this has been a whirlwind week would be an understatement. Our dear friends know the loss and heartbreak our family has experienced in the last 7 months. This week felt like the very opposite. Our Father gives, and He takes away. This week, He gave. Blessed be His name.
You guys have been in my prayer journal since the day I found out about your heartbreaking loss. I've been praying that God would bring you joy that would help to take away some of the pain. Praise God for an answered prayer. It does my heart good to read this. =o) Love you and praying for this new season of life.
ReplyDeleteHi, we are also adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia-through all god's children....several of us on our list serve group are doing a t-shirt exchange because we all love adoption t-shirts and want to get the word out-but since we are raising funds to adopt can't afford to keep purchasing them....anyways, we saw your t-shirts and really like them-if you are interested, I am selling Africa adoption t-shirts too and would love to trade one with you or two for you and your husband-just let me know-here is the link to our blog and t-shirts are on there-we have women's, mens and kids sizes....so even if you have kids we could trade those too-just a fun idea we are doing as most of us either have t-shirts already, or can order them at cost, so it is a great way to get some more adoption t-shrits-here is my e-mail-thanks! Amber
ReplyDeletewww.adamandamberstutzman.blogspot.com
Hi Amber, we would love to make a trade with you. Can you email me at whereourhopeis AT gmail.com? Send me your mailing address, and I'll reply with ours. Maybe we could swap one kids and one adult size? Let me know what you want. Thanks for sharing your blog. How exciting that you're so close to meeting your baby girl.
ReplyDelete-Katie