Ups
- Although we are not there yet, our financial support has been encouraging. We raised $605 on a yard sale. We've had several friends give us significant gifts for which we are extremely grateful. Somehow, a couple of weeks ago, we were able to send in our final home study payment and our first agency payment. We've had friends tell us that you will not know where all the money came from, but it will come. This is how we feel even this early.
- Along with the first agency payment, we were able to get our dossier checklist. Even though this was another "checklist" of things to do and paperwork to get, the progress to get this checklist was encouraging.
- After reviewing the checklist, I found that many of the documents we need for our dossier to the Congo are contained in our home study. This means (although I know things will get interesting) that we have a good portion of our dossier together if not completed. I started a file section in our file folder for "dossier." This was remarkably encouraging. The small things mean a lot at this point.
- Noah continues to exhibit excitement about having a brother to share a bunk bed with. I don't know what he will do if we get a referral of a little girl. :-)
Downs: Thankfully we have not had many downs at this point, but there are a few. These may be helpful for others who are considering adopting. A couple of these have caught me off guard or are surprising. It should be noted that none of these downs discouraged us nor were we offended by them. They simply are what they are.
- The other day we visited a large, "brand name" book store in TN and after searching and then asking the clerk where the books on adoption would be located, we discovered there were no books on adoption in said book store. I was shocked to say the least.
- When planning and organizing fund raisers, I've found that many times those closest to you are the ones who are least on your side. This can be a positive "up" too because you also find that those you don't even know are most excited to help you out and support the cause. We are planning an exercise event with Jen Jacobs from the Biggest Loser, and many of the people I work with, who have the most influence with those who would be interested in this type of event, seem not to care about helping. As mentioned before, this is neither here nor there, but it just is.
- We posted a link on Facebook today to advertise the spinning event with Jen Jacobs, and we got a couple of comments from folks questioning our decision to adopt from the Congo. I could understand this if we were in a church with these folks and someone was questioning my motive to adopt from a pride/trend point of view. That's not what these folks had in mind. I didn't know these folks. They are not "friends" on Facebook. I honestly still don't know who they are, but they felt it necessary to post a comment on our link. This was a little discouraging to say the least, but we trust that the Lord has directed our paths to this point, and we trust him to see it through to completion and to further his kingdom and glory because of it. That's what God is in the business to do; make himself look wonderful.
I hope this post is helpful just to keep everyone in the loop on our adoption adventure. We continue to covet your prayers. If you would like to know how you can help us, you can read our support letter a few posts below this one, or you can contact us and we will let you know what you can do. Even if it is not financial, we could probably use some help at our up-coming fundraisers. Honestly, even a "note-sender" from time-to-time, to encourage us would be nice too. Thanks for taking this journey with us. Let us know if we can serve you in any way.
Adam and Liz<><
