Our talk and now on to the decisions...

So Friday we had a talk with our agency and went over all the options for what steps to take next. A few of the next steps can include: switching countries, waiting it out for Rwanda to open up, or do a concurrent adoption(which means keep on track with adopting from Rwanda and pursue another adoption at the same time. We are leaning towards switching countries for a few reasons: One, being that it will keep us in the same time frame that we were on with Rwanda by just simply moving countries. Two, being our hearts desire is not just to increase our family but to also be obedient to what the Lord has called us to do. It has been a peaceful weekend of evaluating our hopes and desires during this entire process. We long to bring glory to the Lord first and foremost while being obedient to His word and His call on our family. We also desire to rescue a sweet child! We long for the picture of adoption to cause others to realize just how incredibly awesome it is what Christ did for us in adopting us into his family. We hope and pray that through this entire process that we get a great glimpse of His love for us and a deeper longing to know Him more.
Please continue to pray for us as we make the final decision tomorrow when we talk/email to our agency. Also there are many details that we need to reevaluate when it comes to switching countries.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

the unknown...

So since our last post not a lot has happened. We did find out that the country of Rwanda will not be accepting dossiers for a year or more. We are unsure as to what that means for our family so on Friday we will be talking to our agency about just what our options are. Do we switch countries or simply wait it out? The unknown is so confusing and emotional. To me, Erin, most days it feels like a miscarriage all over again. I trust that the Lord has our children already picked out it is just the unknown and the waiting that is hard! SO hard!! Please pray for us this week as we make decisions. Our prayer is that the Lord would simply lead us to our children. We hope that you will join us as we seek after the Lord and His desires for our family! Also pray for the country of Rwanda. It breaks my heart to think of all the babies that will just be waiting to be adopted!

PLEASE PRAY!

This week has been an emotional roller coaster. We received news on adoptions in Rwanda. It is hard to explain but basically they will not be accepting any more dossiers (a completed file for adoptions) after August 31st. This is good and bad news. The good news is that Rwanda will be joining the Hague (which sets standards and regulations for all things adoption). This will make the adoption process down the road fast and easier for families. It also will protect the sweet children from child trafficking and fraud adoptions. The bad news is that there are rumors that it could take up to 2 years to complete the process. We have talked to our agency and they seem to think that where we are in the process is a good thing. They think that once we are ready to submit our dossier Rwanda will be ready, but we are still nervous. We simply want to adopt! We are unsure as to what the Lord is trying to teach us. The only thing that we know is that just this week we have been teaching Jackson Ephesians 5:20: "Always give thanks to God for EVERYTHING." As hard has it is, as badly as we want to be upset, and as confused and heartbroken as we may feel we are deciding moment by moment to give thanks. Thanks for the privilege of being parents, on the track of adopting, all the simple things he gives and takes away. We love Him and long to know Him more. His glory is our ultimate reward as hard as this life may seem at times it will be worth is all! We ask that you would join us in praying!
1. Pray for Rwanda and that the process for them will be quick and easy as they join the Hague.
2. Pray for the families adopting and in the waiting for the sweet children they long to hold and love forever!
3. Pray for the children that now have to wait in less than ideal situations for their loving families to adopt them.
4. Pray for us as we seek the Lord and decide what our next steps need to be in this process.
I could go on and on with requests but all we ask is that you would simply pray! Thanks so much and check back soon for updates as we know them.

T-Shirts are almost ready=)

We have almost officially gotten the design ready for our T-Shirts! We are so excited about having them finally ready. Just wanted to let everyone know!! (If you would like one let us know!! We are going to be selling them for $20)

Continue to pray for our sweet baby=)

What will you name her?

I just wanted to answer another question that we are often asked. "What will you name her?" I can answer that question with, we simply don't know just yet. It is a topic of conversation a lot around our home because we want to call her something other than "our sweet baby", etc. We really want to keep her name if it is something that we can keep but also want her to be a part of our family. With that said we plan on trying to keep her name and also adding our own as well. So for the time being she is our "sweet baby girl"! Hope that helps and keep praying for our "sweet baby girl"!

Thankful hearts!

WOW! The Lord is so good! We have been encouraged and overwhelmed by His continued encouragement through his people that adoption is the direction for us! The past few weeks our friends and family have poured out blessings upon us that let us know we are on the right track! We are getting closer and closer to our goal of $20,000. We still have a long way to go but know that the Lord will provide in due time!

Also we would encourage you all to continue to pray for us and our little one to be!

Where are you in the process?

We are currently in the Home Study process. We have just started this process which usually takes about 90 days. It is the biggest chunk of the adoption process. It is so much more than someone saying that you have a home ready for a child to live in. It is basically your entire life in one package. That is about the only way I can describe it. We are also moving on to the second step with our agency. This step involves the Home Study plus our medical exams, criminal check, ETC!! Basically A LOT!

We have also officially starting the fundraising process. This part of the process makes me the most uncomfortable. I think it makes me uncomfortable because I hate to sell things and, unfortunately, that is what it feels like. But our sweet baby-to-be is worth it. So in order to raise some funds we are going to send out support letters, sell baked goods at the BCM, sell t-shirts(if we can ever get the logo down the way we like it), and plan a 5K. These are just a few ideas that we have come up with. We will need to raise about $20,000 and we have currently spent about $6,000 of our own savings.

How can you be praying for us?
- Pray that all the paper work will come in quickly.
- Pray for the funds to come in.
- Pray over our sweet baby, that she will be protected and taken care of.
- Pray that we would be prepared in all ways to love and provide for our sweet baby!

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for caring enough to read and care about adoption! The Lord continues to teach us about His heart and desires to adopt all into His family. We consider it pure joy to display a small glimpse of what Christ desires for all humanity!

Here is one of the items we have sold...they were a hit with Jackson!