Well, it finally happened! On day 80 of our wait, we received LOA!! We got the call from our agency literally as we were walking out the door to church. The girls looked at the phone and said, "It's from Oregon. We don't know anyone from Oregon," to which I yelled, "Yes we do!!" and grabbed the phone. Our agency had just received our LOA and was sending it out that night! It was so great to be able to move onto the next step, and to have something to do again to help the process along. So, we were supposed to have our package on Friday and then we could send off our I-800 application. The package came on Friday, but I was watching my nephews and didn't open it. Then our agency called that evening, which I thought was weird. She asked if I had received my package and if I had opened it. It turns out she had switched the package with another family who received their LOA on the same day.
Now, our poor adoption coordinator felt terrible. She has never done this in 11 years of working, so we overnighted it to the other family and received it on Monday instead. Was it hard to wait the weekend? Yes. Is everyone human and makes mistakes? Of course. Is God trying to teach me something through this? Let's find out.
When we moved here, M needed two teeth pulled in order to start her orthodontia work. We found a dentist and I dreaded the day we would go in and have her teeth pulled. I sat in the waiting room for well over an hour and waited until they would come tell me she was fine and at least this would all be behind us. They came and got me and told me that they had tried and tried and they couldn't get the teeth out. What?! So, we had to research and find an oral surgeon and then she had a successful oral surgery and her teeth were pulled. You want to know how God helps you to stop worrying and trust Him? He gives you things to worry about so that you can replace it with trust for Him.
Then this summer A had a minor fall which led to her in a neck brace for a month. When we went back, they took x-rays and released her no problem. Then they called us in the car as we were driving away to tell us to put the brace back on. The specialist did not like what he saw in the x-rays and could we come back the next day for more x-rays and schedule an MRI. What?! Fast forward, and she needed surgery. Spinal fusion surgery. They set the day in August and I struggled. My baby having major surgery on her neck, by her skull, and drilling into her spine. I prayed, God gave me a peace even though I still hated it, but we were ready to have it behind us. The day came, I let her go-her crying for me and asking to go home. We sat in the waiting room with family for 3 hours and then the surgeon came out. WHAT?! He's supposed to be in surgery! They had been prepping her this whole time and her nerve impulses were not responding the way they should. They tried everything they could and they were afraid if they continued it could cause permanent damage, so they were aborting the surgery and they would do more tests and reschedule it. Huh?? So, we waited for her to wake up and we took her home. Long story short, she had her surgery completely successfully a month ago (the nerve problem didn't show up at all this time-I fully feel due to the huge number of people praying for healing for her) and she is doing awesome and now that part is behind us.
How does God help us to stop worrying and trusting Him? We have to have those opportunities to do so. It doesn't count if we say we trust Him, but we don't have challenges to prove it. The journey of life teaches us this, but wow, so does adoption. The amount of money going out, the concerns about what he will think of us, concerns about if he is safe and comfortable in an orphanage I can't even find information about on google, planning a trip for five in China for weeks, and just trying to prepare for anything. He wants us to TRUST HIM. We don't know what's around the corner. Even when we think we do, often we don't. We have to have faith in God's plan and look towards eternity as our goal. This world will pass and the things that matter to us so much really won't.
We sent off for our visas today and we are waiting to hear back now about our I-800. It's getting real now and we are so crazy excited to think that we could be just a couple of months away from being a family of five and it is just awesome. When we let go and let God, He can do amazing things with our surrendered lives.
I've used it before, but this is the verse God has given to me over and over again:
Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
We started by documenting our Ethiopian adoption, which has now changed to pursuing a little boy waiting in China! We are trusting in God's plan and enjoying the journey.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Trivia Night Fundraiser!!
Well, bad news is that we do not have LOA yet, although on our Facebook group people right around us on LID dates have received their LOA's this week, so prayerfully very soon! So far, the waiting has definitely been the hardest part of this thing. To have seen his sweet face and then just wait to have him join our family. I'm sure in hindsight it won't seem that long and it will seem like we've always had him, but for now each day is hard.
SO, onto the good news! We are having what will probably be our last big fundraiser to help us pay for our trip to China! We are going to have a Christmas themed Trivia Night!! If you are from St. Louis, you probably already know about trivia nights and how awesome they are, but since we live in Fort Worth now, this might need some explanation.
So, here's how it works. You pay for your seat and then sit in tables of 8. There are 10 rounds of categories, in this case all relating to Christmas, and each table competes with the other tables for a prize at the end. It is very fast paced, lots of multimedia and so much fun! We are including kids in this trivia night too, so all of the categories will be things that the kids can participate in . We are also doing a silent auction in conjunction and we already have some fun items for the auction!! We think this is a totally fun way to raise money for our trip. With four people going to China, five coming back, all of the fees for the paperwork over there and the $5,000 donation that we make to the orphanage, every little big helps right now.
So, to sign up for the trivia night, our wonderful friend, Kristin, make us a beautiful flyer which is on our website along with a link to sign up: forever home.us or you can sign up at this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4aaba92aa4fa7-christmas
We also found an article talking about trivia nights in St. Louis to give you an idea of what one is like: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/08/171279214/in-st-louis-trivia-is-no-trivial-pursuit
Prayerfully we will be posting very soon about getting our LOA. We are at 77 days waiting since LID right now, but who's counting? :)
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
SO, onto the good news! We are having what will probably be our last big fundraiser to help us pay for our trip to China! We are going to have a Christmas themed Trivia Night!! If you are from St. Louis, you probably already know about trivia nights and how awesome they are, but since we live in Fort Worth now, this might need some explanation.
So, here's how it works. You pay for your seat and then sit in tables of 8. There are 10 rounds of categories, in this case all relating to Christmas, and each table competes with the other tables for a prize at the end. It is very fast paced, lots of multimedia and so much fun! We are including kids in this trivia night too, so all of the categories will be things that the kids can participate in . We are also doing a silent auction in conjunction and we already have some fun items for the auction!! We think this is a totally fun way to raise money for our trip. With four people going to China, five coming back, all of the fees for the paperwork over there and the $5,000 donation that we make to the orphanage, every little big helps right now.
So, to sign up for the trivia night, our wonderful friend, Kristin, make us a beautiful flyer which is on our website along with a link to sign up: forever home.us or you can sign up at this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4aaba92aa4fa7-christmas
We also found an article talking about trivia nights in St. Louis to give you an idea of what one is like: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/08/171279214/in-st-louis-trivia-is-no-trivial-pursuit
Prayerfully we will be posting very soon about getting our LOA. We are at 77 days waiting since LID right now, but who's counting? :)
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
Friday, October 24, 2014
Updates
We have had such a busy month-a birthday, a surgery, a pumpkin patch, some cooler weather (so all three kids got new coats for China and of course for here in chilly Texas!) and we are one month closer to getting our LOA! I always thought that the hardest part of the waiting process would be once we had seen his sweet face and then we wait. Well, so far, I was right. I hate the increasing number of days he is in an orphanage of 300 instead of a family of 5. Everything we do I feel like he's missing out on. I pray every day that he is safe and well taken care of and someone is preparing his heart for this move and that he hears the voice of God. Adoption is amazing, but it is certainly like nothing else I've ever been though. So, we just wait for good news and pray that God will quicken the process and help those lovely people in China finish record numbers of files. :)
So, I realized that I never did an update for our Give 1 Save 1 week. It. Was. Amazing. We loved our video, we had lots of people watch it and prayerfully we inspired a heart for adoption in people who saw it. We raised (are you ready for this? Seriously?) $2,366!!! That is two round trip plane tickets people! We also did two giveaways, so you can see the videos announcing the winners on our website: foreverhome.us. Chris did an awesome job with all three videos!
So, we're at the two month mark waiting for LOA. Praying for some awesome news soon. We are SO ready to be waiting for Travel Approval!! Please join us in praying for our sweet boy and for our pieces of paper in China. God is so faithful, as we have seen so much in the last month, and we know that He is with our sweet boy. You can also pray for those kids in China who are aging out of the system. I am on a Facebook group which advocates for orphans and they often list children who are about to age out (which happens at 14 in China, by the way). They featured this beautiful little boy named Jonathan who was begging someone to adopt him and take him to the United States. He was saying that he can help around the house and that he was a good student and that the younger children can wait to be adopted, but he can't. It was seriously heartbreaking. So far no one has stepped forward to adopt him and he ages out in February. You can see his profile on www.twentyless.com. What an amazing guy. I can't even imagine dreading your 14th birthday because you age out of the adoption system then. He could definitely use prayers!
Hopefully I can post soon that we are moving forward! Until then we keep preparing our hearts and our home for our sweet M.
But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59:16
So, I realized that I never did an update for our Give 1 Save 1 week. It. Was. Amazing. We loved our video, we had lots of people watch it and prayerfully we inspired a heart for adoption in people who saw it. We raised (are you ready for this? Seriously?) $2,366!!! That is two round trip plane tickets people! We also did two giveaways, so you can see the videos announcing the winners on our website: foreverhome.us. Chris did an awesome job with all three videos!
So, we're at the two month mark waiting for LOA. Praying for some awesome news soon. We are SO ready to be waiting for Travel Approval!! Please join us in praying for our sweet boy and for our pieces of paper in China. God is so faithful, as we have seen so much in the last month, and we know that He is with our sweet boy. You can also pray for those kids in China who are aging out of the system. I am on a Facebook group which advocates for orphans and they often list children who are about to age out (which happens at 14 in China, by the way). They featured this beautiful little boy named Jonathan who was begging someone to adopt him and take him to the United States. He was saying that he can help around the house and that he was a good student and that the younger children can wait to be adopted, but he can't. It was seriously heartbreaking. So far no one has stepped forward to adopt him and he ages out in February. You can see his profile on www.twentyless.com. What an amazing guy. I can't even imagine dreading your 14th birthday because you age out of the adoption system then. He could definitely use prayers!
Hopefully I can post soon that we are moving forward! Until then we keep preparing our hearts and our home for our sweet M.
But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59:16
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Finale Giveaway!!
Okay, so we are about to end our week with Give 1 Save 1. We hope that you have "liked" them on Facebook or subscribed to their blog so that you can see a family every week that you could donate a little bit to help out with their adoption efforts. Adoption is hard and paying for it is a challenge, so everyone appreciates help. We also hope that you have checked out our website and blog and will continue to follow us on our journey. We always appreciate comments, prayers, support and we are so excited to share all of this with our sweet Marcus some day.
BUT, we also promised an end of the week giveaway for a finale to our Give 1 Save 1 journey! So, here is....
Anyone who has donated this week up until midnight tomorrow night (Sunday, okay, technically Monday by midnight) will be entered in a drawing for a fabulous dinner/movie/game night pack!
What is included:
-A Chic Fila gift card
-A pack of Jelly Bellies
-The card game, UNO
-A copy of the movie, "God's Not Dead"
We will also put people's names in who have purchased T-shirts this week or donated to participate in the Virtual 5K. So, check out our website tonight and tomorrow and donate, get a new t-shirt or decide to walk or run a 5K since the weather is getting cooler. We will announce the winner on Monday! God bless and everyone have a wonderful end to your weekend!!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
BUT, we also promised an end of the week giveaway for a finale to our Give 1 Save 1 journey! So, here is....
Anyone who has donated this week up until midnight tomorrow night (Sunday, okay, technically Monday by midnight) will be entered in a drawing for a fabulous dinner/movie/game night pack!
What is included:
-A Chic Fila gift card
-A pack of Jelly Bellies
-The card game, UNO
-A copy of the movie, "God's Not Dead"
We will also put people's names in who have purchased T-shirts this week or donated to participate in the Virtual 5K. So, check out our website tonight and tomorrow and donate, get a new t-shirt or decide to walk or run a 5K since the weather is getting cooler. We will announce the winner on Monday! God bless and everyone have a wonderful end to your weekend!!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Giveaway TODAY!!
Okay, it's time for a Give 1 Save 1 Giveaway!
We will do two giveaways this week, one today (Wednesday) and one Sunday. Everyone who has made a donation of any amount by 9:00 pm tonight will be entered to win FIVE in the package LEGO movie mini figures!! We will draw two names and each winner will be shipped FIVE random mini figures. So, keep sharing our video and donate today!! Thank you so much to everyone who has blessed us so far with prayers, encouragement, and donations. We cannot wait to tell Marcus about this whole experience some day!
Here's the link to the Give 1 Save 1 page:
http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com
Here's the link to our other website with more information and the ways to donate.
foreverhome.us
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
We will do two giveaways this week, one today (Wednesday) and one Sunday. Everyone who has made a donation of any amount by 9:00 pm tonight will be entered to win FIVE in the package LEGO movie mini figures!! We will draw two names and each winner will be shipped FIVE random mini figures. So, keep sharing our video and donate today!! Thank you so much to everyone who has blessed us so far with prayers, encouragement, and donations. We cannot wait to tell Marcus about this whole experience some day!
Here's the link to the Give 1 Save 1 page:
http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com
Here's the link to our other website with more information and the ways to donate.
foreverhome.us
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Give 1 Save 1 Day 1
Welcome to our blog for Give 1 Save 1!! We are so excited about this week to feature our adoption and prayerfully raise some money for our trip to China. So, please check out our video to learn a little bit about us and donate to us via Adopt Together, Pay Pal, our virtual 5K or by purchasing shirts from Adoption Bug. Everything you need to donate is found on: foreverhome.us
If you don't want to read through all of our blog posts right now, I will tell you a little about us. We are a family of four with two biological daughters. We moved from St. Louis, MO to Fort Worth, TX in December. We began our adoption journey by pursuing an adoption of a child or siblings from Ethiopia. After years on the waiting list, we then found our son in China. He is four years old and he has spinal issues. We have our PA and LID and we are waiting on LOA and TA and praying for a travel date in January. We are so excited to get to go and meet him and bring him to Texas. All four of us are going to fly over to meet him and spend family time in China.
We will be doing a couple of giveaways and videos through the week, so stay tuned! We are loving this journey and just so amazed by how we have seen God's hand through this whole process. Thank you for being a part of our story!!
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19
If you don't want to read through all of our blog posts right now, I will tell you a little about us. We are a family of four with two biological daughters. We moved from St. Louis, MO to Fort Worth, TX in December. We began our adoption journey by pursuing an adoption of a child or siblings from Ethiopia. After years on the waiting list, we then found our son in China. He is four years old and he has spinal issues. We have our PA and LID and we are waiting on LOA and TA and praying for a travel date in January. We are so excited to get to go and meet him and bring him to Texas. All four of us are going to fly over to meet him and spend family time in China.
We will be doing a couple of giveaways and videos through the week, so stay tuned! We are loving this journey and just so amazed by how we have seen God's hand through this whole process. Thank you for being a part of our story!!
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Give 1 Save 1, LID and Adoption Bug!
So, summer is over, we are on a more regular schedule of homeschooling again and we have had some fun news in the last couple of weeks. We are still praying that we can go get our little boy before the end of the year or soon thereafter, but we are getting closer!
So, first in adoption news, we received our LID (Logged In Date) on August 22! This means that our dossier has been logged into the system and China will translate it, review it and send us our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and then we wait for TA (Travel Approval). Right now each of these steps are taking around 60-70 days, so we are praying that ours moves as quickly as possible through the steps. We have decided to send our little guy another care package. Although we are trying to save money, it has been six months since we sent him a birthday package and that is just so long for a four year old, so we want to send him an update to let him know that we are thinking about him and praying for him every day. Whenever we do something fun as a family, I feel like someone is missing and we just can't wait until he is here to participate in everything with us! We don't want him in an orphanage with 299 other sweet kids any more. We want him to be part of a family of 5.
For our first fundraising news, we submitted a video and application and we found out that we are going to be the featured family on Give 1 Save 1 for the week of September 15!! Give 1 Save 1 is a wonderful organization that features adoptive families each week and encourages everyone who sees the video to Give $1 and Save 1 orphan. We have all watched our video at least 20 times and we are SO excited to get to share it next Sunday!!! We are updating our other website, foreverhome.us, and we are so grateful to anyone who will view and share our video, and donate next week!
In March, we promoted our Adoption Bug fundraiser with some awesome T-shirts that promote adoption and Show Hope. Unfortunately, Adoption Bug, which is a family run business, will be shutting down in October because the family simply doesn't have time to run it. So, if you would like to purchase a T-shirt and support them and our adoption, they will be accepting orders until October 1, 2014. To order from our page, you go to:
http://www.adoptionbug.com/ryanfamilyroundup/
This adoption journey has been such a long four years between pursuing an Ethiopian adoption, moving to a new state, finding our son in China and now spending the last six months pursuing him, we are so excited to meet him and bring him into our family. We already feel like he is part of us and we haven't even gotten to meet him. We are so grateful for the support, prayers and financial support we have received through this process. We are so excited that we are entering into phases like Travel Approval!! Stay tuned for our video premiere and updates on our Give 1 Save 1 week!!
So, first in adoption news, we received our LID (Logged In Date) on August 22! This means that our dossier has been logged into the system and China will translate it, review it and send us our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and then we wait for TA (Travel Approval). Right now each of these steps are taking around 60-70 days, so we are praying that ours moves as quickly as possible through the steps. We have decided to send our little guy another care package. Although we are trying to save money, it has been six months since we sent him a birthday package and that is just so long for a four year old, so we want to send him an update to let him know that we are thinking about him and praying for him every day. Whenever we do something fun as a family, I feel like someone is missing and we just can't wait until he is here to participate in everything with us! We don't want him in an orphanage with 299 other sweet kids any more. We want him to be part of a family of 5.
For our first fundraising news, we submitted a video and application and we found out that we are going to be the featured family on Give 1 Save 1 for the week of September 15!! Give 1 Save 1 is a wonderful organization that features adoptive families each week and encourages everyone who sees the video to Give $1 and Save 1 orphan. We have all watched our video at least 20 times and we are SO excited to get to share it next Sunday!!! We are updating our other website, foreverhome.us, and we are so grateful to anyone who will view and share our video, and donate next week!
In March, we promoted our Adoption Bug fundraiser with some awesome T-shirts that promote adoption and Show Hope. Unfortunately, Adoption Bug, which is a family run business, will be shutting down in October because the family simply doesn't have time to run it. So, if you would like to purchase a T-shirt and support them and our adoption, they will be accepting orders until October 1, 2014. To order from our page, you go to:
http://www.adoptionbug.com/ryanfamilyroundup/
This adoption journey has been such a long four years between pursuing an Ethiopian adoption, moving to a new state, finding our son in China and now spending the last six months pursuing him, we are so excited to meet him and bring him into our family. We already feel like he is part of us and we haven't even gotten to meet him. We are so grateful for the support, prayers and financial support we have received through this process. We are so excited that we are entering into phases like Travel Approval!! Stay tuned for our video premiere and updates on our Give 1 Save 1 week!!
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100
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