Gonna Have to Work for It

I have been doing a lot of praying about our adoption. I was finding myself getting discouraged by the lack of forward movement. I have been begging the Lord to please somehow make this $1800 appear in our account. Well instead of just sitting back and expecting God to do all of the work I think I need to do some, too. So....

I am excited to announce my new children's boutique, Cotton Cutie Boutique. I have always loved to sew and create new things, so it kind of made sense to use this to help raise money for our adoption. You can find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cottoncutieboutique) and Instagram. All of the items are handmade by myself and all of the money made goes directly to our adoption fund. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses this. Feel free to go check it out :)

Where the Journey Began and Where it's Headed

I realize that I don't know if I have ever really told the whole story of how this whole journey really began. So here it is...
My name is Kayla and my husband Brent and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from China. To be honest adoption was never even on our radar, until our daughter was on a cheer team with a girl who's family had adopted a little girl from China and was about to go back for a little boy. After speaking with this mama and seeing her heart for orphans we began talking about the possibility of us adopting, but things happened in our lives and we pushed adoption to the back of our minds. In March of 2012 the need to adopt was weighing heavily on our hearts. We contacted this same sweet mama, who happened to head up adoptions from China for an adoption agency, and started asking the questions of how to start the process. Unfortunately I was not old enough yet, you have to be at least 30, so we were told we would have to wait almost 2 years. I was devastated. I didn't understand why God had put adoption so heavily on my heart knowing we would have to wait. I am curious though to see, once we are matched, what significance March 2012 had in our sweet girls life because even though we couldn't officially start the process to adopt, we could start praying for Gods protection over our little girl.
In August of 2013 we were finally able to officially start the process by sending in an application to an agency. We were so excited to be accepted into the China program. It has been a slow process as we have had to fundraise for a lot of our fees but the time has given us plenty of oppurtunities to pray for our little girl. We absolutely can't wait to be able to go bring our girl home and we would love for you to be able to have a part in making a huge difference in this little girls life.
If you feel that the Lord is nudging you to donate we would greatly appreciate it. 
We currently have a couple of fundraisers going. The first is a t-shirt fundraiser at www.booster.com/adoptinglorelei
The second one is at www.gofundme.com/53833s Donate at least $25 to our fund and you will be entered to win a $100 gift card to either Target or Publix.

Trusting Him

Why is it that EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I sit down to update our blog with how hard this has been, God urges me not to??? Why?  I'll tell you why, because this is not about me and it's not about being easy. God says we are to count it all joy. He didn't say only count the good as joy but to count it ALL as joy. That's right, we are to be joyful even when things aren't going our way and let me tell you, this adoption has not been going my way. I am not by nature a very patient person, so the whole waiting on His timing is REALLY hard for me. I just really want Him to hurry. 

Right now we have this $1800 wall that seems insurmountable. For whatever reason the money just has not been there to pay this one fee. We have been able to pay for everything else, training, fingerprints, physicals etc. with the money we have raised through our last fundraiser but this $1800 seems impossible. I find myself getting frustrated but then the Lord reminds me that all of this happens in His timing. The $1800 will come when He is ready. He knows when we need to complete everything so we get matched with our daughter, the daughter He has picked out just for us. 

I may not be a patient person but I am a trusting person and right now I trust Him completely. I am trusting Him to provide what is needed to complete this adoption and bring our sweet Lorelei home.

 It's not easy but she's worth it.

If you feel led to donate to our adoption fund you can do so at www.gofundme.com/53833s