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

He is there

I started typing this blog with the intent of complaining about how slow the process is going; funding, paperwork etc. But as I was about half way through, the Lord prompted to me to stop and start over. This process has been hard but we have seen the Lord work in ways that, had we not taken that step out, we would have never experienced. We have witnessed Him change peoples hearts towards adoption. People who in the beginning were dead set against it and have now been some of our biggest supporters.

 I know this is not going to be easy but I also know that I serve a God who is there when things get hard. He is there when people say or do things that hurt. He is there when I desperately want to just give up. When I try to convince myself that this isn't really what I am supposed to be doing, He quietly reminds me that it is. He places this little girl, whom I have never laid eyes on, on my heart. He knows just what I need and when I need it. So yes the process is long and hard but the reward...oh the reward will be well worth it.

HELP...please :)

We are working to raise the funds needed to complete our home study. We are so close to finishing up this part of our adoption. We have done physicals and fingerprints and we are waiting on background checks to come back. We need $1800 to pay for our home study. To help off set some of this expense we are hosting a t-shirt fundraiser. We are really excited about these shirts. We teamed up with booster.com for this fundraiser. The shirts are great quality and really cute. By purchasing one you will not only be helping bring our little girl home from China but you will help advocate for adoption every time you wear it. Help bring Lorelei home by clicking the link below and buy one of these awesome shirts!

www.booster.com/adoptingloreleimarieluckie

We have to sell at least 20 for them to print so please help us out and buy one :)

It's not all about ME

UPDATE

We have had a lot of people asking for an update on where we are in the process of our adoption so here it is. We went to Texas for training in March and had a blast. It was so nice being around other couples who are in the same boat. Some were much farther along in the process and some were just beginning but we all had the same goal, to travel to our propspective countries and bring our little ones home. After completing what we thought was all of our training (turns out what we went to doesn't count as our 12 hours of Hague training so we get to do that online) we kind of slowed down in the process. We were going to have to wait till our youngest, who was only about 6 months old at the time, turned 1 to be able to move forward with our home study. I am not a patient person by nature so knowing I was going to have to wait another 6 months to start our home study wasn't what I wanted to hear. We got busy with life and before I knew it our youngest was 9 months old and we were being told by our agency that we could go ahead with our home study...YAY FINALLY!!!! And that my friends is where we are now. Frantically trying to fundraise the remaining money needed to complete our home study. So if you feel that the Lord is prompting you to help us out financially we are hosting an ongoing fundraiser called "A Piece of the Puzzle". For more info on how it works or to participate clink the link below. https://www.youcaring.com/Prayingloreleihome

A piece of the puzzle

I have taken the last month off from fundraising. I wanted our next fundraiser to be special and something that when it was finished would leave us with a physical representation of the donations and the generous people who gave them. So I bought a puzzle. One with 150 pieces to be exact :)

I am "selling" puzzle pieces for $10 each. When you "buy" a piece you get your name written on the back. When all 150 pieces are sold the puzzle will be assembled and framed with the back of the puzzle showing. This will hang in Lorelei's room as a constant reminder of everyone who helped bring her home.

If you would like to be a part of this puzzle please go to the link below. Every $10 donated gets you one puzzle piece and helps bring our missing piece home. If you are unable to donate please share our fundraiser on facebook or any other social media site you participate in. Please help us bring our daughter home.


https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/praying-lorelei-home/122186

My heart...

They say as a parent you live with your heart outside of your body. As a mother to three precious children I can relate to that. My heart is in each of them. When they hurt, I hurt and I want nothing more than to fix each one of their hurts. But what do you do when one of your children lives temporarily on the other side of the world in an orphanage??? How do you fix their hurts when you can't hold them in your arms? How do you deal with the constant ache in your heart?? A piece of my heart is attached to a little girl I have never seen nor held. A little girl that at this moment doesn't even know I exist. So how does one deal with this constant ache??? By constant prayer... I find comfort in knowing that even though I can't physically hold her and comfort her I can pray to the one who can. I pray for her daily. I pray that Jesus wraps her in His loving arms when she is scared or hurting. I pray that she feels Gods love for her daily. I pray that somewhere deep down she knows that she has a mommy and daddy that are coming to get her. I want nothing more than to come get her and hold her and tell her that she is loved, always has been and always will be...Not just by her family but by the one true God, the One who sent her mommy and daddy to her. The One who was there with her in the orphanage when she felt alone and scared. I want to tell her just how precious she is to Him. I just long to be there with her... "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" John 14:18