Pray it Doesn't Rain!

This week Brad and I started planning for an exciting event we are looking forward to in May. As you may or may not know, there are quite a lot of fees that go along with adoption. To help with this, we are planning to have an adoption fundraiser!

On May 2nd, we will be having a garage sale and bake sale in the parking lot at our church. We already have some donations rolling in of used items our friends and family wanted to get rid of, and people have been signing up to bake items for the sale. Brad and I have truly been blessed and humbled by people's response to this and their willingness to help. It was wonderful to be asked about the adoption today at church by so many excited people :)

If you know us in real life, we hope you will stop by the church on May 2nd for some baked goodies or who knows what else (garage sales are always interesting that way!). If you don't live nearby, please pray that it doesn't rain...or snow....that day!!!

Ta-Da!

Last night at precisely 11:59pm, I completed my knitting project!

It feels so good to finish something I started for once :)

I am ridiculously proud of myself for sticking with it and not getting frustrated.

I am crossing my fingers and hoping that it doesn't fall apart any time soon...

All I need now is the baby!!!!

I'm Back!

We are finally back online! We don't know what happened, but our internet was not working for almost a week. After a short power outage yesterday, we are now miraculously back online. Don't you love technology?

I've been keeping pretty busy lately, and one of my favorite recent memories was introducing Daisie to a new friend. They are both friendly dogs and seemed to get on okay. It was funny to see how little Daisie looked next to Coby. I think they are going to be good buddies :)

Speaking of good buddies...I was glad to be able to spend some time this week with my dear friends, Rachel and Kristy. I work with the Jr. High girls at church, and regularly hear about their daily "drama" between friends. I am so thankful to be all grown up and to not have to deal with drama anymore! And to have friends who love me just the way I am, craziness and all :)

When You've Got Nothing To Post About...

Post a picture of your dog...

Or a picture of your husband...

Or a picture of your dog WITH your husband...


Yep, it's been a slow week!

Submitting My Proposal

Brad and I have been going back and forth since we started the adoption about if we should travel or not (we could choose to have our child escorted and pick them up at the airport).

At the beginning, I was very much in favor of traveling. In fact, I didn't even give the escorting idea any thought - I just assumed we would travel. The more we talked about it, though, the more scared I got. You see, I often (more like always) get sick when I travel. I think it's because I am anxious and worried that I will get sick, and so I do get sick. I have done quite a lot of traveling, and have been to England, Guatemala, Uganda, Mexico...but the thought of being sick and caring for a baby seemed pretty overwhelming to me. So, we settled on the idea of having our child escorted.

Until last week that is. I somehow came upon a blog of a couple adopting from China, and they happen to be in China at the moment with their new daughter! It has been amazing to follow their trip, and made me realize that I really do want to travel. It is so important to me to get to experience our child's culture, to see where they were born, to meet the people who have cared for them...the list of reasons goes on and on.

I have decided that I do not want my fears to make me miss out on anything in life. And I really, really, don't want to miss out on this. I know that the Lord has always been faithful in the past. He has helped me to not be anxious, to do things I was very afraid of, and to handle it when I am sick. I know He will not fail me.

When I approached Brad about my change of heart, he told me that I could submit my proposal and he'd think about it! He was kidding...sort of...but I have decided to put together a list of all the reasons why I think we should travel :) If he truly feels it is best for us to have our child escorted, then I will trust him in this and hope that at some point we will get to see where our child is born.

But I must say...I hope my proposal is approved!

The Not-Knowing of Adoption

I've been feeling kind of strange lately. It's a very funny feeling to not know when you are going to become a mother. I grew up expecting that I would one day get to experience the joy of a positive pregnancy test, and nine months later, I would become a mother.

Our journey has turned out quite a bit different than I always thought it would. Instead of a pregnancy test, I have the joy of a completed home study! And instead of a set nine month period, I have....I DON'T KNOW!!!!! It is sometimes very hard not knowing how long it is going to be. I feel like if I could just know, then maybe that would somehow make the waiting easier.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm just...floating. Though I know and believe with all of my heart that I can trust the Lord's timing, waiting patiently for it is another thing altogether! Does that make any sense? I am eager for the next phase of life to begin, and yet I do not want to miss out on today. Which sometimes leaves me feeling a bit mixed up!

I sometimes find myself sighing, and wondering...

What will our baby look like?

Has our baby been born already?

What experiences in his or her birthmother's life led her to choose an adoption plan?

Is she sad? Is she okay? Does she have people to care for her through this difficult time? Will we ever meet her?

What will it be like for us to hold our child for the first time?

Will we be good parents?

What if they get sick? Will we know what to do?

What will it be like to hear them call me "mama" for the first time?

So many questions. Some of them, I may never know the answers to. Some of them I can only leave in the Lord's hands. And some of them...I will know the answers to someday!