$35,000!!!!!

As of today, we have hit our target goal of $35,000  for our adoption. The final $15 came in the form of a refund check that was totally unexpected and quite honestly showed a little of God's humor and complete control.  We have been counting down from $35k and listed each and every way that God provided something.  Heather initially said that we needed to come up with 350 ways to raise $100.  Well, that is just about what happened.  Our list of different ways is about 4 pages long.  Praise God!  

We do think that the total costs might prove to be a little higher than $35k but we have hit our initial target, just about 13 months after starting.  To cover the costs of increased airfare and such we are planning on having another veggie/bake sale this summer as well as one more garage sale. We just wanted to let everybody know where we stand.  Also, we think that we are number one or two on the list for an infant boy and 7 for an infant girl.  Maybe we will hear something this week, or next week, or the week after that.....

Thanks for praying. 

What is going on?

We have had a few people ask recently what is going on with our adoption.  We haven't posted anything recently about it because....(insert cricket sound here)....  we still wait.  We haven't really heard anything other than the process is taking longer than expected and things have significantly slowed down in Ethiopia.  Uhhhmmm yeah.  Initially when we started the process the wait time to receive a referral for a boy was 4-6 months and 7-9 months for a girl.  Well, we have been waiting on that referral since 9/3/10.  That makes it about 9 1/2 months.  When we had hit the 6 month mark the wait time changed to 5-7 months.  Then we hit the 7 month mark and the wait time changed to what it is now 7-11 months for both genders.  So we shall see.  It is comical really.  

We trust in God's perfect timing.  He has been giving us a tremendous amount of patience and we really have not been anxious about this.  We know that God already has a child picked out for us and he knows when we will be traveling over there.  We also new that going into international adoption that we must hold our expectations very loosely.  

Financially, God is good.  It has been amazing to see how he has provided for us throughout this last year.  When we started the process we thought that we were going to need to come up with $28K.  Well, due to changes in travel that quickly went up to $35K.  Through literally hundreds of different ways and different people, God has allowed us to come up with almost the entire amount in a years time.  What an amazing God!  We never would have thought it possible when we started.  If you are at all considering adopting I urge you to seek God on it, pray about it and ultimately if this is what God is calling you to do then you just need to jump in and trust that he is Jehovah Jirah.  We think that our costs might go a few thousand dollars  higher than we have been planning due to the increased costs of airfare.   Also, Capri turns two soon and we will have to pay for her now as well.  (We originally thought we might be over there and back before her birthday).  

We just wanted to update everybody on where we are at.  We will definitely let you know when we hear something.