It's Gonna Be....

a wild ride, folks!

Strap in if you plan on joining us here at the blog, because things are moving fast (for now) in this, our second, adoption. We have identified a child and we are pursuing him. We will not be officially matched with him until our home study is complete and approved by the state. Therefore, we cannot say we have a referral. But, we are pursuing a referral for this particular boy- who we'll call A*.

A* is a little younger than 3 years old and is HIV positive. We believe he will make a great addition to our family and are so thrilled to be on this journey! We are asking for your continued prayers for A*'s health. We are also asking for prayers concerning the financial aspect of this adoption. Since we already have a child identified the process moves a lot faster, (provided we don't crash headfirst into any of the MANY bumps in the road common to adoption) since things are able to move faster it means payments are required sooner. It could be that finances are the major roadblock to A* coming home quickly. That would be a HUGE bummer since every day he spends in institutional care is another day spent in risk of illness and opportunistic infections, not to mention the typical developmental delays.

Here is where we are at now: Our Home Study Documents are cranking along and I've almost got every document gathered for that. We will begin visits with our AWESOME Social Worker the beginning of September. We have to have a payment of $2,400.00 ready before our first visit can take place. That, my friends, is where the snag lies!

It's not so much the overall cost of the adoption but the shortened time frame that makes paying the fees difficult. There just isn't as much time to save money. We just paid our initial fees to the tune of $1750.00 last week and less than one month is a SHORT time to come up with the funds necessary for the Home Study. I am also aware that God's timing is PERFECT and that just because this adoption could happen faster if the funds were available doesn't mean that God's provision will be late if it doesn't happen to arrive before we'd like it to. He's been waaaay too faithful to our family for far too long now for us to doubt Him. And, at least I can say that I have learned some patience with the last adoption because I am at peace with the possibility of having to wait through this second one. Praise Jesus!!!

I will say, though, that we have a major sense of urgency right now and this time it is totally different. It's NOT about us and our personal time lines or preferences. It's about A* and his need for the best medical care he can receive, for the love of a father and mother to help strengthen him for his health battles, for kisses and hugs to help soothe his aches and pains. It's about preventing opportunistic infections. It's about proper nutrition being a key to helping his immune system fight tough. It's about so much more than just our desires to have him home with us for the sake of being with him. (Don't get me wrong, we DO want that too.)

The deal is that we cannot do any fundraising before our Home Study is completed. Just Love Coffees isn't up and running until October and we can't receive grants or other funds without a complete Home Study. So, it's us and the LORD all the way baby!

I am fully confident that the LORD will provide! He called us to this and even though the timing seems impossible (for us) I KNOW the Lord is ABLE!!! He's more than able and I trust Him fully. Won't you please join us in petitioning before His Holy throne for miraculous provision for sweet little A*? Please pray that our eyes are opened to the path that God would have us take in raising, saving, scrimping, slaving for money for this adoption. Pray also that Dustin and I would be diligent in holding up our end of the bargain with the Lord and be responsible with the opportunities to Lord presents us with.

Dustin and I will do whatever it takes to give this boy a forever family! If the Lord presented an opportunity to scrub toilets with my personal toothbrush to earn extra cash for this adoption, I would. Seriously, I would. I'd dye my hair purple if someone with a bunch of $$ wanted me to.

We're. That. Serious. About. Bringing. A*. Home.