Miraculous Provision

Hi friends. I'm so excited to check in with you all and update you about what God's been doing with our family.

The expedited schedule for a waiting child presented opportunities for things to happen so quickly that we feared we wouldn't be able to save funds as fast. It broke our hearts to think that the only thing A* could possibly be waiting for to come home would be finances. With Jonas it was endless bureaucratic red tape and glitches holding up the process. How strange it was to us to think the path for A* was being paved smoothly and finances could be the only hold up. I don't know if it makes any sense to you but to us, after previously having to deal with court issues, paperwork issues, government issues the prospect of money issues seemed trivial. It was as if we were thinking "That's all? Really? Money is a lame reason not to be able to bring A home!" Because, for us, God has been so faithful a Provider for so long we knew that if He was directing us to A* He would certainly provide for our needs. How strange, then, for us to feel so uncertain. It wasn't that we ever doubted that God would provide but we didn't think He'd do it in the time frame we hoped for.

When the Social Worker (SW) called and said she could begin our Home Study (HS) visits right away it seemed too good to be true. The catch was that the full HS payment had to be submitted before visits could begin. If there were any lessons we learned from the last time we adopted it was that God's timing isn't always our timing. So, we thought we were being good students of the past when we told ourselves to brace for delays and disappointments along the way to A*. Evidently, God has some new lessons for us to learn. Apparently, not everything has to be a GIGANTIC struggle.

Let me brag about how AMAZING our God, our Provider, is! We were able to pay $2800.00 in fees THIS MONTH. It's unbelievable to me! And, we even were able to go on our 10 year anniversary trip THIS MONTH as well.

It had been making us sick that we booked the anniversary trip before we knew we'd be adopting again so soon. With everything booked in advance we would lose the money if we chose to cancel which made it senseless not to go (plus we really did need a vacation just the two if us) We were sick at the thought of spending money on a trip that could go toward bringing our son home. We traveled anyway and prayed for God's provision. The LORD sure heard our prayers and poured so much mercy over us and even presented Dustin with opportunities to earn some extra funds. I'm still blown away that we were able to come up with that much money this month. A true testament to us that the Lord really does want A* to come home, and FAST.

I joked with friends that this second adoption with AWAA is as different from the first as day is to night (so far). Things have gone too smoothly thus far. I keep waiting for the huge bump in the road even while praying that for the sake of A*'s health none crop up. With Jonas our motto was hurry up and wait. With A* it's simply HURRY! I'm eager to learn why God is moving in this way but I may never know. I am, however, amazed at how the Lord is orchestrating events. I've never experienced anything like this before. Truly, I feel as though the Lord's hand is upon us and that our job is simply to keep moving forward as He pulls everything together. Glory to God!

We still have GREAT needs in this adoption. The next hurdle will be coming up with the funds which will be due upon completion of the HS report. Since we are pursuing a waiting child we don't have to wait for our I-171h form to arrive before shipping off our dossier. That means as soon as our approved HS returns to us we can submit our dossier. At that time we'll owe about $4500.00. If my estimates are right we'll have about two months to come up with that amount. I can't wait to see what steps the Lord takes next. No matter where He goes Dustin and I are committed to following. Sometimes to follow can be difficult, and others times it can mean being led into miraculous provision or rest. We've tasted and have seen that the Lord is good all the time and are enboldened to take the next steps, wherever they may lead.

We begin our first Home Study (HS) visit next week. We also have family physicals booked for all of us except Jonas. (His will be later in the month) The girls are NOT excited to have another TB skin test. Last time I was completely humiliated in the Dr.'s office. You see, I was inexperienced back then and didn't think to prep the girls for the shots. I figured we'd just spring it on them and they'd have less anxiety that way. WRONG. I paid for it big time when they older two watched the baby get hers first. Rory decided she had seen enough and quietly back toward the door while Rienne burst into hysterics. That about the time Rory made a break for it running down the hall, her sister Rienne hot on her tail. I had to chase after the two screaming maniacs disturbing the ENTIRE office who stared at us mouth gaping. I slinked out of that office HUMILIATED after wrestling them both (with the aid of a few nurses) into receiving their shots. Needless to say we've gotten a new pediatrician since then :-)

This time the girls know it's coming. Rienne asks me every day "How many days until the bubble shots?" (bubble referring to the bump made in the skin by the fluid) Friday is "B" day for the girls.

Pray for me.