Rough Week

This has been a rough week around our house. My parents are on a cruise, which leaves me in charge of my mother's aunt who lives in a nursing home here in town. She took a turn for the worst on Sunday, so I have been sitting by her side ever since. This isn't the first time I've been with someone when they're dying, but it never gets easier to do. My parents are due to return tomorrow evening and my prayer now is that DeeDee will hold on long enough for mom to get here. I think that's what she's been waiting on all week.

With all of the time I've had to sit this week, I've definitely been doing A LOT of thinking and praying. I've been thinking a lot about my family and what a legacy of faith they have passed down to me. Although I know now that DeeDee will never meet our adopted child, what a blessing it is to bring him/her into this family that has such a long history of deep faith in Christ. Although we will mourn, we mourn with hope because another member of our family will be entering into eternity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's amazing to me how death can be so sad and yet so peaceful and full of hope at the same time. I don't understand why I've had to spend this week the way that I have, but I know it's for His purposes and for His glory!

I don't have much to report on the adoption front, because I haven't been able to anything this week. It has been disheartening to let a week go by without getting more things done, but God has seen fit to place me here with DeeDee and there's no other place I want to be. I know that our adoption is proceeding according to His timing and because of that I will rest easy.

I do covet your prayers, though. This has been an emotional roller coaster that I wasn't prepared for, but God's mercies are new each day and of that I am definitely certain!

T-Shirts

As soon as we first began our adoption journey, I knew that at some point I wanted to design some t-shirts for friends/family to wear in support of our adoption. I absolutely love seeing people wearing t-shirts around town that support adoption and orphan care. There is such a passion burning inside of me for orphans and nothing warms my heart more than seeing others share that same passion. Well....drum roll please....I have placed our first t-shirt order. I don't have the final graphic design yet, but as soon as I do, I will post it in on here. Please let me know if you would be interested in purchasing one. We would LOVE to see you around town wearing our adoption shirt!!!

Small Blessings

I just wanted to share an example of small blessings we keep experiencing along our adoption journey. This weekend, Troy and I attended a Love and Respect conference at our church (which, on a side note, was FANTASTIC!!). The cost of the conference was $40.00. Troy had registered us, but had noted that we would pay at the door. We received an e-mail Friday afternoon that informed us that our registration fee had been covered and that we should put that $40.00 in our adoption fund. In the grand scheme of things, $40.00 doesn't seem like much in our adoption costs! However, right after Troy received that e-mail, he was on the phone with a fingerprinting company. He was calling them because he had been fingerprinted with this company before, but our adoption agency had informed us that Troy needed to be fingerprinted again. He wanted to find out the ins and outs of why his last fingerprinting didn't count for the adoption. After talking to the woman for a while, she informed him that he would indeed have to be re-fingerprinted. Troy asked how much it would cost.......$44.00! I am amazed at how God is providing for us even in the small details! Please continue to pray for us as we trust God daily to supply our needs.

What a Week!!!

Our kids with their cousins on the 4th of July


The last week was crazy busy, but lots of fun! We had our home study last Wednesday and it went great! It just confirmed how much I love our adoption agency (Gladney Center for Adoption). I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone out there considering adoption!

Besides the home study, we spent the 4th of July weekend at a family reunion in Austin and then drove down to Bayside, TX (near Corpus) to spend the actual 4th with family and friends. We had such a good time! Lots of driving, but GREAT times! Troy and I drove back to San Antonio after our 4th of July festivities so that we could get ready for the home study. Once that was complete, the kids and I headed back to Corpus Christi so that we could spend time with Troy's brother, our sister-in-law and our adorable niece and nephew. (They live in South Dakota, so we don't get to see them often.) We celebrated Caleb's 4th birthday on Saturday and the kids and I headed back home on Sunday. I feel like we've lived in a car and out of a suitcase for the last 10 days, but the time with family made it all worth it!

Since returning home, I've hit the ground running getting things ready for our dossier. I can't believe it's already time to get things together to send to Russia. We got some business cards in the mail today that I ordered to give to people when they ask about our adoption. It has our family name, blog address and e-mail address on them. I LOVE sharing our story with people and our passion for adoption. Please pass our blog address along to your friends or family that have a heart for adoption. I love getting to meet and talk to people who have traveled this road or just have a heart for orphans! I am amazed everyday at how God is using this journey in our lives to draw us closer to Him and to people who share the same passion we do. I wake up each morning wondering what awesome thing God is going to do next. At times I want to shout it from the rooftop (loud enough for our child to hear in Russia.....I know what you're thinking...I'm loud enough to probably get sound all the way to Russia!!). I know Troy and I alone cannot bring all the world's orphans into our forever family, but we can ensure that there's "ONE LESS".

Home Study

On Monday, we received an e-mail from our adoption agency letting us know that all of our paperwork had been received. They said they were requesting our home study and that we should be hearing from our assigned case worker within thirty days. Well, I guess God wanted it done a little quicker because I just heard today that our home study will be done NEXT Wednesday! I can hardly believe it! I'm so excited! I'm sure I should be nervous, but I'm not in the least. I've talked to our case worker twice now, and she seems extremely nice. I'm looking forward to meeting her. I am amazed daily at how God works out even the finest of details. If there's one thing I'm learning along this journey, it's to enjoy the small victories. We serve a God who cares about the details and provides small victories along the way so we can see His glory! Please continue to pray for us as we anxiously and patiently (ok, maybe not so patiently) wait until our precious child is in OUR arms! We're one step closer!!

Paperwork.....DONE!

As of 5:30 pm, yesterday, I mailed off the last 2 documents needed to complete the humongous amount of paperwork our adoption agency needed!! YEA!!! I'm going to enjoy this small victory before I look ahead to the even more humongous amount of paperwork that Russia needs! (I'm beginning to realize that you've got to celebrate the small victories along the way so that the race doesn't seem so daunting!)

Doctor, Doctor...Give Me the News.

Troy and I FINALLY have our physicals completed and the kids and I are about to head out the door to pick up the last 2 forms that the doctor had to fill out! I had NO idea that trying to find a doctor to get a physical would be such a difficult task! As soon as we got our paperwork (around the 2nd week in May), I started calling around to make an appointment for Troy and I to have our physicals done. I called our family physician that we have used for many years, and the first available appointment he had was in November! Yes, you read that right....November! So, I proceeded to get the name and number of the doctors of just about everyone we know. The absolute soonest appointment I could find was September. We were discouraged, to say the least. We can't proceed with the adoption process until these medical forms are filled out by an internal medicine or family practice MD. Fast forward to week before last (June 8th to be exact). I went up to the church to have a form notarized. As I was talking to my friend, while she notarized my form, I mentioned that I was having the hardest time finding a doctor. She told me about her doctor and told me she would call and just see if maybe they could fit us in. Not only did they find a way to fit us in, they found a way to fit us in the very next week (June 15th). I had never been so excited in my life to go to the doctor. Troy and I both LOVED the doctor that we saw (Dr. Aguillar.....just in case you're in need of a fantastic, kind doctor). Not only did he take the time to talk to us for forever, but he got all of our forms filled out in just a few days and even had them notarized for us. While we were visiting with him, he commented that he couldn't believe we were able to get in with him so fast. He said his current wait time for physicals is about 3 months. Troy and I both knew exactly how we got in so fast.......God got us in!!

I continue to be amazed time after time of how God keeps providing the right people at the right time for us to get all of this stuff done! Just today, my brother took off half the day to come to my house and sketch out a floor plan of my house for me. (I never knew his architecture degree would be helpful. LOL) God is good, all the time! And all the time, God is good!!!