Timing....

For the past few months, we have been applying for Adoption grants.  It is amazing to me how many people, groups and Churches focus so much on adoption and orphan care.  There are a lot of organizations that offer grants and no interest adoption loans.  Here the ones we have applied for...

-Southern Baptist Convention Adoption grant for Pastors
- Lifesong Orphan-care Matching grant
- Family Outreach Ministry grant
- OneLess Ministry grant
- Show Hope ministry grant
- JSC Foundation grant

It's almost been a month since the applications were all sent in.  I've been trying to stay focused on other things and pray for God's complete provision.  Most of the wait time on grants is 10 weeks. One of the things keeping my mind off hearing from the grants is working on our next step.

The Adoption photo album for the Birthmother.  I thought making a photo album of our family would be fun, relaxing and simple.  It has been fun. It has been somewhat relaxing. But by no means has it been simple.  To view a project like this through the eyes of a young women picking a family to parent  her unborn baby is complicated.  The Liberty Godparent Home and our agency, Family Life Services do an incredible job loving these girls, counseling them and showing grace in every step of the way. We are so grateful for their ministry!

We started with introducing Jay and I only.  When you are a parents of a 3.5 yr old, it is hard to define yourself apart from your child. It is stark reminder that the Lord really does call us to focus on our mate and children come second.  Then the task of finding pictures of all the things that make your family who you are.  I take pictures everyday. Literally. But when I sat down to make this album, it seemed like I needed to start all over taking picture of certain things. But it has all come together nicely.

As we continue to focus on God's provision for our Adoption, I'm reminded that His callings are not always immediate.  They take time. They take refinement.  Obedience.  Long suffering. And trust.  Even when we receive notice of an available child, we have to wait for the Lord's hand.  Be refined. Be obedient. Be patient and trust! Even when its hard!

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We set a date for our next fundraising Yard sale but we never felt a peace about it.  Today we found out why.  After a back and forth discussion about the date, I joyfully submitted to Jay's leadership and decision to change the date.  I knew he was right.

Without even thinking about this decision, I decided to do some follow up calls on our grant applications today just to see a timeline on the decision making.  I found out that the matching grant we are applying for requires approval for the grant and THEN acceptance of money that can be matched. This means that if we had the yard sale before the approval, the funds would not have been matched!   The approval (or denial) will come in mid April.  So praise God that we were listening to the Lord's timing on everything!

So tentative date is now April 13th and we will continue to accept donated items for the Yard sale.  Our other fundraisers will be a CAbi party on May 11th in Roanoke and our continuation of the Amazon link.  If you'd like to make a donation, we ask that you wait til we find out about the matching fund...that way, your donation can be doubled and you will recieve a tax deduction statement!

Thank you again for ALL you support.  Each one of you are a part of our Adoption story!