Around and Around We Go

I have had more than enough time to update about our adoption.  I have stopped and started and stopped and started more times than I'd like to admit.

Our year has flown by in so many other ways.  But when I think back to where we were in the process last year, I think it hasn't changed much.

No reports = No progress.

Recently in my devotionals and the teaching at IF:Roanoke, I have realized that I relate so much to Joshua and the 7 priests that walked around the wall of Jericho over and over and over again and waiting for it to fall.

How many times have I heard that story and never realize the FAITH it took to keep circling the wall?  Could you imagine walking around and around and blowing their trumpets and not ONE SIGN of hope. Not one brick fell.  Not one gust of wind moved the dirt.

Did Joshua doubt?  Did he question if he heard God correctly?

I'd be lying to say we have not doubted. In September, we gave God a timeline.  That didn't last long before he convicted (and laughed at) us.

In our adoption journey, I wonder which lap we are on.  Could we possibly be rounding the 7th lap when the wall will fall down and the calling to walk and wait will be over and make sense?  Or are we still back at the 2nd or 3rd lap with a continued journey ahead?

God told them to keep walking and blowing their trumpets in obedience.   May we continue to walk in obedience.  And not demand an explanation from God.

So what's happened this year:
-In December, we were called about a baby that was born the day before.  Birthmother called Adoption agency from the hospital but days later the she decided to parent.
- In November, we felt led for the first time to not be presented to a birthmother.
- Other than that, nothing else to report. Our Family Profile was presented about 12 times during the year but we were not chosen.

A sign

In Dec 2008, we had a Women's Christmas program at our Church in Austin.  After we enjoyed a wonderful meal served by the Men of our Church at beautifully decorated tables, we had a program.  I don't remember the title of that program but I do remember its impact on so many.  Before our Pastor's wife spoke, we did something call "cardboard testimonies".  This was mine.

The idea was to tell about the struggle you have been through or the cards you had been dealt.  But then, the testimony came when you flipped your sign to see what God had done to restore or produce in your life. Here was mine.

I have kept my sign.  It reminds me all the time of God's faithfulness.  It reminds me of those who prayed for me during this heartache of infertility and those still experiencing it.  It reminds me that, the back of my sign could still be blank or say something different.

I need a new sign now.

One that says....
"THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD ADOPTION"

and then flip it to say...
"Praise God...Our Adoption is funded. He has provided ALL that we need!"

Every dollar has been given in love.  In sacrifice.  In overwhelming love.  In God's timing and in God's abundance. 

We have had trouble wrapping our heads around God's provision and the flipping of our sign to say...He is faithful to provide where He leads.  He most certainly is.  

And now, we wait.  We wait for His child for our family.  We wait for him to create a new sign in our life.  One of great sacrifice.  Of overwhelming love.  And in His timing and His abundance.

Thank you.

The Unlikely and the Selfless

I said we would not do it again.  But the Lord had another plan.  So on April 12-13th, we had another Yard sale.  This time there was even more donations. More pricing. More time to collect. More space in our house taken over by donated items.  All no surprise to the Lord.  He wanted us to know, once again, the generosity, love and community He was going to provide.  More blessing!

Friday came and it was raining.  The idea was to start setting everything out on Friday afternoon since there was so much. Jay had to work so I was going to rely on friends and family to help set up. As soon that rain stopped, I started pulling things out of the garage.  Jay's mom arrived and helped before having to pick IV up from school for me. While the 2 of us had set up the tables and pulled about 5 boxes out, a couple pulled up.  We told them that we were just getting started but they were welcome to unpack the boxes and look.  Instead of that, they stayed for about an hour and carried boxes out our garage.  The kindness of strangers.  They did not buy anything.

Right as they were leaving, a friend and her neighbor stopped by. We told them the same thing...you can look but there is a lot more.  My friend bought a few things and both her and her neighbor left. 15 mins later, her neighbor came back and offered to help. She stayed for about 3 hours!  Spent over $200.  Wouldn't you know it....She is an adoptive parent!

About this time, my friends and family came to help and we had about 70% out already!   The kindness of strangers!  So, thankfully my friends and family came to unpack, sort, stand guard, organize and help me come up with a plan.  We had a great time just laughing, battling the wind and making a plan to cover all this during the night. After the day was done, we made over $700 on Friday!  Amazing!

Saturday morning arrived and everything was still in place from the night before.  Goodies were baked and lemonade was made.  The sun was coming to warm up the day. The coffee was being delivered.  And God was getting ready to blow our minds!  I know He was tickled as we just sat there at 7am with no customers just cheering us on..."Dont loose faith. Keep you eyes on Me.  I got ya!"

And boy did He!  The people came. They bought stuff. They ate the goodies. They gave their extra change to our 'donation' jar. Our street lined with cars once again.  And all the glory goes to Him!

My favorite quote of the day was "Are you adopting a dog or a cat?!"

One of the neatest people we met that day was a Birthmother. She saw our Adoption fundraiser sign and decided to stop and tell us her story.   Beautiful, young girl.  Responsibly looking. Well dressed for a Saturday morning.  Emotionally connected.  We all may have a picture in our heads of what a women looks like that would love her child and hand him/her over to another family to raise, love, watch and grow with.  All birthmothers look different.  Most feel deeply and love selflessly.  Most go on to fight the statistics of what's expected of them.  Most keep in contact with their child and adoptive family. But these are not the stories you read.

As the day ended and our eye began to glaze over with amazement and exhaustion, we began clean up and count the funds of the day.  God did not give me amount this time to pray for. He never really confirmed a date for me either. But we completely stepped out on faith and trusted Him.  He never fails and He is forever faithful!  Over $4000 was given that day.

A  M  A  Z  I  N  G      G  R  A  C  E

Simplicity...

In my many years of complicating things...even as fun as some of it is...I have learned that simplicity is most of the time the best way to communicate, execute and offer.  So, after the Yard sales, Chick-fil-a spirit night and home parties, I think it is time for us to offer a simple way to give to our Adoption Fund and also simply pray that God will provide $10,000 by the end of the year.  We will simply pray and wait....

We would be unbelievably grateful to all who pray and give. We have committed to Adopt debt free and so far the Lord has provided every step of the way.  The small amounts (application fee, orientation training weekend, Home study, etc) are all paid and now the final amount will be due in December for us to be put in the 'waiting pool'.
So, simply....here are 4 ways to help.

1. Pray for our journey, our Adoption agency, the birthmother and our family as we wait.
2. Donate with a Credit/Debit card by clicking DONATE  to use PayPal.  You do not need a Paypal account to do this.
3. Donate by sending a check made to 'Dove Adoption Fund' to 546 Dillard Rd, Roanoke, VA 24014.
4. Share our blog with YOUR friends and family!

Thank you so much!  "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" Col 4:2

Fundraising in October....

2 Dove Adoption Fundraisers this week. We are praying for God' continued provision....


Thursday, Oct 18th from 4pm-8pm @ Chick-fil-a Southern Hills location. Come dine in or drive thru, eat, order trays for future meetings, buy gift cards for Christmas, etc. Our adoption fund gets a % of the sales during that time if you mention our Adoption Fund.

Friday, Oct 19th Stella & Dot Jewelry Party! Friday from 6pm-8pm. Drop by and start your Christmas shopping! Message me for the address. If you can't make it, please shop @ http://www.stelladot.com/ts/w3ej5 Our Adoption fund gets 100% of the proceeds!

We are still in need of about $10,000. "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Mat 19:26

We appreciate ALL the support in our Fundraising efforts!

Distance, delivery and determination!

IV and took a road trip yesterday.  This trip had a double purpose.....make a delivery + have some fun!  After we kissed III goodbye, we on the road for about an hour drive.  On our drive I talked to IV (3yo)  about the places we were going and the experiences we would have.  This is also when I started to feel pretty yucky and knew a sinus infection might be creeping in.  First hint: used an entire box of Kleenex on our drive!

First stop: deliver our 28 page Adoption Application to  Family Life Services.  III and I spent long, prayerful days filling it out. Since we had never been to the Agency, I was hoping to see as much as we could.   The Adoption agency is attached to Godparent Maturnity Home where the Birthmothers  live.  We turned in our application and ask to use the 'potty'.  Little did I know, the potty was right thru a door that led into the Girls' home.  So, we got to peek into a few of the girl's rooms and it reminded me of dorm living. Two or three beds in each room and all decorated very cute!  I loved how clean and fresh everything was.  I would live there and that made me happy and it made me feel like they are well taken care of :)


As we left, I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I thought about the possibility of our Baby being there (in utero) too. Or maybe the Birthmother hasn't even made her way there yet.  Either way, I prayed for God's continued guidance and grace through this process.  And now having been there, I'm thankful of the decision we've made, proud of the birthmother for taking a step to live there and proud of the Agency who seeks God in all decisions! And relieved to have the Application done and delivered! 


Off to the 'fun' part now.  Amazement Square....which is a wonderful, interactive, learning museum!  Notes for next time: #1 don't wear a dress...even a casual dress because there are a lot of fun slides, etc that IV wouldnt do without me.  #2 don't go on a day when there is a large group of Elementary aged kids there.  #3 don't go at noon when you haven't had lunch. IV had a snack on the drive (11:00)...I did not. And #4 (most important) don't go to a loud, interactive museum when Mommy is sick!


IV, being such a laid back, self entertaining child, had a BLAST!  He loved the Golf ball exhibit and the Farm exhibit.  We will go back!!!!!


So what's the next step in our Adoption Process:   We will prayerfully wait to be approved by the Agency's Board of Directors.  There is a required Orientation in Sept for Approved families.... We hope to be invited!!!  Also, we will continue to have fundraisers for our Adoption.


Fundraisers:
1.  All proceeds from Tastefully Simple orders will go in our Adoption account.  Hosting a Taste-testing party is a Win-Win.... You get FREE products and we raise money. 


2. We are planning another Yard Sale in Sept or Oct.  We are already accepting donated items for this fundraiser.  You may contact me to deliver or schedule a time for pick up. Keep ya posted on the date!


3.  Chick-fil-a Spirit Night - we plan to have few of these.  How it works: bring your friends and family to eat at CFA on a specific night with the Coupon. A percentage of the sales will go to our Adoption fun. I will keep you posted on the dates.


And the best fundraiser of all, pray that God will supply our needs, 

Above and Beyond....

The alarm rang at 4am.   My heart was saying "Let's get this party started!" but my body was saying "Lady, you are not serious!"  Thankfully my heart won and we had ourselves a party, AKA, Yard sale.

To tell the story of EVERYTHING God did on Sat, July 14th would take a very long time but here are some highlights....

* Over 30 families donated items to be sold for our Fundraiser.  We were still collecting things the day of the Yard sale. We are SO grateful for the generosity of so many. It was truly overwhelming.  We had a lady with has 2 adopted Children, who saw our post on Craigslist, come and bring Children's clothes to donate to our yard sale. A total stranger. Unbelievable!

* 2 Moms and their children offered to do a Lemonade stand for us. But lemonade was not enough for this crew..."Go BIG or Go Home!"   So we had bottled water, coffee and 6 ladies made baked goodies and individually wrapped them.  It was awesome, YUMMY and SO fun!

* We priced and sorted almost every item that came to us. Everything from Elliptical machines, TVs,  furniture, clothes, kitchen items, jewelry and SO much more!  Thank you to all who helped with pricing and sorting! Thank you to all who helped load and unload, pick up and deliver. There are SO many more people to thank and I hope to do each properly!

* We are SO thankful to our friends who came to our Yard sale to shop!!  Some got some wonderful deals and others didn't find anything they "needed" and still gave a donation. We are grateful for you and your support!

* As I prayed about the Yard sale, I asked God for a specific amount.  This number would be the amount due of our next step in the Adoption process. It was a lofty GOD type number.  I was not even sure we had enough items to equal the "God" amount.  I only told one other person my number and her response was "You need to be happy if you make $800".  This was lower than my "God" amount and I was so defeated.
But ya know what God did?  We made DOUBLE my "LOFTY, GOD" amount!!!  Praise God!!  He provided the money for the next step in our Adoption process and the beginnings of the following amount we will need!

* The Yard sale was from 7am-noon.  Our first customer came at 5:30am. Our last came at 2:00.  The rain came at 1:30 and we scrambled to get everything under the canopy or in the garage.  We sent some things to the Rescue Mission and kept others for our next Adoption Fund Yard sale in the Fall.  Stay tuned....

* Mid morning a man, who grew up in the house we are living in, came to our Yard Sale.  He asked to walk through the house.  Jay led him in and it was neat to hear his stories.

* Today when we came home from Church, there was a truck parked in front of our house.  As I pulled in the driveway, a young man was walking to our front door.  I recognized him as a guy who was interested in buying the futon at the Yard Sale.  He asked if it was still available and it was. As we were helping him carry it to his truck, we asked him a few questions. Came to find out, he was adopted from India.  Grew up in Roanoke. Was mentored through 'Big Brother' in High school by a good friend of ours.  Just graduated from college and considers himself Agnostic now.  Jay had a wonderful conversation with him and plans to connect him and his 'Big Brother' again.  God's timing is PERFECT!  Just as the sermon today spoke to us.....God is always faithful.  Even if you walk away from Him. He is still faithful to you!  WHEW!  What a great Word!

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in Goda; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”  John 14:1-4

If I have not communicated how grateful we are and how overwhelmed by the LOVE shown to us, please know it is my intention to make it clear.  But most of all, we give the LORD all the glory. We praise Him for the ability, the energy and resources He has supplied.  We praise Him for the family and friends we have that have unselfishly contributed time, items to sell, items to help us sell (hangers, tables, etc) and money.  Bringing our Child home seems closer and closer by the day. Yesterday was one step closer to bringing Baby Dove home!

Thank you.

Come one, come all!

Our ADOPTION FUND Yard Sale is set for Friday and Saturday, July 13th & 14th!  I hope everyone can stop by and shop, get a cup of lemonade or drop off a monetary donation.

We are also still taking in Donated items to sell at the Yard Sale. Please bring your items by before June 29th.

Adoption Update:  Jay and I are still working on our 28 pages application. It is very thought provoking and tough.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue on this journey!

Round 1

YEAH!  We are celebrating today!  We mailed in our Pre-application and we received an email today saying we have been ACCEPTED to move forward in the Adoption Process!!!  WHOOOO HOOOO!

Our next step is a 28 pages, VERY DETAILED, application!

Its been awhile....

I honestly can't remember why I stopped blogging. I guess emailing pictures and posting on FB took less time.

IV is about to be 3 yrs old at the end of the month.  Man, how time passes!  And although we coasted through the 2's, the 3's appear to be where the 'sin nature' kicks in full force.  As disobedient as he can be, he can be that much more loving!  And the Lord reminds me that He probably sees us in the same way sometimes.  And our love for him, just like God's, never changes!  IV is a precious gift from God that we never take for granted.

We have a fun summer plans...joined the pool, play dates, painting, biking, traveling, and some learning!

And although, my '3 yr old self' kicks in and wants things my way, the Lord has shown me that He has something else in mind.  After 3 failed IVF attempts, we knew our next steps immediately.  Not because of the failures but because God showed both of us His plan for our family very clearly.

We are ADOPTING!

After much prayer and seeking Godly wisdom, we have chosen to begin the application process with Family Life Services.  Our initial application is turned in and we hope to hear about our next steps this week.

Right now, our only steps are are pray and to seek God's guidance on Fundraising.  So far, we have planned:
- Yard Sale on Fri and Sat, July 13th & 14th to raise money for our Adoption Fund.  We are asking friends and family to donate items for us to sell (along with our stuff).
- All the funds I make with Tastefully Simple (www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jdove1) will go towards bringing our Child home.   I'm currently seeking more Team members and Hosts for taste testing parties.
- Apply for Grants when we are at that point in the Adoption process.

We hope to re-start this blog to keep you updated on the Dove's Nest!