Honestly

I have been wanting to write on the blog for a few weeks but haven't had time with my mom's hip replacement.
I don't even know where to start...

I love this time of year, the weather, the holidays approaching, the pumpkins and smells! But it has been difficult for me to see pictures of everyone's children plastered all over Facebook with the pumpkins and the family portraits. It makes me want our child to be here, to be able to take him/her to a pumpkin patch, to take family pictures and plaster them all over Facebook too! I knew the adoption process would be a journey, but it is hard for me because instead of being excited to becoming a new mom, like every mom should be; We are struggling to find fundraiser ideas, and  begging people to help us financially. I dislike our whole focus being on money, money, money. But, it kind of has to be if we will ever be able to bring this child home! I'm not the kind of person who likes to ask for help, and especially to ask people for money! This is hard for me and the only reason I continue to push forward is for our child whom is waiting on us to bring them home!  I've been anxious ever since we sent in our $2000 for the home study, which left our Adoption fund extremely low and left me wondering what in the world are we going to do? I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I am extremely grateful and we couldn't have come this far without everyone's help. We will continue to move forward,  trusting in God and knowing that he will continue to provide just as he has so far. We have a picture on the wall that says, "The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you." We believe that! :)

Another speed bump has been that when Allan lost his job in December, he was unable to get insurance until he started at Biltmore and a few months after he got insurance he had the endoscopy and colonoscopy and now the insurance is saying that because it was more than 63 days before he got insurance that everything is considered a pre-existing condition meaning they aren't going to pay for any of it. That leaves us with $15,000 in medical bills! We are overwhelmed, but continue to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding, seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take" Proverbs 3:5-6.

 We can't do this by ourselves, we are exhausted, we are anxious and overwhelmed! We just continue to give it to God, he is in control not us, we will continue to seek his guidance in what we need to do and trust in Him because HE is all we have! I just ask that you please pray for us during this time. This too shall pass! Thank you.

Zumba Fundraiser!

Wow! Zumba was a lot of fun last night, I didn't want to stop! We had three raffles, a Mary Kay basket, a Zumba basket, and a Photography Session all donated to us! Krystal really went all out and had a table with her Mary Kay in neat little baskets with candy, we had our crafts/earrings on a table, Melissa's daughter had made picture frames, and we had a table for Allan's newly started business, Scentsy.
We are so thankful, grateful and blessed  for all the help that people continue to give us through this long journey. We are thankful to Melissa and her family who donated their time, their abilities and their resources to make this Zumba fundraiser happen! We also couldn't have done this without all the help of all our friends and my mom! They continue to stand by us and show support and help in any way that they can. Words cannot even describe how blessed we are to have them in our lives. We thank God everyday for all he has done for us and all the people that he is putting in our lives! It is so neat to see God working in our lives, through the good and the bad and to know he is always there!

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

Here are some pictures from the Zumba fundraiser! 

The group from last night, minus a few!

Allan's Scentsy Table

Melissa's Daughters picture frame table

My mom at our Craft/Earring table

Krystal's Mary Kay table

Karen and Heather collecting money

Dancing!

Good News!

We finished up our last home study today with her coming to our house. Everything went well and we are so grateful! She asked more questions and she did a walk through of the inside and outside of our home. She said we are approved and now we can continue to move forward in the process. We now owe $2000 for the homestudy completion and are waiting on the bill for her travel expenses from today. We have about a 90 day wait for her to complete the homestudy paperwork and then she will send us 3 copies. When we receive that paperwork we will add it to all the other documents we have to make up our Dossier and will send that in to Ethiopia! We are making progress and give God all the Glory! He really gave me peace and calmness through these interviews as normally I'd be a hot mess! I read a lot of scripture while waiting to start each homestudy and was encouraged by Psalm 118 & 119. I also clung to Matthew 6:25-34 because I tend to worry too much!

We are so overwhelmed with love! We are so blessed that God has put so many people in our path and their willingness to help us start our family! We have another fundraiser in place for September 28th at 6:30 at the VFW in Brevard. We are so thankful for this opportunity and for the people that are making this happen for us! We couldn't do this without all their help, support and encouragement! We had a friend who put up a donation jar at her work and people donated $48! I'm just in awe of how much support we have received! We just can't thank everyone enough for their continued prayers and support! This is a long journey and we are so blessed to have all this support!  Ok, I could keep going on and on about how blessed we are. But, it is time to go to church so I'll end for now!

Here is Matthew 6:25-34 NLT for all you other worriers out there!

²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[d] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.