So far in 2015 we are seeing some slow but steady progress
in our adoption process. In the summer
of last year I felt like we were being called to do a Daniel Fast in January if
we didn’t have a new family member by then.
A Daniel Fast is a fast running for 21 days where participants only eat
fruits, vegetables and grains--no sugar, no preservatives and no animal
products. In addition to the food
restrictions it’s also a chance to seek the Lord and His will and in my case
take a break from running. For us this
year we wanted to focus on God’s will for our family after all, the amount of
money needed for the process still seemed so far off and we were having little
luck with grants. Maybe we needed to
take a different approach? Were we being
called to do a foster care or special needs adoption? We weren’t sure but as the 21 days of praying
and fasting went on we started to see clearly.
One verse that stuck out to us was “Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race
marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1. This
verse gave us peace about the journey we were on. If it took several more years to add to our
family then so be it. That would be His
will for our family. About a week after
the fast ended we got a call that we had been selected for a matching
grant. It further confirmed that we were
on the right path.
Through the amazing generosity of our friends and family we
were able to receive the maximum amount for our matching grant in just about
half the time allotted for it. Progress
was being made but it still seemed so far off.
We checked with Pauquettes and found out there was an agency in Chicago that
was charging less than we had initially thought we needed. After finding out how much we’d receive in
tax returns it was go time. We were able
to make the long awaited call to Pauquette’s saying “Ok we are ready to start
having our profile shown.” This set off
several long nights of working on our profile book but it was well worth
it. It wasn’t long before our profile
books were shipped off to Pauquettes and on to the agency in Chicago.
It’s exciting to know our adoption now is in someone else’s
hands. We have tried so long to save,
find extra sources of income and write grants.
Up until this point we were still responsible for when this process
would continue. In some ways we still
do hold the reins. If we are able to add
another $2000 to our adoption account we’ll have enough to share our family
profile with several agencies that cost more.
That could significantly change how much longer we wait for a new family
member. Even though that is true, it is
still crazy and exciting to know that at any time we could get picked to be
adoptive parents. With one phone call
our lives, our schedules and our family dynamics could change. I pray that God would prepare us when the
time comes and that He would grant us patience in the waiting.
Prayer points:
- patience for us
- guidance of where and when to send out family profile to other agencies
- pray that God would prepare MaeLynn for the role of big sister
- for the birth parents of our future child and health for the child
- that we would be wise in our spending
How you can help:
- pray for us
- make a delicious meal. Buy Wildtree products or host a Wildtree party. Twenty percent of all sales go into our adoption fund. Thank you to everyone who has already purchased products. For more information or to order go to www.mywildtree.com/lizgosse
- buy a piece of our puzzle and be part of our story. See previous blog posts for more information
No comments:
Post a Comment