Beauty from Ashes

  It has been 5ish months since we began our adoption journey. I feel like our lives have been turned upside down, but in a good way:) Before we began this journey I knew very little about international orphans and the conditions they live in. I knew next to nothing about down syndrome, and I took so much in my life for granted. God has been slowing taking away all our hindrances to faith, our health insurance, his job (financial security) our control over the timing of our adoption. But I can honestly say I have never been more happy and full of joy then I have been in the last few weeks. My marriage is stronger and Joey and I are truly loving spending so much time together. In a weird way it is a dream come true. Who wouldn't want to not work and have 24/7 family time? We have hit obstacles with the adoption that make the little things we accomplish all the more sweet. We cannot scrimp and save for the adoption and try to pay for it ourselves, so we have to trust that God will provide the money. We were so blessed to be able to walk in and have our fingerprints done yesterday at USCIS department. I called yesterday to update our status with their office and we were told we have an officer assigned to our case. That is a great sign!! We could possibly be looking at approval soon, that means we could be submitted in the next few weeks. The timeline is getting shorter and shorter but our funds have not moved above the $1,700 range. My Bible reading this morning was from Luke 5. Jesus was calling his disciples and he told Simon to let down his nets to catch some fish. Simon told Jesus that they had been fishing all night long and hadn't caught ANYTHING. That is how we feel right now.  BUT...Simon said in vs 5 "because you say so, I will let down the nets." If you don't know the story Simon's crew caught such a large amount of fish they had to call another boat over to help them and even still both boats were so full they began to sink. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God has called us to this adoption, and we are trusting that in His timing our nets will overflow with all we need to accomplish what He has called us to do.
PS. Please don't think we are just sitting around waiting for donations for our adoption either:) We have applied for grants as soon as our homestudy was finished however most grants take months to be approved. We could easily be done with our adoption before we hear if we were approved. We have also done two yard sales, I have been selling Mary Kay and a few other home sales friends have donated their commission to our adoption.