Manna

I have been thinking a lot lately about the manna that the Israelites were given in the wilderness. How it was sweet and filling and straight from the Provider. Also, how there was just enough each day to meet their needs. Any more and it would spoil. Each and everyday they rose, went out, expectant for God to provide this life-sustaining food for them. After all those years, do you think it became second nature for them to look to Him to provide? Do you think it increased their faith?And every day He did. It is such a picture for us.

As Christians, God wants to provide our needs, He desires to give us what we want, but we have to become in the habit of looking to HIM to provide it. I think our minds are too small, (as well as our expectations) for Him to give us everything we need for this life in one swoop. He knows that part of this faith walk is to be able to look expectantly into His face and believe that HE has everything we need. Everything.

Our adoption is the reason I have been thinking about manna and those Israelites. If He would have given us all we needed to financially back this adoption, I know I would not have looked to Him with the fervency that I am looking at Him now. Nor would I appreciate when He allows the blessing to flow at the exact time we need them to.

You know what..I don't think I would have the confidence that adoption is exactly what He has called us to either. There is something about God calling AND providing that makes the call even more sacred.

Another thing that the children of Israel did, was they went. They put feet to their faith and when it was time to pack up and leave Egypt. They went. They gave God the chance to provide. Could He have provided for them in Egypt..well, yes, but would they have recognized Him for who He is....Jehovah Jirah. The God who provides.

Sometimes it takes a call. A step of faith to really really see God as our provider. Sometimes it takes the simple act of just picking up the manna and having the faith to not doubt it will be there tomorrow too.

We joke about how many stares we will get when our homeschooling family increases to 7 with two Ethiopian children, but it is my prayer that we will be a living testimony of God's provision. How HE alone can take simple Israelite slaves and turn them into a mighty banner of His love, grace and yes, His provision.

Yard Sale

Well, we had our adoption fund raiser Yard Sale this weekend. We had about 6 families donate stuff and we had a TON of stuff for sure! Friday was an awesome day and we ended up making about $340!

There were so many nice people that gave more than they bought and said to put it towards our adoption. Saturday started out nice, but around 10:30 the dark clouds began rolling in and soon we were scrambling to get everything picked up before the rain started.

I had thoughts of waiting it out and setting everything back up, but it was still raining by 2:00 that afternoon, I knew our day was up! We still ended up making around $500 and that was the amount I was praying for! Here are some pictures from Friday:


A BIG THANKS to all who donated and a HUGE thanks to Deana for bringing Bojangles each morning and coming to help at the crack of dawn on her summer break!

Abby

Back in January when we were going through the home study process of our adoption, I mentioned to Greg that we should pray about the possibility of asking our 12 year old daughter, Abigail to go with us to Ethiopia, This was back when we were only required to make one trip ( is it still that way or is it two trips now? ...who knows!) We prayed about it and decided to mention it to her and see what she thought. At first she was not sure. She likes her comfort things, that is for sure! The whole eating different, lack of showers, loong flights...she just wasn't sure. Greg wisely encouraged her to pray about it and seek God's leading. So, she said she would...

Back the beginning of March she decided she wanted to go. I was thrilled. I cannot think of anything better for a preteen American girl to do to change her perspective than spend a week in a third world country ministering to "the least of these".

Then we dropped the bomb. She needed to come up with the money for her own plane ticket. Especially with the whole two trip scenario out there still, we simply cannot afford the extra ticket. She has been saving since August half of her allowance for adoption expenses and so we told her to put that towards her ticket (about $100) and she decided to write letters telling family and friends what she wanted to do and asking for donations for her plane ticket. We are expecting it will cost around $1200.

About 3 weeks ago she wrote and mailed off 21 letters. As of today she has over $600! Half way there! Thanks so much to those who have contributed! I love watching her face as she gets checks in the mail and continues to count up how much she has and how much she needs.

We are going to have a big yard sale in June as she is planning to sell a lot of her stuff then. she is continuing to split her allowance in half and save it for the trip. I am praying the Lord will use this trip to impact her young life and give her a heart and burden for orphan care that will continue on through her teens and adult life.

IF we have to make the two trips, she is planning on going on the second trip, when we actually get to bring Isaac home. We are estimating that trip will be September or October. I am so happy that she will be joining us on this life changing experience!

Great News

I copied this off the Christian Alliance Blog. This is GREAT news for families adopting or considering adopting this year!

Amidst the intense controversy of the health care bill signed into law by President Obama yesterday, there’s at least one provision every orphan advocate can cheer. The adoption tax credit was preserved for another year…and increased in value!

To encourage and support adoption, the adoption tax credit was expanded by President Bush and Congress in 2001. This increased the value of the credit from $5,000 to $10,000, and indexed it for inflation (meaning the credit would increase each year to keep up with inflation.) For 2010, its value had risen to $12,170. However, the 2001 increase was scheduled to “sunset” at the end of 2010. This would mean that any adoptions finalized after December 31, 2010 would be eligible for—at most—a credit of only $5,000.

This sunset has now been extended one year. That means that it will need to be extended again before the end of 2011. For the present, however, this extension comes as very welcome news for families considering adoption or in the adoption process.

Specifically, the provisions contained in the health care bill include:

• The current adoption tax credit has been extended until the end of 2011;
• The value of the adoption tax credit has been increased from $12,170 to $13,170.
• The increase is “retroactive,” meaning that any adoption occurring after January 1, 2010 is eligible for this higher credit.
• The credit is now refundable. This means that even families that owe zero taxes can receive the full tax credit in the form of a tax refund to help with their adoption-related expenses.

The Good News and the Bad News

The Good News:

We received our I-171h form in the mail today! That was only 8 days from when it was mailed to USCIS. I was sooo excited! This means that Friday we will take all our paperwork to Raleigh and spend the day there waiting for it to be authenticated. We have to make 3 copies of everything and then Monday we will overnight our paperwork baby to AWAA in Virginia. Less than a week after that we should be DTE!!

The Bad News:

No less than 5 min after I had checked the mail and did the " received our I-171h form" dance, I checked my email and there was an email from AWAA to all parents adopting from Ethiopia. Apparently the government in Ethiopia is now requiring parents to be present at their first court date. As in be in Ethiopia about 4 weeks after your referral and then You will have to fly back to Ethiopia to pick up your child 10-12 weeks later.

What??!!

Ok..the bright side is we will get to meet Isaac about 4 weeks after we see his baby face. We will spend around 5 days loving on him and documenting him as an infant. The not so great thing is we will have to leave him there for 3 months. Gulp. This is why I would never even consider adopting from Russia or any country that you have to travel twice.

There are alot of questions swirling around with my awaa yahoo group pals and I have and we are trying to see the bright side of this. Maybe referrals will come quicker now? Maybe the possibility of passing court on the first try is higher? There is also talk of the possibility of escorting the babies to the US the second time.

I keep quoting Romans 8:28 to myself and know it will all work out in His perfect time and His perfect will.

We have an AWAA conference call tomorrow at 3:00. I am guessing they will break records for the most families listening in to find out the specifics and where to go from here.

Please pray for us and all the other families that are trying to understand this and are worried about the extra amount of money two trips will cost.

Sooo where does all the money go?

One of the first questions people that are new to international adoption want to know is,"Why does it cost so much money?" The money doesn't all go to one place, it is broken down, but it still is a lot of money! Our agency gives full time pastors a discount on the agencies program fees, so that will save us about $2500. We are thinking we will need to add about $5,000 to the total if we are selected for twins or siblings.

There are quite a few grants we can apply for once our home study is completed, so I am praying that some of those will come through. Someone said that an international adoption was about the same cost as having a baby in the US without insurance. That kinda puts it into perspective. I have linked our agency's price breakdown so that you can see where it all is going:

Adoption costs breakdown

Tee Shirts!

We are in the process of designing tee shirts to sell for our adoption costs. They will be $15 each. We are going with 2 different color shirts, Royal blue and maroon, with white ink. The kids and Greg , my mom, sister and friends have given me input on them and I think they are going to turn out really nice. Stay tuned!!