God listens!

Well, it's been 2 month since my last post. We've been slammed with adoption homework, Todd's 2 jobs, Elijah got tubes in his ears, and traveling to FL to visit my Mom.

As I was reading my last post, I smiled because God has answered 2 of our prayer requests since then......

1. Our adoption fundraiser yardsale was a hit!! I asked for $2500 and the Lord provided $2700!!! The Lord always goes above and beyond! We had 33 families donate. My house was wall-to-wall stuff for a week. We had people knocking on the door all week long to bring stuff, and shop. I never want to see a round sticker again.

2. Our country decision. We were so unsure about Congo. The Lord led us to China. We are excited! China is one of the few countries, other than Congo, with a short travel time and young kids available. Their adoption program is only for kids with medical special needs. We requested to be matched with a child with only the most minor/correctable conditions (minor developmental delays, cleft lip, extra/missing digit, crossed eyes, birthmarks). And we have a good chance of getting matched with a girl, as a result of the "One child policy" that requires many families to abandon their 2nd female child. There are 1 MILLION kids in China waiting for their "forever family"

What's Next....

• ONE more document left for Todd to do!! He's been so busy that he hasn't had much chance to get it done. And that will conclude our homestudy!!!
• Our 4th and FINAL homestudy meeting with our social worker (this meeting will be in Birmingham) will be in June - Lord Willing.
• Our social worker is typing up all of our MANY documents into one official package called our "dossier" pronounced doss-ee-ay
• Our dossier will be sent to the State Dept. and translated into Chinese
• Then it will be sent to China and we will be officially "in" China (hopefully by the Fall?)
• Wait for immigration approval
• We will then wait a few months to be matched with our child!
• Wait for travel invitation (~ 10-12 months from now?)

 How our fundraising is going...

• Still selling coffee! The Lord has used it to provide $800 so far!
• Our total is about $17,000 thus far! Thankfully switching to china will not increase our fees too much. Our goal is still $28,000
• Trusting God for donors for our $2500 matching grant (give $2500 and get $5000)

a typical baby room in china, where the child-adult ratio is VERY low

can you imagine- no hugs, no holding hands, no reading books together, no family movie night...

just waiting for your next bottle to be propped up on a pillow

spring fun/homestudy update

We are about 60% finished our homestudy. In 2 months, I've read 2 books, completed 7 hours of online training, had 2 interviews with social worker, and other random paperwork. Whew..... Still have about 10 hours to go for our online training. Why does it have to be so difficult? There are so many kids out there and some days, I just feel "stuck" in paperwork. But God is teaching me a lot about patience, submitting to our government and trusting Him with all 147 million orphans. HE can take care of them a lot better than I can.

Gearing up for yard sale fundraiser. Getting lots of donations. Praying that God would provide $2500 in this yard sale to go towards our $2500 matching grant. If you'd like to donate anything... email me KimberlyLPate@gmail.com

Praying for God to lead in our country choice. Not certain the congo is for us. There have been some more safety warnings. Still no completed adoption in congo through our agency. Waiting on the Lord. Don't have to be decided until the final interview with social worker. Another country? Stick with congo, but go with a different agency? There are only a few other countries that have babies available, and a relatively short travel time.

I'm having a ball outside with the boys this spring. Micah is the best bug-hunter I've ever seen. From sun-up to sun-down, he has his fingers in the dirt. Poor Todd can't join us though. It's been an aweful allergy season this year. Elijah follows Micah everywhere. Getting ready for his 2nd birthday.

Our latest addition to the family. Baby chickens.

I guess I'm the Mama hen. They follow me everywhere.

More highlights from adoption retreat weekend

If you've adopted, or are considering, you have to go on this retreat...

http://www.createdforcare.com/

There's another retreat in March because this one got so full!

I had an AWESOME weekend at the retreat with other adoptive Mommy's. I learned so much- practically and spiritually. Some highlights...

• Amazed by the fact that there are so many other Mom's (430 to be exact!) that are walking the same journey that understand the struggles, and the joys.
• "The world sees orphans, Jesus sees disciples."
• Learned that there are 147 million orphans in the world; all hopeless, all longing for a "forever family"
• God is faithful and He will provide when He calls. Obey Him and He will work out the details.
• I cannot parent an adopted child the same way I have Micah and Elijah- they come home with many scars, different needs. We've been the "cry it out" type of parents with our bio. kids. This will not be the case with an adopted child.
• I think I may have been convinced to adopt 2 at the same time. It's the most wise way to use our time and money God has given us. It's only $3000 more, and no more time, to adopt 2 at the same time, rather than seperately. But we'll see where God leads us in the coming months.
• We would like to travel all together- Todd, myself, Micah and Elijah, and take a "helper." We want to experience the culture, orphanage, family bonding, etc all together. Micah will be 5ish, and Elijah will be 3ish by the time we can travel.
• God has created me to connect with my kids better than I've been doing. I stay home allll day with them, but I don't always "connect". I was given many tools to help me in this. One of my favorites: when Micah does something I don't like, instead saying "dont do that" say "Micah you can try that again. Would you like to do a. or b."
• Giving choices, getting on their level, going to them~ the way God has come to us
• Be patient in the waiting
• I was completely blown away by the world of infertility in the adoption community. I have a whole new level of thankfulness for our bio boys. I am completely humbled to hear how so many women have struggled through it.
• God isn't just working in the life of an orphan. He's changing me too.
• Do not have any expectations of our child when we bring him/her home. It only leads to disappointment.
• Todd is a really good husband and Daddy! He took such good care of the boys and the house while I was gone. They had a really great time together. I asked Micah what they did with Daddy and he said "We've been eating and eating and eating".

 

I (miraculously!) woke up early to see the sunrise on Lake Lanier. God reminded me that just as He provides sunshine for us everyday, He will provide for our adoption- financially, emotionally, timewise

A fellow Congo Mommy. She has adopted 1 already and is in the process of getting #2 from the Congo. I sat at a table FULL of other Congo Mommy's, which was my first time to chat with other Congo Mommy's. I'm not the only crazy one!!!

 I got some really good time to talk to God about my worries, and for the rest of the family, and to pray for the country. I found myself on my knees, in tears, on top of this map that was laid out on the floor. I think the whole map was wet with many other Mommy's tears.

Another congo Mommy. Has 3 biological kids, and a little boy from congo.

My 2 sweet friends from Auburn, who have adopted from china and Russia. They've been "adoption mentors" for me and such an encouragement. We were 3 of 430 women at this retreat!!!

I love this!

Another Auburn Mommy. Adopted from the Ukraine.

God's provision/our first homestudy interview

As of February 2, we are at $11,800. I am absolutely blown away by God's faithfulness in providing for us. I'm excited to be closer to the halfway mark, but it's a little scary also that we're close to the halfway mark.

We had a great first interview with our social worker. I was expecting some tears, but I did ok. I let Todd do a lot of the talking. Im feeling very vulnerable in this process. Pretty much all of our "dirt" is being dug up and talked about. She was gracious and I felt ok being myself. I feel the freedom to speak about our struggles, and reminded that Jesus makes us whole. Loving the fact that our adoption agency is very grace-centered. But I do have a hard time with some of the repetition of our paperwork and interviews (ie How many times are they going to ask me "Are you a convicted felon?").

Next on our homestudy agenda:

• Todd has to do his autobiography (I finished mine already!) before we can schedule our next meeting with social worker
• Reading 2 books on adoption, 1 of which is 440 pages long, and more required reading on the internet
• Moooorrrre paperwork. errrr.
• Need to get our AIDs and syphyillis shots. errrrrr.

so excited!

God continues to be gracious to us and provide for us...We got a $2500 matching grant!! I know that God will provide the other $2500!

Total so far, we're at $6800!!!! So thankful for God's provision!!!!

january '12

I/We are currently...

• preparing for a Mommy's-only adoption retreat "created for care"- speakers, fellowship, connecting with other congo families, spending time with Auburn friends who have adopted
• in the homestudy- getting fingerprinted, filling out forms, reading books, writing autobiographies
• fundraising- trusting God for about $1000 to have homestudy finalized in the next few months
• excited that we have about 7 months until we learn the child's name, medical records and get a picture
• finished reading "There is no me without you" by Melissa Fay Greene- awesome biography of an Ethiopian woman who became a foster mother to 250+ orphans. Most of them were left parentless due to AIDS.
• learning more and more about trusting God, not man, to provide. Romans 8:32 says "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

brief update

• We got our 2nd payment in, and a few documents. Waiting to hear about starting the homestudy. Hopefully anyday now.
• Up to $4300 in our fundraising
• Waiting to hear back about a $4000 grant that we applied for
•  Planning to go on an adoption retreat (www.CreatedforCare.Com) with some friends from Lakeview that have recently adopted. Im excited about learning more from other Mother's that have walked this journey. Excited about the break-out session entitled "caring for African hair"
• Have tentative yard sale fundraiser on Saturday, March 24

Little brother copies EVERYTHING big brother does