Grant Granted

The road to adoption is full of many joys and challenges. The greatest joy being the inclusion of a child into our family and the greatest challenge being finances. We were recently awarded a matching funds grant to help with our adoption expenses thru Hand in Hand Adoption, Inc. A non-profit private operating foundation. They will match any funds donated through our friends and family dollar for dollar. All donations are tax deductible. If you would be willing to help us in this step of our journey, send a check payable to "Hand in Hand Christian Adoptions". For tax purposes our name should only be on the envelope, not the check. All donations must be postmarked by November 1st and Mailed to:
hand in hand Christian adoption, Inc
Williams family adoption
18318 mimosa court
Gardner, KS 66030
You do not have to be called to adopt to help orphans. God may lead you to help support those who adopt. Thanks for your prayerful consideration in helping us on this journey!!

In the silence

So, this journey has been full of hurry up and wait. Any of you who've traveled this road know exactly what I mean. The last month has been more challenging for me than months prior. We spent May filling out paperwork for our wonderful adoption consultant, Tracie Loux and then waiting for her to complete our family profile. In June we filled out all our home study paper work then waited on our home visit. July was spent waiting for our home study to be complete. August we filled out agency and grant applications and we continue to wait. Every once in a while we will get some kind of contact from an agency but as of yet it hasn't been a "do you want to be presented?" call. Even though I know this is all part of God's plan, the human side of me wants to know what's next?? I have repeatedly felt the Lord telling me over these weeks that he is working in the silence. This is His story and he is continuing to write even when I can't see the next chapter! With each passing day I look forward to the glory He will be given each time I tell our story with whatever details he writes. Continuing to "trust in the Lord with all my heart, leaning not on my own understanding. In all my ways acknowledging him, and he will make straight my paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Here we go!!

Guess what I just did? I just left the office of our social worker where I picked up our home study!! I went straight from there to the post office to mail off our first packet!! I am beside myself with excitement! Tonight we will finish up 2-3 more applications and get them in the mail. I finally feel like we are making a step forward. Now that we are home study ready we can begin the grant and loan process. Our prayer continues to be for God's guidance and provision. And that in every step He will be glorified!! Remember, if you'd like to get one (or more) of our t-shirts you can pay via the donate button and I'll get it to you. Or if you find the Lord leading you to simply donate to our adoption fund that can be done in the same way. We know this can be a very fast process where money is expected quickly or it can take a while. We are looking forward to the ways in which the Lord will do a mighty work!! Thank you for your continued support and prayers in this wonderful journey.

T-shirt excitement

When mason got dressed today he asked to wear his adopted shirt and he headed out to play. The next thing I knew he'd sold a shirt to a neighbor. Then another. We had to leave for a bit but later with the enlisted help of his cousin Bella they were at it again. This time he asked David to walk with him. Not only did he ask friends, but also strangers! If only we could all have the boldness and bravery of a child. It is so wonderful to see their excitement to help bring their baby sister home!! If you'd like a shirt and don't see me, you can pay by using the paypal button here and I'll mail it to you. They are $20 and I have sizes YM-adult XL. Be sure to give me your address!! Thanks in advance for not only helping us but also raising awareness of domestic adoption.

Updates

I've been waiting for something worth mentioning to update the blog. Now's the time. First of all we have spent the past two weekends having garage sales in both TN and AL. We were overwhelmed by the donations provided by friends, family, and even strangers. The Lord provided both stuff to sell and people to buy it! Second, the baby bottles of change keep coming in. Every coin helps!! You can see from the fundraising thermometer that we have made a little progress. Third, we have a date for our home study...July 17th!!! Much to my social workers surprise my finger prints have returned. Which leads me to my first prayer request. Please pray David's prints return without issue. We mailed them off together and now 3 mail days later than mine his have not returned. Also, the person who handles child abuse clearance for the state has left and they aren't filling the position. Praying that doesn't delay that part of the process. Thank you all for your support and prayers. It means so much to us!!

Waiting in line

I've been saying for several weeks that I feel like I'm waiting in line to get on a roller coaster. Its a scary, yet exciting place to be. I know that there will be ups and downs, twist and turns and in the end I'll be happy I got on the ride. Having just begun our home study process, my dining room table is covered in stacks of papers. Organized chaos. I know exactly what needs to be done or has been completed in each stack. Today I relinquished my first stack to the postal system. That took my breath away. I felt like I was giving up a bit of control. So now our finger prints are on their way and we are one stack of papers closer to our newest blessing!

Pennies and Prayers

We started our first fundraiser today!!  It is very difficult to ask people to donate, but as you may or may not know adoption is very costly and fundraising is a must for us.  I know the Lord is in complete control because as I hear the large dollar amounts being tossed around I haven't freaked out or began to worry.  I don't know how the Lord is going to provide, but I am confident that he will!  I realize that "He is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" Ephesians 3:20 and if He wants it to show up in our mailbox it will, but He may choose to show himself mighty thru fundraising.  This one is easy!!  I've passed out some baby bottles and asked for them to be filled with spare change and returned when finished.  When its returned I'll add it to the fund and give the bottle to someone else.

My mom suggested to enlist help from friends and family around the country who I may not can get a bottle to.  If you'd like to participate I challenge you to fill a cheap bottle with as many coins as you wish and mail it to me.  As money begins to come in I am going to make a list on here somewhere to indicate how much has come from different places around the country.  It will be fun to see where all we can collect change from. 

My hope is that this will be fun and easy!!  Thanks in advance for your prayers and pennies (coins).

Faithfully Ever After

A couple of months ago David and I attended a conference called "kNOw more orphans".  Obviously the Lord had been tugging at our hearts or we probably never would have been there.  One of the speakers said that at the end of his life he wanted it to be said not that he'd lived "happily ever after" but "faithfully ever after".  I loved that!!  My sentiments exactly. 

So over the course of these two months we have looked into different ways to care for the orphan and feel completely led to adopt a little girl from right here in America.  We have signed up with a consulting agency (Christian Adoption Consultants) who in just a week has held my hand thru the beginning stages of adoption.  I love it! 

Our boys knew we'd been to the conference and knew we were praying and seeking guidance from the Lord, but last Sunday we told them we are officially adopting.  They are so excited and can't wait to have a baby sister.  You'd think they had a megaphone telling everyone they can.  On Monday they wanted to name her.  I explained that she may come in the form of a toddler who already has a name and it won't be like the dog where we just change it.  They understood but wanted to work on a list just in case.  Mason took the list to school where his friends took a vote on their favorites and his teacher even added a few names!

We are all so eager to get all the balls in motion!  A few friends have encouraged me to blog my way thru this process so here we go.  I don't feel that I have the gift of writing as some of the other bloggers do, but spilling my heart I can do!