If by some small chance you hadn't caught our facebook updates:
We were issued our travel dates and will be in country in less than ten days.
After an entire year has passed since committing to The Child, it is strange to finally be taking this step.
After our home study, after our dossier, The Child's country completely fell apart this last spring. We should have traveled to meet him sometime in June, and when that timeline was tossed out the window, well.
I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but our little family sort of fell off the face of the earth. As much as everyone will say, "Oh, utilize your support system! Be active in your church family! Maintain friendships! Return calls! Bathe! Everyday!"
Sometimes that just isn't going to happen. It's all good advice, yes, but it didn't happen.
We haven't been to church in months. It isn't anything our church family has done. It's just me. I'm emotionally incapable of handling social situations right now. Since our initial time life fell apart, I fell apart with it. I haven't been utilizing my support system. I haven't been active in our church family. I haven't been maintaining friendships (sorry, guys. I do love you!). I haven't been returning phone calls and, No, I haven't been bathing every day.
Every day where we have been in limbo about The Child and the adoption, I've felt like I was in limbo within my own life.
It's been a form of depression where I've wrapped myself around my children and locked us up in our little house. I can't control The Child's country. I can control my living room. I can't control the in country agency. I can control my bed. I can't control the orphanage. I can control what I cook for dinner.
This isn't good and it might not be typical but it's been how I've been able to deal with the unknowns that have come up through our own adoption experience. I've wrapped up in my blanket of things that comfort me and make me feel safe and I've hidden away from everything else.
Not healthy?Possibly, but it's the healthiest way I could have handled this for myself.
Now, here we are, looking at boarding a plane and meeting our son in less than two weeks and I'm wrapping that blanket tighter.
I'm terrified of the travel, truth be told. I'm scared of being in a foreign country where I don't understand the language and I don't know anyone (except my husband, We are traveling together and that's honestly the only reason I'm not having a complete come apart right now.). I'm weirded out about eating foods that I don't know what might be in them. I'm scared to death about meeting The Child. What if he runs from us and screams? What if he's indifferent? And Oh, My God, what if he just runs up to me and hugs me and I don't feel that rush of love right off? What if, what if, what if? So I wrap myself tighter, pull my children I have at home into my lap and whisper to them how much I love them and I'm sorry I'm going to be gone for 11 days.
Nearly six months of adoption waiting depression followed by some absolute pure panic.
And I feel all these things appreciating that The Child is going to be absolutely THIS terrified when we go to bring him home. He is probably going to shell up and withdraw. He is going to be scared of new foods, and not knowing anyone, and this new place, and his brother and sister. He's going to be terrified being here and not understanding what anyone is saying. And the only people he WILL know is Me and his Dad and he'll need to share us with Magda and Mordecai.
How I'm feeling right now? This pit in my stomach, this ultimately unnecessary and really childish fear? That's exactly how he's going to be feeling.
So when our little family holes up and wraps tight again, when we don't utilize our support system, when we aren't active in our church family, when we're not maintaining friendships or returning phone calls and Yes, when we aren't all getting a bath every single day:
please forgive us?
please try and understand that while this is such a blessing in our lives
while we ARE excited and grateful and blessed beyond belief
We are also a little terrified.
A little lost.
And probably a lot sleep deprived.
But we will reach a healthy state at some point, and we will break from our hibernation, a fresh new family.
I love you all and we are so thankful for the unending support and kindness of everyone following our journey. We will be coming home with pictures and videos and enough stories to fill a blank copy of Les Miserables and I hope to share just as much as we can with everyone who wants to know (and possibly anyone who just might be standing in line by me at the store). You'll all be so tired of hearing about The Child by the time November rolls around. I promise.
After this visit, we will wait for court, where the adoption itself officially takes place. IF the adoption is granted, we will be invited back for another week long stay to pick up The Child and bring him home with us. That trip might possibly happen in February of 2014. If it does, we will have him home just before his 5th birthday.
So far, that's what we know. That's where we are.
Ten days till travel.
12 days till we meet him.
Take a deep breath.
This is really happening.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Puzzle Piece Fundraiser!
That's right!
We're still fundraising, as we are still waiting for the official referral
(and seeing as we have no idea when that will happen...)
So you guys get a chance to win a KINDLE FIRE HD!
That baby right there, brand new, freshly shipped from Amazon and waiting to be given away!
How this is going to work:
We chose a picture and had a keepsake puzzle made out of it.
There are 252 puzzle pieces. We are going to "sell" the pieces for $3 a piece. As pieces are purchased, we will write the buyers name on the back of a piece and put the puzzle together. I will post photos of our progress. When the puzzle is completed, we will have a beautiful keepsake for The Child when he gets home to help show him how many people love him and helped and supported us in bringing him home. =)
There are 252 puzzle pieces. We are going to "sell" the pieces for $3 a piece. As pieces are purchased, we will write the buyers name on the back of a piece and put the puzzle together. I will post photos of our progress. When the puzzle is completed, we will have a beautiful keepsake for The Child when he gets home to help show him how many people love him and helped and supported us in bringing him home. =)
For every piece you buy, I'll write your name on a slip of paper and when ALL the pieces have sold, we will have a drawing for the Kindle Fire HD.
Click the Donate button below and enter the amount for the number of pieces you'd like to purchase. =)
Monday, June 3, 2013
Nine Months
If adoption were like pregnancy, I would have brought The Child home this week.
Nine Months.
We've been working on this adoption for Nine Months now.
Our Dossier is sitting in The Child's country waiting for translation and consideration.
We are sitting around here having life and it's been Nine Months and He's not even close to coming home.
My niece is pregnant. She's about 21 weeks into her pregnancy. She just found out she's having a boy. We're trying to convince her to name him Bruce Lee. Or Bruce Wayne. Or not... I like my niece and her husband. lol But She and I get to visit nearly daily and she is in that lovely part of pregnancy I like to refer to as "There is a child inside me and I'd rather not feel so tired or throw up so often Thank you very much" and I can't help but wonder if We'll have our little boy home by the time her little boy makes his entrance.
I am in the stage of the adoption process that I like to refer to as "What am I even doing anymore why has this taken so long why does it all cost so much why can't they just see we're good people and He would be happy and taken care of with us and I just don't get it but give me another hoop and I'll jump through it because THIS IS HAPPENING if I have to swim across the ocean and hike to his orphanage and petition the courts myself with a pitchfork and smile and a Let me have my son, please."
Which translates to me wringing my hands, trying to keep my nervous stomach calm and using ninja breathing techniques to keep from flipping out half the time on well meaning people who ask me "So, when are you going to get that baby boy?" because in my head I am screaming "I DON'T KNOW AND THAT IS KILLING ME!"
Take a deep breath.
Nine Months. We committed to The Child nine months ago. He's had a birthday since then. He's a four year old now. There is a very real, very sad possibility that he may have another birthday before we can get him home. That possibility makes me wants to yell and scream and kick things. It really does. I'm a pretty calm, relaxed, patient, contained person... I am. But I would be a calm, relaxed, patient, contained, liar if I told you that I am perfectly content with the pace this adoption is moving.
I want to meet this kid so hard it hurts in my soul and even feeling that ache to hold this child in my arms and love him fiercely, I know I'm not really ready.
I know I'm not really prepared.
What parent is though? What parent can say they are absolutely fully prepared to walk into a room with a complete stranger that is their child without the slightest glint of fear in their eyes? What parent is handed that newborn in the hospital and doesn't have a moment of absolute crippling clarity that they are going to screw that kid up somehow? And being pretty sure they might actually do it before they get the kid buckled into the car seat in the parking lot.
By this time next year, I hope I am looking back on this post and laughing. I hope I am saying
"Oh, you! You had no idea what you were getting yourself in to! You and your family were woefully rosey eyed about everything and Dear Me how you've all learned so much about yourselves, your family, your support system and, especially, the Child. But, Hey! You did it! You made it there and back, Twice! and You're home with the Child now and He and Magda and Mordecai are all fully functioning children who bicker and love each other and you and your husband are sleepless and haven't been on a date in over a year (or even slept in bed without one of the kids between you for the past 6 months) but you're a team and the kids are great and sure you don't do laundry every day but you never did that anyway But, past self, What I'm saying here is you are totally not prepared for what's coming up in your life but, baby, you manage it and everyone survives and there are days where you look at your life and it almost kinda feels normal again and if that isn't Winning, well, I don't know what is."
Our lives are going to change. All of our lives are going to change. Especially The Child's life. His will have the biggest change but we're all going to experience a change in our little lives. I am simultaneously giddy with glee and nauseated by fear. I'm on the edge of my seat and I'm terrified and begging, pleading, PLEASE BRING IT ON!
Nine Months.
We've been working on this adoption for Nine Months now.
Our Dossier is sitting in The Child's country waiting for translation and consideration.
We are sitting around here having life and it's been Nine Months and He's not even close to coming home.
My niece is pregnant. She's about 21 weeks into her pregnancy. She just found out she's having a boy. We're trying to convince her to name him Bruce Lee. Or Bruce Wayne. Or not... I like my niece and her husband. lol But She and I get to visit nearly daily and she is in that lovely part of pregnancy I like to refer to as "There is a child inside me and I'd rather not feel so tired or throw up so often Thank you very much" and I can't help but wonder if We'll have our little boy home by the time her little boy makes his entrance.
I am in the stage of the adoption process that I like to refer to as "What am I even doing anymore why has this taken so long why does it all cost so much why can't they just see we're good people and He would be happy and taken care of with us and I just don't get it but give me another hoop and I'll jump through it because THIS IS HAPPENING if I have to swim across the ocean and hike to his orphanage and petition the courts myself with a pitchfork and smile and a Let me have my son, please."
Which translates to me wringing my hands, trying to keep my nervous stomach calm and using ninja breathing techniques to keep from flipping out half the time on well meaning people who ask me "So, when are you going to get that baby boy?" because in my head I am screaming "I DON'T KNOW AND THAT IS KILLING ME!"
Take a deep breath.
Nine Months. We committed to The Child nine months ago. He's had a birthday since then. He's a four year old now. There is a very real, very sad possibility that he may have another birthday before we can get him home. That possibility makes me wants to yell and scream and kick things. It really does. I'm a pretty calm, relaxed, patient, contained person... I am. But I would be a calm, relaxed, patient, contained, liar if I told you that I am perfectly content with the pace this adoption is moving.
I want to meet this kid so hard it hurts in my soul and even feeling that ache to hold this child in my arms and love him fiercely, I know I'm not really ready.
I know I'm not really prepared.
What parent is though? What parent can say they are absolutely fully prepared to walk into a room with a complete stranger that is their child without the slightest glint of fear in their eyes? What parent is handed that newborn in the hospital and doesn't have a moment of absolute crippling clarity that they are going to screw that kid up somehow? And being pretty sure they might actually do it before they get the kid buckled into the car seat in the parking lot.
By this time next year, I hope I am looking back on this post and laughing. I hope I am saying
"Oh, you! You had no idea what you were getting yourself in to! You and your family were woefully rosey eyed about everything and Dear Me how you've all learned so much about yourselves, your family, your support system and, especially, the Child. But, Hey! You did it! You made it there and back, Twice! and You're home with the Child now and He and Magda and Mordecai are all fully functioning children who bicker and love each other and you and your husband are sleepless and haven't been on a date in over a year (or even slept in bed without one of the kids between you for the past 6 months) but you're a team and the kids are great and sure you don't do laundry every day but you never did that anyway But, past self, What I'm saying here is you are totally not prepared for what's coming up in your life but, baby, you manage it and everyone survives and there are days where you look at your life and it almost kinda feels normal again and if that isn't Winning, well, I don't know what is."
Our lives are going to change. All of our lives are going to change. Especially The Child's life. His will have the biggest change but we're all going to experience a change in our little lives. I am simultaneously giddy with glee and nauseated by fear. I'm on the edge of my seat and I'm terrified and begging, pleading, PLEASE BRING IT ON!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Life is a challenge- meet it.
Life is a song - sing it.
Life is a game - play it.
Life is a challenge - meet it.
Life is a dream - realize it.
Life is a sacrifice - offer it.
Life is love - enjoy it.
-Sai Baba
I'm sorry we have been so quiet. International adoption is a lot of waiting. Honestly, It is more waiting than I'd imagined and I knew a lot about international adoption walking in to this. If we needed a lesson in patience, international adoption will teach it.
It is also a lot of uncertainty. During the course of our adoption efforts, The Child's country had it's entire governmental structure collapse and we didn't know how that would affect him, or us, or the adoption. We still don't know for sure but we are moving forward just the same.
Now, we are uncertain how we can pay our next set of fees. We have had to rely on kindness and credit and we've about reached the limit of our credit. The Devil is interfering, doing his best to delay and derail us when he took out our central heat and air unit last week. I have no idea how we are going to afford to replace that AND meet our next set of fees due this month unless we fund raise nearly every penny of our fees. If there is another lesson international adoption can teach, it is humility.
Last night, while I was wracking my brain to think of a quick fundraiser, I was looking at our adoption page on Facebook and realized that we have 78 people that like that page. If those 78 people all donated $10 one week, it would be $780 raised towards our fees. If those same people all donated $10 each week for 4 weeks in a row, That would be about half of our fees that are going to be due this month. That would be a HUGE help.
I know money is tight for everyone. We don't have rich friends and family. If we did, I'd like to think y'all wouldn't be hearing about how difficult it's been for us to fund raise. But $10 a week isn't a huge amount for one person. That's two cups of coffee. However, if 78 of you all do this small donation together, That will be a huge amount. And if you can all do it for four weeks, that will be even bigger.
So this is my challenge to you, this is my heartfelt plea, for you to participate? Would you donate $10 each week for four weeks? I'll post gentle reminders to help you remember. I'll post how close we are to the goal each week. We really need the $3k by mid June or our path through this adoption will be delayed. We are so close now to visiting the child. We are mid that gory middle ground half way through the journey where it feels like it should get easier from here on out but it's uphill and the Ring is heavy and we're tired and Sam Wise is doing his best to carry us but he can't do it alone so our only option is to move more slowly and make the child wait...
This breaks my heart because The Child has already waited 4 years for us.
This is the link to our donations page.
Feel free to share this post if you think anyone you know would like to help us as well. We really do need all the help and support that we can get.
Thank you, all, for following our journey and for assisting us through it.
Let's see if we can do this, together.
Life is a game - play it.
Life is a challenge - meet it.
Life is a dream - realize it.
Life is a sacrifice - offer it.
Life is love - enjoy it.
-Sai Baba
I'm sorry we have been so quiet. International adoption is a lot of waiting. Honestly, It is more waiting than I'd imagined and I knew a lot about international adoption walking in to this. If we needed a lesson in patience, international adoption will teach it.
It is also a lot of uncertainty. During the course of our adoption efforts, The Child's country had it's entire governmental structure collapse and we didn't know how that would affect him, or us, or the adoption. We still don't know for sure but we are moving forward just the same.
Now, we are uncertain how we can pay our next set of fees. We have had to rely on kindness and credit and we've about reached the limit of our credit. The Devil is interfering, doing his best to delay and derail us when he took out our central heat and air unit last week. I have no idea how we are going to afford to replace that AND meet our next set of fees due this month unless we fund raise nearly every penny of our fees. If there is another lesson international adoption can teach, it is humility.
Last night, while I was wracking my brain to think of a quick fundraiser, I was looking at our adoption page on Facebook and realized that we have 78 people that like that page. If those 78 people all donated $10 one week, it would be $780 raised towards our fees. If those same people all donated $10 each week for 4 weeks in a row, That would be about half of our fees that are going to be due this month. That would be a HUGE help.
I know money is tight for everyone. We don't have rich friends and family. If we did, I'd like to think y'all wouldn't be hearing about how difficult it's been for us to fund raise. But $10 a week isn't a huge amount for one person. That's two cups of coffee. However, if 78 of you all do this small donation together, That will be a huge amount. And if you can all do it for four weeks, that will be even bigger.
So this is my challenge to you, this is my heartfelt plea, for you to participate? Would you donate $10 each week for four weeks? I'll post gentle reminders to help you remember. I'll post how close we are to the goal each week. We really need the $3k by mid June or our path through this adoption will be delayed. We are so close now to visiting the child. We are mid that gory middle ground half way through the journey where it feels like it should get easier from here on out but it's uphill and the Ring is heavy and we're tired and Sam Wise is doing his best to carry us but he can't do it alone so our only option is to move more slowly and make the child wait...
This breaks my heart because The Child has already waited 4 years for us.
This is the link to our donations page.
Feel free to share this post if you think anyone you know would like to help us as well. We really do need all the help and support that we can get.
Thank you, all, for following our journey and for assisting us through it.
Let's see if we can do this, together.
Friday, March 8, 2013
The sum of it's parts
There's a saying.
"The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts."
Your home is more than just a kitchen, great room, bathroom and bedroom. It is your home. The place where, hopefully, you feel safe and comfortable and loved. It is more than just walls and light fixtures and carpeting. It is where you gather with your family and build memories. It is more than doors and windows and baseboards. It is where your daughter takes her first steps and your son learns just how far he can climb before you panic.
The whole of your home is more than just what is used to make it function.
We have a lot of paperwork we have to provide for The Child's country. We have a lot we have to provide for OUR country, but this specific piece is for his country. I had heard about this but I truthfully thought it was a joke.
No.
Not a joke.
in case you can't read it, it says
"Declaration stating child shall not be subjected to experimental treatment, organ harvesting or medical purposes."
This is not a joke.
Not even in the slightest.
I wish I could laugh about this.
I wish I could just laugh, "Who would do such a thing? No one ever, that's who!"
But I can't.
And this cuts deeper.
Remember our saying?
"The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts."
See, There is a moment when a person stops being a person. It is different for every culture but it happens in every culture. For some, it happens at the time of death. The deceased is a body, a corpse, an empty vessel. At that point, what happens to the body is ritual but the body is not regarded as a person any longer.
In some, it happens at birth.
A baby born with a birth defect. Malformed fingers, hands, feet, arms, legs. A baby born with Downs Syndrome. A baby born with the wrong color skin. A baby born the wrong gender. A baby born against all odds.
In some cultures, these children are considered unwanted.
In some cultures, they are stored away, out of sight. They are hidden in cold cinder block buildings. They are placed in a crib and seldom leave it. They are fed exactly what they need to stay alive, if they are lucky. If they are unlucky, they slowly starve to death.
In these cultures, The whole is not greater than the sum of it's parts.
These children are not people.
They are a body, with a functioning heart and a set of lungs, a liver and a colon and an esophagus.
This culture, they are not looking to break the children down by their parts. That's cruel. They should die in a whole piece, intact. But these children are not seen as people. They have zero expectations. They have zero hope. They are not supposed to do anything. They can not become anything. They are just bodies born wrong. They are good for nothing. They will never have a "real" life. They will never contribute to society. There is nothing these children have to offer to anyone ... except their parts.
In the eyes of this culture.
"Why would you want to take this broken child? He is worth nothing. He will never be anything. Surely, you only want him for his organs?"
It makes me angry.
It makes me want to RAGE, red- faced with fists pounding, screaming until I am hoarse.
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS BONE STRUCTURE!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS INTESTINAL TRACT!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS EYES!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS HEART!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS STOMACH!
HE IS A CHILD!
HE IS A PERSON!
HE HAS A LIFE!
AND, BY GOD, I WILL DO MY ABSOLUTE BEST TO HELP HIM LIVE IT!
And every time he strives for, meets or exceeds any goal we can dream up for him, You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be standing there, grinning, and telling the culture that did not value him that They missed out on a wonderful opportunity.
The Child is greater than the sum of his parts.
He is hope.
He is the future.
He is love and passion and excitement.
He is a person.
And we already love him.
"The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts."
Your home is more than just a kitchen, great room, bathroom and bedroom. It is your home. The place where, hopefully, you feel safe and comfortable and loved. It is more than just walls and light fixtures and carpeting. It is where you gather with your family and build memories. It is more than doors and windows and baseboards. It is where your daughter takes her first steps and your son learns just how far he can climb before you panic.
The whole of your home is more than just what is used to make it function.
We have a lot of paperwork we have to provide for The Child's country. We have a lot we have to provide for OUR country, but this specific piece is for his country. I had heard about this but I truthfully thought it was a joke.
No.
Not a joke.
"Declaration stating child shall not be subjected to experimental treatment, organ harvesting or medical purposes."
This is not a joke.
Not even in the slightest.
I wish I could laugh about this.
I wish I could just laugh, "Who would do such a thing? No one ever, that's who!"
But I can't.
And this cuts deeper.
Remember our saying?
"The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts."
See, There is a moment when a person stops being a person. It is different for every culture but it happens in every culture. For some, it happens at the time of death. The deceased is a body, a corpse, an empty vessel. At that point, what happens to the body is ritual but the body is not regarded as a person any longer.
In some, it happens at birth.
A baby born with a birth defect. Malformed fingers, hands, feet, arms, legs. A baby born with Downs Syndrome. A baby born with the wrong color skin. A baby born the wrong gender. A baby born against all odds.
In some cultures, these children are considered unwanted.
In some cultures, they are stored away, out of sight. They are hidden in cold cinder block buildings. They are placed in a crib and seldom leave it. They are fed exactly what they need to stay alive, if they are lucky. If they are unlucky, they slowly starve to death.
In these cultures, The whole is not greater than the sum of it's parts.
These children are not people.
They are a body, with a functioning heart and a set of lungs, a liver and a colon and an esophagus.
This culture, they are not looking to break the children down by their parts. That's cruel. They should die in a whole piece, intact. But these children are not seen as people. They have zero expectations. They have zero hope. They are not supposed to do anything. They can not become anything. They are just bodies born wrong. They are good for nothing. They will never have a "real" life. They will never contribute to society. There is nothing these children have to offer to anyone ... except their parts.
In the eyes of this culture.
"Why would you want to take this broken child? He is worth nothing. He will never be anything. Surely, you only want him for his organs?"
It makes me angry.
It makes me want to RAGE, red- faced with fists pounding, screaming until I am hoarse.
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS BONE STRUCTURE!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS INTESTINAL TRACT!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS EYES!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS HEART!
THE CHILD IS MORE THAN HIS STOMACH!
HE IS A CHILD!
HE IS A PERSON!
HE HAS A LIFE!
AND, BY GOD, I WILL DO MY ABSOLUTE BEST TO HELP HIM LIVE IT!
And every time he strives for, meets or exceeds any goal we can dream up for him, You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be standing there, grinning, and telling the culture that did not value him that They missed out on a wonderful opportunity.
The Child is greater than the sum of his parts.
He is hope.
He is the future.
He is love and passion and excitement.
He is a person.
And we already love him.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Celebrate!
It's been over a month since our last update.
We have FINALLY COMPLETED THE HOME STUDY!
We have been APPROVED!
which means we are quickly working on the next steps of the process.
It is more paperwork.
and MORE paperwork.
and more waiting.
and more fee's.
But, Please say a thankful prayer,
because we are DONE with the home study!
We have FINALLY COMPLETED THE HOME STUDY!
We have been APPROVED!
which means we are quickly working on the next steps of the process.
It is more paperwork.
and MORE paperwork.
and more waiting.
and more fee's.
But, Please say a thankful prayer,
because we are DONE with the home study!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Pots- Collectors Edition.
A friend told me a story today.
This story, actually.
I'd heard it before.
I'd read it before.
I'd studied it before.
But during our conversation, it revealed a new depth that I had not noticed before.
She cries out.
She is distraught.
Her life is spiraling well outside what she can handle alone.
She is pleading.
"How can I help?" He asks.
But you notice he doesn't pause for her to supply an answer.
He doesn't wait to see what she may have in mind.
"What do you already have to work with?"
"Nothing! But.. but this small jar of oil."
Which to her is still nothing.
Because what is a small jar of oil worth when you are losing everyone you love?
When you need to pay a ransom, or a debt, to be able to have your family in tact.
But he tells her, "Go ask all your neighbors for empty jars."
This is huge.
He's saying, "Go ask for help."
"Let people know that you are in need."
And then he says "Don't ask for just a few."
Be serious.
How easy is it to ask for help?
Could you walk over to your neighbors house and ask for a bowl?
"Hi, I'm collecting bowls from everyone in the neighborhood."
"Do you have any bowls I could have?"
"I was just told to collect bowls. Lots of them."
Could you do that for everyone and every home within a 5 block radius of your house?
How bout a mile?
Two miles?
"Don't ask for just a few."
What kind of faith this woman has to have.
How many times do you think people turned her away?
"Oh, I have bowls. But you are not getting anything of mine."
"You know, I just don't have any bowls to spare."
"Your story is sad and I wish I could help but I'm sure you'll get plenty of bowls from other people."
"I really don't see how giving you a bowl is going to help?"
"You should have bowls of your own!"
And still she went from house to house.
"Don't ask for just a few."
I imagine she gathered pots until her home was full of them.
I imagine that it took her a long while to do this.
Walking to all her neighbors.
Every person that she knows.
Every person that she doesn't know.
Asking for spare empty pots.
For whatever reason though, People gave her pots.
Maybe they thought she was crazy.
Maybe they took pity on her.
However, these people had to display the same type of faith that our woman is.
Faith that collecting these pots is going to accomplish something.
So she asks, and collects, on faith.
And the neighbors give her pots, on faith.
And then she takes her small jar of oil, which to her is nothing, and begins to fill the pots.
And fill the pots.
And fill the pots.
Until
EVERY.
SINGLE.
POT.
IS.
FULL.
Can you even imagine the joy she felt as her tiny pot of oil continued pouring well after she KNEW it should be empty?
Can you fathom the relief she must have felt?
Can you see her arms shaking, pouring the oil, her breathing quick as tears pour down her face?
Can you hear her calling to her sons to remove each pot after it is filled?
Can you see her glancing around the room at all the pots she gathered?
Can you imagine how her heart must have beat faster knowing that all her asking, all her begging, all her humiliation at gathering those pots was going to be well worth it?
Because God is working a miracle in her home?
God provided for this woman. He provided the oil.
But She had to gather the pots.
And Her neighbors had to provide her with that support.
And in turn, her neighbors were rewarded with oil that they could purchase from her.
Oil that may have been very hard to come by, suddenly is available.
Because She had the faith to ask for the pots.
And her neighbors had the faith to give them to her.
Now tell me why I shouldn't be crying?
Because this... THIS... is fundraising.
It is work.
It is done purely on faith.
It is hard.
It is humiliating.
God will provide what we need with this adoption.
I have no doubt that God will provide for us.
But we HAVE to ask for pots.
And our neighbors...
and friends...
and family...
and people who care...
have to be willing to provide the pots to us.
So God can work a miracle in our home.
So here's my question (and I don't enjoy asking):
Do you have any empty pots?
We are collecting.
This story, actually.
I'd heard it before.
I'd read it before.
I'd studied it before.
But during our conversation, it revealed a new depth that I had not noticed before.
2 Kings 4
New International Version (NIV)
The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
This woman.
She is in a tight spot.
She just lost her husband.
She is about to lose her sons.
She is desperate for help.She cries out.
She is distraught.
Her life is spiraling well outside what she can handle alone.
She is pleading.
"How can I help?" He asks.
But you notice he doesn't pause for her to supply an answer.
He doesn't wait to see what she may have in mind.
"What do you already have to work with?"
"Nothing! But.. but this small jar of oil."
Which to her is still nothing.
Because what is a small jar of oil worth when you are losing everyone you love?
When you need to pay a ransom, or a debt, to be able to have your family in tact.
But he tells her, "Go ask all your neighbors for empty jars."
This is huge.
He's saying, "Go ask for help."
"Let people know that you are in need."
And then he says "Don't ask for just a few."
Be serious.
How easy is it to ask for help?
Could you walk over to your neighbors house and ask for a bowl?
"Hi, I'm collecting bowls from everyone in the neighborhood."
"Do you have any bowls I could have?"
"I was just told to collect bowls. Lots of them."
Could you do that for everyone and every home within a 5 block radius of your house?
How bout a mile?
Two miles?
"Don't ask for just a few."
What kind of faith this woman has to have.
How many times do you think people turned her away?
"Oh, I have bowls. But you are not getting anything of mine."
"You know, I just don't have any bowls to spare."
"Your story is sad and I wish I could help but I'm sure you'll get plenty of bowls from other people."
"I really don't see how giving you a bowl is going to help?"
"You should have bowls of your own!"
And still she went from house to house.
"Don't ask for just a few."
I imagine she gathered pots until her home was full of them.
I imagine that it took her a long while to do this.
Walking to all her neighbors.
Every person that she knows.
Every person that she doesn't know.
Asking for spare empty pots.
For whatever reason though, People gave her pots.
Maybe they thought she was crazy.
Maybe they took pity on her.
However, these people had to display the same type of faith that our woman is.
Faith that collecting these pots is going to accomplish something.
So she asks, and collects, on faith.
And the neighbors give her pots, on faith.
And then she takes her small jar of oil, which to her is nothing, and begins to fill the pots.
And fill the pots.
And fill the pots.
Until
EVERY.
SINGLE.
POT.
IS.
FULL.
Can you even imagine the joy she felt as her tiny pot of oil continued pouring well after she KNEW it should be empty?
Can you fathom the relief she must have felt?
Can you see her arms shaking, pouring the oil, her breathing quick as tears pour down her face?
Can you hear her calling to her sons to remove each pot after it is filled?
Can you see her glancing around the room at all the pots she gathered?
Can you imagine how her heart must have beat faster knowing that all her asking, all her begging, all her humiliation at gathering those pots was going to be well worth it?
Because God is working a miracle in her home?
God provided for this woman. He provided the oil.
But She had to gather the pots.
And Her neighbors had to provide her with that support.
And in turn, her neighbors were rewarded with oil that they could purchase from her.
Oil that may have been very hard to come by, suddenly is available.
Because She had the faith to ask for the pots.
And her neighbors had the faith to give them to her.
Now tell me why I shouldn't be crying?
Because this... THIS... is fundraising.
It is work.
It is done purely on faith.
It is hard.
It is humiliating.
God will provide what we need with this adoption.
I have no doubt that God will provide for us.
But we HAVE to ask for pots.
And our neighbors...
and friends...
and family...
and people who care...
have to be willing to provide the pots to us.
So God can work a miracle in our home.
So here's my question (and I don't enjoy asking):
Do you have any empty pots?
We are collecting.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Flash Fund Raising
We have excellent news!
Over the Christmas and New years holidays, We were able to collect the very last of our paperwork needed for the home study!!! We mailed it to the agency and the home study agency has called and offered to let us go ahead and start the home visits portion of the home study while we wait for the divorce certificate to come in.
This is absolutely awesome news!
However, We were informed that we need to go ahead and pay for the home study now. Up front. Before we can start the home visits.
Ya'll know we've been fund raising for months.
Ya'll have made donations.
Ya'll have shopped the yard sales.
Ya'll have purchased our crafts.
And it is the saddest truth that nearly every cent we have fund raised up to this point is already spent.
On the various paperwork and things that we had to chase around and get gathered.
We have approximately $400 left from all our fundraising to apply towards the home study fee.
The fee is $2,050. This is not for paperwork.
This is the fee that the agency charges to write our home study.
And we have $400.
We are scrambling to come up with ways to meet the rest that is needed.
And I am struggling in my heart to finally be at a point where we can do this home study only to be held back by needing to pay this fee!
So This is a Flash Fund Raising effort. We need this fee covered quickly.
If you'd like to make a donation, you can make one here at the blog in the Chip In widget on the sidebar. If you're uncomfortable making a donation through the Chip In, but you'd still like to make a donation- Contact me and I can give you our mailing address.
Any amount.
Any donation.
Seriously.
If you are feeling called to help us, now is a perfect time.
We need these funds as quickly as possible.
If you feel led to make a donation, please do.
Please donate exactly as much as you are led to donate.
Our family is so thankful for every donation that has been made and we continue to be thankful for every donation that will be made. This adoption could not happen as quickly as we need for it to happen without the help of donation.
And, in the mean time, we will be scrambling together whatever other funds we can.
Thank you!
Over the Christmas and New years holidays, We were able to collect the very last of our paperwork needed for the home study!!! We mailed it to the agency and the home study agency has called and offered to let us go ahead and start the home visits portion of the home study while we wait for the divorce certificate to come in.
This is absolutely awesome news!
However, We were informed that we need to go ahead and pay for the home study now. Up front. Before we can start the home visits.
Ya'll know we've been fund raising for months.
Ya'll have made donations.
Ya'll have shopped the yard sales.
Ya'll have purchased our crafts.
And it is the saddest truth that nearly every cent we have fund raised up to this point is already spent.
On the various paperwork and things that we had to chase around and get gathered.
We have approximately $400 left from all our fundraising to apply towards the home study fee.
The fee is $2,050. This is not for paperwork.
This is the fee that the agency charges to write our home study.
And we have $400.
We are scrambling to come up with ways to meet the rest that is needed.
And I am struggling in my heart to finally be at a point where we can do this home study only to be held back by needing to pay this fee!
So This is a Flash Fund Raising effort. We need this fee covered quickly.
If you'd like to make a donation, you can make one here at the blog in the Chip In widget on the sidebar. If you're uncomfortable making a donation through the Chip In, but you'd still like to make a donation- Contact me and I can give you our mailing address.
Any amount.
Any donation.
Seriously.
If you are feeling called to help us, now is a perfect time.
We need these funds as quickly as possible.
If you feel led to make a donation, please do.
Please donate exactly as much as you are led to donate.
Our family is so thankful for every donation that has been made and we continue to be thankful for every donation that will be made. This adoption could not happen as quickly as we need for it to happen without the help of donation.
And, in the mean time, we will be scrambling together whatever other funds we can.
Thank you!
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