God has a plan, Are you part of His plan to help us??

              Today I made a box to keep money in at our yard sale  adoption fundraiser tomorrow. Its nothing special, but its special to me. I think I will keep it even after our baby is home. As a reminder that God keeps His promises. I can look back at it and remember when we didnt have a dime in it, and how at just the right time God touched peoples hearts and the money arrived right on time.
      Right now we need $1400 to finish our home study. We are having a yard sale tomorrow. we are unsure how much we will make or how we will reach the amount needed, but we are sure of one thing Our God is big enough!! God has a plan and we are putting our trust in Him.

   Is God tugging at your heart strings and asking you to give?? You could be the one who helps make our family complete.

If you are feeling led to give you can do so online at our go fund me account at this link
http://www.gofundme.com/8q2v58


We appreciate all donations and also ask that everyone pray that God would provide the funding needed to bring our child home forever.

Moving, adrenaline, Nala, and working on bringing baby home.

             If it weren't for the excitement and anticipation I am convinced no one would ever make it through a move. I have ran on  adrenaline for days now. We however are finally moved and have got some much needed rest. We are mostly unpacked with the exception of some boxes we stored in our " extra room" which will be babys room. :)  We LOVE our new place and being in Sweetwater. 

  One person not adjusting so well is Nala :/ She has never lived anywhere but our old house and She keeps going to the car and wants to go home. Poor girly She just doesnt understand. She finally played with her toys a little this morning, and hopefully will continue to improve as time goes on.

We are currently still trying to raise the rest of the money for our home study we need around $1400 still, but I know God will provide in His timing. Once we have the money and everything ready at our house we can schedule our home visit. After the home visit we wait ( could be 3-4 months) to find out if our home study was approved. If it was we are moving on to our dossier ( immigration paperwork). We are so excited to continue our process and be a step closer to our baby.

We ask that you continue to pray for us as we hold our heads high and work diligently at bringing our baby home.

A home in Sweetwater

   As most everyone knows Jeremy and I have had a desire to move to Sweetwater for a while now. We wanted to be in the same town as our church. We had a desire to be more involved, we wanted to run into folks from our church at the grocery store, we wanted to be more available and closer. Also with Jeremy working in Knoxville it puts him that much closer to work. This was all a thought and future plan until recently when things began to happen in our neighborhood. I wont go into detail, but it got BAD!!! To the point where I no longer felt safe and did not wanna live here and I promised that my Child would NEVER have to live here.  We began to make calls for rentals we saw in the paper. Well praise the Lord we found a sweet couple and we put a deposit on a place. The location is perfect, we were told about all the neighbors and how quiet the neighborhood is, and we felt such a peaceful comfort when we met the couple who are now our landlords :)

God timing is perfect!!!!!!!!!!! We are so thankful and ready to move forward into a new start in Sweetwater. Besides living in Montana we have never lived anywhere, but Athens so it of course will be a adjustment, but we did fine adjusting over 2000 miles away so id say this will be a easy transition for us.
 We are so excited and will be moving this weekend.  Please pray for safety as we pack everything up and start new in Sweetwater.

Whats your opinion?? week 4

                 I am continually amazed at peoples rudeness!!!  Jeremy and I were at a fast food restaurant saturday. Bless the workers hearts they were busy!!!! The lady in line in front of us ordered ALOT. ( im sure she had a big family at home.) We knew there would obviously be a wait for our food due to the big order ahead of us. We were fine. We ordered, found a seat, and waited. All around us were loud compliants and whining coming from other customers.A few of them even yelling things out loudly to be sure the workers heard. I felt so bad for the workers and was saddened by peoples actions. The girl taking orders was obviously new, Folks we have all been new once. Maybe you have never worked retail or fast food, but you too have been the new person at your job. Be nicer, be patient, slow down and relax.

Have you ever been saddend by others actions or rudeness??

****Just to clarify this is not about my job.

God answers prayers. . . .

  I worried, begged, and stressed over our tshirt fundraiser. If we didnt reach 50 shirts, no shirts would be sold and the fundraiser would fail :/  I prayed  and asked God to make this first fundraiser of ours a success.

      We not only sold the 50 we needed but we sold 60!!!!   Im so glad that God answers prayers.   He made our fundraiser a success but whats more incredible is why were having fundraisers and asking for prayers!  Jeremy and I prayed and prayed for a baby, and God is giving us one. Not only are our dreams of becoming parents coming true, but a precious child will be a orphan no longer. So glad that God is in control and sees the bigger picture.   Thank you to everyone who bought shirts and prayed for the fundraiser. God is good!!!

*Shirts will arrive in 14 business days :)

Please continue to pray for our adoption.

2014 Mothers Day

 Todays Mothers Day, but today was a brand new Mothers Day for me. I was told Happy Mothers Day by so many friends. Strange maybe but they all said I am a mother-to-be :). What a weird emotion it struck in me when each friend said Happy Mothers Day Stephanie.  I also received a rose today, like all the other mothers. I just cant help but wonder sometimes if im dreaming. I know I am still a long ways from bringing my baby home but it is beginning to sink in more and more that I am gonna be a mother. It feels crazy good to just type that. I know that I had a cheesy grin on my face all day. I think about my child contstantly. Who they are and what they'll be like, and although I would book my plane ticket this very moment if I could. Right now knowing that that days coming is enough. Im learning and growing into the mother God wants me to be, and although I'll never ever be fully there I am changing and making progress everyday.
So  thank you to everyone who wished me a happy first Mother-to-be Mothers Day . It was a amazing day!!!

My baby lives in Hong Kong

              I realized recently that I have never shared the story of how we knew Hong Kong was where our baby is.  So here goes. . . .

          When we decided it was time to pursue our first child through adoption, it was not a lightly took decision. After countless prayers we knew for certain it was Gods plan for us. We then began praying about agencies we applied to our first pick  and  praise the Lord we were accepted. All during this time we had been researching countries. I wont lie we had our minds set on Ghana, Africa. Our pastors family adopted two precious boys from Ghana and we wanted to adopt from there too. Did you catch that "We wanted to".  Then we found out Ghana had placed a temporary band on adoption ( I dont know alot of the details). So this opened our eyes and  we realized we needed to find the country God wanted us to chose. After all God knows our child already so He knows where He or She is. So we began to pray and seek His direction. Alot of countries we do not qualify for due to our age China was one of those countries.  However we could adopt through Hong Kong. We fit every qualification and guideline.  We both felt strangely drawn to Hong Kong. Our agency discussed all our country options with us. We continued to pray. Then our prayers begin to change a little and we began to pray about Hong Kong.

   Where is Hong Kong??

Hong Kong is located in the South Eastern tip of China.

We both felt God had already given us our answer. We sent a email to our agency asking all about Hong Kong and any more information they could give us. We knew in our hearts God had caused our hearts to be drawn to Hong Kong and we felt certain that the child He had for us was there. A day later I got a email back that knocked us off our feet so to speak. The Hong Kong orphanage that our agency works withs mission is to place special needs children with there forever families. I wont lie we were in shock.

**** Im gonna be honest about how I felt and I pray it doesnt hurt anyones feelings.
 My first thoughts were why? Why would God lead us to a special needs orphanage??

Next were the I cants. I cant do it! I have no idea how to care for a special needs child. We dont have enough experience. We just cant!!

Our minds were racing and so we began to pray. We asked God for direction, we asked for answers as to what His plan was.

In the end we knew and I think deep down from the moment we found out we knew. After prayers and prayer and more prayers we know our baby is in Hong Kong. We dont know who he or she is.   We dont know what special needs they may have, but we trust that God will equip us to be ready for their specific needs. We know God wont leave us through all the difficulties that lie ahead. We know that many friends and family dont understand and cannot fathom why we would choose to have a child with special needs. My answer to that is you dont choose just as if we were pregnant God has chosen our child.

I ask that you pray for us as we have paperwork to fill out regarding what  special needs we are open  to and what we are not. Pray that God would guide us in our decision and we would not let our hearts or heads get in the way of His plan for us.

We know that our child WILL have developmental delays we ask that you pray for them and  that we would  be ready to help them. Its possible that they can come home and catch up, but thats not certain. What we want everyone to know is we are NOT sad. We love our child already and it does not matter to us what they look like or what special needs they have, they are ours. We will be there for them every step of the way. We will love them unconditionally as if we had given birth to them.

My baby lives in Hong Kong and He or She has special needs.

A baby for us :)

    I have heard pregnant women thousands of times say that its so unbelievable to love someone so much that you have never met.  I now understand that statement. My baby may not be in my tummy

 But because of Gods perfect plan I am still just as much their mother. 
  I know its hard for others to understand but we love our baby even though we have never met.

 We are working hard to bring them home and although we long for them to be home as soon as possible thats not always how things work. With every bump in the road  we know that its Gods plan. Our baby could possibly not be born yet or they may not be old enough to be adopted yet. So thats why with every delay we must trust God and His timing.  We appreciate your prayers and We ask that you pray daily for us, our baby, and our adoption.

Telling a stranger. . . .

      I saw a lady one day last week, She was very noticeably pregnant. I smiled politely and asked " How far along are you?" Her eyes sparkled when she said " My due date was two days ago!"  Then I did it. The next thing I knew I was smiling ( probably with a sparkle in my eyes) and I proudly stated that my husband and I are adopting from China. She was so sweet when she said "We wanted to adopt too" Then she smiled down at her belly and I said surprise. We both smiled and that was it. I went on about my day and she went on about hers. Then it hit me I have told family, I have told friends, and now I have told a stranger.

     

Stress Number. . . .

             Well hello there. So much has been going on lately so let me start saying we have sold 27 shirts in our tshirt fundraiser, but if we dont sell 23 more in ten days then we dont receive anything. I wont lie I am beginning to worry. I have begged, and whined . So thats stress number one :/

Stress number two goes hand in hand with stress one because we need quite a bit of money for our homestudy and it is due SOON. I of course am worrying and stressing over having to slow progress down a bit because of funds :/

Stress number three Im just gonna blurt it out I wanna move. I wont go into details as to why, but yeah so that means putting our home study on hold as far as scheduling our home visit because if we have it and then move we have to pay a hefty fee :/   As if moving isnt stressful enough on its own.

Stress number four some very important life decisions dealing with our child. Tough tough decisons.

Stress number five Fund raising. :/ Wish we were rich.

Stress number six  cant go into details but stress six sent me over the edge thursday night. To the point of literally getting sick. Migraine to the point of extreme nausea. Resulting with me in bed :/

Leading to stress number  seven  which would be another life changing event, but lots of worry and agonizing over making the right decision whether to stay put or move on.

Stress number nine Fundraising, adoption, books I have to read, decisons concerning our child, moving, packing, tshirts, "thing I cant say", Money,  grants, loans, training requirements, hurtful comments about adoption or our child, special needs, attachment issues, being a good parent, working after baby is home,trip to china, waiting, paperwork, financial requirements, interviews, questions, talking about past ALL my past, being strong, being brave, wearing a smile, hearing negative comments, feeling stretched to thin,.........



Stress number ten AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

You get the picture. I have been ill I mean ill. I have cried I mean ugly face cried.  From the moment we decided to adopt I have eat, slept, and dreamed adoption. I have did paperwork for hours,
I have schedule meetings and interviews, I have read books, I have researched, I have chatted with our adoption specialist, I have talked with our international coordinator. I have not stopped.

I wont stop but I have had to stop and catch my breath. I have had to step back and realize the paperwork can wait while I watch a movie with my husband or go for a night out with my mom. I am not stopping but it is not healthy for my future childs mother to lose herself. Some people say you have to be strong. I would have to say I disagree I think its ok to be weak. We all are weak from time to time. Its ok to cry, its ok to stress and worry. Its ok to feel discouraged and  aggravated. The important part is to be real. Cry when you need to, talk to a friend about you feelings ( this doesnt mean talk "about" someone who maybe made you mad or hurt your feelings. I dont have to fake a smile or pretend to be ok. Im stressed Im stressed bad and im not ashamed to say it. I tried to do it all and I paid for it. I am working on taking a step back and breathing. I am not sweating the small stuff. I am enjoying life, and with every step and every week that passes I am learning more from the training, and the books I have to read. God is working on those major decisions and working all things out for my good. Each interview and meeting is teaching me more about myself. I am growing into the parent God wants me to be, and when im ready, when I have learned all He has for me to learn, I have no doubt that the paperwork will be done, we will have a picture of our childs face and We will hear our adoption specialist say " its time to book your flight to Hong Kong".

If your stress I encourage you to make a list of all the things stressing you out. Taking a look sometimes makes you realize life is too short. Remember that God is working all things out for your good.
You dont have to be brave or strong , just be you.


Did anyone realize I forgot Stress number eight??
 I did it on purpose :)

 Stress number eight = two blog!! I feel bad posting on one and not the other so guess what??? Yep I am moving all the adoption post to this blog and combining the two. Yep first step to  eliminating a little stress :)