Faith Like a Child

We were blessed to have family at our home for Thanksgiving this year. My 6 year old niece, Grace, arrived with a very loose tooth. She played with it all afternoon, and finally, Thursday evening she pulled it! It was so fun to share in her excitement in losing her first tooth! We put it in a baggie and her mom wrote a note to the tooth fairy to ask her to leave, in Grace's words,  "my awesome tooth" for her to keep.

My mom, one sister and my brother and I were crazy enough to brave the Black Friday sales through the night. We had a lot of fun, got some great steals, but were exhausted at the end! When we came home Grace was telling us all about the tooth fairy coming, leaving Grace 50 cents under her pillow.

The best part, with a big smile Gracie told me she wanted to give it to us to help us bring Rance home. As I teared up, I told her thanks and how special it was for her to help bring her cousin home.

I feel like so many times when we as Christians hear the phrase "faith like a child" we often equate it to believing, we must have faith, and believe like a child does. But thinking upon Gracie's heart to give, not even thinking about saving her money or what she could buy with it, but giving, made me realize Jesus meant so much more than believing when he said we are to have faith like a child. When God speaks to a child's heart, as he did to Grace's, she did it. Having faith doesn't just mean believing, it means doing.

So many times when God tells us to do something, we question, we doubt, we think about the sacrifice we would have to make, be it our time, money, or other things, and many times, we end up not doing in the end. When we see a touching video about people in the world starving, without clean water, or orphans, we may tear up, we may feel sorry for them, we may think about doing something, but we don't. We make an excuse. I am not talented in that area, I don't have any extra money, I don't have time, I don't want other people to think I am different, or someone else will do it anyways.

Oh to have faith like a child, a pure and innocent heart, uncluttered by the world, selfishness and greed, that we could hear God speak and simply believe and do.

Crazy!

That has what our life has been! Pure chaos!!

On top of keeping busy with the normal things we have been busy trying to figure out the rest of the finances we need for the adoption. It has been stressful to say the least!

We have also been busy gathering the items we need to take with us to Ukraine. We still have a lot to do before we are ready to leave, as I am sure I will discover as we begin to pack next week!
I have also, Matt too, been working on some deep cleaning around the house. This has included cleaning out Cavin's closet to make room for Rance! We still have to get a bed and get the room rearranged before we leave.

Matt has been busy trying to get two months of work done in advance on top of keeping up with what needs to be done while we are still here. And helping me out at home as he can.

We've both been busy keeping up with Cavin. He is busy and into everything. His favorite toy: anything that isn't a toy! He definitely keeps us on our toes with his mischief!

We cannot believe we will be in Ukraine in only 11 days! Then meeting Rance shortly thereafter!

We will have some internet access at least, and will update as we can on our blog. However, a lot of information about Rance, such as pictures, we will not be able to post publicly until the adoption is finalized and we are home.

Some General Prayer Requests:

-For Cavin, for him to do well on our transatlantic flight. We leave Philadelphia at 6 in the evening and arrive in Germany at 8 in the morning. Pray that he will adjust well to the time changes, a new place, and the flexibility he will need to have in his schedule. Mostly, pray that God will begin to prepare his heart for his big brother.

-For Rance: Please pray for him as he meets total strangers, who speak a different language, who will be his family. Pray that God will open his heart to us, that he will be able to accept our love, hugs and kisses and will be able to bond with all of us. Pray that his basic needs are met as much as possible, such as food, being held and loved on, and played with.

-For Matt and I: Pray for calm in the storm. Pray that Matt can have all of his work done for while we are gone, and for it to be organized and easy for those who are filling in to understand. Pray that we can accomplish our to do list (it is almost done!) around the house, and prepare Cavin's room to share with Rance. Pray for us to continue to trust in God to provide the finances we need before travelling. Pray for God to continue to prepare our hearts to meet Rance, to be able to love him fully and equally to Cavin. Pray for us to have strength to be in orphanages amongst hundreds of orphans, and have the strength to walk away with just one (or maybe two!).

I am sure I will update, or at least I will try to, before we leave on December 3, and I will update as often as I can from Ukraine with whats going on and more specific prayer needs.

Thanks for taking this journey with us, we pray you will be blessed.

Travel Date!!!!

We got our travel date today!!!! We will be leaving on Friday, December 3rd to fly to Ukraine!! Our appointment with the SDA is on Monday, December 6th! At that appointment we will look through referrals, and hopefully be able to accept one!

I cannot believe we are so close to meeting our son. I have felt so "pregnant" emotionally lately. I have been brought to tears multiple times a day just thinking about Rance being out there, in some orphanage in Ukraine.

Not much longer son, and you will be surrounded by love, a home and a family. Not much longer and we will be able to tell you how much we love you, but more importantly, how much more your Savior loves you. Even though your birth parents abandoned you, He will never abandon you, and no matter how imperfectly you have been loved, His love is always perfect. No matter how broken your heart may be, He is the ultimate healer. We cannot wait to tell you of His unwavering love, overwhelming grace and unconditional mercy, and of the great plan he has for your life. 

Not much longer and I can memorize every line of your face, the perfect color of your eyes, the sound of your laugh, and see the beauty in the unique personality God gave you. Not much longer and we can tuck you in every night, feed you when you are hungry, hold you when you are scared, play with you and make you laugh, and tell you how loved you are everyday. You may be alone now, feeling scared, hungry, rejected and unloved, but not much longer son, not much longer.

There really are no words to express the excitement Matt and I are feeling today, finally having a date! Oh to finally know our son!

Please continue praying for us and for Rance!

*Please pray for God to provide the rest of the finances we need, $25,000 to pay for the adoption. We continue to trust and know that God will provide.

*Please pray for Cavin as his world is about to be turned upside down.

*Please pray for Matt. He has to have all of his work at the church for the time we will be gone finished in the next two weeks, as well as lesson plans laid out for the Bible class he teaches at the local Christian school. On top of that I know I will keep him busy with my to do list of things to get done around the home, packing, and life will continue to be busy for us.

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting to hear news on our dossier, if it has been accepted, not accepted or if additional paperwork needs to be submitted. We are trying to be patient, but it is so hard! Once our dossier is accepted we will receive our invitation to travel.

We are so ready and excited to meet our son!!

In the meantime, our to do list is a mile long! I have a lot of deep cleaning things I want to get done before we leave, not to mention we need to clean out the other half of Cavin's closet, get his bedroom rearranged and add another bed for Rance!

This week we have been working on getting our carpets shampooed. When I have a chance, I have been working on the boys busy books. They are coming along nicely, I have really enjoyed doing them, but they are a lot of work! I will be glad to get them done!

Speaking of, I need to get back to work! As soon as we hear news, I will be sure to post it here!

Please be praying for us to hear news of our dossier's acceptance soon and to receive an expedited travel date!

Also be praying for Cavin, he will dealing with a lot of changes with this trip, not to mention the addition of an older brother!