A Time to Wait

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1

In February of this year, we had made it, we had reached our goal (at least my goal), we had raised/saved $10,000 dollars for our adoption! I was elated. I couldn't believe we had actually made it to this goal, but we had, and now it was time to start our adoption pursuit once again. In April of 2015 we applied to our adoption agency, and in May of that same year we were denied. A big reason being our income, which were we not surprised about this being an issue, but nevertheless devastated. We decided to wait a while and try again. We still felt like we were supposed to pursue South Korea at least one more time. My personal goal was to get to $10,000 and apply again. It seemed impossible to me at the time, but we did it in just under a year (thanks to all the support of those that participated in our adoption raffle and other fundraisers). So, the time had come, and I had even started talking to a few friends about how we would be re-applying soon. 

One night, Nathan and I were talking, and he told me he felt like we were supposed to wait another year before trying to re-apply. My mind instantly went, "Wait another year? Are you insane?! Haven't we already been waiting???" We had been talking about the possibility of adopting since we were first married (almost 11 years ago, just to put that out there), we made the decision to actually pursue adoption in the beginning of 2014 but decided to take the first year to pray, research, fundraise, let our youngest get a little older, etc., applied and were denied in 2015, and waited nearly another year for what I thought was the perfect time to put this desire into action. I felt like all we'd done up until now was wait. At the same time that my mind and emotions were freaking out (and simultaneously trying to hold it together and not to melt into a puddle tears and wailing at my husband's feet) I knew he was right. As much as I wanted to fight it and argue why I thought he was wrong and how we had just hit this amazing milestone, my heart knew he was right. I'm pretty sure it still took a week or more for me to really accept it, but all the time, I knew my husband was right, and I knew this was what God was telling us.

Just a few short weeks after we made this decision, God began to do some amazing things in our lives. Many of those things are very personal and close to our immediate family, but it didn't take long to know that indeed this was the plan of God that we wait. One of those things has to do with finances, and we have been greatly blessed through Nathan's job. It was kind of like the miracle that we hadn't been praying for, if that makes any sense. The U.S. Government has a qualification for how much income a family must have in order to adopt outside the U.S., for those that care about that detail, and this blessing has helped us come so much closer to that qualification. 

So now what? Well, we still wait. Even amidst the blessings that God has been doing in our family, we still feel that he asked us for a year. But this year of waiting will be full of putting our hands to work I know and seeing what God will continue to do in our family. We will still work with our local church youth group, Nathan will still go to school (Lord let it be over soon!), we will still be involved in many areas of our church, and we will still raise our three wonderful children. 

We will also still fundraise some, mainly through my online shop, Treasure & Heart Designs. We are currently working on trying to make this a non-profit company/organization. Currently any funds brought in through these sales will go towards our adoption. My long-term hope and desire is that once our adoption is complete I will continue this organization to help others fund their adoptions.

If you have helped us in our journey thus far through donations, fundraising support, encouragements, prayers, questions (you would be surprised how much asking questions helps and blesses me to be able to talk about this passion on my heart), and more, we are sincerely grateful to you. It is such a blessing that makes one feel elated and humbled at the same time to have such support and encouragement from our family, friends, and community. If you have given to us financially, please know that your donations are being safeguarded and will still be used for our adoption process. All monies donated to us are in an interest-bearing savings account until the time arises that it is needed for our adoption.

Thank you so much for bearing with me through this somewhat long post. And now, I share some recent pictures with you from our family... as we wait.