Leap of Faith

You know, it really is amazing what God can do when you step back and let Him do it.  In every day life, I am really bad about getting in His way.  (see my last post...I really like being in control).  However, I have had less opportunity to do this in our adoption. So much of this process is completely out of my hands so it has been a whole new world of surrendering control.

This has been especially true when it has come to finances.  Tyler and I jumped into adoption with no set idea of how we were going to afford it.  When everything is said and done, our total cost will be about $40,000.  Needless to say, that was not something we had saved up.  However, we felt strongly that adoption was how God was calling us to grow our family.  So we took the leap of faith.

I am excited to say we found out this morning we will be receiving another grant.  This one is a little different than the others we have been given.  It is called a matching grant.  This means any fundraising we do or donations we receive will be matched by the grant organization, Brittany's Hope.

Now here is where it really gets good!  We could be eligible to have up to $5000 matched.  If we are able to meet that goal and have it matched, we will be fully funded!  From nothing to $40000 in under 2 years!  It would mean we would not have to take out any loans in order to bring home our twins!  

With that in mind, we do still have a few continuing fundraisers going on.  We have tshirts.  In honor of this awesome opportunity, we are reducing those to $10 each.  Sizes are limited, so get them quick!

We have puzzle pieces!  For $5 you can sponsor a puzzle piece.  We will add your name to the back of the piece.  We will put it together and it will be hung on the wall in the twins room.  Throughout  their lifetime, the twins will be able to see all the people who were a part of bringing them home.

We also know some of you still have our change jars.  These have been a really cool project for us.  All the coins that have come into our house this year, have gone to bring our children home.  Others of you have partnered with us in this.  We are so blessed that you have allowed your change to bring life change for our family!

Finally our PayPal account is still set up to receive donations.  If you choose sending money to friends and family, we are able to accept the donation without charges.
We would be honored if you would partner with us in this leg of our journey.  We are committed to do whatever it takes to bring our children home, but we would absolutely love to do so without loans.

Have you ever considered adoption and said, "I can't afford that"?  Me too.  But if God is calling you to it, He will provide for the journey.  It may not look the same as it has for us, but I'd love to tell you more about what has worked for us.

Trust and Control

I never really understood why God chose us for adoption. Some of you are confused by this statement. You are thinking, "But Kerri, you've always cared about adoption and orphans."  And to some extent you are correct. God placed a passion and burden in my heart for orphans more than a decade ago. But it is almost easy to have passion. It is a completely different thing to act upon that passion.
So in the past I've taken small steps. I have promoted orphan care. I have supported organizations that care for orphans, help in foster care, and support adoption. I've stood beside and prayed for friends who brought Foster children into their home. I cheered for those who adopted.
Those are all good things right? But they weren't very hard. Those things came naturally out of passion. And they really didn't require sacrifice.

But then God said, "It is your turn." That was the natural progression of things though, right? I mean if you looked at my passion, the way I promoted orphan care, the families I supported, it just made sense to grow our family through adoption when the time came.
I totally agree, conceptually. It makes sense. But oh my goodness, adoption is BIG! It is hard. It is difficult. It is uncomfortable. It is beyond my control. So yes it makes sense, but wow it is going to turn my life upside down.
And it has already done just that. It has changed the way I view family. It has changed the way we handle our finances. It has changed how we look at racism. It has taken away my control...
See that is where I struggle. I like being in control. I like having a plan. I like knowing what is coming next. I like it even more when I have the power to change the plan to fit my desires, my timeline, my finances.
Adoption means I have no control. And I believe that is why God has led us to this place. He is saying, "I want you to trust me with EVERYTHING." Right now in my life, I have no choice but to trust. He holds my precious children in His arms. He guides our paperwork, our agency, all the hoops we have to jump through. He has written our children's story and guided us to one another.
And if I can trust God with these great, big, important things...my children, how many other things should I trust Him with. How many other areas of my life is He asking me to let Him have control?
So yes I am passionate about orphan care, but I'm also madly in love with Jesus. His plan is greater than my plan. So one piece at a time, I'm releasing control and choosing to trust.
Will you pray with us? Ask God to help us trust him. There are still some big obstacles before we bring our kids home. I'm excited to see God show off how great He is.