His plan

Checking the mail these days has gotten very exciting.  Quite often the mail brings us a little bit closer to bringing home our sweet little ones.  Some days this means receiving paperwork.  Others it means receiving more practical items like car seats.  Today it meant receiving a letter from Show Hope.
Show Hope is a Christian based organization committed to caring for orphans.  They do this in a variety of ways including Adoption Aid, Care Centers, Pre & Post Adoption Support, and Student Initiatives.  They help provide hope in situations that can seem hopeless.  (You can learn more at www.showhope.org )
Today, they helped do just that for us.  We received a letter saying that we have been awarded a grant for $5000.  It is incredible to us how God is writing our story, and our children's story!  Each step of the way He is present.  Each financial mountain, He moves at just the right time.
When we started this process, many thought we were crazy.  We couldn't afford an international adoption.  (That is still true.  By all normal standards we can not afford an international adoption).  However, we knew that this was what God was calling us to do.  So we jumped.  I don't think either of us had any idea of what that would actually look like or how we would get there.
Here we are almost 3 years later.  (Timing is everything...the twins are almost 3)  We are adopting from a different country than we originally planned.  We are adopting twins...certainly didn't plan on that.  Our age group is different than expected.  Our adoption is approximately 75% funded.  I say this to say one thing...God's plans are greater than our plans.
What is He calling you to do today? Is He asking you to trust Him?  To step out in faith to something that seems completely crazy?
Do it!
He knows what is best.  He goes before you.  He prepares a way for you.  Whether He is asking you to do something big like adoption, or small like invite a friend to church trust Him.  He's got this.

Dream Job

A friend of mine posted on facebook recently, "What is your dream job?"  I've had a wide variety of jobs in the last decade or so.  Some I absolutely loved, others not so much.  Each one has had its ups and downs.  I absolutely love what I am doing now.  Serving is amazing!  I love the family run company I work for.  I feel like I am an important piece of the puzzle and I am valued.  All that being said, I still couldn't call it my dream job.  I mean dream jobs are big and fancy or different and quirky...they are things you rarely get to do in the real world, right?
And then it hit me!  My dream job is the one things I feel like I've always wanted to do. It is as if God has designed me uniquely for it.  My dream job is to be a mom.  As we prepare to bring our twins home, I dove in head-first to all things parenting.  Babywearing, cloth diapering, educational opportunities, etc.  You name it, I've researched it.  I want to do everything I can to be prepared.
You see I have waited a long time to be given this amazing opportunity.  Even as a young girl and as a teenager I dreamed of being a wife and mother.  With each day, it gets closer.  God is giving me two little ones to raise up in this world until the day He asks for them back.  What calling could be more meaningful that to shape them and mold them?
I don't have this whole adoption thing figured out.  There are still some big paperwork hurdles and big financial hurdles we have to get over.  But I know He's walking the journey with us.  I don't have this whole parenting thing figured out (hence all the research ;) ) There are hurdles ahead that I will probably trip over in the dark before I ever see them.  But I know He will walk that journey with us as well.
How cool is it, that God has uniquely designed me and is now granting the desire of my heart.

We just got a letter...

Does anyone remember that little jingle from Blues Clues?  Every time the mail came it was super exciting.  I remember mail being like this as a child, too.  I would get the mail with my Mom after getting off the bus.  Our dog had even been trained to carry the stack to the house.
As I got older, mail got a whole lot less exciting.  Usually a trip to the mail box means bills, catalogs, and junk I don't care about.  This was not the case yesterday.  When I got home, Tyler had already gotten the mail.  It was stacked in the kitchen.  I started with packages because they are typically more fun, and he had sent me a text about them earlier.  Package number one - cloth diapers!  I ordered these about a month ago so I was happy to open them and see such great colors and quality.  Package number two - the amazing video monitor system my parents ordered for us for the twins room!  We debated whether this investment would be worth while, but after talking to a few moms, we decided it was worth it (and they got a great deal).
I thought this was the end of all the fun.  Then Tyler said, "Oh and we got a letter from Homeland Security."  In a normal situation this would probably not be good.  I knew it would go one of two ways.  They could be requesting more information for our file...but that wasn't the case.
WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED!  (By Immigration in the US).
So the ominous question is...what's next?  Well the easy answer is: our dossier.  But most of you have no idea what that means.  So...a dossier is a file that will contain about 50 pages give or take.  It is a representation of who we are, why we want to adopt, and why we are qualified to do so.  It has lots of legal forms, our completed homestudy, reference letters, and even pictures of both us and our home.  This file all has to be notarized, certified, and apostilled.  So if any one is wondering what I am doing with my free time, read that paragraph again.
When that is done, we will get our official referral file.  That will include more information regarding their background, current foster home, medical files, and sizes.  We are patiently (or impatiently depending on the day) awaiting this information.  After this we will be given our travel dates.  Please pray that we can travel in February.  We very much want to celebrate the twins birthday with them.  We are on track for that to be a possibility.
On a practical level, we also have had a great week!  I found some incredible black friday deals on car seats!  We saved a few hundred dollars.  Additionally we got a good deal on a luggage set.  I have also connected with a mom who has out grown the sizes we need.  Being able to purchase gently used clothing in great condition has been a huge blessing!  We believe all our major physical needs for the kids have been met.  I am sure things will come up once they are home, but we feel physically ready to bring them home.
This also means all our extra funds can be spent paying off debt and paying adoption related costs.  We are one-third of the way to being fully funded.  We feel incredibly blessed to be part of this journey and see the ways God is providing.  Please pray along with us that he will continue to provide in whatever ways He sees fit.  I have filled out many grant applications and would love to see some of those to provide for the next part of our journey.
Please also pray that God continues to prepare hearts.  You never reach adoption without loss.  Pray for the hearts of our children's birth family.  Pray for their foster family and community.  Pray for our family.  Pray for Tyler and I as we prepare for big changes.  Pray for our community as they wrap around us during this transition.  Pray for our twins.  Hope is coming, even if they don't know it yet.

Life as we know it...

Life as we know it looks a little different these days.  Tyler and I are both working full time...and then some.  Our schedules don't always align very well, but we work hard to include date night once a week.  Our free time is spent getting ready for the twins to come home in both the practical ways and the not so practical.
I have written 6 grant applications in the last month.  We are working on 10-15 more due in November and December.  We are praying that God will continue to provide for the financial part of our adoption as He has already been doing.  Fundraising is a pretty regular part of our lives.  We are still collecting change jars as well as putting all our change in one.  I empty ours once every few weeks.  It adds up quick!  We started collecting change a year ago and have raised over $1000 this way!  If you would like to join us in this, please let me know.
We also have a few new fundraising opportunities that I am excited to share with you!  We recently did a Noonday Collection trunk show with Melissa Davenport.  You can still order from this online and they will donate 10% directly to our adoption.  The really cool part of this is Melissa and her husband are growing their family through international adoption.  In addition, Noonday Collection is all products made by local artisans in various countries.  This often gives mothers a way to provide for their family so they can keep their children.  In Melissa's words, "It's a win-win-win!" You can order online at http://www.noondaycollection.com/pws/MelissaDavenport/eventstore33004/AMUS/default.aspx
We were also presented with the opportunity to participate in a cool fundraiser with The Ripple Effect.  They make and sell superhero capes/masks and princess dresses.  These are high quality, gorgeous products.  They will make great Christmas gifts for little boys and girls.  I'm thinking we will need a few of them in our house very soon :) You can go online at tinyurl.com/capesforacause tinyurl.com/dressforacause and select The Weaver Family as your cause.  They will make a donation to our growing family at the end of the month!
Finally, another adoptive family shared Amazon Affiliates with us.  I love this because you literally do what you normally do, and you get to help bring our babies home.  Use the following link http://amzn.to/2eOaYHC  Amazon will work exactly the same way.  You make your purchases and they make a donation!  How cool is that?!
We also still have a handful of Hope shirts and lots of puzzle pieces.  Let me know if you are interested in either.
Now if you've made it this far and don't feel completely overwhelmed, I'm impressed.  It seems like a lot but we are trying to cater to a variety of audiences.  We are about one-third of the way to our financial goal.  We are trusting that God will continue to provide for this crazy awesome journey He has led us on.
On the more practical end, the twins room is filling quickly.  Both our Lillebaby carriers have arrived.  I even got to practice with a friend's little girl the other day.  We are excited that these will make travel easier and aid in bonding with our children.  We have 3 eighteen gallon totes of clothing, portable highchair/booster seats, bumbos, potty seats, and a variety of other fun baby things!  Our next big priority will be car seats.  We have registered at Buy Buy Baby, Target, and Babies R Us (which was quite an adventure all in itself).

This part of the journey is quite interesting.  It is busy.  There is a lot of paperwork.  It can be discouraging some days.  But mostly there is hope.  Hope for a family that we have dreamed about building for so long.  Hope for the way God has connected us with our children already, despite the fact that we have not met them.  Hope for this broken world we live in, through new life and new beginnings.  God has already blessed us so much!  Thank you for walking this journey with us.  We love you!

Big Questions: Why fundraise?

Over the next few weeks, I am going to attempt to tackle some of the "big" questions we are asked often.  Some of these are important.  Some are difficult.  Some are painful. Tonight I am going to start with the one we probably get asked most often...
Why do you fundraise?
Yep.  Many people are afraid to ask us this question directly.  But, they ask our friends and family.  Occasionally they will ask us.  "Why do you fundraise?" is actually one of my favorite questions.  This is because it is something we thought a lot about before ever doing it.
First off, the big easy reason for us fundraising is adoption is expensive!  Seriously.  It will cost between $35000 and $40000 by the time we bring our twins home and they are legally our children.  For those who are wondering, no that doesn't include all their "stuff."  We will still need clothes, toys, diapers, etc.
Adoption is expensive.  But so is buying a car and you don't see people doing fundraisers for that (usually...gofundme has prompted some weird things). Our desire to fundraise was not motivated solely by the expense, but by our desire to share our passion and our story.  As we have walked through this process, it has been our desire to share our story, to spread awareness, and maybe inspire someone else to jump in to their own journey to a child waiting for a family.
We have tried to be intentional about this desire as have done each fundraising endeavor.  For example - our adoption tshirts.

They say "HOPE It changes everything"  We love this.  It is not inherently about adoption.  It is designed to start conversations.  It brings you into our story.  A close friend and member of our tribe got to have a conversation just this week while wearing her Hope shirt.  She got to share adoption, our story, and God's great provision with someone I may never meet.  

Yes, every dollar raised brings us closer to bringing our sweet twins home.  However, it is our desire that it also means awareness and advocacy.  We strive to be intentional.  It would be our greatest joy if some piece of our fundraising efforts not only brought our children home, but led to another child finding a home.  

Thank you to all who have partnered with us thus far.  You are changing our lives.  You are changing our family.  You are providing immeasurable hope to sweet little twins whose hope was dwindling.  

A quick update on all things adoption in our world.  Our immigration paperwork was sent last week.  I received text notification about 30 minutes ago that our file was received (Isn't technology cool?).  Once this is approved, we will submit our dossier. We have been working to submit grant applications for the last two weeks.  Hopefully this will help provide financially.  We have completed baby registries (as many of you requested) with Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Target.  And we continue to fundraise...because we still need about $20000 to bring our children home.  Pray with us as we continue walking this journey.

We waited...

The past few weeks have been quite a roller-coaster. Those close to us have walked with us through pain, heart ache, excitement, and joy. They have cried with us, prayed with us, waited with us, and jumped for joy with us.
About 6 weeks ago we read a profile and after prayer and consideration felt they were the right fit. We submitted our letter of intent. We then learned another family submitted their letter just hours before ours. We praised God for placing children in families but our hearts hurt. It took some time to recover.
We went back to the waiting children list. We requested more information. We read more profiles. None fit. I began to feel distant from God. Surely He has a plan...right?
Over labor day weekend I requested more information on a sibling set. Our global caseworker messaged us back stating that they were not in the approved age range for us. Then she asked if we would be interested in receiving information on two year old twins. I immediately responded yes! Many little pieces of the profile drew us to these children.
Late that night we wrote another letter of intent and sent it off to BCS global.  They messaged back with some edits. By noon our team was translating.  Our letter was sent to ICBF by Wednesday evening.
And then we waited...
And waited...
And waited...

But it was worth it.
Our letter of intent was accepted. We are planning to welcome twins (1 boy and 1 girl) in late winter, early spring.

We are overwhelmed, excited, and a little anxious. There are still plenty of financial and paperwork hoops to jump through. I have been writing lots of grant applications, looking at babu stuff, and praying big prayers.

Would you pray with us? Support us? Walk with us on this crazy journey?

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt

Confessions

I love hard and fast.
I try to guard my heart but so far I'm pretty unsuccessful.
I am a little bit of a control freak...ok maybe a little bit is a lie.
I live in a society of instant gratification.
I am prone to being anxious.
I am bad at waiting.
I compulsively check emails/mailboxes/etc when I'm waiting on something.

These things have made the last week a difficult one.  Adoption means losing control.  It means rushing to finish your part of a step only to wait for someone else's part.  It means waiting for unknown periods of time for things that are REALLY important.  Adoption means love.

But I'm learning there are a few other things that are important during this time too.

I serve a huge God.
He has a great plan.
He won't leave me.
He won't leave my children.
He has surrounded us with a great support system.
I love big because that is who He created me to be.
He ultimately is in control.
He knows better than I do.

This week has been hard, but He has been with me.  My support system is rocking it.  Our prayer team has been lifting us up.  I'm still bad at waiting, but God is using the waiting to strengthen me, prepare me, and teach me.
Pray with us as we wait.  Hopefully we will have more to share with you soon!