We're almost there!!! And prayers needed!!

AAAHHHH!!!! Eli and I will be leaving for India on FRIDAY!!!!! We'll meet Kyle there Saturday night and we will be meeting Runa on MONDAY!!! It's so crazy that after such a long process we are finally almost there! I'm excited and overwhelmed and anxious and happy and nervous and...and...and.... The last couple weeks and specifically days have been such a whirlwind of news and decisions and nervously just deciding to take a couple chances and pray God will work it all out exactly how it needs to be worked out. At this point in my journey I was hoping to be filled with the 'normal' feelings that come with almost getting to meet our daughter for the first time, but of course we have a lot of technical things that are keeping my mind busy and overloaded.
We were told that Runa's passport is expected to be ready for pickup on June 20th, but no promises because this is the first international adoption they've dealt with so they did not want to tell us to come before it's in their hands if they can't guarantee it will be done right and on time. Since Kyle's students leave India days before the passport is supposed to be ready we had to decide if we wanted Kyle to come home just to have to pay for a ticket for him to go back a less than a week later (lots of extra money and exhaustion), or if we wanted to chance him staying and us meeting him there and the passport perhaps not being ready. We're taking the chance. This actually wouldn't be a hard decision to make--we'd stay the whole summer in India waiting, but with Charlotte back home with grandparents it's really hard to just jump into this.
We also knew we were doing this with the director of our agency being in India herself which definitely has pros, but she'd also be busy with other things and it might be a little more difficult for all involved. And then things have gotten even crazier for her. If you didn't see my facebook status a little bit earlier, please check it out and be praying for all involved--I can't imagine the heaviness and fear they're dealing with right now. There are hundreds of people aware of this and are praying for them all over the world and Pat has said that they are definitely feeling everyone's prayers and feel a peace about everything which is an answered prayer in itself. And even with all that she's dealing with she's still staying on top of our case and working things out for us. And with Kyle over there right now he's able to get things worked out that Pat and I can't do easily.
We also just found out the "Bureau of Consular Affairs is experiencing technical difficulties" which means at this point they are not issuing US visas to anyone in the world. I'm assuming they have the best of the best in the world on this, but there is no timeline of when this will be fixed, and then we have to wait for the backlog. They are saying they are prioritizing adoption cases and are trying to issue those visas with few delays, but that is a lot of adoptions all over the world right now and I'm not sure what "few delays" means exactly.

Anyway--it's a lot on my mind right now, so instead of lots of paragraphs, I'll do a list of prayer requests. (Who am I kidding? I only do paragraphs so these will be long too--sorry! :))

--First and foremost for Runa as her whole world is about to be turned upside down in a week and she has no idea. I know they are preparing her as well as they can, but that's a lot to understand for a 2.5 year old (or any age!).
--For the Kyle, Eli and me as we prepare to meet her and take her from the orphanage. It's more emotions than I could possibly even understand myself and I don't know how to even begin to really be prepared for those first moments/hours/days.
--For Charlotte as she stays here with grandparents--that she handles us being gone and all the emotions she'll be dealing with back at home. And for her when she meets Runa that she'll embrace big sisterhood really well.
--That Runa's passport will be ready by the 20th because everything is carefully planned to the day (minute in some cases) and if it's not ready it will mess up the planning of the whole trip.
--That the Consular Database stuff will be fixed IMMEDIATELY and the backlog will be caught up quickly--for sure by the time we need to go to the Embassy to get her visa. I bought plane tickets the day before we found out about this happening and only allowed one extra day in case there were visa issues before our trip home.
--And to go with those that  the timing of everything will work out perfectly. Thankfully we only had to pay around $750 for Kyle's plane ticket since we just had to pay for the change fee and price difference, however, if we have to change his plane ticket again we'd have to pay that much or more. The kids and my plane tickets would only have to pay the price difference which is really nice, but still would be hundreds/thousands of extra dollars.
--That I can get everything done before Friday without feeling too overwhelmed. There are things to buy, pack, plan, copy, organize. I still have in country plane tickets to buy and hotel rooms to reserve. And many other things that I keep remembering and forgetting before I find a pen and paper to write it down.
--And to go with the previous request, that I can sleep and not keep myself awake all night thinking of things to do. My mind is already a blur and lack of sleep is making 846 times worse.
--And for Kyle and Pat as they're working on things in India. They are busy with other things, but they are putting everything into making things go as smoothly as they can help and it's a lot to do.
--For safe travel. Our family will be split up between Kyle and Runa in India right now, Eli and I flying together, Charlotte back home--and my anxiety about it all is a little high. So maybe I should be saying to pray for that mostly. :)
--That I can slow down and enjoy this time. It really is an exciting, special time...and the last bit of time with just Eli and Charlotte and I want to cherish it all. My emotions are running so high but mostly I'm just overwhelmed with the all the good in my life. I don't want stress to overshadow that. I want to continually feel the HOPE of Jesus and His promises that I've felt throughout the last two years. Sometimes I saw the hope as a flame and a many times it was just a tiny flicker, but it was ALWAYS there, and I want to follow it all the way to Runa. 

Catching Up

It has been a ridiculously long time since I've blogged and soooooo much has happened since the last post....almost everything has happened and it's been wonderful!! There have been US approvals, and then an Indian state approval (from the state she's in saying they okay us to adopt her--this is the 'ARC'), and then an approval from the Indian adoption unit (CARA--this approval is 'NOC'), and then we spent some time in court where on April 24th they officially declared her a VAUGHN!!! RUNA KAAVYA has held a place in our hearts for many, many months--years really, and now according to India she will forever hold a place in our family. We were super excited to get the news after months of anxiously waiting--praying nothing would go wrong. *I just wrote all that in a few sentences, but believe me--the last few months have been full of emotional ups and downs. So thankful that we are almost at the end of this ride and soon on to the emotional ups and downs that come with having a toddler who has just been taking from everything she's ever known to live with a family she doesn't know or understand. That'll be lots more words!!*
Unfortunately court closed for summer break before we were able to get the written orders saying she's ours. However, the first day back is June 6th and there are a few hearings for her orphanage and we're hoping our reps will be able to pick up Runa's adoption orders that day. That will then allow them to apply for her passport that usually takes about 10 days to get back. And then we can pick her up!!! This is where things get a little tricky because Kyle is taking a group of students to India the day school is out and will be staying there until June 15th. He has been given permission to stay in country where Eli and I could meet him and we could pick up Runa. Free ticket--perfect timing, etc. We wouldn't even mind just going and spending time there even if her passport isn't ready, but we don't want to leave Charlotte here without us for too long. We would REALLY love some prayer for everything to work out perfectly so we can pick her up by the end of June! Perfect timing would have been any time after we saw her adorable face, and I planned out different perfect scenarios so this is just the most recent, but I will gladly accept being able to hold her in 5 weeks or so!! It's so hard having no idea what and when this is going to happen. Relying on the strength of Jesus is about the only way I'm getting through this...and I'm so very thankful how far that has gotten me.
There has been so much I've missed blogging about that this all seems so to the point and easy breezy...but believe me it has not been, and I want to blog more sometime soon. But for now I wanted to update since our sweet friend Tracy Martin is doing another giveaway/auction for us and I felt like the blog needed updating for those who haven't followed from the beginning or aren't following our facebook page. Right now we're getting our travel money together so when they say it's time to go we will be ready!! The auction is on Tracy's instagram page and she's doing some VERY generous giveaways and auctions for scrap fabric beauties she's made and envelopes full of scraps you can make things with. There is also some great pyrex being auctioned off thanks to Elyse!! Check it out and if you're able, bid on the beautiful things that will 100% help us with Runa's medical exam and visa that have to be done before we can head home.
We love you guys and appreciate all the prayer and support over the last few months--we could never have gotten this far without all of you!!!

Back to School

Yesterday was Eli's first day of 1st grade, and he was not happy. He started crying and didn't want me to leave him because he wanted to 'spend one more day' with me. And today I had to drag him out of the car, to the drop off door, and hand him off to his Kindergarten teacher all while he was crying and begging to go back home (I'm sure I looked like an awesome mom). He's sensitive and nervous--but that boy also just loves being with his mama! I contribute it to when I was pregnant with him and had an amazing pregnancy, and at the point most moms are begging for their babies to get out of them so they can hold them, and sleep comfortably, and be able to breathe well again, I was completely fine with him staying in the womb because I knew he was comfortable and had everything he wanted and needed right where he was. And when he did come into the world, he wanted me to hold him every minute of every day...he wasn't happy with anything but my arms--I think he thought since I didn't mind sleeping while he was in my tummy that I wanted to sleep with him in my arms. I know all kids love their moms, but man, I'm that boys favorite person in the world. Kyle always jokes that nothing better happen to me just because he doesn't know he would handle Eli's sadness.
And I hurt for our little Indian girl. When she was in her first mom's womb...was she comfortable? Did she feel loved? When she was born was she confused that she didn't hear the same voice anymore that she had heard for so many months before she came into this crazy, cold world? Does she, at such a young age, feel abandoned? Desire someone to hold her in their arms while she sleeps? Did her first mom enjoy being pregnant and plan all the wonderful things she was going to do with her child over her life? Did her mom feel all her dreams fade when our little Sparrow was born and she saw she had special needs? Did she actually know before she was born that there was no way she'd be able to raise this sweet girl? Does her mom wonder if she's still alive, if she's still in India, or some other country, adopted and taken care of somewhere in the big world?
Last week we were informed that our little girl, thousands of miles away was going to have a serious surgery done...and then they postponed it a day...and then we had to wait the weekend to hear how it went. The kids and I were in Arkansas with my dad enjoying a last minute, end of summer vacation which happened to be the best place and time to receive this news. So until I heard Monday morning that the surgery went well and immediately started crying I didn't realize how scared and worried I truly was. I want to be with her so very badly...but I'm thankful she's being taken care of in the hospital by people she's known her whole life. The closest to real family that's she's ever known. But I do want her to know that she may not have come from my womb, but I want her to be comfortable...I want her to have everything she wants and needs. I will gladly give up comfort and lack and sleep to know that she's being taken care of...to know that she will be in my arms soon. I wish I could tell her first mom that she's okay...that she's going to be okay. I wish I could talk to her and tell her that I hate she had to release this sweet little girl to another mom. I want to promise her I will think of her every first day of school, when we're taking prom pictures, on our daughter's wedding day, and for every other big celebration...and days in between.  
I know this probably sounds silly, but back to school is bittersweet for me this year. I just can't wait to have a summer with all of my kids under one roof (preferably in a cabin by a river ;)) instead of two in school and one in an orphanage all the way on the other side of the world. Not that I want to rush my kids growing up, but I am praying the next few months fly by with approvals coming in a hurry!!

Good news and honesty

The last 24 hours have been great!! We received all but two pieces of our little one's medical reports yesterday, and I woke up this morning to find that the last two were sent last night! And then the director of our agency texted saying that CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) approved our match with her!! That's the first step of all the approvals we have to get on India's side. Now (from what I understand because I can't seem to keep up with everything) our agency will send our dossier to the orphanage where they will look through it all and approve it (or ask for MORE paperwork to be sent) and then mail us our little girl's files so that we can officially accept the referral...and then some more approvals start happening. Just a side note--I can't help thinking about all the sweet foster kids here in the US that would probably have appreciated their parents having to go through all these steps before they were born so they wouldn't have to wait for their parents to get their act together when they just want to be with them. I could go on and on about the difficulty of adopting vs the ease of a woman having baby after baby taken away because she refuses to get off drugs....but I won't...right now...on the blog...talk to me in person...and then regret bringing it up....
I've had a few super stressful days in the last 3 weeks really wanting to know more about our little girl and her special need. I haven't talked about it on the blog because it's a sensitive subject, and something that I could be judged for...even from people who haven't fully thought through it themselves. And I want to protect our little girl and don't feel sharing everything with everyone right now is beneficial. But I will tell a little of the process of our thoughts over the last few weeks just to keep people updated so they can know how to pray for her and us. And so I can have it all out there for future years when I can praise God for keeping me sane when I didn't think it was possible, and to remind me to just trust Him because he sees and takes care of this little Sparrow in the midst of all His sparrows.
Anyway, get comfortable and open your understanding ears and hearts. When we filled out the special needs form we felt like we had been very open to a lot of special needs. We considered where we were in life, where we wanted to go in the future...including a possible country move, so even with those desires, we considered ourselves open to saying yes to many things, even if those needs took a lot of time and patience when we brought her home. However, to be completely honest, we said no to maybe even more things. I understand that when I was pregnant with our babies we wouldn't make the decision to say yes or no to a child based on what the dr said. I understand that I know some very sweet, beautiful, wonderful special needs children who have some awesome parents who could never imagine life without their child. I understand that adoption is not about us...that we don't adopt to get a picture perfect child that will fit so nicely into our family...that will make our lives easier and more exciting. Orphans don't usually have a pretty story, and just like the rest of us, their goal isn't to come into a family and make everyone's lives easier. We don't know what tomorrow holds, I could be in a car accident (or break my leg in my daughter's messy room...) and cause all of our plans for the immediate or very distant future to be completely changed. I understand all of this, but when you're saying yes or no, it's easier to think of it as a choice than as a child. So this is where we are when we got the call for a referral. Our director said she spoke with the dr she usually consults with and our little one's special need was an easy fix, something that has to do with her skull, and is not a big deal. And then we started researching the tiny bit of info we received with the referral while we had weeks of waiting for reports...and realized that her special need could be a lot more intensive than we originally were told. Yes, it's google at it finest...telling us all kinds of things that we're probably dying of while we're searching for real answers---and it made us do what we all do--question our future if those answers are truth. What if our husband's headache ends up being a brain tumor?! What if our best friend's horrible rash is leprosy?! What if the child that has been referred to us, who we've been waiting 7 months for (and many more years of dreaming about), is actually mentally handicapped? What if? Really, what if? Would we say no because we have plans of a different future? Would we say yes because it's a child not a puppy? Would we say no because it might cause our family too much stress dealing with a child with such big special needs? Would we say yes because it's a child that if we say no, and other families say no, what kind of future will she have at a special needs group home in India for the rest of her life? Is this what other families do when they are given bad news during their pregnancy? Or when they're handed bad news at the same time that they're handed their brand new baby? You'd think I'd stop with this not trusting the Lord with our children after both our kids were almost diagnosed with very serious things at a couple weeks old. It wouldn't be a Vaughn child if we weren't given the opportunity to put all our faith and trust in Him soon after getting to see their beautiful faces. Yes, our children ended up getting amazing news that in the end wouldn't affect the rest of their lives, but will that be the case for every child God might give us? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question, or to the question of what we'd do with bad news of a sweet little Indian girl. All I know is I'm praying while those reports are being looked over and discussed by the international adoption clinic. I'm praying for the Lord to calm our nerves, comfort us when things are unsure, and for understanding that He has had this sweet, perfect girl in His hands through every step of her body's formation.

Beautiful Face!

We received a referral for our sweet little girl July 4th!!! She is absolutely adorable, has a beautiful name, big eyes, lots of hair, and a little younger than we were expecting. This post looks so boring without a picture of her and I wish we could include one, but we're not allowed to post her picture or much info on social media. I'll definitely share tons more about her if you want to ask in real life though!! :) We actually just got one black and white picture of her from the agency on Friday but we're supposed to get another color picture of her and hopefully a bit more information about her Monday morning, which can't come fast enough!
Unfortunately, when I got the call from our adoption agency, Kyle and I happened to be away from each other for a couple days and had to open her picture together over the phone (not at all like anything I imagined in all my different daydream scenarios about the day we'd receive our referral), but it was still so special, and I still cried, and I got to share her with a few close friends that I was with on a girls' trip. It's definitely a 4th of July I will never forget! We are of course beyond excited, and were so happy to be able to share her picture and the little we know about her last night at church. I say it all the time, but I absolutely love our awesome church filled with compassionate, supportive, wonderful friends who love Jesus and love us--so grateful!

Now we have months more of waiting and more paperwork. Thankfully it's not nearly as much paperwork as the home study and dossier, but the other side of that is, it's less about what we can do, and more about just sitting and waiting for India to get everything done on their side. We have so many questions about who she is and where she is, and we're making a list of questions that will hopefully all be answered by our agency and/or her orphanage. They say the waiting on this side of it is 8-12 months--more on the 12 months side, and I've heard of plenty of cases where it's taken much longer, so I'm praying for patience on my side and efficiency on India's side. The last week or two was starting to get rough for me in the waiting for a referral, and I know it's only going to get harder from here since I know her sweet face and we all want her home, so lots of prayer for us would be amazing. I'll try to update more often than I have over the last few months--since it's been pretty much no updating that'll be pretty easy. ;) Not that there will be anything necessarily to say, but I'll be around just to remind everyone to keep praying. Next post I'll explain what things we're waiting for before we can bring her home.

Not much here

I've promised a couple people a blog update for a while now, but haven't really wanted to write for various reasons. Really, there's not much going on except for the collecting of more paperwork. We actually have had plenty of time to get it done, but our agency isn't in any hurry for us to finish it which makes it sound a little depressing, so I just work on it slowly so I feel like I have something to do while we wait. I know we do need to get it done though, so maybe writing a blog post will motivate me to work on it.
Right now we're working on the dossier which is the file of information filled with all kinds of everything about us that is sent to India when we are matched with our child. When I read adoption blogs before we started this process, the dossier always sounded super scary and the pictures of the stacks of paperwork that are sent off are enough to scare anyone who hasn't dreamt of adopting their whole lives running for the hills--or at least to the country of interest to work in orphanages so they won't have to mess with all that junk. But I'm not going to do that to all my lovely friends who read this blog. This is my opinion of course, but it's not nearly as bad as the home study paperwork. Maybe it's just because for me answering all those personal questions and writing out my autobiography is a lot harder than making more copies and scheduling more appointments for another set of fingerprints to be done. It is frustrating having to do everything twice--especially when it involves other people such as our amazing P.A. who has to fill out the medical forms and get them notarized AGAIN. Thankfully, she is that amazing and doesn't mind--or at least acts like she doesn't. ;) And at these times I'm super grateful for our bank that notarizes for free since we have tons to be done and that could cost a fortune. One of the things we need for our dossier is the approval of our I800A--"application for determination of suitability to adopt a child from a convention country." There was a couple pieces of information missing in our home study so our social worker should be working on it, but I'm hoping the time it took for us to get our home study completed is not any indication of how long this will take. There is a time limit on getting it in which is nice, however there's still lots of time left and then we have to wait for it to be approved. So I'm just sending emails and trying to be optimistic. (See how I have high expectations for other people to get their stuff done but I'm letting myself off the hook on all that?)
I could continue on about the dossier, but it's pretty boring...just financial statements and proof of employment, etc. And other than that, not much is going on. My best friend asked me the other day how I'm handling the waiting. And right now I'm equating it to when I was in labor and I kept telling myself "it's hard now, but it's going to get worse so just hold tight and get through this moment," and all of sudden it's not too hard. There might be another painful moment that hits, but I know I haven't hit the max yet, and really, there is an end to it no matter how hard it might get, so it's good now as we're working through our 4th month of waiting. Ask me in our 4th month of waiting after we have a picture of our sweet little one and I'm sure I'll be begging for some kind of epidural!

Merry Christmas!!

I wanted to take a quick minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone had a great day celebrating the birth of Jesus with family and friends. We had a great day--and week--being with all of our family and friends. (And Kyle is having lots of fun playing with his Eli's new remote control helicopter.)
I know the chances of having our little one here with us next year can go either way, and I pray hard that she will be here! But even if she's not and we're still in the midst of waiting, I pray I have the beautiful outlook of this sweet adoptive mama. I don't know her outside of blog land, but she never fails to encourage through comments on mine and others' blogs and through her own blog posts. If you would take just a moment to read her recent post and pray with me that her sweet little daughter's passport will come in this week so they can go to India and have her in their arms after this long time of waiting. You all have blessed us so much and I'm grateful that we are surrounded by people who love His children and desire for them to be placed in forever families. Pray for this sweet little one that she may be embraced in the arms of her family within the next couple weeks.
Praise Jesus that He came so we can be a part of His forever family.
Merry Christmas!!

More bragging on our favorites

There's a lot of things I should be doing right now, but I can't keep going until I write a little blog about the craft fair last weekend. And to say it yet again--we have the most generous, loving church you could possibly imagine. (I know you might think you do if you attend a different church--but we do--and I win, because it's my blog. ;)) But really, they are--they love us so much, and I love hearing the little comments that are being made about our little one like she half belongs to each of them.  I know they already feel like she's a part of their lives by how much they want to bring her home and will do anything to help us do that. I absolutely cannot wait until she gets here so she can see how much she is loved by so many people!
And back to the craft fair--which was absolutely perfect! There were so many generous people who donated and shopped. I loved seeing all of our favorite people in one room excited about what they've made and what they're buying because they are excited to bring a new little one into the Providence family. And this year the craft fair raised more money than any other year before-----$4,450!!!!
Kyle and I keep talking about how we just cannot get over how grateful we are for our friends who have supported us so much. The Lord has led us to adopt, and he is leading our friends and family to support, support, support. I know I joke about our church being the most generous and loving, but in all honesty, they're just a picture of Jesus--they're the hands and feet of the One they serve. They are the example of what every church is supposed to look like--what THE Church is supposed to look like. And we are forever grateful for not only their financial support but especially for their prayers and love. Thank you all who donated and helped and shopped at the craft fair--and for being our friends always. (I love having this blog just say I can brag on our family and friends.) We love you guys!!

Come Soon

I know I've said this in a million ways on this blog already (and I'm sure I'll say it a million more times), but we are in awe of how the Lord's people have desired to help in any way they can in bringing our little one home. At the beginning of this I didn't even want to have to ask for money--to ask to borrow people's tables for our sales has been hard enough! I knew it was going to be awesome to see it all raised, but asking people for help is not the easiest thing for me to do (unless it's my parents--thanks mom and dad!). But then the offerings of wonderful friends and strangers of their possessions, time, money, talents came pouring in and I've been very humbled as I've watched how his people have given and given. I'm grateful that we're surrounded by friends who love Jesus and want to serve with all they have been given. And as a side note--I'm grateful for a God who creates people in so many unique and diverse ways--what a bunch of beautiful people he has created in this world!
All that to say--we have been blessed by yet another friend! I mentioned a few blogs ago that our (very talented and big hearted) worship pastor, Drue Phillips, wrote a song for Advent last year, and this year wanted to record it for everyone to worship with during this season. Instead of telling you all about it, I'll just let you go to the fundraising page he created for our adoption using this song! He put together a video that talks about the song and our story and is offering a download for $1! I could talk all day about how moving this song is but my words would never do it justice. I feel this way about all of Drue's songs--the Lord has blessed him with some unbelievable talent, but this song touches a special place in my heart during this season of expectant waiting.
Yes, it helps our adoption, but more than that I know it will bless you in amazing ways. You can check out this song for only $1, but I'd also encourage you to at least go for a download of this and his album for $10--it's all beautiful! Thank you Drue!!

 

Come Soon

Also-while I'm on our awesome friends helping us--if you didn't see on our fb page, due to this crazy ice all over everything we're moving the craft fair to next Saturday. I know it gets busier and busier the closer we get to Christmas, but this sale is worth making time for since you'll cross off at least half of the names on your Christmas list while you're there. I'm telling you--we seriously have some of the most talented friends in the world. How does that happen?!

NEXT Saturday! December 14th!

REGISTERED!!!!

We are officially registered with CARA!!! And (as Kyle had to point out to to me) it happened on Eli's 6th birthday! I can't wait to let him know after school, he's going to be soooo excited to know that we're a step closer. This process is so confusing to the kids. :)
We can now be matched with a child anytime--but I'm sure it'll still be months before we find out who she is. I keep shifting between super excited to being nervous about the REALLY hard waiting that's coming. I want to receive a call saying we have a referral but I dread opening that picture, falling in love, and having to wait and wait and wait for who knows how long for people to get their act together and get that baby home to me! I do get it--I like that there's a process. Processes make sure kids aren't kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder. Processes done right make sure you don't have to deal with years and years of battling of all sorts in courts in multiple countries. But I've also seen over the last few months how frustrating it can be waiting on that ONE person to simply pick up your paper, do what they need to do, and send it out...and that's before I even know who our child is.
But really, I will take all the (sometimes impatient) waiting to have that little one in our family!!
So I'm celebrating today! Celebrating my smart, handsome, life loving 6 year old, and celebrating that we are now officially waiting to see our little Sparrow's face for the first time!!

Raffle winner!

And our raffle winner is #41---

April Klics!!!!

Congratulations April!!
There were so many amazing people who entered the raffle and Tracy and I were wishing we had something to give every special person who entered. One or the other of us had a story to go with each person who donated and with each entry we were happy that people were entering but sad that the person before might not get it...but then happy that the most recent person might win. It was all a circle of emotions about who was going to win that amazing bundle!! :) So congrats April--so excited for you--and I've heard lots of amazing things about you from Tracy! :)
And thank you to everyone who entered the raffle, and for everyone who donated their beautiful treasures to the raffle. I know April is going to love each gift that comes to her throughout the next couple weeks!!

Raffle!!

My generous friend, Tracy, has worked hard making things and gathering donations to put together an amazing raffle. It will be going on all week and has some great stuff!!! Here's a sample of what will be in the raffle:

You can go to the RAFFLE tab at the top of the blog to get pictures and more details on each donation!

Moving along

We finally got some good news about our home study report. It was completed this weekend and we read over it and had her edit a couple things--for instance, Kyle is actually not Canadian. It's now in the hands of our adoption agency, who has said once they're done reading over it then it'll be back in our home study agency's hands to add/correct anything and then it will be completed. And then we will be registered in India's system!! What?! In a perfect world I would put a timeline of it being done by Friday, but we've all seen it doesn't work that way. So I'll just be happy that we're at this point and oh so close to being known in India as wanting to adopt one of their sweet kids!

One of the things our adoption agency told us yesterday that needed to be added to the home study was a Special Needs checklist. I had checked with them a few weeks ago to ask if they had something for me to fill out, but they said not to worry about it at the time (it's crazy the things that can get mixed up in this process). We finally received the checklist and Kyle and I sat down and did it last night. If you've never had to fill one out, be a little grateful because it's not the most lighthearted thing to do. If you take the standpoint that these are just terms and not think about the kids who have these special needs and are waiting for families, then it's a lot easier. But it was hard for me to do--I felt like those check marks were for the children themselves. One of those check marks are what has more than likely made my child available for adoption.
           

Medical issue                 yes                no             maybe                 Thoughts in my head


HIV+                                                                               Either way-Both parents have died and they're all alone
HIV-/with HIV+ mom            

Burns:                                                                              What abuse has this poor child suffered?
On face
Arms/Legs

Cleft lip                                                                            Abandoned because of social stigmas

Child requiring wheel chair                                             Parents want to take care of this child but know they                                                                                                                 could never afford their medical care

   

And on and on....
I know those are purely my ideas and not always the entire truth--but there is truth in that these children hurt both physically and emotionally and want a forever family to care for those hurts. We did have to say no to some--just as most adoptive parents do--for many different reasons. And it's not easy to say no to those things on that checklist, and I'm sure it was a whole lot harder for some of their parents to say no to their sweet child.
Yet we were able to say yes to many of the medical needs on that list, and I will forever be thankful the Lord allowed us to say yes to our special child--special need and all. 

Craft fair!!!

I always love the craft fair/bake sale at Providence because I know I'm going to leave with some awesome gifts for my whole family (immediate and extended) and for myself too! As I mentioned in a previous post--ALL the money--every single penny, will be going towards our adoption fund. This is super generous since that means everyone who is making/baking/donating is giving up lots of the their time and money for this sale. And then they turn around and spend even more money buying all the good stuff that everyone else has made. It really is a great sale! Maybe I can bribe some of the crafters to take a couple pictures of their stuff to post here. But for now, I'll post the adorable flier--thanks again Kelsey!

Seriously--it's worth the drive no matter where you live. But for sure friends who live in the DFW area need to come shop--and visit me. :) GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!

Got books?

This weekend was a $1,300 success! Kyle happily watched his books, CDs, and childhood G.I. Joe and Star Wars toys leave our garage. He'd thank me for helping throughout the weekend and I'd thank him for his help (since I didn't really do anything) and he'd say, "you mean for keeping all my stuff all these years?" Hey, if it helps get our little one home, then it was all perfect timing, even if he did have to keep some of it for over 30 years for this perfect moment. :)
We still have sooooooo many books left. This is what our garage looks like right now...(minus CDs)

 Thanks for putting up the lights Chris, they were perfect for our sale!!

 

As comfy as it looks (I could spend all day and night out there reading if I didn't have other responsibilities), it's a little overwhelming since we don't know what we're going to do with it all. We're considering doing another sale black friday weekend, but haven't decided yet. I've also posted it all on craigslist and am going to email a book reseller that came and bought a bunch this weekend to see if he or anyone he knows would like it all for a deal. We have some GREAT stuff left and are hoping to just get it out of there.
Kyle still also has a few hundred CDs left we're going to see if we can sell to Amazon. And a fellow toy nerd came by this weekend and told Kyle about the GIJoeCon that happens to take place in Dallas in 2014 (50th year!), so we're definitely going to look into getting a booth to sell all his little Joe guys. This guy picked 5 or 6 guys out and offered Kyle $20 for them when Kyle would have given them up for $2. Maybe we can fund the whole rest of the adoption with these plastic people. I'm going to be living with a G.I. Joe nerd for the next six months--I can't even begin to explain how excited Kyle is to get to research (play with) all his toys.
We had a lot of fun, and had our awesome friends over Friday night for a kick off party. They were as generous as ever. I know there was some buying just to help us out, but we also have some serious book and music fans for friends, so I think they enjoyed going through everything. Right, friends?! ;)

I emailed our social worker last week and she never replied so I sent a follow up email today and after a few explanations of why we've been put off for other families I THINK she's agreed to have ours written up next. Which supposedly means we'll have it to look over this week. Pray that happens. It stinks that this is just the first step and we're already having to wait longer than promised. I don't know how I'm going to handle the waiting when we're matched with our child! I might have to get into G.I. Joes to keep myself busy.

What a night!

If you go to my blog to read these posts you might have seen a huge jump in our fundraising thermometer today. Last night at church was such a special time for many reasons. We were so blessed that Kyle was given the opportunity to share his heart about his book, time in India, and our adoption. And I never knew that a sea of grey shirts could look so beautiful--such a perfect physical example of how much we are supported by our church family. I hope the day we finally land in the US with a our little Indian child we will be surrounded at the airport with that sea of grey rejoicing with us!
Our family and friends gave so generously last night--$5200!!! Plus another $750 from shirts that we sold this round to help us raise in one night alone almost $6000! It was so humbling to see that not only are we loved more than we know, but our child is already loved and prayed for by so many others. They already want to take care of her like we do and I love knowing that one little Sparrow has so many people waiting for her to be here with us. I know last night had to make many wish this little one was joining their family--and I'm thankful that we're the lucky ones who get to have her in our home. ;)
Pastor Mark also had two more surprises for us--our very musically gifted worship leader was surprising our church with a song that he had written a couple years ago for Advent (sorry Drue, not sure on the year?) that he was recording and was going to give to us as a free download. He's still doing that, but he also decided that along with the song that he's going to share about our adoption and offer people the opportunity to donate to our adoption through the free download. This is something that everyone is going to want to hear and download and I will most definitely post the link when that's available. Drue and his family have been wonderful friends to our family and we are blessed to know him and have him lead us in worship every week. If you've never been to our church please take a minute to listen to (and buy!) his album he put out a couple years ago--it will most definitely bless you in amazing ways.
The second surprise was that the money raised from our infamous craft sale we have every year will be going towards our adoption. This is a big fundraiser for Providence--and it's only because we have some of the most creative, talented people in all of the DFW area, and I'm not at all exaggerating. I feel really unworthy of this because I am the least crafty person you'll ever meet and never have anything to offer to this sale. So I buy Christmas presents like crazy from the sale every year and count that as my contribution. Kyle has sold his Polaroid posters so I'll tag my name onto his and be thankful that I'm married to talented man! I can't wait to have examples of what's going to be offered and flyers to post because this will be something you'll want to drive to the Dallas area for to buy some Christmas presents. This is really a huge blessing for our fundraising and I never imagined this was going to be offered to us.
Kyle started a new job this year, and although we're blessed with a salary that works for us, it's less than what he made last year, and that's with a few hundred dollar jump in rent since we went from home owners to renters....but even with that we have SOMEHOW (crazy!?!) been able to also put $200-300 in our adoption savings every month, along with all the money I make with whatever little work I do for my dad. And of course there's the money from what we sold at our garage sale and we're about to sale at our book and music sale this coming weekend. All that to say that I surprisingly haven't been that worried about how we're going to raise money for this adoption, I've been more excited from the beginning to see how God is going to get us to our goal, so last night definitely proved that God does take care of us--and does it through his people. Yes, the few hundred dollars we are able to somehow find every month is a huge amount for us, but if you're only putting that amount towards $30,000 the thermometer seems to go up a lot slower than you hope, especially when you have to send $2500 to adoption agency within the next two weeks. But wow, to not just see huge chunks of money go out, but to see our very sacrificial church give to our little one in such huge amounts is definitely very humbling and beautiful all at the same time!
Thank you all to everything you've been doing for our family! We love you!

P.S.--I know I'm posting a lot about fundraising over the last couple months, but that's where we're at right now. We're still waiting on news about our home study report. It was supposed to have been finished by the end of October and I haven't heard anything about it yet, but will most definitely post news when that's written up because we can start moving along again. So for now we're blessed with money being poured down from Heaven and I definitely want to take the time to be thankful for that!

Book and Music Sale

November 8-10th is a weekend we've been excited for since we started the adoption process. (The garage is definitely excited as well as it's ready to be able to breath again.) Our home and storage is filled with books, cd's, vintage toys, albums, etc that are all ready to go to someone else's home. Think Christmas if you're not one who likes great music and books.
Friday night we'll be having a party to kick off a fun sale. Come party--and shop if you'd like. And/or come back all weekend long to buy more stuff to support our adoption. :)

Also, I know you just read that we have over 1,000 books, but we will definitely take more if you have any to donate. We'll take ANYTHING--fiction is what we're lowest on if you have anything in that category. Thanks!

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday is November 3rd this year. If you haven't gone to the website yet, I would definitely check it out--including the videos and other resources they have. And if you're a leader in a church--or even attend church, you should speak with someone about showing a video/having someone speak about orphans/printing out the bulletin inserts/etc. Some of us attend church each week with people constantly checking with us on how our adoption/fostering stuff is going, and we have a deep desire to include people in our passion for our little ones (whether we know who they are yet or not). This is a great way, not only to be able to show off our love for the kids placed in our families, but to get people excited about helping orphans all over the world. This isn't a day to celebrate adoption or fostering specifically, but to point to orphan awareness and the need to help, and provide ways to protect these sweet little lives. Plus an entire day devoted to attention and prayer for orphans by hundreds of churches all over the world is a pretty powerful weapon! 

And here's where I have to stop and get off track a little to add that the the deeper I get into adoption, the bigger I see the horrible problems of this world that bring these kids to the place where they are without their parents to protect and care for them. I obviously love adoption and think it is beautiful, but with that beauty comes pain. I love being able to raise awareness for orphans, but these children would rather not be orphans in the first place. It breaks my heart that many, many of these little ones are orphans for reasons that would have been preventable if we would have stepped up before orphan care was needed for each individual child. There are parents who want to be able to feed their child but know they can't, or the parent is physically sick with AIDS or other health issues and they die because they don't have medicine to keep them healthy as long as possible, or the child was born with a special need and their culture deemed them unworthy and/or their parents knew they could not afford to pay for their care no matter how minor or correctable their disability might be. And there are hundreds of other reasons these little ones are in orphanages or on the streets, and it hurts to know that so many of those reasons are because of things that we could help with just by providing money, time, and prayer to some wonderful organizations that would prevent families from being torn apart and childrens' little lives being broken.
I don't believe that the little one that will someday be a part of our family was put in another woman's womb, torn from their first family in whatever painful way, placed in an orphanage all so neatly just so they could be adopted by us. Adoption is not about me, families were originally meant to be kept together. None of us, including innocent little children, were meant to have so much pain in our lives. This world is full of ugly things, including poverty and addiction and abandonment, and those ugly things unfortunately transform happy, content little ones who should be living with their first parents into needy, heartbroken children. These little ones in some way need to have us reach out and help whether it be through prayer, financial assistance, a voice, encouragement, support for someone adopting or fostering, or giving them a home. Help starts before families are torn apart and follows through to orphan care. And it's because ugly things turn children into orphans that makes orphan care so extraordinary. It's people stepping up and saying they will help in ways that go beyond themselves to children who may or may not ever even know about each individual person that helped them. So without listing the hundreds of different ways to help families and orphans I would encourage you to pray about how you can use Orphan Sunday--and every day for that matter--to bring attention to these sweet children, both for yourself and as a community.
(It's actually really hard for me to stop there because I do want to start linking to different organizations that provide a way to keep families together or work to support orphans in special ways. I think I'm going to have to start a weekly spotlight....)

Since we meet as a church on Saturday nights we will be celebrating Orphan Saturday, November 2nd at Providence Community Church. Kyle will be talking about his book and we'll show an Orphan Sunday video and he'll also be talking about our adoption. So if you're in the Dallas area and you want to come learn more about Indian and/or adoption you should visit!

One step down 93 more to go

We are blessed with some amazing people in our lives. Thank you to mom for helping clean and the Vaughn's for taking the kids for a little bit! We also had tons of friends asking how the home study went and/or letting us know they've been praying for it. I could definitely tell we were being prayed for since I only got nervous for a couple minutes right before Susan got here to talk with us. It went so well, and way easier than we thought it was going to be. I couldn't imagine it being too difficult since we had already written our autobiography and had a few friends send in reference letters for us--I mean how much more information was she going to need about us?! But we were ready to spill our guts and have her put on some white gloves to check for dust--I even made a point to turn on my living room fan since I didn't want to clean it and it was covered with dust. So, I ended up being a little disappointed that the only rooms she went in were the kids' since they pretty much dragged (drug?) her in to show how clean they were, and the bathroom--you know, to use it for it's intended purpose. I didn't even hear the medicine cabinet quietly open (because who doesn't do that just for fun/nosy reasons when they visit people?).
Susan interviewed the kids for about 10 minutes each, and they did a fantastic job being themselves: Eli super smart and Charlotte super silly. Love them. I was glad to hear they know they're getting a little sister who won't look like them because she'll be brown with brown hair--or purple or pink...because really, does it matter that much? And then Kyle's parents came to take the kids off for a few hours while she talked with us. This was a huge answer to prayer since I had no idea how we were going to get a word in with the kids here talking her ears off--and I didn't want her to see me beating them or locking them in closets. (Can I joke about that on an adoption blog?) She pretty much just asked a few fill in the blank questions from our autobiographies and talked with Kyle forever about his book, and his views on teaching, and Nicholas Kristoff, and why the millennial generation is lazy, and being a forever learner, etc, etc. Hey, we're a pretty cool family but she quickly picked up on who the interesting one is. That was about it. We learned a lot about her, and she learned a little more about us, and she ate a couple of my fresh, homemade cookies I had made to get a few bonus points, and then she was off. And I was exhausted, but really happy with that behind us--and to have a super clean house to rest my lazy millennial generation self in.
Now all we have to do is WAIT. She'll be writing up the report in the next few weeks--she said honestly it probably won't be until the end of October that she gets to ours, and then it has to be read over by us and then the adoption agency and then back to her to get copied, notarized, etc, and then back to us. So in the meantime I'll be working on updating our passports that have expired and finishing up the final application for Children of the World (our adoption agency). I'm hoping we'll be registered in India by the end of this year. I know it's not smart to put time lines on adoption in any way, but I'm praying that that is so far out that there's no way it can't happen. Actually, I'm praying she is able to write our home study sooner than that and everything moves along quickly, but I'm trusting the Lord to provide me with the patience I need for the time it takes. Susan in fact kept saying over and over how she has a few families adopting from India that have been waiting 12-18 months just for a referral and not to expect things to move quickly. I have no idea what the circumstances are with these families and if they're going for completely healthy kids or not, but we will be waiting for a special needs little one, so I'm not sure what kind of time difference that will make.
Speaking of details on who we're waiting for--Susan said she'd approve us for up to two kids, and because of our young kids and ideas about attachment issues she would like to say 4 and under if they're siblings, or no older than 3 for a single child. This is a little younger than we were first open to since I want to be open to any little one the Lord brings to us and I know the older they are the harder it is to find families for them, but I'm also okay with it at this time in our lives. And I'm also okay with it since I know home studies can be amended if needed. ;)
I don't know who this will bring us, or how long it will take, I'm just thankful this step is behind us and the empty space on our adoption board that was filled with home study paperwork will soon be filled with dossier paperwork ready to be sent to India. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless!

The shirts are in!

FINALLY!! Our shirts have arrived and I'm so excited to pass them out so people can think about and pray for our little one each time they wear or see one. We do have a few extra, but they're already starting to be claimed, so let us know ASAP if you want one. If we have enough requests we'll start accepting more pre-orders for another batch, but we'll wait on that for now since I've had enough troubles on shirts for the next month or two. :)
And I'm really busy getting ready for our home study this weekend--you know, by talking to a friend on the phone for two hours and reading a book. I like the pressure of waiting until the last minute--and having my mom here to clean for me. Thanks mom! Kidding--hopefully I'll have lots done before you get here on Thursday.