Not just a process

I could possibly be the worst garage sale putter onner (did you get that?) you will ever meet. It's pretty much guaranteed that if you ask for a deal on something I'm selling, no matter how outrageous the offer, I will probably say yes. I just can't say no. I can't do that bargaining stuff either...I'll either just accept, or I look at Kyle and he takes over. Kyle has never come out and said it, but I'm pretty sure he hates doing garage sales with me since it usually would have benefited us more if we just donated it all to Goodwill and gotten the receipt for our tax deductions. I think we once made $86 in a whole weekend. Yes, that's me. So, all that to say, the money we made this weekend was nothing short of a miracle. Our total came to $1095!! That's not even including our t-shirt pre-orders or what Jeremy and Joni made on their bake sale. We were absolutely amazed. It would never would have happened if we didn't have all of our friends and family who donated tons of stuff, came and shopped (and donated money), and our sanity being saved by friends who helped us price, set up and tear down. $30,000 still seems so far away, but our simple little garage sale this weekend made us really excited to see in what big and small ways God will provide. It also bring us just a couple hundred dollars short of our home study fee and after that's done we can start applying for grants. So to everyone who helped--thank you, thank you, thank you--your help and excitement for us means more than we can express!
The time I got to spend with Jeremy and Joni this weekend was also a really big blessing. Because of how far we always seem to live from each other we don't spend much time together unless there's something at my parent's house or a family vacation...and even then there's usually kids wanting some aunt and uncle attention. This is the first time that just J & J, Kyle and me have all spent alone together. It was great getting to talk with them about our adoptions. We wondered who our kids are, if they're born or not, what they're going through at this moment, if they're being loved on or feeling alone and scared. We talked about what it would be like when they got home. We talked about the adoption process and how we'd do anything we had to to have them in our arms. It was a special time and everyday I'm more and more grateful that we're going through this together. Even though we're adopting from different countries and the process looks a lot different for both places, in the end it's all the same to us as we dream and pray and work to have them in our family.
This weekend gave me a break from paperwork, training videos, stressing on what to do in what order, and allowed me to know that this isn't just a process, but a journey that I will look back on with very special memories of friends' support and family talks of a child I already love and will someday be holding in my arms.