I thank you

Someone just signed up for Revolution Money Exchange. That is $10 more towards Dennis' adoption. I wish I knew who you were so that I could thank you personally. RME doesn't tell me who signed up just like Reece's Rainbow doesn't tell me who has donated. But I want you to know that every little bit has been noticed and is much appreciated.

Just so you know, if you have a blog you can put a link button on your page and now you will get $10 for everyone that signs up through you. You can use the money earned towards your own adoption or use the money to donate to your favorite charity or just keep the money and treat yourself to a movie.

Again, please know how thankful I am. Your generosity continues to confirm that God will provide...... he does provide. Whether the money is coming from our tax return, our savings, generous givers such as yourself, and or our own setting aside of money each month, the Lord is providing. The funds are being gathered for His glory, to bring one amazing little boy home.

As I try to understand how God provides, I am reminded that sometimes He uses us as His vessels that enable Him to do great things through us. I think that is what shining our lights is all about.

Matthew 25:40 (NIV)
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Huge Blessings

You guys are so amazing! Two more people signed up for Revolution Money Exchange and we earned $20.00 for that, and then I am not certain but it looks like someone made a $50.00 donation through Reece's Rainbow. I am blown away that donations keep coming in. May God bless you guys. Thank you so much.

I am hoping to get a raffle started by the end of this week and so please make sure to check back in the next day or two.

Decisions, decisions

As the time to get Dennis is getting closer I have all kinds of thoughts running through my head. He will be around 2 years old when we bring him home.... an official toddler but not too big to be treated like a baby if you know what I mean. Besides, he can use some babying, can't he? There is no way he is going to get away with not cuddling, snuggling, tickling, cozying, and kissing before I let him officially move on to toddlerhood.

So.... if you were me would you just let him stay in diapers for another year? Put him in crib or let him sleep with his new brother like I did with all the other kids at that age? Let him drink a bottle and be hand fed or move on to a sippy cup and the road of independence?

I have also had a few moments where I've worried that maybe we won't be able to handle Dennis' needs. What if we make a poor decision on his behalf when it comes time for him to have surgery, and he has to live with it for the rest of his life? I am trusting God to walk us through these times or else he wouldn't have laid Dennis on our hearts in the first place, right?

So there you go. Now you know that I am an emotional Mama to be, and I don't even have any pregnancy hormones to deal with. You would think that after so many kids, I would have this "about to become a mama again" thing down. Ha, who says?

Too late

I first want to say thanks to you know who for signing up for Revolution Money Exchange. She just earned us $10.00 that is already in our account. Thank you. Sadly though, she did not get the $25 because today they stopped that promo. What is really awesome is that she knew that she would not get the $25, yet she still signed up. What a friend. She was also nice enough to let me know so that I can in turn inform all of you just in case you were planning on signing up. It still is a great way to exchange money instead of Paypal if you are interested in signing up.

Please get the $25 for free!

Hi Everyone! I am very excited to have found an awesome way for us to raise money for our adoption. And it is so easy and free! Can you believe it? I was quite skeptical at first, but after watching this on other people's blogs and finally signing up myself, I can say that it is legit. It is called Revolution Money Exchange.

It is a lot like Paypal, probably Paypal's up and coming rival, except that it is free. That means there are no fees. Plus you get $25 just for signing up and then $10 for everyone that clicks on your link and signs up under you. I have already earned $25 towards our adoption just for signing up, and I am asking that everyone who reads this to please consider signing up too. Remember, you will get $25 just for signing up and we will get an additional $10 because you signed up under us. Plus you will be able to exchange money without any fees with anybody else who uses Revolution Money Exchange.

The process takes only a couple of minutes and then about two days to verify the account that you want the free $25 deposited into.

Again, please consider this easy way to help us raise money for Dennis' adoption. I am also going to be starting a raffle in the next day or two that you may want to participate in and this will be an easy way to buy a ticket.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, ahead of time.



Just click here to sign up. :)

Praise the Lord!

God is so faithful! Not only did we get submitted this week, but donations keep coming in. Just in the past two or so days, we have gotten $60.00 in donations. I don't know specifically who you are, but thank you! Every little bit counts. No amount is too little. God recognizes it all...... and it all is for His glory.

Yes, Dennis will soon become our son, but in reality we are just being entrusted by God to look after his child. What a privilege. And to know that all of you are helping to bring Dennis home is such a beautiful thing to witness. Thank you again........ and not only for your donations but for all of your prayers. Prayers to bring him home. Prayers that he is not in pain. Prayers that the doctors will have wisdom to best help Dennis so that he can have the self esteem when he looks in the mirror that all of us, including myself, take for granted.

All of you, thanks for your continued support.

So what does submitted mean?

Yesterdays news means that the SDA (State Department on Adoption and Children's Rights) has accepted our dossier (adoption paperwork) to adopt from Ukraine. Now we have about 20 business days to wait and see if they accept or reject it. I am not too worried about them rejecting it because it had been looked over before it was submitted and all of our documents still have 6+ months on them. So........... in twenty days or so we should get our invitation to travel with a specific appointment date to hopefully be referred our known child--- Dennis.

At this point, I am very hopeful that he will indeed be home before his 2nd birthday now. Wouldn't that be totally awesome? I just have to keep praying. I just have to remain faithful that God will continue to work miracles on Dennis' behalf. Will you please continue to pray for little Dennis too?

I also want to take a moment and say thank you to all that have recently given to Dennis' adoption fund. We are now at $1730.00. Praise God! Isn't that fantastic? Thank you God for touching the hearts of those around us and those that have only gotten to know us through our blog. It is hard to understand how complete strangers would want to help us. By the end of it, I hope we are no longer strangers. May You bless them as they have blessed us.

This past Saturday, our church mother's group had a family picnic. To my surprise they honored my hard work and dedication for helping to start the successful mother's group over 11 years ago. It was a very special time, and I am in awe of how wonderful my church family and friends are. What made it so special was that they took up a love offering from the group and presented us with nearly $200.00 to go towards our adoption costs.

Thank you to all of the moms of MUGS (Mothers Under Grace). You guys come together to support and uplift your fellow sisters in Christ like no other group that I know. You guys rock!

As I digest all the prayers and donations that have been done on our behalf, James 1:27 pops into my mind. "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

After this incredible week how can I worry about how the rest of our adoption is going to go? I trust that I will have Dennis in my arms very soon. And as we get closer to traveling and having to actually hand over the biggest portion of our adoption costs for facilitation fees, travel, orphanage donation, and living expenses, I have Faith that God will provide. Every week we are getting closer to having the money we need to complete this adoption. Hopefully, next week we will have our stimulus check.... and boy will that get us even closer!

Thank you again for your giving hearts.

Exciting News!

I got the call!

We have been submitted!

Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all of your prayers!

Red Letters Campaign

A fellow blogger, Brandi shared with me all about Red Letters Campaign and what they stand for. If you are interested in living faith to end poverty then please check out the website. If you support what they are doing and have a blog, then please sign up to be a blog buddy. Thanks!

20 months old

Dennis is 20 months old today. I wonder how his day is going? I'm sending out prayers to all of our children waiting in orphanages for us to bring them home. I wonder if he will be home in time to celebrate his 2nd birthday with us.

Also, thank you to the wonderful and giving person who sent a check in the mail to help with Dennis' adoption. I am humbled at your desire to share in the blessing of bringing him home. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. At a time when I am admittedly filled with some doubt and disappointment that nothing has happened with our adoption, God comes through and uses one of his people to lift my spirits and reaffirm what we are doing, just when I need it most. God bless you.

Doesn't he?

Happy Mother's Day

Today is a day that we give tribute to all of the wonderful mothers out there. I think that all of you are amazing. And for those women that are waiting to become a mom, I thank you for enduring the long process that we call international adoption. When you meet your child for the first time, you will see just how worth the wait was.

I hope all of you had a special day. God Bless.

A baby chick named Dennis

This conversation brought me to tears.

"Mama, look what I made at preschool today. It is three cheekens."

"Jonny, they sure are three chickens and I love them. You did a great job."

"Mmm,hmmm," Jonny nodded. "Do you know who they are?"

"Yes. They are Mama, Papa, and Jonny, right?" I asked as I pointed to each one.

"Noooooooooo, that is wrong Mama. That one is Daddy. That one is you. And the baby chick is Dennis."
******************************
For some reason, I was not expecting him to say that.

Hanging in There

I'm still hanging in there. No news, yet. I find myself thinking of Dennis often, but at the same time I have my other kids to keep me busy. Life just keeps going. Every day that passes, I think that it is one more day that Dennis has missed being part of a family. I keep praying that he doesn't miss too many more.

Look, a present for you

"Dennis you got a present the other day. A sweet friend of mine named Kristen gave this to me when I went to MUGS (local mother's group that stands for Mothers Under Grace). She hopes this will get you home sooner. So do I. How can you stay over in Ukraine if you have presents waiting to be opened here at your new home? Besides, if you don't come home soon, you might outgrow it."