A moment I was not prepare for & our latest adoption update!

Today we had the privilege of sending a care package to our Rosalie! What we hadn't realized was we also get to send a letter to her foster family as part of this package! So, this morning I had to hastily gather my thoughts and compose a letter that could somehow express the depth of our gratitude to the people who have cared for our girl since she was 1, in less than 600 words no less!

This is a pretty big deal!

Is this THE moment they find out there is a family coming to adopt her? It could be. How to do you deliver news like this?

Because of this family, our daughter has known love. Because of them, she has known family. How do you begin to express your thanks for that?

I did the best I could, but it seemed woefully insufficient.

I was simply not prepared for this, but then again I don’t know if I ever could have been. You see, Micah's adoption was closed. He lived in an orphanage from age 7 months, until the day we adopted him. There unfortunately is no record of his birth parents. He had nannies, whom we are also grateful for, but none of which we were able to continue to have contact with.

But this time it is different! With Rosalie’s adoption we get to have an intimate encounter with the integral role played by foster parents. Though I have been involved in a ministry that supports foster families for several years, this experience is giving me a much greater appreciation for the caring individuals that choose to foster.

So to all my amazing, sacrificial, compassionate, big hearted foster parent friends, thank you for all you do each day to show the children you invite into your lives the love of a family! Every time you cook a meal, wipe a nose, patiently help with homework, doctor a scrape with a bandaid and a hug, or rock them to sleep, your love leaves its mark. On behalf of the forever momma who may one day call the child in your home her son or daughter, I want to express my endless gratitude for you! The value of your impact on the life of this child is immeasurable!

There is truly is great joy in adoption, but always remember there is also deep, painful loss. I pray that the Lord gives Rosie's foster parents peace as they prepare for this transition, and that it will pave the way to allow them to bring another child out of the orphanage and into their home. And as Rosalie joins our family and grows older, we hope to have to opportunity to stay in contact with them. Regardless we will make sure she never forgets the love they showed her.

ADOPTION PROCESS UPDATE:

Today reminded me that we have yet to write a post to announce that our dossier is OFFICIALLY LOGGED-IN in China!!! This is a big step, but now comes the long wait for our official approval and travel. Our agency tells us that is less likely that we will travel this year (though not out of the question), and more likely that we will travel in January 2019.

We are definitely not sitting on our hands as we wait, because we still have nearly $25,000 more we need to raise to cover our remaining adoption expenses!! That brings us to our next BIG fundraising effort:

On September 8th, we are doing a service project through the Both Hands Foundation, in which we have gathered a team who will be serving a local widowed lady while fixing up her home. For their work, the team is gathering sponsorships from which all of the funds raised go toward our adoption expenses. We feel so blessed to be able to be part of a Both Hands project!

We are also incredibly grateful that Lifesong for Orphans (a partner of Both Hands) has approved us for a $3,000 matching associated with this project. This means that the first $3,000 we raise through our Both Hands project will be matched dollar-for-dollar!!!

If you want to learn more or feel lead to contribute, please check out our sponsorship page:

*Note: if you send in donations to Lifesong by mail in the form of a check, no credit card processing fees will be deducted from your donation*

Thank you for continuing to join us on this journey everyone!

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