Double the Blessing

Happy Thanksgiving!  We wanted to take this time to let everyone know what a blessing they have been to us!  We have been completely floored by the generosity and giving towards our adoption.

We also want to update everyone with where we are in our adoption process.  Some of you have noticed that we have changed our fundraising amount from $21,000  to $28,000.  This is because we have decided to adopt... 2 children!!!  Hence, double the blessing! 

For awhile now, we have been praying about whether this would be a possibility, but weren't sure if we would even be able to raise the money needed for one child.  After the yard sale and an outpouring from those around us, both Chris and I were reminded that with God anything can happen.  We are going to proceed through this adoption in hopes that we can adopt two, but will be leaving it in God's hands.  I can't tell you how many times I had to remind myself that God was in control of the yard sale - and He proved Himself over and over.  We trust fully that He KNOWS our children and has already handpicked them to be in our family.

Within the past two weeks, we were given two different updates from our agency.  We were first told that our orphanage is moving away from allowing 2 unrelated children from being adopted at the same time, and are only allowing people to adopt sibling groups.  So this left the question in our minds about what happens if there are no sibling groups in our requested age range to adopt?  This also extends the length of the adoption process as we need to wait for sibling groups to become available. 

Then, this past Friday, our agency informed us that they will do everything possible to honor what they first told us to expect in this process. They will first look for a sibling group, and if one is not available, then they will work at trying to match us with two unrelated children from a different orphanage.  This was hopeful news!!! Just another reason why we feel comfortable with our agency, Generations Adoptions!  They have worked hard to communicate thoroughly and promptly with us. 

I am reminded daily to not put God in a box.  I can already see that He has great things in store for Chris and I, and that He wants us to trust completely in Him. I've learned these past few months, that He is capable of steering us in a direction that we never thought we would go. He changes our heart's desires. He walks alongside of us in the hard places and enters in with us.  He pushes, stretches, and grows us.  Yet... are we always willing to allow Him to do this with us?  Sometimes we allow our fears to hold us back. 

He has changed my heart's desire from wanting to give birth to my own child, to adopting one child, to now adopting two!!!  I'm excited to see what lies ahead.  The uncertainty of the future is scary and unpredictable, but it is also marked with hope and unbounding joy. 

Please pray for us.  We are about to start our first Home Study meeting which is set for December 2nd.  We're really excited to get this process going!!!  We'll keep you updated on our progress. 

Thanks for your continued support!

love,

April & Chris