something so big...

It's no secret that our hearts have been/are for adoption.  God has clearly called us to adoption as our part of caring for orphans.  To give at least one child a loving home and family.  We said "yes" to adopting Baby J two years ago and unfortunately God's plan wasn't for him to be apart of our family.  We were open to it then and we still are now.  This time we are going in a little different direction and pursuing an international adoption.  There are so many factors when considering which country (international or domestic) and then going through each countries requirements list. There were so many that we didn't qualify for. Apparently in the adoption sphere we are "young."  A lot of countries want both of us to be 30 as one of their requirements.  There was one night particularly where I just shut my computer and the tears started flowing.  I was so discouraged because there was always SOMETHING about a country's requirements that we didn't fit.  Why do they make it so difficult to adopt?  God here we are......willing to adopt a little one and you are shutting every. single. door.  Why????  I was so frustrated.

But then I realized that God wasn't going to shut the door to every.single.country.  He was shutting doors to lead us to our child.  We are still prayerfully considering a couple countries that we qualify for and are praying for direction on the right decision.  Would you join in praying with us?  Praying for our child out there?  I have no idea where he/she may be, what she is doing right now, if he is even born yet.  But please pray for us as we find our way to him/her.

So this is where we are right now.  Still in the deciding process of choosing an agency and country.  and beginning to raise money.  Adoption is expensive, to put it plainly :)  We are looking at having to come up with $25,000-$30,000.  Gulp.  Yep that is a huge number.  HUGE.  It's a big obstacle but I can't wait to see how God provides.  I could get all worked up and worried about this daunting task but I know that God's heart is for the orphan.  So like my friend Julie said in one of her blog posts during their adoption, "You should be involved in something so big that if God doesn't show up, you're toast."  They had heard a missionary say that when speaking at their church and she pointed out how that is just how adoption is.  We are now apart of something so big that if God doesn't show up, we're toast.  Our adoption is toast.  This adoption is so much bigger than us.  We have absolutely no control over a lot of it, but He does.  This amount of money that we need is so big that if God doesn't show up then it's toast.  

So how are we going to come up with that amount of money?
We have cut out a lot of "extras" in our budget.  Things like cable that were just "nice" to have, now that money is going straight to our adoption fund.  Every little bit counts, but at that rate, it'll take like 20 years to save that much money so I've also just recently become an Independent Designer with Origami Owl.    If you haven't heard of it, it's a new company (only 2 years old) where you design a necklace to tell your unique story.  Like these lockets below....

I love what this company stands for and am so excited to join them.  Every penny I make selling Origami Owl is going right into our adoption fund.  So how can you help?  Check out this awesome jewelry at my website: HERE.  Buy pretty things and help us bring our next child home!  You can order directly from there or if you want to host a party that would be super helpful as well.  That's not just limited to those who live close to us, if you want to host a party and live far away I'm more than happy to do a catalog party! And remember Mother's Day is just around the corner, and these lockets are perfect gifts for the mom's in our lives!  If you are interested in hosting a party email me at thelincbetweenus @ gmail . com.  

Also I added a "Donate" button to my sidebar.  If you feel led to help us reach our goal to bring home our son/daughter just click on it.  No amount is insignificant.  

We have no idea how long this road to our child will be (expecting a long one, since that tends to be the trend in adoption) but we are so excited to start it!  My heart already aches to hold him/her.