I apologize this post has taken me awhile to write. Yesterday I finally had the chance to deposit the cash and change from the garage sale. I was able to deposit $2,0070.00!! Wow, what a garage sale! We were absolutely blessed by the donations that came in from family friends, church members, and teachers from the girls school. We only had a small percentage of stuff left compared to what was donated. A little I have kept for an upcoming sale with friends, and the rest I have donated to The Tribe which helps local needy and homeless teens.
THANK YOU... is not enough
God was also so very faithful to bring adoptee's that were willing to share parts of their stories with me. I'm not sure if there are that many adoptive grown children in the area, but they sure made it out to the sale! I was even able to talk to a young women about hair care, and the chance to talk with her in the future about international adoption (she was adopted).
He also brought a young girl going into 6th grade to the sale. She asked to sit down because she had a headache. I asked her a few seconds later if she was feeling okay. She replied that there had been some disruption in the home the day before when her mother came home drunk, and I believe she mentioned something about the police. I REALLY struggle with what to do in these situations. I just cannot simply turn away, close my ears, and tell myself I can't or shouldn't do anything. I gave her my # on a tiny slip of paper. Is that going to change her situation? No. It breaks my heart, and reminds me why I had wanted to adopt from the U.S. in the very beginning.
Thanks to my Sunday School class for letting me share that on Sunday through a pile of tears and emotion.
I also had the chance to defend our situation to an older woman, who thought we should be adopting from the U.S. I've had those same thoughts, so I could understand where she was coming from. Of course I went into great detail about why it wasn't right for us at this time. She very matter of factly informed me that I did not need to do that, that a simple "it doesn't work at the time" would suffice. And you know what, she's right.
I am prepared for bumps along this road, and the truth is I simply do not have the time nor the relationship to explain all the answers to everyone. God is the Judge.
If you are wondering though why we chose International Adoption rather than through the U.S. here's the basic answer.
We knew we were not looking into domestic newborn adoption since we have had the privilege of bringing home 3 teenie ones already. There are plenty of mom's and dad's that are specifically looking for that experience. That left us with the option of adopting through the foster care system. Once I had spoken with a handful of agencies and they all recommended that we not disrupt our own birth order (that would mean we needed to adopt someone younger than Sable) we realized that aside from very severe needs children there weren't many who were under Sable's age. In fact the majority of children in the foster care are 6 and up. We were not comfortable with bringing in an older child from the U.S. at this time. Internationally, we would allow it since the reason these children are in orphanages is very different (for the large percentage) from the reason children in the U.S. are in the states custody.
William says let's just get through this adoption, but I could see U.S. adoption an option once our children are older. :)
So, where does this leave us? We currently have $3700.00 in the adoption fund. I expect to need $5,000 - $6,000 to get started. That would be
-$250.00 for the Love Beyond Borders application
-$2,250.00 due to LBB when we sign our agreement
-$100.00+ for background and fingerprinting
-$2,250+ - for home study, travel costs, and per diem.
And all the things that I'm not even aware of yet.
We are so close, and hopefully with the sale of the van and truck we will be there!
Thank you friends for following us on this journey.
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