Our Adoption On Washington

Only a Pebble

I'm sitting here overwhelmed.  This time it's a good overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed with love by friends, family, and complete strangers.  

Adoption is so many things.  It's ugly trauma but beautiful, hard but heart touching, confusing but a gift, frustrating but humbling. I could go on and on.  Today it is humbling. 

This morning I reached out to some BTDT (been there, done that) Burkina adoptive families in order to inquire about their travel cost.  I had sat down this morning going over the cost and comparing that to our adoption account. After getting the information of their cost, I figured we were roughly short one thousand dollars and inquired if they agreed.  One of those BTDT Mama's took that and ran.  Humbled. 

One thing that I have learned over the last 4 years is when your adopted child comes home, it's stressful.  It's stressful on the adopted child, your children, on your marriage, on your finances and your mental state.  I have seen many families go deep into financial debt to bring their child home.  The weight of the financial debt is like a rock tied around that family's leg as they are trying to tread water until they find their new normal. Adoptive families that bring home special needs children often have added health care expenses as well. Sometimes that rock is so heavy that it tears families apart.  

We know, with out a doubt, that God has lead us to Wendinda.  We are so thankful to those who are walking along side of us in this journey.  You are helping in so many ways to make sure that when she comes home that the rock only a pebble.

Thank you. 

While I'm here, I'll give you a few updates: Wendinda is doing great.  She is learning many new skills.  She is learning how to eat with a spoon, locating specific shapes and colors, staying focused on a task such as walking up and down stairs or following the leader.  She's learning to sign.  One day recently she opened a book that contained a picture of Kevin, pointed to him and signed "Daddy".  She loves to listen to music using headphones and often makes noises as she listens.  I'm just so amazed at the progress she has made since November.  

 

Update on Danil: He is doing wonderful. He's finishing up the 3rd Grade.  He's an A-B student and is the most strict bathroom monitor around.  He's a rule and fairness enforcer.  He recently did a project at school where he developed a product, marketed it with a commercial and sold it to classmates and other classes.  It was so much fun to see him in action. He was one of the top salespersons in his class. He definitely has a future in sales or a supervisory position.  He's the type of person who becomes very focused on an idea and has a very hard time letting it go.  Yesterday, we went on a field trip to a minor league baseball game. He went with the goal to catch 2 balls, one for him and one for his brother.  He was so focused on this task the entire time, it was so hard to see him walk away empty handed.  He also loves to share his adoption story with people and also tell them about his new sister.  

 Again, Thank you so much to all who have supported, prayed and loved us during this journey.  God is so amazing. 

Not Yet, But Watch This.

Sometimes God answers your prayers quickly and sometimes he says "Not yet, but watch this."

In May 2014, we received our referral from the Burkina Faso Social action for Wendinda.  In June 2014, I inquired if there was anyway to get Winny early interventions.  We were willing to hire someone in her country that could provide her one on one therapy or explore the possiblity of sending someone to her country to work with her.  

We received an email that there was someone who might be willing to travel and would be a great asset to Winny.  I contacted this girl and her family.  They had traveled to Winny's orphanage that April and developed a strong connection to her.  This family has first hand knowledge of adoption and attachment, communicating with a non-verbal child and the love of Christ.  Our family felt like we hit the jackpot for Winny.  Our original plan was for this girl, Rebecca, to travel to Burkina Faso in September and stay until December, when we had hoped to travel to bring Winny home.  But later that summer, we realized that our timing was not God's timing.

(This is a photo of Rebecca's mom interacting with Winny)

In the meantime, I was contacted by a speech therapist who had a strong calling to go to Winny's orphanage.  She was prepared to leave in November and stay until March.  In retrospect, this was the best thing for Rebecca, as she could finish her Senior year school work before traveling.  It was decided that Rebecca would move her travel date to late February in order to be able to work along side Coral, the speech therapist, for a month in order to learn the therapy needed to continue to assist Winny.  

Our family was prepared to fully fund Rebecca's trip, after all she was laying down her life to go serve our child in a foreign country.  How many families and young adults would do this? When it came time to purchase Rebecca's airline ticket, the amount was going to be a little over $1700.  We contacted a group that we had organized a fundraiser for us.  We requested that this money be sent to Rebecca's family in order for her to purchase her ticket.  Can you guess what God did? The cost of her airline ticket was only a few dollars less then the money in that fund. Thank you for all who donated, many of you were our friends and family, to the Little Something Extra Fund.  You allowed our daughter to have one on one care, which is so important for her at this point in her development and we will be forever grateful. 

The remainder of Rebecca's trip will be in memory of my late Grandpa and Grandma Johnson.  My Grandpa was always very watchful of his money, almost to the point where you would just giggle.  I'm pretty sure he wrote down every dollar spent.  I remember that on one birthday in my 20's I received a birthday card from him and on this rare occasion, it contained money, $7. It still make me giggle because it was such an odd amount.  With the passing of my Grandparents we received a portion of the money that he had held so tightly to all those years.  Kevin and I felt very strongly that this money needed to be spent as a legacy, not for material possessions.  So we tucked it away, waiting for the right moment.  We decide this was the moment. My Grandpa was there the day Danil walked into our family at the airport.  With tears streaming down his face, he with open arms accepted Danil into our family.  He got it and realized what a gift adoption was.  Thank you Grandpa and Grandma in Heaven for providing this personal care and love for your Great Granddaughter while she waits to enter our family forever.

(My Grandpa meeting Danil for the first time)

With this, I ask you to pray for Rebecca on this journey which begins tomorrow.  I pray for strength and love that surpasses all understanding.  I pray that God reveals to her what is next in her journey and that she knows with certain that each step has been designed just for her.  Until then, may she love and nurture a little girl that we have grown to love and that binds us forever together.  

Our current plans are that Rebecca stays with Winny until we travel to bring her home.  It is our hope that Rebecca can travel back with us to the states so that it will help ease Winny's transition.  Rebecca's return trip is scheduled for early June.  Will you pray that God will work this all out? Knowing that he can either say "Yes" or "Not yet, but watch this." 

Rejoicing

This time last year we thought for sure we would have 2 more feet join us in our yearly cutting of the Christmas tree "stump" photo.  

One more filled stocking.

One more starry eyed child to wake up on Christmas morning.

But that was not God's plan.

His plan is much bigger and greater than ours.  

This Christmas we are rejoicing in the fact that he has called a woman,specifically a speech therapist, to Burkina Faso.  A woman who is being the hands and feet of Jesus with a servant's heart.

Our conversations regarding Wendinda began a couple months before she was set to travel to Yako.  She was eager to travel and start her work with the children at the orphanage.  We discussed all the tools that we anticipated would help Winny thrive.  We purchased a mini-ipad and protective case for Wendinda. She loaded the apps on it that she felt would help Winny and not overwhelm her.  She called me before she left to discuss the details and pray.  

You can read about her journey here: Noble acts of Love.  

I'm so happy to say that Wendinda is making progress with her therapy.  She is making new sounds, using body language, learning how to focus, learning interactive play, core strength and she has said "mmmmm" a few times.  We are told that Winny loves food, so this first vocalization made us smile.

Here is a photo we received just yesterday. It was Winny's task to push the foam letters down in place once the letter was positioned.  We are rejoicing in her focused attention to her task. 

I'm so happy with the progress she is making and that she is getting the intervention she needs, while we wait.

I'm telling you that this waiting is hard.  

It's like you're caught between two worlds and you can't seem to find where you belong. It has made me feel confused, pre-occupied, and unable to be mentally focused and be present in things outside of my family. I spend days where I am obsessed with checking my email and Facebook, just to catch a glimpse of her, hear anything about her or something about our process.  

There are some days where I am really jealous of women who are pregnant or new moms with their infants...that they only have to wait 9 months to hold their precious child.  Jealous that their other children only had a short time to worry about what a new child would mean to their family.  Abbey, Grant and Danil have been waiting 17 months now. There are days where I'm angry because "It's just not fair." But yet I know that there are families out there who have waited even longer than we have.

As anticipated, bringing a new sibling into our house has created a lot of feelings.  I anticipated that those feelings would happen when Wendinda came home.  I was wrong. A couple weeks ago, I was convinced that Aliens had abducted our children and the children in our home where not ours.  They were all on edge, all doing things they normally wouldn't do and I was at my witts end trying to figure out what had happened.  I tried everything to figure out what was going on with Danil.  We tried to put words to his feelings and fears.  

One day I was lead to sit on his bed and ask, "Danil, how do you feel about Winny coming to live with us?"

With his eyes peeping over his blanket he said "Can I tell you the truth?" 

"Mom, I'm kind of scared and nervous. What if she doesn't like me? Abbey and Grant know what it's like, but I don't."

So to help them, we sat down and made a chart of all the emotions we will feel before, during and after we bring Winny home and all the emotions Winny may feel as well.  We will continue to work through their feelings bit by bit so that our transition can be as smooth as possible.

So as we continue to wait for our court date, we continue to grow and stretch the boundaries of our comfort zones.  We wait in anticipation of what God has in store for us as a family.  We rejoice in the fact that Winny is safe, loved, cherished and soaking in all that she is being taught.

 

3 years ago today....

Three years ago today, Kevin and I sat in a room with a desk and a table in Ochakiv, Ukraine.  We sat on one side of the table, the Director sat at her desk and our much loved facilitator sat across from us. 

We waited. We listened for the sound of footsteps.

We heard a small voice. Then saw the smiling face of a little boy whom we had only seen in pictures.

It was love at first sight.

He sat across from us, fidgeting with his hands and had the biggest smile on his face.

This little boy was wanted, and he finally knew it.

The boy that was told by another child at the orphanage,

"No one will ever want you." 

A boy that had no concept of what it was like to be loved without the fear of death, being abandoned or transferred.

But today, he was wanted. 

and he secretly hoped it would be forever.

It took a while after that day 3 years ago to convince Danil that this was forever.

And I'm happy to say that today, I can honestly say he knows.

 

But I want you to know that we are the lucky ones.  Because not only did we gain a son but we gained so much more.  

He brings a since of randomness into our lives and causes us to take ourselves less seriously.  He is a true friend, an encourager and peacemaker.  He wants the people around him to know that they are important and loved.  He can light up a stage and has perfected prancer-dancing. He makes us laugh and makes our hearts swell.  

He is a gift to those who know him, he is a gift from God.

 

 

It's a girl! ...An amazing, precious girl named Wendinda

On June 2nd, we received news that our family was matched with an amazing little girl named Wendinda.  

But this was not the first time I had heard her name.

In November 2013, I had read a blog post called "For God" that was written by the director of an orphanage in Burkina Faso. The blog post detailed on how this 7 year old girl came to the orphanage.  It spoke of things that seem unimaginable for a little girl.  She had drank lye, which fused her tongue to the roof of her mouth.  Subsequently, she had several surgeries to correct this.  But, Wendinda does not speak.

The blog post contained heart-melting pictures of this little girl.  Photos of a girl smiling and her eyes sparkling. Photos that were unforgettable.

I had shared the blog post on my facebook page.  The following Sunday, one of my close friends who has been a tremendous support to us through our christian walk and adoptions, found me.  She said "Change your home study and go get her!"  

I hesitated.  Grant had just turned 8 years old in July and Danil was still 7 years old.  I wasn't for sure if I could handle another 7 year old.  Would I just be adding more fuel to the fire? And then there was the issue of her not being able to speak.  "Am I the right person for this?" I asked myself.  I know how to sign the alphabet and the word popcorn, not exactly qualifications for raising a girl who doesn't speak.  

I thought, "Perhaps there is another Mom out there who would be better for her than me."

 Now fast forward to Easter Sunday. I was sitting outside at my Grandmother's home and decided to pull up my Facebook account.  There was a message.  The message asked if we would be interested in a 5 or 6 year old named Wendinda.  She seemed typical but does not speak.  I was to call her the next day.  My heart raced.  I looked around and couldn't find Kevin.  Surrounded, by family I read the message.  To be honest, their response was much like mine in November.  I found Kevin, and read him the message and his face lit up. He took a breath.  You know that moment when you tell your husband you're pregnant and there is a sense of worry, joy and surrender that comes upon him. Well, I'm here to tell you that they same expression comes on your husband's face when you are adopting. On the way home, we rejoiced that we had finally heard something after waiting since January 28th.  I researched the name Wendinda on my phone and the blog post I described earlier came up.  Was this her? The girl I read about in November? Oh how we hoped it was.

I called Ruth the next day, and she had told me that the adoption authority in Burkina Faso was wanting to know if we would consider her. They believe her birth certificate contained the wrong year and that she was actually younger.

 "Yes, a thousand times Yes!" 

So we waited.  We were told not to get our hearts too attached because until we had the official referral that many things could happen.  Easier said then done.  Weeks went by with no word. Our hope began to fade. 

What if God had other plans? 

On June 2nd, I opened my email to find a note titled "Referral for Kruliks" with CONGRATULATIONS!! I exclaimed out loud "WE GOT IT!!" and the kids came running to me.

 "What Mom? Is it Wendinda? Is she going to be our sister?" 

I cried and cried and as Danil said "She didn't stop crying." 

I can tell you at that point, I felt extremely honored by our God.  I'm telling you, he knows me.  He sees me, even in my weaknesses and still our God has blessed us with this beautiful, sweet, precious gift.  I may not have enough confidence in myself but my God does.  He knows that with him, I can do all things.  I felt the same way after I brought Danil home.  I stood at a conference worshipping God and all I could think is "Why me God, why did you make me the luckiest girl on the earth?" I am not deserving of such a gift. 

And it's not only a gift for me, it's a gift to our family.  The other night, Kevin was tucking the boys in when Danil asked a question. 

"Dad, what does blessed mean?" 

Kevin answered "It means when God gives you something, Can you think of a time when you have been blessed?"  

"When God gave me a family." replied Danil

Kevin spoke "Grant, what about you?"

"When God gave me Danil." replied Grant.

When some people think about adoption, especially special needs or older child adoption, they say

"Why would you do this TO your children?"

and I'm here to say,

"Why would you NOT do this FOR your children?"

               (Wendinda eating Jello)

So here begins the process to bring Winny home. It's hard to say how long it will take.  Adoption is unpredictable. As for now, we are saying that if all goes well she will be home by the end of the year.  Abbey thinks a sister would be a great birthday present in October.  I agree, don't you?  

 

As the Fear Creep In

 

"I think what you guys are doing is great."

"Wow, I could never do that."

"You are so brave."

 

I could go on and on with the questions and comments that we receive when we tell people about the journey that God has laid before us.  

 

But let me be perfectly honest with you right now.

 As we wait to see what God is going to do next, I am scared.

 

Scared.

 

I'm not brave.

I'm not an exceptional human being.

I'm just scared.

 

We are at a place of comfort in our family life.  Do we still have daily struggles? Yes. But they are normal everyday struggles like chores, homework, and hogging all the hot water.

 

What lies before us in our path is unknown.

 

And the unknown can lead your mind is so many different directions.  

Will she "fit" into our family?

Will she sleep? Will she scream?

Will she love our family?

Will we like (because love is a choice) her?

Will the kids like her?

Will we struggle with food issues?

with sensory issues?

memory issues?

mobility issues?

Do I have what it takes?

Can I do this again?

Can my family endure this again? 

 

Most of the time with this adoption, I have been faith driven.  I have been able to look at people when they question whether or not I am scared and say,

"Nope, God has asked us to do this and he's got this."

 

But I'm human. I received news this week that our wait for a referral could be much longer then we anticipated. And this waiting, which we never did with our adoption with Danil because the entire process only lasted 4 months total, is allowing fear to creep in like fog rolling under a closed doorway.

 

Yesterday, I sat down to choose scripture to write on a card for each one of my kids.  This is something I do every week. The kids look forward to a note from me on their pillow each Monday.  I looked up scripture for my teenage daughter and this verse stopped me in my tracks. It's a well know and much used verse.

 

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31. 

 

You see, I want the Lord to have mercy on me and this child and put this waiting to an end.  I want him to move with lightning speed in this adoption, like he did with Danil's.

 

But the Lord says,

"Wait Missy, wait. I will renew you daughter. I will take you places you have never dreamed and your soul with be filled with so much life and love.  Do not, my child, be afraid to walk.  Look around and take it in.  To process this of what I am doing in your life. Do not think for one minute that I, your Father, am working in your life. Do not fall, do not let doubt overtake you. For I created you, Missy, to live life and live it abundantly."

 

So you see, I'm not brave.  

But the Lord is.

 

Because you see, I'm not doing this.  

I'm not choosing this life but surrending my life, the best that I can, to him.  

Because, my Father in Heaven knows best.  

 

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?" My hope is in you. Psalm 39:7

 

Thank you for letting me be honest with you.  

 

The Sounds of the Adoption Process.

Do you hear it?

My fingers tapping.

The tick tocking of the clock.

That's called the sound of waiting.

That is currently where we are at in our adoption process of our Burkinabe princess or "Mia" as we call her.  Will Mia be her name? Only God knows, but until then it was much easier to give her a name so our "Mia" it is. 

At the end of October we completed our home-study process. This process took much longer then our non-hague home-study but we are thankful that it only took 3 months, some states have a much longer process. We mailed off our immigration approval paperwork the first of November and received the approval the first of January.  We had a few issues with the approval in which the officer put the wrong year on the approval and it kept arriving in the mail smeared with ink. We were finally successful in getting a clean, correct copy after 2 tries and a 2 week delay.  

Our dossier in now in the hands of the Burkina Faso government.  It has been since January 24th. 

Some people have asked where we are at in the process.  Here is the 6 step process to adopt from Burkina Faso.

1. Choose an Accredited Adoption Service Provider
2. Apply to USCIS to be found eligible to adopt
3. Be matched with a child by authorities in Burkina Faso
4. Apply to USCIS for the child to be found eligible for immigration to the United States and receive U.S. agreement to proceed with the adoption
5. Adopt (or Obtain Legal Custody) of child in Burkina Faso
6. Obtain a U.S. immigrant visa for your child and bring your child home

We are currently on step #3.  The Central Authority has our Dossier and is working on matching us with a child that based on that.  I have no idea how long this process usually takes. I can not tell you if our file has even been looked at yet.

This journey is more like searching in the dark for a light switch.  You know the switch is there, you know it's general location but you have no idea when your fingers are going to touch it. 

In the meantime, we are still raising money so when the time comes we have it on hand.  Abbey recently committed to raising her portion of her plane ticket to bring Mia home. She raised over $900 in a little over 2 weeks selling her peppermint patties, chocolate drizzled pretzels, and chocolate chip cookies. WOW!! She was stunned and overwhelmed but so grateful for this blessing.  She has approximately $600 more to raise but I'd say she's made a huge dent, wouldn't you! 

Soon we need to get started on the renovations of our 3rd floor attic.  We will be putting 2 bedrooms, one 3/4 bath and a play area for the kids on the 3rd floor which is currently an attic.  Each child is excited to have their own room and space.  There is A LOT to be done, including subfloor, wiring, plumbing, insulation, new window, heating, cooling...and the list goes on and on. I can't wait to get all of this completed so that we can start preparing Mia's bedroom.  I have it pictured in my mind and it's beautiful.

So soon, besides the sounds of fingers tapping, you'll hear hammers pounding and saws spinning.

and hopefully, sounds of glee as we see a picture of our daughter for the first time.

 

 

 

 

Delightful Travels down the Road of Life

Time keeps ticking....

Progress has been made....

Where do I start? 

Danil, my dear sweet Danil.  Oh how our road travels to the most delightful places.  Our detours are getting few and far between.  These days, more days than not, Danil has found his cozy place.  He's kind, helpful, and full of joy (and still complete randomness).  Lately, he's been very eagar to please and take great joy in the peace that it brings to our home.  The potholes are quick and the detours are short.  He still struggles with feelings of "everyone is out to get me, surely it can't be my fault" and feelings of greif.  But when I look back over the last 2 1/2 years, my heart smiles at the progress we have made.

Danil turned 8 years old in December.  He's gained 11 lbs and grown 6 inches since coming home.   

Thankful when he made his birthday wish, he wished it out loud.  It was such a shame that he will not be getting 1,000 puppies anytime soon.

As you know, we have had lots of trouble getting Danil to eat because of control and anxiety issues.  But we are making lots of progess.  He ate soup for the first time (since coming home) about a week ago without one mutter of disapproval.  The soup contained parsley flakes, carrots, and celery.  A year ago, there would have been a total meltdown, and perhaps vomiting, had this been placed in front of him. But at this meal, he simply picked out the celery and carrots and at the parsley flakes. This was huge for Danil and huge for our family.

Danil has experienced a lot this past year.  

He got nibbled on by some birds.

 

 

He milked a cow.  Remember when Danil first came home and started to gain his English.  One of the first questions was "Why you not have a cow?" 

 

He found "his" sport.  The first practice he walked away with a black eye but we were so proud that he stuck with it.  He loves baseball and is so excited to start this next season.

 

 

He ran his first race.  I was messy and colorful, just like our Danil. 

 

 

He started the 2nd grade.  And boy has he blown this one out of the park! The boy who came home with so many red cards in Kindergarten is now reaching the top of the behavior color chart so many times, I've lost count.

 

Danil, Abbey and Grant were baptized by Kevin.  What an amazing moment to watch our kids outwardly express their love for Jesus.  

 

 

He's sailed the ocean and swam in the carribean.  He's trusted me to snorkel in water where he couldn't touch.  And he's become quite the swimmer. 

 

He got a new friend on Christmas morning from Santa.  He exclaimed "Now I know Santa is real, because Mom and Dad would have never got me a giant Teddy Bear!"

 

And finally, He grew his 2 front teeth!!!! We were beginning to wonder if we would ever see them! 

So that is our "Google Earth map" of the last year with Danil.  We are so grateful that God placed him in our family. We look forward to the many road trips ahead.  Even if there are still a few bumps and detours, the end destination is worth it.  

We love you Danil Krulik, thank you for being a part of our journey. 

A New Path

Our new journey as a family of five has taken us down a new path.

A path that was hard to see, and sometimes hard for us to make the choice collectively to walk down.

But with much prayer and patience, we have chosen to link hands and journey down the path together. 

It started shortly after our arrival home with Danil.  Kevin and I went out for a small date.  I sat across the table from him, looked him in the eye and told him that I really felt that God was not done with us yet.  There was a little girl.

Somewhere.

I told him that I didn't know when or where but I wanted to let him know what I felt God was speaking to me.

 

Throughout our wait for God to speak to us, we encountered many signs that said "Now is not the time."  We were struggling to acclimate Danil into our family.  We knew that we had to create stability and security in this relationship.  A firm foundation was needed.  Another sign was not the whole family was on board.  Heck, there were times I was not on board.  Adoption is hard work and uncomfortable.  I questioned many times if I could do it again.

And "the" question came up again...you know the same one that was asked by our biological kids when we approached them about adopting Danil,

"Aren't we enough?"

"Why is God calling us to be uncomfortable, to sacrifice?"

"Why can't we just be comfortable?"

As a parent, these questions sting. But as a Christian, these questions are things we ask our father constantly if we are walking in his will.

The answer is "It's not about us."

We prayed for clarity, for an answer, and for a change of heart.

In May, our church sent Kevin and I to the Orphan Summit in Nashville with the hopes of figuring out how to start an orphan ministry in our church. It was an amazing experience. As we got up to leave a session, Kevin looked at me and said he was ready.  From that point he has been the driving force in this journey.

 

We were invited by some friends at church to meet with a spiritual counselor that was staying with them.  I was so skeptical. Kevin and I decided to just go meet with him.  It was an amazing experience.  He confirmed through God's word that we were journeying down the right path.  But where? My heart was so sad that I was unwilling to go to Ukraine again.  I can't.  I can't be away from my children for 36+ days again, especially Danil.  He's experienced so much trauma already.  I just couldn't.  So if not Ukraine, then where?  I had been searching.  I explored the processes in Bulgaria, Asian countries and the United States.  All were dead ends.  The spiritual counselor looked at me and asked me the question "Where?" I broke down. There are SO MANY, how do I choose?  How do I choose a child? The burden was too heavy for me.

He turned to Kevin. "Where?"  Kevin answered "Africa."

My heart sank. "Africa?"

In March, I attended an adoptive mom retreat.  In complete honesty, I was offended at this conference.  All the booths were promoting adoption from Africa.  My eyes had seen different. And my closed heart exclaimed "There are orphans all over the world, not just in Africa."

So I asked again "Africa, really?"

During our time with the counselor we also prayed that the hearts of our children, one child in particular, would change toward adoption.  The next day, I discussed our meeting with the counselor. This child was very intrigued by his words to us and exclaimed "Where are we going to get her?"

Praise God. 

Still skeptical that this was the right direction, I began looking for photo listing of children from Africa. Two little girls stood out.  So I inquired. They were from Burkina Faso, Africa. Where? Never heard of it. So I inquired some more.  Turns out its a small county in Northwest Africa about the size of Colorado just North of Ghana. The wait time is longer but the time in country is about 2 weeks so this fit my desire to not leave Danil for an extended period of time.

So God and I had a little talk. "Lord, if this is where you want us to go, you are going to have to be very clear...like a flashing sign or something."  God smiled.

In the meantime, we contacted an agency and started the initial steps. Our home study appointments were scheduled.

We received a phone call.  It was our neighbor of the last ten years.  Her home was going to sheriff sale in a little over a month.  We were stunned. We knew that times were hard for her.  She had experience the loss of a son by suicide 6 years ago.  Since then we had witnessed a slow spiral downward. We did what we could for her.  We mowed her yard, took out her trash and hugged her as she cried.  We told her many times that if times got hard financially to let us know.  We had no idea it had gone this far. So Kevin and I spoke about our options.  We had always wanted to purchase her home if it became available because it is so close to our home.  It actually was part of our property until the 1940's when it was sold after the death of original owner.

 

My heart was so conflicted.  Was this a test?  Was I suppose to choose between a child and a house?  Did God want me to confirm where my treasure lied, with his will or with possessions?  I prayed, I cried and I sought counsel.  

In the meantime, our neighbor came over and sat at our table.  She was in tears.  She had been through so much in her life.  She was sure God had a plan for her life but she was so lost on what that was.  She started with a story.

"It's just a house, I don't care.  My life changed 40 years ago when I visited a friend in Africa. He wasn't really a good friend, more of an acquaintance. But while I was there I looked into the eyes of starving children and a house doesn't matter."

Kevin said "Oh really, what part of Africa."

 

She answered "Oh, it's a little county, not well known.  It was once called Upper Volta but now is called Burkina Faso."

I lost it.  I sobbed.  She looked at me with great concern and grabbed my hand.

I couldn't speak.  Here was my flashing sign.  

God is so good to meet us where we are at.

We proceeded with the purchase of her home.  We were told by many that it was a long shot.  That banks do not negotiate that fast and securing a mortgage would take a while.  So we surrendered it to God.  But I was still very conflicted.  You see the down payment for the house was the money we were planning on using for the adoption.  But Kevin had more faith.  He looked at me one day and said "Our God is bigger then this, he can accomplish both."

 

Well long story short, we closed on the house.  I wrote on the day of closing about our plans to purchase this home. A friend wrote that when we do God's will, he blesses us.  All this time I had been looking at this situation as a test, not a blessing.  Shame on me. 

So our home study is now complete.  Our family and church family pulled together helping us raise $3,000 in 3 weeks.  It was such a blessing.  We have paid for our home study, agency fee and commitment to the Burkina Faso program which has totaled $9,100 so far.  Adoption is not cheap but if you take the leap, God will provide abundantly.  He showed that to us in Danil's adoption and now in this adoption.  In a few months we will be required to pay another $4000. But that will be an exciting payment because our new little girl will be revealed.  All we know is that she was wonderfully and beautifully knitted by God and that she is loved far more then we could ever imagine.

So please join with our family as we hold hands down this path, chosen and directed by God. 

Almost 2 years down, Forever to go.

We are fast approaching the 2 year anniversary of when Danil became a part of our family.  

I know in my last blog I mentioned that I was trying to put my feet down.  We the darn things kept flipping back up! 

Everything has been going well.  We have a good moments.

We have our great moments.

We have our "Wow this feels so right!" moments

And we still have our "Can't we all just get along!" moments.

Guess that means we are normal, right?

I'm happy to report that Danil completed the 1st grade.  Boy, oh boy getting Danil to do homework in 1st grade is never something I ever want to experience again.  This boy could put up a fight! Hours upon Hours I tell you.  But we worked through it....I took the bull by the horns and I may have sobbed in my bathroom a few times in fear that it would never get better.  By the end of the school year, he had the routine down.  I would bring him home, he would get out his homework and a pencil, sit down at the kitchen table and get to work.  I'm hoping that he doesn't forget this routine by the end of summer...please, please Lord don't let him forget.

So we are breezing through summer.  We have done lots of camping, swimming, baseball, basketball and the list goes on.  

At this point I'm just praying that Grant and he can just get along enough to save my sanity.

I hope to blog more later on his actual anniversary but I'll leave you with some recent family photos.

and now for our siblings shot:

I'm one lucky Mama....