God's Great Love

Lately I have been consumed with thoughts about how much God loves us, all of us.  God loves us in our imperfections. So often we allow the world to dictate what we should look like and be in order to be loved but God says I love you as you are.  He calls us to him with a longing to be close to us, to be in relationship with us not because of what we are but because of what He has for us!

I see this truth played out so vibrantly as I watch God prepare a little boy who lives thousands of miles away to be brought into a forever family where he will be loved and introduced to the God that planned his days even before he was born.  If Jedidiah knows nothing else he will know that his Father God loves him with an unconditional love!

Intake Interview

I am so excited!  We will have our intake interview this Monday morning!  This is a 2 hour meeting, or longer, to discuss details about our family and the adoption. 

Trying to be patient.

Treasure Sale Update

Thanks to all of you, the Treasure Sale was a huge success!  I had such a great time meeting new people and celebrating with those I know well.  It was a day full of blessings not just for me but for those celebrating this journey with us.  I hope everyone is enjoying their new Treasures!

An extra huge THANK YOU to MIA, my precious friend, for thinking this up and making it all
come together!!!  One of the greatest gifts that came form having Hannah is the friendship I found in Mia.  She is one of the most generous, kind hearted and caring people I know.  She loves the Lord with all her heart and it pours out in her love for others.  Thank you Mia for people who God has called you to be.

I also want to thank Ruthann, Josefina and Carmen for helping to set up for the day.  The room looked great!  And again to Josefina and Carmen for helping on the day of the sale.  All of you have been so generous with your time and I appreciate you all so much!

To those who made the yummy treats for the sale, thank you too.  We had so many delicious goodies for sale and many enjoyed eating them up.

P.S.  We have so many items left over that we are planning another sale in two weeks.  Stay tuned for a date.

Gods Plans Are Best!

I have faith that when God calls us to do something He will be present each step of the way.  The part I tend to struggle with is waiting to see how He will work everything out.  I want Him to send the resources and give the answers to all my questions now.  In my mind if He asks and I obey everything should just unfold to perfection on the spot.  What I fail to see in this mind set is how God wants to use our obedience to bless us and those around us. I am starting to see this as the process for fundraising comes along.  Some have donated $10.00 while an other $1000.00.  Many have given items for the Treasure Sale and others have given their time.  All of these pieces are needed and used by God so ultimately He can be glorified and those who give can see how God will bless them for their obedience.  It has been my prayer since the beginning that God would be glorified through the adoption of our son, Jedidiah.  I see that happening as I share all that God has done to make the homecoming for our son possible.  I thank all of you for every gracious gift you have given, we have been richly blessed!

We now have the funds to move forward with the next step, the Intake Interview.  I will let you know when we have a date.

To Travel or Not to Travel..That Was the Question?

I have great peace about traveling to Hong Kong ever since God spoke to me through a picture He gave my close friend. (Please read "God Speaks" if you want the full story.)  The peace has been great but I have not experienced the excitement that comes when you know something exciting is going to happen, that feeling of anticipation.  Not that I don't want to go or that I'm not excited about the idea of picking up our son, I just can't see us getting on a plane and traveling to Hong Kong.  I asked Josh what he thought and he instantly echoed my thoughts only he added that God will provide financially for what He wants us to do.  I decided to pray about this until I knew what God wanted us to do. 

I guess I should take a sidebar and explain that when you adopt from another country sometimes you have the option to have an escort travel with your child and bring them to you.  We could pick up our son in San Francisco if we wanted to.  I thought this would be fun because then the girls could go with us.

OK, so back to my story.  It was right before bedtime, prayer time, and I asked the girls what they would want to do.  Of course they wanted to go to San Fransisco.  I asked them to pray about it and tell me what God said to them.  The next day I had a conversation with Sarah that went like this....

Me:  Sarah did you pray about Hong Kong? And did you get an answer?

Sarah:  Yes. 

Me:  What did God say?

Sarah:  Not what I wanted Him to say.

Me: What did He say?

Sarah:  He said you should just go, you and daddy.

Me:  Did He say where?

Sarah:  Yes, you and daddy are supposed to go by yourself to get Jedidiah in Hong Kong.

I was blown away!!!  Many thoughts went through my head.  When I shared the conversation with Josh he just smiled. The neat part about this whole story is now I'm getting excited and can start to see us packing and getting ready to go and it's really fun!  I can't wait to bring our son home and share our travel experiences with all of you.

Blessings,

Blessings from Down Syndrome

Having a child with Down syndrome (Ds) has been one of the greatest blessings in my life.  I have so many reasons to be thankful for the gift given to us through Hannah's birth.  On a personal note I have grown in my understanding of unconditional love and learned the joy of patience.  I love all our girls deeply and cherish each one of them for who they are and I am thankful for the growth I have had as a parent.
Friendship with people who we might not have otherwise met has been a huge blessing as well.  From the team of specialist to other moms, who are now specialists, I have found great support.  We are, in many ways, a family brought together by two words, Down syndrome.  A family that understands and shares both the joys and challenges of raising a child with Ds.  I have to add, there have been more joys than challenges with our Hannah. 
If you have never known someone with Ds or any disability I would encourage you to get involved with a local organization like Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara, an organization that supports those living with developmental disabilities.  There are many areas that you could get involved and they would love to hear form you. I will give this one warning...you will be a changed person forever!!!!  It will be fabulous.
www.alphasb.org  or call 805-683-2145

Have a great day.

Friends of Jedidiah Treasure Sale

Our good friend Mia had a great idea, a way to allow the community to share in the joy of bringing Jedidiah home.  So we are having a Treasure Sale to raise funds to get our little treasure from Hong Kong to Carpinteira.  Join us...

October 24 from 8:00a-12:00p
4110 Via Real, Carpinteria
(Coast Community Nazarene Church)

Donated items can be dropped off at the church Sunday, October 17 from 12:00p-3:00p

For more info call Mia @ 805.637.1741

We'll see you at the Treasure Sale!

Thank You

I'm sure I will be writing lots of thank you notes because so many want to help us bring Jedidiah home.  First a big thank to whoever donated to the "Friends of Jedidiah" account, you are so sweet!  I also want to thank you, Helen, for the advice.  I sent Gold Coast Orphan Alliance a note to get more information.  We'll see what happens.

Did you know...many organizations that offer grants won't allow you to apply until your home study is done.  On one hand I think it's smart because they want to know that you have been approved to move forward but on the other hand what about those who can't afford the home study fees.  One of the main reasons people don't adopt is because of the cost.  I hate the thought that money stops children from having homes.

I am so glad to serve a God that provides all we need when He asks us to do something!!!!

Blessings,

Preparation Class 1b

On Tuesday we finished the second half of our class, Preparation Class 1b .  The classes we take are meant to educate us on the process of adoption and give us insight through the experiences of families that have already gone through the process.  The hope, I believe, is that we will have a full picture of what this journey will be like.  Tuesday a mother came in, with one of her two sons, adopted through FCCA, and shared her story.  She participated in the California Waiting Children program so a lot of the information did not necessarily fit what our journey will be like.  It was, however, a blessing to hear her story and see this little boy loving on his mom and obviously happy to be with his Forever Family!  We then went over all the paper work that will need to be filled out, finger printing for back ground checks, physicals, and questionnaires that have 19 pages!!!  And this is only the beginning.  There will be many many more forms that need to be filled out before this process is done.  Luckily for me I enjoy filling out forms.  It relaxes me  for some odd reason and give me a sense of accomplishment.  I guess that's what being a stay at home mom has done to me.=)

The next step is an "Intake Interview" with the manager at the agency.  We will go over some of the forms we have already filled out so they can get a better sense of who we are and what we are looking for.  This will be a 2 hour interview with both Josh and I.  Can't wait to get started!

Blessings,

How Our Girls Feel

Many of you have asked me how the girls feel about the adoption.  Excited does not begin to describe how the girls feel.  They are talking about him more and more and we pray for him each night.  Sarah prayed that Jedidiah would already know Him, meaning God, when he comes home.  I have the sweetest girls in the whole world!!!  A while ago Julia drew a family picture and guess who she added, yes our precious Jedidiah.  Hannah got to the picture and erased some of the picture but you can still see all of us.  Jed is the one at the bottom left.  Enjoy!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

In honor of Down syndrome awareness month a friend of ours is blogging everyday in October.  The Wiley's have four precious daughters, their youngest has Down syndrome.  Andrea is very real and honest about her journey which makes reading her blog enjoyable.  Check it out!

http://www.andreawiley.blogspot.com/