Saturday, March 22, 2014

Getting Closer

We have had an exciting couple of weeks on the Adoption Journey!  We got news just NINE days after our Dossier was logged in that it was OUT OF TRANSLATION!!!  What?  Yeah, really.  This is getting SO REAL!  It seemed like just a few weeks ago I was trying to tell myself, "Just stay calm, Jennifer.  You still have a LOOOONG way to go."  Well, we are, as my daddy would've said, in the short rows now.  If everything continues to progress, we could be in China in 3-5 months!  Whew! 

We know that if God wants to bring Sadie home sooner than we thought, He WILL provide for our every need.  One avenue, we believe He will use will be through our Both Hands project that we are getting kicked off in the next week or so.  Both Hands is a fundraising project through Lifesong for Orphans.  It puts hands and feet to James 1:27 which says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  As we were praying about who we would serve through this project, the Lord revealed two precious ladies to me.
 Here they are:
Are they not the cutest?
 


We will be gathering a team and doing yard work, minor repairs, painting, etc for these sweet ladies.  I can't wait to get started!  This is going to be such a blessing for those of us who have the honor of helping them.  I just can't say enough about how happy we are to have gotten approved for this project  Want to help???  You can!  A lot of you will probably be getting a letter in the mail about this soon.  If you want to be sure to be added to our list, let me know by emailing me at aucritterdoc@gmail.com and leave me your address.  We would LOVE to have you on our team as we go be Jesus' hands and feet to these sweet ladies.
 
Along those same lines, we are starting a new T-shirt Campaign that we are super excited about.  We have had several people request that we offer more T-shirts, so here they are!
These will be available on MONDAY so stay tuned.  I'll post a link on Facebook when we have everything set up and you can come back here to place your order! 
 
I can't end this post without bragging a little about my grazing that I planted back in the Winter.  It came up!! It really came up.  And we've had cows grazing it!  Y'all, I killed an air plant once.  Seriously, all that it required was AIR and a mist of water like once a month and I KILLED IT.  That's why I'm so excited to have actually planted something and it grew.  (watered by God, of course, not me)  Anyway, here's a pic because I KNOW that you're just dying to see it...
 
check out those straight rows
(I'm glad that you can't see the back side of this pasture...not so straight)
 
As always, God continues to make His mercies new every single morning.  We are so thankful to GET to live this life that we have been given.  We are continually amazed and humbled by your support and generosity as we travel along this adoption journey.  We are nearing the end and we still have a ways to go ($21,000.00 to be exact).  That number is really scary if I allow myself to look at it as one big chunk..  But, when I look at it as puzzle pieces and how God is fitting each piece together, it gives me a peace and assurance that  He has brought us this far and He's not going to abandon us now.  He places the lonely in families.  HE has placed this desire in our hearts.  He loves Sadie a whole lot more than we ever could (and that's a WHOLE BUNCH). 
 
If you would like to support our adoption and help us BRING SADIE HOME, there are several ways to do this:
 
1. Pray!
2. Donate through PayPal (top left of blog)
3. Tax Deductible Donation through AdoptTogether (top right of blog)
4. Give through YouCaring
5. Help with Both Hands project (email me and let me know you want to help!)
6. Buy a really cool T-shirt!! (See above)

 
Thank you for hanging with me this long!  I'm going out to enjoy some Alabama sunshine with the fam :)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

We are officially "logged in" in China!  What this means is that our Dossier is in China and it is being translated!  We are one step closer to Bringing Sadie Home!  The next step is waiting on our LOA (Letter Of Approval) which could take 2-3 months.  We're getting closer!  We can't wait to see the amazing things that God's going to do over the next few months to bring this journey to completion and begin a new journey within our home and our community!  Exciting, scary days ahead but we KNOW that the ONE Sovereign God knows all and will bring this to completion.  All Glory and Honor to Him!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

DTC!!!!

We are officially DTC (Dossier to China) today!!! What this means is that all of our paperwork that we've been working on since August is on it's way to China. More importantly, it means that we are ONE STEP CLOSER TO BRINGING SADIE HOME!!! 

We are so in awe of how The Lord has given us peace, comfort, provision and grace during this journey. We will be needing A LOT more of all of that in the coming months as we await China's final approval and all that is involved in traveling to get our girl. 

In the meantime, can we ask you to pray? Specifically, pray that the Lord will continue to quiet our spirits and that we will rest in His Sovereignty. He knows. Our job is to trust. Also, pray for sweet Sadie. Pray that the Lord would protect her heart and keep it functioning at full capacity until we can get her home. Pray that she will feel the love that only the Lord can give. Pray that He would prepare her heart for the huge changes that are on the horizon for her. 

Thank you all for partnering with us on this beautifully messy journey as we trust moment by moment in the One "who is able to do immeasurably more than we all ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us..." (Ephesians 3:20

Only through Grace,
Jennifer