Adoption Update | Baby Panda
Since we started our adoption journey with Faith International in October, things have happened very quickly for us. God prepared financial things in such a way that we have not had to pause in the process, as of yet. We have completed the Homestudy and are now awaiting clearance from the state of New York.
When Justin and I were in college, my parents lived in New York City. We took the opportunity to spend a summer with them, so Justin landed an engineering internship with Kiewit, and I scored a sweet job on Broadway as the lead role in Hairspray. Ha ha ha ha ha, just kidding, I worked, as a waitress at, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company which is way more fun! All that to say, they have to clear our time in NY and make sure we didn't get into any trouble while we were there.
We expect those NY clearances to be approved by the end of this week. After that, our dossier (fancy word for : huge booklet containing all of our most personal information, less a DNA blood sample) gets submitted to the Japanese Government to be processed. Once we have approval from Japan, we are officially ON THE WAITING LIST. There are only a handful of families on said waiting list, and from what we hear, things happen quickly at that point.
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Many have asked where we are in our financial goals. Front to back, the adoption costs $45,000. That figure was daunting, and the biggest hurdle to get past in the beginning. After prayer & fasting, God gave us a very clear word to move forward...so we did.
Since then, God has breathed life into our finances and given us the ability to save aggressively. We cut all the fat, and are Dave Ramsey-ing it all the way! Adoption aside, that envelope system is the only thing that works for us. We ran a T-Shirt fundraiser that blew our minds, and have a Yard Sale this Saturday that over 16 families have contributed to. We are excited to see what kind of crazy things He does with that!!
February was a time where I was in my head and getting a bit nervous. God reminded me that He has been ahead of me working things out all along. I know I am foolish to even second guess his ability to bring the adoption funds together, but I was really trying to figure it out on my own. I decided to give it back to Him when I realized there is NO WAY without Him. He met me in my time of weakness and dropped (LITERALLY DROPPED) $5,450 in my lap, from places we didn't expect, nor see coming. He worked a financial miracle!!
You know when you go running (yeah me neither). But seriously, when one goes running, one naturally gets tired. If you push past that tired feeling long enough, you get what is commonly referred to as, your second wind. That second wind is biologically a release of endorphins allowing you more energy to keep on running.
He worked a miracle and gave me my second wind! My faith is bigger than ever and Im ready to go! I am running so hard right now and Andy Mineo is in my earbuds! Can you tell how amped I am, I just used 3 exclamation points! <----- and that one makes 4.
With our aggressive saving/blessings/fundraisers, we have only $15,000 left to raise. I know that figure is still big, but remember our very tall and expensive Mt. Fuji was $45,000! So I say it again, WE ONLY HAVE $15,000 left! He is moving our mountain swiftly and faithfully and we are super pumped!
This child will technically be ours to raise, but only possible with God and His loving village - YOU! So thank you to our family and friends and friends of friends and beyond! Your prayers, T-Shirt sales, Gifts, Donating to [or] shopping the Yard Sale has been so encouraging and meaningful. Knowing we have had so much love and support has been a beautiful thing!! We are walking forward knowing that God has ordered all of this and He is making things happen!
I will update again as things progress!
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** Just to be clear, we are NOT actually adopting a baby panda...there has been some confusion. "Baby Panda' is just a nickname because we don't know if our baby will be a boy or girl. We felt guilty saying 'IT'. Pandas are indigenous to China which is why some are wondering why, since we are adopting from Japan. China gives pandas in pairs to countries as gifts of diplomacy. Since we are receiving a baby not indigenous to Texas from Japan, it kind of fit nicely. Thus, we call our unknown child Baby Panda.
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T SHIRTS - So many have inquired about wanting to order more. I was very hesitant to open it back up, but so many have asked or ordered a youth size instead of an adult size. I will organize that in April, however shirts will have a different design. The design will be the panda design on the flyer below.
