Fundraising Friday

This week I came across a verse that keeps coming back to my mind. "So be truly glad there is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while." 1 Peter 1:6. The wonderful joy ahead keeps my feet moving and my heart on track. The thought of meeting our child gives me unbelievable joy and makes me truly glad to be on our journey. Everybody has trials and painful times in their lives, but knowing that there is always wonderful joy in front of us is so comforting. I want to choose joy and be truly glad.

I missed the blog post last Friday, but I have a lot to share with you today! After writing about our huge blessing at the garage sale, we knew that we were SO CLOSE to getting the financial support to be on the waiting list. God’s timing is perfect and we are thrilled with what He has provided for us. After the fundraiser Dakota and I had sweet friends give us a huge surprise. It was around 11:30 that night and I couldn't sleep from all the excitement earlier in the day. I checked my email and immediately woke Dakota up to tell him that we officially were at the mark to go on the waiting list!!! God has used so many wonderful friends and family members to help bring our precious baby to us! We almost can’t believe it! We are so close to being on the waiting list now!

After our last blog post we had many of you congratulate us for being on the waiting list, but I need to clarify that we are not on the waiting list just yet. Financially we have hit our mark. Before we can add our names to the list, we have a few things to do. Our first task it to attend our two day adoption training classes next weekend. We cannot wait to learn as much information as possible and pass it on to you! Our pre study documents are finished, but we need to wait for background checks and a few other items to be cleared.  We recently learned that we both need to be CPR and First Aid certified. I am a preschool teacher so I have my certifications, but Dakota needs to attend the classes before our home study can be scheduled. We also have a mandatory infant training class to take together. As you can see, we still have a lot of work ahead of us just to get our home study started! We are looking forward to checking these off our list and getting closer to meeting our precious baby! The next two months will be busy busy busy! The last step before being added to the waiting list is possibly the hardest thing we will have to do in this journey (other than waiting!). We need to make a book that will show our child's birth mother a glimpse of Dakota and myself. It will include a letter to her and pages that show our personalities, families and lifestyle. That is a lot of pressure. We are already praying about what to include in our book that will show our child's birth family that we are their baby's forever family. Please continue to pray for us as we keep moving forward with this adoption! 

It is amazing that less than two months ago Dakota and I shared this blog with our friends and family to let them know about the journey we were taking. We absolutely cannot believe that we are at the 43% mark on our fundraising meter! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We want you all to know how much we appreciate you praying for us and continually asking us about our adoption. It is our favorite subject! Our family is being built by adoption and we love when you ask us about it. We also want to thank you for every donation. The amount of  people who have given to our adoption fund touches our hearts and we are constantly reminded of how many people love this baby. Every penny is one cent closer to reaching our child!