What God Orders he Pays For

When God called me to adopt again, I started saying, "What God orders, He pays for." I did not have the funds just sitting around to do another adoption but God's call was clear, and to do anything less than obey would have been wrong.

I keep seeing God provide along this journey. I had a yard sale that exceeded my expectations. I saw things sell that I thought I'd have to pay a salvage company to haul away. It was amazing.

Earlier this week a friend had called and asked if there was a good time to stop by. We had a great visit but his request to stop by was so he could give me a check.

Thank you Lord for your provision along the way and miracles you are performing to make one less child an orphan.

Out of Translation

OOT or Out Of Translation. This means my dossier documents have been translated and are being reviewed in China. When this is done their status will change to "to be matched" and will wait until I submit a request to be matched with a specific child.

I'm waiting for a match to that child from my agency. They should be getting some files soon so hopefully in the next few months I will know who will be joining our family.

Please keep praying for the matching process and for the finances to cover the fees while in China and the travel expenses.

Yard Sale

The last few days have been crazy.

Over the last few months my brother-in-law, Don McEvoy, has been helping me go through Dennis' tools and electronics. Dennis had a lot of stuff. This week was the yard sale to sell these things. It was a guys dream sale and it has gone so well. I advertised it as an adoption fundraiser and it has done really well.

It has been fun to meet some nice people and to share what God has done and is doing in my life. We opened the sale on Wednesday evening for friends and family and will close it tomorrow. I had people ask me today if there was another sale in the area because there was suppose to be a huge one around here. I chuckled to myself about this. It had been huge but so much has sold it isn't anymore.

My friend Laura Stevens Helwig and her daughter Kayley helped so much with the sale. They were here super early on Thursday to help with set-up and Laura was back again today. She also posted items on a for sale group she uses and many items sold because of her posts. Thank you Laura and Kayley. My friend Nancy Petak kept us well fed-she is an awesome cook. George Petak and Steven J. Schmitt made sure we had shade by lending us their canopies too. Bret Clardy just happened to be at our pre-sale on Wednesday at the end and stayed to help haul all of it back into the garage for the night. Thank you to each of these friends for your efforts to bring home my little girl.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match!

Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match... That is my theme song right now as I wait on a match with the little girl who will be my daughter. My documents are in China and currently being translated. They will then be reviewed and approved. After that they will sit there until a specific child has been matched to me.

Frankly, it is like watching paint dry. Mostly though, I'm patient with the process. I spoke with my agency and they said it could be up to six months before a match but they also said they tend to be very conservative in their estimates. God's timing will be right and I keep reminding myself of that on a regular basis.

Until then, Brooklyn and I have been busy painting and doing things around the house. This week is a huge fundraiser/yard sale. My brother-in-law, Don McEvoy has shouldered much of the work for the sale. It is a sale full of tools, electronics, collectibles, housewares, furniture,... Please pray for good sales and good weather. I have to raise the money for our travel and the fees in China. A good estimate is somewhere around $12,000-$15,000. Those numbers scare me but God will provide.

Thanks for your prayers for me and for the little girl that will be part of my family - all in God's time.