During the course of adopting Sarah, we experienced many little miracles. However, in the midst of working to get her, life was too tumultous to sit and ponder these amazing showings of splendor made by our Creator.
One of them was gathering the money we needed to travel. Anyone who knows me well understands that I worry all the time about money. This is a constant struggle for me and, as usual, I didn't feel monetarily prepared for Sarah.
We needed to take 7,000.00 U.S. currency with us to make our donation to her Chinese Orphanage and to pay all the fees we would need while in China. This was quite a bit more than we had available. At the very beginning, I told Nathan that we couldn't get her without that money and I wasn't putting it on a credit card. Even so, without the money, we stepped out in faith and started our preparation to get our youngest.
We wrote friends and family requesting prayer and a donation if possible. We hoped for something to help us along, and we waited prayerfully and, yes, sometimes panic striken at the thought that we had committed to going to China without all the funds in place. I hoped to just make it to China with enough to survive and get back home safely.
Funds began to trickle in little by little. I kept a running saga in my head of different ways we could scrounge out the money if we needed to, but none of my schemes were needed. Our family and friends honored God with their donations to little Sarah. Finally, 24 hours before our departure date we had 7,600 in our Sarah account! That was 600 more than was needed and gave us a buffer of comfort in case we ran into unexpected expenses. In addition to that we somehow managed to find a little more money for buying gifts. I am still in awe thinking about how the money came together when it was impossible for us to do on our own.
The amount God gave us /was generous and the timing was perfect. God said he would not forsake his people. He remembered our family's dream and He brought a forgotten child half way around the world to a new family who had been longing for a little girl for years.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
One month later....
Sept 15 was gotcha day. Now we are a month away from that momentous occasion that changed 5 lives - definitely for the better!
Our days have been crazy, tumultous and exhausting in general. I have had many good intentions to write our successes and trials, but have been overwhelmed by the needs of three children and no time left for anything.
Sarah, I believe is adjusting well to life in the U.S. She has learned several words in English. These include dinosaur, circle, flower, giraffe, sit down, and her favorite - no. She combines this word with her brother's names frequently. She loves to play with her dolls and organize her favorite things. She lovingly takes care of her clothes and thankfully has gotten used to the dogs. She even kissed Harriet's nose last night.
She transitioned well to day care, thankfully and we are now in our second week of regular schedule. Which is all too hurried for me, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. I will persevere
Isaac has certainly has mastered the role as big brother to her. I found him teaching her about legos Friday evening and he loves to help her get into her car seat.
Aaron - He is not adjusting so well and needs prayer. He is struggling in school and at home with authority and personal responsibility.
As for the parents, we see each other in passing. And now that I have made the jump from car to minivan, our car rides are much calmer. Each child now has personal space again, whew!
Our days have been crazy, tumultous and exhausting in general. I have had many good intentions to write our successes and trials, but have been overwhelmed by the needs of three children and no time left for anything.
Sarah, I believe is adjusting well to life in the U.S. She has learned several words in English. These include dinosaur, circle, flower, giraffe, sit down, and her favorite - no. She combines this word with her brother's names frequently. She loves to play with her dolls and organize her favorite things. She lovingly takes care of her clothes and thankfully has gotten used to the dogs. She even kissed Harriet's nose last night.
She transitioned well to day care, thankfully and we are now in our second week of regular schedule. Which is all too hurried for me, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. I will persevere
Isaac has certainly has mastered the role as big brother to her. I found him teaching her about legos Friday evening and he loves to help her get into her car seat.
Aaron - He is not adjusting so well and needs prayer. He is struggling in school and at home with authority and personal responsibility.
As for the parents, we see each other in passing. And now that I have made the jump from car to minivan, our car rides are much calmer. Each child now has personal space again, whew!
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