First the exciting news! Michael and I wrapped up our popcorn fundraiser today and it did better than we’d expected! We raised almost $1,000 and sold 115 bags of popcorn! That’s amazing! A huge thank you to everyone that purchased and sold popcorn for us! You guys are the best!
Now for the bad news ~ We received a call from our agency and they have decided to look for another family to take the boys. Since the orphanage is closing, they really need someone that has the funding ready to go and that is not us. I did not take the news well at first, but then I realized that this was an answer to prayer. I was extremely stressed about how everything was going to work out by July or August and how we were going to raise that much money so quickly. We wanted to do right by these boys and even considered taking out a loan, but something just didn’t sit right in our spirit. We knew from Dave Ramsey that we shouldn’t go into debt, but we were also talking about 2 precious little lives. We decided to pray over the matter and wait as long as we could before we made a decision. Within a couple of weeks, we received the phone call, so we know that this was of God even though it is hard to let these boys go!
So what does that mean? Good question! Michael and I have decided to use the time to better our circumstances so that we are in the best place possible when our kiddos arrive. Basically, we are searching for a new job for Michael that will boost our income and also shopping for a new home. We know that we need more room than our apartment can provide and it would be better for the kids if we move before they come rather than making them go through another adjustment after already going through so much turmoil. As far as the adoption is concerned, we are going to continue fundraising like crazy. Once Michael has a new job, then we can finish our home study and start applying for grants. Our agency has also encouraged us to research countries that are open to U.S. adoptions and to choose our top 3 based on the criteria that is most important to us! We can go anywhere we want because we can do the home study through our agency and then work with another agency for the placement of our kiddos, so that has been fun. I’ve been daydreaming about how beautiful our children’s country will be and seeing their smiling faces for the first time! Even though we are not adopting the boys, we are still hopeful to adopt a sibling group, but it could be boys or a boy-girl group since we will have more bedrooms available.
It has been a roller coaster ride, but we know it will all be worth it in the end! God is continuing to mold and shape us into the parents that He wants us to be. We can’t wait to see what He has in store for us!
Love you all!
Carey & Michael
P.S. Please continue to pray for the boys in Ukraine! Pray that our agency will find them a forever family that will love them to the ends of the Earth. Thanks guys!
