Post # 11 - 100% Funded, now what?

 

We are thrilled to say that we are fully funded!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Everyone came together and has been SO generous and kind that we have exceeded our goal and moved  to now what I call "extra blessing" funds. Every dollar beyond the goal (as reminder was $24,500 to cover the last of the agency fees) is being placed in a our "Adoption Fund" savings account. These funds are being set aside to be used for getting the basic essentials for baby, but more importantly being saved to help with finances during maternity leave (more on that below). We can't believe how quickly we were funded and can't thank you all enough for contributing, posting, sharing, and praying.  Everyone of you who have participated in this adventure, one way or another, is directly apart of this child's story giving them a home, a future, and a family. That is so exciting! We love that you want to partner in this with us and allow God to use you in this way. Please don't take your financial gift lightly no matter the amount. I firmly believe it is bigger than you and I will ever realize.  All praise to God for his provision and over abundance! 

*** get ready*** drum roll please 🥁......

Our profile is officially open with the agency and we are just waiting to be matched! 

What Does This 👆👆👆 Mean? 

This means we are now able to be matched with a child at anytime if a birth mother chooses us! The pregnancy counselors at the agency are working very closely with their clients in supporting and educating them through their pregnancy, and ultimately helping them navigate the option of parenting or placing for adoption.  If the mother/family chooses adoption they get to view all the families in the matchbook that meet their needs/preferences.  If we are one of their top picks, we will be able to meet with them in person and then have 24 hours to decided if we would like to accept. Both parties (us and the mother) have 24 hours to decided if we want to continue. She may be meeting with other families as well and trying to decide. If both sides agree, then we join with the mother in waiting until baby is born. We can be apart of the remainder of her pregnancy to whatever comfort level she is okay with. Then once baby is born, legal paperwork is completed, and the baby is cleared for discharge, we will get to take him/her home. There is no estimated time frame to be matched, it could be 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years. Your guess is as good as mine. 

But wait for it....we also agreed that we would accept a "hospital call". This is when a mother is already in the hospital or already given birth but, for whatever reason, has not yet selected an adoptive family. Someone from the agency will call us to let us know a baby is being or was born that we fit the criteria for, and offer for us to accept a match. From there we would immediately head to the hospital so we can meet baby and mother (if she's wanting) and bring baby home as soon as he/she is discharged. In this case, there is a chance we don't even meet the mother and have a formal "match meeting" like in the scenario above. And as far as I'm aware once you agree over the phone that you will say yes to this child and go to the hospital, there is no backing down! Because the agency works with clients throughout the whole state of Arizona we are expected to drive to any hospital in the state to meet and pick up the baby. Either way, once baby is home with us, the actual adoption will take several months before it is finalized with the court. 

🙌 So this is where we are now...waiting for a call that could be any day that says, "a mother would like to have a match meeting with you" or "there is a baby that was just born that needs a family, do you accept?" 

It seems like it took forever to get to this part of the process but now that it's happening, it all seems to be happening so fast. I honestly wasn't expecting to be fully funded and our profile opened till more around the middle of the year, and it's only February!! So again we thank you and are excited to continue to watch how it all unfolds. 

The rest of the blog I will be sharing more of what's going on with us, what God has been showing me, another one of my favorite songs for this season, and anything else that I feel inclined to share :) 

So keep on scrolling if that's your jam or you're just nosey! No need to be shy about it 🤣

------------------------------------------------

Maternity Leave Topic 

Being able to take a maternity leave has always been very important to me/us. But with starting my own business recently I don't have the capacity to offer myself a paid maternity leave.  So throughout all this process it has been a concern of mine, whether I will be able to be home and for how long, because in my human brain it just didn't seem possible to be able to take 2 months off if not 3 without the income from my job or a paid leave.  BUT GOD. He is making a way through all of your financial support that we are now being able to put extra money aside specially just for that time and I can already feel the stress lifting. 

I also haven't shared that Cody's last day at his previous pool construction job (for personal reasons) was December 15th, and it wasn't until just last week he started his first day at Spouts (a local health food grocery store). It was more difficult than expected for him to find a job. So what was an anticipated couple weeks off during the holidays, turned into about 2 months of no work/income for him. 

All while this was happening, we got our certification from the state and kept moving along on the adoption stuff even though it wasn't really making sense and there was a lot of unknowns about where Cody was going to work and where the funds would come. I just kept thinking if all this adoption stuff happens so quick there's going to be no way I will be able to stay home if I'm the only one with a job and have to keep working. If you know me at all, I tend to overthink EVERY situation and can think too far ahead and then do what I call, spiral.  Have you been there too? So here I am imagining that now it's 6 months later Cody still can't find work, we are funded and matched, and now what?? How do we provide, how do we care for the baby, will I have to keep working no matter what happens? This might all sound dramatic and it probably is, but just how my brain naturally processes. 

But again, God shows up and continues to prove that He's been in control all along. Literally Cody gets his first call back for an interview, gets an offer the following day, starts work the next week and then boom, funded. As if God knew all along that we were getting close to being funded and our profile opening, that Cody will need a job in order to provide for our growing family and for me to be able to stay home. I consider each of these circumstances and specifically this timeline of events a blessing and a gift from God. And plus, as I mentioned earlier with getting to the point that people are blessing us financially beyond the goal amount, it's looking like I will be able to take 3 months rather than 2 for maternity leave,  which is huge blessing for us.  

------------------------------------------------

Just For Fun

I wanted Cody and I to have something meaningful to remember this season of waiting by, so with my sister's graphic design background and skills 😎 she was able to take some of my ideas and design an awesome shirt for us! I plan to work with a local t-shirt shop this week on getting the design on a shirt. I am so stoked! I love it so much and can't wait to share it with you all 😍  

Here's a sneak peak at the design..... 

------------------------------------------------

Jesus Moments

I'm doing a Bible reading plan right now going through the Bible in a year chronologically. I am doing it along side this super cool book called "The Bible Recap".  I'll link it for you here. 

After I read the daily chapters (usually 2-4) in my Bible, I will then read the 2 page recap in the book. It helps better understand what's actually happening, what the meaning and importance is of what I read, and then most importantly shares God's attributes and character that are displayed in those chapters. Most often people read the Bible as a "to do" or a "to don't" list (I'm guilty of that myself), but this books' aim is to get you to focus not on what you can or can't do, but on who God is and what His character is like. Anyways, just a shameless plug to say I love it and you should get one for yourself! 

I started it back in November, because I got it for my birthday, and I'm currently in the depths of the old testament. Let's be honest, if I did it every day I should be on day 110,  but I am not, and thats okay....I completed day 61 yesterday. So if you started a daily goal this new year and aren't where you are "suppose" to be, give yourself grace, pick it back up and just continue!

 I am also reading a devotional called "Upon Awakening".  Linked here. This one is shorter and goes over different ransom verses, one each day. I also received this as a gift recently. Both of these books have been a blessing in this season of my life. I wanted to share some of the little "Jesus moments" I've had recently while going through them. 

⭐ ⭐⭐In Exodus chapters 35-36 it talks about building the tabernacle. Moses tells the people what is needed and instructs them to brings gifts as an offering to the Lord. They needed gold, silver, bronze, wood, threads, linens, leather, oil, spices, and gemstones ( see 35:4-9). 

verse 22 says "All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought the scared offering to the LORD. They brought all the materials needed" 

Then in chapter 36 verse 3 it says "the people continued to bring additional gifts each morning".

In the next couple verses it goes on to say that some of the workers left their job to tell Moses, "the people have given more than enough materials to complete the job the LORD has commanded us to do" (vs 5).  So Moses gave this command in verse 6, "Men and women, don't prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!". And my favorite line is in verse 7 it says, "Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project". 

I just picture Moses standing there, waving his hands frantically in the air saying "stop, stop! we have enough!" 

I read this set of passages back in January when we were just getting the adoption fund set up. My first thought was "maybe this will pertain the our funding, Lord?!" but I tried not to over emotionalize it. I kinda just took it as a little nugget and tucked it away in my heart. But I have continued to think about it often and now that we are at the place where we are getting funds beyond the goal it comes to my mind daily. I feel like it was God speaking and reassuring us that this will happen, I will provide, and here we are with "more than enough". It's still so amazing to me. That I would come across this in my bible reading at this specific time and season (even with being days behind the "reading schedule"), that God would use what happened so many thousands of years ago with the Israelites to go along with what's happening in our personal lives, and to speak to us and give us hope.  

So I want you all to consider yourselves, each one that gave, as bringing an offering to the Lord, and know that it was you whose "hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved" are being used in this story of adoption. That because of your response we have "more than enough".  

Also side note, I love that God will meet us where we are. As you read, I didn't do my reading everyday, I aim to but I'm not perfect, yet he always brings me just what I need to read on that specific day. So just stay faithful, and be as consistent as you know how, and know that even if you don't do things perfect or feel behind, God will meet you just where you're at if you're seeking Him.  

⭐⭐⭐ In the Upon Waking devotional, on day 13, it was talking about being prideful and how God responds to that. This day was highlighting the verse in 1 Samuel 17:37 

    Then David said " The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine". 

Here the "Philistine" is referencing Goliath. I am sure you have heard of the popular David and Goliath bible story. 

Well did you know this wasn't the first time he has fought something larger than himself?  This is the first time it's another human. His other experiences were with lions and a bears, according the the passage. Leading up to this verse it describes other men running away frighted as soon as they saw Goliath. Nobody wanted to fight him. But David speaks up to Saul and says "I'll go fight him" (vs 12) and David goes on talking and basically listing off a resume of why he is fit for the job and he ends with the verse from above (vs 37). I'll repeat it agin.....

 Then David said " The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine". 

Even though David has a a great "resume" and has a lot he has accomplished, he ultimately acknowledges that it was God who did it through him. He was not prideful in taking all the credit and boasting to Saul that he can take on the giant because of his self made victories.  He points back to God. 

This really rang true for me because looking back on my life I can say that I have accomplished a lot. My "resume" for school, my degrees, my business, my marriage, everything I've gone through medically, everything I have gone through personally (emotionally and mentally), everything Cody and I have been through, our (almost) 8 years of marriage...and all the things that have happened to get to this point is full of things I/we have accomplished. I like do get things done, I like to figuring things out, I like to work hard and excel in whatever I do.  Sometimes I don't always get the results I wanted but either way I try to work hard to make the plan go just right. Then without even realizing it I start thinking, "Awesome, I can't believe "we did it", "were finally here". All the paperwork, all the meetings, all the emails, all the applications, all the research, all the planning, and the "hard work" that I did. And then just like that God puts this devotional in front of me and is basically saying (how I picture him saying it) "Whoa girl, check yo' self!" I had to stop and think, is my productivity and ability to produce all these things becoming an idol? 

Don't get me wrong, it's not wrong that I did all this hard work and it's not wrong or sinful to share that I have done all of it. But what would be wrong is to take all of credit and not point it all back to who HE is, not what I'm good at doing (or have done). I am just a vessel He is using. 

At the end of this devotion for that day it left me an encouragement to be like David. To trace my victories back to God. We see that Goliath was a very strong and powerful man that was able to accomplish many victories in fighting but he was not like David. He was not humble nor did he recognize who gave him his victories. In Proverbs God says the He resists the proud. Goliath ultimately dies and is legacy is gone.  

So I leave with saying that it is God who has won our victories and we owe it all to Him!

I hope what I have reflected on and shared here was meant for someone reading and was just want you needed to hear.  I hope you were able to find encouragement, even if its just a simple reminder to look up and see Him through all the things.   

------------------------------------------------

FAVORITE SONG OF THE WEEK (probably more like month!) 

I have listened to this song countless times these past few months and every time I hear it I can't help but smile and look towards heaven, expectantly waiting the good things that are to come! Please, please check it out!  This music video has the lyrics so you can follow along. 

------------------------------------------------

BABY THINGS  

I haven't touched the baby room but it's probably time I work on it just incase he/she comes sooner than  expected. I have been distracted looking up the millions of baby items that exist. Researching brands, and all the things. Wowza! For now we are just starting to get the basics a car seat, bottles, diapers, wipes, formula, some onesies, diaper cream, etc. And will figure out the rest as it comes. I know a few people have asked about baby showers and registries. I have a friend helping me with creating a registry but not sure when I will release it. I also have decided to wait on a shower and do one after baby is here. So stay tuned for more updates as we get them. 

As always please keep praying for momma and baby. For a full term, non-complicated pregnancy and birth and fully healthy babe 

🧡🧡🧡