We are in this waiting phase...waiting for a match! While we wait, life goes on. We are constantly busy with our 4 children and all the craziness that goes along with that. Then...there is the fundraising! That word is so difficult for me. I know I've talked about this before but, I really struggle with fundraising. I trust that God will provide for this adoption because He has called us to it. I also trust that other people "want" to be a part of this process. BUT, none of that makes this any easier. The reality is that we have to raise about $25000 MORE! Let me tell you we have seen God move mountains thus far! He has been so incredibly faithful and provided everything we have needed as we have needed it. So why is it so difficult to believe He can provide this?! It's a HUGE amount of money! I battle with feeling like we are the ones adopting and it's our responsibility to pay for it VS knowing that people want to be a blessing to us by helping. I question everything we spend money on. I know once we get these children home, we will not be able to travel or play very much and I want to make as many memories as possible! This time with our kids is fleeting!
Enough of my rant. Let me tell you where we are in all of this. I got a call from a sweet friend who is adopting from Haiti as well and she said that there were 3 little boys at the creche (orphanage) where her little girl was that were on a waiting child list and she felt like God had been prompting her to call me and tell me about them! THREE CHILDREN! I had goose bumps. Really God? Greg and I began some conversation and prayer. The reality of this is that we are approved for 2 children under the age of 5. This really seems impossible. Not to mention 3 children. God had said 2.
Time came for our home study to be updated and also our customs forms so, now would be the best time to change the number and age of the children if we were going to. We prayed individually and we prayed together. Did God say 2 so that He could prepare us for 3...knowing that we would never get there from 1? While we had been praying about the 3 little boys, we did not have peace that that was the direction that we should go. So, home visit was looming and we had to decide what we wanted to do. Did we want to increase the number of children and ages? The answer was YES. We really couldn't think of a reason not to! So, we have increased our openness to 3 children up to the age of 7.
Through the conversation with my friend, we also decided to change adoption agencies. There were many reasons why but the main one is that our agency has closed their Haiti program. They are still working with the people in that program but it is not open to new people. It just seemed like Haiti was not a huge focus for them and we really wanted to be with an agency that had a heart for Haiti and the people there. The change in agency quickly followed our updates and here we are...waiting again!
I have to say, during this change, at least something was happening!! Now we are with the new agency and the wait continues. While we wait, we need to get back to that bad word...fundraising! Once we get a match we have just a few weeks before we go down to Haiti to bond with our children. We are praying about taking our whole family down for this trip. There are many reasons I feel we should take them but, just as many reasons why we shouldn't. Please pray with us as we seek God's guidance for this! Back to fundraising...we have to have about $25000 once we get this match + travel expenses. It feels like this huge mountain.
What are we doing? We are making rustic wood signs and lazy susans to sell. I'm calling them "Signs of Support"! Cheesy, right? We have had so many people support us by having us make and paint signs. It has been a huge blessing to us. We are praying about some other things that we can do to raise money. We have several items leftover from our auction that we still need to sell. Some friends suggested a 5k. We are brainstorming some different options and we'll let you know as soon as we decide what we are going to do. We don't want to burn our friends and family out...feeling like we are constantly asking for money!
What can you do? PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!! That is the biggest thing! Please pray for us as we wait. Pray for our children (God knows who they are) that are in Haiti. Pray for our support. If you have any ideas, please share them with us!
Sorry about the long post. A lot (and not a lot) has been going on! Right now I am applying for grants. We have received a matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans for $2000. Every dollar up to $2000 will be matched! If you would like to donate (tax deductible), please visit our page at https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/called-adopt-2-maybe-3-kids-haiti/. 100% of your donation goes to our adoption! If you use a credit card, they do take out a small fee.
Thank you for all your prayers, notes of encouragement and financial support! We are truly blessed with an amazing village! Lots of love from the Finks!
Enough of my rant. Let me tell you where we are in all of this. I got a call from a sweet friend who is adopting from Haiti as well and she said that there were 3 little boys at the creche (orphanage) where her little girl was that were on a waiting child list and she felt like God had been prompting her to call me and tell me about them! THREE CHILDREN! I had goose bumps. Really God? Greg and I began some conversation and prayer. The reality of this is that we are approved for 2 children under the age of 5. This really seems impossible. Not to mention 3 children. God had said 2.
Time came for our home study to be updated and also our customs forms so, now would be the best time to change the number and age of the children if we were going to. We prayed individually and we prayed together. Did God say 2 so that He could prepare us for 3...knowing that we would never get there from 1? While we had been praying about the 3 little boys, we did not have peace that that was the direction that we should go. So, home visit was looming and we had to decide what we wanted to do. Did we want to increase the number of children and ages? The answer was YES. We really couldn't think of a reason not to! So, we have increased our openness to 3 children up to the age of 7.
Through the conversation with my friend, we also decided to change adoption agencies. There were many reasons why but the main one is that our agency has closed their Haiti program. They are still working with the people in that program but it is not open to new people. It just seemed like Haiti was not a huge focus for them and we really wanted to be with an agency that had a heart for Haiti and the people there. The change in agency quickly followed our updates and here we are...waiting again!
I have to say, during this change, at least something was happening!! Now we are with the new agency and the wait continues. While we wait, we need to get back to that bad word...fundraising! Once we get a match we have just a few weeks before we go down to Haiti to bond with our children. We are praying about taking our whole family down for this trip. There are many reasons I feel we should take them but, just as many reasons why we shouldn't. Please pray with us as we seek God's guidance for this! Back to fundraising...we have to have about $25000 once we get this match + travel expenses. It feels like this huge mountain.
What are we doing? We are making rustic wood signs and lazy susans to sell. I'm calling them "Signs of Support"! Cheesy, right? We have had so many people support us by having us make and paint signs. It has been a huge blessing to us. We are praying about some other things that we can do to raise money. We have several items leftover from our auction that we still need to sell. Some friends suggested a 5k. We are brainstorming some different options and we'll let you know as soon as we decide what we are going to do. We don't want to burn our friends and family out...feeling like we are constantly asking for money!
What can you do? PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!! That is the biggest thing! Please pray for us as we wait. Pray for our children (God knows who they are) that are in Haiti. Pray for our support. If you have any ideas, please share them with us!
Sorry about the long post. A lot (and not a lot) has been going on! Right now I am applying for grants. We have received a matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans for $2000. Every dollar up to $2000 will be matched! If you would like to donate (tax deductible), please visit our page at https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/called-adopt-2-maybe-3-kids-haiti/. 100% of your donation goes to our adoption! If you use a credit card, they do take out a small fee.
Thank you for all your prayers, notes of encouragement and financial support! We are truly blessed with an amazing village! Lots of love from the Finks!
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