Faith and Sacrifice

From the time the Lord called us to adopt my flesh was flooded with: How can we afford this? How can we provide for possibly two more children-emotionally, spiritually, and physically? Already this journey has grown my faith in amazing ways. And the Lord spoke so clearly and gently to my heart, and his answer was.."No, you are not strong enough to do this, but I AM, and I will give you every bit of strength you need every step of the way." Peter 5:7 it says, "Casting all you care upon Him, for he cares for you." God gives us permission to come boldly, to cast our cares on him. I wonder how many other opportunities and blessing that I have missed out on in my life because I just talked myself out of them. I am boldly stepping out on faith knowing that God wants to do something great in my life.
I knew there would be things we had to sacrifice so we could be the best stewards of the money the Lord has given us. Gym membership-cancelled. Eating out-forget about it. Extra projects-nope. Vacation to Florida-cancelled. The Lord provided me the opportunity to work extra over the past several months. As difficult as that is for Matt and the kids we made the decision for me to work extra. This past Sunday I got rid of my treadmill. Its just a treadmill right? Well...since getting rid of it I took a hard look at my heart. Why was I so attached to "stuff"? Our child(ren) that we are adopting sacrifice alot more than a treadmill. Alot of the children have been through so much physically and emotionally. I've always had a mother and father who have loved me and never abandoned me. My belly has never been so hungry knowing my next meal isn't anytime soon. I have made the decision to make these sacrifices with joy. Joy in knowing this is what God wants us to do.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" Romans 15:13
This means me being diligent in prayer, relentless in my resolve, unwavering in faith, and determined to stand firmly on God's Word and His promises. I chose today to remain steadfast and never give up in obedience to my Lord.

We had a GREAT turn out for the Love 2 Run 4 Love 5K on April 18th. What an amazing sea of people supporting adoption.  We were able to raise over $5,000 to help bring our child(ren) home. What a complete blessing!! Big thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers, and participants who helped make the event such a big success. We applied to several grants and hope to hear back from them soon. God is continuing to provide for each step. Great is his faithfulness! So what's next?? We got our biometrics done a little bit over 3 weeks ago. We are now waiting for USCIS to process our paperwork.  We are literally a piece of paper sitting on someone's desk, waiting for that stamp of approval to continue.

Proud of their medals!

Feel honored to join this group of children. 5th year going strong!

The Douglas Family cheering on the runners!

Melissa, Matt, and I ran the whole time together. THANKS for being my cheerleaders.

Me and my little buddy!

Still one of my favorite pictures! Praying before the run. 

And their off!!

Our Family!!! 

These are all the families who have benefited from this run in previous runs!

That same day at church, Kendra and I were baptized during the evening service. Kendra officially accepted Jesus into her life and what better way for me to finally be obedient to baptism but with my daughter. 

A joyous day of celebration!