Thursday, August 23, 2012

Reminding myself to live life to the fullest.......

Yesterday Carson and I had the privilege to go down to see my baby sister (yes she's almost 19, but she's 11 years younger than me so I still see her as a baby) play soccer at her university. They won their game and she played quite a bit of it, so it was awesome to be there.  She's been away at college a few weeks now, since she is a fall athlete, but all the other students are finally moving in tomorrow. I look back to my college experience and think about the fun we had. I pray that she is able to make lasting friendships and find a career that she is passionate about.

My college experience was a little unconventional. I started at a community college and played soccer. Then I went to another community college to take some of my classes because it was closer to my house. I then played another year of soccer at community college before deciding in my final semester that second year to go down to a state school where all my friends were. After applying and getting in to the state school I was asked to play soccer at Warner Pacific College the following year. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I decided to go try out the state school before committing. I actually had a ton of fun, but really didn't go outside of my comfort zone to meet any new people (I also don't drink or "party" so I didn't have many opportunities to do so). In the end, I decided a small Christian College was going to be a better fit for me.

I can say now that was the best decision of my life. Aaron was already at WPC playing mens soccer, so we met the first day of tryouts. I was in a relationship with someone else at the time, but we did become good friends.  Eventually after many life changes we fell in love and became the family we are today.  God definitely had a hand in my journey. The experiences I had shaped the person I have become, and Aaron and I would have never met had my story not unfolded the way it did.

I guess the reason for this story is this.... God has a plan. He is helping our story unfold every step of the way. We may not always know in the moment why things are happening the way they do, but God is in control.

I needed to be reminded of my own story this week. I have been stressing myself out worrying and wondering about our adoption. I have so many questions floating around my head about paperwork, vaccines, visas, plane tickets, travel itinerary, timelines, money, how our son is doing (we just want him home), food in country, etc. the list could go on and on!  

I needed this reminder to help me remember to surrender my fears and worries to God.  I need to remember that God has brought us to this place, He called us to adopt, He has provided for our needs. He has given us a child, He will calm our fears, and He will be there with us every step of the way. His timing is the perfect timing, even if it doesn't match my own.

Adoption is a journey that takes time and lots of patience. This is all a part of my story and someday I will look back on this time as a gift. I will have learned a great deal and will hopefully get to share our journey with other adopting families to help them get through. I'm so thankful for all the adoptive/ing families I've met online and in person. This whole process would be soooo much harder if it weren't for them!

As I think of all the unknowns in our lifetime, I am worried about what's to come. I just can't let those fears hold me back from the life I am supposed to lead or keep me from living in the moment.

For we live by faith, not by sight. (2nd Corinthians 5:7)

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.. (Psalm 46:1-2)

Hope your all having a wonderful day with the ones you love!

Love, April

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hanging out at the fair!

I'm sitting here at the fair in our booth for our business while Aaron and Carson are out watching the Monster Trucks. It's all they've talked about all week. Aaron got Carson so pumped up about going that we came even though he's not been feeling so good. And he's been missing daddy like crazy. So I decided he needed some daddy time!

Aaron has spent pretty much all of the last 10 days at the fair trying to get new business. Hopefully we get some jobs for all his hard work! The Fair was really great 2 years ago, but last year he only got a few small jobs out of it. That's how running your own business goes though. Some months are crazy and others your searching for work! While the fairs been going on my father in law, who is Aaron's business partner, has been working long hours trying to get a remodel job done in 4 days! These men are so talented and wonderful examples of hard work and dedication!
I'm proud to be a part of our business and I love talking with clients after jobs are done because they always love these two awesome men!
-April

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Great things happening....

We had such a wonderful opportunity this weekend to get together with a few families from our agency.  We feel so lucky to be with a new agency and to have our new son's case moving along. We really don't know what's happening with our paperwork, but we know it is in good hands!

If you take a look on the left side of the blog you see a few things:
1. There is a ticker showing how long we've been in this process. Today we are just over the 1 year mark. I can't believe how much we've been through since the start of this process. If you would have asked me a year ago where we would be at at this point I'd say we were getting ready to travel. If we had stayed with our original agency that would not be even close to true, but now I can say it is true! We hope to travel in the next few months! We can't wait to meet our son in person. God has really brought our family to this place, and we are so thankful for his grace and love.

2. Our fundraising thermometer! I was able to make another change to the thermometer today. I also changed the final goal to $20,000. We have 12,078.92 right now, AMAZING RIGHT???  I changed it to reflect the total amount we need before we travel,  counting our plane tickets, visas, vaccines, lodging, lawyer fees, in country fees, taxi fares, salary for everyone who will help us there, and much more. That estimate could change depending on when we travel, how long we are there, etc., but hopefully everything works out in our favor and we need no more that that! We have sold a bunch of puzzle pieces recently, but still have lots more to sell. Let us know if you would like to buy one!

We are doing everything we can to save money and to fundraise. We are so thankful for everyone who have donated so far. With the way this new agency works we are going to paying out almost all our money right before we travel. This is a good thing since it's allowing us more time to save, but it's a bad thing because we don't want to fall short right as were getting ready to travel.

So again, Thank you everyone for your love and support. I know I say this a lot, but we can't do this without you! We are so in love already with our little man, we can't wait to share him with you!

Love, April

P.S. Yes, we are still taking donations for our final garage sale of the summer. We are planning it for the end of August or the beginning of September. Let me know if you want us to come pick something up.