When I was in elementary school, I wore ugly blue tight jeans that were rolled up to reveal rolled-down socks. Pair those with a huge tie-dye shirt and some enormous bangs, and you get a girl who entered the awkward phase of junior high a few years early (although I blame part of that mess on the 80s). That girl also listened to Steven Curtis Chapman. A lot. And this was back when Christian music was comparable to a B movie. But I was rockin' that look, lovin' those songs.
I did eventually grow out of the awkwardness that defined me for a good four years. And I left Mr. Chapman far behind. So it wasn't until we attended the Christian Alliance for Orphan's Summit VI in Minneapolis that I realized I'd thrown the baby out with the bathwater - or, more appropriately, I'd thrown a really amazing Christian singer out with the big bangs.
We had the privilege of hearing Mary Beth Chapman tell the story of adopting - three times - and then losing one of their daughters through a tragic accident. I saw Steven Curtis and Mary Beth with grownup eyes, heard his songs with grownup ears, and cried many tears for their loss, but also tears of joy for the work that God has done through tragedy. Show Hope is a big part of that work. (Read Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman to hear the rest of their story.)
Last week, Dustin and I opened a letter from Show Hope and shed tears together again.
Show Hope has awarded our family a $4,000 grant in our adoption of Jeremiah.
Exactly what we need to finish our adoption expenses.
The financial portion of our journey started with a grant from Lifesong for Orphans and ended with a grant from Show Hope. The in-between was filled to the brim with support from our family, friends, and our church. God is good, my friends. He is so, so good.
While we can't say we're done, we're on a different phase now than we were in February, when we first saw our son's face. I guess you could say we've traveled in faith, we've finished that part of our journey, and now we can get off the bus.
We'd love for you to pray with us that we can get on the plane in the fall of 2012 to bring Jeremiah home. God is faithful, and will complete what He has begun in His good, good time. What an amazing privilege to hold our great Father's hand as He takes us to Korea.
Two years ago, almost to the day, we learned about Both Hands at the first Summit we attended. We knew right away that, if we ever needed to raise funds for an adoption, we wanted to do that through Both Hands.
 Summit VI, Minneapolis
A year later, we sent off our application requesting to do a Both Hands project to raise the funds needed to bring Jeremiah home. A few weeks later, we received a call from Aimee and JT from the Both Hands Foundation.
And last weekend, with 25 volunteers, 13 gallons of paint, and tons of love, we completed our Both Hands project.
The Both Hands Foundation staff watched the above video in their staff meeting this morning, with tears in their eyes. Their tireless work to help bring orphans into families and to meet the needs of widows has gone far beyond their reach, through the outstretched arm of our Father. Tomorrow, we leave to attend our third Summit. To be refreshed, encouraged, and strengthened to continue in the work God has called us to, both through our family's adoption of Jeremiah and through Adopted by Grace, our church's orphan care/adoption ministry. There, we will receive required training for our journey to adoption and beyond; and we will have the opportunity to thank JT and Aimee in person for all of their support, prayer, and encouragement.
Another chapter has ended.
It's been quite a week, and I'm so excited to be able to share how God's been at work while we've been waiting for and leaning on Him!
 On February 3 we got a phone call from Lifesong, whose mission is to bring joy and hope to orphans. We knew, because they had called the week before, that we were going to get word soon on the application we sent in. At the end of December, we finished all the paperwork, prayed over a large manila envelope, and sent it in to Lifesong, asking if they would allow us to do a Both Hands project, and if they would consider us for a matching grant.
When the phone rang that day, Dustin answered, and it only took a few seconds for the grin to spread across his face. Standing across the room, I knew.
We have officially been accepted by Lifesong to receive a matching grant for our adoption, and to work with Both Hands!
So now, let the work begin! We're praying that God will lead us as we put together a team of people who will wrap around us in this adoption, and asking that He will make our efforts successful. We are blessed to serve Lourdes Banegas in this project as we work on giving her house a "face lift" with a team of volunteers in April. Until that day, our team will be helping us send out sponsorship letters to everyone they can think of. It's sort of like a sponsored 5k: the donated money (tax-deductible, thanks to Lifesong!) all goes to our adoption fund, except instead of running or golfing, we're serving a widow. A beautiful way to live out James 1:27.
_While we were still standing amazed at how God delights in equipping us to do His work, we received an email just three days later from our adoption agency. Our sweet case manager let us know that she had a referral she'd like to send our way. As she watched God working to provide for our adoption expenses, she felt that she might have the information for our son in her hands. So, with our blessing (and jaws dropping, hearts pounding, hands and feet tingling), she emailed us the name, age, medical information, history, and photos of the sweet little orphan boy we hope to soon see face to face and call our own.
Getting the referral was a little surreal - a lot like seeing a first ultrasound. It's amazing to look at your baby's face for the first time. And I love that he's sitting in a little throne to get his picture taken. Our little prince!
And while we can't spread the pictures of his charming face on the internet, we had to show you something...
 Our little guy on his Korean kid throne... World, meet little ____ Leonard's feet. We think they're adorable.
If you would like to make a donation to support our adoption, your gift will be doubled up to $3000. 100% of your donations (up to the full amount of the adoption still owed) will go directly to our adoption account. Send your check with Preference: Leonard, Dustin #2570 written in the memo line to:
Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40/ 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744
Please leave any questions in the Comments section.
Thank you!
In the adoption world, delays are expected - especially when you're adopting internationally. When we chose the Korea program, I was impressed with the way everything was laid out. The timeline looked so nice and neatly packaged. We would start out as number 12 on the list of families waiting for boys, and steadily move up the list until we were at the top, probably within about 8-10 months. Then, we would receive our referral and wait to travel to pick up Leonard child #4.
And we were expecting delays.
What we weren't expecting was to be at #7 now, and to hear from our agency that we could expect our referral in as little as two months!
Now, I'm all about getting our referral as soon as possible (although I know once we have a face and a name, it will be very difficult to have to wait to go pick up our little goober). The problem is my faith. See, it's a little...lacking. At best.
Two months doesn't leave me much time to be the hero and figure our how we can "miraculously" scrounge up $17,000. It's not like I'll find that under our couch cushions! It doesn't leave room for the fundraisers we'd planned because those take 8-10 weeks just for approval, and we're still waiting on the last bit of paperwork to come in the mail for our application! It doesn't leave room for much of anything, because things take time in the world of fundraising, and our adoption timeline was supposed to line up nicely with that.
But as I shake my fist at the God who called us to visit orphans in their distress, I remember what it means that He is God. This wasn't my idea; it was His first. So my fist has to drop to my lap as I hang my head and open my hands to Him.
Do you ever see a verse written somewhere and know that God was sending that straight to your heart? I got one of those yesterday. Actually, I got the same one twice, from two different sources:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." - John 14:27
So we'll wait on God to act, because to Him, it doesn't matter if we have two years or two days. Two months? Makes no difference. God knows we need help to do this. He knows we can't carry this burden on our own shoulders in this short amount of time. He knows that I tend to get stressed about money - because I don't trust Him the way that I should. He knows our weakest points, and uses them for His glory.
So I'm praying like crazy that our Father will look on us with favor and that He will equip us to go, right on time. And He has given me His peace.
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