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Good News & Bad News

BAD NEWS: Our attorney called today, and due to our birth mother's circumstances, our adoption costs are going up - by about $5,000. Honestly, we were surprised and overwhelmed (maybe even a little upset) by this news. However, we know that adoption often comes from a place of brokenness - and we are trusting that God knew about this phone call long before we did. He's still in charge - and He can move mountains. We're claiming that and trusting him!

GOOD NEWS: We heard back from our grant application, and we've been "recommended for funding"! It appears that we will be awarded a grant, but they're still deciding how much. They said we will know the final funding decision by January 25th.

Below is the updated estimated costs:

Home Study	$3,000.00
Profile	$250.00
Grant Applications	$75.00
Fundraiser Expenses	$350.00
Miscellaneous	$200.00
Pre-Match Referral Service/Attorney Fees	$3,000.00
Matching Fee	$3,500.00
Legal Fees	$17,300.00
Birth Mother Expenses	$27,500.00
Travel for Birth	$3,000.00
Post Placement	$1,500.00
TOTAL	$59,675.00

Bottom Line - as of today:

Goal	$59,675.00
Funded	$41,534.04
Amount Still Needed	$17,917.93

All of this to say... we'll be rolling out some fundraisers VERY SOON :-)

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that

in 74 DAYS, we'll be a family of FIVE!

Unexpected Update!

 

Well, we had an unexpected adoption update today... The birth mother who chose us had an ultrasound appointment this afternoon, and we are excited to share a 

NEW DUE DATE... MARCH 26th

Soooo, it looks like we'll become parents again about 3 weeks sooner that we thought :-)

I downloaded a pregnancy app when we first matched - it keeps me updated about what's happening during each week of the pregnancy. Today, when I updated the due date, it popped up 81 days left... HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! It got very real very fast lol!

With all that excitement, comes the reality of what it's going to take financially to complete this adoption. Now that we're officially matched, we have the hard numbers (see below). 

Home Study	$3,000.00
Profile	$250.00
Grant Applications	$75.00
Fundraiser Expenses	$350.00
Pre-Match Referral Service/Attorney Fees	$3,000.00
Matching Fee	$3,500.00
Legal Fees & Birth Mother Expenses	$40,000.00
Travel for Birth	$3,000.00
Post Placement	$1,500.00
TOTAL	$54,675.00

The total amount is more than we initially anticipated due to the specifics of our birth mother's situation, but we also know that with God, nothing is impossible! He is a mountain mover, and we're confident He will provide. We are super thankful that we will be able to utilize grant money we've been awarded - which will help offset the increased expenses. 

BOTTOM LINE, here's where we are at as of today:

Goal	$54,675.00
Funded (including grants)	$41,224.00
Amount Still Needed	$13,451.00

We are currently 75% funded and have $13,451 left to raise. 

Our plan to raise these remaining funds includes saving, fundraising, and continuing to apply for grants. Please pray with us that we would have favor with the grants we're applying for. We will definitely share updates on Facebook and our website as these grant applications are processed! 

We also have more fundraisers coming VERY SOON!!! Be on the lookout for new links and events!

Baby Summey: Coming April 2022

I cannot begin to describe the flood of emotion that we're experiencing right now, and I so badly want to, so those who are on this journey with us can get in on all these feels! 

We have been working with multiple attorneys and referral services, and last week one of them reached out and let us know that an expectant mother has chosen us to parent her child!!! Signatures and an exchange of funds has to happen to make things "official" - and that happened today! I am just in awe of how good God is... how faithful he is. These last few weeks have been crazy for our family. Life has happened. It's been stressful and hard, but God is faithful and good - even in our chaos. One of my favorite songs has been playing over and over in my head.

            

            All my life you have been faithful.

            All my life you have been so so good.

            With every breath that I am able,

            I will sing of the goodness of God.

Since the beginning of this adoption journey, we have been praying that God would cross our paths with the right expectant mother. We've prayed that she'll have complete peace about her decision, a healthy pregnancy, a safe delivery, and that we would be able to love her well during this process. We are grateful and humbled to be matched... what a gift, honor, privilege, and miracle adoption is!

Please pray for continued health and peace for this brave mama. 

Pray for us too - we have an incredible opportunity to love on her over the next 4 months.

Baby Summey Coming April 2022!!! We'll share more details (including the baby's gender) a little later - we're contemplating a fun way to do it and include Selah and Judah :-)

It Takes A Village

There are lots of good things - and lots of hard things - about adoption. But I think my favorite thing about it is how it brings "the village" together. Our Adoption Yard Sale Fundraiser has me feeling all the "feels". I've had it on my mind since last week. It's also brought back all the emotions and memories of our first adoption journey.

Selah and Judah's adoptions were 5 years ago, but there are super vivid memories and moments that are forever etched into my mind about their adoption journeys and the people who were a part of it. Those people are a part of our family's story... forever... because of the eternal impact they had on our family - people who got down in the trenches with us emotionally, spiritually, and financially.

I was admittedly anxious about our "village" when we began this journey because so much has changed since the first one. We are not at the same church, we are not in the same neighborhood, and COVID is "a thing" this time around. I wasn't sure how much "village" there would actually be, so I tried to prepare myself to ride the adoption roller coaster with just the four of us and our immediate families. However, as things have progressed with our journey, I realized I was wrong. 

Adoption takes a village... it just does. There is 100% no getting around it or trying to ride it out on your own. The financial aspect is only a piece of it (granted, a very overwhelming piece at times). While we started preparing for the yard sale, I started questioning and worrying (I'm definitely one who has to renew my mind and focus daily to keep anxiety/worry in check)... would we have enough stuff to sell, would anybody show up, how would all the logistics work, what would I put all the stuff on in the driveway, and blah, blah, blah. Then, one of the miracles of adoption started to happen, and I had the greatest blessing and joy to watch it unfold before my eyes. The village started to form. People from church started bringing donated items for us to sell, friends from college reached out and donated literally boxes of items, our family let us borrow a truck and trailer to go pick up larger furniture donations from other family members, and we were able to borrow tables from church too. While we started setting things up on Friday, neighbors started bringing donations as well. Some of the images that will forever be etched onto my mind from this adoption journey so far include:
- One of our neighbors with his little girl walking up the sidewalk with a heavy headboard and other items for us to sell. They made several trips back and forth from their house to ours with more things. 
- A friend from college sending us pictures of boxes piled high beside her front door ready for us to come pickup. Her family was also a part of Selah and Judah's adoptions, which just made it even more special for us. 

- Our next door neighbors helping us so much with the kids and donating beautiful furniture pieces for us to sell.

- People driving from 40 minutes away to come to the sale because they saw it on Facebook and had been touched by adoption - several shared their stories and were adoptees or had adopted family members.

- Our parents sacrificially donating soooo much of their things and time. 

It has been overwhelming (in the best way) to process it all. God is so faithful - I just can't even put into words. And while the donated items and all those physical tangible things above were awesome and such a financial blessing, the bigger gift was the encouragement that it was to us. Adoption is emotional, and there have been some gut-wrenching decisions made. The waiting is HARD. But seeing the village come together, it just does something... it gets me fired up about how God is moving and working. It makes it real somehow that I'm going to be a mommy again! Yes, I'm a little overwhelmed with all the "stuff" right now and am definitely scatter-brained, BUT I also have so much joy and peace because I know God is the one holding the pen and writing this story. He has surrounded us with a village, when I didn't think we'd have one. I cannot wait to see what He writes next!!! 

HOME STUDY APPROVED!!!

It's official - We're home study approved! That means we can put a big ol' check mark by the first step in our adoption process.

I do have one thing to say about the home study...

Having the interview and home inspection with a 4 and 5 year old in the house is NUTS! The visit lasted about four hours and the kids were jumping off the walls. Plus, the kids had to be interviewed, and if you know Selah and Judah, you can probably guess how this part of the visit went. I won't go into detail, but at one point the following thought crossed my mind: "We're trying to bring a child into our home, not have the two we already have removed!" Regardless, we survived, and this part of the process is complete!

So What's Next?

The simple answer is - get matched with a birth mother. However, there's a little more to it than that. We are currently applying with agencies and attorneys and researching ways to get our info out to prospective birth mothers. We had a beautiful book made about our family that includes pictures and a letter to expectant moms. Getting those into the right hands is our goal now. All that being said, we would so appreciate your prayers as we navigate these decisions. We have worked hard to save money for this adoption, and our desire is to be good stewards with the resources God has blessed us with. At times, it's overwhelming trying to decide who to apply with and what direction to go. There is soooo much information, multiple tiny details to consider, and lots of fees involved.

Also, will you start to pray for our birth mother? We don't know who she is, where she's at, or what her situation is, but we do know that God is orchestrating things already to cross our paths (how cool is that). We know that adoption comes from a place of brokenness, and we want to cover our birth mother in prayer, even now. Will you partner with us in that? Pray for her health, heart, and mind. Pray for the precious baby she's either already carrying or will carry soon. Pray for peace and assurance in the decisions she's making. Our heart is for her, and we pray that we will have the opportunity love her well.

The Elephant In The Room..

I have dreaded this part of the post, but it's time to put it out there and swallow my pride... Adoption is expensive. It sucks, but it's something we can't control. We are looking at an adoption budget of around $40,000 (I know - cray, cray). We've been able to save half of that on our own, but that leaves about $20,000 that we need to raise via grants and fundraising. To be honest, we have been discouraged and hesitant about fundraising. However, as expensive as it is - as hard or impossible as it may seem - We are also convinced that one of the purest and most undefiled demonstrations of the gospel is to move towards hard places and broken people, not away from them. Yes, adoption comes from a broken place. Yes, the financial and emotional costs are hard. But also yes, God can be glorified through brokenness. God can reverse destinies, and God can move mountains! He's done it over and over again throughout history, in the lives of our families and friends, and even in our previous adoption journey(s). We're not going to let fear or pride hinder us from being obedient. All that to say... Fundraising officially kicks off today. There are some potential specific fundraisers in the works, but our Paypal donation link is active - check it out here: Paypal Donation. We are also applying for every grant we can and are committed to work hard, save as much as possible on our own, and bust our butts fundraising.

If you are able, we would definitely appreciate your financial partnership. But even more than that, we are grateful for those who can partner with us in prayer - that's worth just as much or more than any monetary gift.

We're Adopting Again!!!

It's Facebook official now ... 
We have been praying about adopting again for a couple of years and waiting on peace and confirmation from God about the timing (and for Selah and Judah to get a little bit older - haha). While Jarred was working from home during the pandemic last year, we talked and prayed A LOT about it and felt like we should start making some serious sacrifices to expedite saving money for another adoption. We decided to take the approach of, "lets just see what God does". During that time, God blessed our efforts and gave us the confirmation we'd been praying for!

We started researching options last year and took our time deciding who to work with. We reached out to a home study provider in April, and THIS WEEK we mailed off our home study documents. The next step will be having our actual home visit. After that, we will hopefully have an approved home study :-)

We ARE NOT currently matched with a birth mom. We are praying and trusting God with that part of the journey. 

Anyway, just wanted to clarify about where we are in the process and share our first update! Pray with us that the home study visit would go well and that God would already be working in the heart of our birth mom and directing her path, drawing us together. 

How cool is adoption... God orchestrating lives and crossing paths at just the right moment in a way that will have eternal impact!!!