Progress....

Well, we are a little bit closer to seeing Kaylee.  We have sent the paperwork off to be sealed and sent to EE, however we keep getting little 'ding's' that need to be fixed before they can be sealed.  At this point we are waiting on some paperwork being sent back to our home study agency to be altered and then hopefully--that will be it! And we will have them sealed to go overseas!  This is quite a process and definitely feeling the 'labor' of this 'paper pregnancy'.  Once this is ready to go (hopefully by the beginning of next week), the dossier will be off to our Adoption Coordinator to add more papers and THEN off to EE!!!  So at this point, if all goes well.....we could possibly hear about her and schedule our flights in 30 days.
30 days is not a long time!
We will also hear about a matching grant in approx. 12 days. That is exciting! We would love to be able to get this grant! This would mean they will match amounts that we raise.   If we raise $2500, they will match that and grant us $2500 more.  $5,000, $5,000 more!
We have raised about $11,000 so far! We have used about $6,000 for paperwork so far and have about $5,000 for our first trip.  As it gets closer the need gets greater!  For this first trip we need roughly $10,000.   Wow. With God all things are possible!  As Derek and I were sharing about the Lord the other day we were talking about how God asked the Israelites if His arm is too short to save, to ransom you....(Isaiah 50:2).  We continue to trust His provision in this adventure.  His arm is NOT too short to save!
He is helping us be more frugal than we have ever been...that is for sure.  It hurts.  I do not like cutting back on certain things and this has definitely been a sacrifice that I am learning how to be happy about! lol!!  There were many things like vacations, clothes, trips, fun activities, etc. that did not happen this summer and that is not to get any glory or say YAY Me, but to let you know this has been hard. This has been very difficult for me, Alyssa.  Maybe not so much for my sweet, sacrificial husband...but I have to say I have not always been the 'happy camper' so to speak.  We are also [praise God! and with His help!] are getting debt paid off and putting a good amount towards this adoption each month ourselves.  This is not easy.  So often I am reminding myself of what we are doing and asking for God's strength.  I praise Him that we are close to one of our goals and am trusting Him for the rest of the funds to actually travel! Thank you Jesus.