adoption: faith

i have admittedly lacked faith in this adoption process, specifically in the area of finances. in an effort to be wise, it was my decision to delay the start of the adoption process until our car payment was complete, but even since that has been taken care of i still struggle with the faith that God is going to provide in this area. i shared that very thing with our small group when we announced we would be adopting.

since we announced we paid $300 for the application and before we could move on the the "home study" needed 2,000 dollars on hand. after our first meeting they explained we could start the home study process this week assuming we had all our paper work completed and the 2,000 dollars in hand.

christe and i both got a bonus for christmas which went straight into our adoption savings account, two very generous individuals sent us $100 to help with the process. one of christe's co-workers is in an asian sorority and they threw a bake sale at u of a and raised $100. our friend josh with jb photography did a photo shoot day for us that raised $200 and christe literally went around starbucks to starbucks collecting used co2 cartridges for weeks to add $18 to our adoption fund, we sold concession at academy basketball games...all that left us 600 dollars short.

i thought i was justified in my lack of faith, it was going to take us years to raise 10 grand, by that time the 2011 tax credit would be expired and we will have to come up with another 13k. this was until a friend from church handed us a check for 600 dollars last week, now we can continue on as scheduled.

if that weren't enough, i took a coaching job over the winter to help supplement adoption costs. i received my first check on sunday. the director handed me an envelope and said, "we decided to pay you more". the check almost doubled what i was contracted for.

oh, ye of little faith.

christmas 1, 2, and 3

beniah was a very lucky boy this christmas. since we were flying out on christmas day we celebrated christmas with my dad and his wife janet on thursday, our friends the reyes on friday, and then saturday we arrived for a late afternoon christmas in chicago. he kept asking to open more presents everyday after. :) here are some (belated) photo highlights.

helping papa open his present

his excitement is priceless

enjoying some of janet's chocolates

david's big surprise!

special gifts from phyllis

trains, trains, and more trains!

bathtime!

"go faster dada"

a trip to poppo's work means fun in the warehouse for all the babies!

love this one :)

squirrel!

ahhh~ shiny person

fun at the children's museum

beniah and rylan

these two boys have spent a lot of time together in their short lives. here are some fun moments between the two of them.

family photo shoot

josh of jb photography put on a photography fundraiser at agua caliente park in honor of our adoption. he was gracious enough to give of his time and talents (not to mention suffer through being sick the day of the shoot!) to help bring home our next child. we are so grateful - and we got some great family photos! here are just some of the great pictures from the day.

i would highly recommend jb photography for your next photo worthy occasion!

district 8

an unfathomable event happened in my voting district this weekend. to be honest, i still believe arizona and tucson specifically has a lot to offer. sb1070, liberal gun laws, failing school systems and all, this is where i live. receive it, reject it or redeem it? i choose the latter.

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new years resolution kept

seventy-five percent of new years resolutions set are broken by valentines day. this may be why i typically don't set new years resolutions. improving myself is something i am always striving for anyway and i try not to jump into things just because. what i want is to change my lifestyle not just to change a habit. you may recall a post last year at this time seen here in which christe and i set an 18 month goal to be debt free (not including our house). the goal was not just a one year habit change but the first step in a life change concerning how we handle money.

because of the life-change aspect our resolution seemed different and i now know why. i heard a craig groechel sermon at church this week on new year resolutions that are good things verses God things. conclusion, we need God for a life-change.


being debt free allows us the flexibility to follow Gods calling on our lives. about six months ago, we started seriously talking about adopting, which became clear we could only afford if we were absent of our car loan (the last of our loans). with a little unexpected help from my parents and starbucks stock prices we were able to make our last payment on the car this month, completing out 18 month goal six months early. this freedom has allowed us to move on with our calling to adopt.

i believe our 2010 new years resolution was a God-thing as opposed to just a good thing. there is no way with out God we would have been able to finish paying off a student loan and two-car loans in 12 months.  what are the things in your life that are not just good but would require God to change?