One Week!

We were beginning to think we would never move forward with this process, but we have good news!!  In ONE WEEK a little girl in Eastern Europe will become Maia Faith Moss and will have a family for the first time in her life.  I cry just thinking about it.  

Thank you, God, for adoption.  

We do not yet know when we will be allowed to pick her up, but it will likely be at the end of July.  We will spend a minimum of five business days in her country finishing up all of the paperwork needed to bring her home.  Then we will board a plane and make the long trek back to the US to begin life as a family of five.

We also found out yesterday that this tiny girl weighs 28 pounds and is 36in tall.  At 8 years old.  I've HELD her and measured her myself, but these numbers still shock me.  She's so small and fragile.  We can't wait to get some good nutrition into her!  It's going to be a long road to recovery for her, but we are so excited to watch her change and become everything God wants her to be.  

ONE WEEK, sweet girl!  

Finally Moving Along

It's been a long time since we have updated.  I'm sorry.  It's been a very hard couple of months as we sit and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  We stopped talking about it because it was just too hard.  We were tired, frustrated, and worn.  It's easier onto ignore those feelings and continue to live life if you avoid the pain that causes them.  Hence the lack of blogging.  It was just easier that way.  

But today we finally got some good news.  We have a signature and our file has been sent to the courts!  Now we wait for a court date and the travel dates.  

No, we don't know what this means as far as timing goes.  But it does mean we are closer to bringing our girl home.  :). 

Now the nesting begins!  We have to finish the girls room, have a yard sale/bake sale, organize the house, pack our bags, pack the kids bags, finish owl orders, and have fun with our kids before we leave.  We just might be MIA the rest of the summer.  :)

But I promise I will update as I can!  

Moving right along

You remember a few weeks ago I gave a quick update on where we stood with the adoption process. We had received I800 approval and were waiting for a signature on our Article 5. That signature had been taking around 6-8 weeks for families to receive.

But our God is bigger than 6-8 weeks. Way bigger than 6 weeks. We received our signature 1 week and 2 days after our Article 5 was submitted! Praise The Lord for such an amazing miracle!

So where do we stand now? We have been submitted for court and are waiting for a court date. Our case worker said that court must take place 2-4 weeks after being submitted. So we should have a court date by the middle of May. Pickup is 3-6 weeks after court, which means we SHOULD be picking our beautiful Maia up in June and bringing her HOME!

Paise God for His perfect timing and for His continued care for Maia during this wait. It's really happening!

Now that we are no longer praying for a signature, we are praying to pass court. So please join us in that!

The Answer

The following article popped up on my Facebook today.  I wish I hadn't seen it.  But some things are meant to be seen.  It's an article about unsightly acts done to children unable to defend themselves.  Abortion.  And so much more.  Please read it so you can better understand the following post.  http://usatoday.com/article/news/2072577

Now that we are on the same page, I want to share my heart.

Abortion.  The utterance of that very word can start an argument like a match starts a fire in a haystack.  It's an extremely sensitive topic no matter which side of the coin you are on.  And I think, because of the fear of offending, we as Christians stand back and do nothing.  Or we feel so strongly about our beliefs on the matter that we jump on the bandwagon of hate.  Can I be so bold as to tell you that neither of these actions do anything to bring glory to God?  And they certainly don't solve the problem.

As a Christian, a woman, a mom, and an adopting mom, I do NOT believe abortion is an acceptable solution to any problem.  As a woman, I can understand how our country has come to the conclusion that it is the woman's choice.  And I can respect that.  God gives us free will to make our own decisions.  Abortion is a decision that must be made.

But, fellow women, there is a better decision.

This decision is a hard one.  It's not one that can be brought about through hate, boycotting, picketing, or negative marketing.  This decision must be brought about through LOVE.

Sadly, the church has failed you in this way.  I wish I could apologize for all of us.  But I can only apologize for myself and those around me.  I am deeply and utterly sorry for the hate you have experienced as a result of your situation.  I'm sorry for the judgement I used to pass on you.  I now know how scary pregnancy can be and how much children change your future.  And I respect your right to choose to not raise your child.  I can only imagine the pain that comes with that decision.

But I have a solution for you.  And it's not abortion.  It's called ADOPTION.  A beautiful, amazing, inspiring picture of both LIFE and CHOICE.  The choice to give your child LIFE.

And that's where the church must step in.

Church: we must put aside the hate surrounding this issue and embrace the love and grace of Christ.  We need to step in and help these women who have nowhere to turn.  Stop the hateful speeches and judgmental rants.  Show love.  Show acceptance.  And give a solution.

We need to be a safe haven.  A place of refuge where women can come in their fear and find ANSWERS. And by answers, I don't mean words.  I mean actions.  We need to be ready to step up and offer a family for the child whose mother cannot keep him.  We need to offer support for that mother as she carries on with her life.  We need to be an adoption minded people.  We cannot sit on the sidelines and condemn the choice a woman makes.  We need to get involved.  Get dirty.  Fight for life.  And give the opportunity of life to the women who must make that decision.

Step up.  Share the vision.  Share your knowledge.  Share your story.  And be ready to watch God move mountains!

We Have a Winner!

I'm so sorry it took so long to get this post up!  It's been crazy around here.  :)

Our Give 1 Save 1 Giveaway winner is.....

Cindi Tagg!  Congrats Cindi!

I'm sending you a message now so that you can claim your gift card!

Many thanks to everyone who gave to our adoption fund.  We are so close to bringing Maia home for good!

What's Next?

Many of you have asked recently what our next steps are as far as Maia's adoption goes.  I'll do my best to explain it for you.  :)

Our I-800 was approved and has been sent to Maia's country.  Sometime (hopefully) within the next couple of days, we will be issued an Article 5.  I don't really know what this is, except that it is a very necessary step in the process and nothing can happen until this Article 5 stuff is finished.  So the Article 5 is issued and is then sent to the MoJ.  The MoJ signs the Article 5 and the paperwork is sent to the courts.  We will be issued a court date when Maia will officially become ours.  Then we will pick her up!  If only it was that simple.  You see, the wait for a signature on the Article 5 can take up to 2 months.  Court does not happen immediately after signature either.  And we won't travel until 3-5 weeks after the court date.  There are so many unknowns with the timing that it's driving me nuts!  :)

As far as timelines go, we could travel in June at the earliest it looks like.  That's if we get a signature pretty quickly and don't have to wait long for a court date.  If the steps take a while we could travel as late as September.  So there you have it.  :)

So, in a nutshell, we need:
Article 5 submitted
Article 5 signature
Court Date

And, of course, to pass court.

We would appreciate all of your prayers that God will work a miracle and allow this process to move very quickly if it's in His will.

Give 1 Save 1 Continued

First off, Craig and I would like to thank all of you for so generously giving and sharing during our stint on Give 1 Save 1 Europe!  We have raised a total of $803!!!  God is so good!

But that's not it!  We are being featured this week as well!  What a blessing.  So, if you haven't given your dollar yet, there's still time!  You can use the paypal link on the right side of this blog.  And, after you've given, make sure you go to THIS post and leave a comment.  We will be holding a giveaway for a $25 iTunes gift card a week from today!  All you have to do to enter is give $1 and leave a comment saying you did so.  :)

Thank you again for your generosity!  Please continue to share Maia's story on Facebook and Twitter and let's get fully funded to get this girl home!  We now only need $2,697!!!