So Thankful

I am so thankful this year. I have the baby that I've dreamed about for years and years right here in my arms. It still doesn't seem real to me sometimes, even though on Monday he will have been with us for 5 months. I have a wonderful husband who has been my very best friend for the past 13 years. I have my mother, who has many life-threatening health conditions and has been hospitalized most of the past month. I don't know what I'd do without her. I have my grandpa, who along with my sweet grandma, raised me from the time I was 5 years old. He is in a nursing home now and has a failing body and mind, but it warms my heart to go see him. I have my grandma, who went to be with the Lord recently, but she'll always be in my heart. I have a job doing what I love, and even though I'm dreading going back on Monday and leaving Henry, I know that it's what I must do for our family right now. Things haven't been perfect lately, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all of the stress and recent changes, but I'm so thankful for what I have~~I'm richly blessed.

Blessings

We have an earlier post about our worries about affording this adoption. I will say that when we first began this process, James was very concerned about the financial aspect (it truly is incredibly expensive), but I wasn't focused on that. I had a sense of peace that it would all come together somehow if this was God's plan for us. That sense of peace was shaken, however, when 5 banks refused to loan us anything towards this adoption despite our good credit scores and good income/debt ratio. We both began to panic, realizing that our agency would not let our precious boy come home until we have paid all of the fees. I am happy to report that major progress has been made lately in regards to this! First of all, our agency awarded us a $2,000 SNAF (special needs assistance fund) grant. Also, a local credit union gave us a $6,000 low-interest rate loan. And then, best of all, a foundation called A Child Waits awarded us a $4,000 grant due to Henry's needs. All of this, combined with what we have already paid, puts us very close to the fees due. We are only about $5,000 away, which is still quite a bit, but completely do-able compared to where we started!
I would also like to say that throughout our marriage, James and I have realized that God's plan unfolds in miraculous ways! He has placed some very special people in our lives--my entire fellow teaching staff has been incredibly supportive of our adoption journey. They bought hundreds of baked goods to help us pay for our homestudy, have rejoiced in our happiness (certain people check on me every day), and now they are going to host 2 more fundraisers for us. One of them was thought of by my dear friends on my 3rd grade team: It will be a big staff yard sale sponsored by PTA that will be held at our school on June 6. I'm very excited about this!
The other fundraiser was thought of by the sweet Speech teacher at my school. She sells Premier Jewelry and is going to have a show this Tuesday for the staff where a portion of profit will go to us. I am just in awe of our many blessings.

"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us: and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." 1 John 5:14,15