Been awhile....

Sorry, I know, I know.... I've been a slacker. Mostly because I'm just at a loss I guess for what to say and share.
We are 11 months DTE June 6th. Its hard for me to see that number I guess. 1 year ago, we thought by this point we would be about to receive a referral. Its all changed.

When we began the process in February of 2012, the approx wait time by then was 12-14 months. Now we are looking at a possibility of 5 years. Breaks my heart to type that.
We are currently #63 on the unofficial waiting list for our agency. That number has not changed for about 2-3 months. Its depressing. We started out as #89, and that is all we have moved in nearly one year :/
Not depressing because of my own selfish desires by any means... but depressing because there are still children waiting too, just like we are but on the other end. Its not fair. Families ready, kiddos needing homes.... but red tape.

Unadoption related updates:

Daniel and I have had lots of change lately. We moved. New jobs. New church. A lot is different.

But for me, some things are still very much the same. You see, I did everything in power to avoid moving back to my hometown. I always swore when I left this place I would be GONE, and would not be coming back. When offered a job in my hometown, it was very hard to refuse. Great opportunity pay wise, and great benefits. BUT I still would not be living there. We searched and searched for houses in other towns about 30 minutes away. I am pretty positive we looked at 20+ houses trying to stay away. Every door was slammed in our face. ugh. So then, we decided to look there.... my hometown. And the exact day we went with our realtor to look at houses there, a PERFECT house popped up on the site. And it was just as gorgeous in person as in the photos. We could not turn down a great house, at a much better price than all the houses we had been looking at elsewhere. So here I am. Back in my hometown.

To be honest, I didn't get it. I did not understand why God led us here. Even in the midst of my swearing I wouldn't come back. EVER.
About a week or two of living here.... he showed me.
You see, in my previous posts I talk about my Senior year, and how it was such a hard year for me with my grandpa passing away.
I know, you're wondering what that has to do with it... Well you see, I was running away. trying to forget. I did not like driving by the places I used to see my grandpa every day, like the Donut Shop every morning. I hated driving by the High school and thinking of him bringing me lunch on occasion, or going to the wrestling tournaments or basketball games with him. It was too hard. I didnt want to remember. I didnt want to see it all.
But God has shown me, there is peace in those memories. They were the good times. They were the things I loved to remember. And my hurt and anger had made them bad... Grief does that I guess, ruins the good stuff. I thought I was done with all that, thought I had let go of it all. But the truth was, I had in a way.... but I needed to get back to the good things, and not keep trying to push it ALL away - instead of just the hard stuff. Its okay to remember now... I like remembering. I miss him in a happy sense I guess. Its no longer a sad way of missing him.
I guess I just needed to get back here to heal. I needed to remember the good. Not just with my grandpa... God is actually making me face a lot of my past that I was running from lately. But its good. Im growing and healing!It has been very interesting to be challenged in such a weird way? Nothing that I would have expected. But my heart has changed, and its so awesome. :)

7 months DTE

Yesterday was our 7 month mark of waiting, and we are currently #69 on the Unofficial waiting list. We started out at #82, so were moving on up bit by bit.

We still have a ways to go but every little bit brings us one step closer.

I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone to go check out an organization I greatly appreciate. The work they are doing is great! It is called Both Ends Burning, you can check them out here: http://bothendsburning.org/    They have a petition you can sign to join forces with them in advocating for a better process for adoptions to be better streamlined and quicked to benefit both children and families. Which is very much needed!
They have a documentary that was filmed called STUCK, they will be doing a tour around the US to show this video. I want to encourage you to check out when they will be in your area, and consider going or even volunteering. I know my husband and I will be volunteering for them when they come to our state. I appreciate someone standing up to take a stand with us, and to fight for these children as well as for us families fighting this long hard battle of WAITING! So please go and check them out, and show your support for us adopting families by signing this petition.

2013, already curious what you will bring....

Wow, did I not just post how God always takes care of ya?

Just some exciting news for us. We have wanted to move for awhile now, and we felt that God finally said its time!

There were lots of worries and concerns on my end, just because of me applying to get my masters, finding a job (Daniel can transfer with his), and us selling our house.

Believe me it has been a battle of me picking all my worries and fear up and then laying them back down for God to take care of it all. Because he who calls us is faithful! We've seen this over and over again with our adoption, but the control freak in me wants to make sure every detail is worked out! So its has been a constant tug-o-war between me and God on who is going to take care of it. lol. Finally I got to a point of, okay God this is all too crazy and hectic and there is no possible way I can make this happen myself. I need you to do your awesomeness and take care of it all!

And guess what... once again, he has shown that he has it, and I need to step back and get out of his way! haha

I had applied for a job with an Indian Tribe to do Child Welfare, and sadly did not get the position. I had called to follow up and got the news - I was discouraged and bummed and had no clue what I was going to do next. Not long after getting this news, I received a text from a friend offering me a job at her pharmacy! The job is a raise, paid benefits, and will be a not so stressful job for while I am in school for my masters. - I honestly could not believe how it all worked out, but he knew best!
Next worry was the house and worrying about it selling... We have had several interested, and it looks as though we might get it sold pretty quick! God is so good, and I continue to be amazed at how much he loves us, and wants to take care of things but our stubborn selves always make it so difficult.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.
Proverbs 16:3

5 months waiting....

Today is our 5 month mark of being on the waiting list. Honestly, these past 5 months have truly flown by - and in no way am I complaining!!! I pray it continues to fly by until our child is in our arms. That is still however 2 more years down the road :(

Just sitting here trying to think of what to say... I can't help but think of all we have discovered about ourselves and learned in these last 5 months.

•  God will ALWAYS fulfill his promises! I knew that before, but had never walked it out and trusted that like we have with our adoption.
• You can push yourself to work way harder than you ever thought possible when thinking about a precious baby boy soon to be yours.
• We have already learned so much about being a parent, and we really aren't yet. We have already had to start protecting and fighting for our child.
• I have learned that I would be insane at this point if it wasn't for Daniel. He stays so calm and collected when I am freaking out... he has maintained the crazy!
• God has spoken things to my heart about my past and my life that has so deeply connected my heart to our future child in ways that I cannot even process. Read Here
• And lastly:

I have always wanted to have some involvement in foster care/adoption in my occupation. Its the reason I got my degree in Sociology, thinking I could do social work. Well, I soon discovered without a Masters - its very hard to do that.
In our time of waiting, God has really shown me how truly passionate I am about adoption and orphans. He has led my heart to the decision of getting my Masters in Social Work. This has something I've wanted to do for some time now, but have truly done everything possible to avoid it. It scares me... I doubt myself and my abilities to do the school work for some reason. Not that I've ever been a bad student, just afraid I have forgotten it all being out of school this long. SO I have applied to OU for their MSW program, and will know if I have been accepted around April.

As much as this wasn't MY plan... it is God's. I sit and think how conveniently he has so perfectly worked everything out, and I am amazed. MY plan was to have a child by the age of 25. I'm 26, almost 27... and have 2 more years to wait to be a mom. I have applied 2xs to other colleges trying to do 2 yr quick degrees to get into the medical field, and both times nothing came from it. Here I am with 2 years to wait, and a deep deep desire to fight for orphans... and have that time to be able to go to school to do that. I guess we shall see if I get accepted... if not, I will still continue to do my best to get into the social work field in the area of adoption. I will always be their voice, and no matter where or what I am doing will do my best to advocate for them. I appreciate your prayers as God continues to lead us on this journey!

Life {altered}

My world has been changed, shattered, and impacted. My eyes have been opened, and its so hard to ignore once you have truly SEEN.
I know so many of my friends and family are sick of hearing about it. But once you have opened your ears, eyes, and heart to knowing the TRUTH - its hard to back down, to let it go.
I mentioned in the previous post about the shoes that we had the opportunity to meet with the missionary from Ethiopia that we were able to provide shoes to the children she serves. In this meeting with her I learned so much! I thought I knew, I knew a little bit of the ugly truth that daily inhabits this world. But honestly, I didn't realize... Childrens parents sending them on buses at the age of 6 to go and work to care for themselves. Young boys working to provide for their mothers and siblings as they are viewed the "head of the household", the lack of food, the lack of clean water, the dangers of the world that surrounds them daily. I am sure its going to be even more of an eye opener when we are actually there. But my heart has been broken for these children. Its so hard to just turn away unchanged and not feel a sense of obligation to do SOMETHING. I have no clue how so many in our world can go on daily and ignore these things. How can you know children are starving another country away and not feel guilt by wasting food?? How can you know people in another country have no access to clean water and as you brush your teeth continue to run the faucet nonstop, or leave the shower running for long periods of time before getting in?
My life has been changed. I no longer brush my teeth and allow the water to run. I no longer waste my food. I take everything home and make myself eat the leftovers.

What stinks, is I am not bragging about any of this. Truth is - I hate hearing the sound of the toothbrush on my teeth - I like to run the water so I can't hear it. I sometimes hate leftovers- certain foods are just not meant to be reheated. Once your eyes have been opened, it makes you sick to think of the things these children are facing another world away from here. Its hard not to think how lucky I am that I was born in America. That simply because of the location in which these children were born - that they were faced with such despair. It could have easily been me or you....
I pray that everyone who reads this will consider those in need more, and yourself less. Do the little things in your life to make a change. Don't take the little things for granted, that could mean the world to someone else. Make a difference.

Fundraisers for Christmas Shopping!!!!

Please consider shopping one or both of these fundraisers to help us continue to raise our funds for our adoption costs!

We are doing a Scentsy fundraiser with Kyra Hawkins... all profits will go towards our adoption costs! We are hoping you will do some Christmas shopping with us in this fundraiser. To place your order you may contact me, or order online at: http://kyrahawkins.scentsy.us and you will select Huff Adoption Journey under her picture on the right side of the page to shop.  

The Scentsy November Specials are: BOGO Scentsy Buddies, BOGO antibacterial fragrance foam, 10% off peppermint dreams (scent of the month), and 10% off Holiday Lights warmer of the month.

Sherri Peters a Stampin' Up! consultant has a group of women that is called "Inking for Others" and they make Card Kits to sell to benefit others. They have chosen us to do Christmas Card Kits for. The kits are $25 for 15 cards (5 designs- 3 of each card) $20 of that goes to our adoption fundraising, the other $5 goes for supplies. We need all orders in by November 18th. Below is a photo of the card designs! These are some precious women, who just love making cards and are so talented at it! It was such a blessing that they offered to do this for us. Please contact me as soon as possible if you plan to order some cards, it helps us to keep her in the know of how many to plan to make. This is their website if you want to check it out: www.inkingforothers.blogspot.com

 

How He Loves Us...

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18 
Many of you remember when I had asked for others to join with us in putting shoes on the feet of street children in Ethiopia. Well these are feet that are no longer bare in the above photo (actual feet of one of our sponsored children). I was blessed with sitting down and chatting with Rebecca (the missionary that we sent the money to for the shoes) today and learning about each of the children we sponsored shoes for. I cannot begin to express to so many of you the need that is in Ethiopia. I thought I had an idea of how rough it was for these kids... but honestly we have no clue. So many of these children we learned about today are 8-12 years old, many of them living on their own. They go to school, beg, and sell gum in the streets for money to live. They pay their own rent, and for their own food - which sometimes doesnt come often. They often go without eating. I just cant imagine any 8 yr old I know fending for themselves on the streets in Ethiopia. Some of them still live with their mothers and siblings, and they are considered the head of their household - and have all the responsibility that title entails on their shoulders. Some were shipped to Addis from the countryside at the age of 6 on a bus, all alone, to find their own way of caring for themselves. It breaks my heart, and I wish I could take them all in. We are earnestly praying for God to show us what we can do to make a difference, other than adopting. Honestly adopting a child, does so much for that child in giving them a family, but it really doesn't do much for the country of Ethiopia as far as making improvements to better and make a difference there.
I wanted to share some photos that Rebecca shared with me of the children getting their shoes! We were actually able to get each child a pair of shoes, 2 pairs of socks, and 2 pair of underwear also! I am wanting to post and say a HUGE thank you to everyone who partnered with us to make a difference! I was so blessed today in getting to see these children's faces in the photos as they were looking at the shoes.
Rebecca said they couldn't believe that they just got to go and pick out ANY shoes they wanted. They never in their lives have had an opportunity like this. One child who had holes in his pants and that they were falling apart, she was actually able to get him 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants, as well as all the same things the other children got as well. I plan to post about the children and their stories later, but tonight wanted to go ahead and share the photos of them getting their shoes. Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO WAS A PART IN THIS!