A Watched Pot

We have been waiting now for 64 days for the BIG letter (called Letter of Acceptance).  We are waiting to be officially matched with another sweet child.  We have been waiting, waiting, waiting.  We thought we'd have some really great news to share with the entire world this week.    However, now we're waiting for the "official" word from the powers that be before we make anything public.   Thus, we wait.  Again.  Do you see a trend going on here?  

Waiting has really never been my strong suit, so this sort of thing is my version of what hell must feel like.  (along with the strong scent of rubber and the agonizing sound of Irish bagpipes...ugh..that would make it hell for sure).  But, I digress....

So, what do I do when there's so much waiting to do?

I obsess about other things.   This past week, I've redone both girls bedrooms, organized closets that I forgot even existed, learned how to can my own green beans, discovered about 10 websites specifically dedicated to giving me new recipes for the 25 million zuchinni we have growing in our garden,  worked my tushie off trying to reach a major personal business goal,  taken time to paint little girls toenails, caught up with old friends, and generally spun around like a top until my head hits the pillow at night. 

You may call it busy,  others call it nesting.    I call it avoidance.  It's all I can do to keep from not biting every one of my nails down to the quick.  Honestly, there are some many days lately that I just want to have my life back to the way it was during pre-adoption.  

I've been wrestling with the Lord about patience and timing because that's what's eating at my core.    Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, I know.  His timing, not mine.  I get it.   Easier said than done, folks.

So in the past couple of days, I've been asking Him to teach me how to have patience, because quite frankly, it's just not getting through my thick skull.    Today as I was canning my first few quarts of green beans, I had this GIGANTIC pot on the stove waiting to boil.  I couldn't put my jars of green beans in there until the water was at a rolling boil.   So, I stood there and waited.  And waited.  And waited even longer just STARING at that stupid pot.   Watching it more and more closely as if the more I stared at it, the quicker it would boil.  You know the old saying, "A watched pot never boils".     Yup.   That' was me today.

In the meantime, I had 4 loaves of zucchini bread in the oven.  The recipe specifically states to let it sit 20-30 minutes  to cool before trying to remove them from the pan.  But do you think I could wait that long?  Nooooo.  I tried my best to get those loaves out early and they crumbled into pieces.  I left one of them in there longer (until the time it was supposed to come out) and guess what?  I came out perfectly.  Hmmmm....

Moral of the story:   Sitting here obsessing/watching every little detail of this adoption process is not going to make it move (or boil) any faster. In addition, trying to get things done quicker than recommended to does not always lead to ideal results.

Psalm 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." 

  

Ok, Lord. I hear ya loud and clear.  I'll wait.   *sigh*

Lastly,  today I leave you with a couple of fun photos from our Pampered Chef family BBQ last week.  I've really been enjoying time with the girls home with me this summer.  Sort of savoring this precious time with them because I have a feeling that next summer we will all be busy chasing their little brother around!

Feeling Sassy

You would think that after 6+ months of this process that I'd just let comments from the peanut gallery roll off my back.  Nope.   Maybe one day I'll learn.

So instead I feel like "educating" the blogger world because, quite frankly, it feels good to type out everything I've wanted to say outloud. I'm feelin' sort of sassy tonight, so fasten your seatbelts, people. 

#1-  FUND RAISING

Right now, we're working hard on fundraising for our travel expenses, because, let's face it..it ain't cheap.  Last week I was talking to a "friend" about some fundraiser ideas.  She asked me about our trip to China, how long we'll be gone, what we'll do there, where we'll stay etc.  From what I've understood, it takes about 10-14 days for the paperwork to process when we get there, thus, the reason why we have to hang out for a while in country.   After explaining this to her, she said, "So...you're doing fundraisers to send your family on a vacation to China?"       Umm.......whaaaattttt????

Yea.  That's right.  A vacation.  I fly half way across the world, pick up an orphaned, possibly very-sick special needs child, commit to forever dedicating my attention and care along with all sorts of life-changing dilemmas and that's called a vacation??    Really???    I'll pass and take door #2-  a no-strings-attached- all-inclusive trip to luxury beach resort, thank-you-very-much. 

Folks, we aren't the Rockefellers over here.  You don't need to be financially "rich" to adopt an orphan.  Just rich in love, compassion, and willingness.  The Lord will provide what you need IF you are obedient to His calling.   My husband works 2 jobs, I work almost full-time, we have family medical insurance, we have a warm safe home, food on the table and open hearts. That's all it takes.    When we do fundraisers, we're not asking you to help RAISE our child.   We're just asking for help to GET HIM HERE. 



#2-  UNDERSTANDING


Another phone call this week leads me to point #2.     Someone asked me with all of the bumps we have recently encountered, WHY on earth do we want to do this?  One asked, "Wouldn't it be easier to birth my own?"   I've had others even say, "Well, you already have 2 kids, why would you want/need more?"     Other inquiring minds have to know, "why are you going to adopt overseas when you can just get one here?"     It simply amazes me how the subject of international adoption brings out the inner-moron in people and the overwhelming desire for me to smack them.

If by now you don't understand WHY we are adopting, I recommend scrolling down to one of my very first posts when I started this blog.  That calling hasn't changed.   So, if you haven't already, embrace it.     That's right, hug it hard.

Oh, and another thing.....why is that so many in society value the calling to adopt an animal over the calling to adopt a child??   Before all of you animal lovers get your panties all bunched up, let me remind you that we adopted a chocolate lab from the pound a year and a half ago.   He's a big 'ol 80 lb. baby that we have loved, nurtured, and consider a dear part of our family.  I'm completely a believer in animal adoption.   HOWEVER, shouldn't the rescuing of a human child...a child of GOD...be more of a priority than the rescuing of an animal?

#3-  GOOD NEWS

So, I end today's blog with some decent news.  Our agency called last week and said they would be able to match families again starting July 1st. Wooohooo!     That means we will hopefully have a face (and a name!) by late July.   For those of you who are praying and unconditionally supportive THANK YOU!    If you want to pray for something specific, pray that we get our LOA (lettter of approval) quickly and that the child that the Lord has intended for our family is made clear to us as we start our new search. Also, please pray that we will be able to travel before year-end.  Wouldn't it be cool to have our complete family here for Christmas?!!


If you've made it through this post without getting totally ticked off and you're still my friend,  that's cause for celebration.  Cheers!

Now, off my soapbox...... and back to fundraising.   :)

Slow Down & Breathe

 I just love summer! 

No alarm clocks, late nights out on the patio with the tiki torches lit, the scent of fresh cut grass, BBQs with good friends,  kids collecting fireflies in pickle jars.....ahhh!  I can get used to this!  

It's been a tough few weeks emotionally, but we've been handling it quite well, in my humble opinion.  I'm the kind of girl that prefers to be distracted rather than face things head-on at times.  No, I'm not avoiding completely,  just coping the way I know best.   Yes, I've had my moments days of grieving.   Truth be told, that little boy that we named Nathaniel will ALWAYS have a place in my heart.  In the meantime, we have just kept his bedroom door closed and tried to carry on as best we can.   It's what we have to do right now to stay afloat.  

Must. Stay.  Distracted. While. We. Wait.

How?

Well,  I find myself learning how to do new things.  For example, instead of obsessing about the photos I see online  of waiting children, I've started to do some research on how to can veggies.   Our little veggie patch in the community garden is starting to sprout and we're loving it!   I can remember how awesome it was to have garden green beans, homemade tomato sauce,  dill pickles from our garden all winter long.  Not sure I can pull all of that off the 1st year of planting, but I'm sort of on a mission to try.  Why not?   Fresh salsa, anyone?

The girls have been playing in a $10 kiddie pool that we got from Walmart.    Ah, who knew $10 could bring so many hours of entertainment?    With that said, I've been able to really work on my Pampered Chef business while they are  home and I set an all time recruiting record for myself  last month.   The Lord knew I needed to just slow down and focus on others, I guess.   Brilliant, actually!   Working with my growing team along with a packed cooking show schedule these days has really been sort of therapeutic and has kept me from getting into a "funk" over our circumstances.   Great stuff!

Oh, and need I forget that our neighborhood yard sale is this weekend?    Holy moly, getting ready for it has practically been a part-time job in itself!   We've spent lots of time filling up boxes of goodies we will be selling for cheap, just to raise $ to help toward our adoption expenses. 



Speaking of the adoption, we have no updates since the last post.  We still sit and wait for LOA (letter of acceptance) from China which should come in about 32 days from now on average (but who's counting???) When we get that letter, we can be matched with a different child IF our not-so-fabulous agency has their  privileges back to match kiddos.    If not, we will have to look into switching agencies.  Not exactly the way we planned things, but at this point, nothing surprises me.