Be a Piece of the Puzzle

International adoption is a trek across treacherous terrain with rocky and slippery ground, poor visibility, storms that leave destruction in their wake.

For us, the highest heights were being accepted into 2 country programs - first Nepal and then China, reading the email that our dossier had been sent to Nepal in the summer of 2010 and then to China in the summer of 2011, the phone call that announced our waiting daughter, the pictures that followed and seeing her sweet face for the first time!

But with the highs, we fell to deep lows that sweep many adoption dreams into an endless crevasse, to be lost forever.  We lost Nepal when the US government shut down the program on August 6, 2010.  With that, we lost $9000 that we had invested.  We changed careers and have been attempting to change locales and are still awaiting a buyer for our home.  We faced emergency surgery while our family was apart.  We lost a car in a car wreck on the West Coast.  What a mess!

But through it all we have been clinging to the knowledge that God will complete what He has called us to.      So many of you who have offered your prayers, thoughts and good wishes for our waiting daughter in China are forever a part of her story.  You are a puzzle piece of her journey to our family.

We want to commemorate all of you in a way that our daughter will know just how many friends it took to bring her home.  I have created a large 768 piece jigsaw puzzle of a colorful map of China and we are looking to you to sponsor one, or as many pieces as you can, to help raise our travel fees.  We will write your names on the back of your sponsored pieces so that our daughter will have the knowledge of you for the rest of her life.

Sponsor 1 piece for $15.  

There are 4 ways to donate:


1.  NEW!!!  For a tax deductible donation, go to the Donate! tab above and send your donation to LifeSong for Orphans.  They will hold all funds until our agency requests them.  LifeSong has provided us with an interest-free adoption loan but it will not cover the remaing fees or travel fees.  But this is the only tax deductible way for you to donate, so take advantage of it!  I'm grateful they will assist us in so many ways.

2.  Click on the Donate! tab above and click on the Chip In button to donate electronically (PayPal rates do apply).  Be sure to leave a comment here on this page so we know what names to write on the back of your piece(s).


3.  To avoid PayPal fees, send a check payable to La Vida International directly to our adoption agency (address and instructions on the Donate! tab above).  Again, be sure to comment here so we know how many pieces you are sponsoring and what names we are to write on the back.  Our agency will not administrate the fundraiser, but they will collect all fees since they make all our travel arrangements.


4.  Or send us a check in the mail to Jay's office (address also on the Donate! tab above) or see us in person if you are local to either one of us.

Three easy ways to donate, just take your pick!

As the days go by we will assemble the puzzle, learn a bit about China as a family, take pictures and post our progress here.  If we can get all the pieces sponsored, it will cover airfare and lodging for both Jay and I to fly to China as soon as we receive our travel approval.

Time is of the essence here folks!  We only have a matter of weeks to make this happen because once our paperwork arrives and is approved by China and US Immigration, our agency starts making travel arrangements immediately.  So rally the family, get the kids involved, share this on your blog, ask your parents, neighbors, coworkers to get behind us and help bring our daughter home.  Please help us complete the puzzle by Christmas!

There is no training to help one prepare for the adventure that is international adoption, but it is not puzzling as to how we've made it through.  We've conquered the mountain with the support, warm wishes and prayers of all of you.  We're forever grateful!

Trying to Complete the Puzzle,
Brooke, Jay, the boys and 1 waiting girl in China

Approved!

Just minutes ago I got off the phone with LifeSong for Orphans. They have approved us for an interest-free adoption loan! Praise God!!!!!

The amount we will receive will not cover the remaining expenses though. It will leave us short by $3000 plus travel fees. So, please keep us in your prayers for these final amounts. Donate if you can, pass our blog along to family and friends who might be able to help, host a fundraiser, help us get creative and find ways to come up with the remaining costs.

Still no LOA yet. Any China families out there receiving yours recently? Any clue of the current wait times? As you can see by the ticker above, we're going on 3 months and everyday I expect the call from my agency.

Still no bites on the house either. More showings but no offers. It will only get harder come wintertime. We've had contractors in to estimate paint and trim work for the basement that we finished ourselves. I feel like my realtor wasted his time by talking to the contractors for their suggestions when nothing they would do would add any value to my home. Besides, we don't have the funds to pay for the work anyway. My mom is retiring soon and she has offered to come out and help me paint a couple of rooms to make them more neutral. I need a buyer who can look past paint colors. Keep praying because this gets more trying by the day and I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. I need this to end or I'm going to lose my mind!

Thank you, God for the blessing of an adoption loan! You continue to provide everything we need for the daughter You designed for us. Thank you! Amen.

1 Week - Keep Praying

One week behind us and still no word on the adoption loan I mentioned in my previous post or our LOA.  So please keep us in your prayers for both this week.  Pray for God's favor on our adoption finances and that He would provide every penny we need so our daughter can come home without delay!

Also, still no house sale yet.  We've been super close 3 times but the clients always choose the other house.  Maddening!  Living in limbo is getting really difficult and stressful with the approaching holidays.  Have you ever had a conversation with someone, and they are talking and you are listening and what they say takes you off guard and makes you stop in your tracks because what they are saying might just be the truth, the crazy truth, something you hadn't thought of yourself?  I had one of those moments when I called one of my best friends in MN to tell her about our referral.  She said to me, "Brooke, maybe this is why your house hasn't sold.  Maybe your daughter is coming home first."  Whoa.  Mind blowing.  Maybe she's right.  As these weeks and months drag on and on with no sale, the more and more convinced we are that our sweet girl is the priority, not the house.

A friend from our new church said to me recently, "Wouldn't it be just like God to work things out so that one of you needs to be in China picking up your daughter and the other [spouse] will need to be in NE packing up and closing on your house?"  Again, it was a stop-dead-in-your-tracks kind of statement.  I don't know if God is speaking through these 2 friends, but perhaps, just perhaps He is.  And if that's the case, then we could be just 2-3 months away from traveling to China and selling our house at the same time.  We'll see how He has it all unfold.

Keep praying, people!    Oh please, keep praying!