The Match

Our family is honored to be the recipient of the world's greatest baby shower. Our church, The Comstock Church of Christ (service is 10:40 Sunday mornings...you should really come visit us if you haven't had a chance to lately... it's a great place to worship an Amazing God), has blessed us with a matching gift program. The church has committed to match (from the general fund) the amount that members give toward our adoption expenses. I must say I am blown away by how much people have given! Now keep in mind that we are a small group of people, but our small group of people have given generously and sacrificially. The total given as of last Sunday was around $1,900.00! Can you believe it? If you do the math and double it for the match, it comes out to $3800.00! When you add that to all the other savings, sale, and random job income we've been saving up we are at 27% of our estimated total funds needed.

You have no idea how great it feels to be almost one third of the way there. Thanks you Comstockonians! Thank you God! I feel overwhelmed by the abundance of good things in my life.

Party all night long!

It was definitely a party at the Andrews' house last night. First we had a stomach flu party, then a carpet cleaning party, followed by another stomach flu party. Now we are having a ginger ale and crackers party and are just about to begin the laundry party! I'm so sorry if you didn't get an invitation, but it's probably for the better.:)

The kids were super sweet but it's just so hard to watch them lying around with pale faces knowing that there's not much I can do to help with the exception of a back rub and a cool washcloth. In the midst of it all, I found myself wondering how I would fare as a mother of four sick kids. How could I rub all their backs and comfort them all at the same time?

A friend of the family whom we respect very much often quotes this scripture, which I'm sure applies to all my fears:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Now I just have to work on acknowledging Him in all my ways...

Super Speedy Clean...It's Home Inspection Time!

Long story short, last Tuesday our appointment with the social worker at her office was relocated to our home. I freaked out. Me, the kids and Ben hurriedly cleaned the house in around two hours. Somewhere in the middle of that we lost track on the dog and as she enjoyed wandering the neighborhood our social worker arrived. Phew, that was a crazy morning. But... I think we passed.

Thankfully, our social worker is very sweet and she knows what it's like to be a mom as she has adopted several times herself. She now has all the information for our home study with the exception of our blood work (figuring out the tests we need and where to get them done and insurance, etc. is more complicated than I thought), and our references (this was overlooked in their office and they were just sent out last week). After that, she can write the glorious document lovingly referred to as "the home study", although it doesn't have much to do with the house. Good thing we only spend two hours cleaning!