Moving on along.....

Good afternoon friends! It's a beautiful day here in Georgia, and we are enjoying a quiet afternoon watching a movie!! Then hopefully nap time, keeping my fingers crossed!!

The latest thing we've heard a few times is "Do you know what you are doing, adopting a teenage girl?" The answer is NO!! We don't know what we are doing, but are following the call that the Lord has on our hearts!! I chuckle when I hear this question, because as I became a first time mom with Noah, I had no clue was I was doing!! Even when I birthed our 3rd child, Jonah, I still didn't know exactly what I was doing! The Lord is guiding our hand all the way, so we are at peace!!

I was thinking the other day how our lives have changed so much! When we had 2 children, Noah and Hannah, we thought we were finished having children. We had a boy a girl, it was perfect, right? Then along came Jonah, God's little blessing for us!! After Jonah we decided to get my tubes tied, b/c we didn't want anymore "surprises". This saddens me sometimes, b/c children are such a blessing! Even in our worst days, I wouldn't change being a mom for anything in the world! But here we go again, God has changed our hearts and lives! We are "having" another child, just in a different way! So I've quit saying this is it, we aren't having anymore children. Instead, I'm awaiting when God will tell us next to add to our family again! Of course, mainly I am just keeping an open mind to what the Lord has for us!!

We are moving along with everything with the adoption! We completed our fingerprints this week, and now we are awaiting a couple of more documents before we send everything to Ukraine! We could possibly be going sometime in mid-late May! This is so exciting for us!! We have started the fundraising and we know that God will provide! So far we have raised $4000, and we still have $21000 to go! This is so exciting to see what God has done, and the testimony that will come out of this! My flesh also wants to get really nervous because this is a lot of money, and not a lot of time!! I have to stand on His Word and His promises, that He will provide for this adoption! I'm thankful that God has called us to this, and faithfully we are walking!

Thank you so much for all the prayers, support and encouragement! The Lord has surrounded us with amazing friends and family. We are overwhelmed when we sit down and think about it all!! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for our trip! Of course we need the money to come, but we will also not be taking our children with us. This is going to be hard for all of us, but we know that God will give us peace and comfort while we are apart!! Be blessed my friends!!

Our life in the adoption process.......

Good evening friends!! I realize that for some this is the first time reading this! If that's you, welcome! I always used this as a personal blog place, and now I am adding to it our adoption! I did think about starting a second blog for the adoption, because this is about my life. But, this adoption is our life, our ministry, so I decided not to! So here is what is going on in the Thorpe household!!

We are moving along in our adoption process! Our first step was our homestudy, which we were somewhat dreading! We ended up with an AMAZING social worker, who has held our hand through every step of the process. She helped us move right through that part of things, and we appreciate her so much! If anyone ever needs a social worker, I'll be happy to send Tonya your way! We wouldn't be where we are if it weren't for Tonya!

Since the homestudy was complete, our next step was sending off our I-600 for approval. It's basically giving preapproval for Julia's visa! It typically takes about 5 weeks to get the approval, but can take more or less time! We are praying for the less! It's now been 2 weeks since we sent this off, and we are awaiting our fingerprint appointment! While waiting, we are starting all the Ukrainian documents, which there are a good many of, and they have to be done exactly correct in order for the Ukraine to accept them!

We have also started our fundraising! As many of you know, adopting is not a cheap thing! It's kind of sad, b/c you are giving a child a family and a home! But then I think of the price that was payed for my salvation. Jesus gave His life that I could live forever with Him in eternity. That is the highest price anyone could ever pay! So no, this adoption isn't cheap, it isn't easy, but God has called us to do it! Over and over again He has confirmed that all He did was call us to adopt, yet He will provide all that is needed!!

I have been overwhelmed at the love and support that we have received with this adoption! When we first announced our journey that the Lord has us on, we received some wonderful financial blessings. To date we have received $3545.00 in gifts! To date our total expenses have been $3006.00. Every need has been met as it has come up! The total that we need for the adoption is approximately $25000.00, so we only have $22500.00 left to go! This is exciting for us! We know that God will provide! I have tried very hard to figure out how this is going to happen and how in the world we will come up with that much money on a tight budget!! But God is already doing this!

We have fundraisers in the works, and know that blessings will come in unexpected ways! We are expecting, and when God provides, we aren't surprised, for He promised this!! God willing we will be going to Ukraine towards the end of May! No one has told us that definetely, but in my figuring of time frames of documents, etc, that is my guesstimate! That only gives us a little over 2 months to raise the money! Now, I've had my weak moments of the flesh wondering how in the world this will happen.....but God has gently reminded me that He's got this!

None of this is happening without the Lord's hand on us. We couldn't make Julia say yes, that she wanted to be in our family.....that was God moving in her heart! We couldn't make the first money come in.....which we needed to get the process started. None of this would take place without the hands of the Lord blessing this! All He asked us to to was answer His call to adopt. We said "yes", so He is working all the other things out!

Thank you for reading this blog, and I look forward to sharing more with everyone along our process!! I also look forward to soon sharing the winner of our current raffle. The raffle is for a chance to win your choice of either a $500 visa gift card, iPad, or Kindle Fire. Tickets are $20 each, and if you are interested in buying one, please email me  amythorpe7@charter.net. I hope that you have a wonderful evening and weekend, and that the Lord will show you more of His love and peace than you have ever known!! Although many have already seen this picture, here is our family! Julia is 4th from the left, with the rest of our family! We are all surrounding her just as we all surround her and cover her with prayer daily!!

Good afternoon friends! It is "quiet" time in our house right now! Of course the dryer is running, I hear pages of books turning as the kids are reading them, and randomly hear a "mom, how much longer"!! LOL, I'm trying to teach the children that we ALL need quiet times, not just kids!! Mommy needs hers too!! Often the kids fall asleep, but sometimes not! I'm limiting their time today, so bedtime will be smooth sailing! It's been a productive day, with school accomplished, some housework done (including some extra helping hands), and some fun (mostly for the children, but I love hearing them play!). So I figured in this quiet of our house, I would blog a few things on my heart!

We have had so much support in preparing for the adoption, but with that support also comes the "disapproving" comments, looks, or whatever form they may take! The first one we received wasn't horrible, but suprising as we thought the person would be very supportive, knowing our stand on children and our desires to one day adopt! This came from a very close friend. We've accepted it, and moved on, and know that there are seasons for everything, even friends! You love them, but not everyone has to agree with what you are doing!

Recently we received another "disapproval", from a not really shocking source, but the words keep ringing in my ears. "I think it's great that you want to adopt, but you shouldn't ask others for help. You shouldn't do it if you can't afford it." When I read these words (it came in an email), I have to be honest, it hurt. I cried, and tried to hide if from Jarrod, b/c I didn't know if I wanted to share it with him. I had to search the validity of this, should I not be asking others for help?? This has been very humbling to ask for help, I've always had to do things for myself. So why is this so bothersome? Acts 2 talks about the people in ...the CHURCH coming together and sharing and distributing all that they had.

When we've shared our story, and sent out letters and starting raising support, we didn't twist anyone's arm, we simply asked to partner with us, in prayer, with financial support, or whatever way the Lord laid it on their hearts! It's the Lord that moves people, not Jarrod and Amy! I was thinking back on relay for life, the police benevolence funds, aids funds, all these different WONDERFUL organizations that daily call and ask for support.....for the chance of saving lives, furthering research, whatever their cause may be! Well this is our cause, to save our beautiful girl from a life of possible destruction. I feel honored that God has called us to this, I feel honored that the Lord is humbling us even more by having to ask for help.....b/c we are truly learning to lean on the one true source, and that is Christ. God is doing this, we are just sharing what we are doing, and of course doing fundraising (just like any good and worthy cause does)!!

After recieving this email (which I did finally share with Jarrod after I wasn't so emotional!), I started thinking about others that ran in this circle of friends. Jarrod and I talked about not hearing from them, not a phone call saying congrats, this is awesome. So we figured that they probably feel the same way, although they are active Christians. I found myself wanting more and more to know if we had their approval, so I started to send a text, but the Lord wouldn't let me. He said "why are you doing this adoption, for the approval of others or for ME"? Ouch, I have to admit, that one shocked me. I thought, but Lord they will get it, I just want to make sure. He reminded me that He has called US for such a time as this. Some will get it, some will not. Even Christians will not fully grasp the concept of what we are doing, even the asking for help part! We've also realized that many won't get it b/c they feel convicted about it, or something is stirring in them that they aren't yet ready to grab ahold of. So many times offense comes b/c you are doing something that others have been called to do, yet aren't doing.

So, I leave you with a bit more of my heart exposed. I still haven't shaken completely the email, I guess I'm still a bit emotional about it. I know, it's crazy, b/c I know it's the enemy's way at trying to get to me. So each time it comes up, I just cast it at His feet. And I won't lie, I have to do it SEVERAL times a day!! One last thought, I just read from a friend on facebook....."Every person wants so much to be accepted. But you cannot be accepted by the world and be effective for the Lord." ~Dr. John MacArthur, Jr. Be blessed my friends, and rest in His love and grace!!

Good evening friends!! Today has been a beautiful day, but filled with many, many emotions!! Church was awesome followed by some amazing fellowship! It was wonderful to be encouraged, edified and prayed for with all things concerning the adoption! It's encouraging that so many are for us and holding our hands us on this journey! I am constantly amazed at what the Lord is doing! We've had gifts given from some that just know we are adopting, without knowing what all will be involved with costs, etc. I know that the Lord is providing the means for this adoption, and it won't be the way that Jarrod and I may invision it!! God has a perfect plan, and we are learning to let go of our plans and move forward in His plans!! For example, the idea of having this cute little family (not that we aren't cute, lol!), perfect home, nice suv. We are ready to trade everything in for the chance of saving lives, changing a child's destiny that the enemy has deemed ruined. I'm ready for that 15 passenger van, that house that is simply filled with love and not necessarily material things! I used to want all the things"normal" people wanted.....like the material toys, putting my kids in every sport they wanted to be in, shopping sprees, cool cars, and the list goes on.....I wanted to better myself and my family, as I believe the American dream goes. Well, I have a better dream, to live what God has called pure and undefiled religion, which is found in James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

Although the great support, there are a few who have objected what we are doing. We do this not for ourselves, we do this because the Father has revealed His heart to us, and we are being obedient to the call He has placed on our lives!! While I have wanted to "defend" our cause, the Lord has shown me that He is our defender!! Psalm 59:1 "Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me." This is such a relief, b/c I know that God will defend those that rise against me, but I'll admit it's also hard to chew on at times! Out of natural reaction and needing to justify things, we want to defend! A friend reminded me of Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." This is a comfort, for we are BLESSED!! When someone comes against you, it does make you question things, and I always search what they are saying to see if there is any truth! This too can be humbling, b/c many times the Lord may be speaking something through this person!

So in my evaluating our lives and our love for our daughter Julia, here are some things that God has revealed to me, and it's so beautiful!! I have 3 birth children...Noah, Hannah and Jonah. Each time I was pregnant with these children, I loved them before I even saw them! The Lord placed them in my womb and handpicked me to be their mother. I had a love for them that I had never known before, it was AMAZING, well I should say is AMAZING!! I would lay down my life for them. John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one that this, than to lay down one's life for his friends". A mother and a father understand that love. We will never understand that love to the magnitude that the Father does, but we grasp a little of it with being a mother and a father!! I would go to the end of the earth to get my child, I will fight for them and their protection, I will recruit others to help me if I need something out of my hands for them.

This is no different than our love for Julia! When we met her in December and were able to spend 9 magnificent days with her, there was no DOUBT that God had placed the love of a mother and father in our hearts,and He handpicked us to be her parents! It was just the same as He did when we were pregnant with our other 3 children, only she's a bit older!! It is not something we can force, it is something that only the Father could do and put in our hearts! So with that being said, we are ready to fight for her, run to the ends of the earth, ask others to help us bring her home to us! We want to save her life from a life of destruction. God gave us this vision and He will carry it about! He has put some amazing friends and family in our life to walk with us through this, and it's slowly coming together! It's not cheap, it's not easy, but we will do this. We understand this is our hearts, this is our calling, but the Father that has called ALL Christians to walk out James 1:27, so when others join in this effort to bring her home, they are operating in pure and undefiled religion!! I do believe that the Father speaks to hearts and moves them, even in the unbelievers hearts!!

So with that being said, we are beginning our first fundraiser! We are having a raffle, and we have 23 friends so far committed to helping us sell raffle tickets! I am overwhelmed with the love and support of this, but I am also expecting that the Father will move on hearts!! I had been stressing on fundraising, then God put this amazing family in my life (who is also currently walking the adoption process), who gave me some amazing fundraising ideas and encouragment!! So, if you haven't heard about the fundraiser, here's the info!! Buy a $20 ticket for a chance to win a CHOICE of ONE of the items: $500 gift card, iPad, Kindle Fire. We will hold the drawing on 4/30/2012. If you are interested in buying/selling tickets, please contact me via email @ amythorpe7@charter.net. We believe this fundraiser will be a success!! We have a few more things coming up too!!

So thank you for letting me share a bit of my heart and I pray that God will bless you with an abundance of Him over this next week!! Leaving you with pics of Jarrod, Julia and I; Tan, Ryan, Chelsea, Julia and Hannah; and our family!! Good night!!