And the papers are off to Ukraine!!

Good evening friends! Hope you're doing well!! I've played out this blog in my head throughout the day, and here I am finally sitting down to type!!

If you read the blog title, then you know what's coming next!! We have completed our dossier, which is a whole bunch of paperwork that we've worked really hard to complete for Ukraine! We haven't actually sent it yet, but it's going tomorrow!! We started this whole process in January, and here we are at the end of April, preparing for our next steps!!

I'm going to be COMPLETELY honest when I say my stomach is in knots!! We are sending this dossier with still quite a bit left to raise in funds! We've raised several thousand, but have several thousand left to go! We are doing all this in faith....something that is completely new for me!

God has held our hand every step of the way, and everything that we've needed money for, the Lord has provided!! This proves to me just how powerful my God is!! I know He will continue to provide!! It's just a lot more than I've ever needed!! But because I can't do this, I am having to rely FULLY on Him!! I know that He will provide!!

When the paperwork is received, we will receive a court date! So potentially we will be going sometime in June! Which means, we've really got to get on the fundraising!!

Found out there could be a slight delay with things b/c of some holidays in Ukraine, but we know that it's all in God's timing!! Part of my heart is a bit burdened. See, my cousin (who is more like a brother) will be getting married this summer, and I don't want to miss it. But I might not have much control over that! The Lord knows my heart, and I'm praying that He will grant me this request to be here for my sweet cousin!

At the same time, I'm so ready to have my girl home with us!! This who journey has been a bouquet of emotions....happiness, anxiousness, sadness, humbleness, and so many more!! I have cried more the past few days than I think I have in my lifetime! It's all becoming so real....each step getting us closer! To know that this is all happending and she's almost home is huge for me!!

Someone recently told me that I need to take some time for myself. I've been running non-stop since Christmas preparing for all of this. When it's all done, I'm probably going to crash......HARD!! While there are times of waiting, things are still on my heart! I'm thankful God has called us to this, and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!! Until you actually go on this journey, you can't fully explain to others what you're feeling!!

My children have been such troopers! The past couple of days, we've been running around collecting remaining things! They know we'll be gone for a while, and I'm sure going to miss my hugs and kisses!! I'm praying for GRACE for us all as we are gone!! God has blessed me more than I deserve, and for that I will ALWAYS give Him praise!!

I just received a phone call from a friend, who has just sold 10 more raffle tickets, after she has already sold her first 10. This is someone that I don't know real well, our sons went to preschool together, but she is AMAZING!! Heather has jumped in and helped us, has been encouraging and praying for us b/c she believes in what God is calling us to do!! It amazes me that someone that doesn't know us very well has been more supportive that some that are our closest friends! God is so good to know exactly who to place in our lives and when!! Heather, if you are reading this, I am so thankful for you.....you are a God send!!

If you have bought a raffle ticket, good luck, the drawing will be 4/30!! If you would like to buy a ticket, please let me know asap!! I appreciate everyone donating to our cause!!

If the Lord has placed it on your heart to give to our adoption journey, you can paypal us at jlthorpe7@gmail.com . If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, let me know! Our church is running those for us! We still have about $15,000 to raise.

Thank you for reading about our lives! We know what God began He will complete!! Be blessed my friends!!

Paperwork going to Ukraine.......

Good evening friends!! So many times I know that I want to blog b/c I have much on my heart, but when I sit down I don't know where to begin. I don't want to ramble, but I want to express the things that God is doing in our lives through the adoption!! So here goes!!

Today has been a wonderful and emotional day! In the mail we received our approval for Julia's visa!! This is huge, and one of the final steps before sending paperwork to Ukraine! We are awaiting one more thing, which I will pick up tomorrow, then I'll be off to the apostille office to finish up! So that means either Monday or Tuesday we'll be sending our dossier to Ukraine!!

It's hard to believe how incredibly fast this is going, yet some things seem so slow! It seems like forever since I have given my sweet girl a big hug and told her face to face that I love her. Yet, it also seems like we just started this journey! It's hard to describe the feelings in my heart, but with this approval comes some of the many emotions, that I understand are quite normal!

One emotion is pure excitement! I'm going to have my daughter home, with us FOREVER!! God chose us as her family, and she will be here soon!! I can't seem to get there soon enough! She asks each time we talk with her when we are coming, so she is ready! Our children ask when she is coming, so they are ready for us to bring her home! We are ready to be a complete family!! So this is all so exciting b/c we know this is happening!!

The next emotion is sadness! When Jarrod and I go to Ukraine, we'll be leaving our 3 small children. As I type this, I can't help but cry. I have NEVER left them more than a weekend, and this trip is going to be terribly hard. Probably more on me than on them! God willing, we will be making 2 trips. The first will be for about 2.5-3 weeks. We'll then come home for about 10 days, then we'll go back to Ukraine for an additional 10 days, in which Julia will be with us the entire time, then we'll all travel home together as a family. We're also taking a very special Chelsea Louwho with us on the last trip! I have some WONDERFUL friends and family that will be taking care of our children while we are gone, so I know they will have a blast! Thank goodness for Skype, so I can see them each day! I'm praying that won't be too hard on them! I know the reward in the end is going to be magnificent, but I do ask for extra prayers for us during this time of seperation!

The next emotion is nervousness! Nervousness of the unknown. I've never been outside of the US, never been to an orphanage, never done any of the things that we are about to do! So this is all new!! We are also still in the fundraising mode! While we've raised some $$, we are still quite a ways away from being ready to go! God has brought us this far, and I know He won't stop carrying us along on this journey! My faith is truly being stretched, and I'm trusting that He is providing all of this!! I know He loves Julia even more than we do, and He wants her with our family even more than we do. So I keep speaking His words and His promises. Sometimes I need to speak them for myself if no one else!! God has had me in Hebrews 11 the past couple of days!! I love the journey of faith, although it's not an easy one, it's definetely going to be worth it!!

Each step that we have taken makes this journey feel more and more real!! It's amazing to see what God is doing in our family. Hannah told me the other day that when she is older, she wants to adopt! What a wonderful thing that God is doing in not only Jarrod and I, but in our children! They see the Father's heart for adoption, that so many Christians overlook! I want to change this generation. I want us to get out of this "it's all about me" mindset. God has put us here for a purpose "For such a time as this", and we need to grasp that. He didn't put us here so that we could be the most popular, the most famous, or the richest. He put us here for His kingdom. It's time for the church to rise up and grasp that concept.

We've been labeled many times as being "different" by the world. That's okay, b/c the only one that want to be "like" is Christ! I love children, and want children to feel loved and accepted, and this means that my home will be open to as many children as the Lord sees fit to send through the doors. It's not about me and all the "material things" that I may want. It's about me committing my life to Christ. Which means that I may be "inconvenienced" so to speak. I was thinking today about how many people will do things at Christmas, like an Angel Tree, or something similar. These things are all great, and are needed. BUT, how many of those giving to something like that would be willing to open their homes to the orphans, widow, homeless????? People want to give, but only what is convenient to them. They don't want to get inconvenienced in their lives. There have been many times where I have gotten frustrated, b/c my plans for the day didn't work out. But the Lord had other plans, and my "inconvenience" was all ordained! So I encouarge Christians, embrace the "uncomfortable" or "inconvenient". If He's calling you to adopt, don't let fear grip you, don't let what others thing grip you......let what God is telling you to do grip you! We may be labeled different, but that's okay, we are being obedient to the call of the Father!!

So as I end this blog, I want to ask for prayers! When praying for us, I encourage you to pray His word over us, straight from the Bible! We want and trust in God's promises!! Thank you for listening to my heart! I randomly get things, and sometimes they have no rhyme or reason, it's just what God has laid on my heart!! Be blessed my friends, and I pray that the Father will speak some new blessings over you tonight!!

Angels of Humility......

Good evening friends! I haven't blogged in a while, and I apologize, life has been busy!! I hope this all finds you well! We are all doing well, just moving along to the beat that God has our drum going!!

 I've been reading a book called "Angels of Humility" that a friend gave me 2 nights ago and I'm almost halfway through it! Lately I've remembered how much I love getting lost in a book!! So this book has brought some pretty awesome things alive to me. While a fictional book, it helps you to see that there are two kingdoms; the visible and the invisible......and not to invest in the wrong one. This passage from the book really spoke to me "If you say yes to God, you have no limitations because He has no limitations. If what you're grasping for and planning on doing for the Kingdom isn't way beyond your ability, you're probably not doing the right thing". WOW is all I can say! I'm realized the works that are against me, but also the power that I have through Christ.

I think many times Christians forget about our tools that we hold right within our reach. We have our Bible, which has the answers to all life's questions. Sometimes specific things require sitting at the feet of Jesus and communing with Him to hear those things. The power of life and death lie within the tongue, and oh how we all mess that up at some point or another. Example/confession: Yesterday morning my sweet Jonah was having a bad attitude. We had readjusted it once, but it continued to come back out. I finally had it, and lost my cool. Picked him up and carried him to his room to have him lay down, and the entire way there I told him how he was being disobedient and showing no respect, and the way he was acting wasn't loving towards me, and so on. (This sounds a little nicer now that I am typing it, but I was fuming). He came out a bit later and told me he was sorry. I responded with a sorry too for acting out in anger. Later the Lord spoke to me on speaking words of life over them, and speak those things that aren't as if they were. I'm not walking in condemnation, just realized that I didn't handle it right! Today, we had a similar situation with Hannah's attitude. Instead of getting frustrated I told Hannah that God created her to walk in the fruits of the spirit - love, patience, joy, goodness, self control, peace and kindness. It took her a few minutes, but she was right back on the right attitude track before I knew it!! The power lies in a very small thing called our tongue, so we all have to work on that!!

I have to also confess to my overwhelming feelings that I had last week!! We have so much going on right now. I am a full time mom, homeschooling mom, we are working on the adoption process, and we are the children's pastors at our church. While looking at these things doesn't seem like much, it can at times be overwhelming when I'm not letting the Lord guide my steps. I had to take a day and just spend with the children. Although every title and hat that I seem to wear is for my children, they often take/keep me away from being "fully available" to my children. I'm realizing more and more that while I love to come up with new ideas and love keeping in touch with friends, I'm on the computer way more than I need to be. So there's my confession, and I hope to have someone to hold me accountable to spend more time just enjoying my children. The laundry can wait, the phone can wait, the emails can wait! Yes, I need to work on fundraising for the adoption, but there is a time for that. I need to plan children's activities at church, but there is a time for that too!!

Some of this overwhelmingness came after receiving a letter from a friend. This friend bought a raffle ticket and sent the money along with a very encouraging note. In it she said she was proud of the woman I had become and as long as I am letting God lead us, He'll take us many more places. She said she's following our progress along this path, and loves reading what is going on. Then it hit me, PEOPLE ARE WATCHING US!! I don't mean this in a bad way, but it's just a reality! For some, it will be a testimony to God's promises that He will provide; for others, they are waiting for us to fall; and others, it's just a blessing to see the love that God has given us for Julia. I'll be honest, this put a huge weight on my shoulders that was never meant to be mine to carry. I cried out to God to guide us, and I gave Him all the burdens that I have been trying to carry alone. I realize that He is going to do this, and not the way I think it should be done, but in His perfect way!!

I've found out recently about talk behind our back, which is to be expected, right? Well, I have to admit, some hurt, but I have a wonderful Father, who is my avenger!! As I cried out to Him about these things, He put on my heart to pray for these people who have spoken these things. I forgave them, and I prayed blessings over them. Then I asked the Father that those specific people that have spoken those "disapproving" comments would be the very ones to send the "funds" for our adoption! I'm not sure how that will all look, but I know that God is working and moving hearts at the very moment that I am typing this!!

So I guess this blog has been kind of all over the place, but these are the things that God has laid on my heart!! We had a wonderful family day on a nature walk and looking at God's animals and creation today at a local park. It was so freeing to get away from the computer, tv, phones and everything to spend a few hours with my family and God!! I got re-energized and remembered the things that are truly important! Before our walk, we were able to talk with Julia, and that was so wonderful, as always! One thing she said made Jarrod and I both tear up...she said that we are missing in her life. That when we were together she enjoyed being with us, and she misses that. It was so genuine and so sweet, and I am so thankful that God has given us this mutual love for one another. Each time she asks when we are coming, so she is ready!! We explain to her the process of awaiting the paperwork! We NEVER mention the fundraising, b/c that isn't a burden that she needs to carry or know about. She just needs to know that we love her and are working hard to bring her home!!

Also, about the raffle, if you are interested in buying a ticket, they are still available! At this point, we have sold 54 raffle tickets. $20 donation will buy you a ticket! The winner will chose ONE of the following: $500 visa gift card, iPad, or Kindle Fire. We are praying to sell more tickets, and for this fundraiser to be a good one!! Please help us in that if you feel led!

So for now, I'm off!! I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and that His face will shine upon you and be gracious to you!! I encourage you to find a copy of "Angels of Humility", it is wonderful!! Be blessed my friends!!