Ok WOW. I am finally sitting back down to a blog entry I intended on finishing Wednesday of last week. God was orchestrating things so beautifully, and this is what I wrote:
Folks this is a love story written from the pages of God's own heart. My heart is soaring today because of the love and response I have gotten from the incredible network of friends and family as Jeremy and I prepare to head into the next 3 1/2 months with four additional children. That makes the total number of people in our house to be 8. And we only have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Yikes! We wouldn't be doing this without the committed support of my parents (who will sleep the boys at there house on week nights) and my brother and sister-in-law (who will take all 4 every other weekend).
I feel like I need to sit down and track the ways that God has provided since this phone call took place on Friday. And I also need to let those of you who are asking know exactly how we could use help. The Lord has been absolutely incredible and I don't believe my heart has been so full for a very long time.
By Friday, I was a nervous wreck again as a new issue arose, and this week we are praying that all of the obstacles we are facing will be ironed out and that Jeremy and I with the help of my parents will be approved to keep all four kids. It seems to never fail that our Adversary tends to rear his ugly head when people are making the most deep and lasting changes of their lives. So if you pray, pray that God's will is done this week, and that none of us stumble over these new challenges.
One day I will tell this story from start to finish... how a God has so carefully designed and prepared each of us for this; how my whole family miraculously aligned in answering the call to help a family who desperately needed it; how my husband didn't even bat an eye at taking this on, though our own financial situation is difficult; how I just quit my job weeks previous to work in Pendleton and give more time to my home based business (leaving no obstacles to overcome as far as childcare goes); how my son and daughter have so seamlessly made this transition... Addi especially, hugging me so tightly around the neck when I told her all 4 would be staying; and how Addi, the morning of our life-changing phone call, had already had her friends' name on her lips, as she prayed for God to bring her back over for a visit soon.
I have come to really appreciate my kids' minds, they really seem to 'get' things. The week leading up to all of this, Addi and Sam were both literally begging me to adopt a Haiti baby. I find myself begrudgingly explaining the difficulties of adoption, knowing that none of it made sense to their childlike minds. I credit their desire to help those less fortunate to the many books and stories we have read through Homeschooling. Our curriculum has opened their minds to the struggles and realities in the world and the impact God-followers have made, which has left them both desperate for their turn to do something incredible. I found myself praying as well, that God would give us a chance to put our words to actions and serve in any capacity he may have.
It is incredible to see how God had so prepared each of our hearts for this, so that when the call came it didn't take much convincing for each of us to feel comfortable with taking this on. Our stumbling upon Safe Families was an absolute God-send as well, and I can't even begin to explain how perfect this organization has served our need. Their purpose is to help families that are in crisis by placing the kids with a "Safe Family" while the parent(s) work to get themselves stable, without the kids having to be placed in foster care. We are a God-send to these kids as well, and the prayers of the two older boys over dinner have left my mother and I with quivering chins, "Thank you for giving us a family that cares about us and loves and feeds us... and please help them all to go to Heaven." Too many miracles and beautiful moments to count. That being said, it doesn't mean things are easy, or that I don't feel entirely under slept at this point, with hours of housework ahead of me. Aside from the prayer requests I already mentioned, these are a few of our needs:
1. Organizationals: for clothes, shoes, backpacks, school papers etc. Keeping track of things is not my strong point and I am so hoping that we don't lose half of the things they do have! (heck I will even take some tips from anyone who has a lot of kids and knows how to do this).
2. Food/Household items: We do have the ability to receive some help with groceries through their Mom's aid, so non-essentials are more pressing, i.e. soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc (I'm sure there is more but my brain is functioning at a very low level right now...)
3. Vitamins: These kids are pretty healthy, but have scratchy throats and runny noses. Their nutrition has definitely been limited however, as they had quite a few meals from the soup kitchen this summer, so I would really love to get them on some daily vitamins. If you are familiar with my Shaklee business, this is another way you could support us. I am a distributor for Shaklee corporation, and I use my earnings to purchase laundry detergent, cleaning products and vitamins for our family. I would love to be able to get the kids on a basic chewable vitamin (they have devoured the bottle of Incredivites I already had), plus some vitamin C and maybe even some fish oil if they can take it and some protein. Both of the boys have been on and off ADD medication (although I don't see it) and I feel that a good nutritional plan could do wonders. If you want to help out here, just let me know... I'm pretty picky about vitamins and would prefer to stick with the same brand.
4. Gas: I had hoped to have a bit of a budget set out for a ballpark of what our monthly costs could look like, and how far above they are from when we currently have. However, I just haven't gotten there yet. We have received some generous donations from friends and family that have allowed me to play catch up in my checking account. Last week there was constant running back and forth to Indianapolis for school and belongings, and tomorrow will most likely be my last trip. I expect our gas bill to be much lower next week, but going anywhere will now take 2 cars.
If anyone would like to donate to our new and large family, Jeremy does have a PayPal account set up through thejeremyj@gmail.com We have decided that any extra funding we may receive over the next few months will stay in this account and will be given to their Mom at the end of our contract (end date is December 31).
5. Random:
-Anyone have a decent fold out couch they aren't using? Might officially allow me to have enough beds in my home.
-The bathroom project needs to come to completion. We are fully functional, but finish work must be done ASAP to receive approval to house the children.
-Oh and Jeremy needs a new job and I need the 2 gigantic zits on my chin to go away by morning.
Thanks so much for reading, for your prayers, love and support. Means the world to us.
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