Adoption Moves Forward

It has been 3 months since I wrote about my family's decision to adopt so I thought I would give a little update on where things stand.

After a little bit of a delay trying to get the proper paperwork from my wife's doctor to the adoption agency, we were finally approved to adopt through All Gods Children. Since then, the pace has picked up a little and we have completed our orientation call (where they go through the paperwork, timeline, what to expect, etc.), turned in our paperwork and sent the first chunk of money (about 1/3 of what the total cost will be).

This week we are having a garage sale to help defray some of the costs and soon we will have shirts to help with costs as well.

It is kind of strange to be in this situation as we are doing lots of things to prepare for our future while also living in the present. I am getting less and less freaked out by this idea as it becomes more and more a reality (I'm sure as it gets closer I will revert back to being freaked out). We are excited to meet the little boy that God has for us.

Through all that has happened so far we have felt very loved and cared for by God, our family and our friends. As we continue forward, please continue to pray for us. Some specific things include; the process itself (that it would go smoothly), finances, the adjustment of adding another child to our family, for our kids as they walk through this process with us, our little boy in Ethiopia as well as his family.

This is all only possible because of God and we desire more than anything to be faithful and obedient to Him and His will for our lives.

How Much is Enough?

I was reading in 2 Corinthians 8 last week and couldn't help but wonder how much is enough? In other words, when do I have enough so that I can then start helping others who don't have as much. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be some magic formula where you enter how much you make, where you live, the number of kids you have, and out pops a score or an amount that gives me the answer. So, I am left to figure all of that out on my own. On my good days, I realize that the truth is, I have already passed "enough" and am in the too much category. Problem is that I am usually so focused on my needs, wants, and must haves that I tend not to see the abundance in what I already have. It is easy in America to miss the blessings that we have because we are constantly bombarded with messages about what we don't have. Our mentality is to strive for the latest and the greatest and contentment is usually a good idea for the people who have more than us. The problem is that there is always someone who has more and that becomes our focus instead of all of the people who have less (particularly the rest of the world). I am in no way saying that I have this all dialed in. Every month, I spend money on things that I don't need. Don't we all! Look at our country and the amount of money that we spend on fancy flavored coffee and movies and video games, and potato chips and TVs, etc. We now live in a society where cell phones are a necessity (even for 4th grade kids who are at school). People managed to live for thousands of years without cell phones and now if an adult (or even kids 12 and older) don't have one, it seems crazy. Families are spending $100/month on cell phone plans or cable TV plans without thinking twice, yet much of the world lives on less than one of those bills. Something is out of whack which leads me to wonder, how much is enough?