O My Goodness!!!!!!

This whole adoption process is such an emotional roller coaster.  We never seem to know what is going to happen and we just LOVE all of God's surprises! We had some bad news yesterday and today we got some great news!  I talked to our program manager for the first time today since we are getting closer to submitting our dossier.  We started talking about the different fees that we have coming up and the time frame for getting that money.  She then asked me when I think we will have ALL of the money to finance the adoption.  I of course have no clue....it all depends on God's timing.

She then went on to tell me that we will want to have it together pretty soon because there is a good chance that once we get our dossier sent in, we will recieve our referral!  She explained how in the past few months, their Ethiopia program has been really slow and once we get our dossier sent in, we will be number two on the list!  She is already looking for children for us!  We are so exited we could just burst!

Yes this means we will need like ALL of the money in a very short period of time.  Yes it does seem impossible.  And Yes, God is so powerful he can provide it all in a matter of weeks.  Just a few hours ago we were thinking how awesome it will be to watch God bring us over $25000 in the next year.  Now we can't wait to experience how he amazes us by bring us that much money in a matter of months.  It seems impossible and that's because in OUR power it is impossible.  God loves to take impossible situations and show us His strength.  Impossibility is the perfect atmosphere for a miracle.

So then how will we come up with the money?  I have no clue.  We have spent every penny we have on this adoption thus far and our account is pretty much running dry at the moment.  We have applied for every grant we could, we are fundraising like crazy, and we have basically done everything that we can do.  We will not borrow money to fund this adoption.  God makes it very clear that borrower is slave to the lender.  We don't want to be servants to anyone but our God.  God does not need us to go into debt to adopt these kids.  All he needs us to do is diligently work towards the goal....he WILL take care of the rest.

Here is what we are looking at financially...
Turn in our dossier- It costs $12,000 to turn our dossier into Ethiopia.  We are $2100 short.  We are hoping that our yard sale goes great and we can use the money we make to submit.  Please be praying for a successful yard sale.  $2100 would be more than we have made in any yard sale up to this point.

Other fees that go with the dossier - When we pay Ethiopia, we also need to pay our adoption agency.  We will owe them $2750.  I am going to ask how much is in our Lifesong account on Thursday.  We only need people to have donated about $1200 to be able to pay our fees.

Referral - We will have a couple of weeks of waiting while they translate our dossier.  We will then get our referral.  There is no guarantee when it comes to international adoption but they are telling us our referral will come in a matter of weeks.  We are expecting we will get our referral 4-6 weeks after we send our dossier to Ethiopia.  Once we receive our referral e-mail, we will have one week to accept or deny it. This also means one week to come up with whatever money we are lacking.  We will need $9,595 to accept the referral of both children.

Travel - Shortly after we receive our referral we will need to travel.  We need to make two trips and we do not get to choose when we leave.  We will be told only days in advance which does not give us any time to shop deals on plane tickets.  Both of the trips together will cost about $10,000.

So basically we need prayer for God's provision.  Pray specifically that he supplies all the money at exactly the right time.  Pray for our family as we prepare to add two children to our family much quicker than we imagined.  Praise God for how awesome he is!  Families wait years and years for their children.  He is blessing us beyond belief with this speedy adoption.  He is changing our hearts for Him and we are so grateful.  God is the same God today, yesterday, and for eternity.

We counted our change today.  We had $300 in change. Wow!  

**If you want to help us out financially there are a few ways you can contribute.  We are selling T-shirts and coffee.  All of the info about this merchandise can be found on the right hand column of the blog.  You can also donate money.  We currently have a matching grant with Lifesong so whatever you donate will be matched penny for penny up to $3,000.  These donations are tax deductible and 100% of the money goes to our adoption.  If you want to donate to our Lifesong account, here is how you do it.  You can also e-mail me by going to our contact page on this blog and I will send you an official Lifesong letter in the mail.   We love you and are blessed by your support!

Check made payable to Lifesong for Orphans

On the memo line write Pehl/acct#2989

Send to:

Lifesong for Orphans 

P.O. Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744