Adoption update: Sorry its been a few! AND BECAUSE OF THAT THIS WILL BE LONG! We are doing a lot of waiting and will be doing alot more waiting but here is some good stuff that has happened in the meantime!

We had a rummage sale to raise some money. A little back story is, this was our plan all along so we started posting on local facebook groups and collecting donations to sell. THEN COVID... So, now all the goodwills are closed so people are begging for me to take their stuff. It got to a point where our massive two car garage couldn't park a car and you had to open the door to get to the other side! And because of you know COVID we had to hold on to that stuff for 2 months! People donated beautiful stuff that they could of sold and got money for but they said I want to give it to you to help this beautiful cause.

Then the day came. My tears started right away as the very first person was a man that didnt need anything but, stopped to ask about our signs stating "all proceeds go towards smith family adoption," and once he heard he reached into his wallet and said "I don't need to buy anything to donate, it's a good thing your doing."

It didn't stop. We needed to get rid of so much so we were asking for very little and when we said $15 dollars people would give us $75 and yell at us for not asking more. I mean it happened over and over.

People who were adopted were sharing their stories along with people who have adopted. A father and teenage son were running by and they stopped when they saw the signs. The boy was adopted along with his 2 siblings. They had me laughing and crying talking about adoption. It was so beautiful to see the boy talk about adoption in such a casual beautiful way.

THAT DAY WE MADE $2500!.....Yup GOD SHOWED UP TO THE SALE!

We have had random investment companies just deposit $500 in our account, anonymous donations or donations from friends still sprinkling in. And let me tell you every time we get a donation it seems to be exactly when I needed God to say "Don't forget, I GOT THIS!"

BIGGEST NEWS FOR US RIGHT NOW IS we are HOME STUDY CERTIFIED! This part seems never ending. It is so much paperwork, narratives, repetitive questions, invasive questions, fingerprints, background checks, medical exams, drivers records, even the dogs vaccine record (?). And this needs to happen in Maine and Florida since we haven't lived here long enough.

Thanks to COVID I had more then enough time to finish things. BUT thanks to COVID getting ahold of people was challenging and the waits were a little bit longer then the long they usually are!

BUT we did it we completed it all and the applications along with all that paperwork and our beautiful profile book (shown in pictures), are in the hands of all the agencies (see picture of stack of packets!) and we now wait for them to process it all. Once they are processed. ABOUT 4 weeks. We will be live and available for that beautiful birth mom God has prepared for our family with that baby he created through her incredible, selfless, loving choice of adoption, WILL CHOOSE US.

Could be 2 weeks and could be 10 months? But I'm so grateful that I can always rest assured that God has that one perfect addition for our family so I will wait as long as it takes for a healthy baby boy or girl!

We are doing a multi agency approach so that our profile is seen across a broader network of birth moms. The profile book took two lifestyle sessions. Lots of picture digging and sorting. And a long winded, 17 page narrative. Then our graphic designer from our consultant group made it into the most beautiful story of our family. Such a treasure to have and read. So surreal!

Couldn't do this without my girls at Christian Adoption Consultants. They have guided me every step and made this whole long process go seamlessly even in the midst of a word far from seamless!

And AdoptTogether WE HAVE RAISED $27,000 in the middle of a global pandemic. Because God. I mean guys the world shut down but that isn't too much for God. Every time we took a scary step to raise money when it felt uncomfortable, He was there to reassure us, He always showed up. This doesn't count the load of grants out there for us. We couldn't even begin to apply to those until our home study was done. That is the next step. He has sprinkled this journey with so much beauty and eye opening moments that rock our boat and make our faith that much stronger. This story is already changing us and so many around us. We are so honored to have a front row seat in this incredible journey.

Everytime I see you wearing our adoption shirts my heart jumps! I feel your support! Thankyou!

Oh and before I close WE SET UP THE CRIB. The CRIB I held onto with hope for 5.5 years! YUP THAT was a good day!

Sorry so long but, I love doing my part in letting people see the beautiful and tedious process of adoption. I want to encourage those who want to adopt but are scared of the finances. I want to reassure those that are in the process that God will show up! So much goes into it that I was not aware of. And on top of that so many of you have invested in our family in some way and you deserve a seat in this journey!

(Here is a beautiful podcast on adoption that helps us all navigate the unknown and bring change from uncomfortable to beautiful)