The Generosity of Strangers

Those of you who have been following our blog for awhile will notice our "sad adoption thermometer" is perking up. We put out the cry for help and so many came to assist us in many ways:

• Individuals praying for us
• Groups praying for us
• Some have put us on church prayer lists
• Some linked our blog to theirs for more exposure
• Some posted our story on their blog
• We had some friends donate money to our Eternal Family Fund
• We had strangers donate money to our Eternal Family Fund
• We had strangers donate via our PayPal account

It is so amazing to us! We feel so blessed and we want to shout out to everyone:

THANK YOU SO MUCH

AND

GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!

We still have a way to go but have faith it will all work out.
Thanks again,
Don and Elizabeth

Ambiguity and a Little Pollyanna

Well, we heard from our family coordinator yesterday. Our agency is running interference for us and the Nizhny officials will allow us to return in June to bring home our Angel. Praise the Lord! And many thanks to our family coordinator for working on our behalf.

We have a sense of relief but also disappointment. We really wanted to go back in April. Of course, we are short the finances so the extension helps us. This is definitely one of those situations where we have to look at both the positives and negatives.

Positives

• We have more time to raise the money needed
• We will have more time to prepare for our Angel's arrival
• My semester ends May 3 - I will be able to finish up classes, grading papers, etc.... without pressure of being in Russia or upcoming travel
• I won't have to use as much leave time so I will have some left for Christmas if we decide to travel to Ohio and Missouri to see family
• We'll be able to enjoy another season in Nizhny - we thought winter was beautiful can't wait to see what Spring/Summer is like
• We won't have to worry about buying winter clothes for our Angel (no need for those in Florida!) - only when we go "up north" to see family
• We won't have to lug our winter coats, sweaters, etc.... along - more room in our suitcases for fun stuff to play with during our month long stay
• We have more time to build our commitment to establishing an adoption ministry at our church
• I started reading the "Left Behind" series again - I will have more time to read before we travel
• I have been trying to lose weight - I will have more time and will lose more weight before we travel
• Don has been trying to workout more - He should be really "buff" by the time we travel
• We will have more time to work on our Russian
• We will be in Russia for our 13th anniversary
• We may be in Russia for our Angel's 10th birthday
• We will be in Russia for Father's Day
• We may be in Russia for Don's birthday
• We love to travel somewhere different for special days such as birthdays and anniversaries so we see being in Russia as a positive for these days

Negatives

• It will be 5 months before we see our Angel again
• We are concerned she will worry that we are not coming back to get her
• We will have to update our homestudy - for the 3rd time!
• We will have to updated many documents for our dossier
• We've disappointed family, friends, and others that we did not raise the finances in time to travel earlier (it is difficult to explain to people some of the financial issues that hit us in January and February impacting our available funds for the adoption)
• I am trying to think of more - I will add them if I do

Well, let's see here: 16 positives and 5 negatives - it's a no brainer. This delay is going to be okay. Actually, this was just an exercise for me to intellectually see that the delay is okay. I know in my heart and soul, it is all in God's timing. He must have a wonderful plan for us and our Angel.

Please feel free to add comments.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

In Christ,
Elizabeth

We Believe in Miracles

What should be good news is somewhat distressing for us. We heard from our family coordinator yesterday. Apparently, our region wants us to come back to Russia to get our little Angel sooner than we expected. Now, there are may adoptive parents who would be doing the happy dance and praising the Lord. We wish we could.

Unfortunately, we are still short funds to complete our adoption. She informed us that the Officials will not wait long for us to raise the money to get back to Russia and that we may lose our little girl. This was devastating news for us.

Since our return from trip one, we have been involved in fundraising activities such as a scrapbooking business, yard sales, selling entertainment books, selling flower bulbs, selling candles, and a spaghetti dinner. We have raised about $2400 so far. We are far from what we need.

We are desperate to bring our little Angel home. We humbly ask that anyone reading our blog consider helping us. Please pray for us, please ask your family and friends to pray for us, and please put us on your prayer lists at your church. If you feel inclined to help us financially you can email us at murrayadoption@yahoo.com or donate through paypal via the button on the right.

We are not giving up! We have faith that God wants us to bring our Angel home and that He will provide for us. He has the power to perform miracles.

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him." Mark 11:22,23

Thank you in advance for your support.

God Bless,
Elizabeth

It's More Than Just Raising Money!

Whew! We just completed 20 days of fundraising! We had 4 yard sales. One yard sale was actually organized by our good friend, Pam. What a great friend. She had people from everywhere donating things for the sale. There was so much that we carried it over for another day then brought what was left to our home and held two more sales. Overall, I think we brought in close to $900.00. Amazing! Notice our thermometer is climbing :0)

Another good friend, Debbi, had a spaghetti dinner at her home and collected donations for us.

We are selling Entertainment Books for the southwest Florida area - some great deals! We also sent out flower bulb catalogs to family and friends. We are waiting to see how that goes.

Last night we had a spaghetti dinner at our church. Honestly, we did not have as many people as we hoped. However, we were able to visit with everyone who came and met some very nice people. One lady we met has adopted 5 boys with special needs and 3 are from Russia. We exchanged information and Don and I look forward to talking to her. Others came because they received fliers at our yard sales. It was a very enjoyable evening and we made enough to pay for 1-2 hotel nights! Can't complain about that!

Don and I have started to look at the finances needed to bring our Angel home in bits and pieces. So, instead of thinking we need $25,000 to complete this adoption, we look at what we raise in fundraising as: this will pay for our Angel's visa; a hotel night in Moscow; an outfit for our Angel; etc.... It makes it seem more manageable.

We've often talked about our faith and that we believe God wants us to bring home this little girl (see archived postings). Today, I was asked this question, "Is there anything that you have doubts about related to the adoption?" I thought a moment and said, "No, nothing!"...."I've not even thought about stopping the adoption because we don't quite have the finances. I strongly believe this is what we are supposed to do." Don and I really do believe that God has directed our adoption and He will make it happen. Of course, it will be in His time not ours.

Our fundraising experience has really made me think. I am beginning to realize that it is not always about the money. Honestly, sometimes I can get a bit obsessed with money - is money my idol? Sounds like another blog topic. Anyway, I came across a book at one of our yard sales and began reading it during down time. The book is The Prayer of Jabez for Women: Breaking Through to the Blessed Live by Darlene Wilkinson.

Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Our adoption has truly helped us become more committed Christians. Don and I can apply the Prayer of Jabez to our adoption process and our growth as Christians:

• We see God's blessings in our lives daily - Oh, that you would bless me indeed....
• Our fundraising has placed us in various situations where we have been able to witness to others as well as talk about adoption as a ministry - ...and enlarge my territory....
• We learned that we cannot do life alone nor our adoption alone, we need God. We learned to cry out for His help, blessings, guidance, provisions, and to glorify Him through our accomplishments - ...that Your hand would be with me....
• As we have increased our committment to adoption and moved along in the process, we noticed more challenges and struggles. It all makes sense - we are a threat to Satan! The more committed we are and the further we proceed in the adoption process, the more territory we are taking from Satan! Satan doesn't want us to commit to the adoption, Satan doesn't want us to start an adoption ministry, Satan wants us to lose faith and give up! Satan wants to tempt us to sin!- ...and that You would keep me from evil....
• We know that the consequences of sin can consume us and those around us. With God's hand with us, Christ in the center of our lives, and being filled with the Holy Spirit we will sin less. If we sin less, we will cause less pain to ourselves and others - ...that I may not cause pain!

I just love practical applications of the Bible! I thank whoever donated that book to be sold in our yard sale. We didn't sell it, but I believe God wanted me to read it!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Our Sad Fundraising Thermometer

Okay, so I've made some changes to our blog. I really didn't like the widget we were using for donations. I changed it to the PayPal button and I found a fundraising thermometer. I was really excited about it but once I uploaded the thermometer it made me sad ($1200).

We are so busy with fundraising, scrimping and saving, and pinching pennies. I really thought we had more than what our thermometer shows. We will keep working on it.

We are working on some other fundraising activities as well as trying to appeal to the blog readers out there (see Please Donate Your Latte to Help Our Adoption). I know there are some generous Starbucks drinkers out there. I heard on the news that someone at a Starbucks drive-through paid for the person in the car behind them. That simple act seemed to continue for more than 150 customers.
Here is the link: http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-starbucks-pay-forward-022809,0,1280892.story

Thanks for stopping by,
Elizabeth