Winner of the $100 Amazon giftcard

Leslie N.!

Congratulations!! I've sent you an email with information. PLEASE let me know if you don't get it! :)

Thanks again to all who donated. I wish I had $100 to give to all of you!

Great news!!!!

I just got an email from the Lane family--they are FULLY FUNDED!!!

Thank you for your help and for the many generous donations that were given! I am ending the giveaway early since the Lanes do not need additional donations and I will be drawing for the Amazon giftcard soon (once I get all of the entries tabulated! LOL). I am so excited to see how God has worked in this family's adoption and to see His love for orphans, yet again. Thanks to those of you who have also showed that love, not only through donating but also through praying and spreading the word.

There are still many, many children on Reece's Rainbow that need grant money and, more importantly, families. There are also many families in process who could use help.

Would you like to try one?

This morning before church, Tim set up the tea set on the coffee table and enlisted Danielle. He then told me they were sample people at Sams and he was passing out "good" coffee.

All of the kids argue over who gets me to drive their cart as I'm the one who stops for the samples! :)

We've covered a visa!

WOOHOO! The Lanes now have one of their girls' visas paid for through your generosity! THANK YOU!

Now for a bigger goal...because Ivy and Rose are not related, the Lanes will have to pay a second filing fee at the Embassy for their I600 (we will have to do the same thing if we adopt a second child as Candace does not have any siblings). They have already paid this fee once when they filed their I600A, but that only covers one child and any siblings. So when they apply for the girls' immigration approval at the US Embassy in Kyiv, they will have to pay an additional $720.

Let's get that Chipin over $720 and pay for immigration!

(and people wonder why international adoption is so expensive...a HUGE chunk goes to our own government!!)

Freaky Friday

I am not in the least bit stressed about this adoption.

And that is completely freaking me out.

Shouldn't I be worried about something? Concerned that we don't know about a second child? Frantic over leaving my other four at home?

(In truth, I am a little worried about my poor mom-in-law who will be watching the kids while we're gone. I'm not at all worried about the kids--I'm just hoping she survives. However, she did raise 4 of her own, and one of them was Mark, so I think she'll do fine. ;))

I just can't seem to find anything to worry about with this adoption. I am (oddly) completely confident that God has all of this in His control. I say that's odd because I am a planner and a controller. So it's a little (okay, a LOT) odd that I feel like I don't even need to try to control things here.

Maybe it's because it's our third adoption? Maybe because I know I can't control any of this? (Anyone who's done an international adoption--maybe any adoption at all--just said a hearty AMEN to that last one.)

Regardless, I keep thinking I should be worried and I'm just not. I'm excited, but not anxious. I still have things on my to-do list, but everything is getting checked off slowly but surely and I know that what needs to be done will be done before we go.

God has moved in amazing ways for this adoption...in many ways that I haven't even shared on the blog. There is a history to this particular adoption that just blows me away, and as I've continued to watch it unfold it is crystal clear that this is the plan God has for our family.

Almost covering a visa!

I love watching the Chipin for the Lanes grow! We have almost covered the cost of one of the girls' U.S. visas--$404. Join with me in getting a visa covered!

And yes, once we get a visa covered I'll set a bigger goal. :)

THANK YOU for helping these little girls!

Remember, every $5 donation gets you one chance for the $100 Amazon gift card...spread the word!

Please help

This adoption has been so very different from our other two. For one thing, it has been incredibly fast. In fact, that's a massive understatement. I was looking over some dossier documents for other families and kept thinking we must have missed something, some document, some something in our dossier.

Then my breath catches and I realize no, we are submitted and have an appointment date.

In a week and a half.

I have been continually baffled by how this adoption has fallen into place. Documents that have materialized out of seeming thin air, flights that got cheaper before we booked, a place to stay in the city we're going to.

Finances are usually the biggest hurdle for families adopting, and like most families we don't have $20,000 sitting around. But you'll notice I haven't put up a donation button for Candace. We were able to completely finance our adoption by refinancing our house. While I don't consider it ideal to take on debt, when it means bringing your child home...ransoming her...it is worth it.

But many families do not even have the option to refinance. Adoption grants and loans are almost non-existent now with the economy. There is one family in particular that has been laid on my heart. They have an appointment shortly after us, on Valentine's Day, for two beautiful little girls.

How I wish I could give them all the remaining funds they need. But I can't. So I am giving what little I can hoping that God will multiply it like the loaves and fishes, making it sufficient for their needs. I have set up a donation button at the top left of our blog (click on the Chipin button). For each $5 donation, your name will be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate. This money is coming from online surveys that I do, and so is mine to freely give, taking nothing from our kids or from Candace's adoption money.

Please help the Lanes bring their beautiful little girls home, little girls who need a mama and a papa, someone to tuck them in at night, comfort them when they are sick, and love them for the rest of their lives. If they are not ransomed, their outcome, like so many orphans around the world, is beyond bleak--it is horrifying.

If you would have considered donating to us, I beg of you to donate to the Lanes. And if you are not able to donate, please pray that God would multiple the little into everything they need. All donations are through Reece's Rainbow and are tax-deductible.