Goodbye 2014...Hello 2015!

As we get ready to say goodbye to the year 2014 and hello to 2015, I am excited and looking forward to the new year because, God willing, it will be the year our girl comes home! Although we don't have any word on her file still, we are moving forward with preparing our home study and documents to send to China when her file does arrive.  China is installing a new computer system with new guidelines for their adoptions as we speak so that will most likely cause some delays, although we pray it does not.  We have completed most of the home study paperwork and are waiting for our first of two interviews.  We have also taken our first set of fingerprints (Katelyn included since she is now 18 and living at home...maybe we should kick her out until the paperwork is finished, haha!) and have our physicals scheduled.  We are hoping to have our home study done by early February so we can work on getting our paperwork to China!  Praying we can travel by October or November at the latest!  So to pass the time I think I will share a devotional out of my very favorite devotional "Seeds of Change" made by Show Hope, every 10 days or so until we travel.  Praying we travel before I make it through the devotional!  So here's day 1, enjoy!

"We were created for adventure.  The evidence is there in our movies, our stories, and even our lives, as the constant battle is waged between striving to remain safe verses bravely stepping out to live the full life that God offers.  We've all heard the saying, "Be careful what you ask for," and as a songwriter, I've learned to be careful of what I sing in my songs.  I have talked about saddling up my horse and going on a great adventure, taking the leap of faith and diving in, waking the neighbors and living out loud; and it's almost overwhelming to think about how God has taken me at my word and led our family on the incredible adventure of adoption-not once but three times.  It wasn't until our second adoption that I began to really understand what God was doing with my family.  I walked into church on September 1, 2002, whole-heartedly convinced that one adoption was enough and that we were not going to adopt another child.  During that service, our good friends, who have four biological and five adopted children, were brought up on stage for the dedication of their latest adopted child, a boy with special needs.  What happened next was almost as if God lifted my chin, and as clearly as I've ever heard Him, He said to my spirit, "I've heard you pray that you really want to know Me and experience Me.  There it is; that's my heart you see on that stage.  That's your story; that's my story.  There in front of you is a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven." And it was this family with whom Mary Beth and i have walked through some of the darkest parts of adoption.  We've gone with them into treatment centers and have shed many tears together.  They knew exactly what they were getting into by adopting again, but still, here they were saying, "THIS IS WHAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO DO.  WE KNOW IT'S MESSY; WE KNOW IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE, AND IT'S GOING TO TURN OUR LIVES UPSIDE DOWN, BUT THIS IS GOD'S HEART." I realized that God was reminding me of His Word where He says that "[He] delights in setting the lonely in families." God was showing me that He was going to keep pouring out His love for orphans, and He was looking for hearts to pour his love into, for people who really want to do what He is doing.  He didn't say, "Caring for orphans is your duty, and if you don't do this, I'm going to be disappointed with you."  Instead, it's as if, as a Dad, god put His arm around me and said, "You don't have to do this, but I'm inviting you in, because I want you to know Me, and I want our relationship to go deeper.  If you really want to see Me show up, I want to take you on another adventure."  God was saying, "I'm going to provide for these children, but I want to invite you to be a part of that.  I'm going to glorify Myself through this."  There was nothing safe about God's invitation.  All adventures carry with them some level of excitement and hazard, and we cannot remain safe and comfortable and still go on a God-sized adventure.  But God doesn't call us to be safe; He calls us to be bold and courageous, and we can trust that even our safety will be taken care of by the One who invites us to bravely step out in faith.  As C.S. Lewis says in Chronicles of Narnia when speaking of Aslan, "Of course He isn't safe, but He is good."  It has been amazing to take God up on His invitation.  And to think, if I had chosen to simply remain safe, I could've missed it.  I could have missed Him.  Do you really want to know God?  Do you really want all He has for you, the abundant life He promised you?  It may take getting a little uncomfortable, and it may take risking a little of what the world tells us to hold on to.  But He is good, and what He has for us is worth far more than all the world has to offer.  Are you willing to step out boldly and follow Him wherever He may lead?  What might that look like for you today?" ~Steven Curtis Chapman

Some Questions Answered

Thank you to all of those who have wished us congratulations over the last few days! I have had many people ask the same few questions that I thought it may be good to put those questions into a blog post.  The first question I have received is "how expensive is it to adopt internationally?"  It all depends on the country you are adopting from.  China as of right now breaks down like this:

• Homestudy $2500
• Post Placement Reports (we have to send reports to China until our children have been home for 5 years) $2800 
• Agency Acceptance Fees (due when we have official pre-approval from China) $2750
• USCIS Fees (fingerprints for Homeland Security) $900
• Dossier Submission Fee (duee when all our paperwork is completed and ready to send to China) $5650
• China Fees (due when we have official approval from China) $4410
• Orphanage Donation Fee (mandatory for each child adopting) $5800
• Flights (per person) $1100
• Hotel (for 2 weeks) $1500
• Food, etc. while in China $1000

This puts us at just about $28,500.  While this looks like a ridiculous amount of money, someone once told me when we were in the process to adopt Kennedi that you can spend that amount on a new car that you keep for 5 maybe 10 years or you can spend that amount on a life that you will have forever.  This totally put things in perspective for me.  I think the life is a much better way to spend the money, don't you?  

The second question I have been asked a couple times is "how can we help?"  We have decided to try a neat fundraiser I came across a couple weeks ago.  It is actually called the 144 Envelopes Fundraiser but we have decided to call it the 153 Envelopes Fundraiser for the 153 million orphans there are worldwide.  All we need is 153 people/groups to participate to raise a lot of money! Here's the idea:

• We have 153 envelopes that are numbered 1-153
• We are asking people to commit to taking an envelope (or more than one if you are feeling overly ambitious and super generous)
• When you agree to an envelope, it means you are volunteering to be responsible for coming up with the dollar amount on the envelope.  So, if you have the number 1 you would commit to $1.  If you have the number 2 you would commit to $2, and so on.  The highest numbered envelope is 153 so the most anyone would commit to is $153.
• All donations will be tax-deductable and checks can be made out to "Across The World Adoptions" with Salvador Family in the memo field.  If the tax deduction isn't needed, you are welcome to make the checks out to either myself or Mark and we will get the amount to the agency.
• Let us know which number you would like and your envelope will be sent to you with the number you have requested.  It will already have a stamp and our address to send your pledge back to us one you have collected it.  Once we receive them all back, we will send the whole amount to our agency.
• You do not have to come up with the money on your own.  Ask your friends and family members to join you.  Perhaps you could have your small group commit to taking an envelope or two.  Or how about your co-workers?
• You can also sign up for us to randomly send you an envelope instead of picking a number yourself.  Again, the lowest would be $1 and the most would be $153.  Of course there are some people who are not able to commit to a large number so you can specify the number you are wanting to take.

Here's the amazing thing...if all 153 envelopes are committed to and returned, this fundraiser would raise nearly $12,000 to bring our little girl home!  Would you consider committing to take an envelope? If you have a facebook, sign up at our event 153 Envelopes Fundraiser for the Salvador Family Adoption or you can email me at 6salvadors@att.net to request an envelope. 

Thanks again for all the love regarding our big news! Hopefully soon we can share her picture with you all! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I could just sit, I could just sit and wait for all Your goodness, hope to feel Your presence.

And I could just stay, I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel You, hope to feel something again.

And I could hold on, I could hold on to who I am and never let You change me from the inside.

And I could be safe, I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home, never let these walls down.

But You have called me higher, You have called me deeper, and I'll go where You will lead me Lord.

You have called me higher, You have called me deeper, and I'll go where You will lead me Lord.

Where You lead me, where You lead me Lord."

Yeah, I know that you are probably, most likely, shocked at this picture because we are still kinda just as shocked (especially Mark haha!). However, we are getting use to the idea pretty quickly since this has been brewing since about September maybe. It was back then that I was looking through my Facebook feed and the sweetest face came across it. Since I follow so many advocating pages and people posting photo after photo of children in need of a family, I have seen cuteness after cuteness day after day and would pray they would find their family.  This little spunky monkey was different.  I immediately fell head over hills in love with her and knew without a doubt we were the family she needed.  There was not a question in my mind.  I "knew" with Kennedi and Brayden too, but this time was different. There was just something special about this girl. Funny thing is, we were done adding to our family. D.O.N.E. DONE.  The adoption of a teen boy was, and is, the hardest thing I have ever done and I could not see myself adopting again...at least not anytime soon.  However, I have learned to never say never when it comes to things, especially where God is concerned.

So I began to advocate for her and pray for her daily.  Thinking maybe if someone came forward to adopt her, I would feel better and could stop thinking so much about her.  We absolutely do not have even one penny for yet another adoption and have really no way of coming up with that large amount of money so I figured she must be meant for another family and I should help her find them.  I contacted the agency rep who posted about this girl but was told they were still waiting for her file to arrive from China but that many other families were wanting her file as well.  I was happy so many families were interested in adopting her.  At the same time, I felt myself completely bummed that she wouldn't be coming home to our family and I still could not stop thinking about her.  I continued to pray for this sweet girl and her potential family.  Then one morning, around the end of October, another agency rep from the same agency commented on a post of another child I just happened to see, saying they would be getting a file for a 5 year old girl soon.  I just happened to send her a message asking about this girl she was talking about.  I almost didn't ask because like I said "we are NOT adopting again!".  She responded back with "let us know if you would like to see her file when it comes in".  I responded with "I fell in love with her the day I saw her however I was told many families were wanting to see her file, and in my mind I still felt it was impossible for us to bring her home".  A little while later the agency called me and said that I could have first dibs on her file if I submit to them our application and the application fee!  Oh.My.Heart!! I couldn't believe my ears! God, what are you doing here?? We still don't have even one penny to adopt another child and now I have to say yes to the agency and submit our application so that we are not passed up and her file goes to another family! I wrestled with this situation with God over and over again.  How can You ask us to step out in faith with the looming task of coming up with $30,000 in just a few short months?  I am having such little faith right now when I need it the most!  Why does adoption have to be so costly?  You provided every penny for our last two adoptions, why can't I trust You this time around?  However, I know the power of our God and I could not give up so easily on this little girl in Wuxi without even trying!

Some people think adoption comes so easy for our family but in all honesty it does NOT.  It is so terrifying to trust sometimes. I hear all the time people say "I would adopt but we just cannot afford it". We cannot afford it either. Not one bit. We couldn't afford it the last two times and we cannot afford it now. But God has shown us time and time again that He will provide a way and oh the blessings we would have missed had we said back in 2006 that we cannot afford it and given up?!?!  It didn't take too long to determine that we have to step out in COURAGEOUS FAITH to bring this girl home to our family if it was something God was asking us to do (and we totally feel like it is)!  We cannot turn our backs on God and how he has perfectly orchestrated this whole thing...WE CANNOT!  "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'move from here to there', and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible for you." ~Matthew 17:20.  Here's to faith as small as a mustard seed knowing that nothing will be impossible with God!

We have already heard comments like "again?", "when will you stop adopting?", "you have enough to handle as it is", "but she has a significant special need, are you sure you know what you are doing? Why would you choose that?"  Honestly, yes, we do know what we are doing.  We are following where God leads us and right now He is leading us to Wuxi to bring our girl HOME.  A child with no special needs could possibly give you more challenges than a child with special needs. She is just as much a child of God as any other child and will not be defined by her diagnosis. We are not here to live a life selfishly so that we can have an easy, "all about me" life.  We are here to live life to the fullest by following Jesus and loving one another regardless of the cost.  I know without a doubt in my mind that this girl will be beyond a blessing to our family as well as to everyone she meets. And so, instead of judging us or thinking we are crazy, would you just please pray for us and this journey we are embarking on as well as our sweet girl who waits for us across the world?

I was trying to wait to announce this big news until we had her file and approval from China so we could share her picture with you on social media (China rules) but I couldn't wait any longer. If you want to see how adorable our girl is and hear more about her, text, email or message me or let me know when I see you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

But You have called me higher, You have called me deeper, and I'll go where You will lead me Lord.

You have called me higher, You have called me deeper, and I'll go where You will lead me Lord.

Where You lead me, where You lead me Lord."