blanket model

It's been a few years since we've had a newborn baby in our family. But now I have two new beautiful nieces born 3 weeks apart. Elsa Janae and Everly Holland. My younger sister's first child, Elsa is was my baby blanket model last week. Isn't she precious?! If you would like to see more pictures of the blankets I have available, you can visit the bringing blankets home inventory page here. Anyone who makes a donation towards our adoption expenses will receive a free baby blanket! Just let me know which one you would like and I can deliver it or mail it to you.

Below is a picture of Everly and Elsa, cousins and sure to be best friends. They are 3 weeks apart yet Elsa is quite a bit bigger. My sister and I joked that when they are cheerleaders together, Everly will be the top of the pyramid and Elsa will be the base. :) Love you girls!

the end of winter?

It's March people! Spring is hopefully right around the corner! We went sledding at Tuthill Park this morning before all the snow melts. It was the first time we went sledding all winter. Maybe the snow was just waiting for our permission to melt...well now you have it winter. Go away.

With spring comes rummage sale season! Probably one of my favorite things about the end of winter...getting outside during the warm sunny days and bargain shopping.

We will be having another rummage sale fundraiser this year. We are getting closer to our goal (a lot closer than we were at this time last year), but we still have a ways to go. Give me a shout if you would like to know specifics on how much we have raised so far and how much we have left to raise (it's pretty amazing, and I am happy to share it!).  

Our rummage sale will be during the Kingswood rummages in April on the west side of Sioux Falls. We have found gracious hosts to let us use their garage for the week. The dates of the sale this year are: 

Wednesday, April 23rd
Thursday, April 24th
Friday, April 25th
Saturday, April 26th

If you have items you would like to donate, please send me an email or facebook message. My email address is jessicarwaltner@gmail.com.

How to donate: 

• I can pick up your items, just send me an email or text. I can pretty much pick up anything that will fit in the back of a minivan. If you have larger items (like furniture), I will likely have access to a trailer sometime in April and can pick up those items then.

• You can bring your large and small items to our house in Tea any time and we will store them in our garage.

• You can bring your small items/bags to church and drop them off in Trav's office for the next couple of weeks. Once March is over, he will be moving to the Tea Campus and probably won't use his office at the 57th Street Campus. (please label your bag RUMMAGE)

• If you don't have any furniture, kid stuff, or misc. to donate, we would welcome any snacks, pop, bottled water, or baked goods to sell during the rummage. Anything that is individually packaged would be great. Last year we had special K bars, popcorn balls, gourmet cupcakes and cookies and they were a big hit! We sold out on ALL the homemade stuff. 

Items that are popular and typically sell well include: baby baby baby or anything kid related, children's brand-name or like-new clothing, toys, furniture, exercise equipment, collectibles. Or anything else, we aren't picky! :)

Our baby blanket fundraiser is also on-going. I have been putting together a few new blankets recently and will post those soon. You can look to see what blankets I have left by clicking HERE. And of course I will have them on display at the rummage sale! 

Thanks everyone, if you would have asked me last year at this time if we would be having another rummage sale this year...I would have said no way. But now here we are, still waiting for a referral for almost 8 months now. It's taking longer than I originally expected, but it's still very much worth the wait and the effort. Our child is on the other side of the world and we are doing everything in our power to bring her home. God's timing is perfect and His will be done.

twelve

We had a conference call with all the families in our program through our adoption agency on Valentine's Day. The news was honestly hard to hear. Back in January our agency was expecting 8-10 new referrals sometime in January or February (a referral is a match to a child). Last Friday we learned that over half of those referrals were either lost or placed on hold. So those referrals are now down to 2-4. It's a little disheartening to say the least. I knew we were on the fence of being one of the families that could possibly get a referral....or maybe next up after the 8-10 kids were matched with families. I was also getting excited to hear about all the families in our program that would received a match. And now the referral situation is back to a trickle. One at a time, a few a month.

We recently found out where we are on the "list" of waiting families....number twelve. 

The word "list" is a little deceiving, because that's not exactly how it works. Families are placed in order of when their dossier arrived in-country...ours did in July. So we are the 12th family to send our dossier, with about 32 total dossiers currently in-country. Does that mean we will receive the 12th referral that becomes available? Not necessarily. 

When a child becomes available to be matched with a family, the top 5 dossiers are sent to the orphanage. The orphanage then picks the dossier (or family) that best matches that child. The remaining 4 dossiers are sent back. And then it starts over when another referral (child) becomes available. So the dossier that's been in-country the longest, number 1, will have the same chance of getting a referral as numbers 2-5. Hopefully that makes sense. So once we would get to the top 5 on the list, we would have a good chance of being matched with a child. Now you can see why I was getting so excited for those 8-10 new referrals they originally were expecting. We could have been in the top 5 and possibly been picked!

No one ever told me international adoption would be so unpredictable and emotional! Oh wait, yes, they did. :) 

So now we wait. Isn't that what we've been doing for the last 7 months anyways? Nothing has really changed...and that's the hard part. I am ready for a change. 

The last 24 hours, families in our program have been praying and fasting together in 1-hour time slots. I signed up for the last slot, which was from 7-8:00 am this morning. In my time with the Lord, I read these verses:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40: 31

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Please continue to pray for the following:

• Families currently traveling or waiting for a court date
• Families waiting for a referral
• For the orphanages (workers, volunteers, children)
• For the first (biological) families of these children

Thank you for your continued prayers and support throughout this roller coaster process. :) 

And as a heads-up, we will be having another rummage sale fundraiser this year during the Kingswood Rummages the end of April . I have a "rummage bin" that is already overflowing! If you would like to donate, please let me know! (jessicarwaltner@gmail.com) I will post another blog about the rummage sale details sometime next month. 

six months

Today marks an important day in our adoption story (or so I view it to be). We have officially been waiting for a referral for 6 months today. Honestly the first 4-5 months flew by. But through the holidays and now that we've been waiting for 6 months...time seems to be slowing down. I just miss her. It seems strange to say because I've never met the little girl we will someday bring home...but I do. I miss her.

What is she doing? Who does she play with? How does she sleep? What does she think about? Is she getting enough to eat? Enough care? These are just some of the questions that run through my mind on a daily basis. 

And winter around here is just hard sometimes. Maybe it's the freezing cold weather that keeps us inside all day or the lack of vitamin D that's making me feel a little down in the dumps some days. Don't get me wrong, we have so much to be thankful for (and are), but I think it's ok to have a hard day now and then. It's ok to feel sad...as long as I don't dwell on the negative. 

This morning I spent some extended time praying for our daughter-to-be. It helps to bring my cares to the One-who-Provides. God knows me. Better than I know myself. He knows I'm getting antsy and He is going to teach me something through it. 

Patience is a virtue, but it's not my virtue. I am pretty flexible, a little creative, easy-going, fairly organized, yada yada. But patient I am not. When we originally entered the international adoption process, we were told the wait for a referral would be 3-12 months. So of course I told myself, "oh it will be on the short end of that range, 3-4 months for sure." Why would I do that? What if we end up waiting the full 12 months? Or longer? I say I am flexible, but 12 months? When there are kids in orphanages right now who need families? Why? I don't know if I will ever fully understand all the ins and outs and red tape of international adoption.

For now, I guess our job is to wait, to pray, to prepare our hearts for this child. It's not always fun or exciting, but for now it's the way it is. 

Shop so We Can Adopt

I sit here sick and stuffy this morning with my first cold of the winter.  I was able to sleep in (with much thanks), because my kids spent the night at the farm with my in-laws. Rather than spread my cold around this Sunday morning, I decided to watch church online and get caught up on some baby-blanket-making (don't worry, I have been applying lots of hand-sanitizer).

When I need the tissue box close by, I love the option of being able to watch Embrace Church online. (www.iamembrace.com) If you find yourself in the same situation this winter, feel free to join one of the live services online as well!

 I have brought the Singer out of the closet and made myself my daily iced-coffee. By this time of year, I have usually made the switch to black hot coffee, but I am always a little sad to do so. So this year I am still drinking iced coffee with below zero temps outside and loving it!

I managed to finish 3 baby boy blankets this morning. I ordered more fabric on a Black Friday special, so am excited to get those pieces in the mail and get started on some new blanket designs. Click HERE to learn more about our baby blanket fundraiser and see all the blanket designs to choose from.

But the main reason for writing this post is to announce an event we have coming up! We are calling it the Shop so We Can Adopt Fundraiser. If you are on facebook, check out the event page HERE.

Here is all the information about the event:

Need to get some Christmas shopping done? Want to go on a date with your spouse? Or  just need a little break?  We will be happy to babysit your kids for a free-will donation to go towards our adoption  expenses.  The fundraiser will be held at Embrace Church Sioux Falls (2800 E 57th st) on Friday  December 13th, between 5:30 and 8:00 pm. Supper will not be provided, so please  feed your kids before you drop them off. :) We will be serving a light snack. Thanks in advance for all your support and feel free to share this event with family, friends  and anyone you think might be interested! If you are able to help support our cause by letting us  watch your children, we would greatly appreciate it! I  will also bring my tub of finished blankets if you  would like to take a look at them. They make great  Christmas or baby shower gifts! If you have any  questions about the babysitting fundraiser, feel free  to message me on facebook or send me an email at  jessicarwaltner@gmail.com. Thanks in advance for all your support. Even if you  can't make it out on Friday night or don't have kids to  drop off, please consider sharing the event on your  facebook wall. The more the merrier! :)

Time to Wait

This week I learned about the importance of knowing when it's time to wait. Our women's group is doing a Bible study on the book of Esther. This week we talked about God's timing in our lives and how it's perfect. 

Isaiah 40:31

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

This adoption sure has taught me the importance of waiting. But I can take comfort in knowing that I am not waiting on an event, a person , or a thing...but on God. Wait upon the Lord. Sometimes waiting is hard because I feel like i should be doing something instead of just waiting. But God is never inactive. During this time of wait, He is doing BIG things. And I know that God is for us and will continue to work on our behalf throughout this process.

We live in a culture that is training us to be impatient and where waiting seems to be a huge inconvenience. But the truth is, God calls us to wait upon Him to renew our strength. Not to wait on the next stage in our life or the next new thing or in our case, for the next step in the adoption process, a referral. His timing IS perfect and right now, it's time to wait

Last week we had a conference call with the team from our adoption agency. They updated us on a few happenings in the program. Here's what they told us: 

• The wait for a referral is still estimated at 3-12 months (we have been waiting 4 months)
• There are currently 30 families waiting for referrals in the program. The family waiting the longest has been waiting 7 months so far.
• There has been a slow-down in referrals, but they expect a new wave of referrals in January or February due to 2 new partnerships (orphanages) they are working with.
• Our agency is now working with 5 orphanages
• The courts close down half of December and part of January, so there will not be any new referrals through the end of the year. 

We don't know if we will be one of the families who receives a referral in January or February, as we haven't been waiting as long as some families. But we do know that God's plan is perfect and he knows the perfect time for our little girl to come home.

Psalm 37:7a

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

grant week

Well things had been fairly uneventful around here as far as adoption stuff goes until the last week or so. 

Last week we got our first letter back about an adoption grant we applied for in July. It was a smaller grant, but welcome none the less! They also sent us a copy of the book Adopted for Life, which I highly recommend! I had already checked out the book from the Bethany library and read it last winter, but now I have my own copy to lend out! Who wants to borrow it!?

Last Monday we had a grant interview down in Sioux Center and were so blessed by the whole experience. After the "interview" the grant committee members each took turns praying for Travis and me, our boys and our little girl in another country. It was evident that each one of them has a heart for adoption and following the call to care for orphans around the world. We walked away from that meeting feeling supported and encouraged, not even concerned about the outcome of the grant. Well good news, we got one! We just got the email last night! That's 2 grants in 1 week....UNTIL TODAY!

I went to get the mail today and there was a letter from Show Hope, an orphan ministry through Steven Curtis Chapman. We've been getting their newsletters for a number of years, so the Show Hope return address stamp is something we've seen many times. But, we did apply for a grant through them, so I have opened the last few letters with anticipation. I wasn't expecting to hear back from the grant committee until October, so this was a fun surprise! We received a grant from Show Hope! 

The grant committees send the money straight to our agency to put towards expenses and travel when the time comes. 

That is 3 grants in under a week ...God is good. Well we should be all set then, right? Um, I wish. :)  We still have a ways to go....But you know...God has been SO FAITHFUL to us throughout this process. I have no idea where the money will come from, but I just know that God will provide. We are over half way there! 

I have added a few more blanket designs to the list of options, so feel free to check them out HERE. If you know anyone that is pregnant or adopting, these make great gifts towards a great cause! ;)