Romantic No More

Adoption is so idealistic and romantic.... in the beginning.  

Two years later it feels like a mountain to climb. For all you flatlanders,  I'm not referring to a small hill, I'm talking about a large mountain, rising 14,000 feet in the air.  The kind of mountain that causes you to wonder if you'll make it to the top and ravishes your lungs.  But at the top., there it is, the majesty, the awe inspiring, breath taking view.  The "worth-it-all" moment. 

We continue to climb the mountain.  It's one we've never climbed and one in which we actually have no idea where we are on the mountain.  We're like the kids in the back seat asking, "Are we there yet?"  Those of you closest to us have joined us in that weekly, daily asking of, "Are we there yet?"  The answer I usually give my kids is, "We are closer than we've ever been."  That is true for this too... We are closer than we've ever been!

I want to tell you the nitty gritty... but we signed an internet agreement that has made it very hard for us to know how or what to communicate.  I have a hard time sticking to rules, so I just haven't said anything.  But I want you to know that things are HOPEFUL!!!  As hopeful as they've ever been that our wait is coming to an end.  (As always you can ask us face to face or through email about our adoption and we will gladly give you more details!  We love to tell our story.)

You can continue to be a part of our journey...

Please continue to pray for our family!  Pray that God would continue to prepare our hearts.  Pray that we would continue to grow in patience.  Pray that God would make a way for us to pick up our boys.

You can also help financially.  Some things have come up financially and medically with our boys, so we had to use all of our travel costs to meet those needs.  If you would like to help us with our travel costs you can donate to us through Lifesong for Orphans.  We need about $10,000.

Give by Check:

1. Checks should be payable to "Lifesong for Orphans", In the memo, note "Braddy/#3857", this will ensure that it is credited to the right account.
2. Make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744
3. If you want this to be tax deductible in 2014 please make sure it is postmarked by December 31st

Give Online:

1. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate
2. Select Adoption Funding then select Family Specific
3. Fill in Family Account Number & Family Name field "#3857/Braddy"
4. Complete the rest of the form

**Please note that PayPal will charge an administrative fee (2.9% +$.30USD per transaction).  Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.

Someday this will be a blog of stories about a family that is learning how to operate with two more family members, it will be filled with joy and probably some angst.  And you my friends will be the ones we tell our boys about... the ones that supported us and helped us fund this adventure.  Thank you for joining us!  

Silent...

I know I have been silent. I haven't updated my blog in ages.  That is also how I would describe the adoption journey - silent.  I want a word from someone or somewhere, I check my email, my voice mail, snail mail, I just want to know what is going on and I know you do to.  When it comes to adoption, words are in short supply.  In the beginning, you write all your words on multiple pieces of paper and mail it out hoping for words back, but the word back is wait... wait 45-60 days, wait 3 months, wait, wait, wait.  I got to the point where, when I would be asked what was happening, my standard response was, "We are waiting on paperwork" or "We are waiting for a government somewhere to do something."

And then the silence ended... not from our the government, not from paperwork, but God's word spoke.  I was reading in  Psalm 37 and verse 34 washed over me:

Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; 

Wait for the LORD, not wait for paperwork or wait for a government official or the postal service or where ever I would like to place my frustration at the moment but wait for the LORD.  Wait for the LORD because He is good,  He is kind, He is faithful, He is just, He is holy, He is righteous, He is sovereign, He is peace, His word even says that He places orphans in homes, not governments or agencies but God.  He is teaching me to wait with patience and grace and to clear out bitterness before it grows and let grace spring up in its place. I wish I could tell you something, some great update, but nothing has changed.... we watch and wait for the LORD. 

For those of you who need more... we have to be careful about what we share online but here are a few details you can pray for:

• The country we are adopting from has slowed down incredibly.  Our adoption has been completed in the courts, but the country is still processing the necessary paperwork for them to leave the country. We are not the only family in the position of waiting, there are many, many, many families waiting, families with one spouse in country with the children they have adopted, while the other is in the USA. When you pray for us, don't just pray for us, but all these other families that are under the same constraints and many in harder places.
• God has provided financially for all of our agency fees so far.  We still need to raise some money for travel costs. If you would like to help out with this, you can still shop through Amazon and we get a portion of that or you can give through Lifesong.  We are still working towards our matching grant through them and the benefit is your giving is tax-free for you and me.   If you would like to give through Lifesong for Orphans and double your money here is what you need to know:
  • Checks should be payable to "Lifesong for Orphans", In the memo, note "Braddy/#3857", this will ensure that it is credited to the right account.
  • Make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744
• One of our boys will need some medical care when he gets to the States, you can be praying that God would heal his body and keep him healthy.
• Pray for the transition period.

I can't thank you enough for your emotional, financial and prayer support.  We have been incredibly blessed with a wonderful church family that has supported and encouraged us.

So Blessed!!!!

We are super stoked!!! We continue to get closer to bringing our children home both through the milestones that we are reaching in the process and through the funds that are being raised.  We have been amazed and blessed at the way so many of you have given to us either financially or by donating your time and treasures for us to auction off.  We can't say "Thank You" enough!!!!  We are overwhelmed and blessed.   At this point we have met our first goal and filled up the map of Africa!!!!

Our next goal is raise $14,000 dollars to cover some in-country needs for the children we're adoptinge and to cover our travel costs.  This week we learned that we have received a matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans.  The matching grant is for $3000.  If you would like to give through Lifesong for Orphans and double your money here is what you need to know:

• Checks should be payable to "Lifesong for Orphans", In the memo, note "Braddy/#3857", this will ensure that it is credited to the right account.
• Make checks payable to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744

We are SO Blessed to have you one our team!  To have people like you who have partnered with us to give two children a forever family.  It will not be long before we introduce you to them.  Please continue to pray for us.  Pray that our hearts with be prepared for the journey to come.  Pray that our financial needs will be met.  Pray that the rest of the journey will go smoothly.  Pray for these orphans hearts,on a daily basis, sometimes hourly, I pray that God will protect them, that He will show his face to them and that He will whisper His love to them.  We believe that God has not only written our story to involve them but he has written their story to involve us and He has written you into our story as well.  Thank you for the many ways you have helped us to feel loved and supported.

Run, walk, shuffle, listen to great music, and eat good food.... all 2care4orphans!

When reality and idealism collide...

Tonight was one of those moments when reality and idealism collide.  As we drove home tonight from Colorado, Paul read an email listing the funds we need to have right now.  I thought we would have til the end of July.  Adoption is weird in that there are not specific deadlines, it is more like... when this piece of paperwork hits so and so's desk we need a check for $17,000.  The agency is trying to rush our file, which is awesome but our finances are holding us back.   I am completely overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.  I am so very grateful for the ways God has provided so far in this adoption process and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of money we still need.  Honestly as of yet, we have been able to make every payment at the time it was needed.  I'm so tired of everything being about money, I hate it.  But we can't do this without money.  I wish there wasn't a price tag on these boys but there is.  On the drive, I let my thoughts get lost in the great expanse of sky and land before me as I fought the back the tears, and I thought of Job and the moment when the LORD reminds him of who he is.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements - surely you know?

On what were its bases sunk

or who stretched the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk

or who laid its cornerstone, 

when the morning stars sang together

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4-7

He used this to remind me of truth.... He chose these boys and He chose our family.  He has provided every cent thus far and he will provide every cent until we have them.  Tears continue to stream down my face because I want it now.  I want it now, because the sooner we have the funds the sooner we have them.  We need $9,000 as soon as possible.  Will you pray with us that God would provide this?  I know He will, but I also know that He needed to remind me that it is him not me that is accomplishing this mission.  Will you also pray that we will be content with God's timing?  Thank you to all of you that have helped us and supported us and prayed for us and walked with us and asked us about the boys and the process and encouraged us!  We love you!

Check out this song, it has been my prayer.... I want to be your hands and feet to these 2 boys, all for your kingdom's sake.

5 million.... a really big number for a really BIG God!

5 million seems like a lot, a really big number, a number I wouldn't want to count to.  A number I can't imagine, I've never seen 5 million dollars, what does 5 million grains of sand look like or 5 million leaves blowing in the wind?  or 5 million children, 5 million orphans in one country, 5 million orphans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of them victims of a 10 year long civil war. To put that in perspective, we live in a state (Wyoming) with a population of about a half a million.  The Denver metro area has a population of about 3 million.  Miami has a population of 5.6 million.  In the United States there are over 400,000 kids in the foster system.  If I think about these stats for too long, I can become depressed and overwhelmed and then I'm reminded that there is a father to the fatherless that already knows all of this.

Father to the fatherless, defender of the widows- this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy 

(Ps 68:5-6, NLT)

He knows the magnitude of the crisis.  He loves these precious little ones, not only does He know ALL 5 million orphans in the Congo but He knows the number of hairs on each of their little heads.  That is a special kind of knowing.

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; 

you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows 

(Matthew 10:31, NLT)

He longs to see them loved and ultimately to know him.  

For The Lord your God is the God of gods and The Lord of lords.  

He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, 

who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.  

He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice.  

He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing 

(Deuteronomy 10:18-19, NLT)

He knows that my heart is heavy with a longing for these little ones to experience a family.  

If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongues, you are fooling yourself, 

and your religion is worthless.  

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means 

caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  

(James 1:26-27, NLT)

He knows that my house will not hold 5 million children, but it can hold 2.  Our focus can not be on the 5 million, it must be on the 2, the 2 that we are bringing home.  The 2 little boy faces with sad eyes and sweet smiles, the 2 little boys who don't know their daddy and whose mommy has left this earth.  Those are the 2 we are focused on.  These 2 will one day call us daddy and mommy.  They will rely on us to feed them and nurture them and to walk through their grief with them.

We still need your help.  In the next few weeks, we will be needing to make a payment of $13,100.  We need about $10,000 of that still.  You can help by being one of the 60 to give $500.  You can do this by donating through PayPal, Continuous Worship or by personal check.  You can also use the amazon link to make purchases on Amazon.  We get about 4-5% of what you purchase.  It doesn't seem like a lot but it adds up.

You can also purchase coffee and apparel   through Just Love Coffee our storefront url is  https://justlovecoffee.com/Braddy.  Using this link you will end up in the Braddy Adoption storefront and a portion of your purchase will be donated towards our adoption.  I can't tell you how much we appreciate your contributions towards this adoption.  Just last week we were mailing in some paperwork and faced with the enormity of this task.  But it was this same day that God laid it on the hearts of so many of you to donate $500 or more.

Drum Roll Please!!!!

We are super duper exited to share with you our amazing news.... Mika is soon to be the only daughter in our home and the older sister of four brothers.  We have received a referral for 2 boys from the Congo.  They are 5 and 2 and super cute!   Please start praying for these wonderful boys.  My prayer has been that they would experience the spirit of God, that they would be safe,and that I would remember that God knew them before I knew of them.

This doesn't change our timeline, we are still waiting on the government.  But it does change the timeline of our payments and we will need to be making some pretty hefty payments in the next few weeks and months.  The nitty-gritty is that we will need $19,000 in the next few months.  We will be sharing more details on where all that money goes, but I really wanted to share with you tonight our JOY!!!! Donations can be given to us by check or through those two links on the margin.  We will also be launching some fundraising events this summer.  Stay tuned!!!