It's been a doozy.

Whew. It has been a rough and busy couple of weeks here. Between my mother being in a severe car accident and having to make a sudden 7.5 hour trip south to Jackson, Mississippi, planned and unplanned dentist appointments, working hard to raise funds via our online store (it entails a lot more detail than you might think!), looking into and prayerfully considering new schooling for 3-4 of our six kids in the Fall, and the tornadoes that blew through our great state two days ago and caused serious tragedies (please pray for everyone affected by this), it's been a doozy.


Things have progressed a little on the adoption front. We currently have approximately $760 in the adoption fund (let me remind all of you that while we have raised just over $4100 now, we are consistently making payments along the way; so although the thermometer keeps growing, our actual adoption account is being emptied and refilled as we move throughout this process) . $500 of that was already added to my fundraising thermometor total, but it was just physically received yesterday. We did, however, have $71.70 donated by our friend and Jamberry consultant Kristin Swaim, which was her total commission after the party on our behalf (thanks Kristin!), as well as $50 from my sister and another $11 that was collected in our kitchen "Adoption jar". ;) Every little bit counts, right? I believe that, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like I wish this process would hurry along at a quicker pace. The thought of little Lene waiting for us because of something as fickle as money bothers me a great deal. She finally has a family that loves her and wants to embrace her, yet not currently possessing the funds needed to do so is tying things up. Sometimes it makes me want to scream. We must have the full $7,100 in hand before we can move forward with the home study. I don't know how or when God is going to make this happen, but I do know that He will.


As I mentioned before, we've been working hard at our online store (through Amazon), but getting that to a point of being profitable beyond the initial start-up costs takes time. We've only been at it for a month and a half and while we're having success at purchasing things at a great price and reselling for good profit, it's not a get-rich-quick kind of scenario. It, like so many other things, takes time and effort and consistency. We're working our tails off, though! It feels like I eat, sleep, and breathe that part of my life right now. It's where all of my extra time goes. I've even been dreaming about it at night. Ha! Robby and I both deeply desire to be very successful at this and not just for the sake of adoption fundraising. We're putting our hearts and minds into it whenever and however we can. As a result, we believe it will grow vastly.


We are all enjoying this beautiful Spring weather! Oh how I adore this season. Everything is so green and happy and light! It's like a cartoon outside my window with all of the bright colors, birds singing, hawks soaring through the valley, and bugs buzzing about. I seriously can't get enough of it.