We got the matching grant!

We received the matching grant from Tapestry through Lifesong.  The matching grant is $3,500.  We are so grateful for this.  If you would like to be a part of releasing heaven's resources by helping match this fund the information is below.

You can make checks payable to: Lifesong. Put the following in the memo section “Witham/#3345 Adoption” in the memo section of your check.

Mail checks to:

Lifesong for Orphans
Att: Witham/#3345
PO Box 40
Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return!  We are so grateful.

Potential Matching Fund

We wanted to post this to have you simply pray about this…

 

We have been blessed by so many generous people along the way through this journey of adoption.  It truly humbles us.  At this point in the journey we have $10,000 left to pay at placement.  We have always had a ‘plan B’ through this to pay this last part through a loan against our retirement.  We are more than ok with this if this is the Lord’s path and plan. 

In the last couple of months we have been learning from and talking with a ministry called Tapestry (http://tapestryministry.org/).  They are awesome.  We have been discussing with them the possibility of a 0% loan or a ‘matching grant’.  With getting word last week of a birth mom wanting to place with us and delivering by c-section on December 18 we didn’t think we would get looked at in time to be considered, but I got word yesterday that they were expediting our application because of the rather quick placement.  Then this morning I got a call and they said that tomorrow they would call with how they want to help – they emphasized they do want to help.

Today they asked if I thought a matching fund would be the best route since baby is coming in 2 weeks.  I told them I didn’t know and they said, ‘pray’ and we will talk tomorrow.  So would you join me in praying?  They have talked about doing $4,000 to $5,000 in a matching fund, so others’ gifts would be doubled.  We are simply praying for his perfect plan and path.                                                     

We got the phone call!!!

We got the long awaited phone call! 

 

This past Tuesday Annette and I received a phone call from our adoption agency.  They shared with us that a birth mom wanted to meet with us for a ‘match meeting’.  So, Wednesday night we met with a brave birth mom and she has chosen to place her baby girl with us to adopt.  She is due to have a c-section on December 18, so we are getting an extra special Christmas gift this year.  Pray for birth mom and baby!

The phone is ringing

So my cell phone rang yesterday.  If you know me very well you know that I most often do not have my cell phone near me.  It's usually in my purse.  So I vaguely hear it ringing.  I try to hurry and get to it but wasn't fast enough.  So as I look at the number it was like everything went into slow motion....except my heart and I thought it might beat on out of my chest. I saw it was our agency.  I couldn't call back fast enough.  So this is what it felt like....
If you have ever taken a pregnancy test you know those moments it takes for it to "process" really seem to take FOREVER before you can see the results.  That is exactly how I felt from the time I dialed the number until after our initial "hi, how are you?" part of the conversation was over.  I soon found out that it was a negative...she was calling to check in on us.  I REALLY do love that they do that and am so grateful for each of these women.  If I'm completely honest though I will tell you I was a little sad.  I hope everytime the phone rings it could be that call. 
Thank you to continue to pray that we wait well!  I continue to rest in knowing His time is perfect.  We have learned so much during this time and give Him glory for the things He has done!

Garage Sale - July 13-14

Jerry and I have been cleaning out our garage and around the house.   We are planning on having a garage sale July 13-14 to continue to chip away at the amount remaining for our adoption.  This amount will be due when the sweet baby the Lord has for us is placed.  The Lord has been so faithful to provide in such amazing ways for each time we had a payment due.


We thought we would send this out to friends who might be like us and have "stuff" collecting dust that you had planned on taking to Goodwill or something of that sort, but just haven't gotten around to it.  We would be happy to come pick it up so you don't have to get out in this crazy heat!  Just let us know if you would like to get out from the bottom of the pile (little or big) and when and we'll come help.  Email Annette at annette.witham@att.net.

Just Love Coffee

We just connected with Just Love Coffee and they have a heart for adoption.  If you are a coffee drinker and would like to give some new coffee a try you can enjoy some coffee and help us out as well.  It is a win, win deal.  Simply go to https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/coffeelove/ and through that link you can help support us and enjoy some coffee.

Two weeks ago I got my first back of coffee from them and I love it!  The coffee is some good stuff. 

The Latest News

It has been eight months since God led us to adopt.  So much has happened since then.  First, thank you for praying for us and thinking of us often.  Many have asked so we wanted to write and give an update on how things are going. 

Last winter we decided on an agency to do our adoption through.  The agency is called Chosen Child, which is located in Allen.  We fell in love with this agency at orientation as they shared their hearts for both the adoptive parents, but also the birth moms. This is what attracted us to them most.   They have a huge desire to minister to each birth mom as they walk through this process of placing and then through the grieving process after placing.   They desire for them to know Christ and the love He has for them.   They have a support system for them to lean on.  They do not have to walk this alone.  Most of Chosen Child’s birth moms come from Hannah’s House where the girls can live during their pregnancy and for a year after placing.  They also have girls from the surrounding communities that do not reside at Hannah’s House.

In December we had our home study.  Then at the first of January we were approved.  In mid-January we entered the placement phase.  This is the phase in which we began to be introduced to birth moms who are looking to place their child for adoption.  During this phase we are introduced to birth moms by means of a family book that we put together.  So far our profile has been shown to one birth mom.  She did not choose us.  She delivered the day after Annette’s first surgery to repair her first broken foot (Annette broke both her feet in February).  The Lord has reminded us through this that He has us in His hands and knows what is best for us.  He has a perfect plan and already knows the baby that He will place in our family.  We rest in that.  Our profile will only be shown to those girls that desire to place their baby in a home where it will have siblings.  We have three of them praying for this sweet baby and ready to welcome it into our family.  We are hoping to get a girl between zero and two years of age.

During this time we have been overwhelmed with the generosity of so many.  Our adoption cost is $18,550.  To get into the placement phase we needed to pay $8,550.  We were able to make this payment in January.  We were able to do this with the generous gifts of so many.  It started with a garage sale we had last Fall.  Many donated items for us to sell.  We made just over $1,000.  Annette made tutus for little girls and dolls.  We also had a fundraiser at Gatti Town.  Then we have had others give us financial gifts.  We could not have made this payment at this phase without the kind and sacrificial gifts of so many.

So, what is next?  When a birth mom decides to place a child with us we will then pay the final payment, which is $10,000.  Again, because of generous gifts we have $1,270 to go toward this amount.  We are very thankful!

Until a birth mom chooses us we simply wait.  So we are in the waiting phase.  We like to think of it as God’s waiting room.  He is preparing our hearts daily for this wonderful opportunity to extend His grace to a special child and even beyond.  While we wait we are preparing our house.  A family gave us a set of bunk beds and now Noah and Pierce are sharing a room, which has freed up a room for our next child.  Pierce is loving this.  Noah really likes having Pierce in his room at night, but is thinking he might like to try moving upstairs.  We also are being equipped every month by our agency.  This has been such a blessing, as we have been learning about things such as the legal process to relating to the birth mom.

As the Apostle Paul say, Thanks be to God for His indesribable gift (2 Corinthians 9.15).  We thank God for His generous gift in Jesus and we thank Him for His likeness in so many, which has extended to us such a generous gift.  We are so thankful for so many prayers, donations and financial gifts.

Be Still

We attended our first "expectant parent meeting" earlier this month. It was wonderful. The Lord used so many different people that night to encourage us by sharing about their journeys. Many of our questions were answered and some of our fears were voiced by others which of course makes you feel "normal". Amazing! It is such a beautiful adventure and so exciting to be part of the Lord's plan.

We also found out that night that the birthmom that our book was shown to did not chose us. I REALLY wasn't expecting some of the feelings that came with that. I had heard others share in their feelings but REALLY thought, "if she doesn't chose us I will be fine. It was such a sweet distraction while Jerry was in India." Well, when we heard this it felt like a dodge ball had hit me in the stomach and I had swallowed it. Gulp! Ouch, that was kinda painful. After my initial selfishness I was able to rejoice with the mom-to-be as she shared their journey and how they had waited 2 yrs for this and after meeting this mom she would wait many more if she just knew it would be like this. Wow! God is so good and it was so obvious he had designed this to be the family for this baby and birthmom. I was feeling a little bit selfish and silly to share with Jerry but on the way home voiced my unexpected emotions only to find he had the same feelings. Isn't it awesome when the Lord allows us to understand the other so completely.

We've done all we can do as far as "getting one more thing done and in the mail". Now it's just praying and waiting on the Lord and His perfect timing. I've had a aw ha moment the last couple of days.....of course my mind went through why not us a couple of times...I hope that's completely natural....knowing it just wasn't God's plan. Well, I can look hind sight now and kinda snicker at how He works. Three wks ago today Pierce threw a nerf bball up on top of our kitchen counters. Well, I (yes, after thinking about it..doing it anyway) hopped up there pulled on the molding at the top of the cabinet (that I thought was attached..ha, ha) and it came down and so did I. I have 3 broken bones in my right foot and broke bone in left foot as well. I have had to be completely off of them for 2 wks and having surgery this week on one and then will have to go in for the other one after the first one heals. Ohhhh, you don't think I will be capable of taking great care of a newborn the first of March? Got it!!!!! Loud and "painfully" clear.  I guess this was a way to MAKE me do something about my feet that have hurt for over a year. If you break them you have to fix them! I KNOW He has a plan for the baby that will soon be our family but this just gave me another reminder....Annette, I'VE got it! My timing! Not yours. So for now I will get "fixed" up and be a better mommy to the three beautiful treasures we have now and wife. Jerry has done awesome picking up where I can't. I know he is exhausted but just keeps going without complaint. I am so truly blessed!

Until the next step of our journey is revealed....be blessed.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10.....this verse has a whole NEW meaning to me right now and I'm trying to do exactly that. He is good ALL the time!

God's Provision and The Church's Generosity

Before I went to India (January 16) our home study for our adoption was approved. We were not expecting this to be completed until the last week of January. Then while I was in India our adoption agency called saying that there were two birth moms who fit our profile and they wanted to show our adoption book to them. Annette took our book and the money we had at the time to the agency. We had $3,821. Up until this point we had paid $3,550 toward the adoption. This next phase included a payment of $5,000. So, we were $1,179 short. I don’t want to bore you with money talk, but it is part of God’s story. Though after this phase we still will owe $10,000, but we have a contingency plan for this if we do not have it. If you’re adding everything up the adoption process for us costs $18,550. So, we didn’t have a plan for the $1,179. So, coming back from India I was praying for God’s wisdom along with my family.

Monday of this week we prayed and then Tuesday morning felt like I needed to call and see about getting a small loan for the amount. The first call was shot down due to the computers being down. Then I went to our bank. I had three things I had to do while I was there. While there I received a text from an elder saying he was praying for me and our adoption process. I was encouraged by this. I also received two phone calls. I ignored them as I was meeting with the banker. Then once I was to topic three, which was discussing a small loan the phone rang again. It was Ysavel, our executive pastor. So, I asked the banker to excuse me and I picked the phone up. Ysavel shared with me that somebody called and said that they were bringing a check by later for our adoption. Guess how much it was for? It was for $1,200. As soon as I got off the phone I told the banker I didn’t need the small loan anymore. This guy was a Christian and I was able to encourage him with all that was going on. I was truly blown away.

There is a guy in our church who says, "Isn’t that like God." Well, that was what I was thinking this past Tuesday. God is always right on time. This was truly His perfect timing. I am so thankful for His faithful provision and for the faithful generosity of our church. My family and I cannot thank those enough who have joined us in this journey by donating financial funds, resources for the garage sale we had and the many prayers. We are so blessed and praise God for the journey He has us on.