Crazy Month

Do you ever wonder what other people would see if they saw you in a particular moment? Would they think you are crazy, happy, sad, disturbed maybe. Well we have thought that this month. We have felt a bit of each of those this past month and it has been a crazy but its been good.

We signed on with Christian Adoption Consultants exactly a month ago and we have already seen a stream of situations come to us for our review and prayer. Only 2 situations have had circumstances that fit with our family, one chose to go another way and one chose to parent her child. We had prayed that God would lead her to her perfect family and he did in both situations. Many of the other situations had mothers with drug addictions or the fees for the agencies were too high. This past month has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride. You see the email come in that says, Re: new situation. Then you open it and start to read and realize that you don't feel comfortable with the situation or it doesn't fit your family. Or like the ones we were shown to, you try not to get your hopes up and try to keep the faith that God's will would be done. So we ride the coaster! You keep riding it know that at some point it will come to an end and it will have all been worth it.

We wonder some days, if our situation is going to come soon. Will we have a new addition soon? We have thought, God is just teasing us with all of these situations. But we know that He is giving us these glimpses for a reason. He isn't teasing us but he is showing us that there is hope. We have seen 4 this week. One we are still deciding on whether to be shown. We are prayerful that the answer will come in God's time. This is a scary process and it takes a lot of faith to believe that it will work out. We have had our moments of weakness and lack of faith, but we know that God has a plan.

So there isn't much to tell you at this point. Not much news. But there is always hope that tomorrow, or the next day or the next week or month will provide Good news. It's coming. We don't know when, but it is. God is good!

If we cross your heart, please say a prayer for our little family!

Love as always,

Mandy and Matt

It's time to try something NEW...

It's time to try something New for our adoption. We have been waiting for over a year and we want to do everything within our power to make this happen. We are depending on God that he will lead us down the right path but we know that we have to listen and go where He wants. So we have signed on and are officially clients of Christian Adoption Consultants. We are excited about this venture and look forward to working with Karalee and this agency.

You may notice as you read this post there are some new links to the right. We have added a few Amazon links and search boxes. These are going to allow us to make money that will go toward our adoption when you follow the link and purchase through that link. The percentage of the purchase will vary, but as we have said every penny counts.

You will also see that we have added a Donate button at the top. This organization is a 501(c)(3) non profit that is accepting donations on our behalf and accepts online credit card payments (both named and anonymous) and is helping us get closer to our goal of raising the $30,000 it is going to take to bring a new child into our home.

We get a lot of questions about why does it cost so much? Where does all that money go? Well let me try to explain it. Adoption fees fund a variety of professional services and enable an adoption to progress safely and legally. Here are a few of those services:

• Reviewing application to adopt
• Homestudy & Yearly Homestudy Updates
• Locating children available for adoption
• Locating prospective birth parents
• Professional counseling, education, and training for birth and adoptive families
• Pre- and post-placement visits to the adoptive home by an adoption social worker
• Paperwork processing
• Birth Mother expenses
• Travel Expenses
• Consultant fees

I could probably go on. It is expensive but to ensure a legal and safe adoption these are services we want to pay for. Each agency has different fees and different requirements. I hope this helps clear up a few questions people have had in the past.

We are going to have more information on a Pancake Breakfast to be held in Louisville soon. We are just starting to work on it and hope to have a location and date soon. We will be sure to let you know when anything new happens. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We know that God has a plan for our family and in His time it will be revealed to us.

God Bless,

The Lawsons