What a whirlwind this week has been. Everything we have done has been normal: work, school, and Ina Garten recipe flops EXCEPT we have received blessing on top of blessing every single day from YOU. Your notes, texts, emails, and words of encouragement for our adoption has been over-whelming. Isn’t that God? He has asked us to take a leap of faith by expanding our family, and he doesn’t leave us or foresake us, he guides us every step of the way!

One quick example was last Sunday in church: if you remember that morning the Polar Vortex was upon us in a classic New England winter way. Some churches in our area had cancelled services due to the cold and snow, but thankfully for us, ours hadn’t. Needless to say, attendance was low and our section of the sanctuary wasn’t nearly as crowded as usual. Our pastor got up to lead the annual New Year’s service (one of my favorites!) when together you thank God for your blessings over the past year, confess your short-comings, and praise Him for helping you move forward. The first part was easy: BLESSINGS. We turned around to the only family within three rows of us, introduced ourselves and listened to them first take their turn listing their blessings over the past year. Guess what their number one blessing was? THE RECENT ADOPTION OF THEIR SON. How amazing! Of all of the rows of seats available for us to sit in, we sat directly in front of THIS family. Of course we swapped stories, just days from our home study approval and our announcement cards going out, and received perfect and timely encouragement from people we had just met!

Another example was my thoughtful and incredibly creative cousin who randomly stopped by to drop off a genius side-of-the-road find for our play room. As we chatted (and he helped me with my flopping Ina Garten roasted chicken) he invented an amazing idea for our puzzle fundraiser (more details coming soon!). WHAT a gift from God he was to me, encouraging us and thinking of ideas to make our new baby’s room special with this keepsake puzzle that we will frame and cherish forever.

Which brings me to the third and most moving example of God’s faithfulness: YOUR donations. Do you know that we already have 88 pieces of our puzzle claimed? We have been touched by every one – from dear co-workers, friends we haven’t seen in ages, family friends, adopted friends, and lifetime friends we can’t live without. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for your generosity and for being open to God’s leading. We are honored and blessed by you!

If you want to purchase a puzzle piece, please click on the “Donate Here!” link to the right. Some of you have wondered if there was a way to give anonymously, and you CAN actually, a few people have done it already! Click on the box and it will ommit the amount from your name, but will move the scale up according to the donation.

Please continue to pray for our process. We ordered a large shipment of profiles that are coming in this week. The agencies we are applying with have requested we provide a few to present to potential birthparents. It’s incredible to think of a pregnant woman walking around somewhere with our future child in her belly! Praying is the only thing we can do to over-come the emotion that goes along with that thought. We actually haven’t wrapped our minds around that piece of it yet, but that’s another thought for another day.

With Much Love, Humility, and Gratitude,
Hayes & Kara