Retracing my Steps

Photo by Jeff Stevenson

Bob Goff had a wonderful quote this morning on Twitter that really sums up where I have been for the last few weeks: "Sometimes God lets us lose hope for a moment, so we'll retrace our steps and find Him all over again."

There are days lately when I have lost hope. The financial part of this just seemed too big. I even started thinking that maybe this was just all an idea in my own head, not God's plan. Because logically, I selfishly wanted to spend all my money chasing a kid on the other side of the planet who doesn't speak English. Thinking about it now seems really absurd. But when you are wandering and waiting, your flesh makes you doubt what you know in your soul is true. He ordained this and He is in charge and even when the numbers don't make sense, He is sovereign.

The problem is that in Dave Ramsey language, I'm the Free Spirit turned Nerd. I'm the one that handles our family's budget and bills. My husband handles our small business finances. It works great until I add up how much we have left to pay on the adoption and have a panic attack.

Here are the numbers:
We have already paid $17,519.54. This is the first time I have added that up. Wow, where did that come from God? Some of that came from people just handing us a check, our garage sales, things I have made and sold on Facebook. $2000 of it came from the online gifts people have given to AdoptTogether. A lot of it came from our budget. We didn't go on vacation this year, we used any extra money we could find, etc. That still blows my mind though because we normally don't have thousands left over at the end of the month. I can't really explain that number.

I'm estimating we still have $23,420 to go in the next few months. Why? Because:

REFERRAL & TRAVEL

3rd Installment of Program Fee                                                         $2,000

Referral Translation Fee ($475 for waiting child)                              $250

International Program Fee (1 child) •••                                             $7,300

Post Adoption Administrative Fee                                                     $900

Post Adoption Visits                                                                           $1200

China Orphan Care Fee
(This fee will be used to provide on-going support and care for orphans in China through direct projects AWAA will be involved in through our Waiting Children Program and orphanage partnerships.)                                                                                        $600

Airfare (2 adults; prices will vary by season and location)              $3300

Airfare
(1 child; prices will vary by season, location and ticket)                  $1000

Visas (2 adults)                                                                                   $390

Visa Filing & Processing Fee for Adopted Child (per child)             $480

In-Country Travel Package (2 adults) ••••                                         $6000

Travel for 2 adults and a child in China for around 17 days is expensive. We aren't just going on a vacation to Beijing, we are flying to Liam's province and then to Guangzhou where the US Embassy is and then back with another person. We have a guide/translator for our group and meals and some activities to keep a 7 year old busy.  

That $7,300 International Program Fee is very important. It includes the $5,500 we pay to Liam's orphanage for taking care of him all these years and his medical exams, passport, notary, visa, etc.

So, we have $3000 on hand right now and almost $8000 left to request from AdoptTogether. So that $24,420 number is actually down to $12,420. We are praying that we get some kind of tax refund and we have a 3rd paycheck month coming up. We have some clients that owe us for photography work that is coming up soon and we are praying we get a couple of grants. We are hoping the golf tournament fills in the rest. We hope we get more donations on AdoptTogether.

Ultimately though, it is in God's hands. We honestly were planning on waiting to adopt until we had the bulk of the money first. But God has been faithful so far and we are believing that He will provide. We don't have enough words of gratitude for those who have given so far. You have been our answered prayer.