I had a long talk with the Director of the Amani Baby Cottage. It was a good conversation. The bottom line is that my application is being rejected because I am single. Now, before all of you jump up and down and cry, "Injustice!" let me explain their position.

They have so many applications right now that they are able to find enough 2-parent families for all of their babies. I think all of us would agree that two parents are better than one (at least I would). He in no way discouraged me from pursuing adoption, but did, in a sweet fatherly way, remind me of all the challenges of becoming a single parent. He cautioned me that the field of eligible men would be very limited--even more so than it is already!

He ended the conversation in prayer. Prayer that the Lord would direct me and open doors at Sanyu if that is the path He has for me. And that He would close doors if it's not. Prayer for my future husband. Prayer for my ministry. Prayer for my family.

Let me say I was blessed by our 45-minute conversation. I am not discouraged. I think my next step is to spend the week in Panama resting in the Lord, waiting to hear from Him. Once I get back, I will either start working toward my homestudy or start remodeling my house. :)

Call from Amani's Director

Well, this evening I missed the call I've been waiting 3 months for! The Director of Amani Baby Cottage called and left me a message. He asked me to call him tomorrow to discuss my application. I am so nervous to hear his response...I have no idea what to expect or what to say.

Please pray that the Lord guides the conversation and that at the end, it is clear what His will is for my next steps. It is also my prayer that I can get in touch with the Director early tomorrow, as I leave for Panama Thursday morning.

I'll post more after the conversation. Hopefully it will be good news!!

Chip In to buy a t-shirt!

If you want to purchase a t-shirt, you can do so here. It will send the payment directly into my PayPal account and then I will order your shirt for you. Please make sure to send me an email with your color and size choice. Thanks everyone!

I just recalculated my expenses based on estimates other adoptive families have given me. I just realized that I have all the money I need for the actual adoption part! This means that in less than 8 months I have saved over $9,000! Wow! God is so good! I still need about $8,000 for travel costs (YIKES!), but it's beginning to seem a lot more feasible. Thanks for all of your support!

African Adoption T-Shirts & Garage Sale Photos

I had these great t-shirts made for everyone who helped at my garage sale. It made all the workers easily identifiable, plus added a nice reminder to the buyers that they were supporting a good cause.

Thanks so much to Francel & Sarah Esquivel for printing these awesome t-shirts, and to Ed Plant for his cuter-than-ever drawing of my future daughter reaching up to be loved!

If anyone is interested in getting one of these shirts to support my adoption, please contact me. I can have them printed in a variety of colors, but gray and light pink are the popular favorites so far. A donation of $20 each would be appreciated, and if you live close, I'll hand deliver for free! :)

Galen printed these awesome signs to help us advertise what we were doing.

And now here's a funny story...

We wanted to get a picture of all of us girls wearing our shirts. Well, all the guys had disappeared, so my mom asked this woman to take our picture. BUT, she didn't speak English, so she thought my mom was asking her to get in the picture with us. She's in the yellow shirt. We were all trying so hard not to bust out laughing...we didn't want her to feel bad! Check out Charmetra though...can you tell she's dying???

Garage Sale Success!

Wow! Let me say it again...wow!! In two days at the garage sale, I raised over $1300 towards my adoption! I am utterly exhausted, but incredibly encouraged! Thanks to so many of you who contributed items--a ton of things--and to those who helped set up and sell. You are all amazing friends, and my little girl will be coming so much sooner because of all of your hard work.

And More Encouragement

I had written to Barbara, the Director of Sanyu a little while ago, asking what would happen if I got to Sanyu and there were no girls available. Apparently, I sounded somewhat panicked. Here is her sweet response:

Hello Melissa,

I pray for you and with God all things are possible. So am sure when you get at Sanyu, there will be a girl God has provided for you. So relax my dear and know that you will get a child.

Be blessed!

Barbara

Encouragement

My new online friend, Tanya, is at Sanyu right now to be matched with a child. She posted on Facebook today that they have identified an 8-month old baby girl for her! For all of the discouragement I've been handed about the rarity of little girls, I was reminded again that our Great God can do anything. Tanya's little girl arrived at Sanyu just one week ago! That means that while she was planning her trip, saving her money, getting her homestudy done--that baby girl wasn't there yet. God brought her to Sanyu just in time to meet her mama. I love that!!!