It has taken me awhile to process how our last meeting at Bethany went. For us, it went very well...but as we talked about the birthmother's possible situations it made me really, really sad. It is very hard for me to be so happy about getting a child when the whole situation is filled with sadness and grief for the birthmother. Just because she cannot take care of the child does not mean she doesn't love it...I think she loves it more because she is choosing a life for her baby that she cannot give herself. I am excited to be a mom, but my heart is also breaking for our future birthmother. I have just really been burdened to pray for her, for her situation, that she makes good choices and stays strong. I do not know what the future holds for us...but I don't have to worry because God holds our future and our baby's future, in His hands. How can I not trust Him when it is His plan?
I am asking all of you who are still reading our blog to pray. Pray for our birthmother, our baby, everything about this adoption. And tell others to pray because God works through prayer! Thank you!
Our caseworker is on vacation this week. Next week she will be writing our homestudy and will send it to us to approve. Dan and I are finishing up our profile book and will be sending a draft to her next week to look at. We will hopefully be all set to go in about 2-3 weeks! Yay!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Day 128
Fundraiser #2
So, we are getting closer to baby, which means closer to when the majority of the money will be due. We made about $2,000 with the garage sale fundraiser, which is awesome! I feel so blessed by the amount of donations that people gave, by the number of people who showed up to help...and buy!
My sister-in-law thought up the idea for our next fundraiser. To be honest, I feel like I don't want to push it as hard because I don't want people to get annoyed that we keep asking for stuff. But, as she said, this one is really easy and people want to help. So, here we go... "Cans for Baby Van" kicks off today!
All you need to do is:
1. Drink your pop
2. Save your cans
3. Give the empty cans to Dan and Trisha
See! Easy!
I have attached a flyer if you want to get your family/friends/work place involved! Thanks for all your help!
So, we are getting closer to baby, which means closer to when the majority of the money will be due. We made about $2,000 with the garage sale fundraiser, which is awesome! I feel so blessed by the amount of donations that people gave, by the number of people who showed up to help...and buy!
My sister-in-law thought up the idea for our next fundraiser. To be honest, I feel like I don't want to push it as hard because I don't want people to get annoyed that we keep asking for stuff. But, as she said, this one is really easy and people want to help. So, here we go... "Cans for Baby Van" kicks off today!
All you need to do is:
1. Drink your pop
2. Save your cans
3. Give the empty cans to Dan and Trisha
See! Easy!
I have attached a flyer if you want to get your family/friends/work place involved! Thanks for all your help!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 123
Just to give my prayer warriors an update; Our meeting at Bethany has been changed to next WEDNESDAY at 3:00 instead of next Thursday. So say a prayer a day sooner!
It has been a crazy week. I volunteered to take pictures for our VBS program. Watching those kids have fun makes my heart ache. One of my favorite scenes from this week was watching my dad give piggy-back rides to the pre-schoolers. It just reminded me of my childhood. God has richly blessed me with a great family and great memories. I remember Friday night was family night and we would spread a big blanket on the floor in the living room, eat popcorn, and watch TGIF. Lindsey and I would always try to win at "rough-house" with my dad (sometimes we would 'win') and Mom was always telling us stories with different voices. Good times. I can't wait to have a family, to share the love that I feel is overflowing with our future child.
Meanwhile, I am enjoying what life has to offer...including glimpses of how great my child's future grandparents will be! :)
It has been a crazy week. I volunteered to take pictures for our VBS program. Watching those kids have fun makes my heart ache. One of my favorite scenes from this week was watching my dad give piggy-back rides to the pre-schoolers. It just reminded me of my childhood. God has richly blessed me with a great family and great memories. I remember Friday night was family night and we would spread a big blanket on the floor in the living room, eat popcorn, and watch TGIF. Lindsey and I would always try to win at "rough-house" with my dad (sometimes we would 'win') and Mom was always telling us stories with different voices. Good times. I can't wait to have a family, to share the love that I feel is overflowing with our future child.
Meanwhile, I am enjoying what life has to offer...including glimpses of how great my child's future grandparents will be! :)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Day 121
Well, we are getting to the end of the paperwork (YAY!). I still can’t believe how smoothly this has gone. I’m glad for that…and praying that it continues to go smoothly (and quickly). :)
We have our last meeting at Bethany next Thursday. We are going to be bringing with us the draft of our profile book along with a list of our 'preferences.' This includes several personal questions that most parents never have to think about like:
Are you okay with:
-a surgically correctable condition (hernia, heart defects, etc.)
-a Medical Condition (Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism, Seizure Disorder, etc.)
-Vision and or hearing impairments
-Transracial placement
And then there are questions that you need to answer about your potential birthmother:
Are you okay with:
-Limited or no info. about the birthfather
-Victim of rape
-Victim of incest
-Bipolar disorder
-Reported drug/alcohol abuse (not during pregnancy)
-Criminal history
There are a ton of questions like these…some easier to answer than others. In the end though we know that there is a child out there for us, a child that God has hand-picked to be part of our family. We could get wrapped up in the details of what could or could not happen…but we are just going to trust, and pray.
We have our last meeting at Bethany next Thursday. We are going to be bringing with us the draft of our profile book along with a list of our 'preferences.' This includes several personal questions that most parents never have to think about like:
Are you okay with:
-a surgically correctable condition (hernia, heart defects, etc.)
-a Medical Condition (Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism, Seizure Disorder, etc.)
-Vision and or hearing impairments
-Transracial placement
And then there are questions that you need to answer about your potential birthmother:
Are you okay with:
-Limited or no info. about the birthfather
-Victim of rape
-Victim of incest
-Bipolar disorder
-Reported drug/alcohol abuse (not during pregnancy)
-Criminal history
There are a ton of questions like these…some easier to answer than others. In the end though we know that there is a child out there for us, a child that God has hand-picked to be part of our family. We could get wrapped up in the details of what could or could not happen…but we are just going to trust, and pray.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Day 116
2nd homestudy done! It wasn't bad at all and I feel like it went really well. We answered questions like: "What are the qualities that you most admire about your spouse?" and "How do you divide the roles in your house (ie. bills, cleaning, cooking)." Nothing too difficult and it was a lot shorter than our other homestudy!!!
We have one more on the 19th to talk about our service/hospital plan. Meanwhile we need to finish up our profile book, Birthmother letter and read a couple books. Haha...I'm required to get more books!!! ;)
Thank you all for your prayers, we could definitely feel them!
We have one more on the 19th to talk about our service/hospital plan. Meanwhile we need to finish up our profile book, Birthmother letter and read a couple books. Haha...I'm required to get more books!!! ;)
Thank you all for your prayers, we could definitely feel them!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Day 114
I meant to update sooner but the news of another tragedy in our youth group made me put this off. So, before I start talking about the sale, please add to your prayer list Chase Villerius. He was in a car accident up north and his girlfriend, who was also in the car, was killed. He is in serious condition in the hospital but I have just heard that he knows his name and he told his mom that he loves her!!! Praise God and keep praying!!!
- - - -
Saturday - Garage Sale Day:
My day started at 4am. Not because I needed to be up that early, but because my mind would not stop thinking about all that needed to be done before the sale. Turns out I was busy up until 9:00 doing all sorts of little things. The sale started at 9am and there were people lined up outside!!! Remember when I was all worried that we wouldn't have enough people to come and buy all the stuff? Yeah, I didn't need to worry. God provides!!! :)
We were busy from 9am-1:30pm with people...I wish I would have remembered to take pictures. We sold most of the large items (which we were thankful for because then we didn't have to worry about moving them!).
I was thankful that Gwen told me to make sure we had a big clean-up crew because without the help of strong, non-exhausted people, we would have been cleaning up for 4 hours. As it was, clean-up only lasted and hour and a half!!! Dan and I were home by 3:40! Amazing! I didn't move from the couch the entire night...Garage sales are exhausting!
So, I know this is what you were all waiting for....the total is nearly $2,000!!!! I am shocked and in awe and so very, very grateful! I don't know the "official" total yet because there are some items that we need to sell on Craigslist and there are a couple people we need to collect money from. I am so amazed! So, I wanted to thank all the people who donated...we could not have done this without you. Thank you!
A special thank you to all who took time out of their day to help us. This sale would not have gone so smoothly without all of you. I really feel the love of our family, friends, and church during this time. It is comforting to know we are loved!
Our helpers:
Bonnie Anderson
Diane Brownell
Deb Coon
Lindsey DeYoung
Kathryn Dykhuis
Amanda Gilbert
Beth Gilbert
Catherine Herron
Collette Hoogewind
Roger Hoogewind
Beth Jennings
Sabrina Katsma
Terri Katsma
Travis Katsma
Zach Katsma
Julie Kruizenga
Kevin Kruizenga
Nicole Kruizenga
Jan Loux
Jon Loux
Kara Loux
Kourtney Loux
Jamie McCormick
Wilma Nelson
Gwen Van Manen
Dad Van Stensel
Jon Van Stensel
Melissa Van Stensel
Bonnie Yamamoto
So, thanks again! We have a meeting at Bethany this Thursday so we'll let you know how that goes. It is at 3:00pm so say a prayer!
- - - -
Saturday - Garage Sale Day:
My day started at 4am. Not because I needed to be up that early, but because my mind would not stop thinking about all that needed to be done before the sale. Turns out I was busy up until 9:00 doing all sorts of little things. The sale started at 9am and there were people lined up outside!!! Remember when I was all worried that we wouldn't have enough people to come and buy all the stuff? Yeah, I didn't need to worry. God provides!!! :)
We were busy from 9am-1:30pm with people...I wish I would have remembered to take pictures. We sold most of the large items (which we were thankful for because then we didn't have to worry about moving them!).
I was thankful that Gwen told me to make sure we had a big clean-up crew because without the help of strong, non-exhausted people, we would have been cleaning up for 4 hours. As it was, clean-up only lasted and hour and a half!!! Dan and I were home by 3:40! Amazing! I didn't move from the couch the entire night...Garage sales are exhausting!
So, I know this is what you were all waiting for....the total is nearly $2,000!!!! I am shocked and in awe and so very, very grateful! I don't know the "official" total yet because there are some items that we need to sell on Craigslist and there are a couple people we need to collect money from. I am so amazed! So, I wanted to thank all the people who donated...we could not have done this without you. Thank you!
A special thank you to all who took time out of their day to help us. This sale would not have gone so smoothly without all of you. I really feel the love of our family, friends, and church during this time. It is comforting to know we are loved!
Our helpers:
Bonnie Anderson
Diane Brownell
Deb Coon
Lindsey DeYoung
Kathryn Dykhuis
Amanda Gilbert
Beth Gilbert
Catherine Herron
Collette Hoogewind
Roger Hoogewind
Beth Jennings
Sabrina Katsma
Terri Katsma
Travis Katsma
Zach Katsma
Julie Kruizenga
Kevin Kruizenga
Nicole Kruizenga
Jan Loux
Jon Loux
Kara Loux
Kourtney Loux
Jamie McCormick
Wilma Nelson
Gwen Van Manen
Dad Van Stensel
Jon Van Stensel
Melissa Van Stensel
Bonnie Yamamoto
So, thanks again! We have a meeting at Bethany this Thursday so we'll let you know how that goes. It is at 3:00pm so say a prayer!
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