SO THANKFUL!!

YAY! We found out yesterday that we were chosen to be awarded a $1000 grant from the Titus Task Foundation.  I feel so overwhelmed with joy!  This foundation is run by the Tugwell family and they offer one grant a year to one family in the NWA area and we are it! :) At this point we are putting most of our eggs in the "hoping to get a grant" basket to complete the rest of our adoption.  We have been so blessed to have made $1800 in fundraising and donations since August and we still have one more grant we are waiting to hear back about by the end of the month.  I am prayerful and hopeful that we will continue on with this adoption even despite the hurdles we seem to always have in front of us.  There are times it feels that this may never come to be real but on days like today, you see that it can be possible once again!  The comfort from not having much in the way of news is that you remind yourself from other trials you have gone through that God will see you through, no matter what outcome that entails.  On days it feels impossible, you tell yourself that perhaps the whole point is to go on the journey and use the tools that he has given and to sharpen your character and maybe that is enough. 

In India, things continue to be slow moving. Our India director is getting back today from a trip to India and I'm hopeful that she brings good news on the progress over there.  I imagine the face of our daughter daily and am prayerful that we will still be able to bring her home by the summer of next year. I think of those in front of us on the waiting list or waiting to pick up their child and know that they too wait along with us and are equally hopeful for good news. In the meantime, we rejoice in the kindness of the Tugwell family for establishing a grant encouraging people in our area to be able to adopt and for educating people on the many ways we come to be "family".  I feel thankful to live in an area that is "pro-adoption" and excited that more and more people are opening their minds and hearts to adoption.     

You can go to www.thetitustask.com to learn more about this Northwest Arkansas adoption grant opportunity and learn about an amazing family's journey to adoption and how they came to give other families the chance to build their family as well through their organization. 

On a quick side note: I want to congratulate a good friend of mine, Charla, for the recent birth of their daughter Emeline. Emelines birth mom, Nikohl, did fantastic and I am amazed at her strength and love for her children.  I feel blessed to know both of these women and to be able to see this relationship bloom between them. Emeline will never be without love in this world!  God is good!