Thankful hearts!

I get a little emotional when I think about all the people that have helped in one way or another with our adoption. There have been many!

We started out fundraising hair bows and tutus- working craft shows, selling online and the response was great! We made several thousand dollars to go towards our adoption. We were overwhelmed at the amount of people that supported our fundraising efforts.

Then, we applied for a grant from Lifesong for Orphans. Actually, we started out by applying for an interest free loan. We didn't feel comfortable asking people for donations to do the matching grant and we decided to take on the financial burden ourselves. BUT, Lifesong for Orphans approved us for the matching grant, so we thought about it and decided to give it a try. We were overwhelmed with the amount of people who donated on our behalf. Big and small donations were made, and we had $4,400 of donated money, and Lifesong matched $4,000 of that. So, we had $8,400 given to us for our adoption.

We had Dr. Staat review our daughter's medical file for us on a weekend when we thought we would not be able to find anyone. Not only did we find someone, we found one of the BEST International Adoption doctors in the area. And she was kind enough to not charge us the weekend fee. I emailed her at midnight on a Friday and I had a response from her first thing in the morning Saturday, what are the chances?

We have been in contact with various people at the Philip Hayden Foundation who have given us PRICELESS information about our daughter... we have been spoiled with so many pictures of our daughter and even the opportunity to give our opinion about her lip surgery. We asked them to hold off on her surgery... and they listened!

And today is yet another example of how this adoption has been a community effort. I decided to go back to work this year. There are many reasons why I decided to go back to work and I still feel like it was the best decision for our family for many different reasons. I was relieved that my principal was so supportive about my maternity leave (even though I have taken the last 3 years off!) I had every intention of taking my time unpaid and I went into this year fully expecting to do so. But last week I found out that if I take more than 5 consecutive days unpaid, I lose my year of teaching. So, I would lose this year of teaching AND I would be taking many days unpaid. I was so upset! So, I went to the teachers in my building and asked for help. I asked people if they could donate a sick day to me. I am not sure how many I will need (it depends on when we leave and the holidays) but it doesn't matter now! I know that I will have enough!!! The teachers I work with donated a total of 15 SICK DAYS so that I can go on my maternity leave and not be penalized my year of teaching! I am overwhelmed!!!!

Today was just more confirmation that GOD wants Emma Grace to come home. He has continued to provide for us and put people in our path at the right time. Emma Grace, you are loved.