The Cost of Adoption - Part 2

Wow!  One month has passed...whew!  What a busy one!  I cannot believe how fast our summer is going.  With 3 crazy kiddos, swimming lessons, Harvest Kids Camp, trips to Madison with Gabriel, a BUSY summer work schedule for Neal, and doing our Home Study...this month has been a WILD ride!  And, this girl is TIRED.  But, I thought about it tonight, and even though Neal is still at work as we speak, and I need to be working on our Home Study paperwork (that I have already worked on for two hours today!), I just felt God nudging me toward this blog.  He still has a story to tell through this process...and I will be faithful to tell it.

Part 2 of The Cost of Adoption could be called "The Provision."  We are only about 6 months into this process (CRAZY!), and God has already shown up in so many ways!  I have honestly "seen" God more in these past six months than probably at any other time in my walk with Him.  He has been SO real to us.  He has been SO faithful.  It's hard to even explain, and I am sure I won't do it justice.

As I shared with you all in the last post, a big part of the challenge for most people, and for us, in considering adoption is finances.  And, we knew that would be a place where God would HAVE to show up for us.  And, we believed that if we had faith, that He would do just that.  And, are you ready for it?  He HAS.  :)  For us, it started with doing our taxes this year.  This year, for whatever reason, we were SO on the ball.  We did them EARLY...like February-ish.  That's crazy early for us.  And, even crazier, we got back more money than we ever have before.  It was a "Dave-Ramsey-would-be-so-ridiculously-mad-about-this" amount of money.  We were REALLY surprised, and yes, for the fiscally responsible of you, we made some adjustments so that we will no longer be giving the government such a big loan every month for free.  :)  Happy?  But, we felt...no, we KNEW it was a God thing.  We were a couple of weeks into the adoption process, knew we needed to start putting away as much as possible, and KNEW that was why we got that money.  So, it went into the "adoption fund." 

Now, just so you know how it works, adoption costs a lot of money...at least in my book. And, as a good friend told me when we were starting out, almost NO ONE who is called to adopt starts out with the money.  It's just not how it works, for most of us.  It's truly just a journey of faith for most people.  That said, I want you to understand that all of that money is not due up front or even at one time.  It's kind of like installments...not regular, systematic installments, because some are small and some are HUGE, and it honestly just seems like you are always writing checks for something or other.  But, I think it's easier that way because it's not like writing one ginormous check at one time.  That said, we paid our application fee several months back and that was our first "we're committed to this" check.  :)  It honestly felt pretty good.  We were being faithful to what we know God has called us to do, and we were officially on the journey.  The second payment, for us, was mailed in with our contracts.  This was more of a "sweat-a-little-while-you-write-the-check-we-are-REALLY-doing-this" kind of feeling (me, again - not Neal - I've told you...money isn't his hang-up!).  We didn't know the exact amount until we had our orientation phone call.  The craziest part of that was that when they told us the amount, we hung up the phone, and Neal (who is NOT the resident number-cruncher), looked at me and said, "Wasn't that almost what our tax return was?"  And, I (resident number-cruncher), said, "I can't remember....maybe???"  (FYI - that was a RARE moment for us!).  So, being the resident number-cruncher that I am, I went and looked it all up.  And, you know what?  HE WAS RIGHT.  Our tax return was a little less than $100 off what we needed for that first big payment.  It was AMAZING.  I cannot even describe to you what a faith builder that was for me.  God provided just as we knew that He was telling us He would.  But, to SEE it was AMAZING. 

Next up...my birthday!  I was blessed to see a special friend of mine on my birthday, and when I saw her, she handed me two cards.  Assuming they were for my birthday, I said "thank you" and threw them in my purse to read later (not my usual habit - but she gave them to me in passing, I promise!).  When I got home, I pulled them out, and that's really the first time that I realized there were two.  The first one I opened was addressed to me, and it was a birthday card.  Sweet friend!  As I looked at the second one, I noticed it wasn't addressed to me, but to our family.  As I opened the card, a check fell out.  And, as I started to read, the tears started to POUR.  My sweet friend wrote in this beautiful card about how she and her husband had received their tax return this year.  And, they went to God and prayed and asked Him what they should do with the money.  And, HE directed them to give their money to us.  I was BLOWN AWAY.  No words.  I called Neal on the phone and start reading the card to him...I was BAWLING through most of it.  Blubbering.  It was ridiculous.  He probably understood none of it.  But, it was an amazing moment for both of us, but even more so, for me.  Remember, money is MY thing.  It's MY obstacle.  And, as one of my dearest friends pointed out, He chose to show up financially on my birthday.  What a SWEET God I serve!  I am blown away not only by the generosity of my friend and her husband.  I am blown away that they got their tax return back from the government and took it and placed it in God's hands and asked HIM where HE would have them spend it.  But, here's the kicker, the part that this Dave Ramsey nerd TOTALLY got on this day was that the amount that they chose to give us was the SAME EXACT AMOUNT as our application fee.  BLOWN AWAY.  Here we are, at this point, almost one-fourth of the adoption costs have been paid, and only about $100 of what has gone out of our bank accounts was there when we started this process. 

He IS Jehovah Jireh - God the Provider.  Make no mistake about it.

Now, we are in the middle of the Home Study.  It's what our Agency Caseworker calls "the sprint."  And, I am SO not a runner.  And, NOT being a runner, that little analogy didn't sound like fun.  And, honestly, this last month has been EXHAUSTING.  I jokingly told Neal the other day that I know that a lot of people (me included) worry about the money when they are considering adoption, but if they even had a CLUE how time-intensive it was, they would run for the hills!  So, this has brought me to a new place in my dependence upon God.  Frankly, I am exhausted in almost every possible way...spiritually, emotionally, physically...it has been incredibly draining for both of us.  And, because Satan is SO sneaky like that, the "other" usual demands on our time (kids, work, church, illnesses, etc.) have intensified in the last month.  ALL three of our kids have had the strangest illnesses.  Gabriel's mostly relating to weird things going on with his procedures.  The girls have both had just really WEIRD stuff.  The kind that makes your pediatrician shake his head and say "I don't really know what it is...."  One is sick in bed right now as I type.  But you know what?  Satan LOVES distraction, and he can create plenty of them.  It's the thing I think that he does best for those of us who are committed to God.  But, what he doesn't understand and, I am sure, cannot wrap his warped little mind around is that all that he is stripping away from us and all that he is throwing at us are only INCREASING our need for God.  And, as a very wise friend reminded me the other day, in some of our hardest moments God even allows us to be stripped of our strength because by doing that, we have to DAILY depend on Him to be the strength that propels us forward.  And, while I said that if those considering adoption would run for the hills if they knew the demands on our time, I have to say that I have learned that if you are running, it's always better to be running TOWARD God than away.  THAT I know! 

I am definitely in a place where I really covet your prayers.  As soon as I am done with this blog, it's back to paperwork for me.  Neal still isn't home from work, but when he gets home, he will also have some to do before he goes to bed.  But, last week, when I was feeling SO overwhelmed and SO tired, the Holy Spirit repeatedly brought to my mind this passage in the Bible.  It's a passage where the Israelites have been attacked by the Amalekites and have gone to battle with them...

"So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.  As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up -- one on one side, one on the other -- so that his hands remained steady till sunset.  So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword."  - Exodus 17:10-13

I have shared this passage with some of you already.  Before I even finished sharing it with a friend a few days ago, she said, "I can hold up your hands, girl."  And, let me say, I share this passage not because I am ASKING you to do this.  I share it because I already FEEL you doing this.  Thank you for holding up my hands.  Thanks for praying for us.  We feel it.  Thank you so much for walking with us on this journey. 

By HIS strength,
Stacy

The Cost of Adoption - Part 1

I don't know if you have caught on yet or not, but I am not going to be one of those people who blogs a lot.  I am only here in the blogging world because I believe it is where God wants me, and I only want to share with you those things that I am sure that He has given me to share.  With that said, this post is something that He has been working out in my heart for more than a month.  I still don't know if I will do it justice, but I will do my best to share with you what He is teaching me and hope that HE will make sense of it all.  After starting this post, I realized that it would take more than one post to fully explain what He's been up to in our lives, and I think it will make more sense if I break it up into two parts.  So, here goes Part 1... 

Several months ago, when Neal and I believed that God was leading us down the path of adoption, we did what many of you have done who have either adopted or have considered adopting at some point -- we talked about the cost.  In the world of adoption, it's definitely the elephant in the room.  It's the thing that at some point, you have to talk about.  For many of you who have considered adoption, it's the one thing that has held or is holding you back.  For others of you who have chosen adoption, it's been the thing that God has used to increase your faith.  For us, it was definitely a matter of serious discussion.  With international adoptions averaging around $30,000, it's not really a surprise that the subject would come up for any of us.  For Neal, it's truly never been that big of a deal.  For ME, early on in the process, it was a barrier to my obedience.  Now, you must know, I am the one who does the daily managing of our budget.  In the world of Dave Ramsey lingo, I am DEFINITELY the "nerd" in the relationshiop.  Not shocking to most of you, and some of you would say that's an understatement!  So, in my very Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace-loving mind, I had decided that even though we believed that God was calling us to adopt, that the very "responsible" thing to do would be to save up the money for a few years until we had the required funds, and THEN adopt.  Very responsible of us, I thought.  Take care of the bases, tie up all the loose ends, and THEN be obedient.  The problem with that is, God wasn't asking us to adopt down the road, and I knew it.  He was telling us to start the adoption process NOW.  And, I don't know about you guys, but the Gruhns don't just have $30,000 lying around in our "whatever shall we do with all our money" fund.  In the world of parenting, my response was what is known as "delayed obedience."  And, as I like to say, "delayed obedience is disobedience."  When I ask my girls to go clean up their toys, I am not okay with them deciding that they will be obedient tomorrow.  I am not even okay with them deciding to do it 10 minutes after I ask.  When I tell them to do something, I mean for them to do it right then.  Anything else is disobedience.  And, this idea of "delayed obedience" is the very conversation that God was having with me during this time.  But, as He often does, He used someone else in my life to demonstrate why His ways are better than mine. 

We have been blessed to have some very special people cross our paths over the 13 years we have been married.  One of these families is the Rose Family.  They are an AMAZING family and have been an inspiration to us since we first moved to Southern Illinois.  Mike was our worship pastor in Marion, and his wife, Nancy, is one of the most godly women I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  They have eight wonderful children (whom Nancy also homeschools!!!) and have been such a godly example to us in parenting, in faith, and in service to our God.  We were blessed to have our paths cross with them for a time, and I have been SO blessed to continue to learn from their lives and obedience via Facebook (isn't it wonderful?).  Well, during this time that I was arguing with God (let's just call it what it was!), Nancy shared an amazing God-story (the Roses ALWAYS have God-stories -- I believe because their faith in God is BIG!).  I will share it with you as best as I remember (if you are reading this Nancy, please forgive me if I get any of it wrong).  The Roses now live in Ohio and were wanting to go on a trip to visit their family in Michigan.  However, they really didn't believe that the tires on their van would safely make the trip, and so they had opted out of going.  Without them ever voicing their need, a man from their church showed up on their doorstep with a set of new tires for their van because he had "happened" to notice the worn out tires on their van in the parking lot at church.  Nancy doesn't even know it, but God SO used that story in my life to confirm to me that He WAS calling us to adopt, He was calling us to do it NOW, and that He WOULD provide.  I remember that as soon as I read that story, I came downstairs and told Neal, "I don't think we should save up the money.  I think we're supposed to do it now."  His response was somewhere along the lines of "I totally agree.  I have never thought we should wait."  Money was MY hang-up, not his.   

The "cost" of adoption is not something that I am past.  It's something that still tempts my obedience.  It's not that I begrudge the money or would rather spent it in another way.  It's not that at all.  I just frankly don't understand HOW it is all going to work out.  It doesn't work out on my budget spreadsheet, and my faith struggles at times because I can't SEE it or make it all work out in my head.  So, it's only natural that God and I would have many conversations about this, and that I have to surrender it and lay it at His feet often...almost daily. 

The week of Easter, I could not get the "cost" out of my mind.  While I usually spend the week of Easter trying to be mindful of what Jesus did for me on the cross, this year was different.  I could not get the "cost" of my salvation out of my mind.  All through this process, people have told me that adopting a child will give me a greater understanding of what Jesus did on the cross for me.  I feel like God gave me a tiny glimpse into that this Easter.  You see, we are not God's natural children.  As Christ-followers, we believe that JESUS is God's only Son.  Most of us probably know John 3:16 (NIV) - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  When Jesus, God's only Son, died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins.  He made it possible for us to become the adopted children of God.  Don't misunderstand a key part of this.  Jesus' death does not mean that we are automatically His children.  It's only in choosing to accept His sacrifice for our sin and choosing to follow Him that we become His children.  John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

As someone who grew up going to church, I knew all this in theory.  I accepted Jesus' sacrifice for my sin at a young age and made the conscious decision to follow Him.  This wasn't new stuff to me.  What WAS new to me was what was what God was already doing in my heart regarding the "cost of adoption."  You see, I was grappling with $30,000.  I was trying to understand how God was going to provide the means to what He is calling us to do.  But, what was new to me was the complete realization of what MY adoption cost my heavenly Father.  "The cost of adoption" for God was NOT $30,000.  The cost for HIM to adopt ME was the life of His only Son.  Grapple with that.  Let it sink in.  And, really let it soak down to the depth of your soul.  For me, what is IMPOSSIBLE  to fathom is that God CHOSE DEATH for His only Son so that I might have life.  Now, go there with me.  If $30,000 seems like a lot to you, imagine for a second that the price of adoption for the child God has called us to was the life of one of my biological children.  I cannot even understand that kind of sacrifice.  I am not deserving of that kind of love.  1 John 3:1 (NIV) - "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"

It was through the week of Easter this week that I came to not only a greater understanding of what God had done for me, but also why He SO loves adoption.  James 1:27 says - "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  Someone had shared a thought a few months ago through a blog I read that it took me a while to figure out.  They said, God loves adoption because "adoption is the gospel."  At the time, I had taken this to mean that adoption was a way to be obedient to God's command to those who follow Him to "go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19)."  However, the week of Easter, I GOT it.  That's not what they were saying at all.  God loves adoption because it IS the gospel.  We, who have chosen to follow God, ARE adopted because of the death of His Son.  Adoption IS the gospel.  We cannot be His followers, redeemed by the blood of His Son, and be anything but FOR adoption. It is only through our OWN adoption that we get to be the children of God.

And, it was through this process that God revealed to me more about His provision for our own adoption process.  There will never be a greater need in my life or your life than our need for salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.  Without God's sacrifice of His Son, and the price He paid for our sin, we would be eternally separated from God.  Good works, acts of kindness, religious practices - NONE of these makes up for our sin.  NONE can put us in right standing before God.  God is HOLY.  He cannot tolerate sin.  Outside of accepting the shed blood of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin, we have no hope in this life to be reconciled to Him.  Isaiah 64:6 says "...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..."  It was through thinking deeper about this, that God revealed to me something I had never thought of before in terms of my own needs, particularly the financial needs associated with our adoption.  He has ALREADY met the greatest need I will ever have.  Why is it then, that I worry about anything?  And, why in the WORLD would I worry about something that I know clearly that He has called us to do?  Matthew 6:25-34 talks about how ridiculous it is for God's people to worry.  I know this passage well, yet I find myself guilty of worry far too often!  The revelation of this hit me like a ton of bricks, and I felt the Holy Spirit say to my heart, "If I met your greatest need through the death of my Son, don't you think I can handle everything else?  I have GOT this."  Oh, ME of little faith!!! 

And, to think that this is only Part 1.  I cannot WAIT to tell you what He has been doing to show me just how MUCH He has got this.  I will not make you wait long...I promise. 

Thanks, again, for going with us on our journey.  I cannot wait to share more with you...

Much love,
Stacy

Choosing Joy

I cannot believe that more than a month has passed since my last post.  Much has been going on in our lives and in my heart in these last few weeks, and I have just been trying to process it all through myself before sharing it with you.  Shortly after we returned from Disney World, we set out to finish our application.  However, if you read my last post, you know that things in Ethiopia were somewhat in limbo when we left for vacation.  During the week after we got home, we spent a lot of time talking through what would happen if Ethiopia was no longer an option.  Our agency had first recommended to us that we look at either Ethiopia or Bulgaria, as they appeared to be the best fits for our family.  Ironically, those were the only two countries we had ever really felt led to explore.  However, when we started our journey toward Ethiopia, we felt like that was the direction that God was leading us.  So, this first week back from vacation, I spent a lot of time asking God why He would lead us in a direction only to have the door close.  I get that it happens.  I have heard the stories of others who have had the exact thing happen to them…people who were much further down the path than us.  I had friends telling me of their friends who were going through the same thing as us, wondering what was going on in Ethiopia, and they were ALL further in the process than us.  And, then, God reminded me of a story through a sermon that our dear Pastor John preached.  He reminded me of the story of Abram…

“The Lord said to Abram: Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land I will show you…Abram was seventy-five years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran.  He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves he had gotten while in Haran.” (Genesis 12:1, 4-5a)  And, what God began to impress upon my heart is that He called us to adoption…NOT to a specific country.  And, when He calls us, He wants us to obey, and He doesn’t have to give us the details.  Gulp.  That was a big lesson for me.  So, of course, we decided that our only option was to move forward…wherever He leads us.  If that means Ethiopia, fine.  If it means Bulgaria, fine.  If it means somewhere else, fine.  So, with that, we began the very practical steps of finishing up our paperwork.  In doing so, we had to list our country choices, 1 and 2.  So, I sent an e-mail to our agency rep to ask whether we should even put Ethiopia, or if we just put Bulgaria.  And, then, God showed off.  Her response to me was that in spite of all that Ethiopia has said about changing their system, that they have not seen ANY delays in the adoption process, nor do they expect any.  None.  I don’t even understand that.  But, that’s what she said.  So, all that time I spent questioning and wondering instead of obeying was wasted time, except for me learning a big lesson about doing more following and less talking.  J  So, much to our excitement, last week we received the final paperwork we were waiting for in the mail, and we were SO thrilled to mail our application and our first payment to our agency last Saturday!  Yay!  Step 1 down. 

In the middle of all of this, both Neal and I have both felt what we believe is spiritual attack.  It’s not been just one thing or event, but, much like my last post, just the compounding of several very real frustrations in our lives (some practical and some more emotional) and, already, some hurdles in our adoption process.  I think in the last month alone, our computer has had 3 different sets of issues...not working, not connecting to the internet, not printing, etc.  You name it.  And, frankly, when you are doing something as paperwork-intensive as adoption, it's a pretty vital thing to have a working computer system.  But, God has provided for us in that area as well.  As we have had one frustration after another come our way, it has caused us to really dig deep in God’s Word and find out what He has to say about hard times, trials, and suffering.  In just a period of a few days, God began speaking truth into our lives through His Word (on our own and verses shared with us by several friends), through a sermon I found by Francis Chan on YouTube (“Is Suffering Optional?” – it's broken up into five parts, but I highly recommend it!), and through a book that Neal has been going through with his Flock Group.  Crazy how when God is driving a point home to you, that He makes it in SEVERAL different ways to make sure that you are getting it!!! 

On top of it all, we started a new Bible Study with our Life Group – John MacArthur’s study on James.  As we started the first chapter, I came across a passage I could probably recite by heart…James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  For me, that’s a verse I have known for a LONG time.  But, this time, as I was reading it, I began to ask these questions:  “What does it mean to ‘consider’ it all joy?  In the MIDDLE of a trial, what does that even look like?” 

For some of you, it may seem weird to question what the Bible says, but I don’t think it is at all.  I think it’s only then – when we question scripture, when we dig deeper, when we seek God, when we ask for the input of others who have a genuine faith – that those verses become ALIVE to us.  It’s then that they are more than just words on a page.  I think we are meant to do more than just read the Bible.  We are meant to live it, and, it is meant to be LIFE to us.  Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  God’s Word is meant to guide and direct us, to instruct us in the paths we are to take, to set parameters for our life, and to help us break out of those parameters we have set for ourselves that reflect our hearts more than His (super tough!).  Simply put, it's meant to CHANGE us.  I think much of my Christian life has been spent reading the Word of God for knowledge, or to "check a box" to say I did it, and not so that I would be changed by it.  

So, then, how do we “consider it all joy” in the middle of a trial?  It’s SO much easier to have joy at the end of a tough time, especially those times when God wraps it all up nicely for us with a bow, and we get to “see” some of what He was doing.  God SO encouraged me last week as I discussed this passage with Neal, a close friend, and even my Life Group.  And, here’s what I learned from Him and through them.  Joy in the midst of trials is a supernatural thing.  It’s absolutely BEYOND our capability to face what some of us will in this lifetime and “consider it all joy.”  That kind of joy is the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence in our lives.  Joy is part of the fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) that He displays in us when our relationship with the Spirit of God is as it should be. 

And, what I have learned about finding joy in difficult times is that He is EVERYTHING that we need Him to be.  He is our provider, our help, our strength, our Father, our friend, and so much more.  And, even in the middle of trials, He gives to us in abundance.  Over these last few weeks, God has used others in our lives to answer prayers that were never voiced aloud.  He has moved in so many ways to let us know that He is ever-present in our lives and this process.  He has given us strength and encouragement to keep going when the road was really hard.  He has provided confirmation of His calling over and over again, even when we didn’t have a speck of doubt about it all.  And, on more than one occasion, He has heaped on blessing for no reason at all. 

One such blessing came to us last Sunday.  We work with the cute and highly energetic Kindergarten group at our church about two weeks each month.  A few weeks ago, we had a sweet little girl visiting our group, who I just KNEW was from Ethiopia.  However, when her Dad picked her up, I chickened out and didn’t ask him.  J  However, last Sunday, Neal and I were standing in the foyer at our church (which we never do) waiting to meet with some of our Life Group members, and this same beautiful little girl who I was so curious about runs up to say “hi” to me!  Yay!  I was SO excited to see her again, and then her Mom, whose name is Cathy, walked up.  We began to talk, and I found out that her daughter IS from Ethiopia and was only adopted a short time ago.  Of course, the connection began immediately !!!  I was SO encouraged by our conversation and hearing Cathy’s heart for adoption and how she has been praying for couples like us to be called to adoption.  She told me that by following God's call to adoption that WE  were an answer to HER prayers.  LOVE. IT.  Not only that, but we find out that we live in the same area of town.  Can you say "Wow!!?!!"  She ends up getting my e-mail, and we say “goodbye.”  As I meet back up with Neal, and I’m immediately telling him about Cathy, we run into her again, but this time with her husband.  So, now Neal gets to meet her husband, Mark, AND, a friend of theirs who is visiting them from Atlanta (whom they met while they were IN Ethiopia adopting their daughter and HE was adopting his son).  So, did you catch that?  God ordained for us to meet two families visiting our church who have adopted children from Ethiopia just a short time ago on the day after we submitted our own application!  We felt so overwhelmingly blessed that God would use that meeting to just show His love, grace, and goodness to us.  Truthfully, we were blown away! 

All that said, I am learning to CHOOSE joy…every day…sometimes several times a day.  It’s a choice I make to rely on Him to be everything I need.  And, just so you are up on the latest, the adoption application that we mailed last Saturday, arrived just one business day later at our adoption agency halfway across the country.  On Monday, I got a call from our agency rep to confirm they had received it.  Of course, it was also a request for a little more information.  J  But, that’s okay.  I am learning, as Cathy told me on Sunday, that this is a “paperwork pregnancy” and that the road will be long, and it will be hard, but as with our relationship with God, it will also be SO worth it.  And, I am hoping that with THIS “pregnancy,” there will be no heartburn.  J 

Thanks for sharing in the journey. 

Much love to you!

Stacy