UPDATE

I've been planning out this blog post since this afternoon and I still don't have adequate words to describe this past month in our adoption process.

So, here's a little update/refresh: We made a couple hundred dollars from our strawberry fundraiser + got to eat some delicious strawberries made by our friend Kira PLUS got to see people in person and thank them for donating to our adoption cause. That was so cool and so humbling. Then, a sweet friend of ours offered to match donations up to $2,000. If that goal was met, we'd raise $4,000 this month, which is just month two of our journey. And we did it. We made over $4,000 this month ALONE because today someone asked how much we had left in our match goal and then gave us the exact donation.

YEAH, THAT HAPPENED TODAY.

!!!!!!!!!!!

heart eyes and praise hands!

//I have to back up a second and tell one quick story about this because God is good. Last week we were just under $900 away from our match and I posted a quick something about that on my Facebook and we received a few extra donations but I didn't recheck our funds. I knew we were quite a bit away and as I was going to bed last night I just prayed over our adoption, over our funds, over this entire process. I felt from the initial correspondence with my girlfriend that we would meet this $4,000 goal but being a couple hundred dollars away on the second-to-last-day, I was like, "OKAY GOD. You're up!" I prayed against discouragement, as I knew I would be sad if we didn't meet our goal, but that he has greater things in mind for us. So, I prayed. And today I got that text asking how much we needed. He brings me to my knees again and again.

The first time Evan and I were going to Ethiopia, Evan was exactly $1,000 short of the required funds and the deadline was the following day. Evan got a $1,000 check in the mail that day and we all cried because raising money is stressful and challenging and humbling. I have never had something like that happen to me until this very week and I'm humbled again and again, every time I check my e-mail and see a donation.

Once again, my current verse (Gen 16:13) still applies, and now even more than ever. He is the God who sees us on this journey. We know this and we believe it, whole heartedly.

Maddox is also as cute as ever when it comes to talking about adoption. He asks where his brother or sister is all the day long. "Where are they?" He asks. He calls it "E-fee-oh-p-ia" or "E-p-oh-pyuh" and whenever I do anything from buying food to making something he asks, "Is that to bring my brother or sister home?" We talk about it all day long and he's totally on board and so ready to meet his brother or sister, we can't help but love and feed off his energy and encouragement. We love having this two-year-old perspective; it keeps things fresh and real and happy.

I've got big things planned for the next few months and something I'm super excited about for March, so keep your eyes peeled! We're one month (and so close to my first goal of $10,000) away from our application and once that's in, things will really get rolling. Please continue to pray for our family and especially this week as Evan and I are headed to SoCal and Maddox is staying with his grandparents. Protection all around as well as less worry from this mama bear ;]

Peace and blessings and love and heart eyes and kindness and unending things,
>>L

Just a little update

Well, we're one month and a week into this and we've been blown away so many times, I can't even keep track of all of the blessings that have been poured out on us. So many people have blessed us with their talents and finances and prayers and encouragement and we've been overwhelmed in the best way. It's always a struggle for me to ask for help because I'm independent and hate the thought that I'm burdening another person. So yes, this has been incredibly humbling and has been a lesson in not doing everything myself, even when I'm able. My bible study girls, my tribe, they always say to me, "Let's bring our baby home," and I fight back tears every time I hear it because that is exactly what Evan and I wanted when we started this and envisioned our adoption journey. We want to use this as a ministry to change lives and we want people to partner with us because how lonely life is when it's not lived together?

We've got about a month and a half left to raise the rest of our first goal and we're close, but we're still a couple thousand away. If you'd like to donate, you can through our youcaring website. We had some incredibly generous friends offer to match up to $2,000 through the month of February (again, more tears) and this brings us so, so close to our goal. So, we'll get there, I know it! And, Billings friends! If you donate in February, I'll throw you in a drawing for a free family/couple/selfie/whatever photoshoot!

Also, our (first) t-shirt fundraiser ended in mid-January and we raised over $1,000 and we were definitely blown away by that! We loveee love love seeing pictures of everyone in their shirts AND a friend of ours even was wearing her shirt when she got engaged! (heart explosion) We'll have another one in a few months, but we don't have anymore of these. So, if you wanted to get in on this, so sorry that you missed it, but I promise the next design will be even better! Pinky swear.

I still need to create a prayer request page, but I also have a sink full of dishes, loads of laundry and a sneaky two-year-old who refuses to nap unless I cuddle him, among about 50 more pages of things to do. So, it's coming. For now, we would love prayer for our health! I've personally been battling a never-ending sinus infection since the beginning of January (which seems to be on the out, so pray that it stays out!) and Evan and Maddox have had a handful of other things and we're just over it all. I always joke that when you live with other people, you just pass your sicknesses back and forth BUT IT'S SO TRUE. We passed pink eye around for an entire weekend and after I bleached my entire house I must have missed a spot because Evan woke up with it (again) a few weeks later. Winter is always rough when there's no vitamin D to help boost that immune system, but please just pray that our health would return (and stay). Exhaustion is a huge struggle for me when I'm sick and I've found myself with low energy and no motivation, which means I've had so many things I want to do and have yet to do them. We covet your prayers and thank you so much for partnering with us and covering us with them.

Peace and blessings and love and heart eyes and kindness and unending thanks,
>>larissa