A Little Braggin' on The Big Guy (Upstairs) ;)

Well, we've officially seen God's hand confirming this process in some of the most awesome and unexpected ways.

One of our major concerns was that some of the major grant funds that we qualify for have their final application deadline for the year October 31/November 1. We were praying and praying that our home study would be completed in time for us to apply. I fretted, worried, and lost sleep. We had paid our home study fee, and provided every single document they needed before they even needed it... but still waited and waited (it was probably only 2-3 weeks, but when you're on a tight timeline, it felt like FOREVER) to hear from our social worker.

Back in Michigan, when we were working on the home study in our previous adoption process it took four months. FOUR MONTHS. Our home study agency out here gave a timeframe of 8-10 weeks. To say I was skeptical would be an understatement.

Two weeks ago I heard from our social worker for the first time.

She came for her first appointment three days later, and her second (5 hour long!) appointment exactly a week later.

GUYS. She freaking spent the ENTIRE next day writing our home study.

She emailed me at 7:00AM with some questions, and then called me at 8:00PM to let me know that it was DONE. She was sending it to our agency the next morning for review. WHAT?! People, let me tell you- this DOES. NOT. HAPPEN. All adoption/foster momma's- can I get an amen?!! It just doesn't.

When we spoke that evening after she completed it, I couldn't stop thanking her. "Promise me you won't tell anyone else who I'm doing the home study for. This doesn't happen. It was some fluke in the universe that I had no clients today, and the appointment I was supposed to have cancelled at the last minute." I KNOW WHY IT HAPPENED! Not a fluke in the universe, friend. It was intentionally done by OUR God, whose mighty hand is controlling this entire stinkin' process.

What a reminder of HIS faithfulness!

I've had Philippians 4:19 on a post-it note on our refrigerator for about a year and a half...

"And the same God who takes care of me will supply ALL of your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." He does!

Next to that, we've had Luke 1:37 posted on our fridge since starting the adoption process this time around: "For no word from God will ever fail."

What truth.

He promised to supply our needs. We haven't applied for the grants yet, as we are still waiting for the state of Colorado to approve it through the one agency they have determined has that authority, which is Lutheran Family Services (should be about 1-2 weeks) but all of these recent occurrences have reminded us that God is the one in control, and WILL provide. Whether we can see it immediately or not.

And now, today, we received another major reminder of God's faithfulness:

Right after we committed to adopting Caroline, we received a letter in the mail from the IRS. They were requesting more information from 2014, and tried saying we OWED $7500. That's SO much money, especially when you just committed to adopt internationally when that alone was a stretch. I about died. Again, lost a ton of sleep, and cried, and fretted.

I knew they were incorrect, but mind you, I'm no tax expert, nor am I a master record keeper. I tracked down as much as I could, sat on hold for hours with the IRS, and I compiled the best argument I could as why they were incorrect. In the end, I was pretty sure were actually OVER-taxed (seems like a stretch, huh?)...

GUYS. They agreed. We found out today that rather than paying any more, they are sending us a REFUND. WHAT?!?! Again, when does the IRS say, oops, our bad?!?!? THEY DON'T! If the IRS hadn't contacted us with an exorbitant bill, I would have never researched further and we would not be receiving this refund back, which will be such a great contribution towards this adoption. We're just so overwhelmed with the active ways that we have seen God's hand moving in this adoption, and our finances. It's beyond divine.

Thank you for your prayers. We've felt them covering us, and we've seen the effectiveness. Keep them coming, friends! Know how pivotal they are in bringing our girl home. You are a gift to us, and we are so blessed to rally along side of you all in bringing our sweet girl home.

The Lies that Bind

GUYS.

You have been so encouraging and kind and we have been totally blown away by everyone's gracious responses to our announcement yesterday. Thank you so much.

Would you believe that I've had that post written and in my unpublished section for over a month? I have been terrified to "announce" it. The fear has mostly been based in a lie. That lie was that people would not be supportive of our journey- that perhaps people would be more critical of this, and that I would somehow jinx this if I told people too soon. What a terrible lie I was fed, and what a tragedy that fear lead our family away from sharing something so huge.

Right before I finally hit "publish" yesterday, I was shaking and nervous, but was overwhelmed by Romans 8:15... "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear; but the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

AH.

Fear stinks. But you all DO NOT. You are gracious, and kind and encouraging and we love you. You're the best, and we are so excited to live freely in this adoption. Some of the most beautiful, raw, and real things come from vulnerability, and my prayer in that through our vulnerabilities and inadequacies, the name of Jesus will be glorified.

I've had some people message me asking if there's anything specifically they can be praying for, so I'm planning on sharing that right here, right now... because when it comes to prayer- the more the freaking merrier :)

1) Right now, our MAJOR prayer is for provision. We are applying to tons and tons of grants. We needs some grants or some other form of miraculous provision. Please pray for the hearts of those reviewing our grant applications to be moved towards our family.

2) Please pray for Caroline's body and mind. Her "special need" is more of a symptom rather than a specific diagnosis. Her condition could vary tremendously upon her arrival. Until we have her examined by doctors here, we don't feel comfortable elaborating more than that publicly :) However, please pray that in the meantime God would heal her brain and body, and that she would show incredible improvement between now and when we bring her home.

3) Lastly, please pray that through our  journey, another family might be moved to adopt. There are SO MANY CHILDREN in this world who need a family. Pray that God lays adoption on other families hearts.

There was so much about the adoption journey that I was clueless about. Kris and I have already said that if we adopt again, it will seem SO MUCH easier the second time around. This process is like learning a whole new language (in addition to the little bit of Mandarin that we are working on!). It's so exciting and interesting, especially to those who are thinking about adopting too. I'll work on a post sometime in the next couple of days to share what OUR process has looked like up until now, and into the near future.

Thank you again for your kindness and support.

I once read something along the lines of, "As you move around you leave a little bit of your heart wherever you go, and your heart will remain in each one of those places, so you can never be fully home (okay, that was SUPER paraphrased and horribly expressed, but you get it! HA!)." The outpouring of love from everyone from ALL OVER THE FREAKING COUNTRY AND WORLD is baffling. My home is wherever you all are. What a gift and a joy.

Karolkiewicz Party of Six... Announcing #4!

Well, friends... It's time to officially share some of the most exciting news we've ever had. Quite a few of you already know, and have been a tremendous encouragement and support to us, and to those of you who don't already know- don't take it personally- we've been keeping it relatively quiet until we were a little further along... But without further adeu...

We have seen her face, and our daughter is truly one of the most fantastically beautiful and precious children I've had the pleasure to lay my eyes on... Even just through a screen. 

This is a work that God started on my heart when I was nine years old in Miss Bosch's third grade class. She read us the story of Gladys Alyward, the missionary to China who saved hundreds of Chinese orphans during World War II. I started writing stories of the little girl I would adopt from China and even had the Asian American Girl Bitty Baby (I still have both!). 

Life got crazy, and I began to struggle with anxiety. Since China prohibited people struggling with ANY type of mental health disorder from adopting (despite the level of severity) we moved on from the China idea and began focusing on adopting an older child from the foster care system... But then we received our surprise Smith Wyatt and that got halted mid process.

Soon after Smith was born we realized we'd be moving across the country, away from our support system, and just knew we were not equipped for foster care/adoption at this time. We knew we were called to adopt, so we decided to let God lead us to adopt how and where He wanted us to.

In February, we flew over Haiti on our way to Kris' company's president's club trip, and I started thinking about the orphans on that island alone. I knew international adoption would require some long term planning financially, so I called around to help us narrow down the program we were interested in so we could start to plan.

On that very first call, the social worker explained that she thought we would actually be best suited to adopt from China. I was so, so confused and reminded her that I struggle with anxiety therefore wasn't eligible to adopt from China (come on lady- get it together! ha!). Imagine my surprise when she explained that actually China had recently overturned that, and now those with mild, controlled anxiety were eligible... Just in time for my 29.5 birthday- the youngest age you are even allowed to apply to a China program.

Kris came home from work and definitely got the same goosebumps I did when I shared my conversation with the social worker, and we just knew that the same God who called my little nine year old self to adopt a daughter from China in Miss Bosch's classroom, was the same God who was opening every door and pointing so clearly to this path for our family. 

That week, during my devotions I was so overwhelmed that EVERYTIME Jesus called someone to follow where He led, they were supposed to go immediately. I fact, those who tried to go "get ready" to follow him were actually condemned. That Sunday, our church's youth pastor spoke and said "if the Bible tells us as Christians to do something, you don't have to take time to pray about whether or not it's Gods will for you." Okay, God, we got it :)

We found her quickly. Her face was familiar to us- like we already knew her. Her medical file didn't scare us. She is 1.5 right now- 7 months older than Smith. Her birth mom and I were both pregnant at the same time for a few months, and something about that warms my heart, and gives me this weird, wonderfully emotional connection to her birth mom. 

So here we are, working our butts off chasing paper for our home study and dossier, selling everything we can possibly sell to raise money, and will be applying for as many grants as possible, as soon as our home study is finished.

So what can you do?

Pray. Pray for this girl. Caroline Mercy- who I have never met in person but already love more than I have ever imagined possible.

Pray for her foster parents. Pray for her therapists and doctors. Pray for her heart.

Pray for our family. Pray for provision.

Lastly, our current need is for (non-family) friends who are willing to be a personal reference for some of our many grant applications we are in the process of completing. If you would be willing, we would SO appreciate it. Please just let me know in the comments, or email me directly at: amanda.karolkiewicz@gmail.com, and I will let you know what information we will need from you. We have so many applications and don't want to burn out the same people over and over again :)

My goal is to keep everyone up to date during this journey via this blog. I know adoption is scary and not everyone's calling, and I also know that if we could just share some of our journey, maybe God might work on someone else's heart to encourage them to love who Jesus loved, how Jesus loved them, through adoption. 

Thanks for reading, friends! What a journey this will be!

To our Sweet Caroline- good times never seemed so good. :)