Tuesday, June 27, 2017

When our best just isn't good enough....

In a past few weeks I have seen orphans pass away. 
I have watched with disbelief as their soon to be adoptive parents pursued them until the very end...unable to get there in time.
I have shook with anger at the injustice these little ones suffer.
I have cried over the fact that if these little angles were in the U.S., they would live.  A short plane ride away from the proper medical treatment....yet they die.

They die without a family.
They die without comfort.
They die without hope.
It rocks me to my core every time.

It frustrates me to no end that I can not do enough.  I can hardly do anything to make a different to the million of orphans. 
Have you heard the star fish story?



"It made a difference for that one."
What if thats not enough?
The good that I can do is NOT enough.
Thats why I share.
Its why I flood your facebook with non-stop adoption posts and fundraising events.
Its why I tell anyone and everyone who asks me about adoption that they should adopt no matter how rude or annoying they may think I am.

If only...
If only the church would stand up, climb out of their comfort zones, and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I have accepted that the world is the way it is because of sin...it won't be right until Jesus comes back.
But can't a girl just be incredibly, irrationally, and consistently unsettled that she can't do more?




Monday, June 12, 2017

Yard Sale Complete!




Thank you all so much for making our Yard sale successful!
It turned out AMAZING.
Every one who donated played a huge role in making this thing successful.
Thank you to Elaine and all her family and friends who put in a lot of hard work for us.
It so humbling to watch people work so hard for a little girl they don't even know that they aren't even adopting.  Its truly a picture of Jesus in this world.

Without further delay....
We raised 2,000 towards our sweet girlies adoption fees.
Thats leaves just $19,000 to raise to by fully funded!
Wow!  
We have been blessed.

We are planning on doing another yard sale in the fall right before we leave to Europe.  
We had a lot of great stuff left over but will be collecting donations through the summer into fall so if you didn't get in on this last yard sale, let me know and we can make sure we pick up your stuff for the next one.

We will also being doing an online auction in a month or two.  If you make anything awesome or just have something that you think would do well at an auction that you would like to donate let me know. We are looking forward to collecting lots of unique items to make a really successful auction.

I will also be making necklaces!
Getting a little artsy with it to try and raise money for our girl.
I had an adoption friend give me a bunch of supplies so I am trying my hand at it.
Keep your eyes peeled for some original Rachel creations!

Prayer Requests
We have several grant applications out right now so be praying praying praying we get one or two of those.  The applications are a lot of work and I put a lot of time into them.  We are so hoping we might get at least one grant.




Friday, May 26, 2017

One or Two

So people keep asking me if we are adopting one or two.
I thought I would clear up any confusion with a big fat I don't know!
Haha!

We are committed to our one little cutie.
But....we are open to a second.
 Her country works a bit differently than others we have worked with.
We don't officially accept her referral until we are in Europe meeting her.
This means that we can wait until we are there, ask to meet a second child, and begin adopting that child when we are there.

We are not feeling that we should adopt two but not feeling that we shouldn't either.
We are really just trying to wait and see what God has for us.
There was a certain little boy who we thought about committing to but hours later found that his availability was uncertain.

We will wait until we get to Europe and then see who else is available all while praying for what God has for us.  My heart is always for two.  I mean we are going over there anyways and there are so many that need families.  I also know how difficult adoption is and have to be sensitive to what is best for the entire family.  IF we were to pursue two...that kid would have to be pretty darn perfect for our family and God would have to make it very obvious that he/she was ours.

In other news, the fundraising yard sale for our girl is the second weekend in June!
If you have anything to donate we are still accepting donations. 
If you don't you should come by and shop!

As always, if you want to give a tax deductible donation towards getting our girl home we would be blessed!

Thursday, May 18, 2017

one...two...three..GO!!!

Things have been a little slow around here.
We got our final drafts of our home study but are waiting for our facilitator to approve it.
Once it gets approved, we will be sending it to USCIS to begin the wait for their approval.

We will also be able to apply for grants!  
So please be praying that we might get one or two...it would certainly bless us.

As of right now we are on track to not have to re-due any of our dossier.  Yay!

For our next fundraiser, friends of ours are doing a yard sale to raise money to bring our little angel home.
Amazing I know!  Its the first weekend in June so if you did an spring cleaning and have things lying around let me know!
We would be blessed by that stuff you were planning on taking to Goodwill. 

Thank you all for your love and support and as always we will keep you all updated as things progress.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Progress Update

Our home study draft is ALMOST ready for review by our facilitators.
It should be ready to send over the end of this week.
Once it is finalized, it will head over to the court house for approval.
Getting this home study done will be a HUGE step in the right direction.
As soon as its done, we can move forward with immigration which is the last step before we submit our dossier.

Our dossier documents are currently in the mail awaiting approval by the secretary of state.  We have most of them done, we are waiting on a couple of things from our social worker, our home study, immigration approval, and an employer letter.  
Something you can always be praying for is the safety of these documents in the mail. 
We send them UPS and get tracking numbers but we have still had things lot before.  It would be a tragedy to lose the dossier...it would basically mean starting all over again.

I am usually a very impatient person but I must say this process is going to fast I can hardly keep up!
I can't believe that we will be going to get our sweet baby girl in the fall...thats like six months away!

We are doing several fundraising including a garden basket giveaway and a yard sale.  For information on any of our fundraisers, just check out any of my facebook pages.

As always your prayers are appreciated and we love you for your support of us during this process!

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Its More Than We Can Handle





When we decided to adopt for the fifth time, the biggest doubt people had was if we could "handle" more kids.  Could we HANDLE another adoption?  Could we HANDLE a child with special needs?
I have to admit, sometimes when people voice their concerns it peeves me.  
They say it as if I don't have my own fears about this expedition.
Fears about getting in too deep.
Fears about getting in over my head.
These are real FEAR that can plague and torture an adoptive parent.

I know that people usually mean well and for the most part their "opinions" come out of a place of concern.
When we first adopted internationally, we had one child, less work, and little responsibility.
I spent countless hours researching adoption, applying for grants, and carrying out elaborate fundraisers.
We didn't get far into this new adoption before I realized that adopting with six kids, a very busy husband, and loads of responsibly this was going to be more than I could handle.
I found myself staying up until 1am most nights trying apply for grants and make things for fundraising.  
I also found myself exhausted the next day and seriously lacking in my ability to get home school done.
I found that this adoption was already becoming more than we could handle!

Whats funny is people think this makes me a failure. 
They think it makes me weak or incapable.
Anyone out there do beachbody workouts?  Chalene Extreme to be exact?
She has a workout where she explains muscles failure.
"In this case failure actually means success."
This is because as the muscle breaks down and FAILS, it builds itself up stronger.  So the next time you work out, you will be stronger than you were before.

Well in the body of Christ, when we fail it gives the Lord the opportunity to send someone to hold us up.  When we can't, HE can.  Sometimes the way He can is through others...His hands and feet.

So here we are struggling to put together fundraising ideas that will work with our busy schedules. 
We are in a season where we just moved into a house with a giant time consuming yard to needs lots of repairs and maintaining, we moved into a house that needs remodeling and fixing up, we have six kids under 7...half of who are homeschooling. Regular life is intense let alone adding an adoption.

Now I know what your thinking....
"This is what you signed up for."
"What did you expect?"
"If its too much maybe you should have waited"
"The Pehl's are soooo irresponsible."

I have heard it before.
So has every other adoptive mom.
I would have to disagree, do you know why?

Because just as we started realizing we were in over our heads, God sent us an angel.
He didn't tell us we made a bad decision and leave us to struggle on our own.
He sent someone to lead the fight, to carry the burden, to give her time selflessly.

He is not doing this just for us...its not to make our lives easier.
This sending of an angel is so much bigger than us.
Its about the orphan.
God goes to GREAT LENGTHS to save these children.
I have seen it over and over again.
When parents say "YES", God sends an army.

To our warrior angel, you restore my faith in humanity.
You constantly remind me of God's love and faithfulness.
There are not words to explain how much your service to our king means to our family.

To her family who is coming alongside and supporting her in all of her efforts.
We are humbled by every single one of you.
Its not easy to ask for help...but we didn't have to when it came to you.
some of you barely know us...
Your all amazing.

To God's army of servants fighting for our girl.
You people are brave, you are strong, and we are thankful for you!

With this all being said, our Angel is holding a yard sale to raise money for our adoption.
If you have anything you are getting rid of and willing to donate for the yard sale, please get a hold of me and I will point you in the right direction.
You can also go straight to our Warrior Angel's orphan care facebook page.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Baking Basket Winner!!!!


Congratulations to Holly for winning this wonderful baking basket!  
I hope you have all sorts of fun with all these treasures!
Thank you ALL so much for you love and support. 
This first fundraiser was completely AMAZING.

You guys raised $1500 towards getting our daughter home!
Thank you!

With this fundraiser, the bench giveaway, selling several items, and Cayenne's grant, we are on a serious roll to raising the money for her adoption.

We have set a fundraising goal of 25K.
We have $3030 so far.
That leaves us with $21,970 still to raise!

That may seem like a lot but look at what God accomplished in our first month of fundraising!
We are believing in His promises and trusting in His provision.