It has been a crazy March and it is only the 7th!  How is it that a month as short as February could feel so long and the final stretch before spring break feels so short?  I have been coaching JV swimming for the last month in order to earn a little bit of extra money for the adoption, I get my stipend at the end of April, and it is making me realize how much older I am than the last time that I coached.  There never seem to be enough hours in the day, but somehow things are moving forward.  I feel as though I have been on a roller coaster of emotions over the last two weeks.  Pursuing an adoption is by far the most difficult thing that I have done in my life.  There are days when my emotions get the better of me and I want to give up, but I know that this adoption and our son is more important than the emotions and stress that seek to attack my will.  We will stop at nothing to bring our baby boy home.  We are about half-way to our goal of $1500 for the 1st installation of the program fee.  Yesterday we found out that if we don't raise the money before the 29th, then we will be subject to a new set of adoption fees and will owe $2500 in place of the $1500.  In addition, the adoption will go up in cost a total of $4000 overall if we don't raise the money before the 29th.  At first I was terrified, but today I am calm and filled with joy because I trust that God will provide the money that we need according to His perfect timing.  Instead, I am choosing to focus on our next fundraiser!  Starting in a couple of weeks I am going to be selling homemade bath salts.  Please look for information on the blog when they become available.  I am sure that I am not the only one who could use some stress relief in her life, especially for a good cause.  In addition, I am going to be holding a silent auction on the blog in the next couple of months.  Please let me know if you are willing to donate a basket filled with goods or a service for the silent auction.  Above all else we need your prayers.  Please pray with us...

1. For our future son, his family, and the people of Ethiopia
2. That God will provide the money that we need by the 29th and that we would trust in HIS timing...
3. After we pay the program fee, we will need to raise another $2350 to start the home study
4. For endurance and patience as we start our dossier and the paper chase stage of the adoption
5. In the middle of all of this, Kona (our sweet female kitty), needs to have a fairly major surgery on Friday.