Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Gratitude

I've been a bit weepy lately.  Here is why...

That first day, when we saw Jordan's face, and knew he was our son, we were told that international adoption was about $20,000.  We knew we weren't in a place to pay 20K for an adoption, but felt the reassurance that if we committed to bring Jordan home, God would provide a way.  I assumed that "the way" was to be able to sell our rental home.  But we decided to apply for as many grants as we could, and look for ways to bring in extra income while we worked to sell the home.  Since then, we've come to find out that the adoption will likely cost $30,000.  With our shortage seemingly getting larger, and the time to have it in hand is getting closer, it's becoming harder and harder not to stress over it.   On top of that, our tenants just had a baby and we agreed to let them have a month off of showing the home while they settle into life with a new little one.  So the hope of selling the rental is being put off for a month.

As stress and worry creep in, I remind myself of the peace and reassurance that I was given that God would provide a way.  We're just having to rethink how we will be provided for.  Ryan and I HATE to ask for things.  Really.  It's painful for us.  Not fun.  At all.  We knew the Lord would provide for us, but we wanted it to be through our own efforts.... selling our rental, extra jobs, cutting back on expenses, filling out grant applications.  My incredible friends kept saying that they wanted to help put together a fundraiser, but the idea of asking for other people to donate is very uncomfortable, even the time my friends would put in to organizing a fundraiser seemed like too much to ask for.  But as time passed, and our rental home still hadn't sold, we realized that we were going to have to do some sort of fundraising, or we wouldn't have the money needed to bring Jordan home.  So I started putting a 5K together on my own.  With a little guidance, I was able to do a lot of the early planning and details by myself.  I wanted to have everything in place so we could just ask for a few volunteers to show up on race day, and otherwise, not put anyone out.

But my friends, (have I said that they are the best?) they kept hounding me to let them help.  They called a meeting to organize and delegate responsibilities, they are giving freely of their time and resources and are continually working to make sure our fundraiser is successful as possible.  Far more successful than if we had continued on our own.  Though humbling, knowing that we aren't in this alone is a big, ginormous, huge-mongous relief.  A bigger relief than I expected... and when I think of it, I get emotional.  Oh, and our family?  Also the best.  They have been overwhelmingly supportive throughout our entire adoption process.  As word has spread, we've received some generous donations from friends and family who don't live close enough to participate in our "Jog for Jordan".  We even had a friend, that we've never actually met in person, send a check.  I'm awful at conveying the depth of my gratitude, but nearly every day I have a little gratitude cry... or three.  

Though it's been hard to accept so much help from others, I feel like maybe the reason our rental home hasn't sold as we had hoped, and we are having to accept the help of others in order to complete Jordan's adoption, is because it's been an amazing, faith promoting experience that we need to share with others.  Though we are fairly private people, it's not something to keep to ourselves.  Originally it felt like letting people help would just mean sharing the financial burden of adoption, but it's much more than that.  People are feeling the spirit of caring for those in need.  They are sharing in love and desire to do good for Jordan.  Hundreds of people have heard a little of Jordan's story and care enough to want to help.  And yep, that makes me cry tears of gratitude too.


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Hike To The "G"

Utah is kind of funny, for a lot of reasons, one being that many of the mountains have huge letters on their sides.  I grew up near the "Y"  For BYU.  Now we happen to live near the "G", for Pleasant Grove, a nearby city.  Ever since moving to our neighborhood, I've wanted to hike to the "G", this Spring Break we finally did!

   I love our view of Mount Timpanogos!

Starting point.

  This isn't a super long hike, but it's a very steep climb.  It didn't help that somehow we ended up on the wrong trail and took a harder way up.  But our kids hiked like champs and didn't complain. 

 
  We have hiked the "Y" in Provo, which is rocks plastered together and painted white.  I was surprised that the "G" is actually thin sheets of metal painted white and weaved through wire.  It kind of looks a little junky up close, but I guess it does the job.

 The kids had fun looking at all of the names of the people who had left their mark and signed the G.  Maddie found Jordan's name, so I took a picture.  It wasn't until I put the pictures on the computer that I noticed the date with Jordan's name... 11/13.  That's Jordan's birthday!  I thought that was a pretty cool coincidence. 

We ate dinner on the G then started back down the mountain.





"We were there!"

 We saw a lot of deer just off the trail on our way down. 


Beautiful sky on the way down.

 We live in such a pretty place surrounded by mountains and I love the view of the lake from above... We live so close to it, but don't usually get to see it like this.  I love it!

 The sunset got really colorful just as we were driving home.  
The kids all thanked us over and over for taking them to the G.  It was a fun little outing that I'm sure they'll often remember when they look up and see the G. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Jog for Jordan

  
Having overcome the hurdle of being matched with Jordan, we are now looking for ways to overcome our lack of funds for his adoption.  We have applied for 17 grants, hoping to receive one or two, Ryan has taken on a coaching position for extra pay, he also applied and was accepted for a teacher externship for the summer.  We are continually looking for ways to raise enough money to finish paying for Jordan's adoption.  We are excited that this fundraising event is coming together!  We are praying it is successful and will get us one step closer to bringing Jordan home. 

If you live in Utah, please spread the word! 

If not, but you'd still like to donate, Credit Card/Pay Pal donations are being accepted being accepted on this blog.
or
Checks can be mailed directly to our adoption agency:
6920 S Holly Circle
Centennial, CO 80112
Made payable to CCAI Adoption Services. Memo line should read "For Ryan and Amy Andersen Adoption"


Every little bit helps, and is so appreciated!!