Items For Sale To Fund Our Adoption

I just posted this as a note on Facebook:

FOR SALE!

Trying to sell a few things left from the yard sale, so I can park in my garage.

Reclining wing back chair

Counter top wine cooler

2 dining room tables- 1 oak, 1 mahogany

8 bottle wine rack

2 corner shelves-super nice

Van console organizer-tan

2 matching floor lamps, black base with white shades, kinda off white, but barely

massage ottoman

bread machine

4 drawer filing cabinet

Rock climbing shoes, size 6 1/5 and 11 1/2

rock climbing harnesses

The following I will be putting in the Little Treasures Sale Next week, the below prices are discounted to what I would actually receive from the sale:

2 infant car seats with bases--$25 each

changing table--$45, picture on my wall

Pottery Barn Kids Rug-Polka Dot Rug, Green and Pink, excellent condition, 3x5--$56

2 large Rolling canvas totes, pink, for toys--some coloring inside, $8 for both

3 large Vintage style nursery rhyme, nursery art, framed and in excellent condition--$60 for all three

spalding tennis racquet--$5

I also have tons of early reader style books, that I have bundled in to stacks of between 10-20. I will take $3 for a bundle.

Except for one of the dining tables, which belongs to the paces, all money will fund our adoption!

Encourgament and Discouragement

I think most of the posts on this blog expose my fragile emotional state. This one will not disappoint.
First, I must say, we have been overwhelmed with the love and support we have received from our friends and family members. To know that so many people are praying for our family, especially Baby Buna, is tremendously encouraging. Not to mention the financial support that has been pouring in. We are making drops in that required bucket of cash!
I'm not ignorant. We knew from the beginning that this would be a fight. Adoption, at it's core, is a very clear picture of the gospel. We were once lost, and God, in his goodness--and not because of our own, paid a much bigger price to adopt us as His own children. He continues the fight in convincing some of us that the payment has been made. That we are no longer slaves, no longer orphans wandering without hope. We know that our family's pursuit of Baby Buna is just a small picture of God's love for us, but a picture that Satan would rather not be displayed. He will fight, but we will fight back.
Today we received an email from our agency, we are asked not to share specific details of emails on blogs, social media outlets, etc. but this I took directly from a public page on their website:

As many of you are aware, there have been many changes to the adoption process in Ethiopia lately. Several orphanages have been closed, including one of Holt's partners. There has been a slow down in the number of children referred to Holt over the last few months.

In an effort to maintain reasonable wait times for the families currently in process with Holt, we have decided to place a hold on accepting new applications. We expect this to be a temporary measure, but at this time, we are not sure how long it will be before we begin to accept new applications again.

Bummer. Delays in referrals. Orphans piled in less orphanages, with fewer going out to their families. Baby Buna. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Now, I must type this to remind myself that our God is good and sovereign. And that no, He doesn't delight in this situation, but He is over this situation, and He is working it our for good.

Courts in Ethiopia close during the rainy season. They will reopen the second week of October. Will you please pray that the government will carefully, but swiftly begin sending out more referrals so that those babies can get to their mommas and daddies, waiting for them. Pray for all those sweet babies, waiting. For their nannies to love and serve them as best as they can. For the officials who have the final say to have mercy. For God to keep all of them, and us in His strength?

I just sent an email to our case worker with a few questions about the next steps for us. One pressing issue on our hearts is to get our dossier turned in with it's $3,000 fee ASAP. Then, we have to work extra hard to get the $11,900 so that our names can get on the list to be able to receive a referral. The longer it takes, the further back the ever increasing list we go. Pray that we will figure out how to get this money and be able to submit it sooner than later.

So, for now, we are thankful, but with heavy hearts.

Saturday and other things

Saturday was a big day in the Baby Buna world.
All our hard work for the yard sale paid off. With Beth's urging and organization, we set our alarms for 5 am. We were greeted by our sweet friend Anne, who was knocking on our door as we stumbled, sleepy eyed down the steps. More friends soon joined, Rebekah, LT, Amy, Lauren. Coffee was poured, but never enjoyed, as we began the GINORMOUS task of taking all the goods from our garage and house, and setting them up in some type of semi-organized fashion on our front lawns. I put Beth in charge of the set up. The multitude of boxes was simultaneously encouraging and anxiety inducing.
The sale was set to start at 8, which means the first cars started pulling up at 7:15. Yard Sale goers are crazy, and serious, about their deals.
Praise God that we got a small break from this crazy Kentucky summer. It was certainly hot, but not unbearable, and the predicted rain held off to only a few drops as we set up.
Ellory was once again in charge of her lemonade stand, but wasn't quite as interested with her cousins available to play with. Fact: Lemonade stands make more money when a cute 4 year old is manning it.
We were so blessed with lots of visits from friends and family throughout the day. By the time we wrapped up, I had done minimal amounts of my own shopping, and we had added over $1000 to Baby Buna's collection jar!
At last count, we are about $800 shy of our dossier fee. Very doable by the time it is due! What a blessing! I have spent the remainder of the week listing an selling items on craigslist and eBay.
It's quite a job to keep up with all the emails and listings, but it's been great to share our story and the generosity of our friends and family with so many people!
Also on Saturday, we got our USCIS biometrics appointment date! Will be fingerprinted on the 25th! I LOVE having a date to look forward to. It's a continued struggle of emotions as we seemingly wait with what feels like no end in sight for our little one. Having a date to mark on the calendar and focus myself on is much appreciated!
Any insight on how long approval will take following our biometrics appointment?
Well dear readers, nap time has ended at the Coffey house, which means, like it our not, edited or not, it's time to end this post and get back mommahood!