Bringing Baby Crockett Home!
It's been a while since I have written an update - a long while. Sorry to keep you all in the dark. As you can see, I have had to start a new fundraising page, where the updates will go. Why? Well, YouCaring and GoFundMe merged and everything I had written previously was deleted. The money we had raised, is in the bank and we have currently raised about $7,000. This is from t-shirt sales (https://www.bonfire.com/it-takes-a-village-8/ ), our yard sale, some coffee sales (https://www.justlovecoffee.com/Beneficiary/Profile/5222), and a handful of our puzzle pieces. We are wanting to push the puzzle piece fundraiser until all pieces have been sold! We have 124 more puzzle pieces to sell in order to complete our fundraising goal. IF we complete this fundraiser, we will have raised $11,181.00, which would be o u t s t a n d i n g! I know we can do it because our community is so amazing and helpful! Our friends, family, church members, co-workers, and acquaintances are truly amazing people, and we are honored to do life with you all! We would not be the couple we are today, walking down the path God has led us to if it wasn't for those around us pushing us and showing us the love of God.
Quick overall update about life:
I GOT A JOB! You guys, this doesn't seem like too big of a deal, but, man has it changed my whole outlook on things! Going without a job from February to late July was beyond stressful. Mentally, I was left asking why? Why me? Why now? But the funny thing is, as cliche as it sounds, God had and has a plan for me. He knew we needed to slow down our adoption process. He knew I needed to be at a job that I am truly happy in. He knew Robert and I needed to dig deeper into our church.
He knew.
Jesus knew what we needed and made it happen. Not my plan, not Robert’s plan, but HIS plan.
We never really understand things while we go through them, and I still don't fully understand everything, but I do trust that the Lord will prevail and show us the way. The best part about it all, we get to sit back, trust Him, and watch His greatness unfold.
I was offered a job at E.A. Cox Middle School, and boy do I love it! This place, the people, and the students are all so spectacular. Is it tough? 100% YES! Is it worth it? 1,000% YES! I have loved joining this community. My co-workers come to work every day to make a difference. A lot of times, we, as humans, can get complacent with our jobs, get caught going through the motions. Not to discredit the amazing people I met at my last job, but I felt like I worked around some people who forgot why they do what they do. They forgot their calling, their why. They forgot that being a teacher is so empowering, to us as the educator, as well as to the child as the student.
We often look at our jobs as tasks we have to do to make ends meet. On one hand, this is true. On the other hand, we are all called to serve the Lord. He has provided us with the gifts necessary to do so. Try not to take your job for granted. You never know when it may no longer be there. I know this first hand.
A BIGGER update about the adoption:
WE ARE ACTIVE (insert confetti and balloons!)- this means we are currently a waiting family. Robert and I have been approved to bring a baby into our home, so now we wait! We are praying, daily, for the right expectant mama to come along and make the bravest decision of her life; an adoption plan. Once she makes this plan, our consultants at FAC, send us a case file which we are to look over. If we are interested, we then show our profile book to the expectant mama. If we are not, we wait until the next case and pray fervently that the previous mama is handled with care and covered with God’s grace and love during this chaotic time.
Here is where you, yes YOU, come in. We NEED help. We can't wait for the day when we get to hold our baby for the first time, kiss our baby's head, change our baby's diaper(Yes, Robert will have to do this :)). But, we cannot afford adoption. We are looking at $40,000 to bring our baby home, and the $7,000 we have isn't going to do it.
Would you be willing to pray for us?
Pray that the Lord will provide. Pray that the Lord will guide us through this confusing, scary, and stressful time. Pray that the Lord will cover our baby's birth mama with love, peace, grace, forgiveness, and clarity. Would you be willing to do that? If you feel called to help us bring our baby home, would you be willing to give? Buy some coffee and gift it at Christmas, buy a t-shirt and wear it in remembrance as to why you got it, buy a puzzle piece for us to place in our baby's nursery, donate money to help us get closer to the day where we are able to meet our baby for the first time. We KNOW the Lord is good, we KNOW his people are good, and we KNOW we can do this.
-Rachael
