The Family Builder Fund in Action

It amazes me that our son, Noah, has been home with us for over 6 months now; our lives have changed SO completely! (In a good way, of course!)

God is so good in His timing and in His working. Our pastor preached a series on miracles recently; one of the things he said that sticks with me is this: even though we sometimes wonder where God is or what's taking Him so long to work in our individual situations, we have to remember that He has a plan. He's already seen our future. He knows it all works out for the best. And, He wants to wait until we're so dependent on Him that there's no doubt that He was the one who made something happen. As our pastor says (and he means no disrespect by this!), God likes to show up and show off in big ways!

All of this was true in our case. My husband, Greg, and I are both teachers; the total cost for Noah's adoption was more than either of us make in a year. When we decided to start this whole process two years ago, we knew that we would need a serious financial miracle to make it work... but, we both felt a strong leading from the Lord that the time was right for pursuing our adoption dreams. We had to put our college debt, credit card debt, car debt, and small salaries out of our minds as we followed what we knew God wanted us to do.

Our fundraising started slowly. We sent out letters to just about everyone we knew, took out a loan for as much as we could possibly afford, and started applying for grants. Money trickled in from friends and family, and we seemed to have enough money for what we needed as we went along. Then, on February 17, 2006, we got Noah's referral. It was a wonderful day! The money seemed to be working out, our baby boy was beautiful, and life was good.

Shortly after our referral, we went through a period of stress, frustration, and probably a little depression. My husband suddenly had to start looking for another position and our finances were incredibly tight; I remember wondering where on earth we were going to get the additional $15,000+ that we needed to finish our adoption. Also, our case seemed to slow down a little in Guatemala, and I started to worry that we might not have Noah home anytime soon. Ultimately, though, all of the negative feelings were replaced with hope, faith, and trust as we watched how God really kicked it into high gear and worked tremendously to get Noah home to us!
 
I distinctly remember walking through Old Navy, searching the clearance racks for cute clothes for Noah. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and as I glanced at the caller ID I saw that it was someone from CWA. Hoping and praying that it was good news, I answered. I was SO excited to hear that we had been awarded the Family Builder Fund Grant in the amount of $2,000! Over the next couple of months, God continued to supernaturally provide for us; money continued to come in from friends and family, and we were awarded another one of the grants we applied for.
 
Around the same time, my husband got a new position in a school that he loves, and our case in Guatemala started moving along quickly. On June 26, 2006, we flew into Guatemala City and were united with our son; we will never forget that day. We instantly fell in love with our little bundle of joy! Through the process of adoption, God showed us His tremendous love and power. Now, as Noah has just turned one and continues to bless our lives daily, we never forget thank the Lord for the amazing privilege of being chosen to raise Noah!

The Carpenters

Would you like to have your family featured in one of our adoption stories? Please let us know by emailing Tana Alfrey, Communications Assistant.