Leah Stirewalt

Out of Deep Waters

The Finish Line is in Sight!

by 1 Comment

downloadIt’s amazing how so much can change in so little time!

Less than two weeks ago, I was pining over the difficult waiting days we’ve been experiencing while in this place of limbo…waiting to return to Bulgaria to bring our children home. And then…just when I thought the wait was never going to end…we got THE call!

Our adoption has been approved, and we’ll be returning to Bulgaria in about a month to pick up our children!!!! Woohoo!!!! We couldn’t be more ecstatic!

We’re busy taking care of those last minute details in preparation for their arrival…making sure their room is ready, shopping for things we still need, scheduling doctor’s appointments, etc. We also have packing lists to make, as we’ll be traveling over to Bulgaria just the two of us and returning home with three more. With Thanksgiving, the wedding of our oldest son, and Christmas on the heels of our return, we need to be extremely organized before leaving. And yet…the timing is EXACTLY what we prayed for. We asked God to bring our children home by Thanksgiving. And. He. Said. Yes!

We kept hearing they’d be home by Christmas, but we knew God could make anything happen, and we really wanted them home by Thanksgiving. No detail throughout this whole journey has gone unnoticed by Him. Especially when it comes to finances.

We began this journey expecting the fees to total around $35,000. However, when we committed to adopt a sibling group of three, those costs increased to closer to $50-55K. Regardless, we have been completely dependent on God to raise the necessary funds to complete this adoption. We are THRILLED to share we only have just under $9,000 left to raise to completely fund this adoption. Through our personal savings, various fundraisers, grants, and gifts from friends and family, God has already provided over $35K. Simply amazing! This has been nothing short of a faith walk, and He has been so very faithful!

Addtionally, we just received word this week we’ve been blessed to have received a Lifesong for Orphans matching grant of $2,000. Here’s how this works:

Lifesong will match…dollar for dollar…every donation made to our account up to $2,000. This is HUGE y’all. Since we’re just under $9,000 away from having our adoption completely funded, and with your help…this would almost take care of half that. All donations will only be accepted by Lifesong until our children are home, so we really need your immediate response, if at all possible. They’ll match $1, $10, $100…until the $2,000 mark is reached. That makes your $25 gift turn into $50 and your $50 turn into $100. See how this works? The simplest and most expedient way to donate is online. Simpy click on this link:

http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/

Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete the online form and fill in our “Family Account Number” (5546) and “Family Name” (Stirewalt) fields.

Thank you, in advance, for helping us reach the full benefit of this grant and ultimately getting that much closer to the financial finish line. We. Are. So. Close.

NOTE: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Individual donations $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.

We can’t wait to “introduce” you to our children and share pictures of their beautiful faces. Thankfully, there’s not too much longer to wait for that! We’ll meet you at the “finish line”!

These are the Hard Days

by Leave a Comment

these are the hard daysWe were warned about these days, but until you’re in the middle of them…it’s honestly just too hard to comprehend. The days between the trip we took at the end of June/beginning of July to actually meet the three beautiful children we’re adopting to the actual day we return to pick them up. Yes…these are the very hard days.

Leaving our children – the ones we’ve been called to adopt – the ones hand-selected for us – in the care of others while we wait on the paperwork process to finish up is so hard. Imagine if you took one of your children (or grandchildren) and placed them in someone’s home that you didn’t know and told them you’d be back for them soon but didn’t have a clear date in mind just yet. How would they feel? How would you feel? While it’s certainly not the same, hopefully that gives you a little idea of what I’m talking about.

God’s held these precious children in the palm of His hand since day one of their lives, and He will certainly not abandon them (or us) now. But, the waiting is still so very, very hard.

Barring something unforeseen, we’ve been told our children should be home by Christmas. Granted, it could be before that, but that’s the realistic date we’ve been given. HOWEVER…we are praying with everything in us to have them home by Thanksgiving!!! Is it possible? Yes! Is it probable? We truly don’t know. Even so…we invite all our praying friends to join us in this request! We would be so humbled to have you interceding for us and our children!

To give you a little peek into what we’re doing now to prepare for our children’s homecoming…

  • We’ve been preparing their bedroom. We’ve shopped thrift stores, consignment sales, flea markets, and more…looking for dressers/chest of drawers to add to their room. We already have bunk beds in place!
  • Clothing…clothing…and more clothing! I posted a notice several months ago that we were looking for clean, used clothing for our kiddos with estimated sizes based on the measurements we took this summer. God opened the floodgates, and we’ve been so blessed with bags and bags of beautiful clothing for these children! With the exception of underwear, socks and shoes, there is truly very little clothing we still need for them. And…we’ll wait on the shoes until they get home to ensure a proper fitting.
  • Reading and re-reading. I don’t think we could ever over-educate when it comes to adoption. We’ve taken time to review books and materials we studied earlier in our adoption journey, but we felt it was important to review a lot of that material in advance of our children coming home.
  • Connecting with those on the same path or those who have gone before us. Something I actually learned during my time as a widow that proved vital to my healing…it’s important to allow yourself to “do life” with those that “get it”…people who have walked in your shoes before or who, at least, have an inkling of what you might be going through. We love connecting with other adoptive families – especially those who have adopted/are adopting from Bulgaria. 🙂
  • Fundraising. We are in awe at how far God’s brought us on the financial side of this adoption journey. We knew it was a step of faith from the very beginning, and it’s proven to be nothing short of that. Even so…seeing it actually come to fruition is nothing short of miraculous. We have several grant decisions still outstanding, and we continue to fundraise through various avenues until our adoption is fully funded (close…just not quite there).
  • Praying. It goes without saying. It’s been paramount from the beginning of this journey and will continue to be the most important piece of this entire process. God called us to this, and it’s all for His glory!

We look forward to having our newest children home this year and can’t believe this adoption journey is close to being over (at least this side of it). Thank you for your continued love and encouragement as we travel this together!