referral...yea!

We got it!  Our referral for Paulina is in hand and we are so thankful and amazed at how God has worked it all out.  He is showing us daily how BIG & how INTRICATE He is.  So thankful.  

good days

What a whirlwind of a few days we have had here!  I can't even begin to go into all the details but let me just say God has worked some incredible miracles on behalf of Paulina to work out some seriously big roadblocks we ran into!  We are so deeply humbled and thankful to be walking with Jesus through all He has for us and for His goodness in bringing us to Paulina, and her to us.  Our time with her has been so incredibly joyful and sweet.  She is so wonderful and we love her more now than ever!  Because of the problems we had we are having a few week delay but are trusting Jesus and thanking Him it is not longer.  We should be bringing her home in June!  Here are a few pics of our time.  Watching Madeline with Paulina has been beautiful.  Moments I will cherish forever!

we made it!

We made it!  

Wow, this last week or so has been a whirlwind!  We found out Monday that our appointment with the Ministry of Social Policy would be the following Monday, April 22^nd!  So we gathered our stuff, prepared for leaving our kiddos, and got on a plane…20ish hours later, we were greeted by our facilitator & her husband, Olga & Alex.  Madeline was an excellent traveller!  We spent today resting & touring around Kyiv with Olga, Alex, and a woman from Illinois & her 10 year old son.  They were so great to get to know today and especially for Madeline to have a friend.  I have so many things swirling in my head but for now, too tired to get anything out!  We are all 3 healthy & doing well and looking forward to our ministry appointment tomorrow & meeting Paulina on Wednesday!

Titus Task

Six weeks ago, Andrew & I sat down to talk a bit about the finances we needed for our adoption.  We had applied for several grants and were praying that we would hear back from all of them around the beginning of April.  God has definitely answered that prayer and not only have we heard back, but we have been given a matching grant from a local organization called the Titus Task.  

We are so grateful for the way God is providing every detail for us and so thankful for the blessing this grant is for our family.  The grant will match every dollar donated up to $2500 making the total possible amount $5000.  If you would like to join us in our adoption by making a donation we would be so thankful and so blessed!  You can do so in two ways:

1. To make a Tax Deductible donation by Paypal please use this link:

http://www.thetitustask.com/brill-family.html

2. Or mail checks to: PO Box 82, Siloam Springs, AR 72761

Titus Task will keep our account open through May 6th.  

Generosity: The Receiving End

Proverbs 11:25

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

We are finding ourselves in the midst of a God-given season of need.  We are needy because God has called us to our calling and it is being played out in accordance to what He has also called others to as well.  Our callings are different but all are necessary.  We can confidently say, yes, we are called to adoption.  Yes, we are called to our daughter with special needs.  Yes, we are called to make sacrifices which I pray we will be ready to make.  And yes, we are called to be in need and to be dependent on the hands of others to do what God has called them to do.  We need those who’ve been equipped by God to uphold our weak arms as we all seek to worship and glorify God with our obedience to His different calls on our lives.    

In this season, we are finding ourselves on the receiving end of the generosity through the faith and obedience of others.  Some our family, some our friends, and some complete strangers.  And we are so very humbled and thankful as we watch God do all that He promises to do in order to accomplish His purposes in our lives.  We have been beyond blessed by the generosity of others in our lives as we work toward bringing our daughter home.  Generosity of money, time, care, prayer, conversation, service, gifts, and on.  We’ve been truly blown away.  I so badly wish in my heart that I could repay people somehow and let them know how thankful we are but I can’t.  And I know they don’t even seek that.  

But to all of you who have so generously blessed us, we pray you know that you have greatly refreshed us, and we pray that through it you yourselves will also be refreshed. 

another random picture update

I dream of keeping my pictures up here on a regular basis, but here I am again, with a little overload.  Thankful for these little people who make my life so much better!

waiting, waiting

After months of prayer, tears & paperwork I think I can safely say we are finally so very near to bringing Paulina home!  On Saturday I finally got the email that started an actual countdown of days for us.  Our dossier is in the hands of the governing ministry that will approve us as adoptive parents within 20 working days and will then officially "invite" us within 10 more days to our appointment in country that will be scheduled 2-3 weeks from that letter.  Whew.  There may be fewer than 8 weeks that stand between my and my sweet girl and I cannot wait!  I am so ready to know her.  

Going through these last months I have and still am learning so very much about faith, waiting, God's sovereignty, and peace.  I don't have it all (or much of it for that matter) figured out but one thing that God has made clear to me has been the difference between anxiety/fear and eagerness/longing.  When I talk of Paulina and the road God is guiding us through I struggle because sometimes it can seem like I am anxious and not trusting God.  And there are surely times and circumstances in which I am being driven by my fears and worry but I think there is a great different between that and the deep, deep eagerness and longing I have to bring her home.  When I say I am so ready, or I can't wait, or it is so hard, I am not saying I don't trust God and His plans, I am saying I completely do trust Him and depend on Him and long for the promises that He has made to us as we've walked this journey.  I am not doubting His goodness, I am ready to see it more and more through Paulina.

The difference for me between not trusting Him and fully trusting Him is definitely whether or not I am being led by fears or by eager longing.  Fears produce lack of faith and attempts at "controlling" the path, while eagerness produces a greater and growing desire for more of His plan and His control.

So, I keep waiting, casting my anxieties on Jesus and eagerly longing for the goodness that I know is coming.