#Journeytobe3

It’s been a whirlwind of a journey to be 3! Since our last update our match with the twins fell through and it was a roughly couple of months until we got the call.

We began presenting again in August and the first case we sent a yes to chose us! 

We were here across the country in Newark, NJ for a training. We went into New York City for the afternoon and got a phone call from the Arizona based agency we were working with. We instantly knew it was THE call. Baby boy was expected a week later. We trecked back across country to Arizona to meet his first parents and a few days later on 9/18/2019 he was born! Dantae Solomon Bruce, we call him Solo! 

He has been such a blessing to our family and such a joy to watch grow. We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. 

In order to see this adoption through after two failed matches we had to take out $21,000 in adoption loans. A contribution in any amount would be so greatly appreciated! With one less income and a car dying in the process, our budget is very tight these days. To be able to pay off this adoption loan would be the next greatest blessing we could ask for. 

Thank you tk everyone that has contributed, to everyone that has been praying, to everyone that has lent an encouraging word or a listening ear. It truly takes a village and we couldn’t be more thankful to have you all be a part of ours. 

Happy Thanksgiving & Merry Christmas! 

WE’RE MATCHED!

This time with IDENTICAL TWIN BOYS! Yahoo!!

Twins are something that we have been thinking and praying about for years. Never did we think they would come to us in this way. We couldn’t be more exctied to have a lifetime of adventure ahead with them both. 

They are expected to be delivered later this month… the same week as our previous match that fell through. You guys, GOD IS GOOD! He’s in the valley to teach you things and on the mountain tops filled with great blessings when we least expect it. 

We cannot say thank you enough to everyone who has been praying for us, encouraging us through the ups and downs of this journey, for loving us, and opening your pockets to help us see this through. Truly, its a blessing to be so loved by so many!

With the news of TWINS means double EVERYTHING! We had one of many things already, but now we need another car seat, high chair, bassinet, etc. The biggest being a car. We recently discovered a carseat could fit behind whatever seat Sasha and her short legs were in, but Robbie and his tallness does not allow for a carseat to be behind him while driving nor as a passanger. With the update of TWO carseats being in the car, we need to find a larger one. 

Additionally, Sasha will now be leaving the workplace. It was our hope for her to be able to do so to raise our furtue children, but with the news of twins, daycare costs are not realistic for her to stay in the workplace. 

SO many changes and different moving parts, but we honestly couldn’t be more excited and more blessed to be considered to parent these precious little boys and hope to establish a great relationship with their first parents and family as well. Please pray that God will be in the midst of these relationships, our travels, the timing for their arival, the health of the boys and mama throughout the remainder of this pregnancy, during, and after birth. And please, do not forget our first matched mama and baby as well, they could always use your prayers as well! 

God Bless!

It’s been two weeks that we have been active and presenting again. We have seen a handfull of mamas and have said yes to a few. No match yet, but we will be sure to provide an update on here and via our socials once we do. 

We heard back from the agency we were matched with our first mama through. She left the agency in hopes to find more adoptive families with another agency. We are continuing to pray for her and baby boy to find a new family that they establish a good relationship with, a family that is equipped and prepared for their journey ahead, and one that this mama can see a future with.

With the news of her leaving the agency also came the news that we will not be receiving any further refunds from them. This resulted in a total loss of $21,566 from our adoption fund. While this is a TOUGH pill to swallow, we are thankful that we still have the means to look forward each day to seeing this jounrey through.

In order to move forward with such a loss we have lowered our budget for presenting with our origional agency, have cut our spending even more, pushed our house on Airbnb for a nearly fully booked summer where we are living out of a 1987 camper in our yard with no hot water or motor, and are seeking contributions from our friends, family, and other adoption supporters. 

In an effort to recoup the fund we lost, we humbly ask for your consideration in donating to our myStory account. Any funds that do not go directy towards supporting our adoption will go to another family on a journey to adopt and/or orphan care around the globe. How incredible would it be to see our account fully funded? not just for our sake, but for the sake of orphans everywhere! Thank you so much for your consideration, prayers, love, and encouragement during this time. 

It’s been quite a tragic week for us as Monday we were told that our matched mama has decided to look at other families. 

It came as a huge shock to us as just the Thursday before we had a great conversation with her. She was at a very high point and said many things like:

-I’m so thankful for you guys

-I love you guys

-God has been and is working in this and us

-I’m so happy he will be raised with two parents that love each other

-We’re (her and her other children) are so happy to have us become part of their family

-I’m so happy you’re giving it 110%

Then the message from the agency on Monday was a complete departure from that conversation on Thursday. She told them we were butting heads, that we were pressuring her, that we didn’t have enough money to buy our plane tickets and properly raise the boy the way he deserves, and more. It was heartbreaking. Not only to be informed that this adoption plan had taken such a turn, so drastically, but that we were informed the way we were. That someone we had spent the last few months loving on, through thick and thin, someone that had become a part of our family, like a sister to us, could flip and toss us asside without so much as a conversation or a word. We were told not to contact her, that this was the end. That even if she looked at other families and wanted to come back to us, she can’t. We were told not to mail her birthday/mothers day package. 

We lost a friend that had grown like a sister so quickly, we the hope of raising this little boy, we lost the hope of having her and her other children be part of our family, we lost months of the process, time on our contract, homestudy, we lost over $11,000 in the process. 

We knew and grew more understanding throughout many of our conversations that she was very out of touch with reality, impulsive, quick to anger, demanding, irrational, and unstable. It stands to reason the way she had been abandonded and treated by others. But we thought we could just lover her through it, continue to pray for her, be supportive and encouraging, continue to lay ourselves down in hopes she would come to see Jesus through it all. We still hope and pray this for her. We hope and pray that this little boy is placed in a stable, loving home, that is prepared and equipped for what his future will hold. 

On one hand we are beyond thankful as we do not feel as though it would have been a pleasant 18 years of visitations facing the impulsive anger driven person that we came to know and love, but more so watching our little boy struggle with the back and forth of it all in yearly visits. We feel thankful that it wasn’t drug on longer than it was and we were immediately informed when she decided to change her mind on us. It would have been more costly both emotionally and financially had we been allies until the end of July and then seen this person standing against us. 

Had we been matched with a mother that got to the end and chosen to parent, one that was mentally stable and equipped to do so, it would be a different story. We could support that without question, as sad as it would be. But to have our character and values questioned, to have accusations thrown at us, and to be tossed out like trash for being loving and supportive, that is what hurts. 

So on the other hand, we’re wounded. We’re sad. We’re heartbroken. We’re lost and don’t know how to pick up the pieces and where to go from here. We’re angry. We’re blighted. 

But we’re also determined to get up and try again. This won’t be the end of this journeytobe3 (or more). 

Friday morning we received a phone call that a mother chose us! We sobbed like little babies ourselves as we were completely overwhelmed with shock, joy, and so much more. Robbie said it was like being struck by a happiness train and he couldn’t have been more accurate. 

We have had the pleasure of texting and skyping with our new mama friend. SHE IS AMAZING!

God is so good and has brought a better plan into place than we could have ever imagined ourselves.

We ask for your prayers as we establish a relationship with “R” over the next few months, over this adoption jounery were on togather, over the baby we will share, for her and her health and family, and whatever else your heart is lead to pray for. 

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The suspense is probably killing you by now, so….. IT’S A BOY! He is due July 24th. 

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Sending our first payment to the agency has depleated our savings that included all our fundraising to date. We have a few outstanding grants that we have applied for that we are still praying over a favorable decision on. Our fundraising goal on here is the amount we need to see this through to the end. The amount above will help to cover mama R’s care including housing, counseling, and more, our post-placement visits with a social worker, legal fees for placement and eventually finalization, and ICPC fees which are what allows us to leave one state and bring him to our home state.