Well it’s one week later and I’m still not OK with all of this. I am finding ways to push past it but it’s still not OK. I’m trying now to just distract myself from the fact that, once again, we’re basically sitting around waiting for movement in our case. I know it’s coming and I know WHEN it’s coming so that does help. I also know that our situation could be much, much worse so I’m trying to remember everything we have to be thankful for during this time and just focus on that. It’s much too easy for me to lose perspective and only wallow in the disappointments so, a few weeks ago, I made a “THANKS” board so I can have a constant reminder that our many blessings far outweigh the disappointments we have had to endure recently. I didn’t have to make a board to know this but having it hanging on the wall in black and white (and pink and yellow and green and blue) keeps me focused!
We’ve been adding a sticky note once a day with blessings we’re thankful for, some super important (each other!) and some less important in the grand scheme of things but crucial to our my survival of this process (doughnuts!). And today I added a pretty pink one that I am very, very excited about!
I am excited because that says that LBB is going to visit our kids! Our director and coordinator are traveling very soon to see my babies! I am so excited about this because this means we will FINALLY have an update on their situation, their health, and new PICTURES!!! This reality is definitely helping me stay excited and hopeful during this time of waiting. And! When they travel, they will also be taking the clothes that were donated by the Mt. Calvary church family to all the kids in the community! This is very, very exciting. Not only will many, many kids soon have some fabulous new clothes, shoes, and toys, but this has allowed us to get it to them in the cheapest way possible. I spent last Friday purchasing more supplies and then (tightly!) packing everything I could into a suitcase that we then shipped off to our agency’s Washington office. The shipping to Spokane and then the baggage fees we’ll pay for the flight will be a tiny, tiny fraction of the amount that it would have cost us to ship the entire package. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, when we shipped our first care package to [G] (before our agency began bundling them together) the cost for a 4lb package was $240 before the DHL lady took pity on me and applied every coupon code to our order that she could find. The final amount we paid was still $175! For a 4lb shoebox, people! The suitcase we just sent out weighed more than 12 times that. You do the math.

This wonderful opportunity will allow us to spend the remainder of the money we raised (which is now significantly higher!) on the other needs of the community. And with our coordinator actually spending time in the community, we will now have a much better idea of what those are! I am very excited about all the good things that are going to come from this trip and I want to ask you all to please pray for their travel safety and their time in country. I’m also crazy jealous that they will soon be holding my children while I’m stuck here in the states just trying to hold it together so pray for me too! But knowing that [A] and [G] will soon have hugs and I’ll soon have pictures is enough for me to maintain my sanity for a few more weeks at least. It should get me to the end of the month! I hope!