A Long Overdue Update...

I know it has been a few months since our last post.  We have had a busy summer and took a break from blogging for a few months.  I know many of you have been asking where we stand in the adoption process, so the answer to your question is...we are still WAITING!  Haha!  The word "waiting" has become a very common word in our vocabulary over the past few months.  Now, I know a few people have not liked how open we have been with our adoption process and our infertility struggles, so just a heads up that the next few paragraphs to follow will be a detailed update on what has been going on with us and this process.  The desire of our hearts from day one has been that if someone can learn from our adoption journey, and can find hope in it, as well as see how our amazing and wonderful God will work out all things in His timing and glory, then it is definitely worth it to share our journey.  So here we go...

Since our last post, we have been very busy closing on our new house.  We finally feel completely settled and at home.  God has blessed us in so many ways, and we can't wait for the day, that in addition to the sound of our little dog's feet running around,  we can also hear the sound of our little baby's feet.  The process of building the house helped keep us busy and not focused on the waiting process with the adoption, but now that we are settled we have definitely had those moments of anxiousness where we wonder how much longer it will take.  Due to our recent move to our new house, we had to update our home study to contain the most recent information on our new home and its location.  During this home study we did receive some discouraging news that the waiting time now with our agency is between 1 to 3 years, instead of about 1 year as we had originally been anticipating.  The extended wait is due to the slower flow of birth mothers coming to the agency in order to pursue the adoption process.  We know that in God's perfect timing that He will bring the perfect child to us.  Until the time of placement, we will keep on waiting and trusting.  Here are a few pictures of the new nursery...

 

We have always said that we would be completely honest with our adoption journey. So to be completely honest, I will say that the waiting has not always been easy.  I can't tell you how many times we have spent crying and praying and seeking guidance as we go through this process.  We have joked that the nursery has become an amazing prayer room during this time.  We often sit in the nursery and stare at the wall over the crib where we have the verse "For this child we prayed, the Lord gave us the desire of our hearts" 1 Samuel 1:27. We know that God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and that He sees the greater picture.  The positive thing is that we have had a couple of potential leads on placements during this waiting period, which shows that the process is working.  However, none of these leads ended up working, which just means that it was not the right time for us to have a placement.  It at least gives us hope that the process is working and some day we will receive that placement.

One piece of advice that so many couples who have adopted told us is that we need to enjoy this time together and have fun traveling and doing all the things we have always wanted to do.  Kelly and I love to travel, so this was something we definitely wanted to enjoy doing right now in order to keep our minds occupied.  God has blessed us in so many ways and one of those ways is with a company I work for, Thirty-One.  God has allowed me to earn so many trips and do things we never thought we'd be able to do. Last year, Thirty-One afforded us a few opportunities to vacation for FREE in some amazing places. Over this summer, we have taken a couple of trips with just us, with Thirty-One and with groups from our church.  We plan to take a trip with our New Beginnings group from church, as well as finally having an opportunity to take our anniversary trip for this year.  Even though we have been blessed to take some wonderful trips, we have still kept our focus on continuing to save money for our adoption fund.  We still have a ways to go to reach the necessary amount for our entire adoption cost, but we know that God will provide the money and help give us the wisdom as we save for adoption. Some people believe in putting their lives on hold during an adoption. For us, we realize that these days of waiting are some of the most precious that we will share as husband and wife. The memories we make during this time will be the foundation upon which the future years of our life are built. We can't wait to for our baby to join us, but until then, we'll keep moving forward together, and trusting in our Great God!

Ok...I think that covers everything in our update.  I know that is a lot of information, but we have always believed in being open and honest in this entire adoption process.  We hope that some how God can use the things we share about our journey to be an encouragement to someone else.  We know that God is allowing us to walk this journey to grow us closer to Him and to each other.   We also know that this entire journey is going to allow us to treasure and enjoy that moment when we are finally placed with our little one so much more.  Here is a special song that has really spoken to Kelly and I through this process. We have the lyrics to this song printed on the last page of our adoption book in hopes that they can be an encouragement to a birthmother when looking at our profile book.  I hope it can be an encouragement to you today as well.

And the winner is...

We would like to say thanks to those of you who contributed to our most recent giveaway supporting our adoption. This was a a great success and your generosity is greatly appreciated. The lucky recipient of this giveaway is Tracy Johnson from Fayetteville, NC! Congrats Tracy, you'll be receiving a personally customized cornhole set!

Thanks again for everyone's support. This will be our last giveaway for a little while. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to wait on God's addition to our family. We are still waiting on a placement from our agency, but we know that in God's timing it'll all happen!

Win A Personally Designed Cornhole Set!

Want to win and personally design your own cornhole set?!?!

So I know it has been awhile since we have done a drawing but we have had a lot going on and thought it would be good to take a little bit of a break from the fundraising endeavors. Now, we are back and ready to go!!!! A very sweet friend of ours works with a cornhole design company and has volunteered his time and resources to donate a cornhole set and assist the winner in personally designing their own image/logo for the boards. We are blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family that are helping our dream of bringing home our child a reality!

Your cornhole set will come with 2 boards, bags, carrying case for bags, and instructions. Here is what your cornhole set will look like before you create your own design:

If you want to learn more about the company that our friend works with, you can go to www.carolinacustomcornhole.net to learn more and see some of the designs that have already been created. I also thought that I would include a couple of pictures of boards that the company has done to help get your mind going as you thinkabout how you would design your own set. Check out the pictures below. Just think, you could have your own personally designed cornhole set for your summer cookouts, graduation parties, and just because events!

You have between Sunday, April 1st to Monday, April 30th at midnight to take part in this giveaway and be entered in for a chance to WIN your own FREE personally designed cornhole set. For every $5 you donate to our adoption giveaway, you will receive 1 entry into the drawing. See details about how to obtain more entries in the giveaway below. Thank you in advance for your contribution and willingness to help us get one step closer in our adoption journey! We know that only by faith and trusting in God's timing will we reach our financial goal and receive our placement for our child! Thank you so much for your love and support! We couldn't do this without you!

Want to know how you can be entered for a chance to win?!?! I'm glad you asked! I would be happy to tell you!

HOW YOU CAN DONATE:
You can make your donation by clicking "GIVE" on the GiveForward box on the right side of this page. You will be directed to our personal donation site where you can enter your donation amount. Remember, for every $5 donated, you will receive an entry into the giveaway.

NOTE: When you give your donation with GiveForward, please be sure to provide your name. If you choose, you can select the box that reads,"I would like to hide the amount given." Also, at the bottom of the donation page, please make sure you check the box that reads, "I would like to share my contact information with the beneficiary." This will ensure that we receive the necessary information to enter your name in the giveaway! If you would like your donation to be made in private, please feel free to mail us your donation.

You may also mail a check with your donation to our home address. Once we have received your check, we will make the appropriate number of entries into the giveaway. Please email us at ltbullard@yahoo.com for our mailing address.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GIVEAWAY:
After you donate, post something about this on Facebook and we'll add your name again to the list. Just be sure to friend one of us (Kelly or Lindsey Bullard) in your status on Facebook. If you desire your name to be put on the list for the drawing without donating, just email ltbullard@yahoo.com. Note: GiveForward donations are not tax deductible. If you would like to send a check just email me.

An Update On Our Journey!

Well, it's been a while since we've updated our blog...long over due! While we've received many questions through this process, the most common question we are asked is, "Have you heard anything about your adoption?" Our repeated answer is, "no, we're still waiting." We understand that those inquiring are excited and anxious, just as we are. Our adoption agency told us that the waiting period would be the hard part...and it is!

Every day we keep our phones close by wondering if this will be the day we get the call. We know that God is sovereign and that we'll have a baby in His perfect timing. As we've said before this process is definitely teaching us to trust in God and lean upon Him.

While we wait, one of the big questions that we face and struggle with is concerning the financial side of our adoption. As you know, adoptions are very expensive. While we are so grateful for those who have supported us so far, we still have about 65% of our adoption cost that has to be paid. This remaining cost has to be paid at the placement of our baby. Not knowing when the placement will be, this can be a little nerve wrecking.

We are in the process of completing grant applications and trying to do what we can to make the financial arrangements for placement, whenever that might be. We will still do some fundraising to help with these expenses. Please subscribe to our blog, so you can stay up to date with our journey.

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Your prayers are the most important thing that we need during this journey!

Support Adoption and Orphans Around the World!

Did you know that according to The Orphan Foundation there are 147 million orphans around the world? As followers of Christ we have been instructed to care for orphans. In fact, the Bible calls caring for orphans, "pure and undefiled religion" (James 1:27). Through our adoption journey we have come to learn that people adopt for a variety of reasons. However, among these reasons, one of the greatest is a sense of God's calling upon a families life to adopt. That's right, it really is a calling.

We are so thankful that God has called many individuals and organizations to come to the aid of these children who are so precious to our Lord. One of these organizations is AdoptionBug.com. This company was started to provide assistance to families in raising financial support for their adoption. Today, not only does AdoptionBug help with the financial obligations of adoption, a portion of their proceeds go to help organizations who are on the front line of orphan care, like Show Hope, etc.

We have created a site through AdoptionBug to help raise financial support for our own baby adoption. When you visit our site (www.adoptionbug.com/bullard) you'll be able to purchase adoption related t-shirts, that will not only help our adoption and the care of orphans around the world, but you'll help promote adoption and orphan awareness. There are 6 different t-shirt designs that you can choose from. In fact, the two images in this post are both t-shirt designs! The prices vary, depending on shirt style and size. A portion of the cost of the t-shirt will come to us for our adoption, and if you purchase a "Show Hope" t-shirt, a portion of the cost will go to our adoptions, as well as the ministry of Show Hope (www.showhope.org), which is affiliated with Steven Curtis Chapman. Please note: When you go to our site only the 6 shirts on the home page help support our adoption. There are other shirts on the site, but only those 6 will go to help with our personal adoption.

To check out these really cool t-shirts and to order yours today, please visit our personal site at www.adoptionbug.com/bullard. We are so thankful for your love, support, and prayers through this journey. While our previous fundraising efforts have helped us tremendously with our adoption expenses thus far, we are really excited about this effort, because we will be helping support adoptions and orphans around the world!

TV Winner Announced!

Thank you all for your support and participation in our TV giveaway. We are excited to announce that James Davis of Lumberton, NC is the winner of this new 32" Vizio LCD HDTV! We will be delivering James' new TV just in time for the big game!

Once again, thank you to those who participated in this giveaway. Please keep checking our blog for more adoption updates. We will be starting a new fundraising effort next week. Not only will you be able to help our adoption, but you'll have the opportunity to help orphans around the world!

We've be officially APPROVED!!!!

You may or may not have heard, but we received our final adoption approval this week! That's right, all the paper work, background checks, medical exams, questionnaires, reading assignments, and home studies have been completed and approved!!! The next call we receive from Bethany could be a placement call-- we are so excited! We don't know how long we'll have to wait for a placement. It could be weeks or months, but in God's perfect timing our family will be complete!

We also wanted to let you know that there are 48 hours left in our TV giveaway. For every $5 that you donate to our adoption cost, we'll enter you into the drawing for this brand new 32" Vizio LCD HDTV.

You can give online using the Giveforward Link on the right panel of our blog site. We will do a random drawing next Monday and someone will receive this AWESOME TV!!! Just think, you could watch all the upcoming games on this new TV! How great would that be?

Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers. This has, and continues to be, a journey of faith. God has provided for our financial needs thus far, and we know that He'll take care of the rest!