Dreams

Dear Life,

Let's talk about life.

More specifically, lets talk about dreams.

When we are little kids we dream....

where do we want to live when we grow up? (A castle...in the clouds...with a unicorn)
where do we want to go to college? (Somewhere far away...from my parents)
where do we want to work? (Somewhere I can be famous)
how many children will we have? (two)
what kind of vacations will we have? (Hawaii, Paris, England...all of the cool places)

What if you were a little girl who didn't know how to dream?
What if you were just grateful when you got moved from one room to another?
What if you didn't have parents?
Or siblings?
Anyone to hug you or kiss you or read you to sleep?
What then?
You wouldn't know what a castle in the clouds looks like, or even know about school, or work, or even fathom what a family looks like, and a vacation??? What's that?

There is such a girl....in a country across the world from us.
She has captured our heart....and made us dream for something beyond what we already have.
She taught us to work hard...to pray more...to have more strength...without even meeting us.
She taught us that the bonds of love are as strong as the bonds of blood.
She taught us to think outside of our world....our little neighborhood.....she taught us to see.

We have worked hard...for a year.
We've signed papers, notarized papers, apostilled papers, over and over and over again.
We've written check after check for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We've had our fingerprints done three different times.
We've all had physicals.
We've had background checks completed.
We've had a homestudy done.
We've fundraised....a LOT.
$18000.
That's a LOT of money.
We are so close.

In September I get to FINALLY meet this girl of our dreams.
This four year old, dark haired, brown eyed girl.
The catalyst to our life changing story.
For one week my best friend and I will get to visit her every day for five days. 
And then...we have to return.
Empty handed.
We will have to fill out more paperwork.
Wait for it to be approved.
Have it translated.
Wait for court.
Wait for a pickup date.
5 more months. 
January if we are lucky.
Could be March.

For now...as we wait...we continue to raise money.
Travel money.
Court fees.
Agency fees.
Money.
I wish I didn't have to worry about money...I wish it didn't cost as much as it does...I wish I had the money myself.
But our love for her...our desire to provide this sweet girl with a family...with LOVE...with a chance to dream.....
That love propels us forward.

We are still collecting used clothing.
We have 151 puzzle pieces that need sponsoring ($5 each...and you can win 2 Tix to Disneyland or 2 day Tix for 2 to Legoland)
We have a few other opportunities coming down the road (one of which is a matching grant we are so excited about).

Please....consider your dreams.....your children's dreams....and consider helping us...create dreams for another special little girl.