Our Fundraising Puzzle is Completed!

Thank you! :)

Puzzle Fundraiser Update

We only have 11 puzzle pieces left. You can buy a puzzle piece for $20 to help bring Jeremiah home. And from now until December 16th, your donation will be matched. :)

Our Adoption Journey

I have always wanted to adopt but I always said that we could never afford it. We are a single-income family and my husband works hard so that I can stay home and homeschool our kids. At the end of last year, I spent time with a friend who adopted 2 aging out girls from China (in China, orphans age out at 14 which means they become unadoptable and are thrown out into the streets). She shared their story and told me that if we took a step of faith, God would provide. So we prayed as a couple and started to fill out the application to begin the adoption journey. The cost to submit the application was $300. We knew we could afford the application fee but we prayed that if this was the path God wanted us to take, that He would provide the $300. I also went a step further and prayed that we would have it before our tax money came in so that we could put some of that aside for the adoption. Our tax money came in on March 2^nd and I was bummed that our prayer was not answered but trusted God had a plan. I took the kids out clothes shopping and when we got home, I had an email from a friend who said God led her to give us $300. God answered our prayer and right on the day that we asked for it! So we submitted our application and our journey began.

A couple weeks later, we found Jeremiah’s picture on a waiting child list. We read about him while we were sitting at the dinner table and we all teared up. Malorie wanted a sister so we said we would pray about it. As we put the kids to bed that night, we finished praying and I noticed that Malorie had a certain look on her face and I asked her what was on her mind. She replied, “Mom, I want Jeremiah”. We all looked at each other and we knew we had to do whatever we needed to make Jeremiah part of our family. We submitted a Letter of Intent on April 6^th and prayed! On April 12^th, we decided to take an overnight trip as a family to Lancaster, PA to see Samson at Sight & Sound. We were driving through Lancaster and we received the call that our Letter of Intent was approved and we had our Pre-Approval for Jeremiah. We cried and cheered. When we got to the hotel that night, I had an email from our adoption agency that they needed $3,000 to proceed and start our homestudy. I have to say that I was very anxious about it. I received a text that same night from a friend who told me that we just needed to trust God and thank Him for providing. The next day we saw Samson and on the drive home I continued to thank God for what He was going to do. We got home, walked in the door, and we had a message on our answering machine from a family member who said they were sending us a check for the adoption. I called her in tears and she told me they were led to send us $3,000! As I sat on the couch crying, Mason said, “Well, God did it again!” Yes He did!

On June 3^rd we wrote Jeremiah a letter and were able to send him our picture. The kids were so excited to write him and they took turns writing part of the letter. It was hard to stay under our 400 word maximum. We told him we are coming!

We are part of an adoption/foster ministry through our church called Let the Children Come. We got together and planned a multi-family yard sale to help raise funds – we needed $2,700 and we already had $1,000. We set it up for June 18^th. The kids and I ran all over for 2 weeks prior to pick up donations. We filled our garage and had to use a friends storage facility and many other people were bringing their donations directly to the yard sale. So many people helped and we had friends offer their house for the yard sale as they have a huge front yard and it is on a main road. The day of the yard sale came and the weather was beautiful. We had SO MUCH stuff. We were also selling hot dogs, chips, soda and baked goods. The yard sale came to a close and we counted up what we had made - $1,700!! God once again provided exactly what we needed! We will always be grateful for all our friends who came together to make that day possible!

We just had a Chinese dinner fundraiser last night and it was such a success. So thankful for everyone who came out to support us! We are SO blessed by the people that have come alongside us on this journey. I know we have people praying for us and for Jeremiah. The ladies that are part of Let the Children Come have been such a blessing! They have done so much work for our fundraisers. We would never have been able to do all this without them! I sit here in tears as I type this when I look back on all God has done and how He has put everything together perfectly in His timing.

So yesterday we were also DTC which means our dossier was sent to China! That is a big milestone for any adoption journey. We are so thankful!

When I think about adoption, I think about how God has chosen and rescued me. God does not call us to be comfortable; He calls us to love and to share His love with others. We are still in the middle of our adoption journey, but I thank God for how He is growing our faith and for this path He is leading us down.

Thank you to those that have donated but most importantly to those that are praying!

 We look forward to the day when we can see our boy!

If you would like to make a donation, please go to adopttogether.org/feltes. We also have 29 pieces left for our puzzle fundraiser - they are $20 a piece. To purchase, click on the "Donate" button on the top right hand corner of this blog. Thank you!

Puzzle Fundraiser Update

Only 29 puzzle pieces left! Thank you! You can purchase a puzzle piece for $20 to help bring Jeremiah home. :)

Only 47 puzzle pieces left! Thank you! :) You can purchase a puzzle piece for $20 to help bring Jeremiah home.

Only 51 puzzle pieces left. Thank you!

I am so overwhelmed with God's provision and timing! Between the funds we made at our yard sale and our puzzle fundraiser, I was able to write out 2 checks tonight for our next 2 fees that are due!

If you are still interested in purchasing a puzzle piece, we have 58 pieces left.

Thank you! :)