Happy Dance!!!

So check this out!... Late last week I decided on a whim to check in with Lifesong on our Matching Grant account just to make sure there weren't any last minute donations that had trickled in after the March 31st deadline that I didn't know about (that being said, they have told me that we are in fact still allowed to have tax deductible donations sent to that account for however long we need!) I opened up the PDF document that lists the names and amounts of donations and, low and behold, there sat two donations I had not accounted for!!! One in the amount of $25 and the other for $50! Just yesterday we were $73 shy of our goal and now... Do you know what this means?!!?!....

We have met our $28,000 goal!!!!  AHHHH!!!! I sit here in disbelief that we are at this point in our journey! What seemed to be the daunting task of trying to tackle freaking $28,000 has surprisingly been the most amazing and humbling "daunting task" I have ever taken on in my life! God truly is an amazing God who funds His callings! To the world it looked foolish to take on such a financial hurdle and yet to the God who spoke the world into existence... easy-peasy! I've said it before, but I have no doubt that God uses the unlikely people and circumstances to get-r-done (yes I have a 4 year old that is a fan of Mater) in life so that we can point to no one else but Him for the amazing ways He pulls things off! He gets all the credit here folks! He accomplished His work through people like you! Wow... how our faith has been strengthened! If God is calling you to bigger things that seem outlandish and maybe even foolish, but your confident that it's a burden from the Holy Spirit (look to scripture & pray for clarity)... I beg of you to live radically for His name's sake! The life He's called us to as Christians isn't comfortable or what the world screams at us... it means loving "the least of these" even when $28K is staring you in the face and you KNOW there is no way, as a teacher and a stay at home, you're going to be able to pull it off! JUMP and TRUST! Bust butt and pray that God blesses your efforts along the way!

Okay, so some of you might be wondering where this leaves us financially and the fees that are left for us to pay. Here's the gist of it...

Upon referral - with completed referral packet:
A check to our agency for $4550. This is made up of a $1500 Post-Adoption Translation & Administration Fee, $100 Translation of Final Documents, $100 Medical Check Up, $350 HIV PCR Testing Fee, and $2500 Care of the Child which covers up to 5 months of care at Hannah's Hope.
In-Country Travel & Accommodation Expenses:
Airfare (per person) round trip $1500-$2000 x 2 because the both of us will be traveling over there twice, hopefully not too much over $8,000 in airfare. Travel Visa (per person) $20, Transportation/Travel Coordination $200, Food (per person) $20-$35, Immigrant Visa $400, Lodging (per night) $100.
Other Expenses:
Child Medical Review (varies?), Travel shots for the hubs and I (I don't know what this is going to cost us, I know it's a good chunk of money, I'll let you know!).

We currently have $12,648.13 total in savings either in our Lifesong account or our adoption savings account. So... if you do the math, it's going to be cutting it close... we're praying the cost of airfare goes down by the time we travel! All that being said, we are totally comfortable with exceeding our $28,000 goal! (o; So, even though we've reached the "finish line" in a sense, we would rather have some cushion in the account so if unexpected expenses come up, we're good to go!  The majority of adopting families bank on everything costing $30K, but considering our home study saved us a huge chunk of money, I think we'll be under that amount. That being said, if the Lord so leads, and you're still wanting to join this story God is writing and help with the adoption fund... keep in mind that you can still make tax deductible donations to our Lifesong account! You can click HERE  if you're interested, just be sure to indicate you want it to go towards Joshua and Hilary Helms Adoption. As always, no pressure or obligation- just throwing it out there! (o;

So isn't this just awesome ya'll?!?! Ahhh, it makes me want to get up and do the happy dance! Okay... I just totally got up and did it and it looked absolutely ridiculous, I'm such a horrible dancer- but God's not picky about happy dance technique, at least I hope not! (o;