Update

Well, I haven't updated you all for a while, so there are some exciting things that have been happening!
First of all, we were officially approved by SC DSS a fe weeks ago! Although, we were already approved and put on the waiting list by our agency, it is just 1 more formality off the checklist.
S here is how the waiting list part works..... Each agency has its own group of orphanages or agencies that it works with in each specific country. So not everyone is looking at the same group of little ones. Our agency goes through the foster care system in Uganda, mainly because before they set up their program in Uganda, they met with the government officials to ask what the preferred method was..... This is very important because there is a lot of people AGAINST international adoption in Uganda, and since the country has only been open for international adoption for a few short years, it is still a very delicate situation.
So anyhow, now that we are "paper ready" we wait! How many families are paper ready, in front of us- who are also looking for a 2-4 year old boy? 0!!! So, what that means folks is that I just got goose bumps. So even there are 143 million orphans, they each have to have official orphan paperwork so to speak, before they can be adopted. This  costs money, so they done start on the paperwork for any given child until a family has been cleared and approved, who is looking for a babe that fits their description, so to speak..... When i say description, I mean things like Ge, gender, health, ect.

So it's been a few weeks, and we have been pretty busy with fundraising through our yard sales and just normal life. It was weird to go from talking or emailing with our social worker almost every day for the past few months to now not talking for a few weeks, so I called the other day, just to see if there was any word.
She said they do have a boy who fits our wants. They are working on his paperwork, but she is not allowed to tell me anything about him yet. I almost cried when she to.d me thAt we might be matched and have a picture within a few short weeks to a month!
Crazy exciting and yes-a little scary too.
I'm loving life-my hubby, 2 children, and all of the other blessings God has already given me, and looking forward to even more blessings when we finally bring our boy home..... To be continued.

Yard sale fundraiser for month of February!

Ok everyone- ready set gooooo!

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far and thanks to everyone who is still donating!

We have decided to start the yard sale this Saturday, and we will continue every Saturday for the rest of February, as we have a ton of stuff, but have more still to pick up. So what this means for you avid yard-sale shoppers and hoarders is that we will be adding new stuff every week!

Also, Duncan donuts has graciously donated donuts, so we will have coffee, hot chocolate, and donuts in the morning. We may have some lunch snacks for the late crowd too..... Still keeping our fingers crossed for Cici's pizza to come through!

We need shoppers and a volunteer per week would be great if anyone likes to wake up at the crack of dawn, let me know! Email me at johnsonadoptionjourney@gmail.com

Maybe tne worlds biggest yard sale!!!!!!!
Something for everyone!
We have been collecting donated items for months and the 2 car garage is now full of stuff waiting for you......
Men's clothes
Baby clothes
Furniture
Toys
Kitchen ware
Radio flyer wagon
Outdoor furnace
Bookshelf
Snow skis
Couches
Sleeper sofa
Toddler bed
Tvs
Printers
Scanner
Copier
2 retro ottomans
Entertainment center
Brand new recessed lights in boxes
Tons of high end trophies
Picture frames
Kitchen table and chairs
Curtains
All kinds of odds and ends


Also, we will have Duncan Donuts and coffee for the early crowd!!!!

7:00am

9105 Markleys grove blvd
Summerville,sc29485

Find some great deals AND your money will go to a great cause!

Check out our blog as well
Http://uganda-babylovestory.blogspot.com

Mailer Fund-raiser : Thinking outside the box!

Hi there- my name is Sundae, and it is nice to meet you!
If you are reading this post because you got a letter in the mil from us, and you're just not quite sure what to think, I would like to thank you for coming to visit our blog!
Yes, it my be a little unorthodox to personally request help from someone you have never met before, but then I thought we would "think outside the box" so to speak! I can't even count the number of times I have gotten a call or a letter from some company or organization, asking for donations for some cause that isn't local, and you never really get to meet or see who you are helping. So, with this in mind, I thought that it may actually make sense to ask others in the community for help. You can see us, meet us through our blog, and may even come to know more about us than you know about some of your friends.
And no,we did not hire some marketing company to do the letters....we printed them, folded them (with the help of the folding machine at James Island Baptist Church ) and put them in the envelopes ourselves.... We even put the stickers on just for you.
We are also praying for each person who touches these letters -that you and your family will be blessed.

1TST BIG FUNDRAISER

Ok, so once we decided that the time was right, to start our adoption journey, we were shocked to find that it costs so much money! And each country is different, so of course we felt led to Uganda, which happens to be one of the more expensive countries to adopt from, in addition to just being more difficult to deal with all together.  As a matter of fact, while we were interviewing different agencies, the message was clearly sent from each one in similar but different ways: "Unless you feel like God has called you there or you have a specific reason to choose Uganda- I would pick a different country".

Well, if this is the message that al adoptive families are getting, then what does that mean for the beautiful ugandan orphans?

We really hoped that we could just"pick" someplace that would be cheaper and easier to deal with, but we didn't have a choice.... we were clearly called to Uganda.

So now what- how do we come up with almost $40,000? Do we just save and wait, now knowing without any question, that we have a son already out there- who needs us?

When I asked agencies and other adoptive families about what most people do, and how people afford international adoptions, the response was quite surprising.... Fund-raising for adoption is a very common thing.  I found this to be very interesting, but wasn't sure that I was comfortable in asking people to help fund our private adoption, and still considered weather we should just wait till we could save the funds.

It was told that if we really felt like this was God's calling for our lives, that we should not wait until we could provide, but to just say yes to Gods calling and let him provide.

If we do it all ourselves- it leaves no room for God , so "ok God- we are leaving you lots of room" :)

So for a lack of a better way to explain it, adoption is sort of a "pay as you go" deal.  There are different stages, and with each new stage, another big fee is due.  We are now waiting for them to match us up with our son. This is called a referral. We can not accept the referral until we have the next $9,500.  We have saved about half of that, after the other fees we have been paying along the way.

This is where you can help!

OUR 1ST BIG FUNDRAISER: A YARD SALE

A very popular fundraiser is a giant yard sale, so we are collecting donated items of: clothes, toys, tools,  furniture, and ll odds and ends.  We have a storage unit full and are working on filling up the garage.  We hope to have the yard sale in the next 2-3 weeks, so PLEASE HELP US FILL UP THE GARAGE!

I know someone who raised almost $5,000 this way. I know its a lofty goal, but we can do it with your help!

Please let me know if you have items to donate, and we will schedule a pick up day over the next week or two

Message me or email me at

sundaes.johnson@gmail.com if you want to help.

Also, if you want to help, but dont want to mess with digging out old dusty items, as always, you can make a tax deductible donation at:

www.razoo.com/story/johnsonfamilyadoptionfund

THANKS SO MUCH!

From the mouthes of babes

Its interesting that children can be so wise beyond their years!
The other night before we said prayers, Gabe (our 9 year old) and I were talking about the adoption and how we were now waiting for God to send our son to us through our agency.  I was again warning him that we need to remember that it will be a long road, and even when he finally comes home - that it may be tough for a while. We talked about how his new brother may be sad for a while once he gets here, and how he could even seem kind of mean.....you know- I'm trying to think of how to explain attachment and bonding & loss and grief to a 9 year old, in simple terms.
So then he says- "mom, we need to be like Peter in the boat-with Jesus- We need to have faith and just keep our eyes on Him and trust Him."
WOW!....FROM THE MOUTH OF A BABE

Read Matthew 14:26-33
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-14-31/