Move, Mountain, Move!!

Oh Jesus, I do believe, help my unbelief! Mark 9:24

Today we met with an agency and an attorney. We realized the first costs are going to be almost $6,000 for just the agency to conduct the home study and post-adoption visits. On top of that we will have lawyer fees, documents charges, fingerprinting fees, doctors fees, immigration and citizenship fees. And none of that includes the travel expenses! (Did I mention that it is our goal to take our boys with us to pick up their new brother.) Upon arriving home, I realized that because we want to adopt from Jamaica and the Child Development Agency there requires that adopting families work directly with the CDA and not an outside agency (Independant Adoption) that we are not eligible for many of the adoption grants that I had planned on applying for. Then, I read that we must make TWO, not one trip to Jamaica to adopt from that country and may have to spend up to 14 days there on the final trip.

I also know that we do not have the funds in our account to cover those costs.

What I do know is that when God is calling you to do something, He will always provide a way for it to happen. That if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, that we can say to this mountain, "Move" and it will. I know that God has very clearly called us to adopt and just as clearly to return to Jamaica to do it. Therefore, I know he will provide.

As I think of all the obstacles in our way to get to Jamaica and bring home our baby, I try to focus on what will be.....on the first moments of holding our new son, of giving bubble baths again, singing the itsy bitsy spider and teaching him to ride a bike.

I am inspired by Katie Davis, "I believe that we were each created to change the world for someone. To serve someone. To love someone the way Christ first loved us, to spread His light. This is the dream and it is possible.

We can let the fear of something that really is small compared to the greatness of God cripple us. Or we can take a risk, do something to help someone else, make a person smile, change someone's world."

"At the end of my life, I don't want to arrive in heaven on a full tank. I want to fall into the arms of our Savior, knowing that I used everything that He had given me to be His hands and feet while I walked on this Earth!"

Boy, oh boy, oh boy....We are going to have another boy!!

As many of you know, our family visited an orphanage in Jamaica during a vacation in 2010 and that visit completely changed us forever. I thought it was a trip to help teach the kids about the blessings that they have and that not all children have what they do. But that experience changed Neil and me much deeper than I thought it would. I wish that I could post pictures from our visit, but I promised the orphanage director that I would not place any photos of the children on the Internet. You can read a reflection that I wrote after the trip here: http://www.thecastrofam.blogspot.com/2010/07/blossom-garden-recap.html

When we left Jamaica I cried for days at what we were leaving behind. I did not want to return to America and all of the "stuff" that had become my focus and preoccupied my days. My eyes had been opened to a great need that I knew I would never forget.

Fast forward to November 2011.....my heart was still very passionate about the needs of children in orphanages but our lives had returned to normal back at home. That is until Neil and I started reading the book by Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie. God reopened my wounds as I read the pages in this book and Neil and I started discussing the possibility and feasibility of actually adopting and bringing a child home from Jamaica to be our son. God moved fast in our hearts and the hearts of our boys and by March 18, 2012, we knew where God was leading us...back to Jamaica.

It was this video (that I found while browsing on Pinterest of all places) that put both of us over the edge to commit to what God was truly placing on our hearts in a big way.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLpuIgDQ3Lw

It is amazing to me how God works in such a clear way. Our family vacation to Jamaica was a miracle within itself and it is so amazing how God places events, people, books and even videos on Pinterest to get us where we need to be. When he is leading you to do something, he will be there for you every step of the way and we are all so excited about the little boy that will soon be here at home with us forever!!

Please join us in praying for him. We do not yet know his name or what he looks like, but because we want to adopt a 2-4 year old, we know that he is already alive and probably living in an orphanage somewhere, eating whatever they give him (when we were there they fed the kids ground pumpkin with anchovies for protein), and lying alone in a crib or stuffed in a bed with no covers with 3-4 other children. My heart already aches and longs to hold him, cuddle him, and watch the boys wrestle with him or teach him how to play catch.

We love you little guy, and we can't wait to come get you!!

The one thing that will slow us down the most is the financial burden of international adoption. At this time, adopting a child overseas averages $15,000-$35,000. Unfortunately, we do not have that kind of money sitting in our bank accounts. So we are asking friends, family, or anyone else who has a heart for children or adoption to help us out. If anyone who reads this blog could give just $10, the cost of a lunch, that would help tremendously in our quest to bring our brother home.

You can click here to help us out:

http://www.acharityproject.com/f/HelpusBringOurBrotherHome

Blessings!

James 1:27- Religion that God our father accepts as pure and righteous is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

Valentines Day

We started the day with waffles topped with strawberries and cream cheese.

Then we finished the day with a special candle lit dinner of ribs and corn bread topped off with special Valentine cake pops for dessert!

We are so blessed that Jesus loved us so much that He chose not only to give His life for us, but also that he has showered us with the abundant love that we get to share everyday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Block N

Here is a video of Nick and Cody recieving their Block N Awards at school.

Disneyland 2011

This past December, we were treated to a special Disneyland trip with the Castro clan. We had a blast going on the rides and hanging out together.

It was an extra special treat that it worked out that the Demanbys, Lakovichs and Casarolis were all also able to make the trip that week so we all got to be together!

Getting a cousin picture was a bit difficult after Hannah's mermaid balloon popped.