Adoption : The Story of Redemption

We are truly overwhelmed by a good God and the support of family, friends, and total strangers. This past Sunday we had our big adoption fundraiser and I have to say it was a huge success. My wife Courtney is a hairstylist and works with so many amazing people. So she had the idea to open the salon up for 5 hours on Sunday and cut hair for donations. I’ll spare you all the many details that went into the planning of the event but know that we could not have done it without so many people. There were so many people who worked very hard at making this a successful event. We are so thankful to everyone who helped with this event.

I’ll give you one interesting story from that day; Courtney, River, and myself got to the salon around 11:30 that morning to finish setting everything up. Around 12:15 my son comes walking around the corner holding his hand and shaking violently. He was in so much pain he couldn’t even talk. I grabbed him up and said, “What happened son?” It was at this time he began to scream at the top of his lungs, “I BURNED MY HAND!” Come to find out he grabbed the hot end of a curling iron. It literally took 45 minutes to calm him down. The poor little guy was in so much pain. I felt awful.  Thankfully as soon as the first few people started coming in he started to calm down.

I thought in the back of my mind this is not the way I want to start this event off. I found myself letting frustration, stress, and worry take hold of my heart. It was at that time I strongly felt a peace from the Lord rush in and calm my worrisome spirit down. Thankfully by the grace of God I was able to enjoy the event and rest fully in His presence. By the way River is doing much better today just a few big blister to deal with. 

We set a very high goal for this fundraiser. I knew it would take an act of God and the support of family, friends, and strangers to meet it. Our goal was to raise with this one event $7,500 dollars. The final count was $7,811 dollars. To God be the glory. That puts us around $7,200 dollars away from having our adoption paid in full. I can’t express once again how thankful and grateful we are to the many who helped. Without a good God and the support of you all that would not have been possible. Again thank you!

In other news we moved up 3 spots on the waiting list to number 26. While we were hoping to move to 1 we will settle for 26. God has been teaching a lot about patience and faith during this waiting period. Please pray for us as we continue to trust in the Lord during this long yet wonderful process.  Also, please pray for Pen. Our hearts long to see her. Our family prayer each night is for the Lord to provide for her, protect her, and bring her home soon!

I’ll end with a funny story about our son River. About a month ago I was talking with River about Penelope and in the middle of the conversation he says very loudly, “Daddy I have to use the bathroom.” So he goes to the bathroom and starts to do his business and in the middle of him doing his business the doorbell rings and he screams, “Is Penelope Here?” My reply was, “ I wished son, I wished.” 

We are so grateful to Ryan Russell for donating two 8x12 prints for our silent auction this Sunday. Both will be framed. Come bid on one or both of these awesome items. Top photo is of Blink 182 and bottom one is of an American flag.

You can check out all of Ryan’s work here: www.ryanrussell.net/  

Providing for Penelope-A Grimes Family Adoption Fundraiser

Sunday April 29 we will be putting on a fundraiser at DL Salon. You can come get your hair cut and styled by the DL Salon crew. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Grimes Family Adoption. There will also be items up for silent auction, which include 3 original paintings, gift baskets full of hair products, and more. You don’t need an appointment just go to the event page on facebook and let us know you are coming. Also, please post the event on your facebook pages, blogs, and twitter feeds. Thanks for the help and support. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/353553144697109/ 

**UPDATE**

Details: No appointment needed…First come first served. We will only be doing cuts and styles no color. Color is very time consuming and will cut into the number of people we can see on that day therefore, we will only be doing cuts and styles. Thanks for understanding. 

Thank you guys for your willingness to help us bring our daughter home. The total amount for the adoption will be around $30,000 dollars. Courtney and I have saved $15,000 but we will have to raise the other $15,000 dollars in a short period of time. We know this will only happen through prayer and the help of others. We are totally trusting in our Lord to provide us with the money we need. We know he can and will do so. We are truly grateful to the Lord for His provision so far and we are grateful for your help in all of this as well. Thanks again! 

If you have any question please contact me via email or facebook do not call the salon.

I first want to say that I am so sorry for not updating you guys in a while. Please forgive me. It’s been a difficult month. Everyone said the waiting period will be the hardest but I never believed them b/c I hated all the paperwork we had to do. I now can say with everything in me that the waiting period is brutal. We received an email a few weeks ago letting us know we moved up 3 spots on the waiting list from 33 to 30. When I read that email I became angry, angry with myself, and angry at the process. I became angry with myself b/c I thought you could have got all of this paperwork done sooner and this process would have been months ahead. I got angry at the process b/c well it takes forever. 

Here’s what I have learned through it all. God has not forgotten us and God has not forgotten our daughter Pen. To be honest, the Lord is burning this truth within my heart even as I type. The wonderful truth that God is sovereign over the wind blowing, the grass growing, and the speed upon which the process moves is a comforting one to me. If I did not have a strong belief in God’s sovereignty and if I did not believe He was working for His glory and for my good I would not be able to find rest in His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Now the difficult part in all of this is trusting, resting, and finding contentment in these powerful truths. When we get down and frustrated we crawl back to the cross b/c it is there where God shows us His faithfulness. It is at the cross where he shows His perfect timing. It is at the cross where He teaches us things like faithfulness, contentment, dependence, hope, and love. So please pray that we never leave the cross, please pray we find all fulfillment and satisfaction there. If you too are walking through doubt, unbelief, and frustration I would ask you to join us at the cross.

Courtney, River, and myself had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days with the kids of His Little Feet. HLF is a children’s choir made up of 14 orphans, 10 are from Ethiopia and 4 are from Honduras. Being around these kids for the weekend totally wrecked us for the good. River loved hearing them sing and playing with them at Parties On The Move. The first night we meet them they preformed at Hunter Street and when the first little girl from Ethiopia got up and did a solo Courtney and I broke down in tears. It was one of the most beautiful things we’ve seen in a long time. Needless to say we loved our time with them.

Please pray for us as we wait. Pray God will keep us near the cross and pray we will not put confidence in the flesh but in Christ alone.

 For His Glory,

The Grimes Family 

Our friend Sarah Miller has been so kind in painting 3 wonderful pieces of art for us. She is graciously letting us auction them off and keep 100% of the profits for the adoption. Please bid on these paintings and help us bring our sweet daughter home. Please email me with any bids. The paintings will go to the highest bidder. We will let you guys know when the auction ends soon, until then bid on good people.

You can learn more about Sarah at http://sarahmillerart.com/. 

Blessings,

The Grimes Family 

I wanted to take a moment to update you all on what’s going on in our world. Today we got the official email saying all of our paperwork has arrived in Ethiopia and we are now officially on the waiting list for our little girl. We do not know what number we are yet but should know soon. Please be praying for us as we wait with great anticipation on being placed with our daughter.

Also, Courtney has to go back once again and get her i600 fingerprints done again. These are fingerprints done through Homeland Security. Courtney has been a hairstylist for 10 years now and because her hands are always in hair dyes and color, water, shampoo, soap, etc she has no fingerprints. This makes is hard when you have to be fingerprinted by every organization under the sun. She goes back this Thursday. Please pray everything goes smooth with her. Pray that the machine will be able to read her fingerprints. I’ll let you guys know what happens. Thanks again.

Pray for us and rejoice with us. The process is moving along.

Praying Pen will be home soon!

The Grimes Family

So now the waiting begins….

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psalm 27:13-14

Friends it has been a long hard journey to get to this point but we are truly thankful for every moment of it. The Lord has been faithful, gracious, and giving through this entire process. As of now all the paperwork is done and on its way to Ethiopia. It has to travel through 4 different organizations in the US before they can send it to Ethiopia. Please pray that it will move quickly without interruption through these organizations.

As we sit here waiting for a referral (placement with a child) we can’t help but to think about where our daughter is? What does she look like? How old is she? What is her birthmother like? Often times I find myself praying for Penelope and her birthmother. I pray God will provide and protect them both. I pray God will show Himself strong to them. My heart is overwhelmed with deep love for a little girl I’ve never meet before. It’s really hard to describe. We long to see her, to hold her, and to bring her home. Please continue to pray for us as we wait. As we wait we look to the goodness of the LORD. We wait upon Him to move. We take refuge in a good God who is strong and mighty for it is only in Him and by Him that we are able to do any of this.

While we wait for our referral we have decided to become more proactive in our efforts to raise money for the adoption. In December alone we spent almost 10,000 dollars. This has put us in a position where we must become proactive in fundraising. Please let us know if you are willing to help us in this effort. Some of you have given us some really great ideas via facebook and for that we are grateful. What we really need at this point are some good people to help lead a few fundraisers. If you can please let us know. If you can’t help with a fundraiser put can give a monetary contribution please visit our give page.

Let me leave you with a story about our son River. Courtney was in ATL with a good friend over New Year’s and River and I stayed home and played most of the time. He had taken his shoes off and put them on the fireplace next to where we were playing. After he had finished his Capri Sun he placed it in his shoe and pulled the straw straight up in the air and said, “It’s a flower daddy. I planted it for Penelope.” I know this may not mean that much to you but for me I was moved to tears. Granted I will cry at the drop of a hat….but to have our son share in the same love and anticipation we have for a little girl we have never seen is moving. May the Lord keep burning a love in his little four-year-old heart for our Pen. Thank you guys.

For His Fame,

The Grimes Family 

So sorry it’s been so long since the last time we have updated our blog. To be honest the past few weeks have been hard. Things with the adoption have weighed heavy on us along with some other personal issues. With that said please keep praying for us as we push forward in the process in bringing our little girl home from Ethiopia.

The Lord woke me up this morning around 4:00. Most mornings I would have blamed my insomnia but this morning was different. I knew this morning the Lord wanted to deal with me concerning a few matters. I began to think and pray over my family; first my wife, then my son, then the daughter we have never meet. During this time the Lord was a mighty warrior waging war against my sin, he revealed many things that needed to be confessed and given over to him. Also, during this time He was a tender father comforting a struggling child. It was a great time in the Lord.

My heart keep coming back to Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Thankfully we serve a good God who stands able and ready to left the burden of sin, self-righteousness, and self-reliance. Thankfully the Lord convicts, cuts, and divides AND He also restores, mends, and rebuilds.

So on to the update with the adoption. Praise the Lord Courtney’s fingerprints finally went through. As of now we are reading over and making the final corrections to the rough draft of our home study. Also, we are about 90% done with getting everything done for our dossier. This has been a long and hard road but one the Lord has guided us along the way. Please join us in praying that we finish this part of the process well. 

Saturday we had a yard sale to raise money for the adoption. This was the 1^st fundraiser we’ve done. While it was a ton of work and at times frustrating God totally did a great work through it. We raised $2,500! Thanks be to our God! We are planning a few more fundraisers so please be praying for us as we do so. If you would like to help us with any of the fundraisers please let me know. We would love to have anyone and everyone help. To be honest we need it. The thought of having to raise $30,000 dollars is overwhelming but we serve the one a true living God who owns the cattle on a thousands hills. He is faithful and will provide. Please keep this aspect of the adoption process in your prayers as well.

Lastly, we have decided on a name for our little girl. Penelope! We will call her Pen. Courtney and I are so excited about this! We love it! Its crazy to think about how excited we are over her name just think about how excited we will be to see her sweet little face.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please let us know if we can do anything for you or answer any of your questions. God bless. 

We serve a great and good God. Through this entire process He has been faithful. If you have been through the adoption process you know it can be a long and hard road and I can tell you this has been true for us. But thanks be to God he has walked with us through this entire process. Without His leading and presence during this time I can say without a doubt we would have been crushed under the pressure.

God is faithful. For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness…O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you? -Psalm 89:2, 8

Yesterday Courtney and I spend the day getting all the paperwork done for our dossier. I’ll be honest nothing is greater then spending family day at the courthouse, health department, and police station (twice). Nothing is greater going into each place thinking you need “X” amount of dollars only to be told you need 3 times that amount. I found myself thinking over and over that God is faithful. Thankfully he is.

Yesterday we also found out that Courtney’s fingerprints where not readable once again. Therefore, she has to redo them for a 3^rd time. We were told that if her next set of fingerprints were not readable they would do a name based background check. This is greatly frustrating because it only slows the process down for us tremendously. Thankfully we serve a faithful God who has ordained it all and for that we trust in Him. While we trust in a sovereign God we long to bring our little girl home yesterday. Please pray that the process will not take as long and pray that we will trust in the Lord’s timing for He knows what is best and His plan is good, pleasing, and perfect.

As we wrap all of the paperwork work up please pray that we will remain faithful to God in this process and pray that God will provide everything we need from emotional and spiritual strength to the finances we need in order to pay for the adoption.

Please know that we are so thankfully for your prayers and support. If you would like to help us finically please click the “Give” tab to find out how. Again thank you!

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. -2 Corinthians 1:20