Guess what, Mom?!?!?

On Saturday, while I was recovering in the hospital (not at all a planned stay), Trent & his Daddy were very busy re-organizing his room to prepare for the arrival of his brother.  Trent helped his Dad put his brothers bed together, cleaned out his nightstand so they would each have a drawer and painted letters for the wall.  Trent has his name (in bright red) up on the wall so naturally, brother needed his up too...in bright blue.

Today, Trent came running up to me and said "Mama, come here....quick."  I went into his room and the letters were neatly stacked on J's bed.  He said "guess what, Mom?".  At first I thought something was wrong and I asked "oh no....are they stuck together?"  He said "nope"....and one by one lined up the letters spelling out his brothers name.  Then he looked at me with the biggest smile ever and said "We're adopting!".

Yes, we are Trent....yes we are.  Oh how I love my boy.  Trent is going to be an amazing big brother.  In a lot of ways, I believe God started preparing his little heart for this long, long ago.  When Trent was 2 1/2, his best cousin in the whole wide world came to live with us.  Alex was just 1 month older than Trent and they did everything together....shared a room, played in the tree fort, ran around in the underwear with their swords tucked in the back, went fishing....you name it...they did it..  Alex lived with us for 3 years.  Trent has missed having another boy around so much.

I don't know what the road ahead will look like.  I imagine there will be bumps, detours & road blocks.  But right now, the only thing we do know is that there is a road and God has called us to travel it.  So we continue to walk in excitement, anticipation, obedience......and just a little bit of fear.

One week from tomorrow we will be on our way.  As mentioned we are still a bit short.  There is no emergency with our story.  No immediate medical need.  Just an honest to goodness lack of knowledge of all the extra expenses that come along with adoption.  If you feel led to give, you can make a tax-deductible donation to our Project HOPEFUL Fig fund using the link in the upper right.  But please....most importantly....would you pray for our journey?

God's got this.  We know He does. 

To God be the glory.....always!
Dawn

It's the final countdown.......

In just 9 days, our family will be boarding a plane and heading to Uganda to get our boy.  Our son.  Our brother.  The newest Patterson to join this crazy bunch. This is our biggest, most amazing Patterson family adventure yet!!   We are so incredibly excited.  We are also incredibly tired.  The spiritual battles we have faced in the past month are nothing like I've ever experienced.  But God has been so incredibly faithful and I know He has carried us every step of the way.  I think Anita Renfro could write one heck of a song about our life this past month. (Just in case you don't know who Anita Renfro is....here's one of her videos.  She's a hoot!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ )

 Here's the breakdown:

Head lice (have you seen the head of hair Loralee has?  I shall say no more)
Impetigo
Nose bleeds
Broken attic fans
Oral surgery for a 5 year old to the tune of 4k
CT Scans
Diverticulitis
Ultrasounds
Biopsies
Female issues (really....nobody likes to talk about this stuff) which resulted in complications, out of control pain and an unexpected hospital stay

But in some crazy, unexplainable, 'only God could do this' way....there has been a peace through it all.  I'm so very thankful for the grace and compassion our Lord gives us daily.

The praises have been huge as well!  Miraculously getting our court date just days before court was scheduled to close.  Having our dear, dear friend from Uganda be able to stay in our home.  Being part of a fundraiser to build a childrens medical clinic in Mukono, Uganda where in just 2 weekends, almost $40,000 was raised!  News that they will actually break ground while we are in Uganda!!!  How awesome is our God??  So, so awesome.

I am happy to say that our bags are literally packed.  Our living room has become "packing central".  We are ready.  There is just one thing left to do.  Ask for your help.  We haven't done much online fundraising.  God has blessed us tremendously through jewelry sales and an awesome fundraiser hosted by dear friends....but we are a little short.  We had been told to expect an April/May court date.  We got a July 3rd court date.  We are sooooooooooooooo thankful that we are traveling this summer, but the cost of tickets is just so much more expensive in July.  We are still hoping to raise another $3000....enough for our boy's ticket home, in country expenses and food/supply donations for his orphanage.  I'd love to say I have the coolest prizes ever.  I don't.  I simply don't have time to pull it all together.  Now.....I always manage to have a few tricks up my sleeve so you never know what I will come up with.  :o)

You can make a TAX DEDUCTIBLE donation through Project HOPEFUL to our Fig Fund by using the button below:

Would you please prayerfully consider making a donation and sharing our request? We know that the Lord will provide to bring our boy home. 

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.  We couldn't have taken this journey without you.

To God be the glory.....ALWAYS!
Dawn