I was just about to  hit publish on a post for day 7 when Jonathan called me into his office a few minutes ago. He showed me an email that we had just received from the Cade Foundation. They surprisingly answered us a week early. This is what it said….

Thank you for your interest in the Tinina Q. Cade Family Building Grant.  This year received 157 applications which were extremely competitive. It was obvious that everyone who applied sincerely desired to become parents, and we have no doubt that everyone will make excellent parents. However, do to limitations in our funding, we are not able to provide financial support to everyone who applied for the 2014 Family Building Grant.  We were able to fund 5 families this year. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer you a grant at this time.

Please continue pursuing this very important dream.  Though we are not able to provide you financial support, we have identified the following resources which may be helpful to families pursuing infertility treatment and adoption.This information is purely informational and does not represent an endorsement of these companies.

Please know that despite the fact that we can’t offer funding- we still want to support you. We invite you to stay connected via social media or/ and to attend a local outreach program hosted by Cade Foundation or another non profit that supports families with infertility. You are not alone on this journey. Several organizations that provide wonderful support include RESOLVE, the Broken Brown Egg, and A Family Of My Own- but there are also likely other groups in your community that will gladly welcome and support you.

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I know I’ve made a pretty big deal of all this grant stuff, but for us this has been a pretty big deal!  Since we now know their decision, we have a new goal of raising a grand total of $14,030.00. As stated to the right we have raised $6,655.00 which means what we have left now, instead of a little less than $1,300.00 is $7,375.00, BUT the fact that we will have raised almost $7,000 since the middle of this past December is just amazing! Woah… What a blessing!

I have to say thank you to the Lord! What love He has shown to us. When we first realized the amount of money we would need it seemed almost impossible to us to come up with it all, but He has proven once again that He can provide a way! Why did I ever doubt that?  It is also through the generosity of you all that we have come so far. Thank you alone  just does not really seem like enough. What a blessing all of you have been to us!

If we had received the grant it would have been given to us by January 2014. We had made some tentative plans to start IVF treatments at that point. I realize now though that it is only 84 days till the start of 2014. However… I will NOT put a time limit on what we are doing because God’s timing is not the same as ours. IF He sees fit to allow us to raise that much in that amount of time then wonderful, but if not then I don’t want to do any complaining! He has been WAY to good to us through all this to start any of that now.

I hope you all will continue to keep up with us in the days and months to come. What new and exciting things will we see the Lord do next?

-Becky

Today is day 8 till we find out about the grant, and as I sit here tonight my mind is filled with so many thoughts.  Those of excitement for everything we are doing and the hope that maybe this time next year we will have a child of our own or at least be preparing for one! After yesterday, and the messages we heard preached, my mind and heart have been opened to some things that I’ve already known, but haven’t really and fully taken to heart. Why? Well… I guess I thought at this time some of these things did not pertain to me because we don’t have a child and while it IS different, I know there are things I can still be and should be doing now. Not that I haven’t, but we can ALWAYS be doing more! After yesterday’s messages that were preached at church I’ve seen that my heart has not been completely in the right place. Not that I’ve done some awful thing, but that I’ve failed to see the importance of what I should be doing now.

Someone once gave me a Bible verse that was a blessing and help to them when they were facing some of the very same things we are. The verse is found in Psalm 113:9

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 113:9

When this verse was first shared with me some time ago, I read it, I prayed about it, I meditated on it, I talked to Jonathan about it, I studied it out with other commentaries. I wanted to understand what this verse had to say to me. I can’t really explain it, but somehow this verse brought me both confusion and peace. After a long time of searching it out, what I got from it was that while I do not have children of my own now, I am to be happy in the place that God has placed me in. Take the things that He has for me to do and do it with everything I have. For now, that is being a wife to the wonderful husband God has blessed me with. Jonathan is a blessing to me, he helps me, he prays for me, he guides our home, he works hard for what we need, and lets me have to many of the things that I just want. 😉 He is good to me, he is a good man, he loves me, but what I love most about him is how he loves the Lord! I know he’s not perfect, but I think he almost is, and he is perfect for me! God has truly blessed us… He has blessed me…

Jonathan is also the youth director at our church so I try to help him with any of those areas that I possibly can. As the youth director’s wife I want to strive to be a good light and example to our young people. I suppose especially to the young girls and young ladies of our church. Their lives and souls are precious to the Lord, and to me! I want them to know they can come to me for help if they need it, that I pray for them, I love them, and will always speak truth to them. I never want to do anything or say anything that might lead one of them in the wrong way. I want to be a blessing to their lives and a help to them. When we first came to our church most of the young people were in their early teens and younger. Most of those young teenagers are grown now and off to college, and we have a new generation of young ones coming up behind them. This year has been 5 years since we came to FBC and as I look back over those few short years, I feel like there was so much more I should have done. I feel like I failed them. They are a great group of young people, and I love seeing their love for the Lord. I just hope that the small part that I have had in their lives up to this point has been good. I pray that as this new generation comes along that I can be a good example. I know it is only through the Lord!

I also have 8 of the world’s greatest nephews, 1 precious niece, and another niece on the way! I am one very blessed “Aunt Becky”. 🙂 It may sound silly to some people, and while I know these children are not my own, they mean everything to me! They are my world right now. I can’t imagine not being able to be a part of their lives. A couple of our nephews are getting into their early teens, but they still like coming to stay with us. I guess I’m not too old or un-cool yet. 😉 Of course I love when they come stay with us. I like to spoil them a little. I like to read books, and play board games, they all like video games (of course) so I like to chime in sometimes and play a game too. I like going to McDonald’s and ordering lots of kids meals, I love going to the park to play, I like play dough, sidewalk chalk, and finger paint. Sometimes my fridge is so full of their little “Masterpieces” that its hard to get the door open so I can pour one of them a glass of Chocolate milk, but that’s ok too! While I love having them around and doing all the fun things with them… I want to be a good example to them as well. When they look at Uncle Jonathan & Aunt Becky I want them to of course think we are lots of fun, but most importantly I want them to know how much we love the Lord too. I want to be a GOOD Aunt, not just someone they see from time to time or for the holidays! Ryder and Braden are old enough now that they know truth, they understand it. What a crucial time in their lives, and they may not even realize it. I want to be a good example to them.  Daniel just recently ask the Lord to save him! What a precious moment in his life. There is no greater decision that he could have made in his life than to trust Jesus! I love hearing him talk about Bible stories. Zekkie and Jackson have just started kindergarten. They are already learning Bible verses, and simple truths that will help to shape their lives. Timothy and Colt are still very young, but it won’t be long until they too  will reach the age of accountability. For right now though… its just fun being little, and playing all day. Eva is 2. She is a very small girl, but she is feisty, she loves to be prissy, but she doesn’t mind getting her sandals dirty either. 😉 Gunner is already 3 weeks old! I can’t believe it. These precious lives are not just kids underfoot! They are souls that our Savior loves. He has a plan designed for each of them, but the devil and the world wants them too. What a scary thought! I hope I will always be a good example and help to them.

I may not be a Mom yet, but I am a wife, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a step-daughter, a step-sister, an aunt, a friend, a sister-in-law, a Christian, and a youth director’s wife (or as one of the young people called me one time, a Youth directoress)! Am I doing what I can for those around me? I’ve often asked myself… What is my place? What am I good at? Could it be that it’s just being good at those things I have talked about? Being there for all these people in my life? Being happy where He has placed me? I still don’t really know the answer to that question, but I guess it’s something to ponder on!

I hope I’ve not been boring to y’all with this post! Please keep praying for us as we are waiting to find out about the grant. Tomorrow I’ll try to do a post about the messages that I was talking about that were preached yesterday, and how they spoke to my heart. I suppose for now though today’s post is long enough! 

God Bless Each One Of You! 

-Becky

It is day nine…. I can’t believe how fast time is going by! We are so thankful for everything that has been happening….for the prayers, love, and financial support from friends and family. It has been overwhelming and humbling to say the least!

Today is also Sunday, the Lord’s day, so lets go to HIS house and worship Him with a thankful heart for His blessings on our lives! I can’t think of any place I’d rather be on this beautiful Sunday morning! Please keep praying for us.

To all of you who are keeping up with us and our blog, we are so excited about what we are doing! I’m sure all of you know that by now though. We are still waiting to hear from the Cade Foundation! It is day 11, and as we are now down to crunch time my nerves are on edge wondering what we will hear. (I suppose this is a normal feeling, and just shows that I am human!) I’m sure that in some ways that feeling will remain until we know, but strange as it may sound I also have peace in knowing that all of this is in the Lord’s hands. I hope we don’t bore anyone by posting pictures each day! I thought this would be a fun idea as we are filled with anticipation. IF we receive the grant we will only be left with raising a little less than $1,300.

On the 12th day of countdowns….. We are still excited and praying!

Waiting and Praying!

I just thought I would give everyone a heads up. On October 15th we will find out if we will receive the grant from the Cade Foundation! We are excited to see what will happen, but I suppose we are also a little apprehensive at the same time. We are trying to not get our hopes up, but I have to be honest and say it’s a little (lot) hard not to. I have to say if this is the way to learn patience, I haven’t been the biggest fan! While I have to say this has not always been the easiest path we know this is the one He has laid out for us. I pray that someday, maybe, somehow, these events in our lives will help mold us into what HE wants us to be, and we will be able to be a blessing and help to some other family facing this same difficulty. In the mean time LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!! Hopefully in two weeks I will be sharing a post that says we are Maryland bound. 🙂

Tomorrow, July 1, 2013 marks one month that the grant papers were due. There was so much paper work involved! We worked very hard for several weeks trying to make sure we had everything exactly the way it had to be. We had to fill out all the paper work they required plus all the other information they needed. This list consisted of a copy of our marriage license, copies of the past 3 months pay stubs, a copy of last year’s 1040, a 4×6 photo of us, and copies of our birth certificates. (For this we were a little unsure of what to send for mine. Due to the fact I was born oversees, I have 3 different birth certificates. So… to be sure we did the right thing we sent a copy of all three)! 😉 We also had to have copies of all my medical records from my doctor, and a letter written by my doctor saying basically that we do have infertility problems, and should be counted eligible to receive this grant. All of that had to be in a signed and sealed envelope from the doctor. Included in the paperwork that we had to fill out was two copies for a treatment budget. (This was a list we had to make of how the money would be spent if we did receive the grant.) There were two copies of our monthly household budget, and a personal statement written by each of us stating why we wanted to do IVF, why we felt we would make good parents. etc. (Basically self promoting ourselves… Neither of us were comfortable with this, but had no choice.) These are just some of the things we went through to get these papers ready to be sent in.

As a way of memorializing this special occasion I took this picture of Jonathan on May 27, 2013. We mailed the grant papers on the following day. It was quite a relief to be done with it all, and know that we had gotten it sent in on time. However, at the same time we were very nervous for the next several days while we anxiously waited to receive an email from The Cade Foundation. This was a pretty big deal to us! Some of you may be wondering why. Well… as part of the application process we also had to fill out some information online and pay a donation fee of $50. At that point we found out that if our paper work was in any way in-complete we would not be considered for the grant. It stated that if everything was correct that we would receive an email saying that they had received our paper work. That email came 12 days later on June 10, 2013! I know that is not a long time, but we felt as if we were waiting on pins and needles! We were beyond thrilled when we received that email! It was at that point that we had a small feeling of satisfaction in knowing that everything we had just spent weeks laboring over was in fact what it needed to be. Now though… we have come to another waiting period. We are of course hoping we will receive this grant, but we also know that like us there are so many others who are waiting as well to know what will happen. We are very excited and I have to say that October 15, 2013 can’t get here fast enough! 😉

P.S. I also have to say that while the amount of money that is needed was somewhat overwhelming to us, we’ve always known that The Lord would supply the need for what we were doing. He’s always supplied our needs before and why would He lead us in a way that He would not provide for us now?! I heard a saying many years ago: Where God guides, He provides! I KNOW this to be true.

While we knew that we would receive support from our family and friends, we did not expect the response to be quite like this! To see The Lord work these past few months for us has been amazing! There are no words to describe how overwhelming it has been. In a little over seven months we have received 6,540. dollars.  Our total need is 14,030.00, and the amount we applied for is 6,090.00. We are hoping to be able to save another $1,500.00 between now and January 2014.

Thank you to everyone who has given to us to help with the expenses, and also thank you for all the prayers that are being said, and most of all thank you to Our Lord for His many blessings! God is good… ALL the time!

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

-Becky