5th Grade Rocks!

Today we met with our home study agency in Nashville.  We answered several questions and got a lot of details of what to expect during this time.  We were sent away with tons of homework.  Basically, it will take about 10 weeks if we get our fingerprinting done quickly.  It takes 8-10 weeks for the FBI results to come back on those fingerprints.  While that is being processed, all our homework (filling out a ton of questions and family background information) can be completed and once the fingerprinting is complete and we pass the home inspection, it is finished.

Today, was the last day of school for the kids until January 7th.  Christmas parties were had by each classroom and each classroom participated in a "Christmas Project."  Elliot's class collected money in baby bottles for the Hope Clinic For Women in Nashville, TN.  During his party, I was told by an office staff member that my presence was needed elsewhere.  My first thought was that a preschool student was throwing a fit and my assistance was needed to help calm the child or the teacher. Since there has been a full moon this week and Christmas activities galore this was a real possibility.  She took me to the gym, which is not in the territory for screaming preschoolers.  The 5th grade class was in there and they presented me with a check for $206.00.  Our family was their Christmas Project this year.  This was the only time in my life I ever remember being speechless.  I am humbled at their generosity and have been shown over and over that this really is the path our family is to be taking.

God is so good to us.  To date we have raised over $5,000.  I can't wait to see what happens when we really get serious about fundraising!  It is our hope and prayer that next year at this time, we will be on a jet plane heading to pick up our "Little Lytle."  

Thankful for our Blessings!

November is one of my favorite months.  I LOVE the cool, crisp air and the beautiful scenery that surrounds us.  I also love Thanksgiving Day and spending it with family and friends.  We have so much to be thankful for. As I sit here at the kitchen table with my cup of coffee and listening to my children in the den talking and watching tv, I can't help but think of the many blessings they have brought to our lives.  They are smart, healthy, funny, tender hearted, sometimes compassionate and down right adorable. They are interested in pleasing God and figuring out what His will is for their lives.  Just the other day when Elliot had the dreaded stomach virus, he said "I guess God has a reason for this."

As I think about these two, I can't help but think about the other one we will have across the globe who may not be so healthy.  He/she may not have basic needs met.  I can't help but wonder what he is doing right now.  How hungry/thirsty is he?  Is someone there loving on him? Is he too hot, too cold? I am trusting in MY FATHER that since he knows every detail in this little ones life and is taking care of him until we can get there.

So where are we in this process?  We are planning to begin our home study next month.  That includes a social worker coming to our home, checking it out to make sure it is safe and clean and various other things as well as interview us and some of our friends and family.  I have been told that our social worker will know more about us after this process than our families may know about us.  We will also be required to take parenting classes that deal with the effects of institutionalization, the developmental and social delays and a whole host of things that scare me out of my mind when I think about it.  Another great blessing is that MY FATHER will help me through each step of the process.

Last thing, we are currently in the middle of a Pampered Chef fundraiser.  If you are in need/want of any products for yourself or anyone for Christmas, you can see me or Michael for a book or you can go to pamperedchef.biz/laurenforrest  click shop online and type Diane Lytle in the host box.  We will be closing on Friday, November 22.

Thank you all for all your support and prayers during this process.

31 Fundraiser Going On Now!

The next step in the process is to complete our home study.

I have a wonderful friend, Andrea Orton, who is donating her 31 commission for this fundraiser, to our adoption.  This is a great opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early or to shop for yourself.  There are two ways to order.  You can see me or Michael for a catalog and order form, or you can easily shop online at www.thirtyonegifts.com.  

If you shop online:

1.  Click shop with a consultant.  
2.  Click I have a consultant.
3.  Click locate consultant by her name:  Andrea  Orton  State:  TN
4.  Click select this consultant.
5.  Click My Parties tab at the top.
6.  Find Diane's 31 Fundraiser Party and click Shop Now and begin your shopping.

This month when you spend $35.00 you can purchase Travel items at half off.  
Those items include:  City Weekender, Retro Metro Weekender, Uptown Roller 
Weekender, Cosmetic Bag Set, Flat Iron Case, Timeless Beauty Bag, 
Uptown Jewelry Bag.

This fundraiser will end on Monday, October 28.
Thank you for all your help in getting our little one home.

August Fundraisers are now complete!

August was a busy month with school beginning and three different fundraisers.  We had a "Scentsy" catalog order, a yard sale and a BBQ supper.  We raised over $3,000.  There were so many people involved in each of these events.  The Lord has truly blessed our family by giving us supportive, loving, sacrificially giving and serving family and friends in our lives.  We have seen HIM move mountains and we know that he will continue to move them until our little one is home.  We will be sending in our contract with our agency this month and will be starting our home study really soon.

Thank you to all who donated items for the yard sale, the Silent Auction,  purchased "Scentsy" and auction items, and ate delicious BBQ for the cause.  Your generosity did not go unnoticed.  We love each of you and can't wait to share with our little one all the sacrificial giving and praying you did to help bring him/her home.

We have been asked by numerous people to set up an online giving opportunity.  We are trying to make a decision on which option to use and as soon as we do, we will let you know.

    

And the Fundraising Begins!

This is the part of our journey that we are the least comfortable with.  We know that it takes A LOT of money to adopt.   We know that the Lord will supply every penny we need, but we know it will also require a lot planning and work on our end.

We are trying to get the money this month to complete our contract and start our home study.  We will be doing 3 different fundraisers this month.  First is a Scentsy order.  It will end on August 9. We are very thankful to Sarah Sanford for her generosity and love she has shown our family.   I have some catalogs or if you would like to shop online here is the link.  https://sarahsanford.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=170703145.  


The next fundraiser will be a joint yard sale with Will and Casey Davis.  They are also on an adoption journey bringing home a child from Poland.  The date for this is August 24th.  If you have anything you would like to donate for us to sell, let me know and we will arrange to come and pick it up.  

The final fundraiser for August will be a BBQ chicken dinner on Saturday, August 31.  My brother is an awesome pit master and he and his wife have volunteered to help with endeavor.  I will post further information when it becomes available.


If you would like to be involved in any of these fundraisers, we would love your support.  Hopefully the fundraisers will provide services that you can benefit from.  More important than any financial support, we would love to have your prayers for our family during this journey.  

The Lytles Are Adopting!

The Lytle’s are going to adopt!  We are excited to walk through this faith-building journey.  So how did we get to this point?  I mean after all, we do already have children.  Aren’t the people who adopt those who don’t have children?  Well, here is the story of how we got to where we are now.

September 2011, I started the second year of homeschooling our two children.  Because I was homeschooling, I had the flexibility to go and do things that I normally would not do during a typical school year.  I attended the D6 conference in Texas.  It is a really great conference that focuses on connecting parents to their kids spiritually.   I heard speakers like David Platt, Dannah Gresh, (Secret Keeper Girl), Steven Curtis Chapman and many more.  Without looking at my notes, I cannot tell you what each individual said, but the main take away was that they all said YES to God.  He asked many different things of them and they talked about their journey.  I went away from the conference wondering what the burdened feeling was inside of me.  It was at that point that I started praying, “Lord, whatever you ask, I want to obey you.  I am willing to do anything.  I don’t know what you are asking but I am willing.”

November 2011, I went to a women’s conference in Indiana.  A speaker I had never of heard before was there.  Her name is Lysa Terkeurst.  She spoke about her spiritual journey from the beginning to where she was at now and it included adoption.  I sat there and kept asking, “Why am I hearing about all these adoption stories?  First D6, and now here.  What are you trying to tell me? I don’t want any more kids, I can hardly handle the two I’ve got.  Is there a friend I am supposed to be supporting who is adopting a child?  All these types of questions kept going through my mind.  I surrendered and said, “Lord whatever you ask, I want to obey you.  I am willing to do anything.  If this is what you are asking, you will have to tell Michael, because he sure won’t listen to me.”  I told Michael about the weekend and about how all this was going along with what I learned at D6 and with the Bible Studies that I was now conducting at church.  We started praying about the direction we should be heading in.  It seemed like every sermon, every Bible verse, every song on the radio was about taking care of the orphans and the widows.  (Did you know that November is Orphan Awareness Month? I had never known until this past year of 2012.)  We knew money was an issue.  I had been at home for one school year and now another half of one and even though we weren’t spending frivolously, we were going through the savings account pretty quickly.  It seemed like the month of November and December any big household item that could break did and had to be replaced.  We added me getting a job to our prayer list.  We knew going in that we would do this homeschooling thing one year at a time and evaluate each year.  I knew in my heart that homeschooling permanently was not going to be an option. 

May 2012, I was offered a job as the Preschool Director at Pleasant View Christian School.  I accepted the job. 

Mike’s parents were in from Panama.  We talked with them about our thoughts on adopting.  We knew they would be totally honest with us, and if they thought we couldn’t handle more children, they would tell us.  

We continued to pray about this matter.  We told our kids what we were thinking about and told them we were going to spend time in prayer seeking if this was really from the Lord.  We prayed many months.  Sometimes I even prayed that God would take this from me.  My thoughts were totally consumed with this and I just wanted them to go away.  I could not focus on anything but adoption. 

We had made a plan that we would get through my first year of work and try to pay off debt before making any final decisions. 

July 2013, I completed my first year of work, we have our debt almost gone and the thoughts are still on adoption.  They have not waned one bit.  Our kids are excited and so are we.  We just completed our application to begin the process.  It will take anywhere from 12-16 months and a whole bunch of money and a whole lot of paper work. As we read through all the paperwork and contracts, there were a lot of things that were a tiny bit scary to me. I told Mike that I am not going to fret and worry over one bit of this. The Lord began this work in us and HE will complete it. We are leaving every bit of it in his hands.  He will decide which child is best for our family and if that child will be a boy or a girl between the ages of two and four.  Our kids are praying about it as well.  Their biggest concern is which one of them will have to share a room!

We know that right now, in an orphanage somewhere in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a little boy or girl who is without the love of a family and at this very moment the God of the universe is preparing all our hearts to be united one day soon.