BIG NEWS!! FULLY FUNDED!!

Because of God's move on the hearts of His people, the financial mountain is no longer.  Team Robinson is FF, as Dean calls it - FULLY FUNDED!!

Thank you all for your generous hearts...for giving so that Wyatt and Jubilee can know the love of a family....for making it possible for us to go get them.

We are INCREDIBLY THANKFUL!!

I'm off to deliver kids and pack our bags.  I'll write more later tonight.  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

UPDATE: Last Minute Plea for Wyatt and Jubilee

On Wednesday, Dean and I will board a plane and fly halfway around the world to complete the adoption of our precious little ones.  My heart is so full of excitement and anticipation.  Instead of counting down months and milestones, we're down to counting down days and hours.  Wyatt and Jubilee have only a few more days to spend outside the love and nurture of a family!!!  We are humbled and honored to be a part of God's plan for two precious little ones waiting for a family across the ocean.  

As excited as we are about leaving on Wednesday, we are down to the wire (quite literally - we have to wire the money).  We still need $5274 $4,000 in order to be fully funded.

Every dime of this last little bit is part of Jubilee's $6000 orphanage donation.  The orphanage will use this money to care for the children not chosen for adoption - those that remain behind without a family. 

We've cried out to God.  We've prayed for provision and He has gone before us and made a way for the work that was His idea anyway.  We praise the Almighty and trust His timing, friends.  The uncomfortable feeling we have right now has a purpose and is drawing us closer to our Father.  

The enemy has been whispering in my ear all day today, saying things that aren't even worthy of quote marks or comments. I pray for protection and rebuke the one that comes only to steal and kill and destroy.   We are claiming victory and praising He who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!

Please pray for us and consider helping us raise the remaining $5274 $4,000 needed to travel on Wednesday.  If you're willing to make a donation on Wyatt and Jubilee's behalf, please leave a comment or send an email to team_robinson@yahoo.com, so that we can let our agency know the funds are coming.

Secure donations (not tax deductible) can be made through our Paypal account HERE. Our Paypal email address for receiving funds is team_robinson@yahoo.com.

Tax deductible donations can be made online HERE through Lifesong for Orphans.  Please use our family account #3130.  You can also donate by sending a check (memo section marked with Robinson #3130) to:

Lifesong for Orphans, Inc.

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you and God bless you!

Are you ready for this?

Are you ready for this?

I can't keep silent about what our God has done!

I know you will be in AWE of Him!

Glory and Honor and Praise to Him for ever and ever!!

So my heart will sing to you.  I can't keep silent.  Lord, my God, I will give you thanks forever! Psalm 30:12

This journey to bringing home Wyatt and Jubilee is an AMAZING testimony of God's faithful provision. I am totally ignoring the piles of laundry, dirty dishes, the packing, and at least 10,000 little Legos scattered across the boys' floor today because I can't keep silent about what our God has done.  I have to tell you about it!

We have been loved, encouraged, supported and covered in prayer by so many over the past year, and we are SO THANKFUL! So many friends, loved ones and even strangers have offered financial gifts that Wyatt and Jubilee might have the hope and future of a family.  We are humbled beyond belief by the moving of the Holy Spirit on people's hearts and lives.  

We approached the FINAL COUNTDOWN on April 3 and before us stood a financial MOUNTAIN  $25,000 tall.  Today that mountain is nothing but a MOLEHILL!  The details point so greatly to the Father and are a testimony of his great power and love, so I'm going to share them with you so that you, too, might praise HIS NAME!

I've shared with you God's provision before, but it's so exciting I'll share it again.  

On the night of our pancake supper, $1859 was given for Wyatt and Jubilee!  

We are on day 52 of our Give 5 Change a Life Campaign, and $4167 has been given for Wyatt and Jubilee!!  

We were awarded  a $4,000 grant by A Child Waits Foundation a few days ago!!  Yea!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Praising God for His provision!!

As Dean and I prayed on Monday and asked what else we should do, God turned our gaze to a vehicle sitting in our driveway and laid on our hearts a plan to list it for sale.  Doubt and worry sprung up in me later in the morning.  What would our son think since he's the one that drives that car?  Would someone buy it in time?  It had no air conditioning, the transmission was acting up and the front end was dented.  Would anyone even want to buy it?  Trusting God, we moved forward and were AMAZED once more with the blessings that came from following His leading. Not only was our Blake positive and supportive of the idea to sell the car that HE drives, but he went with Dean to handle the transaction and clean out the car.  He was excited to see God's hand at work, and my heart sings with joy at the son God has given us.  Four hours later we were blessed with $8,000 of provision for our adoption.  Glory to God!

Are y'all with me?  All of that adds up to $18,026 dollars!!!  And I'm not even finished telling you yet of God's provision for our babies!

Encouraged by the sale of our vehicle, we decided to scour the house (and the backyard) for more things to sell yesterday, and today we have $700 more to add to our adoption fund!  Thank you, God!  

One more story to share:  a very generous anonymous donor has made a contribution to our family account with Lifeline in the amount of $1,000!!!!!!  Thank you!!!  Praise God for his continued provision for Wyatt and Jubilee. 

I know that was a lot to read.  Are you as overwhelmed with God's goodness as I am?  Less than a month ago we stood at the foot of a very tall mountain that was $25,000 high and today we are excited to say that the hill that remains is only $5,274 tall!! Thankful!

For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen - Romans 11:36

Provision

God has provided for our family in mighty ways in the past six weeks, and it's so exciting to share all the happenings with you!

We began our "Give 5 Change a Life" campaign on March 5 with a goal of raising $10,000 in 60 days.  Today is Day 42 and $3915 have been gifted to Wyatt and Jubilee's adoption fund!! 

When you look at our family's profile at Adopt Together, it says that the total amount raised is $7115.  $3200 of that amount was given earlier in our adoption process and was used to cover our agency fees, leaving $3915 available for us to use now.  Because of the generous gifts of so many, we will be able to purchase our airline tickets  as soon as we receive the go-ahead from our agency!!  

We had a great turnout at our Breakfast for Dinner Adoption Fundraiser.  CrossPointe Church allowed us to use their building and was the perfect venue for our dinner.  We loved spending our Saturday evening with so many people that we know and love, and a few new friends, as well. Several friends and my parents helped us set up, flip pancakes, scramble eggs, serve up the delicious feast and clean up the mess.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  People came and ate and gave.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Overall, we served about 100 people and had a really great time.  The grand total - $1859!  Praise God!

The mountain that was $25,000 tall just a few weeks ago is only $19,226 tall now.  We are in awe of God's provision and are so thankful for all that has been given on Wyatt and Jubilee's behalf.  

We have applied for grants with two different organizations that will hopefully be reviewed this week.  We appreciate prayers as we approach our travel dates!

Many blessings,

Tamara

Join us for dinner Saturday night...

Who:     You, your spouse, your kids and everyone

             you can think to bring with you

What:    Breakfast for Dinner Adoption Benefit

When:   Saturday, April 13th at 6:00 PM

Where:  CrossPointe Church

             2301 Airport Thruway, Suite B

             Columbus, Georgia

Why:     Because food, fellowship and fun with 

             friends is the perfect way to spend a 

             Saturday night 

All monies raised will go toward the travel expenses for our adoption of Wyatt & Jubilee.  We will be traveling to complete their adoption in only a few more weeks.  

We can't wait to see you!!  Come hungry!!!

Love,

Team Robinson

Waiting....

TODAY this wait got hard.  I really didn't think this would happen to me.  I work for the adoption agency!!  I'm a pro at managing expectations!!  Properly aligned expectations are supposed to help one cope, man!!  I'm a trained pro-fes-sion-al!!  I really did think I would escape excruciating heartache while waiting for my babies. So much for that!

The issue here is not that waiting before today was particularly easy. Since the moment we saw the face of our little Wyatt we've been ready to hold him in our arms. The same is true for Jubilee.  We've counted down the days with properly aligned expectations (coping mechanism that is supposed to be effective and has been effective until now).  "The wait" has been something I've prayed about from the beginning of this journey.  I've sought the Word using the keyword "waiting", and I've listened to "While I'm waiting..." a million times, but I've kept my cool, y'all.

Until today....

Today I lost it.  All by myself, in the car riding home from work, the tears rolled like rain.  Though this process has been a year and four months in the making, three or four weeks seems unbearably far away right now.  The tightness is my chest feels like more than just anticipation and longing.  I've got to GO.

It won't be long now.  Logically, I know this.  Deep down in my heart, I know this.  Lifeline is an amazing ministry staffed by people that love the Lord...people that are passionate about Jesus, the Gospel and children...people that cover one another and Lifeline families in prayer each and every day. I trust them with the details of Wyatt and Jubilee's adoptions - including the timeline to TA and CA and adoption day.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to get up and be done with the cry fest and obsessive charting of adoption timelines I've fallen victim to.  I'm not going to worry and fret and make poor Dean miserable running scenarios by him again and again. I am going to find joy in this wait, knowing that God knows the very moment I will hold my little ones in my arms for the first time.  Self pep talk over!

Many blessings,

Tamara

Everybody loves an update...

My beautiful friends at Lifeline Children's Services sent me our FINAL update this past weekend.  Whoo hoo!  The word "final" makes my heart race.  We're so close to catching that plane and wrapping our arms around our amazing new children.  Ahhhhhh, I can't wait!

The thing I love about an update is that an update equals pictures and measurements.  To see my little ones and hear a little something about them makes them feel a little less like they're on the other side of the world and closer to my heart. We are still waiting for the letters TA (travel approval) and CA (consulate appointment), and an update is oh, so sweet while we're waiting for the final milestone documents to arrive.

I know I've showed you Wyatt's referral and update pictures before but I know you want to see them again now, don't you?  He's grown so much since we first laid eyes on him.  He's every bit a 2 year old boy and so, so handsome.

Jubilee turned one about a month ago and has changed so much since her referral picture was taken.  She has so much more hair.  I'm going to have to get crafty and make some hair bows in my spare time.

I could stare at these two all day, if given the opportunity.  Alas, duty calls.  There are kids to feed and educate and work to be done.  Pray for my babies, my friends.  Their whole world is about to change and they don't even know it.  As excited as I am for Wyatt and Jubilee and for us to be joined together as a family, my heart breaks for what they have already endured and the additional loss they must suffer in order to be adopted.

Many blessings,

Tamara

Hide and Seek

One of our favorite games is hide-and-seek deep-woods-style.  Hide-and-seek is always fun, but it's even more fun if the person who starts the game doesn't tell anyone else that we're playing.

One minute you're walking through the woods hand in hand with the love of your life....kids running ahead looking at this and that...

...and the next thing you know you're being dragged off the trail and through the woods in search of a tree to hide behind. 

All of a sudden it's real quiet, and it takes at least a minute before anyone realizes that we're gone.  

The first one to notice our absence knows right away - GAME ON.  

He begins his search in silence so he doesn't tip off of the siblings up ahead.


When he finds us, he hides, too.

Next comes a chain reaction as one after another finds us....

until we're all crouched down behind a tree that's no longer big enough.

Within seconds we hear the humming of the ATV.  A big boy is coming.  What perfect timing!  He has no idea we're playing a game.  

Dean signals everyone to "hush" as we hear the ATV approaching.  Blake is looking for us.  He doesn't know we're hiding.  The fact that he doesn't know makes the hiding even more fun.

Miraculously Blake doesn't see 10 people crouched in a pile behind a skinny pine tree.  

The humming of the ATV fades as he heads back to the house.  That's no fun!!  I send him a text.  We've got to have a seeker and all the young ones have become hiders.

Blake doesn't respond.  Hmmmm, that's odd.  He's all about this game.  Still, the humming doesn't return and the hiders become restless.  Before we give up the game, though, I give my Blake a ring.

"Hi, baby.  Whatch doin'?"

"I'm looking for y'all, " he says.

"Um, I didn't hear the ATV?"

"I'm on foot, " he replies.

Sneaky boy!  Time to hang up and huddle close.

Not 5 minutes later, he's won. The boy doesn't even bother putting on jeans and shoes.  Apparently he's pretty confident of victory.  

GAME OVER!  Time to head through the mud hole and back to the house.

Good times with Team Robinson, indeed!

The Final Countdown

We have finally reached the LAST wait in this crazy, beautiful process - the wait for TA....Travel Approval!! 

While our hearts pound and our heads spin at the excitement of our impending travel, we are also very aware of the fact that we cannot travel until we raise the remaining $25,000 needed to pay for orphanage donations, airline and hotel costs and in-country legal expenses.

When God first showed us His plan for another Robinson, we knew we would have to trust Him to provide - to move the financial mountain that stands between us and the children He intends to weave into our family with His mighty hand. 

God has so faithfully provided through each step of this process, allowing us to experience loaves-and-fishes miracles with our bank account, a grant from Jeeah's Hope in partnership with Lifesong for Orphans, and love offerings from both friends and strangers. To date, we have been able to cover nearly $16,000 in adoption expenses.  

We are trusting God to provide the remaining $25,000 needed for Wyatt's and Jubilee's adoptions to be fully funded.

We don't know exactly what this will look like.  We don't know who God will work through or how He will provide, but we know that He will. 

As we've prayed, we've felt the Lord urging us to take a step of faith and share our need....to rid our hearts of worry and anxiety over money that is nothing in the Kingdom of Heaven.

And we will listen to Him.

As the Lord leads, please pray for provision for Wyatt and Jubilee and give to help us bring them home.  We are humbled, honored and so grateful for each and every person playing a part in the gift of a family for two children who will soon be orphans no more!! We can't wait to share with you the next chapter in Wyatt's and Jubilee's journey to a family.

During the next 25 days we'll need to purchase airline tickets and wire money for our orphanage donations and in-country legal fees.

$25,000 in 25 days is a lofty goal! It's a God-sized mountain to move, for sure, but God has shown us that we can expect big things from Him and from His people! 

Will you intentionally pray for Wyatt and Jubilee?

Will you share with those who you think might join us?

Will you give?

DONATE HERE

To donate directly to our adoption fund, tax-free, please look for the TAX FREE DONATIONS information on the lefthand side of our blog or use the direct link above this paragraph.  100% of what you give will be sent to Lifeline Children's Services and applied to our family's account.  

Many blessings to you and yours!!

Article 5 and an Update

As time ticks away and we draw closer and closer to adoption day, every milestone is downright exciting!!  Last Friday our Article 5 was picked up!!!

Isn't that the most exciting news you've heard this week?!?  

Aren't you a tad bit curious about what an Article 5 is and why it is the most exciting news this week?

What it is really doesn't matter all that much, but what it does is the exciting part.  The Article 5 has something or another to do with Wyatt and Jubilee's travel visas.  It is the very last piece of paper needed for their home country to issue Travel Approval - TA, baby!!  TA could come in as little as two weeks - maybe a little longer than that, but it's coming!!!  That's the exciting news!  We're now down to just weeks before our babies are in our arms.

After Friday's exciting Article 5 news, we woke up on Saturday to a beautiful update on Wyatt.  We received his measurements and two precious photos of our little man.  I know the photos are what you really want to see, so without further delay....

He's unbelievably cute, isn't he?  

Riley asked me why he was wearing a headband since his brother's a boy.  It's actually a bone conducting hearing aid.  According to his caregivers, it's pretty effective unless it's really noisy around him.  Uh oh!  It's a little noisy around here.  We'll have to work on quieting things down a bit, I think.  

That dimple is amazing, and those little lips - be still my heart!!  I just adore him.

We're so close to bringing him home, along with sweet Jubilee. I can't wait to get an update on her!

Please keep praying for us.  We are still in need of funding for the final portion of our adoption expenses.  As of right now, we still need to raise $25,000 to travel in May.  God's provision has been perfect throughout this journey, and we're trusting that he will provide what we need to bring home Wyatt and Jubilee.

Thank you following us on our journey!

Many blessings,

Team Robinson