Encouragement from my beautiful friends and family!!

*  Even though Sam was not meant to be yours, he was meant to open your hearts fully to adoption and Ukraine.  So all your love and yearning for him was not for loss...it was for gain. 

I just really feel like God drew you deeper into His plan of adoption by making Sam's face so captivating to you even though he was not meant for your family..he was meant to start you on this journey, so he will always have a special place in  your heart and your future child's!

*  Thank you for allowing us to pray for you...I don't understand but I am trusting Him. 

*  Our God certainly is a GOOD and MIGHTY GOD and we're grateful to Him for miraculously making things happen. We will continue to pray for our little Ukrainian, his health and that everything will easily flow into place. He certainly doesn't know what great loving parents await him. We also ask for His hand in fund raising and that it will far exceed what we expect. Just so you know, even though we will never know him, we still pray for Sam and ask the Lord for his healing and that he will be adopted someday to a family that can meet his needs. God Bless Him.

*  God is still in control and even though we don't always understand the path He leads us down, we do know that He does not make mistakes.  No, you probably won't get Sam, but sometimes a set back is a set up for a great come back.  God always works it out so that there is no mistaken that His hand was in it.  God has this all worked out for you guys,

God always works it out so that there is no mistaken that his hand was in it. God has this all worked out for you guys, just keep trusting and believing.

Thanks for sharing you story

I'll be praying for you and your family

Successful Home Study!

Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and power. He determines the course of world events; he removes kings and sets others on the throne. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he himself is surrounded by light. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. (Dan. 2:20–23) 


We continue to pray for wisdom and strength during this adoption journey.  Today's home study went well and it's another milestone on the way to becoming parents.  Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement!  May you have a blessed weekend!

Friday is a big day!!

This Friday we have our first home study visit!  Our agency has been fabulous with communication and they even were able to move our home study up 3 days earlier!  Thank you for all your prayers...this is a huge step closer in our adoption process:)

10-26-10...Answered Prayers

Today was an "high" day on this roller coaster ride!  I have been praying so hard the past 24 hours for donations and encouragement because I'm getting nervous and Satan is really attacking me with fear.  I'm over-whelmed with the amount of generosity and willingness to help I've received from people around me.  Here are some answered prayers!!!  Thank you everyone!!!



****We would like to donate to your garage sale. We have tons of stuff!  We’ve been saving our stuff for a garage sale this summer but felt that we needed to donate these to you guys. I believe my mother-in-law has stuff to donate as well…the problem with that is she lives in Columbus, KS and I don’t know if they will be able to bring their stuff up by the time you have your garage sale. I also talked to my parents and they mentioned they may have some pieces of furniture they can donate.  
To give you an idea of what we have I’ll list some of the items I can think off of the top of my head:
Tv stand 
TV 
2 outdoor chairs 
Wooden Shelf 
Tons of Baby girl clothes (they are already on hangers) 
Box of adult clothes 
Big Picture 

****Just wanted to let you know that we will do some hefty fall cleaning and "out with the old, in with the new" just as soon as we return from our honeymoon.  As you know, we were married this past Saturday and were extremely blessed with a variety of wedding gifts.  We have noticed we have many duplicate items such as alarm clocks, kitchen appliances, etc.  We would love to donate these items to your sale for the wonderful cause!

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Rainbow at the end of the storm...

October 22...
After hearing the news about Sam, I was angry, I felt stupid, and I was disappointed.  I was just so sad to know this little boy was not going to be a part of our family.  The next morning I completed one lesson in the Experiencing God Bible study entitled, "God Takes the Initiative".  I battled with the loss of Sam all night because this new news made us both question everything up to this point.  Did we make all of this up in our head?  Was God truly leading us toward adoption or was it just our own initiative?  How could we have been so off base? 
My prayer that morning was for encouragement and clarity.  I was reminded that God is a faithful, prayer answering God!  I also enjoyed learning about George Muller's method of joining God at work.  I "tested" my method against his and felt encouraged that we had proceeded according with God's will.  Adoption for us was not an easy decision...in fact, we fought it for a long time.  But each time we prayed and read scripture regarding this path, God led us closer to it. 

During our conversation with our caseworker, she mentioned another little boy they have in mind for our family.  He is younger and healthier, and we can continue on the same timeline as we were with Sam!  We are continuing to proceed with the adoption process in Ukraine!  Please continue to pray for our paperwork and home study.  Our first home study visit is scheduled for November 2!!!

Hard to hear news...

October 21...
Todd received an email regarding the health of Sam and that our coordinator needed to talk with us over the phone.  I was in parent-teacher conferences.  What we were about to hear changed our lives and broke our hearts...

Our coordinator explained that in his recent medical evaluation, Sam's mental capacity diminished greatly over the past year.  She told Todd he had "severe mental deficiencies" that were not present during his last evaluation.  Her suggestion was to not proceed with adopting Sam. 
I wanted and needed to hear this news for myself because part of me didn't believe it and I didn't want to give up on Sam. I spoke with her the next day and she confirmed his mental state.  She explained that we should live our lives knowing that he was being taken care of and that if we adopted him, our lives would never be the same due to the care we would have to provide. 

We knew this was a possibility, but the aching for Sam is so hard to endure.  We fell in love with this little boy, but we are going to listen to the advice of our caseworker and not continue with the adoption of our little man:(

The journey begins...

A Love Story...
We first met in March 2006 and there was an instant connection.  We shared the same love relationship with Jesus and desired to put Him first in our lives.  We also shared others loves like dogs, Indiana Jones, Mexican food, traveling, and the desire to begin a family.  It didn't take long to discover that we were made for each other and we got married in a beautiful, winter wonderland in December 2006.

Two years, going on three...
After a year of honeymooning, we decided to start a family.  Over the course of several years, we have come to know the pain and struggle of infertility.  Many of you have shared our loss and I'm sure there have been times many of you have wondered, as we have been asked many times.  We have not given up hope because our God is a mighty God!  However, our desire to have children has grown immensely over time and our hearts have been moved in another direction.
Before Todd and I were married, adoption was something we both desired to pursue after we had biological children.  Once infertility became an issue, we started casually researching adoption options.  It's a long, expensive process, that can also be heartbreaking, and it's something we were hesitant to explore. 
In our casual research about adoption, we found a picture of a little boy that looks like a Bottorff.  He has blond hair, blue eyes, and dimples:)  Over the past 8-9 months, his face continues to appear in our memories and we can't stop thinking about him.  But, the more we researched, the deeper the fear set in.  However, God wasn't done with us and He kept tugging on our hearts.  After much prayer, we decided to find out more about this little boy.

The journey begins...
We called to talk to the placement agency about this little boy and we discovered he is in an orphanage in Ukraine.  His birthday is December 9th (one week exactly after our wedding:) and he will turn four years old.  We also found out he suffers from the hip dysplasia.  Although he is older, successful surgery can still be performed.  We are told he is a very smart little boy and everyone loves him!  Because of his age and disability, we are looking at adopting him within 3-6 months!  We are so excited to start our family and my sister even bought him a little Star Wars shirt:)  Mommy is also going to get him a little MU shirt and it shouldn't upset Daddy too much based on their perfect record so far this season:)  We are quickly gathering and completing all the paperwork needed and have officially started the adoption process!
In our conversation with the adoption agency, we also found out that the cost of the adoption and the required, extensive travel will be near $30,000. 

God-sized events...
We spent about two weeks enjoying the decision to adopt Sam with each other, while also completing the paperwork.  Then, we began telling our family and close friends.  One night we were driving back from telling my parents and we got a phone call about a person who wanted to buy our doghouse.  There actually was a "bidding war" because two people wanted it.  Well, the couple that ended up buying the doghouse happened to be a pastor and his wife...that were also missionaries...that also ran their own ministry...who also had a heart for adoption!!!!  Coincidence?  No...God!  The next day this couple came to pick up the doghouse, gave us much encouragement, offered us some fund raising contacts, and also donated more than double what we were asking for on our dog house!!!  What an awesome and encouraging God we serve!

Not long after we sold the doghouse on Craig's List did we get another person who wanted to purchase a $10 bath spa system.  I happened to mention we were raising money for an adoption and she told us her husband was in a Christian band!  She also told us she was going to talk to the band to see if they would be interested in holding a concert to raise money for our adoption!!  We are still waiting for more information, but are praying this is a go!

"She named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I asked the Lord for him'".  Samuel 1:20
One morning before church I woke Todd up and we instantly started talking about Little Bottorff.  See...we knew Sam wasn't his "real" name, but we didn't know if we were going to change it or keep it the same. Since that's how we've been praying and talking about him, we really didn't know how that was going to work.  In our conversation that morning, Todd pointed out that Samuel was a judge in the Bible...that reminded me that he was also Hannah's son...God's gift to her after years of being barren.  I've been praying "Hannah's Prayer" for over two years now...isn't it just like God to actually bring me Sam?!?!  Wow...we're NOT changing his name, God created him for us. 

His birthday is December 9th...
The more we think and pray for Sam, the more we grow to love him!  Alicia and I also picture him in ways we imagine he might be based on the one picture we have of him.  (we can't share the picture on-line because he is not our son yet)  Over time, God has even revealed to us that He answered prayers we had more than 4 years ago almost as soon as we uttered them. Sam was born December 9, 2006. We were married December 2, 2006. Alicia was only half of my answer to prayers of hope for a loving wife and children. I didn't know it at the time but God answered the rest of the prayer half way around the world. I can see now that I would never understand this attribute of God if we got pregnant with ease.

FIRST FUND-RAISING EVENT
Mark the dates...Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13 we are holding an ADOPTION FUND-RAISER GARAGE SALE!!!  We are selling a variety of items, including hand-made bracelets to bring Little Bottorff home!  Please come and shop OR let us know if you have any items to for the garage sale!!! 
Please pray for items to sell and for generous shoppers:)

















Also, if you'd like to make a donation, you may send it to:
PO Box 860114
Shawnee, KS 66218