St Patrick's Day felt like Valentines day

Our Aloizs Mitchell is one precious child.  I haven't blogged in awhile...but I wanted to share the depth of love that comes from a child that is so full of love, but has been robbed his whole life from receiving the love he should of gotten.  This precious little boy that is now 15 years old is so full of love to give, it amazes me.  
Today is St. Patrick's Day, but felt more like Valentine's Day, like most days do for me.  Most of the time we share how much we love a family member on special days like Mother's Day, Valentines Day or Birthdays.  All the days in between we might say "I love you" in the morning and at night.  Maybe on the phone here and there...how many times do we tell the ones we love, that we love them?  
I hear from our Aloizs all day and night and I am very thankful that one we have the technology to talk and two that he would take the time to write me.  
So today I thought wow how often I have heard him say I love you everyday since he has left which has been 2 months, and thought wow, we should should say I love you more to the ones we love.  That how much more loved we feel when we hear that all day.  I decided to reopen all of my messages from him today and count how many times he told me that he loved me...and it was 40 times just today that he said "I love you my mom for life, I promise."  Have any of us ever told our family we loved them 40 times in one day?  
can I say I feel loved by this child!
I have often said that I feel a lot of times like he says to me what he wants to hear back, of course I say it back each and every time.  He has been robbed of a mom telling him "I love you" everyday of his life, and we have 15 years to make up for.  
Tell your family you love them more, tell your children you love them more, don't miss an opportunity you never know how that could change a day, change a year, or even change your child's future.  When we feel loved we are secure, happy, fulfilled, safe, empowered, successful, encouraged, and even invincible.  Love is a powerful thing.  The Bible says 

1 Corinthians 13 
[ The Greatest Gift ] Though I speak with the tongues ofmen and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I havethe gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ...

1 Corinthians 13:13

1. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
   
   
   
   

To God be the Glory!!

To God be the Glory!!

WOW!  God is so Good!  Tuesday 3-5-13 What a day!!  I blogged the Mountain that was  in front of us...$6000 that was needed to go with our next documents which was double what we thought.  God said do you trust and Believe that I have got this?  It was a hard day, to find out that we had hurried to get our documents completed and then find out we needed that kind of money.  Tony, had said it was double the amount we needed so when God did it there would be no doubt that HE did it.  After my cry yesterday God spoke to my heart and said to do what I had told Aloizs to do and that is trust and believe.  So, I did...I give it to God Trusting that He would make away...

6 or 7 hours later we got a phone call, with $6000!!  Yes!  You heard me GOD turned it all around in less than 8 hours!  

Praise God for His Goodness, He is still God of it all, In control of it all!! There is NO Doubt God is in this adoption for his Glory!!  He has great plans for our Aloizs!  and I can't wait to see this child come here and share his testimony of what God has done in his life!!

We traveled to Raleigh today, to get our documents Apostilled by the the NC Secretary of State.  These documents will be going to Latvia!!  We got up very early, very excited to get this phase completed.  We dropped them off and they said they would be ready in the morning.  We left and toured the Capitol and the museums (School field trip)  It was fun...at 2:00 Tony said lets just stop by and see if they happen to be ready.  So before we headed to our car to leave we stopped in the State office, the lady looked and she said yes they are ready!!  She said now open them and look through them before you leave.  It was 2 big packs of papers, about 90 pages!  so I did and I am so glad we did.  One document was denied because the notary didn't stamp it.  So I called her and we flew (not really) home to get it stamped before the doctors office closed and we have to go back to Raleigh in the morning...for ONE document!!  But I am thankful the papers were ready early, so we can still get them finished in the morning instead of having to go back again on Friday!!  

So, Tomorrow all of these Documents will be mailed (over nighted) with a $6000 check to our adoption agent and then Friday will be scanned to Latvia to be translated!!  I am very excited to have all of these documents completed, We are praying for all of these documents to be approved rapidly.  

The next steps (that are going on at the same time) are to wait on the US CIS to send us a letter of appointment to be fingerprinted by the US immigration office, and then we will wait for them to send us an approval letter.  This Application was able to get mailed TODAY, Thanks to Total Praise in Song, my dear precious friends that raised the funds for this application to be mailed!!  

In the mean time our documents in Latvia will be translated in Latvian, so they are ready to be reviewed.  When we get our US approval that will then be sent to Latvia as well, in hopes that all of the other documents are ready and translated.  Then we wait on Latvia to send us an approval and a date to travel!!!  Sorry I know this is probably hard to understand and boring.  But just know we are now very close but also we are at the hard part of waiting, not knowing how long this could take...

We are now in the stage of raising funds to travel to Latvia, one of the biggest expenses of this journey...We will have to live in an apartment in Latvia for 3 weeks, with cost of airfare for 5 to Latvia and airfare for "6" home,  and all of the other expenses in Latvia.  So as one thing is complete and is a BIG accomplishment we are now facing our next big step which is another mountain, But I am believing God is going to do GREAT things once again.

Thank you to all of you that donated this week you guys are amazing, and such a BIG part of this journey with our family!!  The money that was donated to Open Door this week by so many of you, will stay in the Bell account and go towards our travel expenses.  We still have much to raise...

Some fundraisers coming:

March 23rd Yard Sale 

April 6th All fore!  Aloizs Golf tournament at Sapona Golf club.

April 27th Spaghetti Dinner at The 1st PH Church in Winston-Salem

**Thank you to all of you that are planning and working so hard on all of these fund raisers!!  WE LOVE YOU ALL!  

Do you Believe me?

Do you Believe me?

Today was  a precious moment with our Aloizs, that I am going to share even though I don't normally share our conversations, but today I feel God needs to be glorified.  This morning I am in conversation with him and he asked me "mom, do you really know that we will be together forever?" 

I said back that yes, I know we will be together. why? did someone say we wouldn't?  He said "mom, I worry"

I said you will have to trust me, do you believe me when I say we will be together?  He said "Yes, I believe, I believe you that we will be together, I love you my mom forever."

It was a very precious moment.  He then went on to tell me in 6 more messages in an hour that he loved me.  I share this because of what happens next...

I then was on the phone with the adoption agent, most of you know we have all of our paperwork ready, I have worked very hard to get it done very quickly...I am on the phone with her reviewing all of what is needed this week, checking off each thing...I have down that we will need $3000 by Friday, (which we only have $850)  but I am not worried, knowing it is going to happen some how...

When she gets to the amount the check needs to be for she says...$6000.  I say ok and hang up...

Can I say my heart went to my stomach and I felt as though I could of thrown up...that's me being real with you guys...very real...letting you all into a part of my life I wouldn't normally share...I called Tony,  and he says it will be God for sure when this happens this week!  Feeling sick and overwhelmed I go sit in in my bathroom on the floor and cry my head off...I prayed God I know you have this but I am worried, this is a lot of money!  God said "Do you remember what you said to Aloizs today?"  WOW!  Does God have a way with just a few words!  I melted in tears, and said God I believe, I believe God you have this.  How God is teaching me through this journey is absolutely amazing.  I don't know how or where this money will come from...But I am believing God for a miracle.  I wanted to share this most intimate  moment with you so when it does happen God will be glorified in it all.  Is this hard for me to share absolutely...but To Him be the Glory for what he is about to do.  I love this child and I know God is doing amazing things in his life and through his life.  He is definitely changing me and growing my Faith everyday!  Love you all!!  God is still in control of it all, I Believe Him do you?