When the adversary gives you lemons...

make lemon pie.
So, literally everytime we start the adoption process something financial happens that sets us back. About a year and a half ago we went in for orientation for adoption and got the paperwork to fill out. We were refinancing our condo so that we could have the money to pay for the adoption when Sterling got in a wreck. We found out that following day that our good for nothing insurance company had cancelled our policy because the DMV didn't file the medical clearance paperwork that the Dr's office had faxed over. Lewis Insurance stated that they sent out a letter to us letting us know what was going on but we never got one. Granted they had our first apartment address on file with them but all of our mail was being forwarded and we got a little post card that told us they had moved offices!!! So, needless to say the balance still owed on Sterling's '02 Mazda Millenia (which he loved dearly!) was about $10,000-$12,000. The other guy had like a '98 or '00 Mustang. He sued us and we settled for $4,000. Between everything all of our money for the adoption (plus A LOT more) was used. To make that situation worse the company that towed our car told Sterling he couldn't touch the car. They at least let him get the school books he needed for that quarter out but he had other books in there, all of his CD's (there was a lot), his mission scripture, and our Temple clothes (the ones we were married in. Plus, Sterling's temple pants weren't only the pants that he married me in but they were the same pants his dad married his mom in) :( , We had to refinance once again to get the car paid off so we could get the title to give over to the junk yard so we could get our stuff only to find out the they had either crushed it or sold it so EVERYTHING was gone! We were pretty devastated.

The hundreds of dollars of school books we "couldn't touch"

The damage. (he was T-boned) Thank heavens that he was alright.

We were just saving up to be able to pay the $1000 you pay up front for background checks, home inspection, and whatever else you need when our condo leaked into the condo below us ruining stuff in both of our condo's. Luckily the insurance (we got a new company) paid for most of it but we had a deductible we had to pay.

And now, we have sold our condo (didn't get as much as we wanted out of it because we had to refinance TWICE), moved in with Sterling's parents, and have money in savings to pay for the adoption. Our plan was to save the adoption money, and take our income to pay off ALL of our debt and save money for a down payment on a house. All of a sudden, on Saturday Sept. 27th I (Konni) am pulled aside at work and told they are letting me go. Yes, that is right! I am unemployed. To make the situation a little worse Sterling hadn't been to work in a couple of days because his anxiety and depression was the worst I have ever seen it. He would just lay in bed. He wouldn't smile, he didnt' want to talk. I was so worried about him. He hates his job and just couldn't get over this hump of anxiety and depression to pull himself out of bed and go into work. He's back at work now but he still has to force himself to go in. He's doing better. He will laugh and smile now.

The point of this whole things is 1. to let me vent and ramble on about it. and 2. to give you the moral of our story.

The moral of the story is When the adversary gives you lemons, make lemon pie out of it! We have been praying all day everyday. Our relationship is better between us and our Heavenly Father. We are showing our faith by continuing forward with the adoption. We know that we are doing the right thing because the adversary is blocking us at every turn and we will NOT be stopped. With the help of our Father in Heaven and our Savior we will overcome this too and bring a wonderful little spirit into our Eternal Family. We have each other and the Lord had brought us together. We have little Pedro (and Milton & Charlie) to tide us over until the child that has chosen to come to us through our birth mom makes his/her (I want a boy, Sterling want a girl) grand entrance. We pray that the Lord might stregthen us and all of our friends and family to get through all of our trials.