My adoption journey!

So, I admittedly have not been keeping up with my blog.  Expect that to change.  I will be posting all sorts of crafts, recipes, and projects, as well as updates on my adoption journey. 
Here is the shorter version (really) of my journey:
In April of 2008, I decided that God was calling me to be a foster parent and possibly adopt.  I applied through CPS in Houston, and learned that since I was moving to Bryan, I would need to get certified through that branch rather than continue on with the process in Houston.  So I did.  I drove from Houston to Brenham for the classes and then had all the various inspections and homestudy once I moved to Bryan.  There were roadblocks and delays and discouragement but I pushed through.  I became very ill and thought I had cancer and spent several weeks in and out of urgent care until my insurance through my new job kicked in and I started seeing a urologist 80 miles away.  Well, I did not have cancer but I found out on December 9 that I did have interstitial cystitis.  I had so much faith that CPS would approve me as a foster/adoptive parent, but after waiting 2 months after my homestudy for an answer, I got a phone call from CPS one week before Christmas that they were not approving me based on financial reasons.  I was working at a daycare after quitting my teaching job and based on my income and my length of time at my current job they denied me.
I was devastated but I did not give up.  I spent several months praying and looking at adoption agencies.  I kept asking God what I needed to do, and I wasn't getting an answer.  I did not have peace about any of the agencies I looked at, none of them felt right.  Then, major problems occurred at work and I started feeling it was time to move on, so I started looking at jobs in other fields, and applied for several.  Let's be clear about one thing:  I was never, I repeat, never going to go back to school.  People suggested it.  Nope, not going to happen.  I continued like this for a few months until one Thursday in May, when I was at work, asking God for the one thousandth time what I was supposed to do, when He told me to go to nursing school.  Within an hour I was walking to Blinn (both my job at the time and Blinn College were within walking distance of my apartment) to figure out how to enroll in classes, which were to begin in 6 days.  Basically, I only had Friday, a day on which I was, of course, working, to get my college transcript to Blinn so I could be enrolled as a student to register for classes that Sunday.  I don't remember how I did it, but I did, and I did not know my ID number, which was necessary to register, and I don't know how I retrieved it, because all the offices were closed.
School was hard.  I didn't have any money to start with and was barely making ends meet, now I increased my expenses, and cut my hours at work by 25%.  For 6 weeks, I actually worked 48 hours a week between the daycare, a morning babysitting job, and my evening babysitting job, all the while spending 18 hours a week in class and still having to find time to study.  I needed A's to get into nursing school, but I was so pressed for time that I did the minimum amount of work that would get me an A in each class.  I could not spend 10 minutes on essay bonus questions on a test or do highly elaborate extra credit projects.  I needed that time for studying for my next class.  I got into nursing school, with all the huge papers and long clinical days.  I eventually quit the daycare and began working at Joann Fabrics & Crafts and subbing in the local schools.  For at least one semester, I worked every single day that I wasn't in school, including weekends. 
Graduation came and it took me 2 months to get a job.  I should mention that after SO MUCH WAITING, I really thought God was going to give me a baby right away when I finished school.  I mean, I was ready for a baby 3 years ago and I was not exactly happy about God telling me I needed to spend 2.5 years in school first.  I graduated in December 2011, so by March of 2011 I was waiting every day for that phone call.  The call that someone I know knew of a baby in need of a home.
In the summer, around July, I got that call.  My friend Kristina had a friend who was looking for a home for her baby and who didn't want to do an agency adoption, just a lawyer.  Wow, that was exactly what I wanted!  So Kristina gave her my number.  I never heard from her.  I later found out that she was considering an abortion.  Kristina tried to reach out to her and talk to her but the girl wouldn't talk to Kristina.  I kept praying, and praying, and praying that this woman would love her child enough to give him/her life.  I don't know what the outcome was.  I didn't want to ask.  I don't want to be told that the child I loved and wanted and prayed for and set up a nursery for and made cloth diapers for was aborted.  I assume that is what happened, but if I don't actually know, then I can believe that maybe, just maybe, she decided to parent her child.
Basically, up to this point, I have believed that God has a specific child out there just for me, and that I would find this child and do an adoption with just a homestudy and a lawyer.  In the past week, God led me to once again explore agencies.  Over the years I have looked into agency adoption many times but always felt that it was not the right path for me.  Well, it turns out that it was the right path but not the right time, and the right time is now.  I very easily decided on an agency and I have so much peace about this decision.  And because I know this is what God is calling me to, all the fear is gone, and all the worry about how to finance an adoption is gone.  So I put a "donate" button on my blog, opened an etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/lizmeslittles), and have begun to go through my stuff to find what can be sold on Amazon or craigslist and have brainstormed ideas of things to make to sell on etsy.  In addition, I will be having an ongoing "virtual" bakesale so if you would like to purchase any baked goods such as cakes or cookies, let me know!  I also will be passing out baby bottles to anyone willing to collect their spare change into one.