“Hope deferred makes the heart sick. . .”

We got that call today. The bad one.

“Molly? …this is (coordinator) at New Horizons for Children. We got some bad news today. [Host child] will not be able to come this summer.”

They were unable to get her documents together. I do not know all of the details, but this is specific to her and (obviously) not anticipated. New Horizons was really wonderful and after 2 failed adoptions and getting notified via email both times, I thought it was so wonderful of them to call and talk to me on the phone. They asked if we’d like to pick a different child. Unfortunately, most children have either been chosen (yay!) or it’s already too late (boo!). There are only a handful left and both we and New Horizons agreed that none of them would be a good fit for us.

However, they will hang on to all donations so far and allow us to use them towards winter hosting.

For the auction, because the money was not yet in, we decided to have all of the donations go to the Smith family. They are hoping to host a boy named Valera and have a long ways to go with fundraising. We hope that this auction will give them a good push.

A few wonderful friends have asked me to keep Moose Prints up. I really have no interest in starting a business for profit– it just seems like a lot of work. But, I’ve contacted the hosting agency to see if we can raise the money proactively throughout the summer and fall and keep accepting donations for winter hosting. They are looking into it for me.

As for our sweet host girl. I do not know if she was aware that she had been chosen. Either way, it is difficult. Either to know of hosting, but not be chosen or to know you were chosen but not get to go. At the suggestion of a friend, we’ve offered to send her a care package if possible. We’d love for her to know just how loved she is, even if she can’t be here with us. We would love to fill it up with goodies– some necessities and some fun things to send it back to her. New Horizons is also looking into this for us.

And, I ask that you keep praying for her. We “lost” both “Quinn” and “Helen”, but yet, they both have families of their own and miraculously, we’ve even been able to see updates on how they are doing. And, if we hadn’t “lost” them, we wouldn’t have Reed or Gus. We are praying that our host girl’s story will be as beautiful. So, keep praying.

“. . .but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” -Proverb 13:12