Wanted to take a minute and update you on how the adoption is going and what are prayer needs are.
First of all, we are SO BLESSED by the outpouring of love that we have received. I honestly expected at least a little bit of negativity, simply because we are doing something so out of the ordinary. Something this big and crazy tends to welcome criticism.
I have also been so HUMBLED by the outpouring of help. I hate asking for help, I really do. I knew from the beginning that by asking us to do this, God was asking us to put ourselves out there and ask for help. We are in the early stages and haven't needed a ton of help yet, but I'm already BLOWN AWAY by the love that has been showered on us. Our cinnamon roll fundraiser was the perfect example. We set up to sell at a local consignment sale. We had no idea what to expect, so we baked a bunch. We had people buy like crazy and got a few cash donations. We had friends spreading the word on Facebook and stepping up to buy lots of extra cinnamon rolls for their freezers so we didn't take home tons. We even had the owners of the sale hook us up with a local MOPS group who sold FOR US at their garage sale. Let me make sure that was clear - we had a group of people who we had NEVER MET before that day selling cinnamon rolls for us to bring our daughter home! How amazing is that? Friends have stepped up in so many ways - fundraising, spreading the word, donating, etc and we're still in the beginning. I feel like we have an army behind us, spreading the word, helping with fundraisers, walking this journey with us. It gives me such peace to know that we are surrounded by so many amazing advocates. I see a donation come in from a single mom who I KNOW can't have that much extra laying around (I was a single mom, I KNOW), and I think WOW! She has that much confidence in us, NOTHING IS GONNA STOP US! And I get that boost with every donation, every time my blog is shared, every time someone steps up and helps. God. Is. Good. That is all.
So here is where we are at: Still in the beginning. It feels like it is going slooooow. Things are moving, but not as fast as I want. The home study agency has all of our information now, but we were slowed down because we left some information off of the application and it had to be sent back to us. Twice. Ugh. I was very frustrated about that, but I am cutting myself some slack. The packet of information was HUGE and I missed 2 small lines. I have never done anything this intensive! Our HS with our last adoption was thorough, but not nearly as intense because we were adopting a child that we had custody of for the previous 2 1/2 years, it was private and local. But since I have the paperwork done and we now all know my toothpaste preference, I think we are rolling. :)
We are working on our dossier while we wait on the HS, so as soon as we get it done we can move pretty quickly. The country we are adopting from is pretty quick process, so we're looking forward to meeting our daughter within the next several months, which is a pretty exciting thought!
I'll post a financial update soon, when I've had a chance to crunch numbers, but for now I'll estimate that between a garage sale, selling cinnamon rolls, selling clothes at a consignment sale, jewelry sales and a few donations, we've reached about $1,000ish. We're SUPER excited about this, because now that our HS is going, very soon we'll be filing with USCIS, and the fee is about $900. God is good. Total expenditures are, well, significantly more than the $1,000 we've raised, but it is a SMALL price to pay for the life of a child.
Needs:
Prayer: For the home study to go well & quickly, for Antoinette's health and safety while she waits, for children being left behind, for financial provision during the process. And maybe a prayer for my sanity during the process - haha!
Local friends: We will be having a garage sale later this summer. We need stuff donated. So, start saving stuff and I'll get dates set up soon. :)
Crafty friends: In August or September we're going to do an online auction with hand-crafted items and we need donations. You can do whatever you want, but it should be easy to ship. Let me know if you are interested in helping and we'll talk details.
Donations: If you would like to donate, we would appreciate donations to our YouCaring account, because we can use it to help with expenses prior to travel; and our Reece's Rainbow account is only available when we travel. BUT, donations to our Reece's Rainbow account are tax-deductible, so absolutely donate there if you want to claim the tax deduction! (Both links are on the sidebar - I LEARNED HOW TO ADD THEM! I'm almost a real blogger! Yay me!)
THANK YOU! You have no idea how much your prayers and support mean to us. They strengthen us as we walk on this long journey. On frustrating days I think about the support we have around us and think to myself. NOTHING WILL STOP US!
...If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
First of all, we are SO BLESSED by the outpouring of love that we have received. I honestly expected at least a little bit of negativity, simply because we are doing something so out of the ordinary. Something this big and crazy tends to welcome criticism.
I have also been so HUMBLED by the outpouring of help. I hate asking for help, I really do. I knew from the beginning that by asking us to do this, God was asking us to put ourselves out there and ask for help. We are in the early stages and haven't needed a ton of help yet, but I'm already BLOWN AWAY by the love that has been showered on us. Our cinnamon roll fundraiser was the perfect example. We set up to sell at a local consignment sale. We had no idea what to expect, so we baked a bunch. We had people buy like crazy and got a few cash donations. We had friends spreading the word on Facebook and stepping up to buy lots of extra cinnamon rolls for their freezers so we didn't take home tons. We even had the owners of the sale hook us up with a local MOPS group who sold FOR US at their garage sale. Let me make sure that was clear - we had a group of people who we had NEVER MET before that day selling cinnamon rolls for us to bring our daughter home! How amazing is that? Friends have stepped up in so many ways - fundraising, spreading the word, donating, etc and we're still in the beginning. I feel like we have an army behind us, spreading the word, helping with fundraisers, walking this journey with us. It gives me such peace to know that we are surrounded by so many amazing advocates. I see a donation come in from a single mom who I KNOW can't have that much extra laying around (I was a single mom, I KNOW), and I think WOW! She has that much confidence in us, NOTHING IS GONNA STOP US! And I get that boost with every donation, every time my blog is shared, every time someone steps up and helps. God. Is. Good. That is all.
So here is where we are at: Still in the beginning. It feels like it is going slooooow. Things are moving, but not as fast as I want. The home study agency has all of our information now, but we were slowed down because we left some information off of the application and it had to be sent back to us. Twice. Ugh. I was very frustrated about that, but I am cutting myself some slack. The packet of information was HUGE and I missed 2 small lines. I have never done anything this intensive! Our HS with our last adoption was thorough, but not nearly as intense because we were adopting a child that we had custody of for the previous 2 1/2 years, it was private and local. But since I have the paperwork done and we now all know my toothpaste preference, I think we are rolling. :)
We are working on our dossier while we wait on the HS, so as soon as we get it done we can move pretty quickly. The country we are adopting from is pretty quick process, so we're looking forward to meeting our daughter within the next several months, which is a pretty exciting thought!
I'll post a financial update soon, when I've had a chance to crunch numbers, but for now I'll estimate that between a garage sale, selling cinnamon rolls, selling clothes at a consignment sale, jewelry sales and a few donations, we've reached about $1,000ish. We're SUPER excited about this, because now that our HS is going, very soon we'll be filing with USCIS, and the fee is about $900. God is good. Total expenditures are, well, significantly more than the $1,000 we've raised, but it is a SMALL price to pay for the life of a child.
Needs:
Prayer: For the home study to go well & quickly, for Antoinette's health and safety while she waits, for children being left behind, for financial provision during the process. And maybe a prayer for my sanity during the process - haha!
Local friends: We will be having a garage sale later this summer. We need stuff donated. So, start saving stuff and I'll get dates set up soon. :)
Crafty friends: In August or September we're going to do an online auction with hand-crafted items and we need donations. You can do whatever you want, but it should be easy to ship. Let me know if you are interested in helping and we'll talk details.
Donations: If you would like to donate, we would appreciate donations to our YouCaring account, because we can use it to help with expenses prior to travel; and our Reece's Rainbow account is only available when we travel. BUT, donations to our Reece's Rainbow account are tax-deductible, so absolutely donate there if you want to claim the tax deduction! (Both links are on the sidebar - I LEARNED HOW TO ADD THEM! I'm almost a real blogger! Yay me!)
THANK YOU! You have no idea how much your prayers and support mean to us. They strengthen us as we walk on this long journey. On frustrating days I think about the support we have around us and think to myself. NOTHING WILL STOP US!
...If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Love you shan! So proud!
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