Next Step

Wow. It's been a while. I apologize. September - December are very busy months for us. We each have our birthdays during this time and then the holidays. I wanted to announce that...we got a grant for the adoption! We have been awarded up to $5000 from The Gift of Adoption Fund. We will receive the money towards our agency and international fees when we turn in the rest. We were absolutely floored. We did not expect this, especially such a large amount. It was so great to have confirmation from God in what we are doing. We also received a couple of other large gifts from friends and family that have made it possible for us to proceed to the next step, turning in our Dossier! So we will be sending that this week, as soon as we get one more paper redone (Yes, redone. It has happened a lot!) We send the Dossier in to our agency for review. We will probably have to redo a few things and then send it back. Then, we send it by courier to DC to pass courts and authentication there. Then it goes to the courts in Ethiopia. As soon as it passes there we will be in line for our referral of a possible child. It's getting close and we can barely contain our excitement. Once we get a referral we can really start preparing! God has also shown his faithfulness in preparing a wonderful site for our benefit dinner and several great donations from businesses for our silent auction. We got three donations in the mail yesterday. What a blessing! It's amazing how much easier it is to sit back and relax, when we have evidence his perfect timing and will.

Labor Pains

Adoption is painful. No it doesn't come with the enormous weight gain, aching back, constant nausea, swollen feet, traumatized bladder, agonizing contractions, and so on, and so on...but the emotional pain runs just as deep. I have felt called to adopt this child since before I even met my husband and God has been leading me closer to this child every day of my life. I know without a doubt that I. and I are headed down the right path and our child is waiting for us. God has given us the guidance and wisdom through each step of this process and I know He will continue. He will continue to give us the patience and strength we need each day, even if only to make it through the next hour, but it is surely one of the more challenging times of my life. The mountain of paperwork is finally over though it seemed like we would never make it and now we lie at the top afraid to move. However, we must journey on...there's still a long path ahead. Sometimes, the reality of how hard this is threatens to overwhelm me. Actually, now its seems like that is the case more often than not. We have made it so far but there is still so much to do and we are utterly exhausted. At this point we are at a standstill. We cannot move forward until the remainder of the money is paid. We are awaiting word on several grants and loans. I know God is good and I know His plan for this adoption is perfect but it's hard to not get caught up in the worries and difficulties surrounding us. Sometimes I just wish I had that enormous belly so I could prove to myself and others that this is real. It really will happen and soon. Instead, I get discouraged and allow my fears to overtake me, the lies to run rampant: "This is not real. It will not happen. You are foolish to try. It's all a big game." Thankfully, God renews me every morning. He gives me the strength I need to conquer the necessary tasks each day and He pulls me back to Him reminding me of His love for me. And it's times like this that it really helps to look back at my experience in birthing Z. The fear threatened to overwhelm me then as well, and look how beautifully we pulled through and what we have to show for it! In writing this I hope not to pass on my worries and discouragement but to connect you all with this process, to see inside the experience. Please pray for us and our little one as we wait.

Some have asked for more details on the fees and schedule for this process. Please see below if you are interested:

Paid:
$350 application fee
$2500 First Agency Fee
$1500 Home Study
$750 Education and Pre-Adoption
$800 Post-Adoption Visits
$300 postage

To be paid:
$2500 Second Agency Fee
$7000 International Fee
$1000 Document Authenication and Translation
$5000-10,000 Travel (airfare, immunizations, visas, hotel stay)

Dossier complete

Ahhh! Our Dossier is complete! Finally! Now this doesn't mean a whole lot as far as moving the process along. We still need a lot of money before we can send it in. But it is a huge weight off my shoulders to finally have that paper work done. It has been so exhausting. Hopefully we will get the money soon through loans and grants. Please pray that we will have patience and faith in God to provide. May it be His timing.

Adoption Benefit Dinner

We will be hosting an Adoption Benefit Dinner at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 4th at Small Gatherings, 9110 W. 58th Ave., in Arvada. We are just about done with all the paper work and will be sending in our last payment as soon as we can afford to. We hope this is a fun and fruitful event for us and everyone who comes. Tickets are $10 per individual, $15 per couple, and $20 per family. Additional donations may also be made. We hope to enjoy Ethiopian cuisine, live music, and a silent auction. Come experience a taste of Ethiopian culture and learn more about our adoption process! Please RSVP.

Adoption Run

On November 3rd I am going to be doing a 5k run in City Park for Adoption Month. Check this website out if you are interested in more info redthreadrun.com. Anyone can join me. I am not an experienced runner though I have been trying to do it lots in the last month. It will be an experience but what great motivation! I am excited.

Home study DONE!!!

We finalized our Home Study last week! The social worker came and saw our new place. Then she handed us the rough draft of our Home Study. It was weird to read our own Home Study. It's difficult because she has to sum up our whole life and family history in just a few pages. But she did a good job and I must say I am glad I didn't choose that profession. We read it over, made any necessary changes, and sent it back. It will be signed by her supervisor and then sent to the State to be approved. That should take about a week and then it will sent on to Immigration. At that time, we can get copies and send it with our Dossier and loan/grant applications. . We have a few things to re-do on our Dossier and then that's off too! Woo-hoo! I can't believe that part is finally done. It is so exciting.

Adoption Update

I apologize for the length of time between posts. Adopting a child internationally has proved to be very time consuming. The following is an update on what we have done so far in the adoption and what we still need to do. This spring and summer we have been bogged down with paperwork. Our kitchen table, coffee table, and desk are evidence of this. At first it was very overwhelming. We weren’t quite sure where to start. J finally relented and made an Excel document, which outlined everything that need to be done in great detail. It was amazing how much this helped.

Here’s a glimpse of what we have done in the past few months: We were fingerprinted, twice. We sent in an application to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to approve our child for entry into the US. We applied for police clearance from our local station, a background check, and a child abuse registry search. We have gathered birth certificates, marriage licenses, old tax forms, and reference letters. We’ve read an extensive book on parenting an adopted child and passed the online test with flying colors. We’ve done two additional online courses for the international agency, and have attended two of four required lectures through our local agency. We’ve submitted passport photos, testimonies, family photos, and more forms than we can count. We’ve racked up the mileage on our cars making trips to the police stations, Jefferson County government buildings, and fingerprint offices. We’ve attended one Ethiopian adoption support group party and can’t wait to attend more. We endured 3 home visits from our social worker (really they weren’t that bad).

We are very close to being done with the Home Study and the Dossier. This can take anywhere from 1-4 months. In Ethiopia they have only one judge for 57 orphanages. The courts also take August and September off for their New Year. Therefore, it can be a long, arduous process. After they approve us, we will receive a referral. This is the paperwork on a potential child. It will include photos, a biography (as much as is known), and health information. We will then have ten days to talk to each other and a doctor, and pray. If we decide to adopt that child, we then will wait probably about a month to travel and pick him or her up. We will only have to be in Ethiopia for 3 days if everything goes as planned. However, we may go earlier to do some sight-seeing. When we return to the states there will be a few more forms and possibly a court hearing to finalize the adoption. We will have at least 3 post-placements visits by our caseworker in Denver after the adoption to make sure we are all doing well. And that is that. Simple, right?

We are also planning a benefit dinner to raise money towards the adoption. We hope to have this dinner organized by September or October. We will invite many of our family and friends to join us to learn more about our adoption and support us in our journey. We will be serving an Ethiopian meal and hope to have live music as well. More information on that to follow.

Thank you again for your prayers, thoughts, and support. We can’t wait to bring our little one home and introduce him or her to all.