Open Doors

"Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed." - Bono, Feb 2, 2006

In my life, I've learned that things are happening all around us. As we make our way through life there are daily events, mundane routine things that we are involved in and don't even think about . . . there are also major events, moving the hearts of the masses here and there. I have gotten involved in things like politics, business, even church and ministry. What I have learned is that our friend Bono is dead on when he says we have to get involved with what God is doing, no matter whether it is the mundane or the major. Instead of seeking the blessing on what I want to do, I need to find out what God is doing and get involved there. This is often the hard part, because it messes with our plans and goals. This is the road God has called us to. His word says that we are to take care of the "widows and orphans" (James 1:27/Ps 82:3/Ps 68:5-6). While this will not always be an easy road, it is where God is moving and we want to be involved.

So what does all of this have to do with the updates in our story? We are seeing God's hand at work as we go through the initial phases of our paperwork, as we work on the finances, and as we deal with people in the process. Now . . . we still have quite a long road ahead of us, but things are progressing. We have sent for all of the birth and marraige records (3 copies each). We will be getting the dog her shots and vaccination updates. Passport photos are in hand, we have secured a good chunk of the financing that we will need through an interest only loan. This is a great win for us in that we anticipate recieving reimbursements from the IRS (tax credit) and both of our employers that will equal $18,000. This will leave us to raise approximately $10,000 more to cover all costs. If anyone is interested in donating for this cause, I am working on the procedures for this (thanks in advance for even considering helping with this).

Mother's day was nice. We spent the day at my mother's house with all of the neices and nephews. Now that we have started this process, I can see that there is someone missing from this group. I can't wait to see her playing with all of the kids.

Check back in a week or so . . . I'm hoping to have a new family picture up.

Mommy's thoughts

It is great to feel like we are finally making some progress with a dream that I have had on my heart since I was a teenager. It has been a whole year since we lost our little person and it has been hard. But, God has been faithful and He is on the road to completing our family with a very special, very wanted little daughter (we'll nickname her "Sunshine", thanks to Mom-Mom). I have a lot of paperwork to do and it seems daunting (we're done with the fingerprinting!!, step 1 of 200). The wait time for her once we have completed everything is very, very long, too, too long but I will be patient (or at least try....maybe). We are drawn to Albania for some reason (Mother Theresa's home country...one of my favorite people ever) but we're still looking at Russia and the Ukraine. We will watch the different countries' stability and continue to pray as we go through our home study. I feel at peace to wherever He leads us.

So, my love, wherever you are...we wait for you to come to us. We're finally on the path to you. Godspeed... mommy

The ball is rolling . . .

Yesterday, at 9:03 am (so we were 3 minutes late) we arrived at Bethany Christian Services (BCS) to meet with Debra for our first meeting. We talked for about an hour about adoption, why we wanted to adopt, how we came to this decision, what our family thought of the decision. After this time, Deb and I were confident that not only was this what we wanted to do, but that this was what God called us to do. For the next two hours we discussed different countries and began the paperwork for our home study. We talked about Russia . . . we talked about Ukraine . . . and we talked about Albania. We talked about the age of the child, whether we wanted a boy or a girl, healthy or special needs. We even discussed domestic adoptions. But most of all we talked about countries.

In the end, a firm decision was not made, but we are leaning heavily toward Albania. This is a country in which BCS has a very strong program. They have a 3 building compound and a great relationship with the authorities. The main drawback with Albania is time. From the time we submit our dossier (could be 4 - 6 months from now) it could take up to 2+ years to get a referral from the country. This long of a wait will be painful for Deb, but the amount of information and the level of service we will be able to get from BCS should outweigh the length of time. I believe this will give us the time to research Albania, set up resources for when she arrives and be ready with all of our ducks in a row for our traveling adventure.

We started the paperwork. There was a ton of paperwork . . . Debra gave Deb and I homework. There were about 20 different things that need to be done from Birth and Marriage certificates to animal shot records. We have to get the house in shape for inspection, we have to put our financial records together (yep, they look at that too), and we have to set up physicals/bloodwork. So much to do.
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Prayer Request - Please pray that God will continue to lead us to the right adoption program and that He will protect her as she goes through her orphanage care. Please also continue to pray for provision during this time and that God will give me wisdom to use our current resources and to prepare for what lies ahead.

May begins

Well, it's May 1 and we are still anxiously awaiting our meeting with Bethany Christian Services to get the ball rolling. Deb and I have been diligently working on the budgets and funding options. More research needs to be done, but we are finding that many of the grant options are not available to us due to our income level. Every time we run into a roadblock, it just reminds me that we are doing something significant for another person, a child of God who is in need. If this is what God has called us to, He will prepare the way and make it happen.

I sent an email last week letting family and friends know about our upcoming plans and asking for prayers. I have received a good deal of responses from everyone excited about our plans. Please know that we covet your prayers and appreciate the encouragement. Even at work, my boss let me know that she and others would be willing to donate vacation time to help with any time off needs. This is a tremendous encouragement to me. I know how hard it is to make all of this happen and to be supported at work with such a thing is fantastic.

I'm still trying to get Deb to post her first entry. She has so much to contribute to this discussion. Her enthusiasm for this endeavor far exceeds mine.

Justin and Alex are very excited to meet their sister. The have already begun making plans for who will sit where in the van. They talk about her at dinner and ask about where they can set up her room. It's very cute.
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Prayer Request - Please continue to pray that God will reveal his plan to us and that he will work out the finances. We are in need of planning for the cost of the adoption as well as the change in the budgets when the child is with us.