Patience...

Wikipedia defines Patience as the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.

 This adoption process takes a lot of patience! I feel like we are always waiting... I know God has great plans for us and our family and we have to be patient but sometimes it is hard. We have been looking into moving into a bigger house since we found out we were expecting a baby in addition to our child in Ethiopia. It took months to get land and now it is taking months to find out if we are approved for a home loan. I know if it is God's will then it will all work out.

We decided to try and get ahead on all the paperwork that has to be updated starting in January. I printed out pages and pages of documents and filled out what I could. I left the address blank in hopes that we will be moved into a bigger home for our growing family by then! Hard to believe it's almost time to renew our home study again. This year has flown by! Everyday brings us closer to bringing home our little one from Ethiopia!
If we are not moved into a bigger house by the time our home study in April, she will have to come back again when we do move and it will cost us a lot of unnecessary expenses that could be used for other documents and has the potential of delaying our referral process.

I just continue to pray and trust that God knows exactly what He is doing. I pray for our child waiting for us in Ethiopia and all the children waiting on their forever families...

Baby Shower

God has blessed us with so many great friends! Two of our good friends threw us a baby shower yesterday and it was great! We have two babies on the way and it meant so much for them to include our adoption into the baby shower. I'll post pictures below, but they set up a table and asked people to bring a book for our baby in Ethiopia and had a money tree where they could put donations. That was so special to us and we appreciate everyone who continues to support us on this long journey!  All I can say is God continues to bless us with the amazing people He puts in our lives and we are thankful for how He uses them to teach us things.

Adopting

Ok, so I understand Adoption isn't for everyone. God gives each of us a heart for different things and some have the heart to adopt while others have a heart to help those who are adopting by prayer, financial support, foster care, orphan ministry, etc.
     I saw a picture the other day and it really made me start thinking.. Of course, now I can't find the picture to share with ya'll and I can't really remember exactly what it said. It basically said How many people have been called to adopt and are ignoring that call because of the price tag?! Honestly, the price of adoption is very scary and overwhelming but the outcome will be so worth it.
     I just wanted to share a little of our testimony and what God has done thus far in our journey. Allan and I are not wealthy by any means, we had no idea how we were going to pay for adoption when we first started. But, we took that leap of faith knowing that God would help us.  We started the application process in November 2011 and in December 2011, Allan lost his good paying job. That would've been the perfect time to give up because there was no way we were going to be able to pay our bills and try to pay for the expenses of the adoption paperwork. We chose to hang in there though, knowing that God had a reason for it. Turns out, Allan losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to us. It taught us so much about the important things in life and made us rely solely on God. God  has blessed us with so many fundraising opportunities as we are on a long road to adoption. Sometimes he has blessed our financial efforts greatly and other times the financial part wasn't so great but the people we met and the testimonies we shared were the highlight. Although, it took time to realize those things instead of being focused on how much money we did or didn't make. God will definitely provide the way if you are willing to stick with it and not give up just because it didn't go so great. Our friends and family have supported us through this journey and we couldn't do it without their love and support. Thankfully, there are also grants and loans available to those trying to adopt. It isn't easy, it takes time and there is a lot of paperwork but it is available if you are willing to invest the time.
   Anyways, I tell you this so that if you are on the fence of deciding to adopt or not to adopt-Just go for it! Trust that God will provide all that you need! It will not be a smooth journey, it will be full of bumps and hurdles but that just strengthens your relationship with God if you let it. Don't miss out on an amazing opportunity just because you are scared of the unknown. There are children all around the world waiting for a forever family, what if you are the family that child is waiting on?

   
   

Raising Money

Even though we haven't had a bunch of Big fundraisers this year, I thought I'd share on the little things we do that help bring in money for the adoption.

• Almost every Friday, I have the privilege of babysitting 3 wonderful children for a few hours and the money I earn is put into the adoption fund. 

•  We use mail-in rebates on various food items we buy and the check they send us is put into the adoption fund. 

• My earrings are still on display at the tire shop in Brevard, the sales have slowed down but every now and again we have someone buy a pair. Every little bit helps!

• Each month we allot a certain amount of money to be put into the adoption account.

• Allan, is very talented and has gotten into making paracord items. He has made a variety of things and everything sold is extra money put towards the adoption.

  Below are some pictures of paracord items he has made customized for people. We are so thankful for the little things that God puts in our path that help us raise money for Baby Pack in Ethiopia. :)

Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser

     We had our Texas Roadhouse fundraiser on Thursday and it went really well. We are so thankful to everyone who continues to support us through this adoption process. It means a lot for people to take time out of their busy schedules to help us. Texas Roadhouse is in Asheville, so for most of our friends it is a long commute from Brevard to Asheville and yet they are still willing to do it! :) Also, we are so grateful for Biltmore Baptist Church and their heart for adoption. They had a group of 40 people come out to support us and the Lewis family! That is so amazing! We also had the privilege of meeting a family who has adopted an older boy from Ethiopia and got to hear a little of their story. We are so thankful for all that God is doing in our lives!
     We are still in the process of trying to buy land and get moved into a bigger place before our homestudy next year. But, we know God is in control, He has perfect timing and He will work it all out for His glory! Until then we just pray and wait... We are still looking into doing a spaghetti dinner fundraiser or some other kind of fundraiser sometime soon.
      Here are a few pictures from Texas Roadhouse. Thanks again to everyone who came out to support us!

Jonathan and Allan hanging out waiting on our friends

Allan and I ready for a big turnout!

Bob and Annette greeting everyone who came in

They put our flyers on their doors

Plans

We received our updated I 171-H so we are good on paperwork until next year when we will have to update it again. We are so thankful that God continues to move us forward in the adoption process. It might be small steps but it is progress and gets us one step closer to bringing home Baby Pack.

We are joining with another couple who are in the process of adopting for a fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse on July 10th from 4-10pm where we will get 10% if you bring in a flyer. Here is the flyer that you will need to bring with you for us to get a percentage for our adoption.

We are also looking into doing a Spaghetti dinner fundraiser sometime soon. We haven't been able to do as many fundraisers this year as we would have liked but we trust that God has great plans. We are still in the process of trying to find a bigger place for our growing family and truly feel like God blessed us so much last year because He knew this year would be busy with other life changes.

Waiting for Baby Pack is hard but we know God's timing is perfect! :) We just continue to pray and look forward to the day we can bring our little one home. 

Go Fund Me

One of our friends told us about this fundraiser called Go Fund Me, so we have signed up and look forward to see what comes from it. The link is: http://www.gofundme.com/8x58sg, please feel free to share it!! :) We are in the process of looking into new fundraisers to try. Any suggestions would be great! We continue to trust in God and know that He will provide the way.

We were approved for Concurrent Family Building which is exciting and now we are waiting on our updated home study, so we can send it in to get our updated I 171-H.

We are so grateful for all the God is doing in our lives!! We continue to pray for our little one in Ethiopia and can't wait to bring them home!

Exciting News!

It's been a while since I've posted and quite a bit has happened!

First off, we had our Home Study update this past Wednesday and everything went really well! Our social worker is really nice and very helpful. I am glad to have it out of the way for now, we will have another one next year. As soon as she sends us our home study packet we can apply for our updated I 171-H and that'll be good until next year as well. We have new paperwork to fill out called Concurrent Family Building, which is free but changes things a little bit for us. Allan and I are so excited to announce that God has blessed us with a pregnancy! We are pregnant and due in October!!! :) We asked our social worker if this would affect the adoption and her only concern is we need a bigger home since we only have one extra bedroom. So, we are busy looking into finding another home before next year when we have our next home study. Since our referral for a child is still years away, this pregnancy won't affect it at all. :) God has perfect timing and we are so blessed that we will have the opportunity to raise two children.  Below are some pictures we took to announce our little secret. We wanted to make sure everyone knows we are still adopting! God has called us to adopt and we will continue until we can bring our baby home! :) All praise and glory to God, He is so good!!

Also, Thank you to everyone who continues to stand by us and support us! We are so grateful for each of you! :)

Waiting for Baby Pack in Ethiopia

Updating documents

We are happy to say we FINALLY got another appointment to get our fingerprints done at Homeland Security. Woo hoo! It took almost 2 months for them to reschedule and our other fingerprints expired on February 28th. We are still hopeful that them expiring has not affected anything. I guess only time will tell!

Allan had his physical completed for the home study but not without complications. We have to laugh because it just seems like it can never go easy for him. His physical is what held us up so long at the beginning of the paperwork process! This time it was his TB test that caused problems. The nurse was unable to tell if he had TB or if it was an allergic reaction so she sent him to the health department for them to check it out. Well, the health department wouldn't check it because he didn't have a doctors note and our doctor had already closed. So, we had to wait all weekend, wondering if he had TB. On Monday, he had to call and they set up an appointment for him to have a chest x-ray to determine if he had TB or not. Thankfully, the x-ray came back clear and he is okay!! :)

Dealing with the doctors offices for physicals and notaries can be nerve racking! I had two sets of paperwork ready for the doctors, one for Allan and one for me. They both had the exact same guidelines and requirements. I went to the doctor to pick up Allan's form and drop off mine and the nurse looks at mine and says Oh I didn't know the notary has to be good for 2 years! It took all I had to not get smart with her. Allan and I have the same paperwork! How could she not know?!? It's those little things that can put a BIG bump in the road. Thankfully, when I e-mailed our social worker to ask, she said the notary didn't have to be 2 years. That was a huge relief! Otherwise we would've had to have hired a mobile notary to go to the doctors office.

We are hopeful that we can get my physical paperwork done in a timely manner and get all our home study paperwork sent in before April 1st. We are on a deadline to get the home study done before our I 171-H expires. We just continue to trust in God and his timing!

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With the upcoming home study, we are trying to clean up some of the items we have collected. We are having an Online Auction to help bring home Baby Pack on Facebook. It will last until March 26th at 1pm. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/events/1495376874023106/

Chili Cookoff Pictures

Wow! What a great turnout for the Chili cook-off fundraiser! We are so thankful to our friends who organized this event and for everyone who helped make it possible! We are grateful for everyone's help in bringing home our baby! :) Check out the pictures from the event!

Set up and ready to serve some yummy chili

This group went all out, with sour cream, onions, cheese and even frito chips!! Check out their ballot box, it says"What would Jesus eat? This chili right here!!"

Ready to serve lots of chili

This small group's chili won with 24 votes!

Brooke, Harper & Erica (not pictured) taking donations

Six chili's to sample

Everyone hanging out and picking their favorite chili

Grateful

I just wanted to share our recent blessings from our Church. 
On, February 1st the Church had a breakfast to kick off the 40 days in the Book of John and at this breakfast, they chose to give us half of the donations for the adoption! As well as a donation from the life groups! As if that wasn't enough of a blessing, we were then told that our friends had really had a burden on their heart for us and the adoption and they organized a Chili Cook off fundraiser. There are 6 life groups that are willing to make Chili and cornbread for this Saturday, Feb. 22 from 3-6pm at Brevard Community Church. The money raised will be split between us and another family adopting. We are just so thankful how God continues to provide through people! We are thankful to everyone who gives so much of themselves to help us bring home Baby Pack! :)

We also had a couple, who has already given so much to help us bring our baby home, who donated more to us. They just recently had a baby of their own and they choose to give us money for our baby rather than putting it towards their own leaves us speechless. God is doing some pretty amazing things! 

Here is an update on what is going on with the process...

  We had appointments scheduled in January to have our fingerprints done but they were closed that day due to snow. We called and they said they would send us another appointment day. W e called again to let them know they were going to be expiring on the 28th but as of yet we haven't heard back. So, we don't really know what is going to happen with this. We could really use prayers that Homeland Security sends us a appointment time before the 28th!! Allan goes for his physical tomorrow and I have mine next month and then we will have all our updated documents ready to be sent in for another home study visit. 

  Oh, and the snow ruined our adoption sticker on the back of my car, so we are going to have to take it off. :( We hope to find another one so we can continue to get the word out about our adoption and share our testimony of what God is doing!  

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My friend, Erica came over the other day and she helped me find a few more puzzle pieces. This puzzle is super hard, she agreed after trying to help!

Erica and Elizabeth working on the adoption puzzle

 

Good News!

This is from an e-mail we received yesterday!
"We are thrilled to share positive news from Ethiopia.  Earlier today Minister Zenebu, along with other high level MOWCYA officials, met with agency network representatives.  In this meeting it was clearly expressed by Minister Zenebu that she does not plan to work to stop adoptions, but desires to focus on eliminating bad practice and continue to invest in good practice of Ethiopia adoptions.  She reiterated that neither MOWCYA nor the Ethiopian Government plan to shut down adoptions within Ethiopia, and went on to encourage agencies to continue their work as normal."

This is exciting news for us! :) We are glad that they are going to continue forward with adoptions and that they are looking into certain issues to better the children's welfare. Definitely an answered prayer!!

     We had decided to cancel our fingerprints for today because of snow & ice but after reading over the paperwork it said that if you don't show up for your appointment then it is considered "abandoned"! We definitely didn't want that or to have to pay another $800 fee.  So, Allan drove us in the ice and snow to Greer, SC this morning, only to find out that they were closed and will reissue us another appointment time! The lady on the phone told Allan we could've just looked on the internet to find that info! That was kind of frustrating, considering we looked everywhere on the internet and couldn't find any information on if they were open or not! So, anyways within the next few weeks we will be heading back to SC to get fingerprinted, hopefully this time there won't be snow/ice!

Hopeful

We still do not have a definite answer from Ethiopia as to if they are going to close international adoption. They have however said that they can continue for now, so we are hopeful! Waiting for the unknown is very difficult! But, we are going to continue forward with updating our home study and trusting in God's plan for us and our child. We are heading to SC on Wednesday to be fingerprinted again by Homeland Security. We have passed out documents for references to fill out again and then the only thing left is to wait for our physicals and mine isn't until March! It is crazy that all of this has to be redone now and will continue to have to be redone every year until we bring our child home!

We are so thankful for the love & support that our friends continue to give us. We are so blessed! :)

Prayer request...

Allan and I received an e-mail the other day from our Adoption agency with some news that has left us wondering what God is up to. I didn't know if I should post this info on the blog yet because I didn't know if it was confidential, but after researching it, it is public knowledge so I am asking for prayers please.

Apparently, the Government officials in Ethiopia are thinking about closing international adoption. They will have a decision around January 13th. There isn't much more news on it right now, our agency is waiting for a translated version of the paperwork and then we will know more. We ask that you Please, Stop and Pray for the Ethiopian officials and for the children in Ethiopia. We know God is up to something, just not sure what!

At the same time of the unknown with Ethiopia, our documents are up for renewal with our Home study and fingerprints, we have 13 documents that need to be updated and another home study to take place at our home. I have to say I'm a little overwhelmed right now. To not know if we should even bother trying to update these documents or if we should start in the hopes that Ethiopia will stay open. I've been kicking myself all morning for cancelling our physicals, which we thought we wouldn't have to have redone and now we do. I cancelled them and they were only 2 weeks away and now we have to wait til March 19th for another appointment. This paperwork is on a deadline so now I don't know if we are going to exceed the deadline by waiting til March or if we should try to find another doctor who is able to do notary as well. I realize this probably sounds petty to even mention the physicals but when you are in the midst of it, it is yet another obstacle to get around.

So, for now..we pray and wait. We wait to see what God is up to. We have amazing brothers and sisters in Christ who are praying daily for us, we are so blessed to have such love and support! Thanks in advance for your prayers! We will give an update as soon as possible. :)

We will be joining in with our Adoption Agency as they are going to be praying and fasting from January 9-11^th and the focus will be on the situation in Ethiopia as the government considers changes and reforms to the intercountry adoption system.  The focus of their prayers will be:

 

·         Praying for Ethiopian government officials to be convicted of the need children have to grow up in a family and for international adoptions to remain open;

·         Praying for advocates in Ethiopia and around the world to speak up on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children;

·         Praying for an end to any corruption, deceit, inappropriate work regarding adoption;

·         Praying for prospective adoptive families who are anxiously awaiting news of the Ethiopian government’s decision; and

·         Praying for wisdom and guidance for our agency staff as we seek to respond wisely to whatever news we hear from Ethiopian officials.

We would love for you to join us in this! :)