Fundraiser

On Saturday January 19th we had an Adoption fundraiser with Scentsy, earrings and bracelets for sale at the Wellington Community Clubhouse. We were there from 9-2pm and Allan's grandparents were the only two who showed up. I have to say it was very disappointing but we will continue to try and trust in God's plan for us.

Lately we feel like we move 1 step forward and 3 steps back. We have had 3 documents denied from the State for Authentication. Which means we have to wait for these people to have the notary redone on their letters and then send them back in again which will take 5-7 days. Just when we think we are ready to send in all our paperwork to Ethiopia and actually start our wait time we have another set back! This has been a long journey with bumps in the road every step of the way! The paperwork process is only supposed to take 4-6 months to complete, it has taken us over 12 months and we still aren't done. It is not a easy road, but we know it will be worth it in the end. We just continue to trust in God's timing and pray for patience.
We have enjoyed going to an Adoption/Foster class they are offering at Biltmore Baptist on Wednesday nights. The obstacles we have faced we can use to help others who are behind us in the process and others who are ahead of us can help us. It is nice to meet new people who are on the journey whether for domestic or international adoption. God has placed so many people in our lives and we are so grateful.

Blessings

Time for an update!

We received our form back from Homeland Security and finished preparing our documents for Secretary of State. We had everything ready to be sent out last Friday only to find out that each document that has been notarized by another state, has to be sent to that state to be authenticated! It seems this paperwork continues to get harder and more complicated as we go. It has definitely been a journey through this adoption process  and not an easy one, but we continue to move forward by the grace of God. 

Our Amazing God continues to bless us through this adoption process and HIS timing is perfect. We recently found out that we still need about $4000.00 to send in our Dossier to Ethiopia. Then on the same day we found out that our paperwork was wrong and had to be sent to different states we also received a letter in the mail. We were awarded a grant from Families Outreach to help with our adoption! We are so thankful, grateful and blessed! It doesn't cover what we are short but it is a step in the right direction and another testimony that our God will provide! 


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The Word is always such an encouragement to us!

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:25-34

News

     We are still waiting on our fingerprints to come back and then we will be ready to send in to the Secretary of State. We have some GREAT news and some not so good news to share.

The GREAT news is God continues to work through people to make this Adoption possible! GOD IS GOOD! :)  He has blessed us with so much! We had a very helpful donation to the adoption this past weekend from a dear family and we are just so overwhelmed and grateful! Words cannot even describe how thankful we are to everyone who has stuck by our side and have been praying for us, helping with fundraisers and ideas and donating time and money!!  We give all the Glory to God, without Him none of this would be possible!

     Also, looking forward to see what God has planned, as he has opened up the opportunity for me (Elizabeth) to begin a second job on the weekends.

     Ok, so the not so good news is an e-mail that we received from the adoption agency. I am just going to copy and paste most of the email to the blog so you can read it...

After watching the referral trends over the last few months, we see the need to amend the wait times as some families are starting to surpass the 24 month mark of waiting.  The wait times are increasing from 18-24 months to 24-30 months for a male or female infant or toddler.  We do not have as many families requesting children four years and older and thus the wait for those families will likely be shorter than the current wait times.

 

Paperwork, specifically the clearance, is still the main contributor for the slowdown in the Ethiopia program.  If we have a child in the transition home who is completely paper-ready, but does not have a clearance, we need to wait on that final document before referring the child to a family.  Unfortunately, the clearance process is still one that is intensive and can be drawn out over many, many months; the final clearance could take one month or 1+ years to obtain.  Unfortunately, this is a process that we are not permitted to manipulate and is contingent on the governmental bodies in Ethiopia. 

 

We know this is difficult news, especially in light of the holidays.  We are excited to post our November Referral Update on our blog later this week as there were over 10 referrals this month. We want to walk through this journey with your family and will do as much as possible on our side to have these children placed in homes as quickly as possible.


     It is hard to think we are going to have to wait EVEN longer to bring home our child, but we know God has a plan. We ask that you please pray for patience for us and for the Ethiopian government to speed up their process someway, somehow! Thanks! :)
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 " Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5