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! :)
________________________________________________________________________________

 " 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

Fingerprinting

The fingerprinting went really well on Wednesday! We had to go to Homeland Security in Greer, SC. The people were really nice and praised us for going through this process. Two weeks prior to getting fingerprinted we were constantly cautious of messing up our fingertips, cause one cut and they won't do it. We are thankful that there were no cuts and we finally have it done! The man said I had soft fingerprints so he did it on the computer and the old fashion way with ink pad just in case the FBI denied the computer ones. I thought that was really nice of him to go out of his way just to make sure it would be approved!
 As soon as we receive our paperwork back saying we aren't criminals then we can send in to the Secretary of State. In NC we have to send in all the paperwork for the Dossier to the state to be notarized before it can be sent in to Ethiopia. They charged $10 per sheet, so it is going to cost us about $1,000 to do that! We weren't expecting it to be that much. We are excited that we have made it this far, but all the glory to God. We can't take credit for the way God has made this possible. We know that the Lord can still close the door on the Adoption at any point, but we will continue to move forward until he does. We are currently trying to come up with new fundraiser ideas and looking for grants to apply for.

Repost of another blog

I received this in an e-mail from our Adoption agency and thought I'd share it.. It is long, but so worth reading! :)

Adoption - Is It Worth It?

I’ve often wondered and been asked many times why international adoptions take so long, and are so complex. The question behind that of course is, “Is it really worth it?” “It sounds very risky?”
We have been in the process of an international adoption for almost one year. We expect to be in process for at least one more. During that time, we have had both highs & lows. We have experienced exhilaration, disappointment, confusion, and frustration along the way. I can begin to explain why adoptions take so long. I could talk about infrastructure in a third world country, government bureaucracy, child trafficking protections, and yes, even possible corruption. That would not be a good use of time, because I can’t affect any of those issues.
I would like to answer the questions behind the question and tell you about unspeakable joy & adventure in the journey itself.
Despite all the red tape, delays, hassles, costs, mosquito bites, and setbacks, it is indeed worth it! Belle & I just returned from our second trip to Haiti and had this very conversation.  We wouldn’t trade a second of this journey. It has been a profound, life altering decision and journey. We don’t know what tomorrow holds and that is just fine. Here are just a few reasons that adoption is a worth it, and you can’t put a price tag on it.

• Building a love & concern in our family for the marginalized.
• Watching my children cultivate a missional & servant mindset.
• Experiencing Jesus in deeper & more powerful ways.
• Being exposed to third world poverty and brokenness.
• Seeing our local church grow in concern for orphan care.
• Having an opportunity to love on orphans in practical ways.
• Meeting incredible people.
• Seeing the body of Christ in action in diverse ways.
• Watching miracles & seeing prayers answered.
• Observing a girl set free from modern day slavery.
• Watching my wife meet our daughter for the first time.
• Seeing our extended family support and grow in excitement for us.

Then there is Monday night 11/19/2012 at 11pm. I look down and see my new daughter fast asleep beside me on a single bed in Port au Prince. I watch her, study her, and place my hand on her back to feel her breathe. I am extra careful to make sure I don’t inadvertently roll over on her. I’m not sleeping. This is almost too much for me to take in. The events and red tape that have gotten us to this point suddenly no longer exist. Do you understand the miracle that has taken place? I’m laying next to my daughter at this point, not an orphan.  We have been given the ‘experience’ of adoption. This is something Paul talks about in Galatians, where we receive a very deep knowing (feeling) of our adoption through Christ. On human terms, as I lay beside our sleeping girl, I’m realizing this is taking place. I’m loving her with fatherly love, which is distinct, unique, jealous, and powerful! I’m also noticing that she doesn’t look like me in any way, and that doesn’t matter in the slightest.   I’m watching this all happen in the course of 48 hours, and appreciating the fact that after our embassy appointment, we will leave her behind for another long period of time.  It could be easy to become saddened over this. I am not sad. I am appreciating the journey and the joy God provides when we get engaged in the sort of activities for which we were designed. 
I don’t know exactly how this story ends. There are going to be more disappointments.  There are going to be difficult days. It’s also going to be okay, because God is in control and in the end He wins. We are learning that when we take risks like this, God will indeed provide the strength for the task just at the right time. Anyone who knows me understands that I am a sinful person prone to selfish tendencies. I’ve met some personal heroes on this trip that leave me lacking much. Somehow in God’s mercy He has placed me in the Son, and that gives us the power & strength to do anything. What is even more stunning is that God tells us that it is He Himself working, not us. There is no room for boasting here. This is God’s doing, God’s work, & God’s goodness. We just happen to have been given a front row seat!
Anthony Schultz – Haiti Adoptive Family