Just wanted to give an update on funds raised this month for the adoption. Between the Adoption Yard Sale Event, the two day neighborhood garage sale at the Cady's, and donations from friends, family, and church family, the total comes to $4,574.00! Praise the Lord!
We are so excited about what God is doing in our lives through His people. He has provided for the adoption every step of the way, and we know that He will continue to do so! This adoption has changed our lives. We have cut back in ways we didn't think possible, and have really realized a lot of things we can do without! Our Jeep engine blew a few weeks ago, and that typically would have been devastating to us because of the price tag attached ($2,000 to fix, or more to get a different car). We were able to almost laugh about it, knowing that this is part of Satans plan to mean evil. Well, what Satan intends for evil, God means for good. We have decided God wants us to just wait. Shane has been riding his bike to work every day, and has quite enjoyed it! It's good exercise and good for his health, he gets fresh air, and we are saving money on gas. We should be able to continue on this way into the New Year, which gives us time to pray and see what God has in store next. God is good ALL the time. Thank you a million times over for your prayers, your support, and for loving our sweet little African boy.
Dossier
This is the package that carried our hearts through Paris, Dubai, and on to Ethiopia :)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Most Richly Blessed
"I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn to humbly obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for, but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered; I am , among all men, most richly blessed."
-an unknown Confederate soldier
We may not have any clue when we will get to meet and hold our son, still have far to go financially with the adoption, and currently have only one functioning vehicle, but we are among all men most richly blessed.
I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for, but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered; I am , among all men, most richly blessed."
-an unknown Confederate soldier
We may not have any clue when we will get to meet and hold our son, still have far to go financially with the adoption, and currently have only one functioning vehicle, but we are among all men most richly blessed.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Blankets
This past summer during VBS, the children at our church made blankets to be used for missions in some way. As part of our garage sale, we were able to use the blankets to sell, but to also provide an orphan care opportunity! We promised that for each blanket sold, we would take one over to Africa to be given to an orphan when we go pick up Silas next year. We are happy to say that about 19 blankets were sold and we will be taking a suitcase full of blankets over to Ethiopia! Thank you to all of you who purchased a blanket or were a part of the garage sale in some way!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Adoption Yard Sale
What a CRAZY weekend?! This past Saturday, we held our massive yard sale! Over the past several weeks, we have had a ton of items donated to us from friends to be sold in the yard sale. Our shed behind the church was jam packed with things to sell. On Friday, Nov. 5th, we had an official 'drop off' time where we collected even more items that couldn't fit in the shed. You name it and I guarantee we had it for sale-from pool tables to weed-eaters; ninja stars to baby clothes.
Saturday morning began at 4am with a brave group of men to move tables and all the items into the designated area. It was 45 degrees that morning here in Orlando!!! Coffee was a must. By 7am, everything was out, priced, and ready to be sold! It looked like a Walmart with everything we had! The cold weather delayed the crowds until around 8am. We had a steady stream of buyers from 8am-2pm and even several people for 3 hours after the official end time. By 5:30pm, everything was cleaned up and packed away.
Our grand total from Saturday and some extra donations on Sunday was....
$3,517.30!!!
It was such an amazing weekend for us! We were thankful for the great team of friends who worked with us on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Summer's sister and mother flew in from North Carolina and Jamaica respectively to assist in the great adventure!
We still have a ton of nice items that we plan on selling this coming weekend at a community yard sale down the street.
Once we finish our dossier, we have a hefty payment that will be due that totals between $6,500-$7,500. Between this yard sale and other generous donations over the past week, we are expecting to be able to write a check for the amount due. God has been so faithful to us!
Saturday morning began at 4am with a brave group of men to move tables and all the items into the designated area. It was 45 degrees that morning here in Orlando!!! Coffee was a must. By 7am, everything was out, priced, and ready to be sold! It looked like a Walmart with everything we had! The cold weather delayed the crowds until around 8am. We had a steady stream of buyers from 8am-2pm and even several people for 3 hours after the official end time. By 5:30pm, everything was cleaned up and packed away.
Our grand total from Saturday and some extra donations on Sunday was....
$3,517.30!!!
It was such an amazing weekend for us! We were thankful for the great team of friends who worked with us on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Summer's sister and mother flew in from North Carolina and Jamaica respectively to assist in the great adventure!
We still have a ton of nice items that we plan on selling this coming weekend at a community yard sale down the street.
Once we finish our dossier, we have a hefty payment that will be due that totals between $6,500-$7,500. Between this yard sale and other generous donations over the past week, we are expecting to be able to write a check for the amount due. God has been so faithful to us!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
We mailed our I-600 form today, which was such a relief! We have been waiting for several weeks to get the original copies of our completed home study from our case worker. There were a couple of minor setbacks in getting those completed, but everything is good now and we can move forward to the next step! At this point, we wait for approval from the government to be able to bring a child here from Ethiopia. This could take anywhere from 6-12 weeks. Hurry up and wait! After we get approval, we can officially send in our dossier and begin waiting for a referral! My heart longs for Silas.
Prayer requests:
1. Join us in praying for Silas if you aren't already. Pray for his health, and that he can be united with us as soon as possible. Pray for the nannies at the transitional home as they will care for him.
2. Pray for his birthmother. Pray that God will give her peace in her heart. I'm not sure what her situation is, but I'm sure she is scared and needs peace about her decision.
3. Pray for the whole paperwork process. Pray that all the documents get into the right hands, and that there won't be any setbacks! Pray that the I-600 doesn't take 12 weeks to approve.
4. Pray for me. I am emotional. I don't have a growing belly, have ultrasounds, or feel kicks. Some people don't "get" adoption, or are just insensitive in the things that they say. They don't see adopting a child to start a family the same as having "your own" child. I live through each day with the hope of Silas and dreams of our trip to Africa to get him. I am so thankful for those who ask about Silas and our process. Thank you for loving us and loving him!
God sent several people to my office today that really encouraged my heart! The first was a lady this morning that is a missionary to Africa. She was so excited to hear about our adoption, and gave me some great advice. She was saying that I really needed to find a christian family here in Orlando that is originally from Africa that can be a part of Silas's life. It will be important for him culturally and identity wise. Being black herself, she also gave me some great tips on how to deal with his hair! :)
Later on this afternoon, God sent some other people to me. They are a christian family that goes to First Baptist Orlando, and are from Nigeria! They also spoke very encouraging words. I told them I would love to get to know them better and learn from them about their culture, foods, etc. God is good!
Prayer requests:
1. Join us in praying for Silas if you aren't already. Pray for his health, and that he can be united with us as soon as possible. Pray for the nannies at the transitional home as they will care for him.
2. Pray for his birthmother. Pray that God will give her peace in her heart. I'm not sure what her situation is, but I'm sure she is scared and needs peace about her decision.
3. Pray for the whole paperwork process. Pray that all the documents get into the right hands, and that there won't be any setbacks! Pray that the I-600 doesn't take 12 weeks to approve.
4. Pray for me. I am emotional. I don't have a growing belly, have ultrasounds, or feel kicks. Some people don't "get" adoption, or are just insensitive in the things that they say. They don't see adopting a child to start a family the same as having "your own" child. I live through each day with the hope of Silas and dreams of our trip to Africa to get him. I am so thankful for those who ask about Silas and our process. Thank you for loving us and loving him!
God sent several people to my office today that really encouraged my heart! The first was a lady this morning that is a missionary to Africa. She was so excited to hear about our adoption, and gave me some great advice. She was saying that I really needed to find a christian family here in Orlando that is originally from Africa that can be a part of Silas's life. It will be important for him culturally and identity wise. Being black herself, she also gave me some great tips on how to deal with his hair! :)
Later on this afternoon, God sent some other people to me. They are a christian family that goes to First Baptist Orlando, and are from Nigeria! They also spoke very encouraging words. I told them I would love to get to know them better and learn from them about their culture, foods, etc. God is good!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Progress
These last two days we have had some fun and exciting things happen for the adoption! On Thursday night, ten ladies from church came over for a jewelry party that our friend Cookie had for us and Silas. It was a really special time for us. Cookie has used her job with Premier time and time again as a resource to help others. She has had several parties for our student ministry over the last several years to raise funds for summer camp. She is giving all of the profit from Thursdays party to Shane and I to help us with the cost of our adoption. We are so thankful for Cookie, and for all of you who either came to the party or ordered something. God continues to provide for us and we are so grateful!
Last night we had our adoption homestudy. Our social worker was assigned to us by our agency (America World Adoption Agency) and we LOVE her! She is so laid back and easy to talk to. She did not go through our home with a white glove or try to intimidate us. She was very encouraging and had lots of good advice for us about things to come in the process. Last night's visit basically entailed going through a series of questions regarding our pasts, our expectations, and how we will parent/discipline. One of the questions was "how will you integrate your child's culture/heritage into their life?". Shane and I have had many conversations about this over the last couple of months. We have read several books that have several different opinions. I don't think that there is any set answer, and it will depend on Silas. We will teach him about his country, integrate some Ethiopian foods into our meals, and even take him back to Ethiopia to visit when he is older. Will we send him to culture camps and stuff? Probably not. After all, he will be growing up an American. We have been told there is a great Ethiopian restaurant somewhere in Orlando. We will try to go every now and then, but if Silas hates the food...we will stop. We never want to confuse him or force him. It will be obvious to Silas from a very young age that he is a different color from mommy and daddy. We will explain to him that God is not "color-blind", but on the contrary made us this way and celebrates our differences! We are excited to teach Silas that when Jesus was on earth he was in fact a different color - neither black nor white. We are also excited to teach him about how Jesus was adopted by Joseph.
Last night she also asked us about our style of discipline. We have not parented before, but we know what types of parents we want to be and are praying to be! We are aware that different children respond differently to certain styles, depending on their personalities. We will spank if necessary, but not out of anger. We never want to stand over Silas as this looming intimidating figure and yell, but get down on his level. We will model after (and take advice from) other parents whom we respect and feel that their parenting style is effective. Most of all, we will pray pray pray, and know that no parents are perfect and we will make mistakes!
We will be meeting with our social worker Amy again this coming Friday to have our individual interviews. After that, she will take a week or so to compile our homestudy and send it to corporate. Corporate will review it for approval, which shouldn't take more than a few weeks. With that being said, this part of the process should be over by the end of September! We will then submit our Form I-600 A: Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. This will be submitted to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We will keep everyone posted on the progress! Please continue to pray that everything will go quickly and smoothly! Satan hates adoption and would love to throw out roadblocks. We need the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. :)
Last night we had our adoption homestudy. Our social worker was assigned to us by our agency (America World Adoption Agency) and we LOVE her! She is so laid back and easy to talk to. She did not go through our home with a white glove or try to intimidate us. She was very encouraging and had lots of good advice for us about things to come in the process. Last night's visit basically entailed going through a series of questions regarding our pasts, our expectations, and how we will parent/discipline. One of the questions was "how will you integrate your child's culture/heritage into their life?". Shane and I have had many conversations about this over the last couple of months. We have read several books that have several different opinions. I don't think that there is any set answer, and it will depend on Silas. We will teach him about his country, integrate some Ethiopian foods into our meals, and even take him back to Ethiopia to visit when he is older. Will we send him to culture camps and stuff? Probably not. After all, he will be growing up an American. We have been told there is a great Ethiopian restaurant somewhere in Orlando. We will try to go every now and then, but if Silas hates the food...we will stop. We never want to confuse him or force him. It will be obvious to Silas from a very young age that he is a different color from mommy and daddy. We will explain to him that God is not "color-blind", but on the contrary made us this way and celebrates our differences! We are excited to teach Silas that when Jesus was on earth he was in fact a different color - neither black nor white. We are also excited to teach him about how Jesus was adopted by Joseph.
Last night she also asked us about our style of discipline. We have not parented before, but we know what types of parents we want to be and are praying to be! We are aware that different children respond differently to certain styles, depending on their personalities. We will spank if necessary, but not out of anger. We never want to stand over Silas as this looming intimidating figure and yell, but get down on his level. We will model after (and take advice from) other parents whom we respect and feel that their parenting style is effective. Most of all, we will pray pray pray, and know that no parents are perfect and we will make mistakes!
We will be meeting with our social worker Amy again this coming Friday to have our individual interviews. After that, she will take a week or so to compile our homestudy and send it to corporate. Corporate will review it for approval, which shouldn't take more than a few weeks. With that being said, this part of the process should be over by the end of September! We will then submit our Form I-600 A: Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. This will be submitted to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We will keep everyone posted on the progress! Please continue to pray that everything will go quickly and smoothly! Satan hates adoption and would love to throw out roadblocks. We need the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. :)
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