People are Showing Love!

We have been fortunate enough to tell our adoption story at two churches so far, and we are amazed and humbled by the generosity of people.  Through verbal support, monetary donations, and a lot of prayers, we have been able to continue through the home study phase of our journey.  We completed the home visit and will have the personal interviews next week, so pray that everything goes smoothly.  We are hoping to have the home study completed at the end of December, and we are already collecting documents for our dossier (the collection of official paperwork that goes to the embassy and courts).  I'm so excited to be taking action, doing something that brings us closer to our new baby!

We have met some special people that I will never forget, people that are basically strangers but have shown the love of Christ through their actions.  The woman, for instance, who I had not met before, but who handed her beautiful baby boy to me just so I could spend a moment holding an infant in anticipation of my new child.  She, as a mother herself, understood the love between a mother and child and wanted to share a little of it with me right there, in the middle of the church foyer.  That touched my heart!  Or the college student who had been to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and offered to help us with any questions we had about the city and its culture.  And the anonymous donor who sent his daughter over with a check for a sizable amount, yet never identified himself to receive thanks or accolades.  These are the people that are living out the phrase "Know love, show love."  They are showing loving grace to strangers, as Paul instructs us to do in Ephesians 5:1-2: "Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Thank you, everyone, for your support and prayers.  Please keep praying, as we still have a million miles to go yet!  We have completed fundraising for the $2000 that provides for the first leg of our journey (home study), and we are starting over for the $5000 installment that is currently due and the $1000 dossier fee that will be due in the spring.  If you would like to help in any way, please contact us by e-mail, we would love to talk to you.  And most importantly, give God the glory for everything, because He continues to show us what He can accomplish when you live by faith!

Heb 11:1 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Excitement in the air...

We received our 3-ring binder from the agency!  It is both daunting and exciting at once.  We read through the first section, which tells general information about the trips to Ethiopia we will be taking.  The first trip will be to meet our new baby and go to court.  The second trip, about 2 months later, will be to pick up our child and finalize the adoption.  We will get to see museums and go on sight-seeing tours, which Billy is super excited about.  I read the part about taking your child to a celebration lunch after court and cried happy tears at the thought! 

We are taking it one step at a time, though, as the agency recommends.  We have started raising money through t-shirt and wristband sales.  It amazed and delighted me when our daughter sold the very first wristband to the Culligan repair man this morning!  She has no fear and believes in our cause, which makes her a great salesperson!  She stepped up and explained the entire thing to him before I could even open my mouth.  :)

I have a wristband that I got from the fertility clinic we went to for years.  It says "Have faith...Never lose hope", and we were told that a patient of the clinic had them made and donated them.  I never take it off, and I look at if often and think about those words.  It's amazing to me how God has always been in control of our journey to have children and how He has completely re-directed our path in a way we would never have considered ten years ago.  Yet now, He is still providing for us while using us for an even bigger plan.  I NEVER thought I would be involved in overseas mission work, and yet here I am, preparing to go across the ocean to bring home my next child.  I am thankful and humbled that God chose us for this!

Trust me, you never know when God will use you, and in what capacity, so never close your mind to the possibilities, and never say never with God.  He knows what you are capable of better than you do, and if you give Him the chance, He will give your life more purpose than you ever thought possible.

~Jamie

Fundraisers

We have a couple of fundraisers set in motion to help with the cost of the adoption.  Whether through a fundraiser, donation directly to the agency, or through prayers, your help is very much appreciated!

First, we have "Know Love...Show Love" wristbands for sale at $3 each.  Bands are white, lime, and turqoise tie-dye with the embossed logo.

We also have t-shirts with the KLSL logo on the front and Matthew 25:40 on the back. Mens shirts are grey with white print, and ladies fit shirts are grey with pink print.  Mens shirts are $15 each, ladies are $16 each.

Tax-deductible donations can also be made directly to the agency.  Just make checks payable to "International Adoption Guides" and mail the payment to us.  (The agency requests that we send them all donations in one bundle.)

One step forward...

Our adoption application was accepted by the agency!  They are mailing us a 3-ring binder detailing the process from this point.  We are taking it one step at a time, and we are encouraged that the first step was successful.  We are working on the home study next.

If you have prayed about it and feel like God is leading you to help, we would be so grateful.  Whether it's through a monetary donation, help selling our t-shirts, wristbands, and crafts, or through constant prayer, we would be blessed to have you on board for our special mission!

Thank you, and God bless!

Orphans of God

The Cost of Adoption

As you probably know, we have a hill to climb financially to get to the adoption point.  We are not "buying" a baby, but we do have to fees to pay in each step of the documentation process to complete a perfectly legal adoption.  In case you were wondering, here is a list of the fees we will be incurring throughout the next year*:

Home Study Process:
Application fee               $250
Home Study fee            $1500
Mileage                           $250
Background chks              $40
3 Post-Placement Fees    $750

Home Study Total:     $2790


International Adoption Process:
Application fee                                  $300
Agency fee                                       $5000
Dossier Fee                                      $1100
Medical Evaluations                            $75
Foreign Adoption paperwork            $890
Program Fee                                  $10000  ($15000 for siblings)
Round Trip Air Fare   (2 trips)        $7100
Travel Visas                                        $80
Court Documents for child                $900
US Embassy fee (child's visa)           $404
Food, lodging, trans. in Ethiopia     $1120
Care Center fee                                  $250 per month until child is picked up
Gifts for people caring for child        $400 (recommended)

Adoption Agency Total:   approx. $29,000

*Note: all fees are approximations based on Fee Schedules given by agencies.

Welcome to our journey!

Welcome to our journey to expand our family through international adoption. We have prayerfully chosen to adopt a child or children from Ethiopia through International Adoption Guides, Inc.  We have started the application and home study process, which is the first of many steps over the next year or so.  We are so grateful that God can use us in this way, and we are very excited to add to our family (just ask Bailey)!  We appreciate all of your prayers and support throughout this exciting time, and we look forward to hearing from you!