Can't Wait to Wait!

I can't wait to start waiting! Adoption is all about waiting!

We mailed off our I600a to USCIS on November 30^th. We received our fingerprint appointment for December 26^th but were unable to go with the holiday so took a chance & walked in on December 19^th. We didn't know if they would let us do it early or not as they specifically say you are not coming in without your appointment. Thankfully we had no issues & got in & out quickly. We are now in the process of waiting on our USCIS approval. It could come in the next few days our could be a couple of months. We are really praying for the first option! Some of the forms are required to be dated within 6 months of submitting our dossier & some of those will be expiring in February so we are getting down to the wire! We only have a few more things we need & it would be amazing if everything got done in the next week. Prayers are much appreciated for speed!

I am so thankful for our Facebook Group for our agency. I have learned so much from the people in the group! If anyone else is with West Sands or their partner agencies & is not a part of the group, let me know & I can add you! There are some very big prayer requests for those in the group. One family left their children 2 weeks ago after their court appointment where they were supposed to be name legal guardians of their children but a form wasn't done in country so they had to leave without that. Regardless they wouldn't have taken their children home yet but they aren't able to disclose pictures of their children until that's done & is also setting back the next stage of the adoption of being submitted to Embassy so they can bring their children home. There are lots of other people in the group that need various prayer requests! I really don't know what I would do without this group.

Another prayer request for orphans in Russia. If you haven't heard, they have ended all Russian adoptions by Americans. This means many children that were already in the process of being adopted & were waiting for their families to get them, now will remain orphans. Families were already in love with their children that they may never get to see again. Many people who haven't adopted before don't realize that even just starting the process, these children ARE already your children even though you may or may not have every seen them, met them or know anything about them. It would be like losing one of your biological children. What would you do? PLEASE pray for this that something can be done to undo this! Another awful thing about Russian orphans is that children with special needs often are put into mental institutions because no one wants them even if there are no mental issues. It is so sad. And there are many Americans open to adopting them & now can't.

What happens next for us? We have to wait for our USCIS approval. We will then mail all of our dossier documents to West Sands. They will be authenticated & sent to Ethiopia. At that time we will officially be put on the waiting list. It could be 6-9 months (or more or less) until we receive our referral. Once our referral is received we will wait for a court date when we will first see our child(ren). That could be 1-3 months. We will then leave them & wait to be cleared by embassy. That process is changing & time increasing so it could be 2-5 months before we can bring them home. What a glorious day that will be!

Thanks for following us & for your prayers! If you want to get updates via email you can do so on the right side of the page.

Homestudy is Complete!

I'm not doing very well keeping this updated on a regular basis. Trying to think what all has happened in this last month. We FINALLY got our official homestudy in the mail on Friday! Yay!!! Not very happy with the timeline on that but there's nothing we can do about that. I immediately had Jeremy go to FedEx on Friday afternoon to ship off our I600a to USCIS. That can take about 5 weeks – 3 months to get back. This give us clearance from the US to adopt a child internationally. This will take the longest of the items that are required for our dossier. I'm really hoping to complete our dossier at the beginning of January. If not we will have to re-request copies of our birth certificates & marriage license as all documents have to be dated within 6 months of being submitted to Ethiopia. The dossier is the last step before we get placed on the wait list. It's funny to think about being excited to “WAIT” but if you ask any adoptive parent they will understand! Of course that will be extremely hard to WAIT but I know God will work in his timing. We have no idea what the wait time will be for us. Hoping not too long but we also need LOTS more funding before we receive our referral as we will owe $8500 before we can accept the referral & also another $5500 if we get 2 siblings. I am going to start applying to grants over the next few months & hopefully we will receive enough. Many of the grants take several months to find out if we are accepted & how much we will receive. The grant applications require a bunch of paperwork as well. This is all SO much work but it will be so worth it to finally get to have our child(ren) home! We just got our first order of sheets in from our fundraiser & raised $522 from that one order. These sheets are amazing!!! So soft & a great deal. Make sure you contact me if you want to place an order!

As always, thank you all for your prayers & support! Keep the prayers coming! Please feel free to share our journey with others that may be interested!

Orphan Sunday is Today

Today is Orphan Sunday.  Today is a day to bring awareness to the need in the world.  The numbers vary but some sources show that there are 143 Million orphans in the world.  Yes MILLION.  It is so sad that the Christians of the World have allowed this to happen.  I think I heard somewhere that if just 7% of Christians would adopt a child, there would be NO orphans left!  That is amazing.  The church needs to step up & DO SOMETHING!  Whether that is adopt a child, help someone who is adopting, donate money or items to orphanages or something else.  We all can do something even if we don't have the money to do so.  We most definitely do not have the money to adopt a child but know that God designed this & will provide the funds.  I know that not everyone is called to adopt but God tells us we are ALL called to care for orphans. 

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. (James 1:27)

So what are you going to do TODAY?

#$%@ People Say To Transracial Families - Must Watch Video

Check out this video I found today... apparently this is exactly what most/many transracial adoptive families experience on a regular basis.  These mom's that made this video are adoptive parents & thought it would be good to make fun of this annoying situation they experience regularly. 

Home Study Visit #1

Just a quick update on our home study visit today.  It went much better than I thought.  Of course we (mostly Jeremy) cleaned & cleaned this weekend to make the house spotless.  She spent only a few minutes walking through our house to look at everything.  I didn't think she'd check every nook & krany but thought she would look more than she did.  Well, at least our house is now clean!  She mostly spent 2 hours asking us questions about us, our childhoods, jobs, etc.  We have a 2nd & final visit next week where she wants to meet Jack, discuss discipline, discuss special needs & more.  After that should have complete a week later.  We can then send our paperwork off to US to get approval which has been averaging about 5 weeks but could take up to 90 days.  That is what is going to determine the timeline for finalizing our dossier as I believe that is what takes the longest of all that is required.  I'm excited that our home study is almost done but that means that we desperately need the remainder of the dossier money immediately.  Please be in prayer for donations or that we can borrow the money so we can start on our dossier in 2 weeks when this is all done. 

Home Study Paperwork DONE!

It’s been a while since my last update & we’ve gotten a lot done, yet still have so much more to go before we can even start WAITING!  We have completed our 24 hours of Ohio Adoption Training & 10 hours of Hague Training for International.  We had to do all of it at home by ourselves which I think slowed it down even more than if we had gone to an actual class making us do it on a schedule.  But we successfully did it! We mailed off all of the paperwork to our home study agency last Friday. We have our 1^st home study visit on Monday!  Praying that we can get the house together for it & that we “pass”!  There will be 2-3 visits total.  Some together & some separate.  I’m not sure how quickly the other visits will be, hoping not too long as I’m eager to WAIT!  Once our home study is complete & official copy is received, we will send it off to Homeland Security & wait another month or 2 for approval.  After that, along with probably some other paperwork, we can officially send our dossier off to Ethiopia.  That is when we will officially go on the waiting list.  We of course have no time frame of how long we could be waiting as it is unpredictable with special needs adoption.  It just depends on what children are referred to our agency by the orphanages with special needs, how many people ahead of us are waiting for special needs & what ages & needs they are open to.  I’m really “hoping” to have our child home by next Christmas but that’s probably just a dream!  If we wait too long to submit our dossier, some of the paperwork we have already done will start expiring causing more time & money to re-do. 

Also since my last post we had a Fundraiser Yard Sale on October 13^th.  I think it was successful considering it wasn’t prime yard sale season.  We raised $341.50 & I am still trying to sell some of the stuff online so that could increase some.  I need to double check at home & update the fundraiser thermometer but we should be around $2200.  We still need over $5000 before the end of the dossier process so we still have a long way to go.  Once our home study is complete, I will be applying for a bunch of grants but that money will not be received before this is all due but will help out with the future costs we will owe once we receive a referral which will be another $20,000+.  I do NOT like asking people for money.  I was never allowed to do fundraisers as a child, but this is so important & I know this is what God wants for us so I AM asking!  We have several fundraisers going on now & in the future.  If there is anything you are able to help with, it would be appreciated more than you ever know.  Check out the Fundraising Page for the 2 currently going on as well as information on making a direct donation. 

As always, please be in prayer for our family & our adoption journey.  It is HARD & takes a lot out of me but it will all be worth it to see our child(ren) for the first time!

Paperwork, paperwork

Not too much has happened since my last post. We are still in the process of our home study. We have LOTS of training to do. We need 10 hours of Hague Training for international adoption & 24 hours of Ohio Adoption Training. It is all online but it is hard to do in between work & Jack! We still have a LOT to do for our home study & need to get moving quicker if we want to have everything submitted to Ethiopia by the end of the year, which is my goal! We are waiting on our OH & FBI Background Checks to get to our home study agency. Need our fire inspection, find all of our financial paperwork, & a few other miscellaneous things. Only once EVERY piece of paper is received by our home study agency will they schedule our interviews. After that is done we will hopefully be approved. Once we receive a completed home study we have to start working on our dossier. Our dossier is all of the paperwork that is required by Ethiopia. We will need to submit our home study to US Immigration to be cleared & can take up to 90 days although has been averaging 5 weeks.

I am just SO ready to get all of this paperwork done & start WAITING for our referral. We have NO idea how long the waiting could be. Since we are adopting a “special needs” infant it is hard to judge the timeline. A healthy referral is taking about 12 months right now. I would expect our referral will be before that as the special needs list is only about 10 people vs 60 for a healthy child. I think most of the families on the special needs list are open to a child 0-4 years old so it is possible once we are on the list, that those behind us could get a referral first because we are requesting 0-6 months. My hope is to have them home by their 1^st birthday but God knows what is going to happen.

Also in the mean time we need to raise A LOT of money! I have never been a beggar but we do need a lot of help! I KNOW God will provide the funds whether through donations, fundraisers or grants! I am considering a yard sale in a few weeks if we can get donations to sell. We gave most of our stuff away when we moved so we don't have much to sell. I am also hoping to have a spaghetti fundraiser dinner in October. Anyone that wishes to make donations can do so in several ways. See the fundraising page. Tax deductible donations are now available.

Please be in prayer for our adoption journey! Pray for finances, patience, guidance & especially for our child on the other side of the world!

Medical Report Praise

Just a quick update on this past week.  Teddy (our dog) got his immunizations.  I had my doctor's appointment on Monday & got a good medical report & signed form for home study.  The dossier required form had several tests that need to be ran that I was not aware of.  Have to go back to Dr in next week or 2 to have testing done for HIV, TB, etc.  I know I don't have them but Dr can't sign off official negative report without the tests.  Thankfully the form we need for home study is done & the dossier form will not be needed for a few months. 

That is not the good news.  The big concern has been with Jeremy's medical report.  He was born with a heart defect that was corrected as a young child.  He leads a perfectly normal life now but our agency couldn't guarantee we would be accepted yet until they saw how our home study addressed the issue.  He went to Cardiologist for annual testing on Tuesday & yesterday for Dr appt.  They gave him a clean report!  Praise the LORD!  He still has to wait for them to mail him his medical forms & our agency needed a letter from the Cardiologist advising his condition won't affect his day to day life, he has a normal life expectancy & won't affect his ability to care for a child.  He still has to go to his family Dr at the end of this month to fill out the rest of this form & also get the HIV, etc testing but that is not a concern as he is otherwise healthy.  Just continuing to pray that our home study give approval medically & our agency is happy with this.  So still need prayers but also need to give thanks to God for taking this big weight off our shoulders.

Also since our last report I found out some more information that is going to delay us some!  We had our OH & FBI fingerprints done Aug 1 & 8.  I believe they told me it would take 4-6 weeks to get the results back.  Someone else told me it takes 11-12 weeks.  I am really hoping that they are wrong as that would put us back to Oct 18 before all of our paperwork is in & our home study won't even begin scheduling interviews until every piece of paper is in.  I also found out that we now have to have immigration approval before our dossier can be sent off to Ethiopia.  This used to be something that was done AFTER it was sent off but is changing Sept 1.  This can take up to 90 days to receive although right now many are getting back in 5 weeks.  I knew there would be many ups & downs with this process but actually going through it is much worse!  Just pray for my patience through all of this.  I know our child is out there some where (or in someone's belly) & I just need to know that God has a perfect plan & I need to WAIT for him to reveal his perfect plan!  But that is SOOO hard & need your prayers too! 

Thanks & continue to stay tuned as we go through this roller coaster we call international adoption!!!

Answered Prayer for Timing!

A lot has happened since my last update!  We have started on our home study & are doing paperwork, appointments, more & more paperwork! I have gotten my background checks ordered, ordered my passport, requested child abuse clearances, etc. We have lots more to do with our home study before they will start the interviews. They have to have every piece of required paperwork before they will schedule anything. Once the interviews are done that will complete our home study & they will either approve or deny our home study. Of course praying for approval!!!

Today I got an answer to prayers! Jeremy had his doctor's appointment scheduled for the middle of October. Medical letters are required as part of paperwork before interviews can begin. Of course that is a ways away & was going to hold up the process by about 6 weeks! I got a hold of his doctor today & they just opened a new adult cardiology clinic & were scheduling earlier appointments. I was able to get everything in next week!!!! If everything goes as planned we should have all of the paperwork ready by early September & be able to schedule our interviews. They couldn't tell me the timeline for interviews. I am hoping those are done quickly after. Once we have an approved home study we can officially start with our adoption agency, West Sands, (if they accept us) & can start working on our paperwork for Ethiopia. I'm really hoping that everything can be done & sent out to Ethiopia by the end of the year! Once our paperwork is sent out to Ethiopia we begin the WAITING game for a referral. Because we're adopting a child with a special need, it's hard to tell how long we will wait. It could be a few months or a year for a referral. Of course hoping for earlier! God knows who our child is already & when they will be given to us! (I just need patience to wait for him)

Of course with this good news it means that we will need to raise money sooner! We will need at least $6,000 by the middle of September to be able to start on our paperwork for Ethiopia! That seems like an enormous amount of money!!! And it is, but God can & will provide!

Please continue to pray for our family & our child(ren) across the world! Pray that God will provide the finances in the right time & that he will give us patience to wait on him! If you or anyone you know feels called to donate to our adoption, please check out our fundraising page for details. Thanks!!!

Lucy Lane's Gotcha Day Video

This is a very popular "Gotcha Day" video.  Definitely worth checking out.  It will help you really see what this is all about!  I saw this about a month ago but wanted to share it with everyone.

Donations

Just wanted to let you know how you can make financial donations to our adoption.  Donations can be made in a few different ways.  If you see us on a regular basis you can donate by cash or check.  If you wish to mail us a check, send me an email for our address, terribeth07@earthlink.net.  If you do not see us or if it is just more convenient, you can donate via paypal.  I added a Donate Button on our homepage that will direct you to paypal or you can send it direct to our account at lance9704@earthlink.net.


Thank you so much!!!  Every little bit helps!

Puzzle is in!!!

We received our puzzle fast!  This will soon be in 252 separate pieces & hopefully we will be able to put it back together quickly.  If you have the financial means to do so, please prayerfully consider sponsoring a piece of the puzzle for $20 each.  That's like skipping 1 dinner out or 1 movie night!  We need at least $6,000 in the next 2-3 months to move on to the next phase of the adoption process to bring home our precious child!

New Fundraiser!

Check out our fundraiser page to see our new puzzle fundraiser!  We created & purchased a 252 piece puzzle & are asking people to sponsor pieces of the puzzle for $20 each to raise funds for our payments that will be due in a few months of $6000+!  We can't start applying for grants until our home study is complete so we will need at least $6000 to continue on our journey to bring home our baby!  If you sponsor a puzzle piece we will write your name on the back to forever remember how YOU helped save the life of our child & bring them to their forever home.  Please pray for God to make it clear to you if you can afford to sponsor 1 or more puzzle pieces.  That's like skipping 1 dinner out this month!  Is that something you think you can do?  Just send me a message or email me!

Thanks!!!

It's not about us!

Ok it's been a bit of a delay in posting again. A lot has happened since my last post. We're just in the beginning of our adoption process & have already had several ups & downs!!!

We had chosen our agency, West Sands, and were ready to send in our applications & first fee when we were advised we may not be accepted due to health issues. This was devastating! We have to wait until our home study is complete to see what that says & if they believe we will be accepted. I don't know if this is an agency specific rule or Ethiopia. Of course God has a plan & KNOWS we are to adopt but maybe it's just to teach us patience or maybe we are to adopt with another agency and/or country. We mailed in our home study application & forms & are hoping to get started very soon so we can figure out what's going on.

Also in the last week we have decided that God is calling us NOT to adopt a “perfectly healthy” child but a child with a minor physical need. We don't know what that is yet. Maybe missing a finger, an arm, cleft lip, etc. We don't know what he has in store for us at this point. We were going to sit on a long waiting list for a “healthy” child which after thinking seemed counter-productive for us. Our goal was to adopt a child in need. Not that there is anything wrong with adopting a healthy child, I am not saying that at all but for US it didn't seem right. There are so many orphans out there with even minor issues that need a family & by asking for a “healthy” child they will be overlooked. This adoption is NOT about us & that is kind of how it was starting out even though I didn't want to admit it. I have also given up the idea of ONLY adopting a girl. Although at some time I do want to adopt a girl, that may not be God's plan right now. We may adopt an infant off of a waiting child list or may go through a regular program specifically requesting a “special needs” infant. You can specifically note which issues you are open to. “Special Needs” in international adoption is not what we consider special needs in America. A child could be missing a finger & considered special needs. We are in the process of researching different issues to see what we can physically & financially handle. Please be in prayer for us to be open to God speaking to us & making this clear. I know that God has the right child picked out for us already & knows what we can handle.

We also need to get started on collecting donations & fundraising. Once our home study is done & we decide on a child or agency, we will need at least $6,000 right away before we can start on any of the paperwork. This means we need to start collecting & fundraising now. If you have any fundraising ideas please let us know. What fundraisers would you support? We do have a coffee fundraiser set up already, check out our fundraising tab. We also will need direct financial donations to offset the approx $30,000 it will cost to complete this adoption. If you are feeling led to support us financially please contact us. I hate asking for money but I know that God will provide whether through direct donations, fundraisers or grants. This is HIS plan for our family so he will provide.

Thanks for all of your prayers & keep them coming! We have a long journey ahead of us. Be praying for our child wherever they are that God will protect them until we can come get them. Also be praying for their birth parents as I'm sure this is not easy for them either.

Check out our new fundraiser! 



Do you love coffee?  This is all fair trade coffee & a portion of the proceeds benefit our adoption.  It will be around $30,000 to adopt 1 child & $40,000 to adopt 2.  Please consider purchasing some coffee!  Also forward this onto friends & family that may be interested in some good coffee & helping a good cause.

Just Love Coffee Fundraiser