Our First Big Steps

So far, we have taken just a couple of big steps in this adoption.

The first was to begin our home study.  This required sending in the application and fee to Bethany Christian Services.  Then we got a large package of paperwork and I set to work.  There were so many things - referrals, Finger printing, legal forms to read and sign, Questionaires for Daryl and I to fill out, copies of birth and marriage certificates to acquire and scan, medical insurance documentation, financial statements and tax return to copy and much much more.

I took all that and a 3 ring binder that I purchased for the adoption paperwork and dug in.  I received the package on a Friday and was able to mail in the majority of the papers the following Tuesday.  Tomorrow I'll be mailing in the rest.  It was overwhelming at first, but they included a check list and I just took it one document/task at a time.

On Monday we were able to sign our adoption agency documents and send in our commitments fee.  Then we received several documents that we needed to fill out that will be sent to the country where we are adopting from.  These will need to be notarized, photocopied and emailed to the agency and they will forward them to "the country" and then we can be officially committed to our child and announce who she is to the world!  Then I have to take the original documents and send them in to have them apostilled (the secretary of state confirms that the notarization is legal and in order), and then we send the original documents in the mail to "the country."

You may wonder why all the secrecy.  The children in orphanage need to have their privacy protected.  The governments in these countries do not look kindly on having their orphans "out there" in a way that make it potentially possibly to locate them.  It's for the children's safety. After the adoption is final, we will be able to talk about where he/she was living.  Even the name we will be using will not be her real name.

Anyway...today if all goes well, I will be able to email the scanned copies of these documents and soon be able to reveal his/her identity!  I can't wait to be able to share!

I have started a few auctions on my Auctions for A Seventh Sister Facebook page - here's a few photos to whet your appetite   We will be using the funds from these auctions to cover some of the expenses we are incurring as we prepare our documents and get ready for our home visit (like doctor bills, new carbon monoxide detectors, getting documents apostilled and such).  Until our home visit is completed, there are no grants that we can apply for.  Our tax return will not show up for a few weeks yet, but we need to keep moving forward with preparations, but our budget is tight right now.

An original matted Photograph by my sister, Beth!

If you aren't interested in the items in our current auctions, check back next week as we'll have more new items for February!  Also, you can donate items for our auction - just comment below if you need help in adding your donated item to my auctions!

You can also help in several other ways:

1. Use the link in the sidebar to search Amazon and shop there.  Anything you purchase after using my link will produce a commission for us!

2. Use the "Chip In" box to donate directly to our paypal account!

3.  If you want to send us a check instead of using paypal, please send me an email and I'll give your our mailing information!

4.  Pray for us.  Pray that the Lord will provide all we need to ransom this little child and bring him/her home!