Small Updates....Big News

Nothing very exciting on the adoption front.  We had a small glitch with both our dossier and our I800a application, but both have been taken care of and we are back in the business of waiting!

Our dossier is being translated.  My little glitch was that I forgot to get our homestudy apostilled.  But I had another copy here so I was able to sent that copy in for the apostille right away, and the translation can still go on as I believe they scanned all the documents and sent to her country for being translated.  The apostilled copy went out today!

We got a letter from the USCIS that said that our application had been accepted and was being forwarded to the Hague department.  Priscilla lives in a Hague Convention - "The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, better known as Hague, is an international treaty designed to protect children, birth families, and adoptive families by prohibiting child trafficking and setting up strict standards for international adoptions"**.  Soon we will get the letter we need to take with us to get our biophysical fingerprints.  That will require a 2 hour drive to that location, and it comes at a bad time for Daryl, as he's working massive hours to help the company he works for meet a deadline.  Please pray that we can get an appointment time that will require the least amount of hours to be missed at work for him.


We have had some exciting news here at home - our oldest son, Jeremy, asked his girl to marry him and she said "Yes"!  So Priscilla will have a built in sister-in-law when she comes home!

 In preparation for our trip to see Priscilla, I'm learning a little of her language.  We will have a translator with us pretty much all the time, but I figured it would be good to know anyway!  It is a very different language and even uses the Eastern European alphabet.  I'm getting to where I'm remembering some of the unusual letter/figures.  But by far, and most difficult thing to do will be to remember that you move you head side to side to say "yes" and up and down to say "no"!  That is just wrong!

If you think of our adoption, please pray that political changes in her country will settle down soon, as right now, the people in the government who process everything adoption related are not processing anything.  Please pray that the dust will settle quickly and they will get back into the business of getting these precious children out of their orphanages and into loving homes.  This situation is effecting countless families who are in various phases of adoption.


**quoted from Premier Adoption Agency

Our Dossier is Finished!

Our documents arrived from Olympia today!

I was all ready for them after creating the family photo pages to include with all the rest of the documents!

Here is what we have worked so hard to put together over the last 4 months!

What you see there is:

Home Study

copy of passports

miscellaneous boring documents

5 sets of FBI fingerprints, apostilled in Washington DC

More boring documents

A commitment to doing follow up home visits after she's home

Photo pages with photos of our family, home and activities:

Now we are waiting to get an appointment to have our finger prints taken for the I800a (immigration application), which we will have to drive to south Seattle to get done (not going to be fun now with that bridge in Burlington gone).

After that, we will be waiting. Waiting for what?  Waiting for our "referral".  What's a referral?  In the world of adoption, it is the invitation - the invitation to travel to meet your child!  We expect this will happen sometime in July or August.

So, now it's time for some nesting - home projects to get done while I have time to do them!

I included an entire sheet of photos for Esther as it shows that we have dealt with nearly everything that Priscilla has and will experience.  It also shows that we value her as a large part of our family and is not seen as a burden but as a delight and a blessing to our family.

The Second Trimester....

I find it very interesting how similar adoption is to pregnancy.  When you think about adoption, it's like the time when you aren't pregnant yet, but hope to be/plan to be/think you might be pregnant soon.  When you commit to a child, it's like a positive pregnancy test.  When your adoption plans are interrupted it's like a miscarriage - you grieve for the child you won't be able to adopt.

We committed to adopting Priscilla back in January.  I liken the last 4 1/2 months to the first trimester. The going it tough, and there's nothing to show for it.  You are working so hard on something you can't put your hands on.  You're tired all the time and there's always more to do than you have time or energy.  Then, you finally reach the end of this first trimester - the home study arrives!

We are now entering into a new phase of our adoption, the second trimester if you will.  We are waiting to "see" our little girl.  The hard work is done, I'll have more time and energy to function from day to day.  I have a list of projects to accomplish before she joins our family.  I'm sure, just like the second trimester in pregnancy, there will be days that it will seem like this isn't really happening.  Life will seem"normal" and there will be very little to remind me that we are adopting.  Except for those occasional little reminders, similar to those precious first kicks/movements, like getting our fingerprints done for the I800a, and submitting our dossier. I'll need to prepare and plan.

In about 8 weeks we will get to "see" our "baby."  To me, this will be very much like the big 20 week ultrasound (only better as we'll get to hold her and love on her!).  But it will be the first time we truly lay eyes on her.  At that point everything will seem so much more real.  Our hearts will be bonded with her and it will be SOOOO hard to walk away and not "see" her again for so many, many months!

After that, we'll be in our last trimester - the hardest part.  There will be so much to do to prepare, as I know I will be unable to accomplish much of anything once she is home, for months even.  We'll get her bedroom ready, get clothes for her set out (we'll know her size by then).  We'll have more paperwork to submit to finish the adoption.  But, mostly, we will be waiting.  Anxiously waiting.  Praying for her to stay strong, to remain healthy.  Each day will seem longer than the last.  Going "overdue" due to delays in the red tape/legal process will be excruciating.

Once everything is ready and the time has come, Daryl will take me to bring her home.  We'll leave our other children, and come home with their new sister.  Then everything will slow down, we will focus on our new blessing and keep tight for a while.  Time to bond, time to learn about her.  Time to allow her to adjust to her new world and new time zone (so like a newborn that is on the wrong time frame, awake all night, sleeping all day!).  Keeping exposure to anything outside our family to a minimum as we care for her and bond to her.  Taking her to doctor's appointments to make sure she gets the best start here as she can.

And, eventually, finding a new normal for us. I always find it takes at least 3 months to find a new normal after having a baby, but as I get older, it has taken longer and longer.  With Carese it was nearly a year. With Priscilla, it may take that long as well.  Our friends and family will need to be loyal and patient as we go through the process of making Priscilla a part of our family.  But it will all be worth it.

But, there are many ways that adoption is so very different from a pregnancy.  While we are waiting, our child is in an orphanage on the other side of the world, spending most of her day in a crib.  Not receiving the therapies, medical care and proper nutrition that she needs.  No amount of my eating right or being careful to guard my health will help her.  Granted, if I'm eating right and working on my health, I will be in better shape to care for her, but it doesn't help her right now.  When an adopted child joins the family, they are not a clean slate.  They have been damaged.  They have learned to cope in ways that a baby should never have to cope.  They have learned to never expect their needs to be met.  They have learned that crying does not bring about consolation.  They have learned that at night, there is no one to care for them, they are on their own.

And, unlike pregnancy, it is not 9 months, give or take a few weeks. It's more like a year, give or take a few months!  A year that YOUR child is not in your arms but living in a cold, sterile environment learning to rock in place to self-console instead of sitting in my lap, in my arms, rocking in our purple princess room.

So, when is our "due date"?  We really have no idea.  Sometime next winter.  October at the earliest, January or later if things don't go well.  Another winter in an orphanage for a little girl who has battled pneumonia 4 times in her first 3 winters.

Please pray with us that our paperwork will sale through all the red tape.  That we can go get our precious little girl in October rather than January or later.  Pray that she remains healthy.  Pray that we can make all the needed preparations in our home for her.  Pray that we will be healthy for our traveling to meet her and to bring her home.  Pray for our family as they prepare to hold up while we are gone.

But even more.....

PRAY that others will see the needs of these children to be adopted!

EVERY life is worth saving.  These children will NOT be OK if left where they are.  Unlike children in need of adoption here in the US, they are not in homes.  They are  not receiving therapies to help them grow and learn.  These children face a death sentence if they are not adopted.

If you are pro-life, then you should consider the plight of these precious children, loved by God, who desperately need a home.  These are children abandoned because they are not perfect.  But in God's eyes they are perfect.  In God's eyes they are worth every penny, every sleepless night, every sacrifice of time it takes to bring these children into a home where they can be loved, cared for and taught of the ultimate adoption.  That they can be adopted by God Almighty and be His child.

Adoption is the ultimate outreach to a sinful word.  Adopting is being a missionary, an evangelist.  An adoptive family is a physical manifestation of the spiritual reality of salvation.

If you can't adopt, the support adoptive families through prayer and financial giving.  If you can't give financially, give some physical help to a local adoptive family.  And everyone can do this - advocate for children who are waiting for their forever family to find them.  Share the plight of these forgotten children.

If you think you can't adopt because you don't have the money, I say "pshaw, that's nothing."  I know because we have experienced God's provision in a way that astounds me every day.  If God is calling you to adopt, He is MORE THAN ABLE to provide such an easy thing as money!

Plus - did you know that there are 3 children listed right now who have enough money in their Reece's Rainbow Grants to nearly pay for their entire adoption?????

Check them out:

Nolan is almost 10 years old
He has been transferred to an adult mental institution
His life is in imminent danger
But he can be adopted!
He has over $15,000 ready and waiting to be used
for his adoption!!!
Can you save him?

Iris has over $16,000 to use for her adoption!
She loves to care for the other children in her orphanage
Here's is a blog post about her:
http://www.tinygreenelephants.com/2013/02/beautiful-iris-video.html
This country is fast -
most children are home in 7 months!

Maria is an 11 year old sweetie pie!
She has $15,000 for her adoption
Are you her momma???
She's in the same ORPHANAGE as Iris
(hint, hint, hint!)

A Red Letter Day!

Today two things we have been waiting for have happened within hours of each other!

Our Home Study is Completed!  

AND

Our Matching Grant has arrived in our Reece's Rainbow FSP!

But first, the final numbers on our funding!  When our matching grant began, we estimated that we needed around $21,000 to complete the adoption from that point forward.  We set our goal of raising $10,500 to use for our matching grant.  Our matching grant also matched the value of items donated, so that kind of made things a little complicated, but it all worked out so amazingly well!  Our matching grant was for up to $14,000 (half of the entire cost of the adoption, including expenses we had already covered).  

So here's the totals:Monetary donations/commissions earned (FSP or directly to us) = $10,476Value of items donated for auctions/sold & proceeds sent to us = $3193

Total of Matching Grant - $14,000

Notice that - they rounded up! Astounding!

So, in summary, we are fully funded.  We even have extra funds in case our projected costs are less than our actual costs (especially for plane tickets)

We also found out last week that the process for filing the dossier has changed slightly, speeding things up.  Before you had to first apply for the I800a (application to immigrate a child), and then once you have the I800a approval, you would include that in your dossier and send that off.  Now, you send off your I800a and dossier as soon as they are ready, and then send the I800a to join the dossier once you get the approval!  This will save 4 - 6 weeks of processing time!  Good thing I've been steadily working on the dossier items!

Right now I have the I800a completely ready, just waiting for signatures and that Home Study, and I also have everything for the Dossier ready, waiting for signatures, notarization and then off to get apostilled.  Once everything is notarized/apostilled I can send in the Dossier.  This should mean that I can send in the dossier by the end of next week if all goes smoothly!

And that means that we will be traveling to meet Priscilla sometime around the end of July or August.  Her birthday is August 5, so would you pray with me that we will be traveling the week of her birthday?  Her birthday falls on the Monday, so in all likelihood, if we travel that week, we would meet her on her birthday!  She would probably have no idea of the significance, but when she's older, it would mean that she did not spend her third birthday alone!

We also did some re-arranging in the girl's bedroom as Elizabeth didn't like sleeping in the bunk, and having a bunk above Esther's bed made it nearly impossible to get Esther in and out of bed without putting your back out.  So here's some updated photos of their bedroom.  Carese sleeps in the white crib, Priscilla will sleep in the brown crib, and Esther sleeps in the bed to the right of the brown crib, and lastly, Elizabeth sleeps in the bed next to Esther's bed.

That's another project I have to tackle this week - I almost forgot!  I have to make up new photo sheets to send in with the Dossier showing our home and our family, or should I say "her home and her family!"

So, we have made it over the biggest hurdles - the home study and funding for our adoption.  Isn't that amazing!  From here on out it will be mostly waiting, waiting and more waiting.

I'm  planning on taking a week off from the internet once I have the I800a and Dossier submitted, but I'll update the blog if anything important happens.  I've been spending WAY to much time online since this adoption started, and we have so many project around here that we need to get done during this waiting period, since after Priscilla comes home, projects will take a back seat for a long time!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement through these past few months, and we appreciate your prayers that this next step will go smoothly as well!

Astounding Final Tally (well, mostly final)

Wow, Tuesday was incredible.  Well, actually, all of last month was unbelievable.

But before I go into details, I have not had time to tell you about the conference call with the doctor for the University of Washington Adoption Medical Clinic.  He was very encouraging.  He enjoyed watching Priscilla's videos and got a kick out her little personality.  By the end of the conversation he told us that he had no reservations about how we would handle caring for Priscilla when she comes home.  He gave us some questions to ask when we go to see her the first time in order to better prepare for her medical needs when we bring her home.  He even told us that he believes that Priscilla will thrive in our home and under our care.  The phone call was absolutely so encouraging!

I have crunched the numbers.  I am waiting on just a few Facebook Auction winners to pay, and for a the checks for the proceeds from the parties to arrive.

Just as a reminder, when we were offered the matching grant, the two limits were donations being given by the end of April and a maximum matching grant of $14,000.

Here are the preliminary total amounts donated to our adoption in the last 5 weeks:

Reece's Rainbow FSP Grant - $4560 (before Paypal fees taken out)
Cash/in person donations - $1015
Commissions on Amazon Sales - $89
Paypal Donations during April - $913
Spaghetti Feed/Silent Auction Donations - $3198
April FB Auctions - $616 (all but 4 winners have paid, so this is approximate)
Party Commissions - $193.00
Checks coming for Waldorf Doll's sold - $180.00

When we started out 5 weeks ago, we had approximately $21,000 in adoption costs still to cover.

That meant, that with the matching grant we needed to raise $10,500.

Did you add those figures up???

$10,764 was donated!

I know, no way! Right?!

Also, if you remember, that I shared that we would need $6,000 in order to prepare and submit our dossier, and that we would not have access to our Reece's Rainbow Grant (which is where the matching grant is going) until after our dossier is submitted, approved and we have been invited to travel.

Well, readers, it looks like we will reach that goal.  Right now, we have just shy of $4,000 in our savings account (after transferring the money needed for the I800a application), and we have over $1,000 in our Paypal account that I have not transferred yet.  We still have a few hundred dollars coming our way in the next week (proceeds from parties and the sale of the Waldorf dolls and a few FB auctions).  Since then, we have actually done some preparation, so we no longer need all $6,000 in place, it's more like $5,600. With a little of our personal funds, we will be able to accomplish this easily!

Five weeks ago, $14,000, $10,500 and $6,000 were numbers that I was working with, and every single one of them seemed so out or reach.  It just didn't seem possible.  Humanly possible that is.

But my God is so much bigger and better than I could have imagined.  He took those numbers and showed me that NOTHING is impossible with God.

Lastly, we have doubted.  Others have doubted.  Some have expressed their concerns to us in person (and their concerns are mostly valid!).   There have been so many times in the last few months where we have thought to ourselves "what in the world are we doing."

 Well, God has over and over assured us that this is His will for our family.  Priscilla is our child, born on the other side of the world, but our child.

God doesn't limit Himself to using people who are capable, strong, and have plenty of resources.  If He did, He wouldn't get much of the credit.  He chooses people who are incapable of doing what He is asking, unless He steps in and equips them to do His will.

Voddy Bachaum talked a lot at the Home School Conference about the fact that God doesn't require something of us without enabling us to do it first.  Our pastor has said "His Commands are His Enablings" (or something like that).

God has taught us through this that He is more than able to meet our needs - all our needs.

Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable.  These are words that I using far too often of late...so I went to the thesaurus to increase my vocabulary.

Astounding, Bewildering, Marvelous, Spectacular, Staggering, Stupendous, Astonishing...words only begin to describe how I feel right now.

I hope you are as in awe of what God has done as I am.

Life will seem quite dull after this month.  Well, life is never dull around this house, but you know what I mean!!

Before I end, please pray for the Browns and Gemma.  I had the blessing of meeting Maria, Gemma's mommy, at the home school conference this past week.  I was able to see the many photographs and videos that she took when she went to visit Gemma in January - Gemma is beautiful, but she needs to come home as she is not receiving the care that she desperately needs.  They have been waiting for over 3 months now for a signature from the government in Priscilla's country (Priscilla and Gemma are in the same country, but different cities).  Some families who have gone to meet their little ones after the Browns returned home have already gotten their signatures and invitations to travel.  This is very discouraging for them.

Please pray that the Browns will get their signature first thing after that government resumes (they are on holiday all this week).  If you can, stop over on their blog, Carry Your Light and give them some encouragement by commenting on her blog, or better yet, donate to their FSP, because as you can see, they have received very little financial help for their adoption.  They also have an Amazon search button that you can use to do your shopping and help them bring Gemma home!  But most of all, pray for this family, that they would be encouraged and that they would be going to bring Gemma home soon!!!!

CLICK HERE to find out how you can become a Reece's Rainbow Warrior!

Updated "How you can help us reach our Matching Grant Goal"

We have 16 hours left until our Matching Grant expires.  We have received over $6,000 in donations in the last 2 1/4 weeks!  We have just $600 left to reach our goal of using the donations and matching grant to cover all future projected adoption expenses!

Here's how you can help us make the $600 in 16 hours:

1. Pray!
- for expediency in the process
- for Priscilla’s health
- for money in place when needed

possible custom doll idea 1

possible custom doll idea 2

2. Spread the Word!
- Share A Seventh Sister Blog, especially this blog post, through facebook, twitter etc
- If you own a blog, blog about our adoption

3. Donate to our Reece's Rainbow Grant
                     (tax deductible - it's too late for a check getting to them in time, so only paypal donations will count towards our matching grant)

4. Donate to our Paypal Account
                 (click on link and you'll see our paypal email address)
        
5. Donate via check
                  - email me for our mailing address and payment info~I will need to have check in hand by Friday, May 3 in order for it to count for our matching grant

possible custom doll idea 3

Custom Made Waldorf Dolly -
 You select color or eyes, hair and skin!

6. Buy Restaurant.com Card - $50 gift card for just $20, we get $10 for our adoption!

7. Buy This Custom Made Waldorf Style Dolly
      


8. Bid on our Facebook Auction Items, especially those without bids yet!
   

possible custom doll idea 4

Possible Custom Doll Idea 5

Thank you to all who have donated so far this month - it has been amazing!

Thank you to all who share this blog
post or donated in these last two weeks!

Oh - and I was sent the draft of our home study last night and was able to read through it and send back some things that needed editing or further explanations.  We are so close to having this in hand and sending in our I800a (application to be approved to immigrate a child).

Please pray that the home study will be completed without further delay and that our I800a will be approved in record time!

I am working on compiling the documents needed for the following step - Dossier Submission!  This is a complex set of documents, but I'm taking it one step at a time and it is coming together, slowly but surely!

Lila Rose Party for Priscilla!

But first - News!

Our home study is written, and awaiting the signature of the home study agency director - he'll be in the office on Monday to sign it!

Today I sent in our FBI background checks to be Apostilled in Washington DC!  This cost us $75 for this service, we used Caring Hands to do this service for us.  We need these apostilled for the dossier.  We have some other home work for the dossier, but I have plenty of time to get them done - apostilling our marriage certificate, new medical certificates (apostilled of course), getting a psych evaluation done and a local police background check (I have to find out if we'd need to do this in our local town or with the Sheriff since we do not live in the city limits).

I have the I800a all ready to go, we just need to sign it (all adults) and attach the home study and a hefty check (around $1000 because we have 5 adults in the house).  This takes 4 - 5 weeks to process, and then once we get that back, we send in our dossier.

Now - about that Lila Rose Party!

We're hosting a Lila Rose Party as a fundraiser for our adoption!

We have a Facebook Page set up for this, but you can order using this link too!

Party Closes Monday Night, but we'd really like to get the bulk of the orders placed today and tomorrow!

Finally, our Home Study is being Written!

The very last document, which was sent in over a month ago, finally crawled back to our state and arrived at our home study agency this morning!

Right now our agent is writing our the final draft of our Home Study and she says we will get a copy via email to look over soon, and the HS should be ready to go by the end of the week!

Also, we are down to just $1625 left to raise in order to meet our goal!  I'll be updating the thermometer shortly!

We are closing out our Tupperware Party today, and our Pampered Chef Party ends on Monday - email me if you still want to place an order and I'll get you the info you need to do that!

Starting very soon (tomorrow hopefully) we will be doing a quick Lila Rose Party!  Stay tuned for details, and for now, go plan your order HERE!

If you want to stay up to date on any parties we are having for Priscilla's adoption fund, join our facebook page, Parties For Priscilla!

So Close! And Auction News!

Turquoise Slouch Hat

Our home study draft is written, it's just waiting for one document.  That document was a background check for child abuse registries in Iowa (where I went to college).  I sent this in nearly a month ago, but it still hadn't arrived as of this morning.

Soft Soled Baby Shoes

So I called that office in Iowa and found out that they do not make note of what background checks they do, so even if they had processed one for me, they would have no record of it.  They thought it should have arrived by now, so they suggested that we try faxing it in and they would fax it back to our home study agency.  Great Idea!  So it has been faxed to the Iowa office.  Now we wait for them to process it (they say it takes them about 5 days to get to a report due to their backlog.

I'm going to call them on Monday and see if it can't be processed quicker since this is the second time around.

Turquoise Chain Scarf

Please pray that this would come in quickly so we can get on to our next step - filing the I800a.  I have the form all filled out, along with all the documentation required, and the money is all in place...we just need to add the home study!

On another note - we've added some new, donated, items to our Facebook A Seventh Sister Auctions, as you can see in the photos in this blog post!

And lastly, 11 days left for our matching grant, $2600 left to raise before he 30th.

PS. We cancelled the giveaway due to lack of interest (not one paid entry in 4 days)

Update on our Matching Grant!

Late last month we were contacted by someone I did not know.  Her name is Anita.   She wanted to let me know that her husband and herself wanted us to be the recipient of the portion of their corporate profits that they donate to charities and other needs.

Juni

Lelia

She explained that she and her husband, Steve, had been drawn to Priscilla when she appeared on Reece's Rainbow Newly Listed Children Page!  They had actually gone to commit to her the day after we did.  They were disappointed, but prayed about it.  The Lord has led them to pursue adopting two little girls from China instead!

But get this - they have already adopted - FIVE TIMES!  They have 5 biological, grown children, and they have adopted five children domestically who all have special needs, and now they are adopting two little girls who have Down Syndrome.  The Lord will bless them richly, both now and before His throne!

But they continued to read about our adoption journey through our blog.  The Lord moved them to reach out to us and offer us a matching grant!

I was so amazed.  God is so amazing, isn't He?

So here's how it works.  They will match any and all donations to our adoption that we receive by the end of April!  They will match money donated to our Reece's Rainbow FSP, our FundRazr Account, directly to our Paypal account, checks and cash given to us directly and any goods that are donated for our auctions they will match at their estimated value, regardless of what is actually paid for the item!

The only limit is being fully funded - that means up to $14,000 given will be matched!!!

Is that generous or what!  I gives me goose bumps to share this with people, and I tend to cry just thinking about His goodness to us.  We just don't deserve this.

Here's a quote from her email to me - "My prayer for your family is that by the end of April you are blessed to be fully funded, so you can focus on the process of adoption and preparing your hearts and home for your beautiful daughter. :)  We don't want any public  "credit" because we just see ourselves as processors for God's blessings in our lives."

Praise the Lord with me on His blessings to us.  Pray that we can make the most of this opportunity!  Pray for blessing on Steve and Anita and their family!

Help us by sharing this blog post so more people can be aware of this unprecedented opportunity!

Ahem...and now for public release!

A video to tell our story - our journey to adoption


Feel free to share this as I think this could be a tool used to get the word out that these children need homes and families to love them!

Here are the blogs of the families represent in our journey:

http://carryyourlight.blogspot.com/
http://www.fryefamilyfive.com/
http://theblessingofverity.com/


Prolife means more than just preventing abortion, it means promoting all life, even those who are abandoned or rejected at birth!  Not all are called to adopt, but anyone can support an adoptive family or advocate for these children who are hidden away from the world and left to die.

And don't forget - we have 31 days left to build up our funds to make the most of our matching grant!

Unmerited. Undeserved. Unlimited.

God's Amazing Grace.

Where to start.  The last time I blogged, I had opened a savings account so I'd have a place to hold any money donated as we work to bring in the funds needed for our I800a ($1100) and our dossier (roughly $6000, including postage and document preparation).  Since then it seems that on every turn, the Lord is granting us grace.

Did you know that the term "Grace" is defined as unmerited favor?  I was pondering on that today as I was driving home from gleaners, overwhelmed by God's amazing outpouring of blessings over the past week.  Who am I, Who are we, to be given such amazing grace?  We aren't all the special.  We aren't even that great of parents.  I see so many other parents who are doing what seems to be so much more for their children.  I am so flawed.  I am so inadequate.  I am so not the energizer bunny.  I am so inherently selfish.  I am so easily tempted to take the easy way, to give in to selfish interests, to escaping from the things that matter to do things that are a complete waste of time.  But that is the amazing thing about God.  He doesn't give us what we deserve.  He doesn't give us what we have earned.  He doesn't give us what will get us by.  He gives to us with amazing generosity according to His will for us, regardless of our merit.

I know, some of you will say, "but look at how great your older kids have turned out!"  And yes, our older children are all amazing young adults.  But I can't take credit for that!  I made so many mistakes as a young mother, and as a not-so-young mother.  God has led and directed our lives and stepped in to shown us so many things that have changed who we are as parents over the years, but He has also worked in their lives to work His good will.  I can not take credit for the good that I see in our children.  God gets all the credit.  I know that without His grace, I would have failed miserably as a parent.

But God has taught me so much.  He has taught us so much.  I have come so far.  I praise God for the dynamics of our family today.  We are not perfect, we are all sinners living together under one roof.  We sin against each other, we get impatient with each other.  But we all love each other and are quick to forgive and forget.  And He has drawn us to walk down a road that surprises even us.

So many times since we started down this road I have questioned the wisdom of this.  How can I care for one more, how can I learn to care for a child damaged from living in an institution?  How can I continued to meet the needs of the children I already have and another child with medical and special needs?  How in the world can we afford to adopt when we have never even had a saving account when we seem to have more month than money most of the time?

But God keeps stepping in and showing me that this is NOT about me.  This is not even about US.  This is about HIM.  Look at every man and woman who is in the hall of fame in the Bible and you will see flawed people il-equipped for the job that God gave them.  You will see parents who make mistakes, people who sinned greatly, even people who didn't learn from their mistakes.  But you will see a God who orchestrates HIS will regardless of the worth of the people He chose to use.

I just wanted to share with you that I have doubts, I feel ill-equipped to take this new adventure on, but God continues to show us that this is HIS will.  And so many times, when people follow God's leading, everyone, even those called, feel that it is crazy, reckless and ill-advised.  But God does know what He is doing.  Every time.

So, now to specifics.  I'm going to list my recent doubts, and then how God has answered...

We have not met the standards of BCS to pass our home study, how will we adopt Priscilla now?  God knew what was best.  Being rejected by BCS, although it looked like a dead end, was in reality a ticket for an upgrade!  Our new home study agency,  Adoption Home Study Service, has been a breath of fresh air.  Mike has answered our questions quickly and patiently.  His visit with us last Thursday was comfortable and friendly.  Esther was even sharing a book with the social worker that Mike brought with him once she warmed up to them.  He found nothing that would prevent us from being approved, but did give us a little home work (we need to install 2 more fire extinguishers and create a couple of documents).  He plans to have our home study completed in under 3 weeks from now!  It was definitely an upgrade to switch to Mike's home study agency!

How can we afford this?  God has already caused Daryl's boss to grant him an unexpected bonus, then last week a raise, and now he has the opportunity to work overtime.  He has blessed my business when we needed it to make ends meet.  People have stepped in to donate towards the spaghetti feed to cover the supplies we needed.  We were able to sell some exercise equipment to cover the cost of some documents.  Our tax return covered our commitment fees, as well as our home study fees and also pay off our dental bill from this past winter.  And to top it all off, we now have a family stepping in to match all funds raised in the next 5 weeks!  It is not if WE can afford it, it is really a question of How is He going to provide.

How can I handle another child with special/medical needs?  Looking back, I was not equipped in the slightest when Esther was given to us.  But God knew that, and He gave her to us anyway.  We are being equipped for this every day, every hour.  And He will give us the grace we need when we need it.  He has always come through in the past, and I must trust.  But I must also prepare.  I'm reading about attachment disorders, sensory disorders and we will be working with a team at the University of Washington to prepare for her medical needs. Looking into the future is futile as a  human.  We can't change it or even know what is coming.  We can prepare for probably situations.  But I know from experience that God does put us in situations where we can only go on by His grace.  And I know from experience, that it is not that bad a place to be in...it is an amazing place to be in.

Another year without a swing set for our younger children (we had planned to use our tax return to purchase a new play set for the kids as swinging is great for kids, especially for Esther right now).  Last week a family we know locally asked if we wanted their "old" swing set.  Now we have a 4 year old swing set just the right size for Esther (as well as Dayton, Elizabeth and Carese soon).  And just in time for the wonderful sunny weather we are having around here! (photos courtesy of our daughter, Rachel).

What if the spaghetti feed is a bust....we can't afford to purchase the supplies even!  Well, I still have no idea if we'll have a decent attendance  but in the last couple of weeks we've had lots of encouragement in the way of donations - gift cards for businesses, commitments to cover all the noodles, half the sauce, and all of the corn.  Plus two families have donated $100 ea for us to use to purchase the remaining ingredients.  I'm still not sure if it will cover everything, but I'm sure we are close!

You know, adopting Priscilla is such an amazing picture of God's grace.  She doesn't know about us,  she doesn't understand that God is working to ransom her.  She has no idea.  She has done absolutely nothing to earn our love.  She has nothing to offer us.  She is seen by the world as flawed.  She is seen by her culture as unworthy of keeping, even seen as a curse by some.  But God sees her a His child.  His creation.  Worth of everything it takes to ransom her.  To save her life.  To give her love.  To give her a place to call home.  He's done this for me.  I did not deserve His love, I did not deserve anything, but He loved me enough to die for me and adopt me as His child.  To pay the ultimate price. I hope you have experienced His amazing grace in your life.  I pray that someday Priscilla will experience and know God's amazing grace and that she too will become His child.

So, here we are.  Experiencing God's amazing grace.  Unmerited.  Undeserved. Unlimited.

We will work hard to be faithful to His call, His provision, His mercy.

Will you work with us?  Will you help us to make the most of this gift of a matching grant?  Please share our story. No, wait.  It isn't our story, it's His Story!  Please share what God is doing to ransom our Priscilla.  Share how He is moving mountains to give this little one a new life, a new home, and a new family.

And just to be clear.  The matching grant offered to us is not limited to funds sent to Reece's Rainbow or to monetary gifts.  They have offered to match dollar for dollar all funds raised whether it is via Reece's Rainbow, our FundraiZr account, directly to our paypal account, donated to us in person or even if it is an item donated for auctions or raffles.  Amazing, just Amazing!

37 days to see miracles happen!

Savings Account Opened!

I needed to start keeping our personal money separate from the adoption money, so today I opened a savings account!  Now I have somewhere to transfer my paypal money to, and a place to set aside money for future adoption expenses!  One more step!

Thursday is our first visit with Mike, our new homestudy agent.  I am looking forward to it and have a couple projects to tackle tomorrow for my peace of mind.  I'm looking forward to meeting him, as he was so nice on the phone and so helpful answering all my questions via email promptly and patiently!

And we have now had 2 commitments of people donating money for purchasing supplies for the Spaghetti Feed/Date Night we are having in April!  We also have commitments for all the noodles and half the spaghetti sauce we need!  We are still looking for items for the silent auction, so if you know of a business that would like to donate a gift card/gift certificate/service, please tell them about the event and/or contact me for more info!

Just In - Background Checks!

I just got the digital copies of our FBI Background Checks and the DSHS Child Abuse Registry Checks!  These are some of the most common things that can slow down completing a home study!

If course, we were all "clean"!

Yeah!  One more hurdle over this week!

To celebrate - here's another photo of our sweet Priscilla that I have not shared yet!  She is in a chair that converts to a standing assistant type of thing.  I think she likes this toy!

A Roller Coaster Ride Kind of Week!

I know, no updates in a week...Guilty as charged.

BUT

I have an exceptionally good reason.

Last Monday night at 9 pm I got an email in my inbox and rocked my world.  Our social worker sent me an EMAIL telling me that she had talked to her supervisor and they were recommending that we withdraw from our home study and they did not think that they would be able to approve us.  The reasons listed were vague and not clearly defined and most of them were things that could be worked out.  Several of them were things that they were well aware of right from the start (several young children in the home, size of our home etc...). It felt like a smoke screen.  I still have not had a reply to me email back to her asking for her to elaborate so that we could be aware of what was "wrong" if we pursued adoption the future.

ANYWAY

I cried, and cried, and cried...  Daryl was already in bed and had gone to bed very tired, so I didn't dare wake him as he had to work the next day.  Then I went to my Reece's Rainbow Facebook group (a secure, closed group for people actively involved with RR, and lots of other adoptive families are there).  There I found out much about why the agency we had been using is not recommended.  I found out that they do not like to approve families who have several younger children in the home (I'm sorry, but 1, 41/2 and 7 is NOT a problem...I have it the easiest that I have had it in over 20 years right now!).  They also do not approve of families who do not actively avoid pregnancy while in the adoption process...as if that is any of their business!  But here's the clincher.  They will  not approve a family for adoption unless the sign a form committing to NEVER us corporal discipline for their adoptive child.  SAY WHAT?  They admit in this form that corporal discipline is Biblical and legal, but since many children who are adopted come from situations of abuse, they will not allow any of "their children" experience corporal discipline.  Again, SAY WHAT?  Corporal discipline is legal in our state and most states.  We explained to them that physical punishment is our last resort, and how we discipline each of our children is different according to their needs/personalities etc.  We incorporate rebuke, with holding of privileges (like ice cream or going to a birthday party), or what some might call a "time out", which for us means sitting next to me until they are calm enough to listen to what I have to say or take care of whatever conflict they are involved in.  During our interview our children were almost all present and it was obvious that they are all happy, well adjusted, healthy children.  Our older children all turned in references that showed that we were good parents.  But policy is policy.

Let me back up a little.  When we shared with people what we were adopting, often they would ask which agencies we were using.  When I shared which agency we were using, almost everyone was surprised and many shared concerns about this choice.  I had chosen them on a couple of recommendations, but I guess I had talked to the few that had good experiences with them.  As time went by, I began to have second thoughts about our choice, but everything had been going smoothly so far, so I was thinking that maybe we were going to be one of those who had a good experience with them. Boy was I wrong.  My concerns escalated as we moved into the home study portion as our social worker was hard to get in touch with.  And when Carese got sick the day before the first visit, I left a message for her the night before the appointment, but didn't hear back from her until the day after the appointment.  That means that that entire day of the scheduled appointment I had no idea if she had received my message, and so I had to continue to prepare our home for the visit while dealing with a very sick little girl.  All the stress could have been alleviated if she had just taken a moment to call and say she wasn't coming!  I felt that was inconsiderate, and she didn't even apologize when she called the night before.  Obviously she is not a very considerate person, since she also chose to send me that devastating email right before bedtime.

Back to my time that evening talking with other adoptive moms on the RR facebook page.  They were so encouraging.  They were convinced that it was a Bethany policy problem and not a problem with our family. Several of the moms even sent me private emails sharing with me their difficulties with this particular agency.  All of them now had  children in their home adopted internationally.  All of them had been told by this particular agency that they would not be approved for one reason or another.  Several of them recommended the same agency for our area, even our adoption agency!

So the next afternoon I left a message for Mike, which he return not long afterward.  After just 30 minutes on the phone with him, I felt like we had been given a second chance.  I read the email I got from the social worker and we talked through each of the vague concerns that he had, and I told him the truth about everything.  He said that he did not see any reason why he could not approve us, and that our problems were related to this particular agency's policies.  He sent over all the paperwork within the hour and I got right to work.

That was Tuesday night.  Thursday morning I had sent him every document via email, with the only exception being our medical reports.  I have two of the children's medical in hand, but Daryl and I had to have a blood test done that had not been done originally.  If all goes well, I'll have the rest of the medical paperwork in hand by Monday!  Our first of two home visits with Mike will be on Thursday!

No for the good news.  So often a blessing comes wrapped up looking like a trial.  That email seemed to shatter my world.  At first it looked like a dead end, but soon it looked like a detour/delay at least.  But not that we are into this switch a few days it looks more like an upgrade!

First of all, Mike charges less than 1/2 of what we were expecting to pay the first agency.  Secondly, we were expecting our home study to wrap up in about a month (I had just asked the social worker about this), but Mike completes home studies beginning to end in 4 - 6 weeks.  Since we have much of our leg work done (our background checks are due to come back any day), he believes we can be wrapped up in under 30 days!

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

Much of the paperwork had to be redone for the new agency, but since we had done this before, it went really fast.  One of the documents that needed to be done again was the employment verification. when he got the document back, he found out that he had gotten a raise!

Talk about a wild week!

Oh - and I forgot to mention that we applied for our passports a week ago.  We should have them in hand in about 4 weeks.

So we are back on track, about the same expected completion date for our home study.

Hope you enjoyed the ride..I'm still not sure I enjoyed it, but so glad to be at the other end of it now!

Here's another photo of Priscilla that I have not shared until this week.  Most of her photos are not complimentary and she looks either bored or sad..but I think it's time to share those so you can see why we so desperately want to get her into our home!

And here is that song, in a video highlighting children with Down Syndrome who are languishing in orphanages around the word:

I was hoping...

Large Snap-EZ Giraffe Fur Pocket Diaper
Is Now Up For Auction!

4 copies of "Rescue"
The Movie were
donated!

...that I'd be blogging about our first home study visit/inspection by now, but that was not meant to be.  First Carese got really sick, and then the social worker was sick this past Monday.  So now we are scheduled for tomorrow night.  I have to admit that it has given us more time to do some of the smaller projects that will lower my stress level (like a thorough cleaning of my business room).

A Geir Gift Set was also donated!

A handmade Notebook
was donated too!

I have been very, very busy!  Our Facebook auctions went really well for  February, bringing in over $100 for our adoption expenses!  I am shipping those out today!  Also donations have been coming in - both items for our auctions and monetary donations to our FSP on Reece's Rainbow, and through the FundRazr button, as well as in person donations!  What an encouragement!  I even have my first sponsor for Sugar Free for Priscy!  I'm now earning $1 for every inch I lose!


We attempted to apply for our passports yesterday, but silly me I remembered their closing time wrong.  We will attempt it again today!  I mailed off our first set of documents via FedEx to Priscilla's country.  They left Blaine yesterday, were in Seattle last night, and today they were at Memphis TN!  We are tracking the package on our world map with pins/yarn!

Brambleberry Soap - I purchased this
and it's now up for auction!

My friend owns Will Tree and she donated
a gift set too!

I almost feel like I am nesting around here.  You know, when your baby is due and you feel the need to get everything in order in your home, knowing that you will be "out of commission," as far as house cleaning goes, for a while.  But this is two fold - to prepare for our home safety inspections, and to simplify our home and belongings to ease the time when I will be traveling and the first few months that Priscilla is in our home as there will be some major adjustments happening and I will be pre-occupied for a while, much like having a newborn, only very different!

Elizabeth homeschooling her baby dolls!

Before

One of the projects was purging and re-organizing our school/play room.  I have been purging this room for a couple of years now - every time I'm  more drastic.  I'm very pleased with the results.  The kids coats/shoes are now so more accessible and it's so easy for them to put their stuff away!  Esther especially loves this new set up!  Fewer toys also means easier clean up and everyone likes that!

After

Here's what the home study finalization is going to look like - 4 home visits including the safety inspection, interviewing me, interviewing the kids, and interviewing Daryl.  Then she creates her report (she said it will take about a week). Then the person in charge will make the final determination (about 1 - 2 weeks).  So we are looking at having at least a verbal determination (approved or not approved) around the first week of April.  We will have the official documents within a week of the determination.  Then we move on the earnestly preparing our dossier!  I hope to update the adoption timeline page so that it shows now only what we have done but also what remains to be done and what expenses we foresee.

Yum, Yum!

frozen, straight out of the freezer

Fresh out of the package
frosting comes in nice little package

When we got our starter pack for the Butter Braids fundraiser, it came with three loaves of bread!  We have tried two of them - Strawberry/Cream Cheese (in the photos), and Cinnamon.  They are delicious!

Here's the photos of the process!

partially risen, about 5 hours after opening

Adoption Progress Update.  We were supposed to have our first home visit on Monday, but Carese spiked a high fever on Sunday so we had to reschedule.  Now we are scheduled for next Monday.  Carese is very sick (double ear infection, pneumococcal bacterial infection, and we have to watch for signs of meningitis), so prayers are much appreciated for my tiny princess!  She's running high fevers, but will still drink, so that is good.

We are ready to apply for our passports, and that will happen when  Esther's new glasses are ready for pick up as we need to go to town to apply.

Just before putting in the oven - it really grew that last hour!

Our four home visits may only take 2 weeks to complete, then another week for the social worker to complete her report.  Our FBI background checks should come back around the middle of March, and then we'll be done with our home study, Lord Willing!  Then it will be on to serious Dossier preparation.

Out of the over, cooled for about 20 minutes
drizzled the frosting over top

Things around the house are really taking shape.  The kids are really pitching in and doing lots of little projects around the house that would fall under the category of "spring cleaning" which we were unable to do last spring due to the arrival of Carese in March!

We have received donations from several people this week (check out my FundRazr progress in the sidebar!) and my Facebook auctions are going really well. I also have my first sponsor on my "Sugar Free for Priscy."

YUM!!!

By the way, I used the name "Priscy" there as we heard her called that in a video we have of her!

We are working on a Spaghetti Feed + Silent Auction locally for April and things are starting to come together.  I have several donations from local companies already, and I'm close to getting some more!

Our next big cost will be our I800a application.  This is the application to get approved as a family to immigrate a child via adoption.  This costs over $700 for the application, but there's also the cost of shipping and preparation of the forms that are sent with it (apostilles).  The I800 is completed after the first trip, before the second trip and is specifically getting permission to immigrate the particular child you are adoption.

So far, I have $200 towards that cost as of today.  All of that $200 I did not have as of last Saturday so I am much encouraged that my Lord is providing for our needs before they are needed!

 Our February Auctions end tomorrow night, and all proceeds from that will be added to that $200.  We have had several items donated for our March Auctions, and we've been working hard to make new items too!  Our March Auctions will be only 2 weeks long to make it possible to have items shipped in time for Easter/Resurrection Sunday/Spring Break!