But Then There's Jesus

But Then There's Jesus: A must read excerpt from Russell Moore's new book called "Adopted for Life".

I have not gotten my hands on a copy of the book yet since I am currently reading 3 other books at the moment.....but it is on my list to read next! Have heard nothing but wonderful things about it so far!

Read what others are saying here.

You can learn more about Dr. Russell Moore at his website and blog here.

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution




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Might He Want More Praise?

I have been lagging behind on the blog and not giving the LORD His due Praise! You'll want to check out our second financial goal tracker! God is providing!

We will have a couple more goals to meet once this 2nd goal is met. So, we are about half way there in our financial goals overall. This is wonderful news!

Please use the comment button to give God some glory!!

Progress!

Hey everyone!

Just a little update here. I had my second Home Study Interview today! It went so great. I really love our social worker. She is fantastic. Very helpful and thorough and is really easy to talk with . She has made this home study thing a really easy thing for us. I am so thankful for that. Jeff gets to meet with her next week and then she'll come into our home shortly after and do the final interview with us and the boys.

On another note, things seem to be coming together very quickly! All of our documents continue to come in ahead of schedule. I received my passport today! Yea! Jeff's should be here in a day or so. Also, we hope to have a rough draft of the home study in a week or so and will then send it on to our International agency for review. All of our Dossier documents are coming together and we hope to have everything on its way to India in a month or so. I can't not tell you how exciting I am!

I know the really hard part is just ahead of us...the waiting for our baby referral. But, just knowing that we are really making good progress is encouraging for me right now. I can not tell you how the LORD has had His hand of protection over our family in preparation for this adoption. Protected upbringings, protected marriage...even the number and gender of our children are all working together exactly for the India Adoption requirements. Thrilling.

That is about for now.
Thanks for sharing the journey with us and thank you so much for your continued prayer support. We are so grateful.

Living Upside Down Through Adoption

a must read post on how adoption has turned this family’s life upside down and how the Gospel calls all of us to live upside down in some way.

Click for Article here

Some India Stuff

Hey all!

Wanted to share my heart for a minute. I have been so broken for a week. For starters, I have been following a group of Bloggers on a trip to India with Compassion International. The LORD broke my heart over India several years ago and I have been praying for that country and the people from that time on. But this past week while following the bloggers journeys, was a fresh reminder of the reality of the extreme poverty in this country and the desperate need there. As if their piercing stories weren't enough, I heard some more news Monday that broke my heart yet again. I want to share it with you, but want to give some India Adoption facts first so you'll see where I am coming from.

While researching adoption in India before we got started I learned the following things:

It is difficult to adopt from India due to popular opposition to the adoption of Indian children by foreigners.

Once a child has been abandoned, the orphanage they are placed in will make many efforts to find the birth family. They must attempt to find an adoptive family in India 3 different times. If that search fails, the baby will become available for International adoption.

However, non-resident Indian applicants are being given preference in intercountry placements.

If the baby is not placed in a non resident Indian home, then they will be illegible for adoption by Non-Indian families.

Because of this process, babies usually don't come home until they are 10 months or older. In most cases they are older because the length of adoption and process is more complicated for applicants who are Non- Indian.

India leans towards adoptive couples with infertility issues.

Can not have more than 2 children already in the home. ( in some cases they will allow 3)

Parents with two children of the same gender are expected to adopt a child of the opposite gender.

See how it can be seem difficult to bring home all these babies?

Check out these recent Adoption numbers from India:

• 2008: 307
• 2007: 411
• 2006: 319

Seem fairly reasonable?
Then check out China adoption numbers:

2008: 3911
2007: 5453
2006: 6493

We are talking 25 Million orphans in India here!

Maybe I should say that again. 2 5 M I L L I ON babies that need homes! How hard should it be?

The news is that the India government agency that oversees adoptions, CARA (Central Adoption Resources Agency) has proposed new (positive) guidelines for Indian adoption. We have known about this for awhile now, because a lot of the Adoption Agencies have put their India program on hold until these guidelines come through.

But the new guidelines have been delayed since 2007. We have been praying that they would move forward this year in order to get more babies adopted and home quicker!

But, today they are still delayed. Which brings me back to my heart ache mentioned above. I inquired again Monday as to why the continued delays. One of the answers I received was that the religious groups (Hindu) view orphans suffering a positive thing because it will help them in their "next" life.

WHAT?

Gut wrenching!

25 Million Orphans suffering with little care and food and this is a good thing?

It has caused me to hit my face and begin fervently praying over these precious little ones even more!

So, this is what we are up against. We have been watching a few families bringing home their babies from India. So it's still moving....but its not an easy thing.

Please continue to pray! Not just for us bringing home our baby.....but for the 25 Million babies that need a mom and a dad, a place to call home and love, love, love!

Some random new happenings

Hey everyone!

If you have been checking in with us, you will have noticed that we just about met our first goal of $5,000. Wahoo! Isn't that exciting?! Thanks to all of you very much that donated money and have been faithfully praying. God has been so gracious through all of you and we are truly appreciative!

Here are some new updates since the last post.
We got our medicals done, passports sent off and signed our life away on our International contract and payed the first program fee. It has really been a whirlwind of emotions for me lately as I wrap all the paper work side up and begin to just wait on the LORD to work it all out.

Currently we still have a couple more home study interviews to go, wait for everything we sent off for to come back and then when all that is finalized in the next couple of months, we'll send it all off to India and wait for our baby referral.

Which brings me to my next comment.... At the time we send off the paper work to India, there will be a whole new set of fees. So, I have removed the donation tracker from the first goal and placed a new donation tracker up for our second goal. I have posted a deadline of June 15th, but this could change either way.....we could need it sooner or later, depending on how fast the LORD pushes all the approval through. I'll keep you posted.

For now, we wait to see how God moves to provide the next financial goal.

as a quick side note, several of you suggested that I set up a way for people to make online donations. I have provided that opportunity on the right hand side of the blog. You can click the donate button and use your credit card right from the blog. This is a handy and convenient tool for those of you that are looking for "quick and easy".

This is it for now.
Many blessings to you all,

Some Updates

Thought that I would update everyone!

These are things that have happened since my last post.

1. We are officially approved by International Agency!
2. Set up Bella Account!
3. Got passport pictures!
4. Got our first set of fingerprints
5. Ordered certified birth and marriage certificates
6. Had our first Home Study Interview!

The interview went great! I love our social worker and hope it will be a great process as we move forward in our interviews.

Ok, off to work on my autobiography!

Sea of Fees

Hey everyone!

Well, we’ve come to one of the hardest parts of this Adoption Journey…. “The financial aspect”. Now that the adoption is taking off, we have jumped into a sea of fees. Currently, some of the fees we are facing are mandatory parenting classes for International children, certified birth/marriage certificates, criminal history checks/fingerprints, visa Passports, immigration filing and International Agency service fees. In order to complete the requirements above as well as, the home study, foreign document preparations, etc…we must submit payment ASAP. Once the requirements have been met and courses/paperwork completed (which is roughly around 3-4 months) we begin the wait for our baby referral.

Some of you have asked how you can help in the adoption process. If you feel as if the Lord has led you in the direction of helping financially, that opportunity is certainly available at this time. Currently, outside of prayer, this is the most pressing need. Jeff and I are going to open up a checking account tomorrow for adoption donations. All donations will go into that account and will be used for adoption fees only. So, if you would like to donate, we would be glad to accept your donation! I would like to note that once the Home study has been completed and is approved, we will then be eligible to apply for grants!

To help you see our needs and to help you pray through any amount the Lord might be leading you to donate, I have posted a donation tracker on the blog, which will list “current fees to-be-paid” as well as, how much has been donated to-date. The tracker will also serve as a visual for you, in knowing how to pray for us! I would encourage you to check the blog for updates and or subscribe (if you haven’t already) so that you can join us in this journey and witness how the Lord is meeting our financial needs and goals. Please know that we are not just looking for “big” donations. Every dollar counts for something in this process so whatever the Lord lays on your heart is greatly appreciated!

In addition to the tracker, I have also created a tool for you to use to help us with spreading the news of our adoption and financial needs. There is a button on the right side of this blog, which can be added to any blog and or web page. Simply copy the HTML code and paste it on your blog site and or web page. This button will link anyone who clicks it directly to our site and will allow them to get involved.

BTW….if I haven’t told you yet and you haven’t already seen the button; you’ll notice that Jeff and I have picked a first name! (We decided we needed another “B” name in the family since I am overrun by “J’s”!)

Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers for us in this journey. It means so much to us. We can’t wait to see how God brings it all together!!

Blessings,

Decisions

Great news!

We have finally decided on a International Agency! We made the decision yesterday. The funny thing is....is that the agency we have decided to go with was not even in our list of agencies to consider. The LORD surfaced this one unexpectedly. I love a good surprise!

We have turned in our application and will wait for our approval to come which should be by next week. Informally we are already approved, but we must wait for the formal approval before moving forward in their program.

Now for the greater news.....We are first in line for the India program! No waiting list! I am so, so excited about this. It is such a blessing!

On the local front....we've started our home study process and our very first meeting/interview out of the 3 we are supposed to have is next Wednesday!

So, things seem to be in full motion. Praise God! I am elated at this progress.

I know we've still got such a long journey, but it feels real now!
Thank you for your prayers!

Be the Answer!

Came across this adoption video today and had to share it!

Answer to prayer!

The LORD has answered prayer today!

We received a phone call today from a close family member who told us they wanted to help with our adoption. We have been waiting on a certain amount of money that was needed to get our home study rolling and this person had offered the exact amount needed. Isn't that awesome!? I am so excited to see the beginnings of God's provision in this adoption. This is just a start. So, so much more to go!

Just wanted to share this with all of you!