I LIED.. My last post was not my last one for the year (that's the lie)!! :-) I have never been so happy to have to go back on something I said! We are ecstatic to to announce that we have been given a new referral of a little boy!! He is 4 years old, and is in the Ashanti region. We have an AMAZING POA in Ghana! I get to talk to him everyday, and he holds our adoption close to his heart, we are very blessed! So WHAT HAPPENS NOW?????
As you know we are doing this independent now. So the next thing we must do and ASAP is file our I-600a. That is where we will go to Louisville and do our biometric finger prints. That is the light at the end of the tunnel. From what i understand this is will take about 30 days to get the prints back. Once we get it back we compile everything into our dossier and send it to Ghana. We only need I-600a, Tony's and Bri's birth certificate for the dossier. I have already gathered all the other documents needed. Once we send him our dossier he will set a court date and appear in court for us. Then we will get an apt to come file our I-600.This will be our first trip and when we get to meet our sweet little boy :'-) Then hopefully about 6 weeks later we will get to travel back and bring him home with us :-) OH HAPPY DAY!! This is an extremely rough timeline and I know to expect bumps in the along the way, but we are very prayerful that this will happen soon and smoothly
The only thing that is preventing us from traveling to Ghana the first week of Febuary is money. Once we get the funds needed we will be traveling. It is going to move very fast. Since we are doing our adoption independent we can not apply for grants. (If you know of any that fund independent PLEASE LET ME KNOW!) So I will be thinking of way to earn money. Don't forget if you want to help bring our little man home we would love donations. SO how much is it going to cost now? It will cost us 7,500..... THAT'S IT!!! Of course that does not include travel. So including travel about 12,000. The impression I got from our POA is we will be traveling as soon as we get our prints back. Other ways you can help is by donating airline miles to us. So keep that in mind, airfare will be the majority of our travel cost. If you can donate airline miles that will be a huge, GIGANTIC BLESSING!!
Our God is an amazing awesome God!! I have no doubts or worries about funding this adoption. It may not happen as fast as I want but I know it will happen. Please pray for me to have patients and not get discouraged.We plan to use our tax money for the majority. Hopefully we will only have to fundraisers and earn about 6,000. I am very optimistic and I know it can be done. We have an awesome support system that can't wait to bring this little guy home.
PSALM 28:7 THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND MY SHIELD; IN HIM MY HEART TRUSTS, AND I AM HELPED; MY HEART EXULTS, AND WITH MY SONG I GIVE THANKS TO HIM
QUICK NOTE:
I have been asked: Are you going to tell Bri? Are you going to get attached before he gets here? I have been told DO NOT do either of the above, that we are setting our self up for heart break, b/c we COULD loose him too. MY RESPONSE: If you were my friend I would tell you the same thing! However it is IMPOSSIBLE! Attachment happens whether you want it to or not! Our family is growing and Bri knows. We are not getting her as involved yet. We are being more reserved with what we tell her, but she knows and has saw his picture. When you find out your pregnant you immediately start loving that child, and want to tell everyone as soon as soon as you find out. You wouldn't keep it to yourself b/c you might have a miscarriage....see what I am saying? God has a plan, who are we not to trust him? We are putting our hearts on the line, I feel like if we don't go all in we will miss out. Its not possible to work so hard and go across the world without falling in love. I wouldn't do these things for just any boy but I will move mountains to make this little boy our son and bring him home as soon as I possibly can! BE PREPARED I have my drive and passion back and I will do whatever it takes to get the money to bring my sweet little boy home! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND PRAYERS
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Let go and Let God
Well, as this year is coming fast to an end I thought I would give you guys one last update, although, not much has happened. As I said in the last blog we have decided to do our adoption independent now. That means I find a POA in Ghana that helps us find our son. I do all the paperwork, and lots of fundraising as I do not know of anyone who gives adoption grants to families doing independent. I have been talking to a few POA's one gave us a referral but didn't end up working out. So we are still waiting to find that special little boy to join our family. So if you are reading this and you know a POA or of a little boy 6 years old or younger in Ghana let us know. Our homestudy is complete and we plan to be able to file our I-600A soon that was when we find our little guy we will be ready for the next step :-)
We have said from the beginning God has had his hand on every step of this process, I still believe that this is true. Not long after we found our Noah he lead us to a family in Alabama who knew our Noah. They gave us pictures, told us stories, shared their memories, gave us comfort in knowing that he was being taken care of at his orphanage, and went all in with our adoption process and barely new us. If you have adopted you know how much these things mean and how they are truly a gift from the hands of God. I have no doubt this is why it was so easy for us to accept him as ours from the beginning and so tough for us to let go at the end! After we lost Noah's referral someone who they know, that helps Noah's orphanage out ALOT went to Ghana to check and see how things were going with all the projects they are doing over there. Of course while he was there he ask about Noah. He was able to find some things out for us. After discovering it was his aunt an uncle who him, he was able to find out where he is now living...HE WAS ABLE TO GO TO NOAHS HOME! The first time he went he was not home he had fallen at school and was at the Dr. (PRAISE GOD HE IS IN SCHOOL AND HIS FAMILY WAS ABLE TO TAKE HIM TO THE DR). when he went back a few days later he said that Noah was happy, clean, and was being taken care of. PRAISE GOD!! Another gift straight from the hands of God! I know of many families who have their referral and they are just left hanging with no answers. We are blessed beyond imagination to be able to find this out! When I read that I cried and cried and cried some more! This time it was a different cry, more like a happy cry, a cry of relief. It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. What a blessing....Thank you to the family and the man who found this information out and shared it with us. You will never EVER understand the peace you have brought to me. I can sleep at night now, I no longer have the urge to need more information, we are ready to move on <3
Bri still talks about Noah all the time, then she remembers hes not coming to be with us so we thank Jesus Noah found his family and pray for the little boy he is going to add to ours. If anything our process has to taught us to let go and let God do the work; he never fails us...EVER! I can't lie its difficult explaining to Bri why her mommy can't get a baby in her belly and why Jesus hasn't found her a brother yet either. My only explanation to her keep praying baby: just like you choose the perfect flowers to pick or the best vegetables out of our garden in summer Jesus
is waiting to choose the very best brother you! Now that I have complete peace with Noah, it will be easier to let go of my worldly troubles and let God continue with his perfect plan with our family!
We have said from the beginning God has had his hand on every step of this process, I still believe that this is true. Not long after we found our Noah he lead us to a family in Alabama who knew our Noah. They gave us pictures, told us stories, shared their memories, gave us comfort in knowing that he was being taken care of at his orphanage, and went all in with our adoption process and barely new us. If you have adopted you know how much these things mean and how they are truly a gift from the hands of God. I have no doubt this is why it was so easy for us to accept him as ours from the beginning and so tough for us to let go at the end! After we lost Noah's referral someone who they know, that helps Noah's orphanage out ALOT went to Ghana to check and see how things were going with all the projects they are doing over there. Of course while he was there he ask about Noah. He was able to find some things out for us. After discovering it was his aunt an uncle who him, he was able to find out where he is now living...HE WAS ABLE TO GO TO NOAHS HOME! The first time he went he was not home he had fallen at school and was at the Dr. (PRAISE GOD HE IS IN SCHOOL AND HIS FAMILY WAS ABLE TO TAKE HIM TO THE DR). when he went back a few days later he said that Noah was happy, clean, and was being taken care of. PRAISE GOD!! Another gift straight from the hands of God! I know of many families who have their referral and they are just left hanging with no answers. We are blessed beyond imagination to be able to find this out! When I read that I cried and cried and cried some more! This time it was a different cry, more like a happy cry, a cry of relief. It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. What a blessing....Thank you to the family and the man who found this information out and shared it with us. You will never EVER understand the peace you have brought to me. I can sleep at night now, I no longer have the urge to need more information, we are ready to move on <3
Bri still talks about Noah all the time, then she remembers hes not coming to be with us so we thank Jesus Noah found his family and pray for the little boy he is going to add to ours. If anything our process has to taught us to let go and let God do the work; he never fails us...EVER! I can't lie its difficult explaining to Bri why her mommy can't get a baby in her belly and why Jesus hasn't found her a brother yet either. My only explanation to her keep praying baby: just like you choose the perfect flowers to pick or the best vegetables out of our garden in summer Jesus
is waiting to choose the very best brother you! Now that I have complete peace with Noah, it will be easier to let go of my worldly troubles and let God continue with his perfect plan with our family!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
NOW WHAT?!?!?
Hello everyone!! It has been a while since my last post, but we haven't had to much to say. A few things have happen that are exciting but I have been a little bummed still. Of Course you all know that we lost our sweet Noah (we called him Chase on blog). Since then, our homestudy has been 100% completed. It now lays on my computer desk, waiting on someplace to go. I feel like I rushed, rushed, rushed, to now just wait. It being complete is a very big accomplishment that I am proud of.
I guess I should reassure everyone we are still going to adopt, and still from Ghana (unless our great god says otherwise). While our agency director was in Ghana at Noah's orphanage a few weeks ago, we were introduced to Independent adoption. Which is normally not common in international adoption but Ghana allows it. I have been holding out hope that while our agency director was there they would find that Noah was still there. I received an email from our agency confirming that Noah was not there and they were unable to get any additional details. With that information we told them that we have decided to pursue independent adoption. She however reassured me, if something happens that Noah goes back to the orphanage she will let us know.
WHAT'S THAT MEAN.......
Now we have chosen to do independent adoption. What does that mean? Independent adoption has a great deal of pros and cons. I am not going into all of them, but basically it means we find a POA that finds us a child (boy) that is available for adoption. We will work with him directly to file all our paperwork on the Ghana side and here on the US side the responsibility is 100% mine if something is done incorrectly it will be my fault (a lot of pressure). We have been blessed with a lady who has started a group called Hearts4 Ghana. She has a POA that she has put us in contact with that and she is here to help walk me through every step of the way. With her I am very confident I can do this. The fact that doing it independent will be close to $15,000 less in cost is a great motivator. The con to that is i am unaware of any grants that provide to independent adoptions. So that means i will also be fundraising like crazy. I will post a new cost sheet on a different blog. I still believe with all my heart that all of this is in Gods timing and is in his control. I know he funds what he favors.
SO NOW WHAT.....
Now what? Now we wait for a boy. Our homestudy states it has to be a boy 6 years of age or younger. With it being our first adoption we do not want to adopt older than our bio daughter. In the mean time while we are waiting we need to file our I-600a this is the last big step, this says we are approved for international adoption. This is the light at the end of tunnel, after this its safe to say you will will bring home a child. So we need to do this asap. Once this is done WHEN we are matched with a child our process should move extremely fast. So my goal is to earn the money to file the I-600a in the month of November COST $900. I don't know how, or what kind of fundraiser we will do yet but of course I will let everyone know. Also we need to finish gathering documents for our dossier. I only have a few other things I need for that since I have been gathering all of our "originals" from the beginning.
HOW CAN YOU HELP....
Pray!! Pray that God will guide us to the little boy, he wants to join our family. Pray that we will find the funds to file our I-600a, and I also ask that you will pray for me that I will be able to fill out the paperwork correctly so that our process moves smoothly and quickly as possible. If you want to donate to help us file our I-600a you can mail a check to:
Irwin
4705 Springlane Dr
Owensboro, Ky 42303
THANK YOU, some of you have prayed, praised, cried and questioned this process with us from the start. Adoption isn't easy or for everyone, you must have trust in God without fail. Adoption is emotional and a lot of hard work; I'm sure the pay off will be the most rewarding thing I will ever do in my life.
ROMANS 8:28
AND WE KNOW THAT FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, FOR THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
I guess I should reassure everyone we are still going to adopt, and still from Ghana (unless our great god says otherwise). While our agency director was in Ghana at Noah's orphanage a few weeks ago, we were introduced to Independent adoption. Which is normally not common in international adoption but Ghana allows it. I have been holding out hope that while our agency director was there they would find that Noah was still there. I received an email from our agency confirming that Noah was not there and they were unable to get any additional details. With that information we told them that we have decided to pursue independent adoption. She however reassured me, if something happens that Noah goes back to the orphanage she will let us know.
WHAT'S THAT MEAN.......
Now we have chosen to do independent adoption. What does that mean? Independent adoption has a great deal of pros and cons. I am not going into all of them, but basically it means we find a POA that finds us a child (boy) that is available for adoption. We will work with him directly to file all our paperwork on the Ghana side and here on the US side the responsibility is 100% mine if something is done incorrectly it will be my fault (a lot of pressure). We have been blessed with a lady who has started a group called Hearts4 Ghana. She has a POA that she has put us in contact with that and she is here to help walk me through every step of the way. With her I am very confident I can do this. The fact that doing it independent will be close to $15,000 less in cost is a great motivator. The con to that is i am unaware of any grants that provide to independent adoptions. So that means i will also be fundraising like crazy. I will post a new cost sheet on a different blog. I still believe with all my heart that all of this is in Gods timing and is in his control. I know he funds what he favors.
SO NOW WHAT.....
Now what? Now we wait for a boy. Our homestudy states it has to be a boy 6 years of age or younger. With it being our first adoption we do not want to adopt older than our bio daughter. In the mean time while we are waiting we need to file our I-600a this is the last big step, this says we are approved for international adoption. This is the light at the end of tunnel, after this its safe to say you will will bring home a child. So we need to do this asap. Once this is done WHEN we are matched with a child our process should move extremely fast. So my goal is to earn the money to file the I-600a in the month of November COST $900. I don't know how, or what kind of fundraiser we will do yet but of course I will let everyone know. Also we need to finish gathering documents for our dossier. I only have a few other things I need for that since I have been gathering all of our "originals" from the beginning.
HOW CAN YOU HELP....
Pray!! Pray that God will guide us to the little boy, he wants to join our family. Pray that we will find the funds to file our I-600a, and I also ask that you will pray for me that I will be able to fill out the paperwork correctly so that our process moves smoothly and quickly as possible. If you want to donate to help us file our I-600a you can mail a check to:
Irwin
4705 Springlane Dr
Owensboro, Ky 42303
THANK YOU, some of you have prayed, praised, cried and questioned this process with us from the start. Adoption isn't easy or for everyone, you must have trust in God without fail. Adoption is emotional and a lot of hard work; I'm sure the pay off will be the most rewarding thing I will ever do in my life.
ROMANS 8:28
AND WE KNOW THAT FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, FOR THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Everything happens for a Reason
Where to begin? Typically when I sit down to write these blogs I have something exciting to share, kinda feels weird not having any "news" to write about. Friday we had appointments to go get our shots for over sea travel, because of the event that unfolded we decided to wait on them. We went to Alabama anyway and enjoyed a nice quiet weekend with the family. I must say it was a very nice weekend, the entire time down there I couldn't help but think about all our new friends we met b/c of Noah. I pray we can still keep contact with them.
After our initial shock and heartbreak baby girl has been the hardest to explain things to. Surprisingly she took it very well. Wednesday night during bedtime prayers I didn't pray for Noah. She said "mommy you forgot somebody!" I said "Noah? Mommy has something to tell you about Noah. Every night we pray Jesus will let Noah know he has a mommy, daddy and sister that loves him very much, right? Well, something cool happened!" Her face lite up and she said what?!?! I explained to her that Jesus found Noah's mommy and daddy. The lady that carried him in her belly. That they took him home so that they could have their little boy. That our prayer helped Noah find his mommy and daddy. Her face dropped and big crocodile tears came down her face and she said so hes not coming to be with us? I said no but right now as we say our bedtime prayers Jesus's is finding you a new brother. I said do you want to pray that he finds you a new brother? She said, "no thank you," gave me a goodnight kiss, rolled over and went to sleep. That as hard, her heart was broke!!!! Through the weekend we prayed Jesus would find her a new brother, but tonight she got me again. Before we started bedtime prayers she told me she wanted to pray for her picture she colored at school. I said OK what do you want to say about it? She said "that it comes true, that it will be me you and my brother all at baby Lucy's. I said "It will come true we just have to be patient. I bet Jesus already has you a brother picked out, and i can not wait to see him can you?" She said well mommy..I REALLY MISS NOAH! Her eyes started watering again. All I could say was me too, and continued with her bedtimes prayer. Tonight though she prayed Noah was happy and safe with his family, and that Jesus would find her brother soon. That's little girl has a pure heart of gold, everyday she amazes me!!
Great thing about road trips is you have time to think and talk about whats on your mind. Which this trip we had a lot to think and talk about. After a lot of thinking and talking to my husband and other families this has happen to by the same orphanage I have many concerns. This is not easy to get over. His little face keeps popping up everywhere in our house, car, computers, pinterest, phone..everywhere! It's hard to move on when you see that adorable smiling face everywhere, but I am at peace with knowing there is not a single thing that i could have done to change what happen. I have done something everyday since we found that sweet little boy to make sure we could bring him home as soon as possible. I very much so believe everything happens for a reason. I believe this reason is to bring attention to what is happening at that orphanage with the people who spend so much time and money there supporting it. Maybe they can be the change that will help other families from the heartbreak of loosing their child.
I would say back to square on one but I don't guess that would be right. I'm not sure what is the hold with our homestudy being completed but it should be complete any day now. Now i have to finish getting things ready to turn in with our dossier and wait for a new referral. Since all the hard stuff is over once we get one, it should move pretty fast I would think..but then again I have no idea what the good Lord has up his sleeve for us next! Our motto for our process has been "Gotta have Faith" from the start, and it will continue to be. We are not giving up or backing down because things got tough, If god sees us to it he will see us through it! I know with all my heart God has a plan for our family and I can not wait to see his master plan reveled <3
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
HEARTBROKEN but KEEPING FAITH
Some of you will immeditally know the pain our family is going through others may not, and I pray you never do. Tonight I was playing on my phone when I got a "Noah-tifcation" special sound when our agency emails us. First thing I read "Updates on D***** N*** my heart began to race..YES!! FINALLY WE WERE GETTING SOME UPDATES ON OUR SWEET BOY!! It defienitly was not the news that I wanted or I ever imagined that I would read.... " It is with great sadness that I write you today to let you know that one of D____ N___ parents have returned to him. They have removed him from the orphanage and he is currently in their care." I had to reread it a few times to make sure I wasnt day dreaming. I am heart broken.. Mostly all of you that read this will know I will do anything for anyone. Most of you do not know I guard my heart with a 10ft tall wall extremly cautious to comes in. I will admit I was very hesitant at first on letting this little boy in. I prayed and prayed and felt god gave me what I needed to let me know it was ok to let him in, so I did. This little boy has not been "some kid in Africa." He has been our Son and Bri's brother from the beginning. From the start we have loved him like our own, and prayed for him every night, with that love growing each fundraiser, donation given, or bit of precious information we learned about him from our friends in Alabama. As heartbroken as we are, we are trying to stay positive. We do not know how the sweet boy got to the orphange. There is an unkown number or possibilities that could have brought him there. I pray him being reunited with his family is a good thing, and I will continue to pray for him and his families well being each night! He will always be in my heart!Thats what happen...
WHATS NEXT?!?! ARE YOU STILL GOING TO ADOPT?!
The first question I asked our agency was "WHAT IF HE COMES BACK?" If by some chance he ends up back at the orphange he is ours. He will not go on any website or be referred to another family. We get the opprtunity to bring him home once again.
YES WE ARE STILL GOING TO ADOPTING!! God has always made me aware that he wants me to adopt. At this point I have no idea what Gods plan is for our family, but I do know he has a plan! We can cry and be heartbroken all we want but we can not loose faith! I am a firm believer if God brings you to it, he will bring you through it. If N___ is ment to be our child he will be brought back to us. There must be a little boy or girl that needs us more. God will lead us to them when the time is right. I have no doubt God's timing will continue to be perfect. That does not make this any easier.
WHATS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD:
If they don't know who brought him or any of his background history..how do they know it was his parent that came and got him? If God has made it so easy, why has God taken it away? Is this going to happen again, with our next child? How do we tell Bri? DO WE tell Bri? It breaks my heart in billions of little pieces to think that he will never know how much he has been loved by so many people that he doesn't even know exsist! <--- That is the hardest part...he doesn't even know we loved him so much!!
As I have said 100 times we are heartbroken, the more i think about it i am mad! I know that we are not the only ones this has happen to. There should be a better way to make sure these kids a truly available before they are referred to families or put on websites, but we are not discouraged. I can not lie I am selfish I want him here with us, our God is Great and will provide the comfort and answers we need. With all of that being said I DO NOT need or want to hear any negitive comments. If you do not have anything nice to say do not say anything at all! I am serious no "I told you so", or "hope you learned your lessons." You will not discourage or change our mind about adopting again. We work on Gods time, he will guide us straight to our next child when the time is right just like he lead us straight to our sweet boy. I will continue to pray that i will understand gods reason for taking him away..
WHATS NEXT?!?! ARE YOU STILL GOING TO ADOPT?!
The first question I asked our agency was "WHAT IF HE COMES BACK?" If by some chance he ends up back at the orphange he is ours. He will not go on any website or be referred to another family. We get the opprtunity to bring him home once again.
YES WE ARE STILL GOING TO ADOPTING!! God has always made me aware that he wants me to adopt. At this point I have no idea what Gods plan is for our family, but I do know he has a plan! We can cry and be heartbroken all we want but we can not loose faith! I am a firm believer if God brings you to it, he will bring you through it. If N___ is ment to be our child he will be brought back to us. There must be a little boy or girl that needs us more. God will lead us to them when the time is right. I have no doubt God's timing will continue to be perfect. That does not make this any easier.
WHATS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD:
If they don't know who brought him or any of his background history..how do they know it was his parent that came and got him? If God has made it so easy, why has God taken it away? Is this going to happen again, with our next child? How do we tell Bri? DO WE tell Bri? It breaks my heart in billions of little pieces to think that he will never know how much he has been loved by so many people that he doesn't even know exsist! <--- That is the hardest part...he doesn't even know we loved him so much!!
As I have said 100 times we are heartbroken, the more i think about it i am mad! I know that we are not the only ones this has happen to. There should be a better way to make sure these kids a truly available before they are referred to families or put on websites, but we are not discouraged. I can not lie I am selfish I want him here with us, our God is Great and will provide the comfort and answers we need. With all of that being said I DO NOT need or want to hear any negitive comments. If you do not have anything nice to say do not say anything at all! I am serious no "I told you so", or "hope you learned your lessons." You will not discourage or change our mind about adopting again. We work on Gods time, he will guide us straight to our next child when the time is right just like he lead us straight to our sweet boy. I will continue to pray that i will understand gods reason for taking him away..
Sunday, August 19, 2012
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Happy Sunday Everyone!! This weekend we finished our dvd's!! When we give our social worker the last of our paperwork our homestudy can be complete! PRAISE GOD!! But for once this blog isn't about our adoption. Its something that I have thought about many years.
During Christmas time I have always felt a little guilty for all the gifts I get and now all the things we buy our daughter. Don't get me wrong I love it, but in the back of my head I have always wished there was a way to help others that have nothing around the world. Last year our church introduced Operation Christmas Child to me. This is exactly what i have been looking for since i was a girl! Operation Christmas Child is a program that sends a gift to a child that is less fortunate around the world. The gift is a shoebox filled with gifts that we take advantage of here in the U.S. and our children would probably be upset if they got. So many American children are spoiled and ungrateful and I am just a guilty as you of making them this way. Not something I am proud of but it is true.
So I know so many of you have bought new school shoes for your children or even yourself during the great sales that have been going on. I have a favor; SAVE ME YOUR SHOE BOX!! Last year I wanted to send a shoe box but i missed the deadline and was literally heartbroken and have thought about this program all year. I WONT MISS THE DEADLINE THIS YEAR :-) That's all i need from you is a shoe box, most of you can help with that.
Do you want to help too? I hope this pulls at your heart as much as it does mine! So if it does this is what you do. 1.) Get an empty shoebox 2.) fill your box..below is a list taken from the OCC website. 3.)Include a $7 donation for shipping. 4.)Find a drop off location near you. For those close to me you can bring your filled or empty box to me and I will make sure it get where it needs to go! This is something that everyone can do. Encourage your children to save their allowances and fill a shoe box. You can get most of these things at the Dollar Tree. I also encourage you to write the child a letter. By making your donation online using a credit or debit card you will receive a special shoe box label included in your e-mail receipt. Print or copy the label as many times as you need to attach to each of your boxes. Your specific barcode is connected to your e-mail address, so it’s important to use the same label on each of your boxes. The barcode on the label enables us to track each shoe box gift. You will receive an e-mail telling you the destination of your gift, along with information about Operation Christmas Child in that country. If your boxes go to more than one country, you will receive more than one e-mail. This is an inexpensive wonderful way to share the gift of Christmas with a child that has nothing..possibly no one!
learn more at:
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/followyourbox/
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Working Mom Found a Free Time!!
Hello everyone!! I am so sorry I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. I have been CRAZY busy! I went from being a full time mom and house wife; to working full time and still being a full time mommy and wife. I have a new found respect and appreiation for my mom who; worked more than one job, went to school, took care of her parents while they were sick and dying and still was an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G mom to my brother and I, while never missing a baseball game or practise. I don't know how you did it, and I am sorry for not understanding sooner.
While I have been working many hours, have no fears our adoption is still my # 2 priority (Bri being 1st). Any and every sec that i have down time between phone calls or faxes, I'm working on the adoption. It may be selling a T-shirt or filling out paperwork or emailing our agency. While we did forget about a few things for the homestudy, we should have EVERYTHING we need turned in for our homestudy by next Friday. I am praying that our social worker will be able to have our offical completed homestudy by the next Friday. I got really bummed and disappointed in myself for letting it drag out for so long when we were so close to being 100% a few weeks ago. I quickly snapped out of it and thank god for it moving so fast. A friend I have met through the Ghana group said it took them over a year to complete their homestudy, others I have read that it has taken 3-6 months...WE ARE BLESSED AND I AM THANKFUL!! I have to remember we are working on gods time..we must not be impatient.
So while we are wrapping up the homestudy I have moved on to getting the documents we need for our dossier. We have to get Tonys passport thats the big thing that is needed for it. I have everthing else, or I have ordered everything else :-) Our agency has also sent me the offical letter to apply for our I-600A and to do our biometric fingerprints!!! Of course can't be done until we have to completed homestudy and our next fee of $890. I'm thinking that cookout that got rained out in July would be a great way to earn this set of fees :-) Since we already have everything ready to turn in, this next step should go super fast. I have to remember we are working on Gods time. We have also set up our apt to get our shots. We go Sept 21. Some great friends put us in contact with a Dr. that will file with our insuarnce and what insurance don't pay for he will only charge us at "cost" This is truly a blessing what was going to cost close 1,000 each is probably at most going to cost us 300 total!! Again, WE ARE BLESSED AND I AM THANKFUL!!
I just want to say "THANK YOU!!" to everyone who has supported our adoption so far. Thank you for the prayers, the sharing of our blog and story. Thank you if you have bought one shirt or help sell 5-50. If you donated one dollar or 500 you are AMAZING and we couldn't do this without you. Any and everything that you have done is bringing us one step closer to bringing the cutest little boy in Africa home!
While I have been working many hours, have no fears our adoption is still my # 2 priority (Bri being 1st). Any and every sec that i have down time between phone calls or faxes, I'm working on the adoption. It may be selling a T-shirt or filling out paperwork or emailing our agency. While we did forget about a few things for the homestudy, we should have EVERYTHING we need turned in for our homestudy by next Friday. I am praying that our social worker will be able to have our offical completed homestudy by the next Friday. I got really bummed and disappointed in myself for letting it drag out for so long when we were so close to being 100% a few weeks ago. I quickly snapped out of it and thank god for it moving so fast. A friend I have met through the Ghana group said it took them over a year to complete their homestudy, others I have read that it has taken 3-6 months...WE ARE BLESSED AND I AM THANKFUL!! I have to remember we are working on gods time..we must not be impatient.
So while we are wrapping up the homestudy I have moved on to getting the documents we need for our dossier. We have to get Tonys passport thats the big thing that is needed for it. I have everthing else, or I have ordered everything else :-) Our agency has also sent me the offical letter to apply for our I-600A and to do our biometric fingerprints!!! Of course can't be done until we have to completed homestudy and our next fee of $890. I'm thinking that cookout that got rained out in July would be a great way to earn this set of fees :-) Since we already have everything ready to turn in, this next step should go super fast. I have to remember we are working on Gods time. We have also set up our apt to get our shots. We go Sept 21. Some great friends put us in contact with a Dr. that will file with our insuarnce and what insurance don't pay for he will only charge us at "cost" This is truly a blessing what was going to cost close 1,000 each is probably at most going to cost us 300 total!! Again, WE ARE BLESSED AND I AM THANKFUL!!
I just want to say "THANK YOU!!" to everyone who has supported our adoption so far. Thank you for the prayers, the sharing of our blog and story. Thank you if you have bought one shirt or help sell 5-50. If you donated one dollar or 500 you are AMAZING and we couldn't do this without you. Any and everything that you have done is bringing us one step closer to bringing the cutest little boy in Africa home!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Homestudy Report...
Hello everyone, I feel like its been forever since I posted a blog! Since our last post we have had our homestudy I have started a full time job and my daughter has been talking about her brother everday!
HOMESTUDY- The homestudy went AMAZINGLY well! Our social worker came in and made her self at home. I thought I would be a nervous mess and say the wrong things. I was wrong as soon as she walked in the door a calmness came over me and i felt like I was talking to a friend. We talked about what school B** would go to, her daughter and whatever else came to mind. When the actual homestudy start we had individual interviews. I was so nervous about this. Come to find out we had nothing to be nervous about all the questions she asked us we had already answered in the packet she gave us. What a relief! The questions were about our life growing up, and our family history easy stuff! After our interviews she did a quick walk through of the house and B** showed her doll house her bed and "Chases" room. She told her that she was her sister and Tony and I were his mommy and daddy now. MY baby girl knows how to melt anyones heart! Before she left she said "You Passed!" tears of joy!! She told us that we need our pysicals and to do the video training and once that was turned she had 2 weeks to get our report written and for it to be complete! PRAISE GOD!! We could not have asked for a better social worker or homestudy all that worrying and cleaning was for nothing :-)
I just want to share a conversation B** and I had tonight. As I was fixing dinner she said " Mommy I can't wait to meet my brother!" ME: Me either baby! B**: "Mommy there are other kids with "Chase" right?" ME: Yes, baby why do you ask that?" B**: Mommy they don't have a mommy daddy or a sister either. ME: No baby girl they sure don't! B**: Mommy can we be their sister, mommy, and daddy too? They need us just like "Chase"! ME: Well, baby girl I think thats a great idea, but you know there are some Mommy and Daddy's that dont have any kids. We should just get "Chase" home and give someone else a chance to have a son or daughter. B**: Yeah, Cause we should share! ME: Thats right baby! Maybe after we get "Chase" home if there are boys and girls left that still dont have a mommy daddy or sister we can ask Jesus to find us another one join our family! What do you think? B**: Or brother..if they don't have a mommy daddy sister or brother cause "Chase" will be with us remember. ME: Exactly right baby B**: Sounds like a great idea to me!! I bet Jesus wants us to have a sister next...
WOW!! My daughter is 4 years old, and has more compassion and a bigger heart than most adults in this world! This coversation made me proud, and my heart almost burst! I guess we're doing something right. She's 4 years old...and worried about the other kids that dont have a mommy daddy or sister! I pray that her heart never changes and that she will stay full of love and compassion. It really just blows my mind to think of all the way our great God is connecting dots and making this adoption possible and filling our families heart with his glory and allowing this adoption to make us better Christians. Through out this entire process I have thought I am so thankful and feel so blessed how do I say thank you to God? Then when I went to the Light Church they played a song by Steven Curtis Chapman titled Listen to our Hearts. It is exactly how I feel I encourage you to listen to it but here is my favorite 2 verses:
But words are not enough To tell You of our love So listen to our hearts....
So if You listen to my heart Every beat would say, "Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth, thank You for the Way."
Read more: STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN - LISTEN TO OUR HEARTS LYRICS http://www.metrolyrics.com/listen-to-our-hearts-lyrics-steven-curtis-chapman.html#ixzz224cKHJ5B
Copied from MetroLyrics.com
HOMESTUDY- The homestudy went AMAZINGLY well! Our social worker came in and made her self at home. I thought I would be a nervous mess and say the wrong things. I was wrong as soon as she walked in the door a calmness came over me and i felt like I was talking to a friend. We talked about what school B** would go to, her daughter and whatever else came to mind. When the actual homestudy start we had individual interviews. I was so nervous about this. Come to find out we had nothing to be nervous about all the questions she asked us we had already answered in the packet she gave us. What a relief! The questions were about our life growing up, and our family history easy stuff! After our interviews she did a quick walk through of the house and B** showed her doll house her bed and "Chases" room. She told her that she was her sister and Tony and I were his mommy and daddy now. MY baby girl knows how to melt anyones heart! Before she left she said "You Passed!" tears of joy!! She told us that we need our pysicals and to do the video training and once that was turned she had 2 weeks to get our report written and for it to be complete! PRAISE GOD!! We could not have asked for a better social worker or homestudy all that worrying and cleaning was for nothing :-)
I just want to share a conversation B** and I had tonight. As I was fixing dinner she said " Mommy I can't wait to meet my brother!" ME: Me either baby! B**: "Mommy there are other kids with "Chase" right?" ME: Yes, baby why do you ask that?" B**: Mommy they don't have a mommy daddy or a sister either. ME: No baby girl they sure don't! B**: Mommy can we be their sister, mommy, and daddy too? They need us just like "Chase"! ME: Well, baby girl I think thats a great idea, but you know there are some Mommy and Daddy's that dont have any kids. We should just get "Chase" home and give someone else a chance to have a son or daughter. B**: Yeah, Cause we should share! ME: Thats right baby! Maybe after we get "Chase" home if there are boys and girls left that still dont have a mommy daddy or sister we can ask Jesus to find us another one join our family! What do you think? B**: Or brother..if they don't have a mommy daddy sister or brother cause "Chase" will be with us remember. ME: Exactly right baby B**: Sounds like a great idea to me!! I bet Jesus wants us to have a sister next...
WOW!! My daughter is 4 years old, and has more compassion and a bigger heart than most adults in this world! This coversation made me proud, and my heart almost burst! I guess we're doing something right. She's 4 years old...and worried about the other kids that dont have a mommy daddy or sister! I pray that her heart never changes and that she will stay full of love and compassion. It really just blows my mind to think of all the way our great God is connecting dots and making this adoption possible and filling our families heart with his glory and allowing this adoption to make us better Christians. Through out this entire process I have thought I am so thankful and feel so blessed how do I say thank you to God? Then when I went to the Light Church they played a song by Steven Curtis Chapman titled Listen to our Hearts. It is exactly how I feel I encourage you to listen to it but here is my favorite 2 verses:
But words are not enough To tell You of our love So listen to our hearts....
So if You listen to my heart Every beat would say, "Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth, thank You for the Way."
Read more: STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN - LISTEN TO OUR HEARTS LYRICS http://www.metrolyrics.com/listen-to-our-hearts-lyrics-steven-curtis-chapman.html#ixzz224cKHJ5B
Copied from MetroLyrics.com
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
T-SHIRT TIME!!!!!
TA-DAAAA!!!
So here they are!! the much anticipated T-shirt design! Almost a month late...anyone that truly knows me, know that's totally out of the norm.. :-) <---- Insert sarcasm LOL!!! But they are being made and will be done we are told by Tuesday July 24, 2012..AWW that's mine and Tony's Anniversary! Married 8 years..WOW...BACK TO THE T-SHIRTS!! I think they were very much worth the wait I couldn't be happier! This is it! This will be our major fundraiser, (we will continue with the smaller ones because every penny literally counts). I say this is the big one because we have signed a fundraiser contract to sale 300 shirts! 300 shirts will cover the next set of fees and all the little things that we keep forgetting about. THEN once homestudy is complete we can apply for grants..FINALLY!! yay!! YEP.. I know that's alot and I hesitated at first but God has done some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G things for us so far with him leading the way I think we can do it!
If I'm going to buy something i want to know where exactly my money is going. So I'm going to tell you exactly what we need and what exactly you are helping pay for. This fundraiser was originally set to pay for the homestudy. However, that has changed...after having to cancel our last cookout due to rain (Thank you Jesus our crops need it) and reschedule our homestudy because we were unable to come up with the funds to pay for it in full. I was bummed, but knew everything would be OK that T-shirts would be here soon. I just couldn't bare the thought of our Sweet, sweet "Chase" sitting over for a min longer with no snuggles, nomommy or daddy, and no sister because I didn't earn the money. My heart was broken, but I (like always) put on my smile, reached in the pit of my stomach and found encouraging words and remained positive to everyone. ( it was OK God has a better plan). Then I received a phone call HMM.. I was very anxious to answer. I don't know why I knew nothing bad would come from the conversation. A friend called and said "not to worry about the hometudy cost, they they had it taken care of." I was speechless.. literally.. she thought I hung up on her! lol! I didn't know what to say my eyes teared up! I thought she was kidding but immediately took back that thought, that would be a mean joke. But I confirmed anyway "Are you kidding?" She reassured me and said "reschedule that homestudy apt!!" LOL! Good God almighty.. ARE YOU SEROUS!!..EVERY TIME I HAVE A DOUBT GOD SEND SOMETHING OR SOMEONE TO TAKE MY WORRIES AWAY!! E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E! It gave me goose bumps, these awesome people who have gone above and beyond to help someone they barely know! I honestly don't even know how to say thank you to something like that. For something like this, all the work they put into gathering the money, thought, effort..it's priceless and Thank you will never be enough <3
SOOO Since the homestudy is now taking care of we are moving right along. Our next set of fees which are:
Administration fee, homestudy review, and dossier preparation fees 750
Agency fee 2000
Orphanage support fee 100 per month
Tony's passport 150? (est)
TOTAL: 3000
If we sale all 300 of these shirts at $20, it will give us a profit of $15 per shirt! We will make our next set of fees and then some!! ACTUALLY... WHEN WE SALE THESE SHIRTS IT WILL COVER THE NEXT SET OF FEES ALSO :-) :-) I DID NOT FREAKN REALIZE THIS WOW!!
Not only will it cover the above but it will also cover:
I-600A filling fee 720
biometric fingerprints 85 p/p
AWESOME!! I am super excited now! Let' get these t-shirts sold! Every single one of you talk them up! This will be super easy to help us and you get an awesome looking shirt! WOW..I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS SOONER!! This is awesome because after we complete our homestudy plus if we get approved for a grant that will put us over our half way mark for total funding...almost 1/2 WAY TO TOTAL FUNDING.. NOW THAT'S SOME MOTIVATION!!
*~*FACT: EVERY EVERYONE ON MY FRIENDS LIST BOUGHT OR HELPED SALE 2 SHIRTS OUR GOAL WILL BE REACHED* IF EVERYONE ON MINE AND TONYS FRIENDS LIST BOUGHT 1 SHIRT WE WILL HAVE TO ORDER MORE AND WE WILL BE HALF WAY TO OUR TOTAL FUNDING!!!*~*
If I'm going to buy something i want to know where exactly my money is going. So I'm going to tell you exactly what we need and what exactly you are helping pay for. This fundraiser was originally set to pay for the homestudy. However, that has changed...after having to cancel our last cookout due to rain (Thank you Jesus our crops need it) and reschedule our homestudy because we were unable to come up with the funds to pay for it in full. I was bummed, but knew everything would be OK that T-shirts would be here soon. I just couldn't bare the thought of our Sweet, sweet "Chase" sitting over for a min longer with no snuggles, nomommy or daddy, and no sister because I didn't earn the money. My heart was broken, but I (like always) put on my smile, reached in the pit of my stomach and found encouraging words and remained positive to everyone. ( it was OK God has a better plan). Then I received a phone call HMM.. I was very anxious to answer. I don't know why I knew nothing bad would come from the conversation. A friend called and said "not to worry about the hometudy cost, they they had it taken care of." I was speechless.. literally.. she thought I hung up on her! lol! I didn't know what to say my eyes teared up! I thought she was kidding but immediately took back that thought, that would be a mean joke. But I confirmed anyway "Are you kidding?" She reassured me and said "reschedule that homestudy apt!!" LOL! Good God almighty.. ARE YOU SEROUS!!..EVERY TIME I HAVE A DOUBT GOD SEND SOMETHING OR SOMEONE TO TAKE MY WORRIES AWAY!! E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E! It gave me goose bumps, these awesome people who have gone above and beyond to help someone they barely know! I honestly don't even know how to say thank you to something like that. For something like this, all the work they put into gathering the money, thought, effort..it's priceless and Thank you will never be enough <3
SOOO Since the homestudy is now taking care of we are moving right along. Our next set of fees which are:
Administration fee, homestudy review, and dossier preparation fees 750
Agency fee 2000
Orphanage support fee 100 per month
Tony's passport 150? (est)
TOTAL: 3000
If we sale all 300 of these shirts at $20, it will give us a profit of $15 per shirt! We will make our next set of fees and then some!! ACTUALLY... WHEN WE SALE THESE SHIRTS IT WILL COVER THE NEXT SET OF FEES ALSO :-) :-) I DID NOT FREAKN REALIZE THIS WOW!!
Not only will it cover the above but it will also cover:
I-600A filling fee 720
biometric fingerprints 85 p/p
AWESOME!! I am super excited now! Let' get these t-shirts sold! Every single one of you talk them up! This will be super easy to help us and you get an awesome looking shirt! WOW..I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS SOONER!! This is awesome because after we complete our homestudy plus if we get approved for a grant that will put us over our half way mark for total funding...almost 1/2 WAY TO TOTAL FUNDING.. NOW THAT'S SOME MOTIVATION!!
*~*FACT: EVERY EVERYONE ON MY FRIENDS LIST BOUGHT OR HELPED SALE 2 SHIRTS OUR GOAL WILL BE REACHED* IF EVERYONE ON MINE AND TONYS FRIENDS LIST BOUGHT 1 SHIRT WE WILL HAVE TO ORDER MORE AND WE WILL BE HALF WAY TO OUR TOTAL FUNDING!!!*~*
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Connecting the Dots
I know it's late but are back home from an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G weekend! I met some of the most AMAZING people. I have been a lot of places met A LOT of people, NEVER have I walked into a total strangers house and felt 100% comfortable or 100% welcome. I cried so many happy tears, that I ran out, LOL! Sounds silly I know, but it's true! I was so blessed to go to the Light church that goes on mission trips every year Ghana. I was even fortunate enough to meet a few people who are from Ghana...BLESSED! Nothing less we are BLESSED! God is connecting all the dots for us, all I need to do is sit back keep faith and trust that God is in control. I can not wait to see to what god has in store for our little man. I can't help but think he's going to do big things and change this world. We haven't even met him and he's changed ours <3
Wednesday I was having one of those days, I was stressing out about money again. Perhaps we should have thought this through more. Such as deciding on adoption, saving money to get us through the beginning cost, then finding a child. I just don't guess that's the way it was meant to be (me thinking out loud). ANYWAYS... during my stressing and praying and trying to figure a way to come the next set of fees. I received a phone call, it was the bank!! They FINALLY called me back I started today (Thursday) I know it's not going to give enough before the homestudy, but again our great god is providing yet another way of funding this adoption. As long as it doesn't rain on Saturday our cookout is still on 12-? How awesome would it be if we raised the $1500 that we needed for the homestudy?!?! Like I have said before even if you don't have the funds to help, by sharing our blog getting the word out that we are adopting and praying is helping us! So many people surprisingly still don't know we are adopting!
Hes a few ways you can help financially:
-Donate to our agency make sure you give our name. They will email you a receipt with tax deduction information on it.
- Or go to our adopt together account it also emails a tax detectable receipt.
http://adopttogether.org/irwin/
-Private message me and I can give you our address so you can mail check
Thank you all for you support! I'll leave with one of my new favorite verses...
"God can do anything you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request, in your wildest dreams! He doesn't do it by pushing us around but by working within us, his spirit deeply and gently within us."
POWERFUL HUHH?!?!
Wednesday I was having one of those days, I was stressing out about money again. Perhaps we should have thought this through more. Such as deciding on adoption, saving money to get us through the beginning cost, then finding a child. I just don't guess that's the way it was meant to be (me thinking out loud). ANYWAYS... during my stressing and praying and trying to figure a way to come the next set of fees. I received a phone call, it was the bank!! They FINALLY called me back I started today (Thursday) I know it's not going to give enough before the homestudy, but again our great god is providing yet another way of funding this adoption. As long as it doesn't rain on Saturday our cookout is still on 12-? How awesome would it be if we raised the $1500 that we needed for the homestudy?!?! Like I have said before even if you don't have the funds to help, by sharing our blog getting the word out that we are adopting and praying is helping us! So many people surprisingly still don't know we are adopting!
Hes a few ways you can help financially:
-Donate to our agency make sure you give our name. They will email you a receipt with tax deduction information on it.
- Or go to our adopt together account it also emails a tax detectable receipt.
http://adopttogether.org/irwin/
-Private message me and I can give you our address so you can mail check
Thank you all for you support! I'll leave with one of my new favorite verses...
"God can do anything you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request, in your wildest dreams! He doesn't do it by pushing us around but by working within us, his spirit deeply and gently within us."
POWERFUL HUHH?!?!
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