Hi adoption blog readers,
Just typing up a brief update of where we are now in Anna Faith's adoption.
We still don't have pictures, and the Lord only knows specifically who Anna Faith even is. She is and always will be our child, but we do not know which specific child she is yet. As of now, she's likely in an orphange in somewhere China, waiting on us. I'm hoping and praying that she'll find herself in a foster home at some point, if she hasn't already, and that she will be parented for at least a while (rather than only clothed and fed).
I've got a lot more updates to type up in this blog, and have done a terrible job keeping people informed. Part of that is because I tend to schedule myself into a whirlwind and don't leave time to do anything extra. Another part of it is because I've been struggling. There, I've said it. I have a very hard time with knowing I have a daughter on the other side of the planet, and she's been waiting for years for me to bring her home. I have a hard time with the fact that I'm not able to do enough to get her home sooner, and faster. And I struggle with not being able to spend the time on the paperwork and making money at the same time.
Last school year I worked soooo much extra, homeschooling my own kids plus teaching several additional homeschool classes, private lessons at Taekwondo, photography work, painting workshops, and anything else I could possibly think of, to earn extra money. John was busy working his regular job, and also helping me organize and be prepared for my extra classes, as well as pitching in on fundraisers like the barbecue sale. But we didn't get any paperwork completed because we had NO time left to do it. All we could do was keep up.
But the good news is this - including the all the extra work, fundraising, and a few donations we've had since we began this process almost two years ago, we raised and saved almost $10,000!!! That is HUGE! The glory be to God, because we could not have done it without Him!
This school year we aren't doing as much extra work because we're never going to get this girl home if we don't get busy on the adoption itself! So we have completed our home study (YAY!!), and have now moved onto the Dossier.
Here's the catch. We've paid the initial application fees, paid for the home study to be done, fingerprints, background checks, physical exams, bloodwork, the agency fee, and CIS approval (citizenship and immigration services), etc. etc. But now the money we saved has run out, and we have about $20,000 left to pay on the adoption.
Adoption is expensive. It's kind of ridiculous. But if the Lord wants us to adopt this little girl, and I know He does, then He will provide a way to do it. But I'm going to be honest. Very recently, I began to lose hope.
We pray for Anna Faith constantly--for her caregivers, and the other kids she spends time with, for her health and emotional well-being, for her sense of hope... But for the first time since we began this process, I started to wonder if maybe we've failed somehow. Maybe we've not done enough...and maybe we can't do this. When I started to feel the most discouraged, of course I talked to John first. He also realizes we've been moving forward like molasses on the adoption, and while we have progressed this Fall, we both want to kick it into high gear now. But it's concerning that now that we have more time to put towards it, we quickly ran out of money to fund it.
So here's the plan. We continue working on the paperwork as much as possible. We're on the Dossier now, which is pretty much a huge stack of papers that will give us permission to adopt a child from another country and bring her into this one to be ours forever. (For my thoughts on inter-country adoption, read here http://www.asisterforsara.blogspot.com/2012/11/domestic-or-international-adoption.html.) We have gathered many documents for the dossier already, but we still have plenty to go. Next on our list is passports and a few other dossier requirements. We sent off the CIS application and fee a few weeks ago, and got notification a few days ago that our application was received, and our check was cashed. So now we wait for that approval them to come in the mail. We'll continue to work toward finishing the dossier while awaiting that approval. Then we'll send all our paperwork at that point to the agency here, and they'll go through each piece and approve and finalize it. Then we need to pay for the completion of the dossier. There's the next big bill - $2,800, to pay for the dossier translation and registration. It will take the agency a month or two to complete their work on it, so we have that long before we need to pay that bill.
After that, we'll still have thousands more for various steps along the road (I'm trying not to call them hurdles) to our next daughter. But for now, I'm breaking it down into smaller, more reasonable chunks, and taking it one step at a time.
There is also an upcoming $500 fee for document procurement. We just got a generous donation from some friends for $100, and I just got paid exactly $400 for a bit of extra work I've been doing, so that's in the bank ready to go! Praise the Lord!
As for the next $2,800 - two fundraisers coming up, and many grant and loan applications to be filled out.
As for the fundraisers:
1 - Last year we sold barbecue for one successful fundraiser. Because I have some of the most awesome brothers in the south, I am going to have my very own cooker (smoker) that was hand-made and delivered here so I can do another barbecue fundraiser (or two) for the holidays! (This thing is huge. I am SO EXCITED about this!) We can sell Boston butts (whole or by the pound), or whole smoked chickens or turkeys, in time for your holiday get-togethers! If you haven't tried some of my brother Steve's secret recipe, let me know, and I'll bring you some to try. I guarantee you'll love it! Also, great news, Steve is also selling his bbq dip by the quart or gallon, for those of you who want more of your own! Check it out at www.gumrysbbq.com.
2 - Holiday painting classes! Last year, I did a LOT of these. I do not have the time to do a lot of them now, but I'll be doing two, hopefully. More details to come on that! But for now, if you live near us and you like to paint and party, reserve the morning of Sat., Dec 7 to come and do a fun holiday painting! They make great gifts!
While doing extra work, paperwork, and fundraising, I cannot allow myself to lose hope. Anna Faith needs us. It's crystal clear to me that God wants us to adopt her. He wouldn't have led us down this path if He didn't, so we can't give up. I have to remember why we are naming her Anna Faith. There are people who've reminded me lately that they are here to help if/when they can, and that means the world to me. You know who you are. Thank you!!
That just about sums things up for now. I am going to keep this better updated, I promise! In the meantime, please pray for us to get Anna Faith home ASAP, and pray for her and all of the blessed people in her world right now.
Just typing up a brief update of where we are now in Anna Faith's adoption.
We still don't have pictures, and the Lord only knows specifically who Anna Faith even is. She is and always will be our child, but we do not know which specific child she is yet. As of now, she's likely in an orphange in somewhere China, waiting on us. I'm hoping and praying that she'll find herself in a foster home at some point, if she hasn't already, and that she will be parented for at least a while (rather than only clothed and fed).
I've got a lot more updates to type up in this blog, and have done a terrible job keeping people informed. Part of that is because I tend to schedule myself into a whirlwind and don't leave time to do anything extra. Another part of it is because I've been struggling. There, I've said it. I have a very hard time with knowing I have a daughter on the other side of the planet, and she's been waiting for years for me to bring her home. I have a hard time with the fact that I'm not able to do enough to get her home sooner, and faster. And I struggle with not being able to spend the time on the paperwork and making money at the same time.
Last school year I worked soooo much extra, homeschooling my own kids plus teaching several additional homeschool classes, private lessons at Taekwondo, photography work, painting workshops, and anything else I could possibly think of, to earn extra money. John was busy working his regular job, and also helping me organize and be prepared for my extra classes, as well as pitching in on fundraisers like the barbecue sale. But we didn't get any paperwork completed because we had NO time left to do it. All we could do was keep up.
But the good news is this - including the all the extra work, fundraising, and a few donations we've had since we began this process almost two years ago, we raised and saved almost $10,000!!! That is HUGE! The glory be to God, because we could not have done it without Him!
This school year we aren't doing as much extra work because we're never going to get this girl home if we don't get busy on the adoption itself! So we have completed our home study (YAY!!), and have now moved onto the Dossier.
Here's the catch. We've paid the initial application fees, paid for the home study to be done, fingerprints, background checks, physical exams, bloodwork, the agency fee, and CIS approval (citizenship and immigration services), etc. etc. But now the money we saved has run out, and we have about $20,000 left to pay on the adoption.
Adoption is expensive. It's kind of ridiculous. But if the Lord wants us to adopt this little girl, and I know He does, then He will provide a way to do it. But I'm going to be honest. Very recently, I began to lose hope.
We pray for Anna Faith constantly--for her caregivers, and the other kids she spends time with, for her health and emotional well-being, for her sense of hope... But for the first time since we began this process, I started to wonder if maybe we've failed somehow. Maybe we've not done enough...and maybe we can't do this. When I started to feel the most discouraged, of course I talked to John first. He also realizes we've been moving forward like molasses on the adoption, and while we have progressed this Fall, we both want to kick it into high gear now. But it's concerning that now that we have more time to put towards it, we quickly ran out of money to fund it.
So here's the plan. We continue working on the paperwork as much as possible. We're on the Dossier now, which is pretty much a huge stack of papers that will give us permission to adopt a child from another country and bring her into this one to be ours forever. (For my thoughts on inter-country adoption, read here http://www.asisterforsara.blogspot.com/2012/11/domestic-or-international-adoption.html.) We have gathered many documents for the dossier already, but we still have plenty to go. Next on our list is passports and a few other dossier requirements. We sent off the CIS application and fee a few weeks ago, and got notification a few days ago that our application was received, and our check was cashed. So now we wait for that approval them to come in the mail. We'll continue to work toward finishing the dossier while awaiting that approval. Then we'll send all our paperwork at that point to the agency here, and they'll go through each piece and approve and finalize it. Then we need to pay for the completion of the dossier. There's the next big bill - $2,800, to pay for the dossier translation and registration. It will take the agency a month or two to complete their work on it, so we have that long before we need to pay that bill.
After that, we'll still have thousands more for various steps along the road (I'm trying not to call them hurdles) to our next daughter. But for now, I'm breaking it down into smaller, more reasonable chunks, and taking it one step at a time.
There is also an upcoming $500 fee for document procurement. We just got a generous donation from some friends for $100, and I just got paid exactly $400 for a bit of extra work I've been doing, so that's in the bank ready to go! Praise the Lord!
As for the next $2,800 - two fundraisers coming up, and many grant and loan applications to be filled out.
As for the fundraisers:
1 - Last year we sold barbecue for one successful fundraiser. Because I have some of the most awesome brothers in the south, I am going to have my very own cooker (smoker) that was hand-made and delivered here so I can do another barbecue fundraiser (or two) for the holidays! (This thing is huge. I am SO EXCITED about this!) We can sell Boston butts (whole or by the pound), or whole smoked chickens or turkeys, in time for your holiday get-togethers! If you haven't tried some of my brother Steve's secret recipe, let me know, and I'll bring you some to try. I guarantee you'll love it! Also, great news, Steve is also selling his bbq dip by the quart or gallon, for those of you who want more of your own! Check it out at www.gumrysbbq.com.
2 - Holiday painting classes! Last year, I did a LOT of these. I do not have the time to do a lot of them now, but I'll be doing two, hopefully. More details to come on that! But for now, if you live near us and you like to paint and party, reserve the morning of Sat., Dec 7 to come and do a fun holiday painting! They make great gifts!
While doing extra work, paperwork, and fundraising, I cannot allow myself to lose hope. Anna Faith needs us. It's crystal clear to me that God wants us to adopt her. He wouldn't have led us down this path if He didn't, so we can't give up. I have to remember why we are naming her Anna Faith. There are people who've reminded me lately that they are here to help if/when they can, and that means the world to me. You know who you are. Thank you!!
That just about sums things up for now. I am going to keep this better updated, I promise! In the meantime, please pray for us to get Anna Faith home ASAP, and pray for her and all of the blessed people in her world right now.
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