Time is flying

Okay, so I have been very cautious with myself to not be too impatient or anxious during this 'waiting phase'.... I definitely find myself praying for our baby girl a ton, but my heart has not been overly anxious, which I am thankful for. We had been advised that the courts of Rwanda take the month of December off, so I really have been focusing on Christmas and things of that nature. I do periodically look at some blogspots of other families that are in the same Rwanda program that we are in, and last evening, as I was looking at the ones I usually look at, there have been some awesome things going on! Families that are just a month or two ahead of us have received their referrals and are headed towards making travel arrangements to go get their children! This has definitely been a wonderful turn of events.... the past month or two, we were getting more concerned that our time frame was going to be on the longer side than we had expected. But seeing these families processes moving forward is great encouragement. I also realized that I need to get busy getting the room ready for our girl! I have some cleaning out before I am ready to start re-decorating! :) Again, we hold fast to the power of God and know that He is in control. Evelyn has just started being able to memorize scripture and the verse she knows right now is, "I can do all things through the Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13. (I love hearing her say the book, chapter number and verse at the end! too cute!)

Dossier In Transit

It's official, I sent our dossier to Virginia via FedEx! It was strangely difficult to hand over our paperwork to the FedEx employee... I have been working on this paperwork for so long and it is so valuable (it's actually just paper, but believe me, it is very valuable). But, I handed it over and the guy behind the counter packaged all 219 pieces of paper into a box and it is on its way to our adoption agency headquarters... and then on its way to the Rwandan Embassy... and then on to Rwanda!!! We are hopeful that we will receive information on our future daughter by Christmas! Now that the paperwork is done, it is just a long period of waiting and saving money! Lord help us! HA! In all seriousness, we are in prayer for our future daughter, praying that she is in safety and that she is receiving enough care until we are able to care for her. At this point, we are unaware if she is even born yet.... but our thoughts are with her even now...

It's Been Awhile!

It has been quite some time since my last post..... So, here is an update: our paperwork process is well on it's way to being complete and delivered. We finished our homestudy the first week of June... which means that we are found to be suitable for raising a child, definitely a good thing, seeings how we are and have been raising a child for nearly four years now!!! But, that is complete and we are thankful for that. Our Dossier (the paperwork that Rwanda receives) should be completed by the end of this week; after notarizing, county sealing and state certifying! Whew! As long as we can figure out how to come up with the $5400 that needs to go along with those documents! :) So, once the documents are in the mail, we will be in a state of waiting! Hopefully within 5 months we will here from Rwanda about a child that they have matched us with! Maybe by Christmas! In the meantime, I will try to sell some baskets! These handmade baskets from Rwanda are just beautiful and I hope to spread the word around here and elsewhere what Rwanda Basket Company is doing in the lives of these women of Rwanda!

Thoughts for today

Okay, so last night I found myself in a Wal-Mart (out of town), and I noticed that I was the minority being white... It got me thinking again about the fact that we are adopting a baby from Africa and will be raising her in a predominately white town. I occasionally find myself wondering if we are doing the right thing.... I am okay if it will be hard on us, I just don't want it to be too hard on our daughter-to-be. I continue to seek wisdom from God and trust in His plan for us.

Paperwork Productivity

Yesterday was a very productive day in the realm of the paperwork I have been facing. My arm is sore from the shot I had to get in my arm, but otherwise I am doing very good! We will be heading to Columbus this morning to have our fingerprints done electronically for our background checks. And yesterday we got official clearance from the local police department that there are no outstanding warrants or arrests for either Dan or I, not surprisingly! Thanks to a friend of ours that is a detective, that process took less than one business day, Thanks Nick! We are moving forward in this process of expanding our family and are so excited to see what is in store! This morning I told Evelyn that we had to take a little trip to do some things to help us get a baby sister and she thought that meant that we were actually going to go pick up her baby sister! After explaining a few details, let's hope she is not disappointed when we get to a boring office building, fill out some papers and press our fingers on an electronic pad and leave with nothing in hand! :) Ahh, the journey.....

Doing Good

Okay, awhile has passed since my last post.... And we have proceeded with many steps in our process of expanding our family. I have probably printed about 70 pages of documents to either read, fill out, have notarized, have signed by physicians, social workers, law enforcement officials, firemen, etc. But, we are doing good. I am doing our home study documents and our dossier concurrently. I guess we could choose to do them separately if we wished, but it will allow us to move faster by doing them together. Along with the paperwork is the various fees associated with the process, as well! We are definitely learning to tighten our belt straps when it comes to budgeting!! :) I believe thus far, we have paid $4,500 towards our adoption costs! Thank the Lord that we have been able to do that. All the while of doing this, we have truly been so excited about the prospects of having a new addition to our family. Evelyn has been telling most people that Jesus is bringing her a baby sister! People are a bit caught off guard and look to us in a bit of confusion, but as we tell them what is happening in our family, they are excited and supportive! God is good, and we are encouraged daily.

Official Approval

Well, we have officially been approved and have now started the "paper pregnancy"... LOTS of paperwork. What a crazy, exciting ride we are about to embark on.

Love to Give

My first post comes on the heels of talking with friends about our possible adoption. The more times I tell people about this gift we might receive, the more excited I am to see a face, encourage a smile, wipe a tear, kiss a boo-boo, and love so much, because I have love to give. We are preparing a place...


(posted by Dan)

Happy Valentine's Day

May we discover what it means to 'shower the people we love with love'.

A Big Task

Wow... today I have been really struggling with the financial end of this whole thing. I am trusting that if this is what we are to be doing, then the money will come... but $20,000 seems so insurmountable. I want to be wise with our money and I want to complete what I am feeling called to do. But today has just been one of those days where I have trouble seeing the possibility of it all. Lord, let me have faith like a child.

I saw what I saw, Sara Groves

Starting to share

As we start to share our journey with others, it is so awesome to see the love and support that we have.  We were unsure at first, how some may respond to our decision to adopt and we have been so fortunate to experience an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement.  We continue to seek the Lord's guidance and pray that all of the paperwork, the finances and all other necessary items are completed in time. I pray for the child that will soon be ours... I pray that she will be taken care of by the loving nannies in the orphanage until the day that we will be able to bring her home.  Thank you dear God for leading us to this point...  For the past two years, I have questioned many times why we were unable to conceive and struggled greatly with what I thought should happen... my own mind could not understand... I am finding that I need to trust you more and know that this is all part of a better plan... may we continue to seek your will and trust in your infinite power. Amen

Our Family Picture Sent with our Adoption 

application.  2/8/2009

Thoughts today

As I watched some videos of families traveling and receiving their child, Evelyn walked in and saw a baby girl from Ethiopia and immediately said, "Aww, she is so cute, I wish could have a baby like that at our house".  What an exciting adventure.  Lord, grant me patience and wisdom.... guide my family in this endeavor.  Let us seek your will as we journey through this process, and may Your hand be upon the child we are to receive.  Amen.

here we go

I am starting this blog as a kind of journal... we are venturing into new territory and I felt it necessary to 'journal our journey'.  Mainly, there is some sort of program that can turn this blog into a book and I think that could be pretty cool when this is all said and done!

We have been very much wanting to expand our family for the past two years, and it has not come to pass.  For awhile (about a year) I felt that I could "explain" the reasons as to why it had not happened... and lately (about 3-4 months) I was finding myself at a loss and really in a state of sadness...not knowing what God's plan was for us... not knowing what was 'right' for our family.  Adoption has been something that I had always thought as a possibility, even before ever having a child by birth.  So, in the last few months, I really started to open my heart and mind to the possibility of adoption.  Obviously, in order for it all to work, Daniel and I needed to be 'on the same page', so to speak.  I was really impressed with Dan's openness to this possibility and just his pure desire to expand our family!   After some emotional conversations and realizing the true desire of our hearts we decided to pursue finding out about the process of adoption.  After many hours on the computer, one agency stood out above them all.  America World Adoption Association was a faith based organization that truly had a heart for adoption and had such great information on the entire process... so many families had wonderful stories of their experience and went through the emotions we have, and are going through.  We have filled out the initial application, signed the letter of request, paid the application fee and sent in our family picture!  The process is beginning and we are excited and hopeful of what the Lord has in store for our family.  We have set a few specifications on a child that we would like to receive: a girl, 0-12 months from Rwanda.  We are praying for guidance and wisdom as we journey this road.