Moving forward...

The past two weeks have been amazing.  As you already know, there is so much paperwork needed to complete an adoption.  100% of our paperwork from our Ethiopian Dossier is non transferable to our China Dossier.  Therefore, from a paperwork standpoint, we essentially had to start over.  As I mentioned in our last blog post, my first initial reaction of starting our paperwork from scratch was overwhelming.  But a few weeks into the paper-chase our progress has been more successful then what seemed possible.  In fact, our adoption coordinator even commented on how quickly we are pulling our dossier together.  Piece by piece our puzzle is coming together.  We couldn’t be happier with the progress we have made so far and will continue to work toward finishing our end of the paperwork over the next few weeks.   

In addition to a few documents we need to complete our dossier, another big step we need in order to complete our paperwork is updating our home-study from Ethiopia to China.  We begin this process July 29th, which is our first schedule visit with our social worker, followed by our second visit August 15th and our third visit August 16th. We have printed off the 5 page check list of individual items that we need to address in our home study so we are able to work through them one by one with our social worker.  This will be in addition to any information our home study agency thinks needs to be address.  Needless to say updating our home study will most likely be the most time consuming part of the paper chasing process.  But once the home study is approved by our adoption agency, we will see light at the end of the tunnel because we will be winding down our paper chase for our dossier.  It is so exciting to think we are so close already!! 

Another exciting announcement we have is that we are in the process of planning our first China Adoption fund raiser.  We have been so incredibly blessed to be introduced to a wonderful (and extremely talented) woman who will be leading a Canvas Painting Party September 18, 2015 from 6-8:30 PM!!  For those of you who have not heard of a canvas painting party or have little artistic ability (like me) don’t be intimidated!  No artistic ability or knowledge of the arts required.  Basically, at a canvas party, you have an artist leading the class who helps you step by step, giving tips and advice along the way on how to paint the selected picture until you have completed your masterpiece.  Tickets for the event will be $40 a person which includes all of your supplies.  We are asking everyone interested in coming to pre-register with us before September 12^thin order to reserve your canvas (contact Nicole Ayres – nayres19@comcast.net for more details).  We are asking attendees to bring an appetizer to share (not required) and Nic and I will be providing drinks (lemonade and water).  More details to come on the location of the party.  Below is the picture we will all be painting!! We are so excited for this event! 

Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words as we continue on the journey to bring our daughter, who tentatively will be named Amelia Capri, home.  God Bless.        

Our New Adventure

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

John 15:16

“You did not choose me, but I chose you”

“I chose you”

Jesus may have spoken these words in person to his disciples the night before he died, but they were meant for all of us.  God has a purpose and a plan for every living creature that walks the face of this Earth.  He hand selects each and every one of us according to his good and perfect will.  How humbling that the creator of the universe loves us so much that He would take the time to plan our future and lay a path before us.  The possibilities are endless.  As for Nic and I, His plan is for us to adopt.  The journey of our path has not been easy.  It has been filled with emotions, road blocked and hurtles.  But even though the process has been difficult at times, there is nothing about our journey that we would change.  God has used this process to shape us, to help us grow and to prepare us for the future.   

“whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

God has provided for us in so many ways over the course of the past two years; He has encouraged us when we were frustrated with paperwork, He has assured us this was His will for our family, and he has provided for us through the generous giving of time and financial means from family, friends and complete strangers.  Truly through him all things are possible.  We prayed for the future of our family and over the course of our adoption our Heavenly Father has given us all that we need… 

If you have been following our adoption, you have heard me say before the paperwork is extensive. Everything has to be perfect and precise.  If it is not exact, it has to be redone.  There is no room for errors or typos.  When we made the decision to follow God to China, the thought of starting all of our paperwork over was scary.  China is very thorough and they require more authorization than what we had to do prior with Ethiopia.  When we began receiving emails with all the paperwork requirements, my heart sank.  Essays, notaries and time lines, oh my!  But rather than allowing the enemy to build anxiety in my heart we turned to the one who gives us help, strength and peace.  Ask and you shall receive….God has given us a new outlook on all the paperwork and we are no longer stressing over what needs to be done.  Rather we now look at the paperwork as an adventure and a potential for growth.  It is amazing the relief that overtakes you when you lay it all down before the Lord. 

God has not only given us peace over the paper chasing process, but he has also already begun providing financially for our next step.  As you may have seen on Facebook, we have been selling our “Project  Ethiopia” t shirts for ½ off the original price.  Over the course of the past two weeks, we have sold almost all of our shirts to people all over the United States and raised the $500 needed to pay for our home study update for China (which is our first financial expense since transferring).  God is good and God provides always. 

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.   

Have a blessed day!!  

Crossroads...

This is what the Lord says:  “stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls…”
Jeremiah 6:16

Two years ago we began a journey that had forever changed our lives. It was a journey that has tested us, stretched us farther than what was comfortable, strengthened our bond as a family and helped us grow in our walk with the Lord. Two years ago we began a journey to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. Over the course of the past two years we have encountered more twists and turns then we ever imagined. But through the trials the one thing that remained strong and consistent was our belief that God has his hand in our adoption process. He gave us continued assurance through it all that we were filling his perfect will for our family.

Two years have passed and we want to share with you today that God has again brought us to a crossroad where we have the choice to stay in our comfort of what we thought would be for our family or to follow the new course God has presented to us. Because nothing about international adoption is comfortable and easy we chose to stand by the one who makes the impossible possible. Today we are here to share that while our hearts for adoption have not changed, the location has. As of this past week, God has lead us to putting in a transfer to adopt from China. While part of our hearts will always be in Ethiopia, God has made it clear the path for our family and we will continue on knowing he is the author and perfectly of our story.

We will continue to keep you updated on this process as we venture on our journey of bringing our daughter home.