Yes- the thermometer is at $0 again.

Normally people must pay the fees associated with their dossier at this point. However, since we received our referral before our dossier was complete, we had to pay those fees first. We took the amount in our account and applied it to the referral fees. So now, we need the $7700 for the dossier. We have the end date as May 31st but we are likely to send off our dossier next week.

Radio, Money, and a New Job

Yesterday was one of those interesting days where good stuff just keeps happening.  The day started off with me going on a local radio show to be interviewed.  The interview itself was primarily about being someone who had moved into Rockingham County.  However, mid-way through the interview the topic changed to adoption.  I was very pleased with this turn of events and took the opportunity to encourage others to adopt.  Having this opportunity set the tone for the rest of the day.  And it was a good day.

Later in the day we received an unexpected donation toward our adoption.  We have truly been blessed with the number of people who continue to give.  We know that without these generous donations we would never be able to bring our son home.


To make the day even that much better, I got a new job!  Well, sort of.  For one week in May I'll be working at a bookstore owned by a friend of mine.  He needs a temporary position filled and has offered it to me (with generous pay I might add) in order to help with the adoption. 

Yep, yesterday was a good day.  Now let's see what happens today.

REFERRAL!!!

Well, we have officially received our referral.  So what does this mean?  Well, it means that once we have our immigration paperwork (which should be anytime now) we can get our paperwork sent to Ethiopia and request a court date.  It means that shortly after that we should be traveling to Ethiopia for our court date and then a couple of months after that we will be traveling again to pick up our son.  This also means we can now let our son know that we are coming.  That he has a family waiting for him.

Of course this also means we need money.  With most adoptions, the money is paid in increments. For most families at this point in the process, they would only need to pay the amount for submitting their dossier. For us that would be about $7500.00.  Then they would wait for several months in which time they could raise the money that they would need we they accept their referral.  For us that is about $4400.00.  Then the family would wait a couple of months before they would need travel money which is going to be (for both trips) around $11,000.00.  Well, because we have done this in a expedited fashion we basically need $4400.00 today, $7500.00 next week, and $5000.00 about a month later, with another $6000.00 just after that.  Bottom line:  we need to raise some major money and need to do it now.  So, please help.  If you've been thinking about helping but were thinking you had time to do so, well, time is running out.  Remember that no amount is too small and your gift is giving a young man a family.  Thank you and God bless.

Homestudy, etc

We received our homestudy in the mail today. That means copies will be made tonight and grants will be sent out tomorrow! We should receive our official referral soon. There is just a bit more paperwork that the in country staff is working on. Although I am excited to receive the referral, it's also a bit stressful. Normally when you send your dossier in, you send in a large chunk of money. Then when you receive your referral several months later, you send in another large amount. Well we are essentially doing these two steps at the same time. That means that we need another $12,000 in the next few weeks. That's a lot of money that we currently do not have. However, I completely believe that God called us to this adoption and that He will provide. This adoption has been a big step of faith for us and we are grateful for the many things God has shown us. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this journey. We serve a big God and I know that $12,000 is nothing for Him.

Fingerprints

Today we had our fingerprint appointment. Here is the sign for the building. Not too exciting is it?

Just like before, we took a picture of ourselves in the car. (You can't take pics in the building.) John said the pictures took longer than the fingerprints!

Here we are in January 2008-

Here we are, just 2 years later. Think there will be another picture in 2012?

This is what should happen next:

• Rebecca will send our homestudy to USCIS.
• USCIS will review our fingerprints & homestudy. Then they will send our clearance- the coveted I171H.
• John will take a trip to Raleigh to get all notarized papers authenticated.
• Then our dossier will be sent to AWAA in VA.
• They will look over it and send it to the US Secretary of State for authentication.
• It is then sent to Ethiopia!
• Once there it is translated and a court date will be requested. YEAH!

Lemonade for Adoption

This is Carlie.  Carlie is a friend of the family who upon hearing about our adoption decided she wanted to help.  So, Carlie went out and set up a lemonade stand.  Being a smart business girl, she set up near a country club golf course.  At this point she has raised a little over $140.00 and is hoping to raise more.

It is things like this, when you see people who go out of their way to help, who go above and beyond, that truly makes us humble.  We are just amazed at what Carlie has done and her lemonade stand has blessed us in many more ways than just the money.  Her heart and her efforts are a true inspiration to us all.

Thank you, Carlie.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs 

the kingdom of heaven.'” Matthew 19:14

In case you're wondering why our thermometer above went down......

When we started our homestudy, we had to pay for it upfront. At the time we didn't have the money so we charged it. We hated to do that because there is a service charge you have to pay with that, but we knew the money would be coming from our tax return soon. Well, the charge never showed up on our card. Since we now had money from the yard sale, etc. we went ahead and used that to pay for the homestudy. Since we still don't have our tax return, we decided to take that amount off until Uncle Sam finally gets that money in our bank. I know- you're probably thinking, "Why is she telling me all this?" It's just because when people are giving you money, I feel you should be very transparent with how it is being used. Hopefully the tax return will come in soon so that amount can go back up.

Dottie

Never Will I Leave You