This is a sampling of my Haiti-themed necklaces, using several different techniques and components.
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| Designed and Handmade by Jennifer |
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Haiti Themed Necklaces
This summer I discovered the love of jewelry making-- necklaces/pendants, bracelets and earrings. It has been a wonderful creative outlet for me! I am also blessed to say that I have sold several pieces and continue to have custom orders. And interest in my jewelry continues to grow! It seems I may have the start of a good Adoption Fundraiser to help bring our son home from Haiti. {Thank you, Jesus!}
This is a sampling of my Haiti-themed necklaces, using several different techniques and components.
Please visit our FaceBook page and click on "photos" to see a few other styles. I also have many more designs on my personal page. If you are interested in making a purchase or have a custom request, please post a comment here and I will contact you privately. :)
This is a sampling of my Haiti-themed necklaces, using several different techniques and components.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
W's First Care Package
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| This is one of several very sweet photos we received of W with his care package |
We included several small gifts, including a local t-shirt and a very special Christmas book. It's one of those Hallmark books that records your voice reading the story. Eric and I and our girls all got involved in reading the story. We also introduced ourselves in the beginning and sang "Jesus Loves Me" at the end. We have received two videos of him singing "Jesus Loves Me", so we thought this would be the perfect song for him to have in his book.
We were later thrilled to hear about his response to our package and the big news of a forever family. Our local friend who delivered the care package and another adoptive friend (who lives in the same state, only a couple hours away) took W aside to a quiet place to present him with the package. One sat with him and explained each item and the photos. The other took photos of his response. He was quite shy at first--I can only imagine! What huge news for a child who has always been an orphan to suddenly see the faces of the people who will become his FAMILY! He did seem to love the gifts and was so proud to have photos of us and his two sisters, his future kitty cats and his house. He hurried off to show all his friends, and he showed anyone who would look, the pictures of his new family! We are told that he made sure, however, to keep a careful hold on them when people looked. :) The book also turned out to be a huge hit...with all the kiddos at the creche. Apparently it got passed around all day!
Another fun part of the story is this. The C4C creche has a large map of the world in one of the hallways. Each child has a sticker where his adoptive family lives. W several times proudly showed our local friend where his sticker was--on the state of Tennessee--nearly on top of his buddy D's sticker! And close by to A's sticker (our other friend's son--who is now home!). What an awesome connection these boys have! They are all born in Haiti, get placed in the same creche, and out of any place in the world they could end up, their families are all close together in Tennessee!
Thank you Lord Jesus, for your wonderful blessings, your wonderful plans. :-)
Monday, December 16, 2013
W's November Update
Here are a few highlights from the report:
W is one of the most good-natured boys in the crèche. He always wants to help and loves to play with his friends. Wisly responds positively to adult attention and interactions. W almost always has a smile on his face. He is focused in his school work, but also loves rough-housing and playing. He speaks clearly and is learning English. He is intent on learning new English words. He is a quick and patient learner.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
WE ENTERED IBESR!!!
Awesome pre-Christmas gift---being told that our dossier entered IBESR on December 3rd! What an answer to prayer! Our agency coordinator emailed the above receipt to us. Such a lovely piece of paper. :)
So practically speaking, what does this mean for our adoption?
It means that we have now begun the Haiti side of our adoption process. IBESR is the social services department that reviews our dossier documents and W's documents. They are the ones who decide whether to allow us to adopt a child from Haiti. And they will decide whether to allow us to adopt W, specifically. W's file has still not entered IBESR. It still needs his official birth certificate to be issued by the court. Once this occurs (our creche thinks it will be soon...), his file will enter IBESR.
Getting his birth certificate has been quite a lengthy process. Please pray with us that very soon, the judge (?) will sign the certificate and allow it to be issued. We can't go any further in this adoption without that one document. I am praying that God moves upon the proper officials' hearts that they will get this done! Thank you for praying with us. :)
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Haiti Adoption Process
Updated 12/26/13
This post should help give everyone an idea of the steps in our adoption journey.
That way, when we post on facebook or make an announcement at church something like this-- "We exited IBESR!" or "We cleared the 1st stage of Parquet!" or "We are now in MOI!"--you will know what we are talking about! :-)
Many people have asked how the Haitian adoption process works. Unfortunately, that question has no simple answer. The adoption policies and procedures in Haiti actually changed during our process (implementation began January 2013). Adoption agencies and creches (orphanages) are waiting and watching to see how the new procedures, and soon new adoption laws, play out for families early in the process (like us). One big change is that creches and adoption agencies will no longer be allowed to match children available for adoption with adoptive parents. IBESR (Haitian social services) will be making the matches. They will look at an approved family's file (dossier) and look at files of available children and then make a match (referral) for the family.
In our case, the creche we are working with and our adoption agency already approved us to adopt W. There is some risk to this, since the new adoption laws will soon be going into effect. When all of our paperwork (dossier) and W's paperwork is ready to enter IBESR, a letter written by our agency/creche will accompany it. This letter requests that IBESR will honor/allow our match to a particular child--W. Please pray with us that they will!!!
What happens to our dossier once it reaches Haiti?
Note: Since W's family and his background are unknown, the adoption steps below that refer to the Biological Parents do not apply. Currently, his adoption file needs only one more document, his official birth certificate from court, and then it will enter IBESR.
Also Note: President Martelly signed Haiti's New Adoption Law in November, so the new procedures are officially in effect. This does alter some of the steps outlined below. To my knowledge, no "New Process Families" have made it through Step 4. This is a "watch, wait and see" time as things unfold. And I guess you could say that our family gets to be one of the guinea pigs as the new procedures are ironed out. Another exciting adoption ADVENTURE! ;-)
Step one
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) - Authenticating the dossier documents:
Receive date of Visa Appointment:
Some adoptive parents travel to Port Au Prince for the visa interview, otherwise their Power of Attorney (the adoption facilitator) goes. The child is be taken to the Embassy for the final immigration visa interview.
Step 13
Visa Appointment:
Parents who can prove that they visited their child prior to the issuance of the Adoption Decree by Parquet Court will be issued an IR-3 Visa. Their children will be automatically granted full US Citizenship upon arrival in the US
Families who did not visit their children prior to the date of the Adoption Decree must file for citizenship for their children. Failure to file for citizenship will leave the child as a legal immigrant and unprotected by the rights of full citizenship. Please refer to the USCIS website for form N-600 and instructions on how to file
Step 14
Receive exit letter from IBESR
This step is a formality and allows IBESR to track which of the adoptions they have approved have actually received visas to leave Haiti.
Step 15
Pick up your child and fly home!!!
**For a more detailed explanation of these steps, go here: http://kashaiti.blogspot.com/p/hatian-adoption-process.html
This post should help give everyone an idea of the steps in our adoption journey.
That way, when we post on facebook or make an announcement at church something like this-- "We exited IBESR!" or "We cleared the 1st stage of Parquet!" or "We are now in MOI!"--you will know what we are talking about! :-)
Many people have asked how the Haitian adoption process works. Unfortunately, that question has no simple answer. The adoption policies and procedures in Haiti actually changed during our process (implementation began January 2013). Adoption agencies and creches (orphanages) are waiting and watching to see how the new procedures, and soon new adoption laws, play out for families early in the process (like us). One big change is that creches and adoption agencies will no longer be allowed to match children available for adoption with adoptive parents. IBESR (Haitian social services) will be making the matches. They will look at an approved family's file (dossier) and look at files of available children and then make a match (referral) for the family.
In our case, the creche we are working with and our adoption agency already approved us to adopt W. There is some risk to this, since the new adoption laws will soon be going into effect. When all of our paperwork (dossier) and W's paperwork is ready to enter IBESR, a letter written by our agency/creche will accompany it. This letter requests that IBESR will honor/allow our match to a particular child--W. Please pray with us that they will!!!
What happens to our dossier once it reaches Haiti?
Note: Since W's family and his background are unknown, the adoption steps below that refer to the Biological Parents do not apply. Currently, his adoption file needs only one more document, his official birth certificate from court, and then it will enter IBESR.
Also Note: President Martelly signed Haiti's New Adoption Law in November, so the new procedures are officially in effect. This does alter some of the steps outlined below. To my knowledge, no "New Process Families" have made it through Step 4. This is a "watch, wait and see" time as things unfold. And I guess you could say that our family gets to be one of the guinea pigs as the new procedures are ironed out. Another exciting adoption ADVENTURE! ;-)
Step one
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) - Authenticating the dossier documents:
It is the first legal step for your dossier and can take 2-4 weeks.
Step two
Preparation of the parents' dossier for IBESR (Haitian Social Services Department)
Preparation of the parents' dossier for IBESR (Haitian Social Services Department)
When your paperwork is at Foreign Affairs, it must be prepared to enter IBESR.
Documents will also be collected into a file for the child you are adopting:
Documents will also be collected into a file for the child you are adopting:
-passport pictures
-Birth Certificate (and attestation of signature on the birth certificate, or extract from the National Archives (??)
-Legal relinquishment of custody from the biological family to the orphanage from the local judge
-Psychological evaluation
-Medical evaluation
-Laboratory tests
-Social History
Step 4: (We entered this step in December--praise God!)
IBESR
IBESR officials will look over your documents and decide whether or not to approve your request to adopt from Haiti.
The adoptive parents are now being required by IBESR to travel to Haiti for a 2 week bonding visit with the child they have a proposed match to. "Once the express approval of the adoptive parents has been received [once they have agreed in writing to adopt the child they are matched with], the Haiti Central Authority authorizes a socialization period between the adoptive parents and the child. This socialization period is mandatory; it can be less than 2 weeks, for domestic or for international adoption." (Article 52)
A social worker from IBESR will observe the child and adoptive parents interactions and will write a report. It is my understanding that the social worker from the child's creche will also make observations and write a report to submit to IBESR. Then..."The Central Authority, within the 10 days after the socialization period, delivers or rejects authorization for the adoption based upon an evaluation rapport." (Article 53)
IBESR
IBESR officials will look over your documents and decide whether or not to approve your request to adopt from Haiti.
The adoptive parents are now being required by IBESR to travel to Haiti for a 2 week bonding visit with the child they have a proposed match to. "Once the express approval of the adoptive parents has been received [once they have agreed in writing to adopt the child they are matched with], the Haiti Central Authority authorizes a socialization period between the adoptive parents and the child. This socialization period is mandatory; it can be less than 2 weeks, for domestic or for international adoption." (Article 52)
A social worker from IBESR will observe the child and adoptive parents interactions and will write a report. It is my understanding that the social worker from the child's creche will also make observations and write a report to submit to IBESR. Then..."The Central Authority, within the 10 days after the socialization period, delivers or rejects authorization for the adoption based upon an evaluation rapport." (Article 53)
To gain final IBESR approval, you must gain approval signatures from the:
IBESR director, IBESR lawyer, IBESR head of adoption services and the IBESR social worker.
Step 5
Parquet - The "Court Phase":
Parquet - The "Court Phase":
1. The attorney for your child's creche submits a Request for Judgement to the Chief of Parquet Court
2. Birth parents are interviewed, if alive
3. Parquet Court signs off on "approval judgement for adoption"
4. Adoption facilitator takes the approval document to the DGI (Director General of Taxes) for his stamp of approval
5. Back to Parquet for enforcement of approval
6. Civil Registrar Officer authorizes and redacts (pulls all the
information together) and readies the paperwork for the legal adoption
decree
7. Civil Registrar Verifies all the adoption documents
8. Civil registrar signs the Adoption Decree!
9. FIRST LEGALIZATION of the Adoption Decree in Parquet Court
10. SECOND LEGALIZATION of the Adoption Decree at the Ministry of Justice
11. THIRD LEGALIZATION of the Adoption Decree in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
12. The Adoption Decree goes to the National Archives to be registered. Once it has been registered, you can retrieve a copy of it (or your adoption worker can). Send the copy to be added to your USCIS paperwork to file with your I-600 paperwork for your return trip home with your child.
Note: The adoptive parents may or may not be required to come to the Second Court stage.
12. The Adoption Decree goes to the National Archives to be registered. Once it has been registered, you can retrieve a copy of it (or your adoption worker can). Send the copy to be added to your USCIS paperwork to file with your I-600 paperwork for your return trip home with your child.
Note: The adoptive parents may or may not be required to come to the Second Court stage.
Step 7
Ministry of the Interior (MOI) - the Passport application process; the child's passport is issued with the adoptive parents' last name
Ministry of the Interior (MOI) - the Passport application process; the child's passport is issued with the adoptive parents' last name
-The adoption facilitator collects and submits the following:
Four passport sized pictures
Birth Certificate
Attestation of Birth Certificate
Extract from the National Achives for the Birth Certifcate
Relinquishment
Proces Verbal of Adoption
Adoption Approval Judgement
Adoption Decree
Attestation of the Adoption Decree
Power of Attorney for Creche Director and/or attorney
Stamp from DGI
Notary Letter for the Passport
Identification card for the facilitator and/or attorney
Biological parents identification cards
Adoptive parents MOI form, identification and passport photos
-The Ministry of Interior grants authorization to submit the dossier to Haitian Immigration for a passport.
Step 8
Passports:
Passports:
Your Haitian adoption facilitator (from the creche) submits the authorization from MOI to Haitian
Immigration. Haitian Immigration prints and issues your child's passport.
Step 9
Visa Medical Examination:
Visa Medical Examination:
The child is taken to have a medical exam which is required as
part of the U.S. Visa application process.
Step 10
The 1-600 U.S Immigration form - The I-600 petitions to bring the named child home to the U.S.:
An I-600 form is filed with USCIS (U.S. Immigration). You will receive updates on where you are in this process. Your provisionally approved I-600 will then be sent to the Embassy in Port Au Prince for the biological parents to be interviewed.
An I-600 form is filed with USCIS (U.S. Immigration). You will receive updates on where you are in this process. Your provisionally approved I-600 will then be sent to the Embassy in Port Au Prince for the biological parents to be interviewed.
Once approved by USCIS, you will receive the I-171 form, which classifies an orphan as an immediate relative of yours (the adopted child as your child).
Step 11
The U.S. Consulate:
The U.S. Consulate:
Following completion of all USCIS
investigations and adjudication of the I-600 for the child, the case is forwarded to the U.S. Department of State for issuance of the travel visa. Adoptive parents may or may not need to be present for
the visa appointment in Port Au Prince, Haiti.
During this process, the adoption facilitator submits several legalized adoption documents to the Consulate for review.
Step 12During this process, the adoption facilitator submits several legalized adoption documents to the Consulate for review.
Receive date of Visa Appointment:
Some adoptive parents travel to Port Au Prince for the visa interview, otherwise their Power of Attorney (the adoption facilitator) goes. The child is be taken to the Embassy for the final immigration visa interview.
Step 13
Visa Appointment:
Parents who can prove that they visited their child prior to the issuance of the Adoption Decree by Parquet Court will be issued an IR-3 Visa. Their children will be automatically granted full US Citizenship upon arrival in the US
Families who did not visit their children prior to the date of the Adoption Decree must file for citizenship for their children. Failure to file for citizenship will leave the child as a legal immigrant and unprotected by the rights of full citizenship. Please refer to the USCIS website for form N-600 and instructions on how to file
Step 14
Receive exit letter from IBESR
This step is a formality and allows IBESR to track which of the adoptions they have approved have actually received visas to leave Haiti.
Step 15
Pick up your child and fly home!!!
**For a more detailed explanation of these steps, go here: http://kashaiti.blogspot.com/p/hatian-adoption-process.html
Monday, September 23, 2013
First Update from the Creche!
In September, we were thrilled to receive our first update on W from his creche...and a couple new photos. He is adorable and amazing! We are soooo excited for the day we get to actually meet him in person and experience the fun personality that so many people have been describing to us these past several months. :-)
Here are a few of the highlights.
1) Development:
• W is very enthusiastic, smiling and laughing
• Lost his first tooth and seems to be getting his first molars
• Very expressive with his words
• Can write certain letters and numbers, and his name
• Seems fearless and dives into activities and interactions with no hesitation
• Loves to play with visitors
• Frequently plays with a group of boys around his age but is open to playing with anyone
• Very mild-tempered and has a good sense of humor
• Is very active and has strong motor skills, maintains good balance, speed and agility
2) Health:
W has been in good health for the past couple of months
3) Legal:
The family’s dossier is in the legalization process while we finish gathering W’s documents. In his particular case, many steps are required through the court, IBESR and government officials to generate all his necessary paperwork. We hope to have his birth certificate soon, which is the biggest hurdle.
Here are a few of the highlights.
1) Development:
• W is very enthusiastic, smiling and laughing
• Lost his first tooth and seems to be getting his first molars
• Very expressive with his words
• Can write certain letters and numbers, and his name
• Seems fearless and dives into activities and interactions with no hesitation
• Loves to play with visitors
• Frequently plays with a group of boys around his age but is open to playing with anyone
• Very mild-tempered and has a good sense of humor
• Is very active and has strong motor skills, maintains good balance, speed and agility
2) Health:
W has been in good health for the past couple of months
3) Legal:
The family’s dossier is in the legalization process while we finish gathering W’s documents. In his particular case, many steps are required through the court, IBESR and government officials to generate all his necessary paperwork. We hope to have his birth certificate soon, which is the biggest hurdle.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Some of the Kiddos at the Creche
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Friday, September 6, 2013
Tabs Updated
...at the top of the blog. Prayer Partners and Get Involved have both been updated...and Timeline is currently in the works. Hope you check them out. :)
Thanks for stopping by our blog!
~Blessings,
Jennifer
Thanks for stopping by our blog!
~Blessings,
Jennifer
Thursday, September 5, 2013
DTH (Dossier to Haiti), and What Comes Next
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| Here are all of our dossier documents (minus the I-171H which hadn't arrived yet) before we shipped it to our adoption agency. |
We prepared a letter to IBESR (Institut du BienEtre Social et de Recherches), which is basically Haiti's Child and Family Services. It is our official and personal request to adopt a child from Haiti. Every family writes a letter like this to accompany their dossier. In the letter, we explain why we want to adopt from Haiti and we share about our family. Writing this letter took quite a bit of time and thought, but I think (I hope) it leaves the officials with a good impression of us. Along with the letter we prepared a 3 page photo album of family photos with captions. This will also help those reviewing our paperwork and idea of who we are. A Power of Attorney document is also prepared so the agency/creche's attorney in Haiti can act on our behalf during the adoption process.
The last piece of the dossier is the Immigration Approval letter. We filed the Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (July 9th) to bring a foreign-born (Haiti) orphan (W) into the U.S. as our child. Then we got fingerprinted at our closest immigration office (on July 26th--2 weeks before our appointment--we just showed up early and they let us get printed!) and waited to receive our approval letter, the Form I-171H, Notice of Favorable Determination. I stalked the mailbox for days and days, and it finally arrived on August 22nd! Happy dance time!!
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| Someone at the post office spilled coffee?? |
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| This unremarkable looking form is our approval letter! |
So what next???
Our dossier has one final step before it enters IBESR and starts the review process. It is currently being "legalized" by Haiti's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I think that's correct), which can take a few weeks. Then it will enter IBESR.
...IF...
IF W's file is complete. Since W is a "true orphan", and as such has no birth certificate and his background is unknown, an adoption file has to be created for him. The staff from his creche has to track down various people in various places and collect a variety of documents and get a variety of signatures. Then he will have a file for adoption. THEN his file and our file, along with a letter from our agency requesting we be matched, will be submitted to IBESR.
This is a huge prayer request. Creating a history for a child and gathering the documentation can be very difficult and time consuming. Please pray with us that the creche is able to get W's file complete and correct and ready to go by the time our file is finished with legalization. Thank you so much for praying!!!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
It's Been 3 Months Since My Last Confession...uh 'Post'
I must admit I'm a little embarrassed at how far behind I am at telling W's adoption story. This is my attempt to catch everyone up on the last 3+ months (eek!) because SO MUCH has happened!
By the way, I have added several dates so that other Haiti adoptive families can get an idea of our timeframe (yeah, I do that comparison thing too.. ;-)). I have also divided the post with topic headings,,,if you prefer to skip to the juicy parts! ha!
The Home Study process begins...
In mid-April we got into contact with our home study social worker - a wonderful local lady who we've used for several home studies and home study updates. On May 3rd my hubby, Eric, and I had our first official meeting in her office to discuss how to proceed and to set a goal for completing the home study. Our goal? May 31st. Because our family was scheduled to be out of town the first two weeks of June, we hoped to have our notarized home study document in-hand before we left for our trip. This was going to be a challenge. I should add...there was a bigger reason for rushing to get our home study finished. The notarized home study would be emailed to the crèche in Haiti where W lives. It would be reviewed by the director / adoption staff. If it met their approval, they would officially match our family to W and send us adoption contracts to sign!! And the sooner we got that done, the sooner we could complete our dossier for the Haitian government to review and *Officially Match* us to W.
So began a flurry of collecting documents, filling out forms, having meetings, getting exams, visiting the notary, visiting FedEx, driving all around our city with 2 kiddos, collecting more documents, etc. The checklist was 2 pages long!! Fortunately many of the documents would also be used in our dossier. On May 29th our social worker came to our home for the final interview and home inspection. This was painless, enjoyable actually, since we know and love her well. By the end of that week, we had submitted to her every item on the checklist. Woohoo! We didn't quite meet the goal of having it written, but now she could do that while we were out of town. We could email revisions and corrections back and forth with her and our adoption agency worker to come up with a completed home study.
Home Study or Comedy of Errors?
For those of you who are just now embarking on your international adoption journey, please don't let me scare you away from diving into the paperwork. Knowing about possible pitfalls will help you immensely in getting your paperwork completed error-free. You can do it! I promise! Those who have already completed an international adoption, you know what I'm talking about! And you look back and chuckle, maybe roll your eyes...now that your child is home. ;-) What am I referring to? Notarized Documents. Getting that Notary Signature and Seal. Official documents going to a foreign country must be notarized in an absolutely precise way, with specific legal language, a commission that won't expire before one year, matching dates, and more. Each document is certified by several levels of government in the U.S. as well as in the foreign country, so precision matters.
Let me give you one example where things can go seriously awry. The Medicals. Oh, those dern' little medical forms--the great hurdle of every repeat international adoptive parent. This document is required for your home study and dossier and gives the foreign government some assurance that you won't suddenly keel over after you bring your kiddo home. So you and your spouse get thoroughly examined by your medical doctor and tested for a multitude of diseases and conditions. You wait for results. You give the doctor 2 forms (for each of you) that he must fill out, sign and notarize. Additionally the doctor writes 2 letters (for each of you) on his letterhead stating you've been tested and examined and are healthy, you are able to raise an adoptive child, blah blah blah...and he signs and notarizes. For Eric and me, this meant our doctor was responsible for 8 documents. In the end, it took several conversations, new forms, and a couple additional visits to the doctor before we had 8 correctly notarized documents in hand. I almost cried with relief and had to purchase an extra box of Clairol Nice n Easy to cover the new gray hairs... ;-)
There were several other blips along "the home study way", but it's all part of the adoptive journey. These little inconveniences mean nothing when you consider that every moment of every step is bringing you closer to a child. A child who will someday be your son.
A Big "Glitch"...
In June something pretty big that happened, unrelated to our adoption, is that my husband donated a kidney to his brother-in-law. The first 2 weeks of June our family was out of town for the surgery and with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. We stayed in a hotel suite together (well the guys spent several days in the hospital and we girls had the suite) and spent precious days together and had wonderful talks and times of connection. When Eric was released to return home, he was on bed rest for a couple weeks. This is the reason we wanted to get the home study completed by the end of May.
While we were gone, we planned on emailing back and forth with our home study social worker and our adoption agency worker to get a finalized version of the home study. We thought this would be fairly low key and not a big deal. We would get the home study finalized, emailed to the crèche and be matched to W. However, a glitch arose 2 days before we left on our trip. We learned that another family with another adoption agency had started to pursue the adoption of W! We had no idea how far along they were in their home study process, so suddenly we found ourselves racing to finish our home study. We were passionately convinced that God had led us to this particular boy and we already felt he was our son. We, with lots of family/friends prayed for God's leading and for His will to be done in this situation. We frantically edited the home study via emails back and forth with our 2 adoption workers. It would have been heart wrenching if we "lost" W, but we trusted God to put W in the family that was of His choosing.
So what happened? We got our home study finalized and submitted to the crèche shortly after we returned from our trip. And a few days later, on our anniversary, we received the official match from the crèche to adopt to W! We received his referral file with photos and the adoption contracts to sign. Best anniversary gift ever! And some other really great news-- the other family is now happily pursuing the adoption of another child, and are thrilled that W has a family too. God took care of it all!!
God Provides...
With this adoption process, as with the others before it, we promised God that we would not borrow money to pay the adoption fees and travel expenses. With W, He gave us an open door to walk through and promised to provide ALL that was needed to bring this little boy home. His faithful provision has been evident in many miraculous ways! God has provided through several means, including creative fundraisers: our puzzle piece fundraiser; an online jewelry auction;
selling Restaurant.com vouchers; Thirty-One totes sales; donation jar at the coffee shop where I work; and a large yard sale at our church. We also had many friends, family members, and even strangers donate to our adoption fund. Some of those were large donations that simply knocked our socks off! We started with an adoption fund that totaled zero, but in 4 months, God provided nearly $11,000 towards our adoption!!!
---Ok wow. That was a looooong post. If you made it this far, I say like we do in the south, "Well bless your little heart!" ;-) I'm pooped out from writing it, and I'm sure your eyes are worn out reading it; thus I will push pause in the story. I will continue the update...with CURRENT ADOPTION NEWS...in my next post!
By the way, I have added several dates so that other Haiti adoptive families can get an idea of our timeframe (yeah, I do that comparison thing too.. ;-)). I have also divided the post with topic headings,,,if you prefer to skip to the juicy parts! ha!
The Home Study process begins...
In mid-April we got into contact with our home study social worker - a wonderful local lady who we've used for several home studies and home study updates. On May 3rd my hubby, Eric, and I had our first official meeting in her office to discuss how to proceed and to set a goal for completing the home study. Our goal? May 31st. Because our family was scheduled to be out of town the first two weeks of June, we hoped to have our notarized home study document in-hand before we left for our trip. This was going to be a challenge. I should add...there was a bigger reason for rushing to get our home study finished. The notarized home study would be emailed to the crèche in Haiti where W lives. It would be reviewed by the director / adoption staff. If it met their approval, they would officially match our family to W and send us adoption contracts to sign!! And the sooner we got that done, the sooner we could complete our dossier for the Haitian government to review and *Officially Match* us to W.
So began a flurry of collecting documents, filling out forms, having meetings, getting exams, visiting the notary, visiting FedEx, driving all around our city with 2 kiddos, collecting more documents, etc. The checklist was 2 pages long!! Fortunately many of the documents would also be used in our dossier. On May 29th our social worker came to our home for the final interview and home inspection. This was painless, enjoyable actually, since we know and love her well. By the end of that week, we had submitted to her every item on the checklist. Woohoo! We didn't quite meet the goal of having it written, but now she could do that while we were out of town. We could email revisions and corrections back and forth with her and our adoption agency worker to come up with a completed home study.
Home Study or Comedy of Errors?
For those of you who are just now embarking on your international adoption journey, please don't let me scare you away from diving into the paperwork. Knowing about possible pitfalls will help you immensely in getting your paperwork completed error-free. You can do it! I promise! Those who have already completed an international adoption, you know what I'm talking about! And you look back and chuckle, maybe roll your eyes...now that your child is home. ;-) What am I referring to? Notarized Documents. Getting that Notary Signature and Seal. Official documents going to a foreign country must be notarized in an absolutely precise way, with specific legal language, a commission that won't expire before one year, matching dates, and more. Each document is certified by several levels of government in the U.S. as well as in the foreign country, so precision matters.
Let me give you one example where things can go seriously awry. The Medicals. Oh, those dern' little medical forms--the great hurdle of every repeat international adoptive parent. This document is required for your home study and dossier and gives the foreign government some assurance that you won't suddenly keel over after you bring your kiddo home. So you and your spouse get thoroughly examined by your medical doctor and tested for a multitude of diseases and conditions. You wait for results. You give the doctor 2 forms (for each of you) that he must fill out, sign and notarize. Additionally the doctor writes 2 letters (for each of you) on his letterhead stating you've been tested and examined and are healthy, you are able to raise an adoptive child, blah blah blah...and he signs and notarizes. For Eric and me, this meant our doctor was responsible for 8 documents. In the end, it took several conversations, new forms, and a couple additional visits to the doctor before we had 8 correctly notarized documents in hand. I almost cried with relief and had to purchase an extra box of Clairol Nice n Easy to cover the new gray hairs... ;-)
There were several other blips along "the home study way", but it's all part of the adoptive journey. These little inconveniences mean nothing when you consider that every moment of every step is bringing you closer to a child. A child who will someday be your son.
A Big "Glitch"...
In June something pretty big that happened, unrelated to our adoption, is that my husband donated a kidney to his brother-in-law. The first 2 weeks of June our family was out of town for the surgery and with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. We stayed in a hotel suite together (well the guys spent several days in the hospital and we girls had the suite) and spent precious days together and had wonderful talks and times of connection. When Eric was released to return home, he was on bed rest for a couple weeks. This is the reason we wanted to get the home study completed by the end of May.
While we were gone, we planned on emailing back and forth with our home study social worker and our adoption agency worker to get a finalized version of the home study. We thought this would be fairly low key and not a big deal. We would get the home study finalized, emailed to the crèche and be matched to W. However, a glitch arose 2 days before we left on our trip. We learned that another family with another adoption agency had started to pursue the adoption of W! We had no idea how far along they were in their home study process, so suddenly we found ourselves racing to finish our home study. We were passionately convinced that God had led us to this particular boy and we already felt he was our son. We, with lots of family/friends prayed for God's leading and for His will to be done in this situation. We frantically edited the home study via emails back and forth with our 2 adoption workers. It would have been heart wrenching if we "lost" W, but we trusted God to put W in the family that was of His choosing.
So what happened? We got our home study finalized and submitted to the crèche shortly after we returned from our trip. And a few days later, on our anniversary, we received the official match from the crèche to adopt to W! We received his referral file with photos and the adoption contracts to sign. Best anniversary gift ever! And some other really great news-- the other family is now happily pursuing the adoption of another child, and are thrilled that W has a family too. God took care of it all!!
God Provides...
With this adoption process, as with the others before it, we promised God that we would not borrow money to pay the adoption fees and travel expenses. With W, He gave us an open door to walk through and promised to provide ALL that was needed to bring this little boy home. His faithful provision has been evident in many miraculous ways! God has provided through several means, including creative fundraisers: our puzzle piece fundraiser; an online jewelry auction;
selling Restaurant.com vouchers; Thirty-One totes sales; donation jar at the coffee shop where I work; and a large yard sale at our church. We also had many friends, family members, and even strangers donate to our adoption fund. Some of those were large donations that simply knocked our socks off! We started with an adoption fund that totaled zero, but in 4 months, God provided nearly $11,000 towards our adoption!!!
---Ok wow. That was a looooong post. If you made it this far, I say like we do in the south, "Well bless your little heart!" ;-) I'm pooped out from writing it, and I'm sure your eyes are worn out reading it; thus I will push pause in the story. I will continue the update...with CURRENT ADOPTION NEWS...in my next post!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Adoption is like...Ice Cream?
I love the way our 6 year old daughter Noelle describes our family-through-adoption...or what it will look like once W comes home. :)
She says:
Our family is like an ice cream sundae.
Mommy and Daddy are the scoops of vanilla ice cream on the bottom (they are light skinned).
Me and Selah are the caramel sauce on top (we have tan, caramel colored skin).
And when brother W from Haiti comes home, he will be the fudge topping (his skin is dark like chocolate).
And our two kitties are the colored sprinkles on top.
Noelle, I like the way you think. All of us put together make up something wonderful, truly special and sweet!
She says:
Our family is like an ice cream sundae.
Mommy and Daddy are the scoops of vanilla ice cream on the bottom (they are light skinned).
Me and Selah are the caramel sauce on top (we have tan, caramel colored skin).
And when brother W from Haiti comes home, he will be the fudge topping (his skin is dark like chocolate).
And our two kitties are the colored sprinkles on top.
Noelle, I like the way you think. All of us put together make up something wonderful, truly special and sweet!
We have reached PHASE TWO! (plus some prayer requests)
Thanks to God moving on hearts, and your generous participation in our adoption, we have paid our first adoption agency fee, and have our home study fee is fully covered!!!
We have now entered Phase Two.
This stage of the process is commonly, and oh-so-lovingly (yeah right) referred to as "The Paper Chase". The paper chase involves two elements: The Home Study and The Dossier. Maybe it should be called the Paper Race??...
The home study process is conducted with a certified social worker and is essentially the adoptive family's "Life On Paper". (Hope you're not a private person!) The social worker meets with the family several times and collects a large list of documents from the family. After this, she writes an 8-15 page report that describes each parent and the family as a whole. Documents and procedures include things like-- Police background checks, reference letters, financial records and statements, employment letters, medical exams, marriage / parenting / adoption questionnaires, autobiographies, insurance verifications, and much more... Oh so fun... ;-)
----Our Goal: To be finished with the home study by the end of May. Eeek! We have some huge family commitments in June and July, so if we don't finish this month, we are looking at August before we complete the home study. We truly hate to put this off, making W wait even longer at the crèche before he gets a family.
The dossier process is focused more on certifying documents at a federal level for both the U.S. and Haiti. Many of the documents used to support the home study are also included in the dossier. Some items in the dossier include-- the home study report, certified marriage license, certified birth certificates, U.S. Immigration approval (approval to adopt a foreign born child and bring him/her to the U.S.), medical evaluations, employment letters, financial letters, family photos, and more. Once gathered, the documents receive multiple levels of certification--county, state, federal...then authenticated by the Haitian embassy. The dossier is translated, and then it is sent to Haiti!! THAT is the mega exciting part, believe me. After having sent a dossier to China and one to Taiwan, woooeeee the celebrating begins!
----Our Goal: To submit our completed dossier in August or September.
Oh friends! Eric and I could SO use your prayers!
1) The Paper Chase is very intense and time consuming. It is often stressful and frustrating. Will you please pray with us that we are able to complete all the necessary tasks...and that they be done correctly the first time?
2) Will you also pray for W. (This is big.) Because his background and family is unknown, some of his "dossier" is proving difficult to gather. Some documents will have to be created, so to speak (legally, of course). Tracking down information and finding people from the past several years can be very challenging, to say the least. We cannot adopt W...until his paperwork is complete and in order. Please, please, plllllllease pray with us that his crèche is able to make all the connections, find the people, and get everything they need to complete his dossier.
3) Lastly, will you pray again for those Financial Mountains to MOVE once again? This Phase Two mountain is a little smaller (approx. $3000) but still really big to us. Once our home study is finalized, we can start applying for grants. We also have some fundraising ideas. But when it comes down to it, it will have to be God who does the providing.
Thank you, Dear Ones!!
We have now entered Phase Two.
This stage of the process is commonly, and oh-so-lovingly (yeah right) referred to as "The Paper Chase". The paper chase involves two elements: The Home Study and The Dossier. Maybe it should be called the Paper Race??...
The home study process is conducted with a certified social worker and is essentially the adoptive family's "Life On Paper". (Hope you're not a private person!) The social worker meets with the family several times and collects a large list of documents from the family. After this, she writes an 8-15 page report that describes each parent and the family as a whole. Documents and procedures include things like-- Police background checks, reference letters, financial records and statements, employment letters, medical exams, marriage / parenting / adoption questionnaires, autobiographies, insurance verifications, and much more... Oh so fun... ;-)
----Our Goal: To be finished with the home study by the end of May. Eeek! We have some huge family commitments in June and July, so if we don't finish this month, we are looking at August before we complete the home study. We truly hate to put this off, making W wait even longer at the crèche before he gets a family.
The dossier process is focused more on certifying documents at a federal level for both the U.S. and Haiti. Many of the documents used to support the home study are also included in the dossier. Some items in the dossier include-- the home study report, certified marriage license, certified birth certificates, U.S. Immigration approval (approval to adopt a foreign born child and bring him/her to the U.S.), medical evaluations, employment letters, financial letters, family photos, and more. Once gathered, the documents receive multiple levels of certification--county, state, federal...then authenticated by the Haitian embassy. The dossier is translated, and then it is sent to Haiti!! THAT is the mega exciting part, believe me. After having sent a dossier to China and one to Taiwan, woooeeee the celebrating begins!
----Our Goal: To submit our completed dossier in August or September.
Oh friends! Eric and I could SO use your prayers!
1) The Paper Chase is very intense and time consuming. It is often stressful and frustrating. Will you please pray with us that we are able to complete all the necessary tasks...and that they be done correctly the first time?
2) Will you also pray for W. (This is big.) Because his background and family is unknown, some of his "dossier" is proving difficult to gather. Some documents will have to be created, so to speak (legally, of course). Tracking down information and finding people from the past several years can be very challenging, to say the least. We cannot adopt W...until his paperwork is complete and in order. Please, please, plllllllease pray with us that his crèche is able to make all the connections, find the people, and get everything they need to complete his dossier.
3) Lastly, will you pray again for those Financial Mountains to MOVE once again? This Phase Two mountain is a little smaller (approx. $3000) but still really big to us. Once our home study is finalized, we can start applying for grants. We also have some fundraising ideas. But when it comes down to it, it will have to be God who does the providing.
Thank you, Dear Ones!!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Recent God Sightings (Part 2)
I had this sweet image of W in my mind-- his huge, sparkling brown eyes and his dazzling smile. The words of several adoptive moms who had met and played with W personally on their trips to Haiti kept playing through my mind. They described him as "joyful, smiley, playful, sweet, affectionate, etc." My odd visceral reaction to his picture the first time I saw his face also lingered in my mind. What was happening here? What was God doing? I was being so careful about getting "emotionally involved" before we had total peace and confirmation from God to move forward with this adoption. Yet I needed confirmation. Eric and I both desired confirmation that would give us the confidence to sign onto this journey with no turning back.
God had already been opening doors for us. He gave us several scripture verses in our "seeking phase" which encouraged us to keep moving forward. Through the words of songs and sermons and special words of insight from close Godly friends, we were also encouraged to move forward. The sense of peace and rightness of this path was growing every day.
Yet I was tempted to doubt. I would have God's peace one day, then prickles of doubt might trouble me the next. I had to keep surrendering W and his adoption to God. Each time I did, His sweet peace took over. Still I asked God for confirmation that would break through my weakness and humanity. He is such a gracious and loving God...that's exactly what He did...
#1 One day in early April I was at work at the coffee shop talking with my co-worker and friend Shannon, who also happens to be the store manager, a great family man and a pastor. I was soooooo wanting to tell someone about our intentions to adopt W (because it was still a secret!) and I thought Shannon would be a good choice. I respect and admire his walk with God...and I knew he wouldn't get all giggly and gossipy and spill the beans or anything. In the kitchen over a sink of dirty dishes, I began to tell the tale. But wait--in came a customer--I went out to make her drink. A couple minutes later I returned to the kitchen to continue the story. I showed Shannon a picture of W on my phone and said, "Eric and I are going to adopt this boy".
Before I could put the period on the end of my sentence, Shannon jumped into the air, slapped his knee and shouted, "I knew it!!" He then handed me a piece of paper on which he had written the word "adopting". While I was out front serving the customer, Shannon had written the word "adopting" in a note pad.
I was feeling strangely excited and confused. Shannon explained, "For almost 2 weeks now, God has been having me pray for your family--because I felt that you would be adopting again, adopting a little boy!"
Oh. My. Word!!! Seriously??! Ok God. I see that you are speaking to me here. With Shannon's amazing revelation, God blew one of my socks off!
#2 On that very same day, I was messaging back and forth with one of my new friends who is adopting a little boy from the same crèche (orphanage) where W is. She is one of the moms who has met and played with him and really cares about him and his future. As we were chatting she says, "I just realized where you live!!!" She said that one of her friends lives in our same city...and is adopting a little boy from the same crèche where W lives...and happens to be one of W's very best friends!!!
Oh. My. Serious. Goodness!!!
In all of the countries and in all of the cities that these Haitian sweeties could have ended up in,,,God is choosing to place two very good friends in the very same town!!! Amidst all the changes that a child experiences with international adoption, God is maintaining that precious connection of their friendship. How good is He!!!
Ok God. I got the message loud and clear. You have blown my other sock clean off!
~~~Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving these two children so much that you are giving them this gift, this link of friendship! And thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving me so much that you answered my prayer and gave me not one, but two "God Sightings" to encourage me and Eric on our journey to our future son. (insert shout of "Hallelujah" here)
God had already been opening doors for us. He gave us several scripture verses in our "seeking phase" which encouraged us to keep moving forward. Through the words of songs and sermons and special words of insight from close Godly friends, we were also encouraged to move forward. The sense of peace and rightness of this path was growing every day.
Yet I was tempted to doubt. I would have God's peace one day, then prickles of doubt might trouble me the next. I had to keep surrendering W and his adoption to God. Each time I did, His sweet peace took over. Still I asked God for confirmation that would break through my weakness and humanity. He is such a gracious and loving God...that's exactly what He did...
#1 One day in early April I was at work at the coffee shop talking with my co-worker and friend Shannon, who also happens to be the store manager, a great family man and a pastor. I was soooooo wanting to tell someone about our intentions to adopt W (because it was still a secret!) and I thought Shannon would be a good choice. I respect and admire his walk with God...and I knew he wouldn't get all giggly and gossipy and spill the beans or anything. In the kitchen over a sink of dirty dishes, I began to tell the tale. But wait--in came a customer--I went out to make her drink. A couple minutes later I returned to the kitchen to continue the story. I showed Shannon a picture of W on my phone and said, "Eric and I are going to adopt this boy".
Before I could put the period on the end of my sentence, Shannon jumped into the air, slapped his knee and shouted, "I knew it!!" He then handed me a piece of paper on which he had written the word "adopting". While I was out front serving the customer, Shannon had written the word "adopting" in a note pad.
I was feeling strangely excited and confused. Shannon explained, "For almost 2 weeks now, God has been having me pray for your family--because I felt that you would be adopting again, adopting a little boy!"
Oh. My. Word!!! Seriously??! Ok God. I see that you are speaking to me here. With Shannon's amazing revelation, God blew one of my socks off!
#2 On that very same day, I was messaging back and forth with one of my new friends who is adopting a little boy from the same crèche (orphanage) where W is. She is one of the moms who has met and played with him and really cares about him and his future. As we were chatting she says, "I just realized where you live!!!" She said that one of her friends lives in our same city...and is adopting a little boy from the same crèche where W lives...and happens to be one of W's very best friends!!!
Oh. My. Serious. Goodness!!!
In all of the countries and in all of the cities that these Haitian sweeties could have ended up in,,,God is choosing to place two very good friends in the very same town!!! Amidst all the changes that a child experiences with international adoption, God is maintaining that precious connection of their friendship. How good is He!!!
Ok God. I got the message loud and clear. You have blown my other sock clean off!
~~~Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving these two children so much that you are giving them this gift, this link of friendship! And thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving me so much that you answered my prayer and gave me not one, but two "God Sightings" to encourage me and Eric on our journey to our future son. (insert shout of "Hallelujah" here)
Recent God Sightings (Part 1)
I've been dying to tell you about 2 amazing things God did for us recently. As we sought His will about whether or not we should adopt W, He blew our socks off! Today, I'm gonna tell ya about those 2 things.
Both Eric and I can say that we have experienced many, many "God sightings" in our life together as Christ-followers. Being in vocational ministry together seems to have increased our "sightings" as we've had a front row seat to God working in the lives of people in our church and community.
In early 2006, when we first stepped onto the Road of Adoption, our personal God sightings increased tenfold. We have seen Him open tightly locked doors--plowing a Red Sea path through bureaucratic red tape. When our financial fields were empty, we have been on the receiving end of manna from Heaven. And the times when our spirits were dry, our hearts were hurting or we were tempted to doubt, our Heavenly Father watered our souls and filled us with His peace.
Adoption changed our view of life, family, parenting, Christianity...and God Himself. Previously, we felt confident in our understanding of God's Salvation Plan: A "child" lost in sin would receive the free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. We had both been walking with God for many years. We loved Him and felt we knew Him well.
Then we adopted our first child.
A child we had never met was placed in our arms. In an instant, a child without a family became a daughter. She came to us with a past and 18 months of life experience. She instantly went from orphan status to "the daughter of Eric and Jennifer Johnson" and our name became her name. We did not know her, but in the instant she became our daughter, all of our love was hers...forever.
Our Heavenly Father does that for us--
--Even though we have no claim on Him. Even thought we come to Him with dark and hurting places, hopeless and broken places. In spite of this, He gives us all of His perfect love. He adopts us and calls us His own.
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."' Romans 8:15
When you or I accept God's love--in an instant--we are His child and that becomes our new name! We become a dearly loved and cherished child with a Father, an inheritance and an eternal home with Him in heaven!
Having received our child, we began to truly understand. Eric and I had experienced for ourselves God's perfect Plan of Adoption. Through our adoption of Noelle and later Selah, our own salvation came alive in ways we hadn't yet encountered. Our walk with Him was richer, fuller, deeper. Our hearts beat with His and our eyes were opened to see people and situations in new ways. We began to see God's hand at work all over the place! Yes, we had been witnesses to God's amazing acts before this time, but now our spiritual eyes had been opened wide. And you know what else? Our faith grew like crazy!! :)
Now we were ready for God to really show off. :-D
And boy did He!! In every phase, of every adoption, even the failed adoptions (yeah-we had some of those), God worked in our lives and in the lives of those around us. He provided in unimaginable ways. He opened impossible doors. He tested our faith (and the faith of the people around us) and strrrrrrrrrretched us, then grew our faith. People-- God is at work!! He is always working things together "for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 In our lives, He used adoption (He still is!) to be the impetus of our deeper faith-walk with Him.
What is God using in your life to bring you into a closer, faith-filled walk with Him?
In the next post, I dive right into just two of the super cool things God did to give us confirmation that we should adopt W. Love it!! (I'm writing that post now...hope to post it soon... ;-))
Both Eric and I can say that we have experienced many, many "God sightings" in our life together as Christ-followers. Being in vocational ministry together seems to have increased our "sightings" as we've had a front row seat to God working in the lives of people in our church and community.
In early 2006, when we first stepped onto the Road of Adoption, our personal God sightings increased tenfold. We have seen Him open tightly locked doors--plowing a Red Sea path through bureaucratic red tape. When our financial fields were empty, we have been on the receiving end of manna from Heaven. And the times when our spirits were dry, our hearts were hurting or we were tempted to doubt, our Heavenly Father watered our souls and filled us with His peace.
Adoption changed our view of life, family, parenting, Christianity...and God Himself. Previously, we felt confident in our understanding of God's Salvation Plan: A "child" lost in sin would receive the free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. We had both been walking with God for many years. We loved Him and felt we knew Him well.
Then we adopted our first child.
A child we had never met was placed in our arms. In an instant, a child without a family became a daughter. She came to us with a past and 18 months of life experience. She instantly went from orphan status to "the daughter of Eric and Jennifer Johnson" and our name became her name. We did not know her, but in the instant she became our daughter, all of our love was hers...forever.
Our Heavenly Father does that for us--
--Even though we have no claim on Him. Even thought we come to Him with dark and hurting places, hopeless and broken places. In spite of this, He gives us all of His perfect love. He adopts us and calls us His own.
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."' Romans 8:15
When you or I accept God's love--in an instant--we are His child and that becomes our new name! We become a dearly loved and cherished child with a Father, an inheritance and an eternal home with Him in heaven!
Having received our child, we began to truly understand. Eric and I had experienced for ourselves God's perfect Plan of Adoption. Through our adoption of Noelle and later Selah, our own salvation came alive in ways we hadn't yet encountered. Our walk with Him was richer, fuller, deeper. Our hearts beat with His and our eyes were opened to see people and situations in new ways. We began to see God's hand at work all over the place! Yes, we had been witnesses to God's amazing acts before this time, but now our spiritual eyes had been opened wide. And you know what else? Our faith grew like crazy!! :)
Now we were ready for God to really show off. :-D
And boy did He!! In every phase, of every adoption, even the failed adoptions (yeah-we had some of those), God worked in our lives and in the lives of those around us. He provided in unimaginable ways. He opened impossible doors. He tested our faith (and the faith of the people around us) and strrrrrrrrrretched us, then grew our faith. People-- God is at work!! He is always working things together "for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 In our lives, He used adoption (He still is!) to be the impetus of our deeper faith-walk with Him.
What is God using in your life to bring you into a closer, faith-filled walk with Him?
In the next post, I dive right into just two of the super cool things God did to give us confirmation that we should adopt W. Love it!! (I'm writing that post now...hope to post it soon... ;-))
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Jewelry Auction - Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights!
Tuesday's Auction - $203 raised!!
Wednesday's Auction - $147 raised!!
Thursday Night's Auction - $143 raised!!
We are truly thankful for Kate and Phil for their beautiful items, and for all the sweet people who participated and purchased items. And now we are $478 closer to bringing W home from Haiti! I do still have 3 necklaces left that I may put up for auction in a few weeks. We'll see. You can post a comment here if you have a question.
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Weare in the middle of just completed a jewelry auction with beautiful, handcrafted items provided by Kate at The Adopt Shoppe and Phil at PHD Leather. Each night we will have had new items! All proceeds will go towards our adoption of W.
Here's the link to our facebook page...where all the actionis happening happened!
https://www.facebook.com/haitiloveadoption
Here's just a sampling of the items:
Wednesday's Auction - $147 raised!!
Thursday Night's Auction - $143 raised!!
We are truly thankful for Kate and Phil for their beautiful items, and for all the sweet people who participated and purchased items. And now we are $478 closer to bringing W home from Haiti! I do still have 3 necklaces left that I may put up for auction in a few weeks. We'll see. You can post a comment here if you have a question.
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We
Here's the link to our facebook page...where all the action
https://www.facebook.com/haitiloveadoption
Here's just a sampling of the items:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
#2 - Restaurant Voucher Fundraiser ($20 gets $50!)
For every $20 you spend on a CoupAide restaurant voucher (affiliated with Restaurant.com), you get $50 to spend, and we get $10 for our adoption. It only takes a couple minutes and is easy to sign up. Sweet deal, huh?!
For more information or to purchase your voucher, click this link: http://coupaide.com/deal/johnson-adoptionfund/
We would also love for you would share with your family and friends about our CoupAide fundraiser. They do have to use our direct link, however, for us to get the $10 credit. Feel free to pass along the link above, or the link to our blog so they can follow our journey to W. in Haiti.
And every time you sit down for a meal at a CoupAide restaurant, you can know each delicious bite is helping a little boy get home to his forever family.
Thanks so much! We love you guys!
#1 - Noah's Ark Puzzle Fundraiser
This is a sweet way to raise potentially $5000 for our adoption!!...And to have YOU be an important part of our future son's story!! This Noah's Ark puzzle has 500 pieces. We are asking everyone who is able, to donate $10 for every piece you would like to "purchase", such as one for your family or one for each of your children, etc. On the back of that piece, I will write your name so we can always remember the special someone who helped make our adoption possible. As all 500 pieces of the puzzle come together, the names of all the wonderful people who donated will represent all the loving hearts who helped give W a forever family! The completed project will hang in W's room as a reminder that God loves him, and so do a whole bunch of other people!3 WAYS TO DONATE:
1) By Credit or Debit card. Just click the donate link. When you enter your donation amount, be sure to put "Puzzle Fundraiser" and your name(s) in the memo.
(Questions? You can email me at: eric.jennifer.noelle@gmail.com)
Eric and I say, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You from the bottom of our hearts!" God is using YOU in our family story. Please share this post with all your friends and anyone else you think might want to get involved. We love you!
Two Great Fundraisers!!!
Edited 4/24/13: These 2 fundraisers will be ongoing.
We have lots of puzzle pieces left for many more good folks to participate. And the restaurant vouchers are something that anybody can use and enjoy. Thank you for helping out!
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THIS IS IT. The moment where we either stop right here and tell God, "No, we can't adopt W. It's beyond what we can do."
OR We step forward into this journey HE led us to and say, "Yes, God. We will walk forward into the great unknown, trusting YOU to provide all the resources needed." We say YES!!!
Here's the thing. We need to raise $4300 this week!
We must raise $2500 to submit the adoption contracts to officially start the process. The paperwork arrived in the mail today! Our task is to sign and return them a.s.a.p. with a check for the first agency fee of $2500. Plus $1800... We have just started our home study paperwork and have to submit a check to our social worker for $1800. TOTAL = $4300
This amount intimidates us. We simply cannot come up with these funds in such a short amount of time. But after all, to God it's just a number. If we are the family God wants to adopt W from Haiti, the HE WILL OPEN DOORS and PROVIDE all the resources needed. If you'd like to be part of God's provision, we would be humbled and blessed for you to take part. One less orphan! And God's blessings all around!
Fundraiser #1 = Puzzle Fundraiser
Each Noah's Ark puzzle piece you purchase for $10 (there are 500 pieces!) will have your name written on the back of the piece. As the puzzle comes together it will be made up by hundreds of loving donors. It will be a permanent memory of your love and generosity hanging on the wall in our son's room! CLICK HERE for details.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Surprising Mom and Dad
So how should we share the exciting news with our parents?! Turns out, as I'm concocting clever plans, I learn that Eric has already told his parents. Huh?? How did I get to be the patient one, honey?? When did you become the excitable one?? ;-)
Every time we've adopted, we announced the news in a different way, so I needed a new idea. I scanned the internet and scanned my scrapbook supplies and gradually an idea began to form for sharing the news with my mom and dad. I found a few stickers and bright post-it notes and here's what I came up with:
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| I purchased a map of the world gift bag and a map of the Caribbean. I labeled the bag with a card with colors in the Haitian flag... |
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| My dad loves maps, so I sent them on a super easy hunt for the star... |
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| ...located where W. lives... |
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| This bag contained a small and suspiciously empty picture frame... |
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| The next bag-- 2 (children we have now) + 1= |
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| Open the paper to find a sonogram of Haiti... |
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| Drumroll please...Photos of W.!! |
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| A note clipped to the back of the photos. A teaser-- Mom and Dad, you have to call us to get the story... :) |
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| A photo collage of some of my favorite photos of W. |
How did it all turn out?
I asked a friend to help me carry out my scheme. I put everything inside the gift bag, then the gift bag into a brown paper shopping bag. I wanted the surprise to look innocuous. We drove to my parents house and used my key to sneak in. Where to leave the bag?? Ah ha! On the kitchen counter where the bag wouldn't seem immediately out of place, until they remembered they hadn't shopped at Earth Fare that day! Ha!
That night Eric and I expected a call. Waited. Never came. Hmmm. Could they seriously have missed the package??
We did eventually have that exciting talk with them, at 12:30pm the next day! Turns out they didn't discover the package until late the previous night!! ;-)
Monday, April 15, 2013
Finding "Caleb" - Part Two
(Please read THIS POST first, otherwise you may be confused! :)
After seeing the face of this beautiful 5 year old boy in Haiti...
Eric and I spent time praying for W. and how God might allow us to be part of his life. We both felt we should learn more about him and see if we could adopt him. Then on went our day. I can't speak for Eric, so I don't know what he was thinking / feeling, but I was in a bit of a daze. The extreme reaction to seeing W's photo was something I had never experienced. I was no stranger to looking at "Waiting Child Photo-listings" (photos w/ brief description of children available for adoption, usually older kids or kids with special needs - i.e. harder to place children) and over the years we have enquired about quite a few. We felt very drawn to a handful of kids, enough so for Eric and me to pray together and consider adoption. Yet no photo bowled me over--and with such intense emotion--like I immediately experienced when I saw W's face. As one of my friends said to me recently, "That was when his family story began. That was his moment of "birth", when God birthed him into your family." I think she is right about that. :)
So what next??
Since I am the DAS (Designated Adoption Specialist)(ha!) in our home, I set to work contacting the crèche where W is living, as well as the two adoption agencies they work with. Eric and I filled out an application to the crèche and expressed our serious interest in adopting W. After a few weeks of getting questions answered back and forth, we selected one of the agencies to work with us (Praise God, they still had a couple of openings in their Haiti program). We filled out the official application and mailed in the fee--woot!! We also continued to express to the crèche that we wanted to adopt W and asked them lots of questions about him along the way.
Then early last week, we heard back from our adoption agency that the crèche had selected US to be W's family!!!
Now here's "the catch". In order for us to be officially matched with W by the crèche, we have to complete our home study. Once that is submitted, we will have what is called a "soft referral", meaning W's has been "promised" to our family, if everything works out... Then we complete our dossier (more paperwork) to submit to IBESR-- the government agency in Haiti that processes the dossiers. They are the ones who decide which child goes with which family. This is the nerve-wracking part of the process. I can tell you, Eric and I sure will be praying that IBESR honors the match made by the crèche and will let us adopt W...
What now??
We (meaning me - the DAS) are in high gear planning fundraisers, trying to figure out what items in our house someone else might buy (anyone interested in purchasing an antique settee??), and how we might earn a few extra dollars by doing a few extra things. Hey--I am totally open to bright ideas! Mostly we are doing lots of praying. Only God can fund this adoption. He knows we don't have the funds. But He knows that HE does!! That gives much comfort as we look out into the unknown.
We are also starting the home study process!! We are going to use a great social worker in town who knows us well, due to our long and varied **Adoption Journey**. Selah and I picked up the stack of forms from her office this morning. Boy am I hoping and praying the home study and dossier paperwork process will be smooth and efficient...and into the hands of IBESR in just a few short months. Let's get this boy home!!!
After seeing the face of this beautiful 5 year old boy in Haiti...
Eric and I spent time praying for W. and how God might allow us to be part of his life. We both felt we should learn more about him and see if we could adopt him. Then on went our day. I can't speak for Eric, so I don't know what he was thinking / feeling, but I was in a bit of a daze. The extreme reaction to seeing W's photo was something I had never experienced. I was no stranger to looking at "Waiting Child Photo-listings" (photos w/ brief description of children available for adoption, usually older kids or kids with special needs - i.e. harder to place children) and over the years we have enquired about quite a few. We felt very drawn to a handful of kids, enough so for Eric and me to pray together and consider adoption. Yet no photo bowled me over--and with such intense emotion--like I immediately experienced when I saw W's face. As one of my friends said to me recently, "That was when his family story began. That was his moment of "birth", when God birthed him into your family." I think she is right about that. :)
So what next??
Since I am the DAS (Designated Adoption Specialist)(ha!) in our home, I set to work contacting the crèche where W is living, as well as the two adoption agencies they work with. Eric and I filled out an application to the crèche and expressed our serious interest in adopting W. After a few weeks of getting questions answered back and forth, we selected one of the agencies to work with us (Praise God, they still had a couple of openings in their Haiti program). We filled out the official application and mailed in the fee--woot!! We also continued to express to the crèche that we wanted to adopt W and asked them lots of questions about him along the way.
Then early last week, we heard back from our adoption agency that the crèche had selected US to be W's family!!!
Now here's "the catch". In order for us to be officially matched with W by the crèche, we have to complete our home study. Once that is submitted, we will have what is called a "soft referral", meaning W's has been "promised" to our family, if everything works out... Then we complete our dossier (more paperwork) to submit to IBESR-- the government agency in Haiti that processes the dossiers. They are the ones who decide which child goes with which family. This is the nerve-wracking part of the process. I can tell you, Eric and I sure will be praying that IBESR honors the match made by the crèche and will let us adopt W...
What now??
We (meaning me - the DAS) are in high gear planning fundraisers, trying to figure out what items in our house someone else might buy (anyone interested in purchasing an antique settee??), and how we might earn a few extra dollars by doing a few extra things. Hey--I am totally open to bright ideas! Mostly we are doing lots of praying. Only God can fund this adoption. He knows we don't have the funds. But He knows that HE does!! That gives much comfort as we look out into the unknown.
We are also starting the home study process!! We are going to use a great social worker in town who knows us well, due to our long and varied **Adoption Journey**. Selah and I picked up the stack of forms from her office this morning. Boy am I hoping and praying the home study and dossier paperwork process will be smooth and efficient...and into the hands of IBESR in just a few short months. Let's get this boy home!!!
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| Just a 'little' paperwork. Uh huh. ;-) |
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