Adoption T-Shirts On Hold

Sorry for the inconvenience we have to iron out a glitch with the t-shirt printing.  I will post them again as soon as they are available.  Thank you for your patience. 

6 More Weeks!

Aaron and I drove down to Phoenix yesterday for our first of three home study meetings with Sharon. The purpose of yesterday's meeting was to do our genogram and look at our families of origin and the relationships we have with our extended families. It was very interesting. Aaron and I participated in a program called Marriage Mentors when we were engaged and part of the premarital counseling was to complete a genogram so we kind of had an idea what to expect. It was fun discussing family traditions and looking at the legacy of faith in both of our families. Our next meeting will be on Dec 20th and we will be discussing the results of our personality tests. This will be interesting too because the last time we took a personality test was eight years ago when we were applying to go on the mission field. It will be fun to see any changes in our responses and to see what we both were thinking when we answered the questions. I can guarantee we had two different scenarios in our heads for each answer. At the Beginning of January we will have our home visit and individual interviews and then on Jan 20th Sharon will be presenting us to the board at CFCA's monthly meeting for acceptance into the infant adoption program. At that point our match letter can go online and we can accept a child placement. It is amazing how quickly the process is moving. We are trusting that the Lord will continue to lead us and the agency as we move forward.

Please continue to pray for wisdom for us as we move forward.
Please pray for health and protection for our birth mom. She could be carrying our baby right now!
Please pray for the growth and development of our baby and that God would protect that little one from any enviromental dangers. We believe God has an amazing plan for this little one.
Please pray for our future relationship with the birth family. We want to be an extensions of God's love to them and we are excited about how that may come about.
Please pray for our daily patience and obedience. We want to walk with God not ahead of Him and we need to be obedient in each step today.

We are so excited that we can be ready in just 6 more weeks! God is so great! Now we get to wait and see what He brings about! Thank you for your love and prayers.

Home Study

Sharon (our adoption worker) e-mailed today. We have our first home study meeting on November 30th. We will do our Genogram and go over our family legacy and families of origin. There will be one more meeting in Phoenix to cover our results from our personality tests and then our home visit and individual interviews will be combined in an appointment in January. Sharon said she hopes to present us as an adoptive family at the January board meeting. So we are getting close. If we are accepted by the board we could be able to accept a placement in February!!! This is such a crazy adventure and now it seems to be going so quickly! Some of our friends were just matched with a birth mom and it is so fun to watch their process and imagine what it will be like when we meet our birth mom. So exciting. God has been so wonderful in taking care of each need that arises we are so excited to give Him the glory and to share with this little one their story and God's faithfulness in it. Please keep us in your prayers. We cannot enter the matchbook to be shown to birth moms until we have the rest of our adoption fee in hand so please pray for God's provision. Thank you for walking this road with us!


The Reynolds Family



Our Financial Goal:

Adoption Fee $7,288.80 Due at time of Placement

Full Steam Ahead!

We just got an e-mail from the Erika (the director at CFCA). She said she has finished reading through our packet and was able to see our hearts in what we wrote. She also noticed that we had unintentionally listed our car payment twice in our budget-which greatly affected how much we had left over at the end of the month. So now we just need to figure out insurance but our budget is fine and we get to move forward and begin our home stud! I feel like lately I cannot say enough about how faithful our God is. We had our last adoption class last night and it was incredible. Saying goodby (for now) to the other couples was hard. We have grown so close over the last 7 weeks. I feel bad for the adoption workers teaching our classes because they often had to stop with puzzled looks while we all laughed at an inside joke. We have kept in touch in between classes in a group on facebook and we all plan on getting together in the future and staying in close communication through the remainder of this process. We went to lunch today with the kids at Cracker Barrel and discussed our topic from last night's class,Trans-racial Adoption. We asked them how they might respond if we had a little baby that was a different color. We role played with them responses to insensitive comments by others and it was fun to see the ideas they had on how to deal with uncomfortable situations regarding our families decision to adopt. I truly think we have the most amazing kids!

As always God is so good and we are just in awe of how He is working out the details. There is so much more to share from last night but it will have to wait until later. We just got home from Phoenix and have to be at Youth Group and AWANA in 30 minutes! Thank you all for your loving prayers!

Sermon on Adoption

Our Financial Goal:

Adoption Fee $7379.80 Due at time of Placement

Pampered Chef Adoption Fundraiser!!!

	We'll taste a delicious recipe, try tools that make kitchen tasks easier, and learn entertaining and cooking tips - all while supporting a great cause! We'll raise funds two ways: Donation of up to 15% of the fundraiser's total sales $3 contribution for each Show booked from my fundraiser Please let me know if you can make it. Mark the date on your calendar and ask a friend or two to come along! This party is a fundraiser for our adoption. We are in the process of adopting an infant from Arizona. If you are not able to attend you may also place orders online. Both online orders and orders made at the party will benefit our adoption. Thank you so much in supporting us and helping us bring our baby home! Please follow our adoption blog at: http://reynoldsfamilyjourney.blogspot.com/ Your Pampered Chef® Host Emily Reynolds http://www.pamperedchef.biz/fallonsfun Show Date: Thu, Nov 18, 2010 Show Time: 6:00 PM Organization: Emily Reynolds Host: Emily Reynolds Phone: (928) 854-6449 E-mail: thereynoldsfamily6@fronti er.com Location: 1631 Cabana Dr LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ 86404 View Map/Directions

Our  Financial Goal:

Adoption Fee          $7559.80                  Due at time of Placement

God Is So Good!

Well, the last two days were a whirlwind.  We had to drive to Phoenix with three sick kids which was so sad.  Since Sharon's call on Monday asking us to meet with them about finances we have been praying and reflecting on God's provision and goodness to us.  We had an intense few days where we knew God is faithful and that He has been confirming each step as we take it in this process and yet we knew other people were making the decisions.  On one hand we know God can override the agency but on the other hand even if we are obedient we know that He also may have other things He is doing in this adoption that we may not see.  Tuesday morning I woke up with a peace that could only be from God-I felt the emotions and concerns of all that could happen if the agency said they could not certify us but I knew that we have been seeking the Lord in every move in this adoption and that despite everything He would be faithful.  I stopped praying that the adoption would move forward and started praying that He would be magnified, that we would be a testimony for His activity in our lives and the amazing ways in which He had provided for us as a family.


Here is how the next two days played out.


Tuesday morning I usually have Play Group at the church with a bunch of moms and kiddos but we found out Monday that the parking lots were both being paved so we had to move it to our home.  In the middle of the night Monday all tree girls woke up with pretty high fevers and I was up almost all night doing meds and baths.  Tuesday morning our vacuum stopped working as I was cleaning, our iron broke as I was getting Aaron's clothes ready and our kitchen sink faucet broke and the RO waterline sprung an impressive leak.  I stood over the sink and just cried out to God.  My kids probably would have been a bit concerned had they walked in on me but I just asked Him take this day and be glorified in it.  That He would somehow redeem it and whether or not the house got done or my kids were sick or we didn't get to adopt through the agency-that I would submit and that He would be clearly seen in us and in our responses that day.  I grabbed mail before we left for Phoenix to find one letter.  Apparently as of December 30th Kate will no longer qualify for our insurance-so now we will have two children who are uninsured! We got on the road right on time, thank the Lord, and Levi slept the entire drive (which limits the number of potty stops).  Then Tuesday night our amazing babysitter in Phoenix, Madi, rode her bike to meet us at the guest house so that we could get into town and literally drop the kids off and head to the agency.  We had no idea what the meeting would be like but it we just continued to pray that we could share testimonies of what God has done in our lives and how faithful He has been.  We were so encouraged.  We sat down and went over our budget and were able to share how we filled out the budget according to their specifications for 6 months but that in 6 months we don't spend in all the areas they outlined.  We shared how God has been leading us and how at the beginning of this process we didn't even have money for the application fee yet he has provided for every step right on time.  Erika and Sharon both understood where we were coming from as far as how carefully we spend and how ministry budgets seldom make sense on paper.  They do want us to find alternative insurance because ours is subject to our income and can drop if we get any kind of raise but we need to find that anyway now that Kate and Madi have been disqualified.  Before we left they prayed with us and we felt so blessed to be a part of this agency and their ministry.  They do share our philosophy on family and ministry and it was such a relief to hear that. After our meeting I thought back on the day and how it started with so many complications.  I kept thinking about how easily we could have allowed Satan a foothold in our thinking or the way we responded to the blips in the road but how God so beautifully showed us His gentle hand working so fervently in one day.  The house got clean and I was actually able to sit down before the mommies started arriving.  The vacuum got somewhat fixed and I was able to get most of the areas vacuumed.  The RO guy happened to be in our neighborhood and was able to replace both the pressure gauge and RO line under the sink before we left for Phoenix.  Our landlord happened to be home and was able to come by and replace our faucet and fix our front door knob.  The girls had a date sequestered in my bedroom watching Netflix with hot chocolate during play group so they wouldn't infect the other kids.  We were able to express our hearts at the meeting without being defensive or offensive.  We have found some great options for insurance if God will work out the details.  He truly is a faithful God.

I think this week has been a good reminder that God can be clearly seen in the little thing that happen in our day.  He is not off waiting for us to call for help He wants to be and is actively involved in the details.  He is right beside us wanting to guide each step, each attitude, each response-if we will submit. 

Romans 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

1 Peter 5:6-7  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God is Still Faithful

Please be praying for us tomorrow. We have a meeting with Sharon (our worker) and Erica. We know God has been providing each step of the way but we are on a pastor's salary and they have concerns about our tight budget. We have lived on a ministry salary for most of our marriage and have everything we need to be prepared for a baby. God has always provided in every situation and we know he will continue to take care of our family but the agency is looking at us on paper and we have to in a sense defend ourselves tomorrow financially. We know God has a plan and is faithful but it's upsetting. Please don't mention it tomorrow at class as Erica is teaching and it would just be awkward but please do pray that they would see our preparedness and our hearts for the Lord and for this baby.

Thank you.

So Little Time

Wow, I have hardly had a minute to sit down and write.  We have been so busy lately.  Our adoption classes started in Phoenix 3 weeks ago and we are learning an immense amount each class.  We have been very blessed to stay in a beautiful guest house just minutes from the agency.  Sarah and her family have welcomed us with love into their home and we have just been blown away by their generosity.  She arranged for our babysitters each week and even our dinner the first week when we were parked on the freeway in the biggest storm of the year!  God has so carefully orchestrated each step of this process it has just been miracle after miracle for His glory.  I cannot wait to look back on this experience when we have our little one nestled in our arms and whisper all the grand and small things the Lord has done to bring us together in that little ear.  We do serve a mighty God.

I just want to encourage anyone reading this who might have felt the tug of adoption on their heart but thought it an impossibility financially-God is the ultimate provider.  We can see how he has provided from the very start.  Just today Aaron and I were talking about how we can't figure out where all the money is going in our checking account when we haven't been spending any extra.  We realized that we are spending almost $200 a week on gas and food to get to Phoenix and back each Tues.  We received a generous gift unexpectedly a few weeks ago and that has enabled us to meet those expenses.  This week we got a call from the pregnancy center in town.  One of the home school moms in our group is friends with the director of the center.  They held their annual garage sale this weekend to raise money for the center and were wondering if we would want the left overs for our own garage sale to raise money for our adoption costs.  YES!!!  We showed up expecting to get a van full (she said their was a lot) and left 3 FULL van loads later.  Now that garage I had worked so hard to get emptied out and organized after our move is full once again.  This coming weekend we are going to have our garage sale.  I have been sorting baby clothes for two days and have at least 2 garbage bags left of just baby clothes to sort by size.  Then on to the bags and bags of men's and women's clothes-that's just the clothes!  What a huge blessing.  Any money from this garage sale is strictly profit as everything was donated.  God is so good.

We did FINALLY get all our paperwork turned in at last weeks class and have been told by our references they were already sent forms to fill out.  By the end of this process the agency is going to know us INTIMATELY.  We are really under a microscope for this home study.  I am glad to see how carefully check the homes and families they place babies with.  I do have a feeling if every parent had to go through this to have a child there would be a lot more responsible parents out there.

We also have our final fee agreement signed which means we know how much more we need to raise to finalize our adoption.  Drum roll please.....$8000.00!  So needless to say we are very excited and are waiting expectantly yet not idly to see how the Lord will provide.  We are active looking for creative ways to earn and raise these funds.  The garage sale will help but we are also going to be doing a t-shirt fundraiser (I will post more later on that) and we sent out our first of many adoption grant applications.  This was the only one that did not require the home study to be complete-just in process.  So we should hear in 6-8 weeks.  As soon as we have our home study in hand we can send off more applications.   Any suggestions for other fund raisers are welcomed.

We are getting so excited.   We have been told that the time for the home study to be completed and certified through the courts can be 90 days however friends of our who are with the same agency and worker said it can be even sooner than that.  We do not have to be certified to accept a placement we just have to have our report written by our adoption worker, Sharon, and then she has to present us to the agency's board.  If they accept us we will officially be able to accept a baby.  For our friends this only took about 2-3 weeks!  We do have to have the money available at the time of placement and the birth mom does have to choose our family so their are still a lot of variables but we want to be ready so we are working diligently to save our pennies and work our hardest to raise these funds.

  Also, although we are not currently sending out support letters we are accepting donations through paypal.  There is a "Donate" link on the right had side of this page if God has laid it on your heart to help us financially with this need.   Even if you cannot donate funds please do join us in prayer.  We have so much ahead of us emotionally and know that this is going to be a trying process in many ways.  Here are some specific ways you can pray: 

1.  Pray for the health and safety of the birth mom and baby (yes, she could be carrying that baby right now!)

2.  Pray that God will be preparing us for a future relationship with the birth family and that He might use this experience and our family to dray them into a relationship with Him.

3.  Please pray for guidance and discernment for us as we have decisions ahead of us that will affect our little family for the rest of our lives.

4. Pray that God above all would be glorified in this process.  That despite any hiccups along the way in OUR plans we would see His greater plan and give Him glory.

5.  Pray for our financial needs.  $8000.00 is a lot of money for us and though this fee is much less than other agencies it is beyond our means to supply on our own.  We know that God will be the one who does it.

6.  Praise our Lord with us.  He has provided so much so far.  He has shown us how He gave our family gifts of creativity and has helped us to live frugally and has used those gifts to provide for our adoption expenses.  We are blown away at how quickly the funds have come in up to this point.  We are excited because since we cannot just write a check for our fees from our own resources we KNOW He will be the one to provide.  We are totally dependent on Him-which I think is right where we are supposed to be.

7.  Lastly, please pray for the birth mom who is faced with a very tough decision.  Please pray for strength for her and for support from family and friends.  Our agency works very hard to prepare these moms for the choices they make and does follow up with them as they grieve also.  Please pray for God's hands to embrace her and uplift her as she makes this most generous decision.

I am amazed at how much you can love someone you have never met.  I am grateful for the time I spent at Life Light Pregnancy Help Center before we move out here to Havasu.  I think the training I received there really prepared me to understand where the birth mom is coming from and have a compassion for her I might not otherwise have.  She is giving us the greatest gift any person ever could.  I absolutely cannot imagine making the choice she will but I am so grateful and I love her so much for that.  This little baby that God knows already even though we don't is going to be one loved child.  I almost feel bad for it.  All three girls are beyond excited to help take care of it and Levi has the crib in his room and tells us this is where the baby will sleep.  When we asked him what kind of baby he wanted (gender and race) he replied I want a purple brother or sister.  Hmmm...that may be a tall order to fill.

"Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ."  I have always loved that greeting in scripture.  There is no one who understands the giving of their child in love than our Father in heaven so with all that we are we praise His name!


Our  Financial Goal:

Adoption Fee          $7679.80                  Due at time of Placement

The Big Move

Well we have had a crazy couple of weeks. In the last few days we moved to our new home and we are loving it.  It took some work but now everything is great.  We have amazing landlords who re-carpeted for us and dealt with some major issues involving the last tenants pets.  It was a stressful couple of days but we are grateful for a faithful Father and for christian landlords. 

Tomorrow is the big day, well one of many "big days" ahead.  We are driving down to Phoenix for our first adoption class and after having to put our home study on hold for the move we are turning in our packet!  We are so excited.  For a long time this adoption has been distant and tomorrow after meeting the other couples in our class I think it is going to feel very real.  We met some dear people about a week ago who are also adopting through our agency.  We spent a day visiting with them and they were generous enough to help us pack and move.  What a blessing.  They are a few months ahead of us and are waiting for their phone call to say there is a baby for them. 
I get the feeling I am repeating info from previous posts. Guess it's not a good idea to blog after a long break without re-reading previous posts.  Too tired right now so sorry if this is redundant.

We will update later in the week on our class and our progress with the home study.

Current prayer requests:

  1.  For the health and safety of our birth mom and baby whoever and wherever they are.

  2.  For our car to make a successful trip to Phoenix and back tomorrow.  It really needs a tune up and is having some issues.

  3.  For endurance for Aaron and I as we are exhausted already from this week.

  4.  For the kids to have  a fun "adventure" on our trip tomorrow and to hit it off with the sitter in Phoenix.  We will be driving 8 hours round trip.

So about  a week and a half ago we had a garage sale to earn money for our adoption.  I think Aaron was surprised how much we had that we could get rid of.  It was nice to sort through things and keep what we need or use and get rid of what we don't.  I love decluttering!  When we started the garage sale we still needed $607.00 for our home study.  After two days of the garage sale we were down to only needing $393.00.  One family came and bought our old queen headboard, an entertainment cabinet and one other large piece of furniture.  Aaron had his car parked in front of my van on the side of the house.  I mean it was obvious it was not part of the sale.  This family wandered over there and started looking at his Honda.  We had been tossing around the idea of selling it because we had been sharing the van for the past few months.  Aaron has a motorcycle that he can take to work on the days he doesn't take Abbi and Levi with him to preschool.  The Honda was on a spare and we were waiting to do both back tires at the same time.  It had a ton of miles on it and was in need of some repairs but it was still running well.  The dad asked me if we would sell it to him.  After a few days of praying and evaluating we sold him the Honda and now have enough money to submit our home study paperwork as well as our match letter when we complete it.  It was so neat how God provided the opportunity and the right buyer for the car at just the right time.  It was not at all what we had planned on but I think God had been showing us over the past few months how we can scale back in many ways one of which was sharing the van.  Our town is small enough that nothing is too far and Aaron's schedule allows me to be able to run errands in the afternoon if need be.  What a great blessing. 

We just had a lovely visit with my parents for the last week and are now getting in gear for the move NEXT FRIDAY!!!!  Our first adoption class in Phoenix is the following Tuesday.  We could use prayer for peace and time management and smooth transitions.  Life in this family is never dull and life in the family of God is thrilling!  We are enjoying the journey knowing that God is the one who sustains and provides.  God bless you as you follow Him on the journey He lays before you!



Our Next Few Goals:
Send in our home study paperwork (we are waiting to hear from our worker on whether or not we need to change our addresses and redo our finger print cards due to our upcoming move)

October 1-move into new house

October 5-Adoption class in Phoenix

Complete home study interviews and inspection, Sharon completes our report, submits it to the court and presents us to the agency for acceptance into the infant adoption program

Send out our grant applications

At placement of baby in our home-adoption fee due

We Are So Excited!!!

We are Sooo excited.  Today we got not only the rest of our home study fee but also our Matchbook fee so as soon as our home study report is certified we can submit our "Dear Birth Mom Letter" and be looked at by birth parents!  God is so incredibly amazing!  He has blessed us beyond what we could have asked or imagined!

I will right more later but it is late and I am exhausted!



Here are our first few financial hurdles:
  Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed          July 16, 2010             Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010               Completed!!!
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010                Completed!!!
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010                Completed!!!
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

Success!

Day one of our garage sale was a success.  We sold almost all of the big items we were hoping to and we still have tomorrow morning.  Levi enjoyed hamming it up for the visitors thus producing at least two offers to buy our children (which of course we refused).


We are a bit closer to completing our home study.  I know it has only been a few months but I am so eager to meet our little one I can hardly wait.  God is so faithful.  I love watching the numbers go down on our goal sheet and see how creatively He is supplying for our need.  Praise the Lord for HE is mighty in power!


Here are our first few financial hurdles:
  Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed          July 16, 2010             Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010              Completed!!!
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010               $393.98 to go!
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

Garage Sale & Moving

We are pulling things together for our garage sale tomorrow.  Hopefully we will get a good response.  God has been so good to us during this process and it has been so exciting and encouraging to see how He has provided and how we can use our own creativity to raise money for this adoption.  We are getting so close to having our home study fee raised. 

We will also be moving into a new home on October 1.  Our lease is up this month and we found we are able to save about $300 a month by moving to a different location.  Again God was at work and has provided us with a lovely home that backs up to BLM land and has a huge view of the lake from the back yard.  It also has a den off of the dining room that we can make our school/project area.  We are very excited.   Our new landlords are really neat Christians and we are excited to begin building a relationship with them.  This is going to be a great week of scaling down, evaluating our needs and getting organized-and once again the timing is perfect as we had already planned on our garage sale being this week.

God has also provided through our friends.  Our neighbor is giving us her infant car seat and bases and a home school friend of mine is giving us a small crib we can roll from room to room for when the baby first comes home.   

We have so many things to do to prepare for this little one sometimes I am struck with the fact that YES,  a little baby is coming home!  Sometimes I take a few minutes to just sit in the rocking chair in the nursery and image what he or she will be like and how it will feel to once again hold and care for a new born.   It is going to be so different from our other children as I will be going into the adventure rested and with energy rather than after 9 months of pregnancy.  I am so excited!  The other thing I find funny is that we have never been surprised by the sex of our babies.  With this new little one we will not only be surprised by the sex but by the race. How fun! 

These next few weeks will be very busy.  My parents are coming out for about a week, Levi turns 3 on Monday (I cannot even believe he is so big) and then the move.  God is so good and we feel so blessed to be on this grand adventure.  Following Him is NEVER dull!

A Special Gift

Friday we received the most wonderful gift.  Our friends Sam & Mary sent us a HUGE box of fabric for our adoption sewing projects.  I have been having a blast sewing and being creative to help bring our new baby home.  My sister, Melissa,  showed me a pattern she had used to make purses and I adapted it to make different sized bags.  I am going to sell what I can in town and then upload the rest to my etsy shop.  Here are the first few.  Thanks Sam and Mary for the fabrics and Missy for the skype tutorial.  Love you all.

Here are our first few financial hurdles:
  Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed          July 16, 2010             Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010              Completed!!!
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010               $607.00 to go!
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

How Great is Our God!!!

Psalm 31:19(NIV)

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.

  God is so good!  When we started this journey a few months ago we didn't know how he would provide but were confident that our God is faithful to equip us when he has called us.  We are so excited to report that we have met our first two goals and we are about a month ahead of where we hoped to be.

  Emily just returned from a four day weekend in Colorado with our dear friends Elijah and Melissa.  It was a wonderful time of refreshment and encouragement in the Lord.  They were able to share ideas on parenting and pray together for each of their children.  We are so looking forward to the day we get to bring home our new baby!  Over the years we had passed on our out grown baby clothes on to Melissa and Elijah for their children and they blessed us with some adorable little unisex outfits, sleepers and a beautiful crib bedding set.



Thank you so much for your support.


Here are our first few financial hurdles:
  Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed          July 16, 2010             Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010              Completed!!!
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010               $762.00 to go!
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

Baking for Baby

The Kids had a wonderful time today preparing for their bake sale.  Madilynn and Katelynn baked Chocolate Crinkle Cookies a family favorite.  Abigail and Levi worked on their Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie mixes.  So much fun and soooo much flour EVERYWHERE.  They had fun practicing writing their names in the mess of flour and sugar on the table when the baking was done.  The kids were are very excited to do something to help bring baby home. 

 
Now Available For Local (Havasu) Delivery:
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies 
Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie Mix 
White Chocolate/Hazelnut Scone Mix
Semi-Sweet Chocolate/Hazelnut Scone Mix
Special Coffee Drink Mix
Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

More to come!!!       $10 Each


              



 

Our First Meeting at Christian Family Care

Friday Aaron and I traveled to Phoenix for our first meeting with Sharon, our adoption worker at CFC.  What a huge blessing.  Sharon is a wonderful woman who loves the Lord and is passionate about finding loving, Christian families for children and for caring for birth parents.  We were blown away by the agency.  We knew they were a Christian agency and that the adoption workers would be Christians but we did not expect such a focus on how God is working in our lives etc.  Most of our time was spent answering questions about our spiritual lives and the journey the Lord has brought us on since childhood.  Sharon specifically asked how we teach God's word to our children which sent Aaron and I babbling on for quite some time.  We just got more and more excited sharing with her what an impact the Lord has made in our home and how we try and take the most ordinary, everyday events and use them to teach our children about who God is, what He is doing or has done, our need for Him and taking opportunities to share Him with others.  The more we talked the more excited we got about welcoming another child into our family and home.  Before we left the office Sharon prayed with us and told us the agency prays for us everyday.  Of course I got teary eyed (it doesn't take much but pray for me and I am a goner).

Our meeting lasted almost 2 hours and then we had another blessing!  Aaron's grandparents were on their way home from working at Answers in Genesis in Kentucky for the last several years.  We met them on their way through Phoenix for lunch at Cracker Barrel and got to visit and share what the Lord has been doing in this process.  So much fun and such a blessing.  They had just come from a family conference with Pastor Voddie Baucham and were excited to share what they had learned with us.  (If you have not heard of Voddie baucham check out his book Family Driven Faith).

We are now working on completing our paperwork, physicals, finger printing etc. for our Home study.  We are almost done with our paperwork and have our physicals and finger printing in the next week.  When those are all completed and we have our home study fee we will mail it all to the agency and begin our home study visitations.  We are very excited!  We are getting closer!

The girls are working jar mixes for a bake sale and I am sewing for the Etsy shop.  We will be having a garage sale in the coming weeks as well.  Please continue to pray for us as we complete each step.  Please also be praying for the birth parents and baby-for wisdom as they make some difficult decisions and for health for both mommy and baby.

Thank you so much for your support.


Here are our first few financial hurdles:
  Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed          July 16, 2010             Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010              $102.00 left
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

What a Wonderful Gift

Just reflecting today on the amazing gift God has given us.  Redemption, salvation, sanctification.  Thinking ahead to Friday's meeting with Sharon (our adoption worker) I keep thinking about how we as christians are adopted into the family of God.  Our identity is in Him and we are loved and secure.  Some of our friends were just chosen by a birth mother and are expecting their little girl in the fall.  A youth pastor couple we have been following from CFCA were just matched as well.  So many mommies are out there making a courageous decision to give a couple the gift of life and yet we all have the opportunity to not only to give a home and a family but to share THE GIFT OF LIFE with them.  When I think about what it took for Christ to extend that gift to me I can't help but be overwhelmed with love and gratitude.  We are so excited to experience this whole process.  At times it may be very difficult but ultimately we cannot imagine a greater joy than welcoming a child into our family and shepherding them into a loving relationship with their heavenly father so our little one can be twice adopted.

Ephesians 1:3-10

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Yesterday we got a call from our adoption worker Sharon at CFCA.  We are scheduled for our first meeting with Sharon on August 6th in Phoenix.  We are excited to meet Sharon in person, discuss the road ahead and get our home study packet to begin working on.

Answer to Prayer

I am sure there are going to be many posts similar to this throughout the our adoption process.  We received an e-mail from a friend Emily met on a mission trip to Europe twelve years ago.  Anne is an attachment therapist now living in Phoenix, AZ.  She actually works with our agency and has offered to help with any questions we have along the way.  She wrote back a few days ago saying one of her friends (who also works with our agency) has a guest house very close to Christian Family Care's office and has offered to let us stay there during our classes free of charge!  Anne is also referring us to a babysitter from her church who will watch our kids at the guest house while we are in class!  We were so thrilled.  God is providing for even the things we assumed we would pay out of pocket for.  We were praying he would provide but honestly assumed we would cover the smaller things and just trust Him to take care of the things that were beyond our control.  It was a pleasant reminder that HE is in control.    There is nothing too small ( not that this is by any means small) or too trivial for Him.  We can think we have life all planned out but God want us to trust Him with everything.  Step by step, day by day He wants to be a part of it.  It's humbling and exciting how great our God is!

Decisions

  Today we had a meeting with a social worker from Arizona's Children.  We were able to ask all our questions about the fost/adopt, foster and adoption programs.  God has laid on both of our hearts a burden for needy children and a passion for seeing them come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  We view our family as an extension of our ministry.  We have been weighing our options for some time and have been praying over and discussing the pros and cons to both an agency adoption and a foster care or foster/adopt situation.

  After a frenzy of phone calls, bulk mailings and hours days online researching we decided to take a day off from researching and talking through scenarios to just pray separately and see what God said.  Last night we came together again to share how we felt the Lord was leading.  Hurray!  We have decided on an  agency assisted adoption.  We chose Christian Family Care Agency in Phoenix.  We have been praying, discussing and gathering information then praying some more and we both feel at peace and excited about this next step.

  We are mailing our application packet tomorrow.  Once our application is received our worker will set a meeting and we will travel to Phoenix to meet the people who will be so instrumental in helping us bring our baby home.  After this meeting our next step is our home study.   Originally we thought the most cost effective option for our home study was to have a local social worker complete it but we were pleasantly surprised this morning when we called CFCA.  All the other agencies we looked at would come to Havasu to do our home study but there was an additional $300-$500 fee for travel expenses and none were here in town.  CFCA said they would actually charge us a $400 transfer fee if we had the home study conducted by someone else but if one of their adoption workers did the study we would only be charged the regular home study fee!  So we will be paying less and be working with our own agency.  We were thrilled.  It is going to be nice working with Christians who understand our faith.  Also, unlike other agencies we looked at, CFCA does not require the $1200 home study fee up front.  CFCA has us do all the backround checks, fingerprinting, physicals, etc and we don't pay the home study fee until we mail in all our paperwork.  At this point we can apply for grants.  All except one of the grants we qualify for require a completed home study.

  We will be required to attend adoption classes at Chirstian Family Care Agency's office in Phoenix which will require staying overnight due to travel time.  Our classes begin on October 5th and will continue each Tues evening for 7 weeks.  God has been faithful in all the details thus far.  Aaron was able to locate a hotel where we can stay at a reasonable price only a few miles from the CFCA's office.  We are hoping to be able to find a young lady through our connections in Phoenix, who can watch the kids at the hotel rooms during our class.  We would then be able to take the children with us spend the 3 1/2 hour drive with them and then spend the night with them in the hotel before returning home early Wednesday mornings.  This way Aaron won't miss any work and we will be together as a family.   We are going to approach class days as an adventure and bring projects for the drive and hotel etc.  It will be a rough schedule but we are going to make the most of the time to "get away."

  We are currently filling out grant applications and gathering the required documentation to accompany the applications so that when our home study is complete we will be ready to mail them.  We are also brainstorming other ways of saving and raising money.  Emily and the girls are sewing and making items to sell in her Etsy store, The Tulip Patch.   She has the notions already on hand and will be able to put any profit toward our adoption costs.  We are also collecting aluminum cans from friends and neighbors who usually recycle curbside.  There have been people from our local freecycle group who are excited to help in this way.  We will also be holding a garage sale at some point in the near future.  The ideas are flowing and we are open to any recommendations.

Here are our first few financial hurdles:    

       Description                                               Goal Date                        Status
  1.  $50 Application Fee & App Mailed       July 16, 2010                Completed!!!
  2.  $300 Adoption Class Fee                            Sept. 15, 2010
  3.  $1200 Home Study Fee                              Oct. 5, 2010
  4.  $1000 Matchbook Fee                                Nov. 1 2010
     (This is where we write a letter/family profile or scrapbook that will then be shown to birth moms)

  Please continue to pray for our family as we begin this adventure.  We are very excited.  Please pray for protection and health for the birth mothers who are courageously choosing life and adoption for their children.  Please pray that God would be preparing us to receive this new life and that the details would fall into place in His perfect timing.  Please pray that our God will be glorified in this process, that our conversations with workers and families will bring glory to Him and that we would have opportunities to share Him.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Meeting

Tomorrow afternoon we meet with a social worker from Arizona's Children to discuss the options of fost/adopt vs. agency adoption.  We have received a lot of information in the mail the last few days from different agencies and have been able to get a clearer picture of the pros and cons of both options.  The worker we are meeting with is also the person locally who could do our home study if we go with the agency adoption.  God has been faithful in past decisions and we know he will give us discernment as to which would be the best choice for our family.  Untimately our desire in this process is to be obedient and glorify Him in our decisions and our relationships with those involved.

Our Journey Begins

We are at the beginning of the adventure of adoption. The process will be long and difficult, but ultimately worth while. We feel that God has blessed us with an amazing family and we want to use our skills and love to raise up another child. We are currently trying to figure out the financial aspects of adoption, and deciding on an agency. Our hope is to finalize an adoption before the end of 2011. Follow us here for all the updates.

Our first hurdle is to save enough money for the home study. About $1600. Once the home study is complete then we will be applying for grants and waiting for a baby!