i800 filed!

It's been a busy day on the adoption front. We received the hard copy of the LOA (letter of acceptance) and signed it indicating that YES we want to adopt Josie.

At the top of this document, is Josie's name and our names. When I saw that, I became emotional because it signified the merging of our stories. She doesn't know about us yet, but soon, she will belong to a family again. We happily signed this document and indicated that we accept this match!

At the same time, our agency sent off our i800 to begin the final leg of the paperwork process. There is a chance that we will be expedited through the last steps, but if not, we are still getting incredibly close to travel. Our agency's estimate is late August or early September.

We have many documents to fill and we will start our travel plans. In order to save money and also to bring Josie here to medical care, we will forego extra touring and unnecessary travel in country. We will also try to get the most condensed schedule in country to bring her home. Eric will travel with a friend who is a nurse and she can help with the daily medical needs that we know Josie has as well as any unexpected needs that may arise. We also have our international adoption doctor available to consult while in country and she will see us day after Josie arrives home.  While most families will get 2-3 weeks notice to travel, our agency is hoping to get us to China in 1 week. That means we must be ready at a moment's notice to go.

We are continuing to raise awareness and funds through the 5/5/5 Families program with Reece's Rainbow. It benefits 5 families in the adoption process and is a great ongoing program to be a part of. We also have our individual Reece's Rainbow grant that we will use for our travel. Our fundraising thermometer has gone up a little bit, but the need is still there. Please pray as we get ready for the final steps in this process.

5/5/5 Families

I have shared before how dear Reece's Rainbow is to us. They were instrumental in helping Eve home in 2013 and they are also part of Josie's journey into our family. The grant program is 10 years old and has assisted 1600 children into forever families.

A year ago we went to a Reece's Rainbow reunion and it allowed us to meet so many families and advocates in person. I absolutely love that they want to stay in touch after the children come home.

There is a special program within Reece's Rainbow called 5/5/5 for Families that focuses on 5 adoptive families and raises a special grant just for them, $5 at a time. I was glad to find out that we were chosen as a 5/5/5 family for the month of July along with 4 other adoptive families.

I would love to find 10 people who would like to join this program. $5 donation monthly along with other supporters lifts the burden off adoptive families and children come home! I don't know what could be an easier way to be part of adoptions.

If you join the program, could you let me know? I would like to send you a personal thank you note to let you know how much this means to us.

Grants, Grants and More Grants

This is so my life right now...filling out grant applications. We need to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

Praying for an expedite!

This week, we should find out if the current part of our adoption process will be expedited. Our dossier is in China and our wonderful agency is requesting a faster process due to Josie's medical needs. We know her long term health and life expectancy requires quick medical intervention here, but expediting requires the person deciding it to agree with that. There was a time Josie had frequent medical care and surgeries but lately the information has been harder to obtain. These tumors grow without chemotherapy and our local experts are urging us to expedite. So we pray that the people deciding these things will agree with the medical opinions we are presenting to them.

Would you pray for Josie as she waits? And pray for this process to be expedited for her?

We were so blessed to meet our matching grant and also to receive another grant recently. That has allowed our agency fees to be paid on time and our adoption to move forward. Praising God for this need being met!

There is still a financial need to be met to complete our adoption. As we learn how soon we can travel for Josie, we want to make sure we are prepared. Please come back to the blog to find out about our fundraisers and we also humbly accept donations through our Reece's Rainbow account, which is a tax deductible way to give.

Adoption Update

We made our matching grant last week, which was a huge financial blessing. We will now add another $2000 to our adoption. The thermometer on the right column can sometimes look intimidating, but slowly, we will get there.

Imagine my surprise, when I was notified that we received a grant that will add even more to our adoption funds and of course to our lovely thermometer. It was such a positive boost that I needed during an otherwise difficult time.

Eve was hospitalized 3 weeks ago and she is still recovering. We are also leaving out of state to visit a specialist and the preparations are occupying my mind. I want to keep Josie at the forefront of our minds at all times as we continue to parent our children at home. It will be a busy summer but it's the good kind of busy. Sports, preparations for Josie and hopefully travel. Our adoption paperwork is all done on our end so we just have to wait as China processes it.

Prayer request: would you pray that Josie's adoption is going to be expedited in China? Her medical condition can take a turn at any moment and we have everything ready to care for her tumors here.

We are also in need of funding for our travel related costs. Please check back here for new fundraisers soon. We also have an account with Reece's Rainbow that is tax deductible. You can access it HERE

Josie has already changed us

In the process of adoption, it's so easy to think of what a difference a family will make to a child that doesn't have one. Love, safety, security, medical care, food and opportunity to live a full life. With each of our adoptions, I have seen the changes in our children when they know they belong, but this story is not about that. I wanted to share how Josie has already given us the most beautiful gift.

This is our daughter Eve. She was adopted nearly 3 years ago with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy. We knew we would encounter many unknowns as her medical diagnosis was not based on any testing, just an educated guess. Over the years, Eve began having more seizures, her body started moving involuntarily (dystonia), we found out she was deaf and we had a few crises that left her doctors baffled. We were referred to genetics to see if we could find a cause.

A few months after Eve's first genetic testing, we learned about Josie. We took a long time to discuss what saying yes to a child with cancer would mean to our family and how we would manage all her needs. We looked at the outcomes for her tumors and what life would look like for her. Welcoming Josie into our family would definitely be better for her than being alone in an orphanage. And while we prayed for clarity, we had discussions about all our children. The truth is, that we think we have control over our children's health, future and longevity of their lives. With Josie, the odds might be against her, but she really needed a family to increase those odds. It was so much easier to say yes to her, when we gave all our perceived control to God and knew that He knew the number of her days, all of our days.

Then, we received news about Eve's health. She was diagnosed with a devastating rare syndrome. It's progressive and most children do not survive into their teen years. It's awful, plain and simple. We have grieved this information but at the same time, Josie had given us a gift already. Just as we had given her life to God, Eve's life was no different. There was the peace that passes all understanding. The quiet whispers that comes from an all knowing God. He is with us, He knows this about Eve and we are to increase her odds by being her family. In working through these emotions with Josie, we were already a few steps ahead with Eve.

Two girls, soon to be sisters. We are so blessed.

If you would like to be part of Josie's journey, you find see our Reece's Rainbow account here

Our fundraising thermometer is on the sidebar, once we reach $10,700 we will receive $2,000 as a matching grant.

Sometimes fundraising looks a lot like work

It's funny, each of our adoptions have been funded differently, but God has provided. Always. Since this is our 3rd adoption, we didn't start with a hefty savings account but did have enough to get started. Quickly, our friends joined in and participated in our initial fundraisers. Our homestudy was funded.

After that, it's been harder to climb up the financial mountain for each fee. I took on some extra work and each of those checks have gone into our adoption account. We squeeze little things out of our budget and that goes in the account. We were turned down for our first grant....that hurt....but of course I know there are so many deserving families applying and waiting just like us. So I took on more work and worked on the next fee.

Thankfully, our church gave us a grant toward the next fee. AND they gave us a $2000 matching grant. The next $2000 we raise (when our thermometer hits $10,700) they will match that amount by $2000. This would cover our next fees and give us a bit breathing room to save up more.

Two ways you can donate:

Tax deductible donation to our Reece's Rainbow Account (starting point for the match was $48.50)
Non tax deductible YouCaring Account (starting point here was $958)

Our t-shirts are selling for 2 more days HERE and we can use the proceeds towards the matching grant also.

We are so thankful for your support. If you have any fundraising ideas, I would love to hear them. Please keep watching the thermometer and I will be so happy to announce it when we have met the matching grant!

i800a approved!

i800a is one of the government approvals we need to adopt. Yesterday, I was surprised to find our approval letter in the mail, as we were told it would be another 1-2 weeks for it. We had a top neuro-oncologist who specializes in pediatric brain tumors write a letter requesting an expedited processing and we were told the request was denied. There has been misuse of the expedited processing in the past and now the result is that very few people are allowed to expedite. It's sad.

In that letter, the doctor wrote many things that outline our Josie's medical condition. It's a tough read because all her needs seem serious and at times overwhelming. At the same time, we are so glad to be her parents and give her all the opportunities for world class medical care. We live within 30 minute drive to 4 children's hospitals, there is always an expert in one of them.

When our dossier is ready to be sent, which is soon, we will also have our next fees due. Currently we have a matching grant of $2000, so when our thermometer (on the right column of the blog) hits $10,700, we will receive an additional $2000. Wonderful, right? We would love for your consideration in helping us reach that matching grant.

One way you can donate that is tax deductible, is through our Reece's Rainbow account. You can also check out our t-shirt fundraiser and Mother's Day Mug Swap.

How far does you love travel?

If you have nieces or nephews and there became a day that they needed a safe place to stay, would you open your home?

If your neighbor’s children needed temporary or permanent care, would your family extend kindness and love? How about a church member or someone you know about through friends?

I think most of us, if at all possible, would make room, pool resources, look at our budget and make it work if someone we knew had a need like this. And there are stories of families coming together after various tragedies and making the seemingly impossible situation work. I see that at my workplace where addiction and illness and brokenness of this world robs children of their parents and grandparents or aunts and uncles step in to bring stability and familiarity.

As I thought about the concept of family, I couldn’t help but wonder where is my limit when it comes to love? Once the neighbor becomes someone further away geographically, are we no longer as compassionate toward a child in need? Do we view different countries as not our problem, not our responsibility, or can we look at a child in a distant country with the same compassion and be moved to action? Where do we draw the line of compassion? How far does your love travel?

I have been in the realm of adoption long enough to know that it’s not as easy as seeing the need and opening our home. There are qualifications, home studies, finances to consider and some countries are not open to international adoption. I write a  lot about adoption ethics and in country solutions, but this post isn’t about that. This post is about a child who is waiting, today, for a family. A child that is most likely older or has a medical condition or is part of a sibling group. The 5% of children who are hardest to place for adoption. Is the problem so big that we experience compassion fatigue? Do we draw the line around United States and say it’s not our problem? Or do we roll our sleeves up and say “yes, I will be part of the solution, however big or small part is meant to be mine”.

Our family is going to do our small part  and adopt once again. We are excited and honored to welcome a new daughter into our family. Our love is traveling to China and back. She is almost 4 years old and has waited too long for a family. Her special needs are different from Eve’s but she does have a medical condition that is serious. She will likely use a wheelchair as Eve does, which is familiar to us. Our children are absolutely over the moon excited to welcome another sister into our family. They are busy picking names, fighting over room arrangements and looking at her pictures on my phone. I wish I could share her picture so you could see the sweet little one that has captured our hearts, but for now you will have to take my word for it.

We invite you to follow our journey here. If you have any questions or wonder how your family can extend extravagant love to others, you can always email me at joyfuljourney4me at gmail dot com  For some families it will look like adoption, for others it may be fostering or supporting adoptive families. Some may find their calling in family preservation and sponsorship. No matter what your thing is, take the first step.