And...the wait continues!

Another week has come and gone with no word on our daughter's medical and visa appointments.I didn't think this wait from referral to travel would be able to compare in any way whatsoever with the long wait to find out if she was going to be our daughter...I thought it would be WAY easier.  I will admit. I was COMPLETELY wrong. There were times, waiting to find out if we were going to be approved to adopt our little girl, I thought I was going to go out of my mind. When we finally recieved our official referral, I thought to myself, "The wait to travel will just fly by. It will be here before we know it!" The first couple months were alright. I was super busy with my job this summer and I was happy with how quickly the paperwork was coming together on our end. Now, however, I am stalking evey blog, trying to determine why we haven't recieved our call telling us when our daughter will have her medical and visa appointments. I am wondering why it is taking so long! The days pass by slowly...and still no news! This waiting is harder than I expected!  I want to hold her in my arms. I want to bring her home and get her settled into our family. I wonder often, "What is she doing right now?" or "Is she disappointed that it is taking so long for us to come?"

We sent a letter to her through our agency and also a list of questions to her caregivers (through our agency, of course!) that might help us prepare better for her when we finally do get to bring her home. These were sent several weeks ago...and still no response on that end either. I know the Inter-Country Adoption Board is very busy and I shouldn't expect answers quickly, but it is getting harder every day to wait.  At this point, we don't know if we will get to be with her on her birthday. More than likely she will not be HOME by her birthday, but there is a possibility we will get to be with her...so I think I will go shopping this weekend and buy some things to wrap to either take to her or send to her for her birthday.  Maybe shopping for her will help with this difficult wait....Praying we hear something by the first of next week!

Big thank you!

I just want to say a big HUGE thank you to everyone who donated over the past week! We raised $1450 in just a short amount of time and we hope to be able to purchase our plane tickets in the next few weeks. We truly are blessed and we have learned about God's provision in a whole new way! I also want to say thank you to give 1 save 1! What a neat way to help families raise the much needed funds to accomplish an adoption that costs so much! Anyone who is interested, please check out the new family this week and consider giving them $1 toward their adoption costs!

If you wanted to, but didn't have the chance to donate, you can still donate here through the donate button on my blog.  The plane tickets cost about $1200 each, so we still have a ways to go. I have no doubt that God WILL provide for all our needs! Thank you again to friends, family, and even strangers who took the time to help us in order to bring our little girl home! We cannot even begin to thank you enough! God bless!

Blessed Beyond Measure!

I am just so overwhelmed and blessed right now! We have been doing the give1save1 campaign this week to help us raise the needed funds for our plane tickets to get our little girl home...and so many people have just come together and blessed us.  We've had missionaries, who I know are raising their own budgets to give their lives to share the Gospel, give above and beyond. We have had pastors, who have had difficult times of their own, donate large chunks to help us out. We've had strangers, who have no connection to us whatsoever, and blog friends who are in the middle of their own adoptions or who have just completed an adoption, donate out of their own pockets! What a blessing to see God's people join together! I just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There was no way we could do this on our own. It is not easy to ask for money or share our need, but it is easy to share our passion! God has really stretched our hearts for orphans and children in need around the world!  We can't wait to not only bring our little girl home, but also share this blessing of giving to others who are adopting!

We've raised about $1400 so far toward the cost of our plane tickets! One round-trip plane ticket to the Philippines costs around $1200 right now, so we still need to raise some more funds to get us there to bring our little girl home! If you would like to be a part of our adoption story, you can click here to go to www.give1save1asia.blogspot.com, watch our video, give a $1 and share with a family member or friend! Thank you so much!!!

Priceless

Preliminary application fee: $550
Home Study Preparation Fee: $2600
Dossier Preparation Fee: $500
US Adoption Fees: $3500
Philippines Country Fee: $6300
US Paperwork (I800A and Fingerprinting): $840
Passports: $260
Numerous miscellaneous expenses: $500
Adoption training conferences/classes: $300
2 roundtrip tickets to the Philippines: $2600
1 one-way ticket home from the Philippines: $900
Hotel, food and other travel expenses: $1200
Post Adoption interviews/paperwork: $750

Changing an orphan's life forever: Priceless

The smile on my daughter's face when she found out she has a family: Absolutely Priceless


The cost of adoption is high. The sacrifices we make are many, but the end result is something there is no way we can measure in dollars. I can't wait to share with you the smile we've seen in the pictures of our little girl when she found out she FINALLY, after almost 7 years of waiting, has a family to call her very own.

We are doing our VERY LAST fundraiser to help us get our daughter home. Would you jump on over to www.give1save1asia.blogspot.com and watch our adoption video and give $1 to help us get Joy Noelle home? Pass it on to a friend or two. Keep spreading the word.  We hope to travel in September!

Adopting an older child

When Darren and I first felt God impress upon our hearts to adopt and we began to do a little research on adoption, we both felt that God was leading us to adopt a "waiting" child. We were blown away by the number of children in orphanages over the age of 5. Once a child reaches the age of 5 or 6, their chances of being adopted plummets. So many people are willing to adopt a healthy, infant or toddler, but when a child has something medically wrong with them or they are older, children are often labeled as "unadoptable."  There are numbers of beautiful children and teenagers waiting for a family, who have been passed over simply because they are not a baby anymore! There are numerous others who have been passed over because they have a medical need, maybe even something small like a cleft lip or crossed eyes.

Our little girl is almost 7! Her birthday will be coming up here shortly and we hope to have her home with us so we can celebrate her birthday as a family. She does have some special medical needs, but when we consulted physicians and spent time in prayer...God gave us peace that He will give us the strength to handle whatever comes our way. (And to look at her picture, you would never know it!!!)

We are excited to become a family to a little girl who has been waiting....who has watched friends go home with their forever families and who has expressed desire to be adopted; however, adopting an older child has some challenges as well. Many of these children carry a heavy burden from their past and a feeling of rejection. Many of them are scared to love their adoptive family because they don't want to face being abandoned again. All of them have dealt with pain beyond their years; and yet, God loves each and every one of them. How are they to know God's love, if someone doesn't show it to them? We are praying that we can be the family that Joy Noelle needs and that we can show her God's love in a whole new way.

This fundraiser we are doing with Give1Save1 is the LAST fundraiser we plan to do! Will you help us raise the funds needed to purchase our plane tickets? Round trip plane tickets to the Philippines cost about $1200 EACH right now and $900 for a one way ticket home. For just Darren and I and Joy Noelle, that is $3300.00!  We've raised $853 in the last two days. Our goal for the week is $3000 toward the plane tickets. Would you help us get there by donating $1 at http://www.give1save1asia.blogspot.com/ and sharing our story with a family member or friend?