Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Needed Prayer
This is going to be a short but very important post. We were notified earlier today that there has been a Cholera Outbreak in the Orphan Village in Jeremie. Two young boys have passed away and 10 other children have been hospitalized. Please be in prayer for the leaders, momma's and children in Jeremie, these men, women and children have become more than just faces in another country to so many at Long Hollow. Not to mention our family and the other families who have hopes to adopt from Jeremie. Our prayer tonight is that God will shine through this dark time and protect our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
First Waiting Period
We finished our home study on Tuesday, WHEW...... I was nervous but all went well. So our first round of documents are in Kelly's hands. Over the next couple of weeks Kelly will be finalizing our home study. How Exciting!!! My home study folder has now become my Dossier folder, it goes to work with me pretty much everyday. I continue to gather documents, once we receive our prepared home study from Kelly we can submit our paperwork for our I-600A.
I continue to hear heartbeaking news about Haiti each week. Please be in prayer for the country as there are so many unknowns for the men and women living there, not to mention our child. However, this past Sunday we heard awsome news of how God is moving in Carrefour, Haiti. Source da la Grace is a church that was planted in Carrefour by Pastor Mosie Vaval, Mosie not only lost his son in the earthquake last year but the church was also destroyed. Mosie did not lose faith or his vision for Haiti. Our church was able to share in rebuilding Source da la Grace, which held its first service in the new building since the quake this past week on January 12th which was the one year anniversay. The service started at the exact time of the quake and the church was overflowing with attendants, over 1500 to be exact. I don't know about you but that just gives me chills. So many familes were displaced just over one year ago and still to date over 1 million people are living in tents. God is using his people to bring light to Haiti. I feel so blessed that God has called us to walk along side our church family to help make a difference for his Kingdom.
I continue to hear heartbeaking news about Haiti each week. Please be in prayer for the country as there are so many unknowns for the men and women living there, not to mention our child. However, this past Sunday we heard awsome news of how God is moving in Carrefour, Haiti. Source da la Grace is a church that was planted in Carrefour by Pastor Mosie Vaval, Mosie not only lost his son in the earthquake last year but the church was also destroyed. Mosie did not lose faith or his vision for Haiti. Our church was able to share in rebuilding Source da la Grace, which held its first service in the new building since the quake this past week on January 12th which was the one year anniversay. The service started at the exact time of the quake and the church was overflowing with attendants, over 1500 to be exact. I don't know about you but that just gives me chills. So many familes were displaced just over one year ago and still to date over 1 million people are living in tents. God is using his people to bring light to Haiti. I feel so blessed that God has called us to walk along side our church family to help make a difference for his Kingdom.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Adoption Costs
International Adoptions are expensive. So many people consider adoption but are scared away by costs among other things. There are so many fees along the way. I want to be honest with everyone, our adoption has been estimated at $15,000 - $16,000 to get our little one home. The fees have already started and we are confident that God will provide for this child to have a forever family. With that said, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Brad and I have gotten a storage unit and are taking items for a yard sale in the spring. This will be one of our many fundraisers to help fund our adoption. If you have anything that you had planned to give away or take to Goodwill we will be happy to come pick up the items if you are willing to donate them for our orphan. Please go through your closets, garages and cabinets. Every dollar adds up so we are willing to take anything. I plan on consigning some of our kiddos clothes so if you have children's clothes that you are willing to donate I will add them to our stacks. Anything that does not sale will be donated to another family adopting (we know so many people adding to their families) or taken to another charity.
Another way to support us is by purchasing coffee from our coffee store, $5 from every sale comes back to us. Not to mention helps other orphans. http://www.justlovecoffee.com/ArthurFamily We are in the process of designing t-shirts so keep your eyes open for sales info on those shortly. Thanks to everyone, we truly are grateful for your support.
Brad and I have gotten a storage unit and are taking items for a yard sale in the spring. This will be one of our many fundraisers to help fund our adoption. If you have anything that you had planned to give away or take to Goodwill we will be happy to come pick up the items if you are willing to donate them for our orphan. Please go through your closets, garages and cabinets. Every dollar adds up so we are willing to take anything. I plan on consigning some of our kiddos clothes so if you have children's clothes that you are willing to donate I will add them to our stacks. Anything that does not sale will be donated to another family adopting (we know so many people adding to their families) or taken to another charity.
Another way to support us is by purchasing coffee from our coffee store, $5 from every sale comes back to us. Not to mention helps other orphans. http://www.justlovecoffee.com/ArthurFamily We are in the process of designing t-shirts so keep your eyes open for sales info on those shortly. Thanks to everyone, we truly are grateful for your support.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Whats happening Now
We have told you how we got here, now let me tell you alittle bit about where we are in this overwhelming process. We have had our initial home study meeting, I was extremely nervous but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. All our first round of document are in order, we are reading "A Connected Child" (Brad and I neither one are big readers but we are really trying). We have to complete a webinar after we finish the book, we have given ourselves until next weekend to complete the book and webinar (this is one area where prayer will be needed).
Next Thursday the 13th, we have our final meeting with Kelly, our social worker, this is where she will talk with Brad and I separately. After this Kelly will draft our home study report. Then onto bigger things...compiling our documents for our dossier. First I plan on submitting our paperwork for our I-600A, then they will respond with a date and time for us to get fingerprinted. Then onto pictures of the house, kids, family& friends, more reference letters, passports and blood tests. So basically between working, being wife and mommy, I will be up to my elbows in paper work. To be totally honest, I can't wait! This is such an exciting time....Brad has recently compared me to a race horse and he is trying to catch up. I want to talk about everything and he is saying lets address on thing at a time. I can't seem to slow myself down.
More exciting news...there is a medical trip for Jeremie scheduled for early February where additional information on the orphans will be available. I believe that there are around 300 children at our orphanage currently and one of them is ours. We are hopeful that shortly after the trip we will be able to select the gender and age of our child. WOW!
Next Thursday the 13th, we have our final meeting with Kelly, our social worker, this is where she will talk with Brad and I separately. After this Kelly will draft our home study report. Then onto bigger things...compiling our documents for our dossier. First I plan on submitting our paperwork for our I-600A, then they will respond with a date and time for us to get fingerprinted. Then onto pictures of the house, kids, family& friends, more reference letters, passports and blood tests. So basically between working, being wife and mommy, I will be up to my elbows in paper work. To be totally honest, I can't wait! This is such an exciting time....Brad has recently compared me to a race horse and he is trying to catch up. I want to talk about everything and he is saying lets address on thing at a time. I can't seem to slow myself down.
More exciting news...there is a medical trip for Jeremie scheduled for early February where additional information on the orphans will be available. I believe that there are around 300 children at our orphanage currently and one of them is ours. We are hopeful that shortly after the trip we will be able to select the gender and age of our child. WOW!
Monday, January 03, 2011
Haiti Chose Us
Happy New Year!!! This is going to begin as a continuation of my last post. So here we were.... we made the decision to adopt and immedately we were lost and confused. As I stated before we had no idea where we were going to adopt from, we wrestled with Demostic or International. We made the decision to go International due to the living conditions, future oppertunities, and sharing the gospel with a child in a third world country who may never have lived to the age of 10. Theses children are living in a country where all hope has been lost. Here is where I will remind you WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!! So Haiti had crossed our minds since that trip with God's guidance had changed our entire family. However, Haitian Law states that you must be married for 10 years and one applicant must be 35 to adopt. We had the ten year marriage under our belt but age possed an issue. So we were out. Let me just tell you how crazy some countries are....you would think this process would go much smoother since these children have no home. Litterally there are dumps in these countries where people can just drive up and leave their kids. I mean they are eating trash off the side of the road and only then can we hope they are taken in to an area orphanage with room for them.
In November, Long Hollow was having an adoption weekend where several people would be available to discuss their journey and different agencies. We said we were going to leave church knowing which agency we would use. The reason this is so important is because you have to know which country you plan to adopt from before you choose your agency because each agency doesn't serve all countries. Just the day before we found out several families had inquired about adopting from our orphanage in Jeremie. There would be a meeting after service on Sunday. We went with an open mind and found out that we could apply for a waiver since we weren't 35 and we wouldn't need an agency since the church would handle everything with our partners in Haiti. Here's your sign...only a 2 x 4 could have hit us harder. Haiti it is....and we are super excited.
In November, Long Hollow was having an adoption weekend where several people would be available to discuss their journey and different agencies. We said we were going to leave church knowing which agency we would use. The reason this is so important is because you have to know which country you plan to adopt from before you choose your agency because each agency doesn't serve all countries. Just the day before we found out several families had inquired about adopting from our orphanage in Jeremie. There would be a meeting after service on Sunday. We went with an open mind and found out that we could apply for a waiver since we weren't 35 and we wouldn't need an agency since the church would handle everything with our partners in Haiti. Here's your sign...only a 2 x 4 could have hit us harder. Haiti it is....and we are super excited.
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