Sweet Thoughts!

I love blog posts with pictures, so I thought I would post some pictures of gifts that our girls have received ALREADY from some thoughtful friends!  They deserve more than this simple thank you. 
Others have given, too, in so many ways, but more on that later!  ;o)  On to the pictures!
They include (but not in this order!):
1. Some gifts that Sam and I bought on our last anniversary.  I just couldn't wait to get them something!
2. My sister in law gave them this pretty reminder of God's love for them.  It was one of the first presents they got when we announced we were adopting. 
3. These cute little stuffies were from two of Sam's students in his programs.  So thoughtful of those girls!
4. My coworker gave us these BEAUTIFUL paintings of scenes from Peter Rabbit for the girls' room.  I was very touched because they came from her son's nursery - very special and hard for her to part with, I am sure.  I will certainly treasure them (and they go with the room perfectly!).
5. Lastly, this is a picture of a few wrapped presents we bought for the girls this Christmas.  I couldn't let the season go by without that concrete reminder that they are out there, waiting.  I am so thankful that God came into this world and adopted US to be His sons and daughters.  I hope the girls can open them sooner rather than later!
As always, thanks for reading, praying and being part of this journey.  It means so much to us.

Moving right along

We are excited to announce some progress!  We have gotten all of the paperwork done for our Home Study!  A Social Worker has been assigned to us and we hope to have appointments with her set up in the next few days.  For the curious among you, here is an explanation of what this all means:

Home Study
The Home Study is a report completed by a licensed Social Worker that basically says that we have enough character and means to support a child.  This is done through about four face to face visits and loads of paperwork.

Paperwork
Many have asked about the timeline of the adoption and why it takes so long.  The short answer is Paperwork.  Paperwork takes many different forms, is completed in many different ways, and is obtained through various means.  Here is a short list of what we had to assemble JUST for the Home Study to begin:

Letter from our Employers with our salary and a statement that we are both employees in good standing.  Notarized.

Physical Exam.  Thorough Physical Exam.  Notarized

Financial Statement.  Assets, monthly budget, debts.

Life Story.  Four to five pages each of our lives from birth to today (there were almost two pages of questions to answer!).  I actually enjoyed this because I was reminded of how fortunate I was to have such a loving family and life of abundance.   I’m thankful for those high school teachers that helped me learn how to write a paper!  You do use those skills later in life!

Online Parenting Classes.  12 Hours.  We actually learned a lot from these seminars that we watched online and then took tests to see if we were paying attention.  It would have been simple except for the fact that we don’t have internet access at our home and you can’t watch them on our tiny phones (we tried). 

Background Check.  Almost forgot about the trip to the courthouse to get fingerprinted!  That was a new experience for us both! 

Letters from family and friends.  Our parents (read: Moms) had to write a letter explaining that we had a somewhat normal childhood and would make great parents ourselves.  A few friends did the same.  Thanks!!!

Hopefully you will understand why we have been working on this since late October.  It’s a lot when you are working 40 plus hours, running a farm and just living day to day.  But…… we are done with this step!  Bring on the next set of paper work (that would be the Dossier Building)!  The good news is that as we were getting our physicals, etc. we were also getting them to fill out the very similar (but not identical) paperwork for the next phase.  There will be more documents than listed earlier, and they will not only have to be notarized, but also certified by the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office AND authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas.

When we get all the Dossier paperwork and the Home Study notarized, certified, and authenticated we will send it to our Agency, who will then send it to China.  By then it will probably be a stack of papers over 3” thick! 

It’s a long journey.  There are times that we are exhausted with all the paperwork.  But we press on, knowing that our children are waiting for us.  Thank you all for joining with us as we seek to bring our children home. 

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:14  NKJ

So thankful...

We are so thankful for all of God’s rich blessings that He has continued to pour upon us!  We have not written a post lately because of the busyness of the Holidays and other goings on (see below). 

Here are some things we are thankful for:
God has continued to show us His provision and blessing of this adoption journey we are on.  After only 5 months of saving and fundraising we are about 1/3 of the way there!  We are both blown away at the ways God has chosen to provide these.

Michelle’s job at a local store. It has been a real blessing to have this consistent income that we have applied 100% towards the adoption fund.

Sam’s job.  It has remained stable in a turbulent economy and has been able to cover all of our regular expenses.

New horses boarding with us.  Some friends who are living out of state right now needed to move their beloved horses that were being boarded in the area.  We were asked about it and now have 2 new horses at the farm that we are caring for.  Another totally unexpected way that God is providing.

Giving from friends and family.  We are going public with our “Puzzle Fundraiser” that has been quite fun so far.  We have two puzzles and we are ‘selling’ pieces of the puzzles.  For every donation we will put the contributor’s name on a puzzle piece.  When completed we will frame the puzzles in a double sided frame so that our children can see all the names of those who helped bring them home.  We have sold over 40 pieces thus far – get your name on one before they are all gone!  If you have our mailing address just send a contribution there and include the name(s) you would like included.  If you don’t have it send an email to GoTeamSam@gmail.com and we will send you the info.  The 1000 piece puzzle pieces are $5 each and the 500 piece puzzle pieces are $10 each.  If God blesses us with two children through adoption, they will each have a puzzle of their own to remind them how many people loved, prayed and cared about them.

Adoption Tax Credit made permanent.  In all the last minute negotiations over the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ it was unclear if the Adoption Tax Credit would be included.  Thankfully part of what we were all seeking did make it!  The Credit is now permanent, meaning it will not have to be re-authorized in another session of Congress.  Although it is not refundable for special needs, which means those families would get a check upon adoption, it will help families by lowering their tax burden substantially for up to 5 years after the adoption.  We won’t bore you with the ins and outs, but this is a huge blessing for us and the other families who are in the process of adoption.

Concerns
We were shocked and disturbed – as most were – at the news from Russia on their decision to stop international adoptions to the United States.  It is appalling in so many ways.  There are hundreds of thousands of hurting children in Russian orphanages that need forever families who can give them love and proper medical care.  The families that have been part of the Russia program for years are now struggling to negotiate the next steps.  Many have already been matched with children and met them face to face.  It is heart wrenching to think about.  PLEASE be in prayer for these children and families.  Pray that the Russian officials would change their minds and reverse this decision.

Other Prayer Requests

Ability to focus on our paperwork.  We have a milestone that is not far ahead, but a lot more work lies on the other side of it.  We are praying for perseverance. 

Fundraising.  As we said earlier, we are so encouraged by the outpouring of support from our friends and family.  We prayer for continued gifts and opportunities to earn money towards this beautiful journey we are on.

Orphans.  We are following several blogs that show us some of the reality that is the orphan crisis in this world.  The needs are dramatic.  The conditions miserable.  The numbers overwhelming.  BUT the families that are ahead of us on this journey are amazing.  They are beautiful vessels that God is using to make a difference for His Glory to be magnified.  Pray for them as they raise funds, travel, have surgeries, encounter road blocks, and are exhausted. 

Thank you friends for being a part of this journey.  Great are His Wonders.

Catch up!

Wow!  It has been such a busy holiday season, so forgive me for not keeping up with the blog more!  Let me throw a few updates at you and catch up!

I worked my first Christmas in a retail position, and while it was super fun (really, it was!), it was SUPER busy!!!  I am very glad for the experience, but I am also glad it is over.  I've never wrapped so many gifts so quickly in my entire life!  I am thankful for the extra hours I was able to work each weekend as that put a little more into our adoption fund.   This next month I am looking forward to resuming teaching horseback riding lessons on the weekends and just being on the farm.

We had the opportunity to take on two horses as boarders at the farm.  They're both polite guys.  Shine can't wait until we put them in the pasture with her (see pictures)!  It is nice to "put the farm to work" for us, so to speak and any extra income this generates will go towards the adoption as well.

We are still completing the different steps that lead to a home study.  It is our hope that we can have it all done before the end of the month.  We so appreciate all of those who have asked about our progress.  We NEVER tire of answering your questions and are always happy to do so.  It warms our hearts to think that so many are interested and want to be part of this journey.

I hope your holidays were merry and bright.  We are so thankful for this season to celebrate God and His son and all He has blessed us with this year.  We are anxiously looking forward to 2013 and even 2014 as we know they contain not only pictures and information about two very special little girls, but the day we will get to meet them as well.