We have been in about a 3 week waiting period to hear back on the preliminary application we sent in to Christian Adoption Services. We knew there were probably many other applications submitted around the same time as ours because they had just held their informational meeting that was packed out with couples. After about 2 weeks of the application being under review I emailed them to see how everything was going and to make sure they didn't need anything else from us. I received an email back stating they would forward the email to Doris as she was the one reviewing the application. Another week went by and still no word. My husband and I both began to think we may or may not get selected just because of how many applications they were probably looking at.
Today when I checked the mail there was a letter from CAS. I was ripping it open as quick as I could while driving down the driveway. Part of me just knew that it was going to be a no, especially since it was a letter and not a phone call. I was so nervous. But as I opened it and read it explained that after reviewing our application, CAS has approved us to work with them for the adoption process!! I was sooo excited, I starting cheering in the car with Maylena and she began to get all excited. She asked to hold the letter and I called Billy to let him know it was official. Maylena said she would read it to Daddy and she began," Once upon a time.." It was very cute. She is so excited just thinking about having a little brother and we can't wait until the time comes to bring our sweet baby boy home.
We have had great results with the jewelry that we are selling to help support our adoption and the Haitians who have made it. So a HUGE thank you goes out to all who are making that possible!! I know many of you are aware I only have this first batch of product from the Apparent Project for a couple more weeks, but if you wanted to purchase some and now is just not the right time, I will have another shipment of bracelets and handmade Christmas ornaments in just a couple more weeks. I will post pictures on the blog and allow people to tell me what color or item they want and then I will arrange a way to meet you or we could ship it to you. So you can check that out soon.
We really appreciate any help we get in financial support because we have quite a bit of funds to be raised in what could be a short time. CAS gave us a breakdown of the amounts due and when they are due during the process. Our first chunk will be due at the start of the home study $1,500. Then when the home study is completed, somewhere around 3 months, the next chunk is $7,000. After that we become a waiting family and wait to be matched before the final $20,275 is due. (however you may wait a year or so until you have been matched and the baby is born, or it could be just a few months, it depends on the situation). We are placing all of the financial need in God's hands because we know we wouldn't be able to do it on our own. We would appreciate prayers from you as well surrounding our moving forward.
I will continue to post as we hear things and get updates. Right now our next step is to complete our Formal Application so we can start the home study. We have 30 days from now to complete everything needed and get the formal application submitted. It's exciting and we can't wait to get to work. I would always rather be working on a task than just in the waiting phase because it makes the time go by so much faster....
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Apparent Project Fundraiser
We are still in the waiting process to hear approval in regards to our application so we can take the next steps in the adoption process. In the meantime I have been researching fundraising ideas especially since we were not able to participate in the race but we had several people interested in helping us raise funds. I did a Google search one day recently and just happened to come across another lady's blog who partnered with the apparent project to help raise her adoption funds. I went to the Apparent Project website to learn more about it and I was super excited about the whole vision!!
Apparent Project is an organization in Haiti that helps Haitians work to keep their families together and fed and to have a place to live. The Haitians make jewelry and other items from recycled oil drums, aluminum cans, and cereal boxes. The pictures I posted do not do it justice. They are beautiful and have great color! When they complete the items of jewelry its shipped here and you can partner with them to help sell their product and they get a portion of the sales and you keep a portion for your cause. In our case it would help raise funds for our adoption while helping families in Haiti keep their children. I was so touched by that thought. I immediately contacted them about getting the product to sell and I was surprised by the quick response followed by the immediate shipment of the product. I have necklaces made on leather straps with metal pendants that say love, joy , peace, hope. I have earrings and bracelets as well made with the cereal boxes. They allow me to keep the product for 4 weeks and then I send back the unsold portion for the next person to sell. So if you are interested or know someone you think would be please let them know about it soon! These would make great Christmas gifts even....not too soon to be thinking about that.
This way of fundraising was also really important to me because I felt called to go on a missions trip there 3 years ago but about halfway thru my team training I found out I was pregnant with Maylena and I didn't end up going with the team. Haiti is a place that has always stayed on my heart and when I found out about this organization I couldn't wait to get involved.
So that you know, the necklaces are $12, the bracelets $8, and the earrings $6. You can buy them individually or as a set.
Thank you to everyone who is following the blog and staying up to date on the journey!!
Apparent Project is an organization in Haiti that helps Haitians work to keep their families together and fed and to have a place to live. The Haitians make jewelry and other items from recycled oil drums, aluminum cans, and cereal boxes. The pictures I posted do not do it justice. They are beautiful and have great color! When they complete the items of jewelry its shipped here and you can partner with them to help sell their product and they get a portion of the sales and you keep a portion for your cause. In our case it would help raise funds for our adoption while helping families in Haiti keep their children. I was so touched by that thought. I immediately contacted them about getting the product to sell and I was surprised by the quick response followed by the immediate shipment of the product. I have necklaces made on leather straps with metal pendants that say love, joy , peace, hope. I have earrings and bracelets as well made with the cereal boxes. They allow me to keep the product for 4 weeks and then I send back the unsold portion for the next person to sell. So if you are interested or know someone you think would be please let them know about it soon! These would make great Christmas gifts even....not too soon to be thinking about that.
This way of fundraising was also really important to me because I felt called to go on a missions trip there 3 years ago but about halfway thru my team training I found out I was pregnant with Maylena and I didn't end up going with the team. Haiti is a place that has always stayed on my heart and when I found out about this organization I couldn't wait to get involved.
So that you know, the necklaces are $12, the bracelets $8, and the earrings $6. You can buy them individually or as a set.
Thank you to everyone who is following the blog and staying up to date on the journey!!
Monday, August 11, 2014
Things to Consider...
Almost anyone who has researched adoption or began the process realizes there are so many things to think about and most all of them seem to be very major decisions. It really stretches you as an individual and you begin to open your mind and heart to new possibilities...
I just returned from a week long trip to visit my brother in Lakewood, Colorado. Maylena and Billy stayed at home and I traveled with my family. The trip was incredible and gave me a very clear mind and a lot of time to reflect on the upcoming adoption. I had time to read books and speak with the head of Christian Adoption Services, Doris, over the phone in regards to our preliminary application. They are still reviewing it but she wanted to speak to me personally about the issue of Open vs. Closed adoption. We had left it as not sure, need more information on our application. Its a HUGE area of decision and would change the whole direction of the adoption depending on which way you go. Doris informed me that most all of adoptions these days are open, at least in the adoptions they handle. She said its is very rare to have a closed adoption now, and they are pretty much only accepting applicants that will go the Open adoption route. I don't know that Billy and I are strongly against an Open adoption, however, we having been leaning in the direction of Closed since the beginning. It could be that we just need more information and insight into stories and examples of Open adoption to alleviate the fears we have about it. Talking to Doris at first gave me a feeling of turmoil about if we picked the right agency. I made up my mind to contact a friend of a friend I had met through this process and seek her opinion. She has worked with CAS on 2 adoptions, one was closed, and one was open. She has had a great experience with the open adoption and couldn't imagine it any other way. Her and her husband were initially going to go the Closed route but God worked on their hearts during the course of being a waiting family and they made changes to their application to be an open adoption. It has turned out to be all for the better.
I have registered for a training course online that covers Open Adoption through Adoption Learning Partners. Doris recommended we take this course and she kept saying that whatever fears you have in the beginning about open adoption, they will begin to fade away the more you learn about it. If anyone reading this post has any insight into open adoption stories and would be willing to share, please email me at Brittany_695@hotmail.com, I would love to hear them!
Lastly I am sad to say we will NOT be able to use the Chosen Marathon for raising a portion of our funds. For those of you that received our adoption letter in the mail, we were encouraging those that were interested to run a 10 mile race in October to help us raise funds towards our adoption. When I went to set up our team online so that people could register and have funds applied to us, there were fine print details stating you must have a Completed home study at least 30 days prior to the race event. Unfortunately that will not be possible because the Home Study takes 3 months roughly to complete if there are no hangups. Billy and I both were very sad about not being able to participate in the event and we had LOTS of interest from others already saying they were going to do it. I really appreciate everyone interest in wanting to help us raise our funds anyway possible. We will have a fundraiser starting shortly called 144 envelopes. Keep in touch with the blog or Billy's facebook to hear more about that!!
I just returned from a week long trip to visit my brother in Lakewood, Colorado. Maylena and Billy stayed at home and I traveled with my family. The trip was incredible and gave me a very clear mind and a lot of time to reflect on the upcoming adoption. I had time to read books and speak with the head of Christian Adoption Services, Doris, over the phone in regards to our preliminary application. They are still reviewing it but she wanted to speak to me personally about the issue of Open vs. Closed adoption. We had left it as not sure, need more information on our application. Its a HUGE area of decision and would change the whole direction of the adoption depending on which way you go. Doris informed me that most all of adoptions these days are open, at least in the adoptions they handle. She said its is very rare to have a closed adoption now, and they are pretty much only accepting applicants that will go the Open adoption route. I don't know that Billy and I are strongly against an Open adoption, however, we having been leaning in the direction of Closed since the beginning. It could be that we just need more information and insight into stories and examples of Open adoption to alleviate the fears we have about it. Talking to Doris at first gave me a feeling of turmoil about if we picked the right agency. I made up my mind to contact a friend of a friend I had met through this process and seek her opinion. She has worked with CAS on 2 adoptions, one was closed, and one was open. She has had a great experience with the open adoption and couldn't imagine it any other way. Her and her husband were initially going to go the Closed route but God worked on their hearts during the course of being a waiting family and they made changes to their application to be an open adoption. It has turned out to be all for the better.
I have registered for a training course online that covers Open Adoption through Adoption Learning Partners. Doris recommended we take this course and she kept saying that whatever fears you have in the beginning about open adoption, they will begin to fade away the more you learn about it. If anyone reading this post has any insight into open adoption stories and would be willing to share, please email me at Brittany_695@hotmail.com, I would love to hear them!
Lastly I am sad to say we will NOT be able to use the Chosen Marathon for raising a portion of our funds. For those of you that received our adoption letter in the mail, we were encouraging those that were interested to run a 10 mile race in October to help us raise funds towards our adoption. When I went to set up our team online so that people could register and have funds applied to us, there were fine print details stating you must have a Completed home study at least 30 days prior to the race event. Unfortunately that will not be possible because the Home Study takes 3 months roughly to complete if there are no hangups. Billy and I both were very sad about not being able to participate in the event and we had LOTS of interest from others already saying they were going to do it. I really appreciate everyone interest in wanting to help us raise our funds anyway possible. We will have a fundraiser starting shortly called 144 envelopes. Keep in touch with the blog or Billy's facebook to hear more about that!!
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