The Process So Far ...

The last month and a half seem to have flown by as we began our adoption journey. Having never adopted before we were newbies to all of this. Thankfully, having been an event planner I can manage a "to do" list in my sleep. That skill is really coming in handy.  For us to expedite this process we decided to work on almost all the beginning steps at one time. So, I thought I better update before we get too much further down the path.

First off, we have the best adoption agency rep who lives just 30 minutes from our home so getting our home study done - though time consuming, was a pretty quick process. There were doctor visits for check ups for my husband and I. Then the kids had their check ups - plus, some shots they were not looking forward to! Then there was the collection of finger prints and background checks {for every state lived in since 18}. And, there was lots of paper to collect ... birth certificates, marriage certificate, pet shot records.

And, just when you think there cannot be anymore paperwork ... another stack arrives for your signature. Of course, everything has to be photocopied - some times two and three times. As we began to work on our dossier documents we found out things not only had to be notarized but, apostilled {a word until beginning this journey I had never used or even heard of}. Apostilled is like a notarized notarized copy ... don't ask. I have signed my name so many times that I lost count ... and, even better, I ended up having to hyphenate my maiden-married name due to the fact that it was that way on my Georgia driver's license and when I got my passport they decided that it would have to be the same way. Which meant all of our adoption documents would need my hyphenated name - thank God when I found this out we had just begun the dossier document part of our adoption - which are the official papers.

But, as I write this now - our home study is done, our I800A is in front of our government {the document which requests permission to adopt a child from another country}, and our dossier is ready to be mailed off to L@tvi@, for translation {from English to L@tvi@n}.

We have had two fundraisers ...

A Willow House Fundraiser

A Basket Weaving Class Fundraiser

We are planning a large garage sale on April 27th and have already received some wonderful donations of items to sell! We have also applied for a grant and hope to hear back sometime before May.

So far to date, we have spent around $5,000 on agency and government fees. Another $600 on expedited passports and $1000 on things like finger prints, doctor's exams, and apostilling fees. 

This week we have $6715 due for more agency fees, translation fees for our dossier, and a post-placement fee deposit. Once again, I just have to say "to God be the glory" ... in the last 24 hours more than $5,000 has been received in donations. One of those large donations from a family who had no idea that we even owed this money this week - they themselves have been on a journey and had the most beautiful story to tell as to how we became the recipient of this donation. 

One of the scariest parts of an adoption can be the price tag you see. For us, that number is around $35,000 but, you know what, that is probably one of the least of my worries. I know God put us on this journey and when He does amazingly crazy things like that - He provides, just like he has this week.

For all those families who have blessed us beyond belief in the last 24 hours - we can never thank you enough for what you have given sacrifically and joyfully to help us bring our sweet L@tvi@n girl home.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19