Waiting for the Phone to Ring

I'm getting a lot of questions regarding where we are in our adoption process. Today the answer is that we are just waiting. Waiting for the phone to ring again with news that our agency has a referral for us. All our paper work is now complete. We have a few thousand dollars to raise, and are working on a fund raisers that we'll do in near future. After we get the referral we estimate another 5 or 6 months before we travel, but it could be longer based on the time of year, power outages, governmental politics and more.

Another question I'm hearing a lot is, "What is the time frame?". The answer is - There isn't one. We could get a call today, tomorrow, next week, or maybe a month or two. There are just too many factors to answer that question. It depends on what children come into the orphanage, how old they are, and the adoption criteria of those who are ahead of us on "the list".

I had a conversation with our adoption provider the other day that put this in perspective for me. We are adopting children whose parents have died and have no family that can provide for them. It should not be our prayer that this occurs. It should be our prayer that it does not. Yet when it does we will be there to meet that need.

Wow. Chew on that a while. I'm so glad we are using an agency that truly has a heart for the children of Ethiopia.

Funder Results and a Surprise!

What a fun time we had. Val Geissler did the entertainment and served as the auctioneer. We had about 70 people show up for the event to bid on a number of silent and live auction items. Some of my favorites were a 2ft tall plush stuffed elephant, an elk antler plant stand, a hand made entertainment center, brand new desktop computer and more. In the end some people great deals on items, and we all had a really good time. Okay, okay. I know you just want to know the dollar amount which ended right about $2500. Not bad for a half day of work. Actually the planning was a bit more, but still a success.

Then today as I'm adding it all together I get online and find that an "anonymous" donor has given us a $2000 donation. How can that be? Anonymous? You reach into our world and change it and we don't get to know who you are. In that case we will thank God for your compassion, and assume that you had followed His direction. We will give Him the glory. Thank you for following. Whoever you are.

With these donations and a smattering of others we sit about $4200 from EVERYTHING we anticipate to need before we travel. Wow, what an exciting feeling that is to be so close. Now if we can just get another referral. Maybe Monday. Maybe.

Fundraiser

Our next funderaiser is January 15. Less than 2 weeks away!!!

Our last post said Dec 15 & @ the Eagles lodge. We must have been very tired when we posted it. Here's the scoop:

Friday, Jan 15, 2010 6:30 PM

VFW - Cody Wyoming

Chili Dinner

Live Entertainment

Live & Silent Auction

*gift certificates
* Handcrafted Entertainment Center
*Computer

*Decor

* & much more still coming in

Tickets are $10. Call us to reserve your spot today! 417-718-5597

If you are not able to make it, but would like to make a donation. Use the PayPal link on the right. Donations are tax deductible.

THANK YOU!

It's there!

We recieved an e-mail today saying that our paperwork has landed in Ethiopia! Now we are waiting on a referral.

This weekend we are starting a 10 hour online training course; and on Monday afternoon, we have a webinar with our agency titled "while your waiting." I pray that the wait is not to long; and if it is, I pray that God gives me patience.

Mark your calendars for the next fundraiser. Friday, December 15, 2009 at the Eagles Lodge in Cody, WY we will be having a Chili dinner with entertainment and auction! More details coming soon.

Dossier Completed

Thanks to the donation I mentioned in the last post our dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia. Actually the money arrived at the agency this afternoon and our dossier will leave for Ethiopia via UPS first thing in the morning. This is very exciting. It means a couple of things. We go back on the waiting list now for another set of children. In case you are curious the people who have been waiting the longest have been waiting around 6 months, but since our options are more open (boys/girls/birth-6) we expect to get a referral much quicker.

In the mean time we have a bit more training that we have to complete. It is an online class with tests and everything. It has to be completed before we travel and will likely take around 8 hours to complete.

We will also need to raise the required funds for travel. Of course much of that will depend on airfares which right now seem to be between $1500 and $3000 per adult if we fly out of Denver. If we fly from any of the closer airports the costs can be as much as $5000 per ticket. However, many of the airlines do offer discounts for adoptive families who are traveling to pick up a child. The discounts seem similar to that of bereavement flights. Other costs as we look toward travel will include:

$3000-$6000 Airfare
$2000 Hotel/food/guides
$400 visa fee
$200 visa medical exam
$20 visa photos
$70 Ethiopian passports

That is the major break down of costs that remain. We are excited to be this far and can't wait to bring home our kids. We are almost there, but we still need your help to finish up. Please pray and consider making a donation to help us with the remainder of these costs. If you choose to do so you can make a donation through the paypal button on the right hand side of the blog, or you can mail us directly at 822 Jonathon Rd. Powell, WY 82435.

Okay So I Missed $50

Yeah. As it turns out I was off in the remaining fees by $50. And not on the good side. It will be $50 more bringing the total remaining that we need to send off our paperwork to Ethiopia... $1,106 and twenty-five cents. I know it's discouraging to see the number moving in the wrong direction.

That is until God reaches into your world and proves once again that He is in control. This evening we received a phone call to tell us that someone who was making monthly donations was stepping up to provide the remaining amount needed to be "dossier ready" in one lump sum.

With the receipt of that check we will be able to finish our payments to CWA, send our dossier to Ethiopia and pay the international adoption fees. It will also put us in place to receive another referral from the agency. Something we are very anxious for.

All that will remain will be visa/travel/medical costs. I'll post a break down of remaining costs soon. Don't get me wrong, that will be costly too. But this is a major step in the right direction. Thank you for the donation. You mean the world to us.

Progress

Progress takes time. I just keep reminding myself. Today, though, I had a bit of excitement as I was updating our financials. We are $1,056.25 away from sending our dossier to Ethiopia. It is currently being authenticated in DC and it will arrive at our agency by the end of the week.

Thank you to all of you that continue to help. If you would like to make a donation to help chip away at this mile stone, click the PayPal link on the right. All donations are tax deductible.