Thursday, March 31, 2011

Lifesong Grant & USCIS being processed!!!!

Today and yesterday have been super exciting! Today almost $900 came out of our checking account and I've never been so excited!  Our check for immigration went through, which means it's being processed.  We can't get our referral until USCIS approval comes, so we are thrilled that it's moving along. 

Yesterday we received a call from Lifesong for Orphans informing us that we have been given a $2,500 matching grant from Highview Baptist Church!!!  I'm not a cryer, unless I'm pregnant (which I'm not), and I cried when I listened to the message.  This is such a blessing because it does several things.  First, it involves our church, family, and friends in caring for an orphan.  Not everyone is able to bring an orphan into their home, but this allows everyone to help participate.  Second, it provides extra motivation since it's a dollar for dollar match up to $2,500.  If we can get 100 people/families to donate $25, it would double to give us $5,000!!! That's sooo huge. 

In case you are wondering about costs and how it works, let me break it down for you.  We are estimating that the whole adoption, including travel is going to cost close to $35,000.  We don't have that laying around.  As of today we have spent $10,012.69 of money we had saved and got back from taxes.  This covered agency fees, home study, dossier, authentication costs, and more.  We have given all we have. When we receive our referral, which we are anticipating(and praying!) late May or June we will have ten days to accept and pay the referral fee of $13,000.  If we do not have the funds, we cannot accept our referral.  This is where my anxiety level increases.  But as I give it over to the Lord, He is so faithful in showing me He will provide.  Like yesterday, through Lifesong for Orphans.  We are so grateful and thankful for this blessing.  After the referral fee is paid I can breathe a sigh of relief.  The rest of the costs are mostly travel related (which can be put on a credit card).  There will some other fees like medial exams, visas, and possibly another immigration form if our kids aren't siblings.  But nothing as comparable to the large referral fee.  Lifesong also provides an avenue for tax-deductible donations.  So if anyone knows a billionaire who needs to get a tax break, feel free to pass along my information :). 

Obviously, not everyone is able to give.  Times are hard and the economy is poor.  So, it also provides an avenue for us to let our family and friends know what we are doing and ask for prayer.  We desperately need our family, friends, and church to partner with us in prayer.  If you would like to pray for specific things, this is what we are praying:
      *Pray for our children that are not home yet, that they are being loved on and cared for.  That God will keep them safe and healthy while they are waiting to come home. 
       *Pray for us and for Bella Kate and Claire to be prepared to have two more siblings.
       *Pray for the Ethiopian government and MOWA(the ministry that controls when we get a court date).  There are still changes being made.  Pray our process will go smoothly and that our children will not have to stay in an orphanage even one extra day due to delays. (Just a note, a friend got her court date today, so I am celebrating for her and super encouraged for our process!!)
        *Pray for God's continued protection and provision over our family through this process.

If you or someone else you know would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help bring our kids home and have your donation doubled thanks to Lifesong, there are two ways you can do so.
 1. Make a check payable to Lifesong for Orphans and write "preference Jenkins #1981 adoption" in the memo section.  Mail the donation to:
Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40/ 202 N. Ford St
Gridley, IL 61744
2. Use paypal to donate online by clicking this link: http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html

All donations must be received by May 26, 2011

We are so grateful for our church, family, and friends who are surrounding us with prayer, encouragement, and support.  We are blessed to be a part of a church who has a heart for adoption and partners with Lifesong to provide us this grant.  What a blessing the adoption ministry at Highview is in so many ways.  We love you and are thankful for you!

Monday, March 21, 2011

BK saying Ethiopia.mpg

Officially Out of My Hands

My part of the paperwork is done! Our dossier has been submitted! It will spend the next few weeks being transported by FedEx around the country to be authenticated before making its way to Ethiopia. Once it's there it will be translated and the match process will begin! This part is way better than chasing paper work!

In the mean time our request to immigration has been made and hopefully within the next 4 weeks we'll receive notice to go get fingerprinted.  Then another 4 weeks or so later we'll get our official approval to bring our kiddos home! We cannot receive our referral until we get this, but they can begin matching us and the match pend upon us getting approved by the government. 

My agency told me today there have been unofficial reports that the Ethiopian government is seeing up to 20 cases a day!!! This is super exciting! I'm praising the Lord for this answered prayer! Way better than five...and actually close to what they were seeing prior to the change. 

So now we wait and pray for our kids.  I am so excited to hear who they are!  While that is at least a couple months away, I'll wait in anticipation, not anxiety, because I can trust in the One who created my kids...all of them.

Friday, March 18, 2011

We're Getting Official!

We received our official home study today!! Notarized and everything :) So we mailed off our applications for LifeSong and Abba Fund for grants and loans.  Yesterday, our home study agency also mailed our application to the government for us to bring an immigrant into our home.  This week I met with our placing agency and got all of my dossier paperwork looked over and "approved".  So Monday I will be officially submitting our dossier to our agency!!!  This is such a huge sigh of relief and weight lifted off of me.  After Monday I will be fundraising and waiting...which you already know I'm working on. 

While there is still no resolution with the previous post about the decrease in cases the Ethiopian government is seeing a day, our agency is optimistic about it and I am more so now than I was.  An adoptive mom I met last week was so encouraging.  She said, "God is writing their story."  She's so right.  Another friend encouraged me that maybe our kids aren't ready yet, maybe they aren't at the orphanage or maybe their paperwork isn't up to date.  All these things could be true.  I'm so thankful for these encouraging friends and conversations!

In other news, Bella Kate learned to say "Ethiopia" which sounds like "Epeepeeia" and it's probably the cutest thing ever! She watches the video I posted over and over again.  She also said, "I want to go see brothers!" because they are not home, they are in "Epeepeeia".  Second cutest thing ever.  Yes, there were tears in my eyes as I answered, "I want to go see them too." 

Thanks for taking this journey with us...it's a long one, but we're thrilled to be on it!

P.S. Only 2 more days to order from 31 Gifts if you want something!!! Thanks everyone!!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Do Not Be Anxious About Anything

This blog is getting real honest.  Just a heads up.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7

It was officially announced this week that adoption cases processed by the Government of Ethiopia's Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth will be reduced from 40 something a day to 5.  For us, best case scenario, it means significant delays.  My heart is aching.  If you see me out at the store and I'm mumbling to myself it's because I'm saying Phil 4:6-7 over and over again, trusting in the truth and authority of God's word.  I am pleading with the Lord to change this.  I believe He is in control of it and will change it.  There are few times Dan and I have been praying on our faces together, literally crying, with such heavy hearts.  Please pray that God will change the officials' hearts and open their eyes to the needs of the orphans to get home.  For our boys to be taken care of in the mean time.  That our case will be seen quickly and our boys will get home this year. 

A sweet friend sent me a card in the mail today that was such a huge encouragement to me.  It reminds me "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" Rom 8:15  Her sacrifice to help us bring our boys home and encouraging words are just what I needed and I am so grateful. 

We have all of our paperwork for our dossier together with the exception of our official, notarized copy of our home study.  Our home study has been approved! YAY :) As soon as the official copy arrives our dossier will be mailed from place to place being approved at various levels of government, then on to Ethiopia. We also submitted last week our paperwork to our social worker to request the government to allow us to bring an immigrant (two actually) into our home.  It will be mailed with our official home study this week.  Then we will be sent a document to get fingerprinted, then wait for official approval.  Meanwhile, our dossier will be in an Ethiopian office, in a large waiting pile.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A video I had to share..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSaHNzWTLmA

This is all about why Ethiopia? I linked this from a friends page...so the end is about another family.

I spent the afternoon with my awesome husband getting things notarized, getting official passport photos taken (for the dossier) and getting police clearance (this is after the state and I think federal background checks!).  But it was a productive afternoon and I'm so happy to be a tiny bit closer to getting our boys home. 

Please pray for the current situation with the Ethiopian government.  Nothing official has come out from the government or our state department.  Praying the rumors are just that and empty threats from other governmental departments.  We don't want our kids to be delayed a day, much less months. 

So thankful for all our family and friends who are being so encouraging! We love you all!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Out of Control

Excited, anxious, nervous, and occasionally nauseous.  All things I felt when I was prego with the girls...all things I am feeling now (except the nausea is only occasional!).  Before I blamed the crazy emotions on my hormones, now I realize it's just the anticipation of having another child.  I'm learning a lot about myself through this process.  For example, I had no idea how much I like things to be in my control.  And how all of this being out of my control is causing an ulcer to form in my stomach.  I can't control the mail, the Ethiopian courts or their speed, when our tax return will hit our checking account, or how my kiddos are being taken care of tonight.  But the great comfort I find in all of this being out of my control is that someone much better at taking care of all this than me is in fact in control!  My God is in control.  He knows who my kids are and is watching over them even as I type this.  He has provided our state side fees through our tax return and knows when it will hit our account so that I can write the next few checks to continue in the process.  He knows the day we will get to bring the kids home.  It is so comforting that I can lean on His everlasting arms and trust that what He has called us to do will come to pass in His oh so perfect timing.

We are taking baby steps! Our home study was complete this past week.  We are just waiting on our notarized copy (and tax return money to pay for it's review).  Once it's final we can also apply for grants and loans.  We sign our contract and pay our first fee at our incredible agency (Arise for Children) tomorrow.  The rest of the week will be spent finalizing our dossier paperwork.  Meanwhile, we'll submit a request to the government for permission to bring an orphan into our home.  Then we'll get a notice to get fingerprinted and wait for approval.  When we get all of that submitted, we wait.  Wait for a referral, wait for a court date, wait to bring our kids home.  (I promise I'm working on trusting in the Lord's timing...I really do know it's perfect!)