So, our family has been battling the Norovirus...AGAIN! That means I am very behind on everything I was already behind on. It also means that I missed part 2 of hearing Ann Voskamp speak, going to Austin's Oyster Roast at his school and attending a friend's 40th Birthday party. Also, missing time to do fun things with Travis' mom while she was here. She was such a trooper and took care of the boys while Travis and then I ended up in bed for about 3 days each. The boys had a great time with her; but it was definitely not a great exciting adventure weekend.
Onto adoption information. I just deposited another $415 into our bank account today! Thank you so much to all of you who are a part of this! This last dump of funds was from friends who felt called to donate $500 over the year and have been sending us checks, and then 147 Million Orphan Uganda Beads & mainly from the bird's nest necklaces that I make (you can find some samples/photos) on www.facebook.com/bambooandpluffmud . My suggested donation on these is $15 (and an extra $3 for shipping/price based on sending one necklace).
So, to date, we have raised $12,000! I can not believe it! So grateful! I know that is only about 40% of it. But, we are so encouraged. I started the initial application to Show Hope the other day, too. I have til April 30th to finish the long form.
**Side note, to anyone who is starting this process (and will be grant eligible): I would recommend going to Show Hope's site and going to their financial worksheet. It is the most detailed. If we had started with this form, we would have had all the other forms ready for our other applications. It asked for a break down of our investments by stocks, bonds, 401K, Roths, etc. All other forms just want to know a lump sum. Anyhow, just trust me on this, if you are going to apply for grants, fill out their form first & use it for all your other forms because they are the most detailed. Then you can be consistent without having to go back/forth to verify your forms.
Paperwork update: Well, our homestudy is somewhere between DSS and our homestudy office. I am pretty bummed that it has taken this long for the final signatures. I hate to at all sound like I'm complaining but the back/forth for the last few weeks of change this/sign that has been one of the things that really is hard as an adoptive parents.
We are just waiting for DSS approval and then Immigration application. It seems really far off right now; but again, it is a great time to keep raising funds. We are also super busy with our current life with our boys and supporting Journey Together, etc. So many amazing things going on there.
I started a blog post three weeks ago about the amazing news that Lifeline, our placing agency, is opening a satellite office in Charleston. Incredible news! I will post more about this later; but if you are a family in Charleston who would like any more info on orphan care in any fashion, we will be meeting on April 17th at 6:30 for an event hosted by Journey Together & Lifeline!
I started a blog post three weeks ago about the amazing news that Lifeline, our placing agency, is opening a satellite office in Charleston. Incredible news! I will post more about this later; but if you are a family in Charleston who would like any more info on orphan care in any fashion, we will be meeting on April 17th at 6:30 for an event hosted by Journey Together & Lifeline!
Also, I will be announcing in April our next online fundraiser. Still playing around with our give-a-way idea, etc.
Dear Lord, Thank you for Jessica and Travis! Oh heavenly Father I know the frustration of waiting in the adoption process! I pray God that as we experience delays that we would choose to rejoice and trust your providential timing. I pray that we would trust you to move these mountains and bring us to the children you have chosen for us in your perfect timing! I suspect Jessica and I both would plead for that time to be sooner rather than later, but help us to trust you and your timing! I pray Lord, that your loving hand would be upon the daughter you have selected for this family! I pray that she would be experiencing the love of Jesus through the care she will receive in China. Thank you so much for your abundant blessing upon Jessica and Travis as they fundraise for this adoption! In Jesus' name, amen.
ReplyDeleteQuick Question: do you know if you can apply for grants if you have 401k and stocks? We had assumed that we could not apply since we have retirment accounts... Blessings, Jenni
Jenni, I did not see anywhere that it was an issue. I could ask my other friends who had grants through them. I have a feeling that they would like for you to have retirement or 401k so that you are able to be planning ahead. We feel that we will apply & let them decide; but we have heard from 4 families who I believe would be close to our income level that have received grants lately. You could call Show Hope & ask before you do the paperwork. We are trusting we will not wipe out any retirement funds; but we are willing to go into them if we can not pay fees.
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