We just got an email from the folks who are reviewing our application for a grant!!! Very exciting :)
Would you please pray for this Grant to be Granted (pun intended ha ha). Seriously though, we could really use the grant money. Hopefully they will approve us and hopefully for the full amount :)
This was the only grant that we were eligible to apply for (at least we think we're eligible...). It would be blessing indeed.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Put on every piece of God's armor
I started writing a post a couple of weeks ago that I feel so very strongly about. I decided to put it on the shelf for a while though because I don't believe that now is the time to publish it. Let me just say, though, how very grateful we are for all the works of God's hand surrounding this adoption.
I know I get angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, etc with this whole process. It is long and tedious and invasive. If we didn't go through this process, we wouldn't be the people we are today, would we?
This adoption literally saved my life. Prior to our home study, we read up on adoption requirements for various countries. One of the things that hit me the hardest was how some countries required a person to be under a certain body mass index. This got me thinking A LOT. I didn't want the reason I was rejected from a country to be based on my weight. I figured that this was something I had control of in this process. So, before we took the plunge, I dedicated myself to eating right and exercising. A year ago, we started filling out our application form with the agency. One year later, I am a different person on the inside as well as the outside!
I have lost over 70 pounds. I am no longer considered obese or even overweight! I am actually considered a normal weight! I still have a bit more work to get myself to where I want to be but for now, I am content. I can't believe this....today as I type, I feel content about so much that is happening in my life! I feel incredibly blessed and for once, I feel like I am where I need to be!
I praise God for moving my family here and bringing us to a church that we actually feel like being a part of! I am meeting incredible people lately everywhere we go. Yesterday, for example, we took the girls to Tim Horton's as a treat after their kickboxing tournament. It was so busy so we had to take up two different tables. Right next to us, a couple began talking to us and connected with our family as they had 4 older daughters. They were such an encouragement and a testimony to us. They raised a doctor, two lawyers and an architect! Wow! From this town!
Today I talked with a woman from our church who was told, when she was pregnant, that her unborn baby was going to have Down Syndrome! This boy's life was SAVED because his parents didn't believe in abortion even if they were told this child would have special needs!!!! GUESS WHAT is even sadder???? This boy DOES NOT have Down syndrome! The test was wrong! I have said this before but, did you know that the abortion rate for a PRENATAL diagnosis of Down syndrome is over 90% (this is North America people). Because of this, their family has also had it put on their heart to adopt a child with Down Syndrome! Ummm....AWESOME!!! They will be in our prayers, please put them in yours. :D
Yesterday, I participated in my first ever kickboxing tournament! Although I was scared beyond belief, I was also finally in a position of feeling honored that I was privileged enough to be given this opportunity. I worked and trained and waspushed encouraged to compete. I actually did it! I took the plunge, put myself out there, geared up and participated. I came out of it with more knowledge about myself, more courage and more respect for the sport.
I feel like this adoption is the same way. It scares the snot out of me, and yet, I feel so honoured and humbled that God has put us on this path. It is hard work and lots of training but we are fighting this fight!!! We are fighting for a child that we do not know yet; a child that does not know us; a child that God has chosen. We will come against people that will try to bring us down, people that throw hurtful words at us or wait for us to fail. We will be kicked by bureaucracies and red tape. We will have to put ourselves in the ring and humbly accept the help from others. In the end, with God as our coach and our armour, we shall be blessed with another daughter.
Ephesians 6:13-18 says:
I know I get angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, etc with this whole process. It is long and tedious and invasive. If we didn't go through this process, we wouldn't be the people we are today, would we?
This adoption literally saved my life. Prior to our home study, we read up on adoption requirements for various countries. One of the things that hit me the hardest was how some countries required a person to be under a certain body mass index. This got me thinking A LOT. I didn't want the reason I was rejected from a country to be based on my weight. I figured that this was something I had control of in this process. So, before we took the plunge, I dedicated myself to eating right and exercising. A year ago, we started filling out our application form with the agency. One year later, I am a different person on the inside as well as the outside!
I have lost over 70 pounds. I am no longer considered obese or even overweight! I am actually considered a normal weight! I still have a bit more work to get myself to where I want to be but for now, I am content. I can't believe this....today as I type, I feel content about so much that is happening in my life! I feel incredibly blessed and for once, I feel like I am where I need to be!
I praise God for moving my family here and bringing us to a church that we actually feel like being a part of! I am meeting incredible people lately everywhere we go. Yesterday, for example, we took the girls to Tim Horton's as a treat after their kickboxing tournament. It was so busy so we had to take up two different tables. Right next to us, a couple began talking to us and connected with our family as they had 4 older daughters. They were such an encouragement and a testimony to us. They raised a doctor, two lawyers and an architect! Wow! From this town!
Today I talked with a woman from our church who was told, when she was pregnant, that her unborn baby was going to have Down Syndrome! This boy's life was SAVED because his parents didn't believe in abortion even if they were told this child would have special needs!!!! GUESS WHAT is even sadder???? This boy DOES NOT have Down syndrome! The test was wrong! I have said this before but, did you know that the abortion rate for a PRENATAL diagnosis of Down syndrome is over 90% (this is North America people). Because of this, their family has also had it put on their heart to adopt a child with Down Syndrome! Ummm....AWESOME!!! They will be in our prayers, please put them in yours. :D
Yesterday, I participated in my first ever kickboxing tournament! Although I was scared beyond belief, I was also finally in a position of feeling honored that I was privileged enough to be given this opportunity. I worked and trained and was
I feel like this adoption is the same way. It scares the snot out of me, and yet, I feel so honoured and humbled that God has put us on this path. It is hard work and lots of training but we are fighting this fight!!! We are fighting for a child that we do not know yet; a child that does not know us; a child that God has chosen. We will come against people that will try to bring us down, people that throw hurtful words at us or wait for us to fail. We will be kicked by bureaucracies and red tape. We will have to put ourselves in the ring and humbly accept the help from others. In the end, with God as our coach and our armour, we shall be blessed with another daughter.
Ephesians 6:13-18 says:
"Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."
So, where are we at in the adoption???
Our part of the dossier is finished and has been sent to our agency. They have had the documents notarized and are sending the papers to Ottawa. In Ottawa, the papers will be taken to the department of Foreign Affairs for authentication (they basically stamp the documents to confirm they were notarized properly). Once this is done, they are sent to the consulate in Toronto for legalization (this is where they approve the authentication of the documents). After, the dossier gets sent back to the agency to be notarized ONE MORE time before they are sent to our BC ministry who THEN finally forwards it on to our designated country. There, they will be translated and submitted to their Ministry. WOWZERS! Those papers are taking a serious road trip!
Please pray for the papers to get to their designated people and places without a hitch. Please pray for all the people involved in our paperwork. Please pray for us as we sit and wait for all of this to take place. It should take a guesstimated time frame of a month...seriously though....I'd like to see this to believe it!!! Adoption is not quick!
It does, however give us time to fundraise! Our church has put on a fundraiser for us next month. PLEASE pray for God's provision and guidance as we still need to come up with half of our designated fees. Our next big chunk will be at the time of our proposal. If you have questions about our fees, etc. Click on the big thermometer to the right :)
Thank you for praying and supporting our family. A child's freedom IS worth all of this!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Dossier to be mailed to agency tomorrow (today)
I am getting excited again! After one month of waiting for hubby's test results, we finally got them today! Whoot whoot. He's in the clear (and we knew he would be but having the test done was just another procedure we had to endure). Unfortunately, however, when I went to pick up both of our forms from the doctor's office, mine was nowhere to be found. Seriously?!?!? Arg! Hopefully tomorrow morning (hmm, it looks like it is after midnight now so, more like today) this will be cleared up and I can sing and dance my tushy all the way to the post office with my dossier paperwork. Oh ya, oh ya!!! Whoot whoot!
Also being mailed off tomorrow (or should I say "today" ha ha) is an application for an adoption grant we are applying for. The maximum they will "grant" is $3500. I'm hoping that all of our hard work gets us a full grant. Honestly, I will be happy with anything. I am not greedy. The paperwork for this sucker was ridiculous though! It was worse than the dossier paperwork (actually it was very similar but in a more frustrating/personal way)! It was 14 pages long, we needed three references (a friend, coworker and our pastor), copies of our licences, home study, income tax return, and pay stub! Did I mention how insane this was?!?!? We EACH had to write paragraphs about our church involvement (it is a Christian-based grant), spiritual testimony, why we are adopting, philosophies on education and spirituality training of our kids, our parenting style and skills training we may have received, and our views on certain Bible topics (creation, "the fall", redemption). We also had to give a very THOROUGH account of all of our assets, liabilities, net worth and cash flow.
Seriously, the work to create this grant application was excessive and, in all honesty, I just about said screw it! I had to think of the end result every time I felt this way. When all is said and done, our daughter will be worth all of this!
I wonder what tomorrow's Canada Post bill will be? I'm thinking that I will register mail the dossier paperwork for sure as I need to send an original marriage certificate. I think the other package needs to be registered also since it contains so much personal stuff. I don't know!!?!?! I looked into UPS and Purelator and they seem cheaper but more hassle. Not too sure because I live in the middle of nowhere according to the rest of the province. I think hubby will have to look into this for us (like he doesn't have anything better to do with his time...)
Thank you to all who have been praying for us. Without a doubt, we are truly grateful for the support we received from so many people. Truly, truly grateful.
Well, it is off to bed for me. Tomorrow is going to be a killer to get up for. Kids included as they were trick-or-treating well past their bedtimes. Take care!
Also being mailed off tomorrow (or should I say "today" ha ha) is an application for an adoption grant we are applying for. The maximum they will "grant" is $3500. I'm hoping that all of our hard work gets us a full grant. Honestly, I will be happy with anything. I am not greedy. The paperwork for this sucker was ridiculous though! It was worse than the dossier paperwork (actually it was very similar but in a more frustrating/personal way)! It was 14 pages long, we needed three references (a friend, coworker and our pastor), copies of our licences, home study, income tax return, and pay stub! Did I mention how insane this was?!?!? We EACH had to write paragraphs about our church involvement (it is a Christian-based grant), spiritual testimony, why we are adopting, philosophies on education and spirituality training of our kids, our parenting style and skills training we may have received, and our views on certain Bible topics (creation, "the fall", redemption). We also had to give a very THOROUGH account of all of our assets, liabilities, net worth and cash flow.
Seriously, the work to create this grant application was excessive and, in all honesty, I just about said screw it! I had to think of the end result every time I felt this way. When all is said and done, our daughter will be worth all of this!
I wonder what tomorrow's Canada Post bill will be? I'm thinking that I will register mail the dossier paperwork for sure as I need to send an original marriage certificate. I think the other package needs to be registered also since it contains so much personal stuff. I don't know!!?!?! I looked into UPS and Purelator and they seem cheaper but more hassle. Not too sure because I live in the middle of nowhere according to the rest of the province. I think hubby will have to look into this for us (like he doesn't have anything better to do with his time...)
Thank you to all who have been praying for us. Without a doubt, we are truly grateful for the support we received from so many people. Truly, truly grateful.
Well, it is off to bed for me. Tomorrow is going to be a killer to get up for. Kids included as they were trick-or-treating well past their bedtimes. Take care!
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