Grant Application

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!

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 was pushed 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:

 

"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!

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!

Prayer

Hi! The weather here is getting cold!  Snow has started to fall onto the mountain tops.  Brr.  It feels like just yesterday the kids were let out for summer break.  I have no idea where that time went.  It was a very busy summer and it just flew by so incredibly fast.  I've never been one for hot summers but this year I quite enjoyed the heat and I am reeeeaaallllly not looking forward to snow. 

Thank you to all who are praying for our family.  It's such an amazing feeling when you can feel the support and love from people who hear of our journey.  I went to a woman's retreat this weekend.  It was the first time I really opened up and talked about our plans for adoption.  Most of the woman I didn't know.  It took a lot of courage for me to talk to the woman.  I am not very extroverted.  I am still trying to come up with a "short and sweet" answer to the most often asked question, "What made you decide to adopt and WHY a child with Down Syndrome????" 

The short and sweet answer is GOD!!!!  I never dreamed about having five kids and the seeking out number six!!!  It was a slow process.  God gave us one kid at a time.  The miscarriages also played an important role in the development of adoption too. 

We are filling out our dossier forms.  The agency is For the Canadians out there adopting, we have to send in our marriage certificate, another security clearance form, two more medical forms from our doctors (hubby and I have different doctors), an adoption questionnaire about the "type and needs" of the child we are willing to accept and an application to adopt.

The application to adopt is an essay summary of our home study questions about our family and how we have come to adopt.   We need to include a brief description of who we are, what we do (employment, religion, others), our family and community, etc, This document is meant to be our chance to tell our story of how we came to adoption and why we want to adopt from our chosen country. No pressure!!! 

Tomorrow we will be getting our security clearances done and hubby has his doctor appointment.  I had just seen the doctor so I think she is just going to leave the form with the secretary.  Hopefully we will both have them signed off for tomorrow and then we can submit our stuff by next week. 

I am such a mess of emotions.  I am driving myself nuts...I can only imagine what my poor husband is thinking of me right now.  We have had so much big stuff break on us this last couple of weeks.  I don't think it is a coincidence that it is happening the same time we wrote a check for $13 000 and are compiling the dossier.  I truly believe that Satan is trying to do whatever it takes for this adoption to fail.  We are being tested and tested some more.  It is frustrating and definitely brings faith to a whole new level!  I admit, I feel completely defeated and scared and overwhelmed.  I know these feelings won't last and I am trying to be faithful. 

Our family needs prayer more than we need anything else.  I am hoping that this post touches you in a certain way.  That you can see where we need prayer.  I am asking for people to be our family's prayer warriors;  to pray for us even when we aren't seeking it publicly. 

If you have some great scripture you feel compelled to share with us, we would love to hear that also.  Thank you and may you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving this weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend ;) ).  We have so much to be thankful for.  I pray that our daughter is able to share Thanksgiving with us next year (wishful thinking, I know...maybe in two?!?!?). 

Let's talk about...finances

So, it is official!  We have FINALLY met the educational requirements... we even have a certificate to prove it!  It came in the mail along with a copy of our home study and the first REALLY big bill!  I knew it was coming (the bill) but it still didn't take the shock away at seeing the total. 

Maybe this should be the post on the cost of international adoption from Canada.  This is another time I wish I lived in the States.  Their adoption cost seems to be at least $10000 cheaper.  ***Tears***

Moving past that, international adoption is EXPENSIVE!  It is actually very, very EXPENSIVE!  It is such a turn off to people with a willing heart for adoption but cannot bear the financial burden that is involved.

Before I move on, I will note that domestic adoption through the government/ministry has very minimal fees (especially if you compare it to private and international).  The ministry sets you up for success with many post adoption supports also.  So, if you have a heart for adoption and a calling then domestic may be the route for you!!! 

As most of you know, this wasn't the calling for us.  Don't think we haven't pondered it and researched it.  Heck, we have gone to adoption fairs set up by the ministry.  But, it wasn't where our hearts were led.  We were led to adopt a child with Down Syndrome.  I don't know if I posted how we arrived at Down Syndrome yet...I'll have to flip through the blog and see.  I have a feeling I didn't...I'll have to do a blog on that because we get that question A LOT! 

Anyways, we researched the heck out of Down Syndrome and adoption and adoption of children with Down Syndrome.  We also knew that we wanted a child closest to the age of our youngest (not a baby). We were shocked, to say the least, of our research findings!!  After a prenatal screening is done to determine whether a fetus tests positive with Down syndrome, 90% of those parents choose to kill their child/ abort, terminate their pregnancy! 

In other countries, parents who deliver a newborn with Down Syndrome are encouraged to relinquish their baby to the hospital/ orphanage.  The families have little options in terms of medical and social resources for raising the child. The child is considered a burden.

I'm going all over the place with this blog.  I guess there is so much to talk about and inform people about if you haven't had the opportunity to research adoption of a child with special needs before.  I said I was going to touch the cost factor though. 

We will be expecting to pay over $40 000 towards the adoption of our daughter.  Included (but not limited to) is the fee for our home study, social worker's travel expense to our home, mandatory BC adoption education, agency fees, paperwork, processing, citizenship, TRAVEL, Eastern Europe agency fees, passport and visa for daughter, translator,

Canada has VERY LITTLE in terms of grants.  Just to put this in perspective, there were a whopping total of 4 grant possibilities we could look into.  We may (or may not) qualify for one.  It is a 10 page form, complete with ALL of our personal life from finances to religion (it's a Christian grant).  We need three references and bank statements and employer info.  It is like gathering information for a home study all over again...and honestly it doesn't seem worth the pain for, what may be a MAXIMUM allowed amount, of $3000.  But...EVERY dollar is a blessing and worth the effort to get a little girl out of a cold orphanage into a family that waiting for her!!  It is no wonder that there limited adoptions by willing families!  People with the heart for adoption can not always afford to do so!    The ones who are willing to take the leap of faith either have the funds already lined up, have to take out a loan and or fundraise to offset the cost. 

There is SOOO much controversy over fundraising for adoption.  There are people that believe (very strongly) that if you don't have the means to pay for the adoption, then you shouldn't be adopting.  Plain and simple.  How many people have $40 000 just sitting around!??! 

Others believe that having more than a couple of kids is irresponsible.  They believe that these families are sucking resources from our society...blah blah blah (can you tell my position on this one ha ha). 

We have been back and forth over how we are going to fund our adoption.  We have been fortunate to have the first chunk from selling our home a couple of years ago.  The money was going to go to buying new carpet for this place (oooo, how I HATE the carpet here...it embarrasses me to no end) and a 10 year anniversary cruise for us (we didn't do the extravagant honeymoon because we were poor students back then).  We couldn't justify putting our money towards these expenses after we were called to adopt a child that needs a family.  I would have been on that cruise with a guilty conscience and every time I looked at my amazing new carpet, I would realize that our daughter was STILL in the orphanage not being held, loved, tickled, kissed, accepted.  We couldn't do it.  Adoption is what God wants us to do.  He wants us to step out in faith and BELIEVE and TRUST in Him.  Being a type A personality I am struggling (to be quite frank!). 

MANY MANY MANY MANY (this could keep going) nights I am stressing about the financial aspects of this adoption.  The travelling doesn't scare me too badly (I have never been to a foreign country, nor have I been in a plane).  The Down Syndrome aspect doesn't terrify me.  It is the funds.  I have always been the type that works hard for the money and stays out of debt (I never took out a single student loan while in university).  I keep reading other blogs to see what works for them.  We have had two different bank appointments to see about loans as a backup option.  I HATE this part.  The fees are astronomical in order to SAVE a child and welcome a blessing into a willing family!

So, ya....we are waiting on the Lord to see how this is all going to pan out.  I wholeheartedly believe that God will provide.  No doubt.  He always has.  We have ever been let down even in the midst of some very dark days. 

Please pray for our family.  Please pray for God's Will to be done and for discernment and financial blessings.

I am off to send a very large check this morning.  It was nice seeing it in our account but we are even more excited to see our daughter sooner than later!!!

Thanks for reading!  May God bless you today as well :)

Education Complete

Just a super quick update to say Thank You for the prayers! 

Our education went really well (again ha ha).  Our call was reduced from two hours to just over one hour.  We satisfied, yet another, Social Worker with our understanding of adoption lingo, Down Syndrome, resources and expectations. 

This last lady explained the reasoning for the "test" better than anyone else.  She explained that the in-person class was so many hours long and our was a drastic reduction in physical hours with an instructor.  They wanted to make sure we got all the same information.  They gave us all the same papers and we read them all. The Social Worker also explained that the families that lived in the rural areas had harder times adjusting post-adoption.

I understand WHY the need to be thorough (and I don't expect anything less than through)...I guess I just don't know why it surprised everyone we have talked to with how much research we have done on our own.  I feel like people think we picked Down Syndrome out of a hat.  I mean, really, don't all families research like crazy when preparing for an adoption; let alone a special needs one?!?!   Sheesh, I read MANY books before having my biological children...EVEN number FIVE! (OK, some of the books/articles I just laughed at because they are a bit over the top...but all-in-all most books have SOMETHING that make you go, "Ah ha!").  Why would adoption be any different?

Bah, we are trying to take everything in stride.  Tomorrow I will be getting some pictures notarized.  It took so long for people to call us back to get appointments here.  Not at all what I was expecting!  Hopefully we will be blessed with a wonderful person tomorrow and establish a rapport with him or her so that the next time we need to use them (praying that this phase comes reeeeeaaaalllly soon), we will be able to get in quicker.  Please pray for this meeting tomorrow :)

Again, thank you for the prayers. Only through God, can we walk this journey.  Our pastor said something this last Sunday in regards to how if we, as people, are comfortable in our lives and able to do our life on our own, then chances are we aren't trusting in God to the fullest and living in the Spirit.  This journey to adopt is UNCOMFORTABLE, SCARY, EXPENSIVE, HARD, FRUSTRATING and TESTS us beyond our imagination!  Yet, we are at peace that this is God's Will for us.  He is opening doors and allowing wonderful people to journey with us.  We cannot do this without God. 

With this trust in God, comes Satan and his persistent attacks.  Please continue to pray for our family.  We CANNOT do this without prayer!!!  NOT. AT. ALL.

Now that this phase is complete, we will be telling our story a bit more to other people (such as hubby's boss and coworkers and church families).  We aren't doing this (international adoption) to save anyone or to make a statement.  This is the way we were LED (by God, in case you were wondering ha ha) to grow our family.  Our prayer is that people understand this.  We do, however, feel compelled to educate others about what happens to children in certain countries that are born with special needs and we pray for God's Guidance while we dialogue with others.  We want to give an accurate and honest account of conditions and experiences that these HUMAN BEINGS encounter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  For those that have left comments, thank you.  If you don't agree with our adoption, find another blog that interests you.  Keep the nasty comments to yourself.  We won't post them (but you already knew that). 

Welcome to a new School Year

Alrighty, where are we at right now?  Waiting...and more waiting.  Ha ha, this is an adoption trend!  If you ever wanted to work on patience and self reflection, then adopt!  It will test you like none other! 

We missed our scheduled (mandatory by the adoption agency) educational conference call two weeks ago (a certain husband forgot to plug the main phone in when we moved it into the room we were setting up for the call!  Yikes).  So now we have it this week (Wednesday).  Please pray that our call goes well and that we only have to do this one call and then can FINALLY move into the dossier preparation phase!!!!  We want this phase over with already.  At least in the next phase of the adoption we will be preparing and filing our paperwork for the country we are adopting from. 

We have to apply for confirmation of Canadian Citizenship (part 1) very soon too.  I have the paperwork filled out (weeks ago, actually) but need to get some things notarized first.  HOPEFULLY that will be done this Wednesday also! 

It has been a CRAZY busy summer this year.  We have had so many out-of-town visitors staying with us.  It was so much fun and the paperwork just get kept getting pushed to the side.  Now it is time to BUCKLE DOWN and dive right in! I say this as I am looking at school lists and extra-curricular options for the kids that will begin shortly.  The chaos of the school year is so close! 

Believe it or not, we actually made the 9:30 church service this morning (just BARELY).  Again, we are NOT morning people in this house so this was quite the accomplishment for us and a fantastic start to the new school year.  Most of us did end up having quite a long afternoon nap today (shh).  It was rejuvenating to say the least!  The early school mornings are going to be harsh! Poor teachers...at least I get to go home and nap in the afternoon with a couple of the kids! 

Something that bummed us out this week was getting word from the Canadian Director of Reece's Rainbow that our agency does not want to work with them because they (our agency) would like to start up their own special needs program!  We are so angry!  One of the reasons we signed up with this agency was because of their involvement with Reece's Rainbow in the past.  There has been such a turn over in the staff at the agency since we have signed up..  Every director (there has been three since the new year) has different "rules" and such...very frustrating and very confusing as a client! 

The woman whom we have been corresponding with at Reece's Rainbow has been fantastic with dealing with us.  We are going to talk with our agency again because we don't know the exact details why the stop with this ministry.  It was Reece's Rainbow (and prayer, of course!) that brought us to our decision to adopt a child with Down Syndrome.  They have a forum, yahoo group and facebook page.  Here is their website too: http://reecesrainbow.org/  The families are supportive, encouraging and understanding.  Most of the families are from the US.  It would have been wonderful to have more families from Canada involved!

For now, we wait and pray. 

For those of you praying for us (thank you), here is our prayer requests:

-Conference Call goes well on Wednesday and that we are able to move on to the next phase
-Call with a bank specializing in adoption loans (Wednesday) for a possible (last resort) adoption loan to meet our needs
-to find a financial solution to fund the outrageous amount needed for international adoption (We still need to do a post on this)
-find someone reasonably priced to notarize our pictures this week to send off Citizenship forms
-kids start school this week (pray for good friends, great educators, guidance, etc)
-Our Agency's relationship with us, their clients, Reece's Rainbow, the agency in Eastern Europe

Feel free to leave a comment or a question.  If you want it private, we don't have to publish it :)