I just want to thank all of you who have donated so far! We have raised $2090 through donations and the pre-sale of some yard sale items we did not have the space to store. This is such a sweet blessing to us. I am especially overwhelmed by another couple who are in the adoption process who chose to donate to OUR adoption. You know who you are and it is so evident that The Lord has led you to have a special love for ALL of his children and not just your own. Thank you for that obedience. I know The Lord will continue to bless your own process!
I also need to take just a second and brag a bit on God's provision in our lives. For those of you less familiar with our family personally, my husband Brant is a firefighter and works for a family business when he isn't at the station. I stay home and homeschool our children. The family business is seasonal (lawn and garden equipment sales and repair). This winter things were particularly slow and Brant worked without pay for 4 months. Worry isn't something with which I typically struggle. But when Brant told me in December what was about to happen, I'm pretty sure I had a near panic attack. What are you doing, Lord? We are being obedient to you! How are we going to pay for our basic living expenses, much less these adoption expenses?? But then I relaxed and fell back into my normal routine of prayer and expectancy that God would provide. And let me tell you, he did indeed!! From August until now, our family has personally paid almost $11,000 in adoption expenses. And our savings account has the EXACT SAME BALANCE as before the expenses. This is with no change in spending and Brant's loss of income. There is no mathematical way that we should have been able to write those checks. But I have learned that God has funny math. He has provided in so many ways during each and every step of our journey so far. Why did I ever doubt?
Tax deductible donations may be made at Adopt Together by credit card, check or Paypal account.
photos
Monday, April 29, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
So many decisions. Prayers needed.
Last week we received a call from our agency about a waiting child. They called to let us know that the agency had been assigned a new file from Colombia. They wanted us to be aware of the file even though it did not fit the requests we had on our request form (remember that one I told you I had a LOT of trouble completing.)
Our request and the file could not be any more different. This file was not siblings, just one child. Not boys. Instead, a precious little girl. Not a mild, medically correctable special need. But a life long, non-correctable, serious need. And we are praying. We discussed the possibility for a day before agreeing to view the file. I did not want to hold this child up from being presented to another family if we were not willing to seriously consider the placement.
The file was fairly basic in nature. It talked about her history and how she entered the system in Colombia. Her date of birth and age. Brief medical history. Region where she lives. Current living arrangements. And a picture. And what a picture it is. She is strikingly beautiful and sweet. Our hearts melted a bit, I have to admit. But if you know anything about us, you know we are realists. Not dreamers. So realism required us to contact a friend of ours who is a pediatrician here in town. We discussed at length the potential implications of this condition both short and long term as well as financially. We have requested additional medical information from Colombia. There are no guarantees that we will get this information, but it never hurts to ask.
And now, we pray. Please pray with us. Pray for this precious child (who by the way is just 19 days younger than Reese!!) We need the Lord's wisdom and guidance these next few days. Love you all!!!
Tax deductible donations may be made at Adopt Together by credit card, check or Paypal account.
Our request and the file could not be any more different. This file was not siblings, just one child. Not boys. Instead, a precious little girl. Not a mild, medically correctable special need. But a life long, non-correctable, serious need. And we are praying. We discussed the possibility for a day before agreeing to view the file. I did not want to hold this child up from being presented to another family if we were not willing to seriously consider the placement.
The file was fairly basic in nature. It talked about her history and how she entered the system in Colombia. Her date of birth and age. Brief medical history. Region where she lives. Current living arrangements. And a picture. And what a picture it is. She is strikingly beautiful and sweet. Our hearts melted a bit, I have to admit. But if you know anything about us, you know we are realists. Not dreamers. So realism required us to contact a friend of ours who is a pediatrician here in town. We discussed at length the potential implications of this condition both short and long term as well as financially. We have requested additional medical information from Colombia. There are no guarantees that we will get this information, but it never hurts to ask.
And now, we pray. Please pray with us. Pray for this precious child (who by the way is just 19 days younger than Reese!!) We need the Lord's wisdom and guidance these next few days. Love you all!!!
Tax deductible donations may be made at Adopt Together by credit card, check or Paypal account.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Why does adoption cost so much? The Breakdown.
$33,000 - $38,000
That is what it will cost, approximately, to complete our Colombian adoption. To us, and to most of you, that is an insane amount of money. We went into this process knowing that we could not do this alone. The Lord would have to provide. I have faith He will. What He favors He will fund. But I doubt He will provide by just dropping the money on our front porch. Instead, He will be using you and me. We are His hands and feet: my friends, my family and others who are led through other avenues to this website. Before I ask for one single dime from anyone, I want you to know exactly what costs are involved. So here is the breakdown:
Out of Pocket Agency & U.S. Adoption Expenses
Agency fees which cover the home study, dossier $14,250.00
preparation, administrative and staffing costs for the
agency, Humanitarian Aid fee to Colombia,
(4) Post-adoption social worker visits, document shipping
fees, translation of post adoption documents, etc.
Fingerprint Fee with State of Alabama $97.00
Criminal background checks $57.00
Medical Reports for home study and dossier (these specialty $1,000.00
tests were not covered by our insurance)
Passport pictures for all six of us $60.00
Passports for all six of us $540.00
Citizenship and Immigration Service Fees (application $890.00
with the United States to adopt internationally, including
biometric fingerprinting)
Training with the International Adoption Clinic (full day $150.00
seminar in Birmingham)
10 Hours of required Hague Treaty parent training online $195.00
Required book purchase for additional adoption training $12.00
Dossier apostille (certification by Secretary of State) $90.00
Psychological evaluation $545.00
FedEx fees $31.68
Dossier translation fee $800.00
Document fees in Colombia & Colombia lawyer fee $400.00
Legalization of documents in Colombia $280.00
Wiring Fee $50.00
Translation of child's medical files $400.00
In-Country Expenses While in Colombia
(the ranges indicate the difference in expenditures based on length of stay, some regions require as little as four weeks and others require 7-8 weeks)
Airfare for the 6 of us $4,500.00
Airfare for adopted child (return flight) $550.00
In-country translator/guide/transportation $1,000.00
In-country attorney fees $1,500.00
Hotel Accommodations & Food $4,000 - $9,000
Medical Exam for adopted child $150.00
Birth Certificate and passport for adopted child $300.00
US Visa for adopted child $231.00
Copies and authentication of adoption decree $100.00
Translation of adoption decree $250.00
Post-adoption expenses
Attorney fees to complete the adoption in Alabama $480.00
Court report for re-adoption $50.00
Grand total of $33,208.68 plus the $5,000 fluctuation depending on length of stay in country
https://adopttogether.org/maynard/
This is our website for donations. The donations can be made anonymously or you can identify yourselves. The donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. This agency once a month will provide our family with a grant in the amount of the donations that have been made to our site. Please make sure you see our family's picture on the page you are on before you click Donate Now or it will not be designated for us.
And please make plans to attend the first yard sale fundraiser on Saturday, June 1st. Location to be announced. Let me know if you can help any day May 28-31 getting set up. Thank you again. May the Lord bless you!
That is what it will cost, approximately, to complete our Colombian adoption. To us, and to most of you, that is an insane amount of money. We went into this process knowing that we could not do this alone. The Lord would have to provide. I have faith He will. What He favors He will fund. But I doubt He will provide by just dropping the money on our front porch. Instead, He will be using you and me. We are His hands and feet: my friends, my family and others who are led through other avenues to this website. Before I ask for one single dime from anyone, I want you to know exactly what costs are involved. So here is the breakdown:
Out of Pocket Agency & U.S. Adoption Expenses
Application Fee for the Adoption Agency $250.00
Agency fees which cover the home study, dossier $14,250.00
preparation, administrative and staffing costs for the
agency, Humanitarian Aid fee to Colombia,
(4) Post-adoption social worker visits, document shipping
fees, translation of post adoption documents, etc.
Fingerprint Fee with State of Alabama $97.00
Criminal background checks $57.00
Medical Reports for home study and dossier (these specialty $1,000.00
tests were not covered by our insurance)
Passport pictures for all six of us $60.00
Passports for all six of us $540.00
Citizenship and Immigration Service Fees (application $890.00
with the United States to adopt internationally, including
biometric fingerprinting)
Training with the International Adoption Clinic (full day $150.00
seminar in Birmingham)
10 Hours of required Hague Treaty parent training online $195.00
Required book purchase for additional adoption training $12.00
Dossier apostille (certification by Secretary of State) $90.00
Psychological evaluation $545.00
FedEx fees $31.68
Dossier translation fee $800.00
Document fees in Colombia & Colombia lawyer fee $400.00
Legalization of documents in Colombia $280.00
Wiring Fee $50.00
Translation of child's medical files $400.00
In-Country Expenses While in Colombia
(the ranges indicate the difference in expenditures based on length of stay, some regions require as little as four weeks and others require 7-8 weeks)
Airfare for the 6 of us $4,500.00
Airfare for adopted child (return flight) $550.00
In-country translator/guide/transportation $1,000.00
In-country attorney fees $1,500.00
Hotel Accommodations & Food $4,000 - $9,000
Medical Exam for adopted child $150.00
Birth Certificate and passport for adopted child $300.00
US Visa for adopted child $231.00
Copies and authentication of adoption decree $100.00
Translation of adoption decree $250.00
Post-adoption expenses
Attorney fees to complete the adoption in Alabama $480.00
Court report for re-adoption $50.00
Grand total of $33,208.68 plus the $5,000 fluctuation depending on length of stay in country
We cannot do this without you!
Some people will be able to donate a large amount of money, some smaller amounts. Some could do a monthly sponsorship or volunteer their time to one of our many upcoming fundraisers. Others could donate a service or product for a silent auction or raffle. And I hope that MANY of you will pray. Please pray for us and for what the Lord would have you contribute. I am so thankful for all of you and every bit of support so far! We have raised $1,100.00 at this point. That leaves our remaining fundraising goal at around $32,000 on the low end. We could potentially travel as early as November of THIS YEAR. So that makes our monthly goal only $4,571. Completely doable, right?
https://adopttogether.org/maynard/
This is our website for donations. The donations can be made anonymously or you can identify yourselves. The donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. This agency once a month will provide our family with a grant in the amount of the donations that have been made to our site. Please make sure you see our family's picture on the page you are on before you click Donate Now or it will not be designated for us.
And please make plans to attend the first yard sale fundraiser on Saturday, June 1st. Location to be announced. Let me know if you can help any day May 28-31 getting set up. Thank you again. May the Lord bless you!
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