Home study ✅

We just got the call that our home study was approved by AIAA so I guess that's a good thing! 

We had our home visit Saturday and she wrote it quickly for us ;) kinda think we might be her favorites! 

We also heard today that the two waiting children we had heard about are most likely not going to get matched with us for some vague reason we don't understand. I'm waiting on a call with more information on that but as we have been reminded constantly, it's in God's hands and His timing is perfect. 

Some people have asked about making donations, which is such a wonderful blessing! We are more than happy to take donations but we have told people that they may want to hold on for a little while longer in the hopes that we will be approved for Lifesong, which is a 501C agency, thus making your donations tax deductible. If you don't care about that, by all means, donations are awesome and we will gladly accept them! 

A little bit about Lifesong. Their website is lifesongfororphans.org if you would like to read more about them. We have heard great things so we are planning to apply for any kind of assistance we can get through them. We had to wait because you can't apply until home study is complete. Now that it's done we just need to get the official copy and fill out the application. It could be quick or take up to 12 weeks. We just don't know.

What we are applying for:

1. Fundraising assistance-meaning any donations would go through them and go to our agency for our adoption fees

2. Matching grants-if approved, they would match up to a certain amount of what we raise

3. Interest free loan- this is generally a loan for the amount that we will eventually get back from the Federal Tax Credit (around $12,000)

4. Both Hands- this is a great ministry where you get a group of friends/family to get sponsors for a day of working on the home of a local widow. All the money raised goes toward the adoption, but someone else got a huge blessing in the process. We're not sure how this will work out with winter fast approaching but it might be an option in the spring. 

Basically Lifesong is a lifesaver! 

If anyone has any questions you can certainly call or email us. 

So far this is a rollercoaster of paperwork and waiting! Looking forward to the part where it gets fun! 

This is the part where we wait

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind. We went to an adoption conference last weekend and ran into the director of our home study agency, Julie. Julie told us that AIAA (our placing agency) has been looking for a family for a 9 month old boy. We know very little about him so far except that he was born at 34 weeks and is developing normally but is small. We didn't realize we could get a referral before our home study was done so we were a little shocked! 

We are still waiting to hear if we get the referral because there is another interested couple. We did get a formal request to view our home study over the weekend from AIAA so that seems like a good thing. We just got it notarized and will send it on tomorrow :) 

If we get the referral and decide to pursue this child, we could bring him home in 4-6 months!

Please be praying that we will be patient, that we will continue to trust that God knows what He is doing, that we will have a clear answer, and that if we do pursue this child that we will be able to pull the finances together much much faster than originally planned. Whew! 

silent auction preview

Just throwing out a little teaser...we will be auctioning off and possible selling raffle tickets for 5, yes that's right, 5 CARRIBEAN VACATIONS.

So if you have always wanted to go to Saint Lucia (our lovely honeymoon destination), Antigua, Barbados, or Panama, here is your chance to get a giant discount! 

I must add that there is fine print. The donated packages are for accommodations only at all inclusive resorts so there is a fee for each night that covers food, activities, etc.  The good news is some of them are for up to 2-3 rooms though. Regardless of the fee it is a great deal! 

Mark your calendars- silent auction November 30! 

Ps. We will be doing some online auctions for those who can't make it ;)