New Site

I told you last week to stay tuned for some excitement around here, and now I'm ready to share the news.

I've been working on a new site for Answering Our Call, and it should be ready to go on Monday!

Now don't panic, with my limited tech knowledge and resources, it's still easy to understand and navigate. I've also added information on our home renovations, to keep all my content in one spot. With the preparation of our Dossier, I imagine updates from the adoption will become far and few between (remember, it's a 12-24 month wait period for our referral). By mixing up my content a bit more, it will allow me to keep writing (which I enjoy!) and keep you reading (if you want).

One change that you will notice, is that you will no longer have to add .blogspot to the URL. Simply go to answeringourcall.com and you will be directed to the site.

I know, old habits die hard, so if you put in the old site, you will automatically be redirected to the new.

Easy as pie. Speaking of pie, I might throw in some recipes here and there as well.

I Am With You and For You

So, it's Friday. All of your regulars who read this know that Fridays mean H54F posts. I had full intention of starting my Friday with a H54F post as well. Until I read my devo for the day. It was one of those where you read it and wonder how in the world it is so applicable to your life? It's like God told the author that on January 9 I would be feeling this way, so she wrote it. How does it happen?!

We sent out holiday cards this year with some notes on adoption FAQs. You know, the basics that we get asked over and over (and over, and over), which is great. I love talking about our journey and the unknown-ness (is that a word) that comes along with it. What I've come across mostly though, is the astonishment from people when we tell them the length of time it will take. Every single adoption journey is different. Some people start out an adoption process with kiddos in mind, and some don't (raising my hand over here). The timing in every adoption journey is also different. While I can only testify to our case, with no specific kiddo in mind, I'm sure the other route is also a journey in trusting in God's plan.

I opened my devo this morning, since I'm trying to make a habit of it (see goal #1), to find a reading that hit me like a ton of bricks (side note: can you imagine actually getting hit with a ton of bricks. No way you'd make it out of that one. So it was actually more like getting hit with a nerf arrow or something.) I opened it up to the following:

I AM WITH YOU AND FOR YOU. When you decide on a course of action that is in line with My will, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop you. You may encounter many obstacles as you move toward your goal, but don't be discouraged—never give up! With my help, you can overcome any obstacle. Do not expect an easy path as you journey hand in hand with Me, but do remember that I, your very-present Helper, am omnipotent.

Much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come. One of the main ways I assert My sovereignty is in the timing of events. If you want to stay close to Me and do things My way, ask Me to show you the path forward moment by moment. Instead of dashing headlong toward your goal, let Me set the pace. Slow down, and enjoy the journey in my Presence.

Romans 8:31; Psalm 46:1-3; Luke 1:37

Okay, seriously?!?!?!

When you decide on a course of action that is in line with My will, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop you.

• God has a plan for us. We do not make our own plan. Though we have our own free will to make decisions, when we get on the path that God wants us on, we will get there. (Underline, bold, italics, the works)

Much, much stress results from your waiting to make things happen before their times have come. 

• Um, hello! This is a joke, right? This is me. I get stressed out for no reason at all. No reason. It's because I'm trying to make things happen before they are supposed to. Remember goal #3? This will help that one.

Instead of dashing headlong toward your goal, let Me set the pace. Slow down, and enjoy the journey in my Presence.

• Let go and let God. He's got this. He's blessed us with this life and He takes such good care of us. 

I know I've said this before, that God has seriously blessed us with patience so far through the process. Not every day, but for the most part. I often tell people that if we wanted to have kids right away, we would have tried to get pregnant. But that isn't part of our plan right now. This is our plan. And we will get there. Who knows when we'll be a family of three (or will it be four?). We don't know. And trying to figure it out isn't going to do us much good. Thank you, Father, for letting this be our plan. 

A Year's Worth of Thankfullness

I'm sitting here getting ready to write a reflection of 2014 with one day left in the year. I am shocked to think that the year of 2014 is almost over.

We rang in the new year last year driving home from a ski trip to Colorado with the gang (see below). 

Mkini, Adam, me, Maggie, Casey in Keystone, CO

It was so shortly after returning home, that that little voice—the holy spirit—began whispering ideas of adoption in our ears. My first thought was no, no, we'll adopt after we have our own kids (I was so naive back then). My plan (of course) was to get pregnant in a couple months and we'd be starting our family. 

First of all, LOL. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. This is why I shouldn't try to make plans. But yet I always do.

We spent most of January 2014 researching and talking to everyone we knew that was currently adopting, or had adopted. We met with a few couples from church. And sent in our application on the last day of January with an agency that I had heard rave reviews from. You know how that turned out...see next paragraph. 

We withdrew our application with our first agency in February and began working on starting over and finding a new agency. Though there were hardships, (like thinking maybe we weren't supposed to be adopting?!), I'm extremely thankful that everything with our first agency happened when it did. No clue what I'm talking about? Refer back to the February posts.

We finally submitted our application to Bethany in April, after numerous meetings folks there (we were making sure this was our agency this time). 

May through August was all about the home study Meetings and meetings and meetings (and meetings!). It's still weird to think about that time being past us, since it was such important step at the time. 

August to now has been spent on getting our fees together and the dossier, which is still moving along, slowly but surely. 

It's crazy to think that a year ago we weren't on this journey, and then one day, poof, God says "go."

Each and every day, I thank God that he put this adoption on our hearts. Because I know, know, that our son or daughter is on this earth already. And just knowing that I get to be his or her mother is just amazing to me. Like, it's planned out. God already knows. That is just so cool to me.

In those same moments of thankfulness, I pray that he continues to give us patience and trust in Him. Because we know that this is our plan. No matter how long it takes or how hard it is. This is the plan that was created for us.

Our God is such an awesome God. And answering to him is also awesome.

Cheers to 2015. What an amazing adventure we've started out on. I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Status Update

It's time again for a status update!

Not much has changed.

We're still working on our Dossier, i.e. putting together that last fee. Well, last for now. Remember all of those documents we needed for our Dossier (refer to this post for a reminder)? Well, we've got a few of them taken care of. The others are quick, like, "stop in and we'll type it up" type of quick.

So we really haven't bothered to get those right now, because we need that last fee.

Like the rest of this journey, God has blessed us with complete peace with His timing. I think it also helps that have a small house remodel going on in the background to keep us busy. Here's to praying that we stay at peace with His timing down the road.

We just filled out what is called a Service Plan with Bethany. Basically, it went over the gist of things:

• Age Range: 0-5 years
• Gender: Either
• Siblings: Open to a sibling set of two

We were also asked for the first time our openness to meeting and/or communicating with our child's birth parents or caregivers (which we are very open to). We hadn't really talked about it before, especially since it's less likely than if we were adopting within the United States.

There's your update! As of right now, we're working on saving up to pay our Dossier fee. And yes, we still have puzzle pieces.

High Five for Friday

It's Friday! Is it just me or is it starting to feel less like fall and more and more like winter? I got in my car this morning and had a tiny bit of frost on my windshield. Luckily, I didn't have to do any scraping, I just sat up a little straighter and could see over it. Anyway, it's been a busy week, let's get into the top five moments!

1. We had our USCIS appointment on Wednesday. It was super simple. We had to drive down to Des Moines, put our name in, and practically got called back to do electronic fingerprints. You know how sometimes you go into a government facility and sometimes people aren't the nicest? Well, there was non of that here, so it was an all around great experience. Hopefully we hear back from USCIS soon.

2. It was Adam's dad's birthday last Saturday, so his parents came up to visit for the weekend. His brother, who is studying physical therapy at Trine University in Fort Wayne, IN also came back for the weekend to surprise him. It was fun having everyone back together again...felt like old times. We didn't do much, mainly ate a lot of food, watched a lot of football (including a Cyclone loss), and played a lot of games.

3. Adam and I hung out with some friends on Thursday night. They recently moved to another town, so we don't get to see them as often. We just had pizza and watched a movie, but it was fun to get together.

4. I ordered our Christmas cards this week (for a steller deal, too!). We've never done Christmas cards, but I figured with the adoption news, it would be good to do a post card type of card this year with some FAQs. I'm excited to see them!

5. Did I tell you we have a laundry room? Okay, I know I did, but I'm still excited. I finally got around to posting pictures, so you should check them out on Hometown Renovations (our remodeling blog)!

Have a great weekend! We're laying low and staying around home this weekend. Sounds like it will be a good weekend for comfy blankets and hot chocolate.

Dossier

Last week, we had an over-the-phone meeting with our adoptive specialist regarding our dossier. Since we got our fee paid (see last post for shout-out), we were able to have a conversation about starting the dossier. 

First off, if you're not suave with adoption lingo, let's talk about what a dossier is. Basically, the dossier is taking everything we've been working on the last however-many months plus a ton more information. Clear as mud, right? 

These are the documents we need:

• Birth certificates
• Marriage certificates
• Home study
• Medical letter from MD
• Police Clearance (to prove we're not smooth criminals)
• Bank statements, signed by teller
• Photocopy of last 3 years 1040 Income Tax Returns
• Passport photo pages
• Post-placement heritage trip agreement
• Recommendation letters
• Photogrpahs of family and home sans Nellie for cultural reasons
• Guardianship letter
• USCIS Approval
• Proof of home ownership, signed by assessor
• Uganda travel contract
• Adoption Learning Partners training certificates 

All of these items (minus the training certificates) will need to be Notarized and then shipped off to be State-Sealed. 

That sounds fun, right? 

We're getting all of this put together, calling the police station, calling the doctors office, calling my in-laws, hoping to get this stuff together as soon as possible. 

Our adoption specialist also dropped, what I like to call a "bomb" on us. Adam and I were under the impression that our last fee ($4,650) was the final fee before we were just waiting. 

False.

We need to also pay a country fee of $6,400 (includes payment of program administration–salaries; transportation and travel to develop, maintain, and supervise partnerships; communication: internet, telephone; occupancy rental, utilities, building and equipment maintenance; staff training and partner organization staff training; processing and assessment of partner referrals) 

So before we can submit our dossier, we'll need to pay the $6,400 fee. At first, I was kind of like, "reeeeaaaaaally? There is no way we're going to get that together by the end of the year." But then I remembered that it's in His timing, not ours. He's already provided us with so much in this journey and He'll continue to provide for this next fee. So if we don't get it together by the end of the year, that's okay! We'll get it together when we can, and it will all work out perfectly. 

Onward! 

Serious Shout-out

Can I just give a quick shot-out to all you awesome people who are reading this blog?

The last two-ish weeks, we've paid $5,550 in fees for the adoption. Mind you, we didn't have loads of extra cash stuffed in mattresses in our house. Despite going through a home remodel, plus Adam going out to work for himself (making paychecks less consistent), we knew that starting this adoption when we did was something God was calling us to do.

We didn't know how we were going to come up with the $30,000+ (and still don't completely know), but we do know that our God provides. And He is so great. And it all works in his perfect timing.

We started this process back in January of this year, with enough money to submit our application (wait, actually two applications...) and just kind of let the rest fall into place. Sure, we've definitely been cutting back this year, but we couldn't have done this alone.

From the garage sale, to the t-shirts, to the puzzle pieces (why yes, we do have pieces left) we are so lucky that so many people have asked to help us out in one way or another.

What's incredible about that all? That so far in our adoption journey, we've had to pay around $9,000. And with all of our donations, and profits from the t-shirts and garage sale, we've received roughly $6,000.

Seriously. 

We've got a long way to go, but almost 30% of the cost is already taken care of.

I know there are some people that think, "why would you pay so much money to adopt when you can have your own?" or And I don't really have an answer to that question. Just that this little nugget will be ours. This is the family that God has blessed us with. I'll be the first one to admit that it's difficult to imagine our family without a face, heck, even a gender to put with our little one. But our family is built on faith. Because God put a little picture in our minds, we have to trust in Him. Which can be so hard at times. But He makes the rules. And He brings us awesome people like you.

Hebrews 11:1 says Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. I think that sums things up rather nicely, don't you?

Keep on keepin' on. Thanks so much for taking a step of faith with us and helping our family grow.

Tiny I600-A Update

I have an itsy, bitsy update from our I600-A. 

It probably isn't even worth a blog post. But, what the heck, I'm feeling sassy today. 

We received a letter in the mail from the Department of Homeland Security stating that they had received our application (i.e. cashed our check), and would be scheduling an appointment for us to get our fingerprints taken. 

And that's it! 

Pretty cool though, it just means we're still trucking right along. 

...And It's Off!

It's off! (airplane emoji)

...(What is?)

Our I600-A has officially been shipped to USCIS. PTL

Go ahead, ask me what PTL means.

...(What is PTL)

Side note: I have way too much fun having a conversation with myself.

Praise the Lord. It's a thing I'm trying to get going. I heard a friend use it and couldn't let it go. You should start using it, too. I think I've successfully gotten my mother-in-law hooked. Or maybe she just says it to me. Can you confirm, MT?

Anyway, PTL is obviously just like saying "Praise the Lord", except more refined. You know, sometimes you just don't have enough time for the entire phrase. So you just shoot three little letters. It can even be used in texting, I'd say you could successfully use PTL anywhere you would use LOL. Seriously, think about it.

Personally, I think it has a nice ring to it.

Anyway...back to the purpose of this post: to inform you that our I600-A has been shipped off. So that means we'll wait for that to get approved by USCIS, get some more fingerprints taken, and get started on our dossier. We're told it should take about 4-6 weeks for approval.

This just means we're one step closer.

I also want to take just a moment to say thank you to all of our awesome friends and family who have contributed to our puzzle fundraiser. I never knew people could be so excited about puzzles. Seriously though, puzzles were your least favorite "toy", weren't they? That's why we'll just keep ours between glass. Anyway, your donation is why we were able to send off the I600-A right now. Which is huge.

Okay, before I start rambling about other acronyms or puzzles, I'll stop. Cheers to Thursday, which is basically Friday, which is basically the weekend, and cheers to being one step closer to baby (toddler?) Negrete.

Fundraiser #3: The Puzzle

Dun duh.

Are you ready?

Dun duh.

You've probably heard of the puzzle fundraiser (am I hearing crickets?). If not, here's a onceover.

So we bought a puzzle. It's a 500 piece puzzle and are selling (well not really selling) the pieces for a minimum of a $10 donation. So here's what happens.

• You buy a puzzle piece. Or two, or three. Heck, we'll let you buy us a whole puzzle.
• We write your name on the back of the piece.
• When the puzzle is complete, we'll frame it and put it between two pieces of glass so our child can see the names of everyone who helped bring him or her home. Or maybe it will be a normal puzzle that we put together. (Either way, they get see who was part of their journey). 

Pretty cool stuff, right? Below is the puzzle we picked out. Adam (the artsy, creative one) thought it incorporated the different parts of life and family (...or something. Like I said, he's the creative one).

So here's how you go can go about buying a puzzle piece (or two or three, or the entire thing...kidding. Am I though?) I'm really liking bullets today.

• Click on the donate button on the right (over there) to pay securely through PayPal
• Write a check made out to Adam and/or myself and hand deliver or mail it (email me at negrete.stacy@gmail.com for address details)
• Do the same thing as a check, but with cash!
• Send a donation directly to our church (this is tax deductible). For the address, go to the Donation Information tab. 
• Donate to our Go Fund Me page

So let's just say we "sell" all 500 pieces of the puzzle. That's $5,000 right there. Which is pretty darn substantial to our cause. If everyone who buys a piece decides to give $20 instead of $10, that's $10,000.

Isn't it crazy what $20 can do? Now, I don't want to tell you how to live. But what if I challenged you to cut something out of your day, or week, or month. I know this is a common example, but what if you cut out your Starbucks* run once a week (go the other six days, that's cool!), but cut out that $3 once a week. Over the course of, like 3.2454379 weeks, (okay, I'm not a mathematician) that's $10, which would buy you a snazzy puzzle piece! And you can come over sometime and I'll make you a cup o' joe**.

To those who have already donated, thank you. To those that are even considering, thank you.

*or Dunkin', or McDonalds, or DQ...you get the picture
**no pumpkin spice lattes available

High Five for Friday

Well hot dang, it's Friday, ya'll. Can I just say that I am lurving this fall weather? This week has been borderline perfect. I hope heaven is a calm, warm, 72°. Pefection.

I feel like this week has flown by, so here are the top 5 moments of the week:

1. We met with a couple on Sunday, the relationship between us all is a bit weird. Adam went to high school with the Mrs. and I randomly met (and apparently got into deep enough discussion to put together than his knew my husband) the Mr. at the Apple store when I was there for something. They read on Facebook that we were adopting and we started planning on a dinner to talk (and meet the spouses). It was a really good time getting to know them and share our story with them. High five for new friends!

2. Adam's old boss needed some help this week out of town, so Adam left to go to Southern Iowa to help him. While it was no fun being alone for the week, we were very thankful that he was able to get a week of paying work in.

3. Last weekend we went home to go to a football game and attend a memorial walk held every year in honor of my dad, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. My aunt works hard all year and partners with the Lustgarten Foundation, as well as different organizations around Cedar Rapids. It was great to see a lot of my family and participate in a great cause.

4. Our church is having their 20 year anniversary this weekend! There are events going on today, tomorrow and Sunday, so we'll be attending those and seeing what God has in store for the next 20 years!

5. We were able to rack up enough cash to finish paying our fee of $4,650, which is awesome! We now need to work on getting the $820 needed to apply for our I600-A. Even though we could be able to submit this now if we had the money to do so, we're confident in God's perfect timing and are not stressing out about it. We'll turn in the paperwork when we're meant to turn in the paperwork.

Please join us in praying for people to support us or even consider it yourself. Remember, It Takes a Village—we can't do it without you, and we're not just talking about financially. We need your prayers, too.

Home Study Approval!

You guys! Our home study has been approved!

After having to make a few edits last week, the Bethany Global Offices have approved our home study. So now what?

Do you remember this post about the I-600A? That's next. Well, after we sign the home study to say that we approve (I guess that's important, too!).

Then, the fee. When I log in to our adoption portal (a place for message between our adoption specialists, resources, waiting children, etc.), I see a familiar, red $ at the top of the screen. With an approved home study, comes the fee. So actually, that's next.

We've still got a couple hundred dollars left to save/raise until we can pay the fee, and we know God will work in His perfect timing, per usual.

Form I-600A...huh?

We've received word from the global office that we're able to start preparing for our I-600A. For those of you who don't know, this form is the Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition, got it? 

Okay, let's back up.

We have to file with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (often referred to as USCIS). According to the USCIS website, the form is used by U.S. citizen who plans to adopt a foreign-born child and enables USCIS to adjudicate the application that relates to the qualifications of the applicant(s) as prospective adoptive parent(s).

Okay, I'll be honest, I had to look up the meaning of adjudicate—to make a formal judgement or decision about a problem or disputed matter. 

Basically we submit this form to USCIS and they will approve us to adopt internationally. The child you (or we) are adopting can not immigrate into the United States as an "orphan" until the form I-600 has been approved and the child has obtained an immigrant visa.

Along with this form, we'll need to include certified copies of our birth certificates, marriage license (I ordered these during our homestudy process), our homestudy report, as well as $720 to submit the form, and $85 per person living in the household (two people for now, and we'll have to do an addendum when Mkini comes to live with us...more on that later).We'll also need to get fingerprinted again and mail those in with this form, which if I remember correctly was $10 per person (again, Mkini will need to do this as well).

So that's what we're working on next. We can go ahead and get this filled out, and once our homestudy gets approved, we can send it in right away. After that, we'll start working on our dossier.

To see the form and read more about the form I-600A, you can click here and here.

A little bit of downtime

First off, my apologies for missing the last couple H54F posts. Things have been pretty hectic the last few weeks. . . maybe I'll be able to explain them in this week's post, assuming I get to it.

Secondly, I thought I'd just give a brief update on the process. Last I checked in, our social worker was all finished up with our home study report. As it turns out, we were still waiting on one thing; Adam's employer letter. Well, fortunately, that got sent in, and now it's complete.

 So I checked with Lindsay to see how things were going, if we could be working on anything to get us ahead of the game a bit.

Lindsay's supervisor (the approver) is out on vacation this week. They're going to see if someone else can get it approved this week, but they're not sure if that will work. Otherwise, we were told that there isn't anything we can do to get things moving.

Hmm...

So that's it. That's all I have.

By God's amazing work, we've been able to put enough money (thank you garage sale, t-shirts, donations!) for our next payment due after our home study of $4,650. We'll need to pay this after our home study is approved. I knew (knew!) that God would pull through and stay faithful. We're doing his work, and He's providing.

High Five for Friday

It's time for the August version of High Five for Friday. Holy cow that came out of no where, didn't it? We've been fortunate to have some beautiful weather (less of the 100° and humid days than in previous years), which has been ah-maz-ing.

1. We switched up date night this week to Monday (we usually have it on Wednesday). It was a great start to the week. We actually switched up activities as well. We went to several home improvement stores (can you say romance) to look at some stuff we need for the house. We were sure to get some Tasty Tacos and ice cream after. It was a nice change starting the week off with a date night. Who knows, maybe Mondays will be the new Wednesdays. 

2. We have a rental house that Adam and I help manage and it's been a crazy last few weeks getting it ready for new tenants. I'll be happy and relieved when we're finished.

3. Adam's parents came to town to help his brother move out of said rental house and into our house (before he starts PT school in Indiana), so it was nice to see them. (This is why we changed date night to Monday...are you piecing things together?) It was nice to spend time with them and have dinner. We went to a relatively new place in town, The Mucky Duck Pub—a new British pub-type of place. They've got killer fish and chips + banana bread beer (yum). 

4. We had the Workiva (my company) summer picnic on Thursday, which was a lot of fun. It was for the whole company plus the kids (or dogs) in everyone's family. It was fun to see everyone outside of the work element. My favorite was seeing the Executive Chef in normal clothes, magical. 

5. Adam is going down to a golf tournament with family on Saturday, so I'm looking forward to really getting stuff done. I made a list earlier this week and have been adding to it as the week has gone by. Sometimes it's nice to have a relaxing weekend, but sometimes, you just want to get stuff accomplished. AmIright? 

[Bonus] 6. Our social worker let us know that she's almost done with our home study already! It will need to go through a few rounds of approvals (she said they're always at least one) then we can start getting our Dossier documents.

[Double Bonus] 7. I know two (two!) adoptive mama's that are in Uganda right now! One is meeting her kiddos, and one is bringing her son home! If you get a chance, please pray for their travels, kiddos, and time in Uganda. How exciting!

Have yourself a wonderful first weekend of August. Sending blessings to you all. 

Last Call for T-shirts

This is it, folks.

The last call for t-shirts. Our pre-sale site closes this evening, so if you haven't had a chance to get on over to this site and buy one, you better do it now!

As a reminder, you can order on the site, and after it closes (tonight!) they will begin production. After the turnaround (they estimate 8 days), I will get them and give them out (if you don't live near me, I'll ship yours).

With our next fee of $4,650 quickly approaching (due after our home study report is written), these shirts are a way to help with that. We appreciate 1 shirt or 10 shirts and thank you for thinking of us (and wearing a cool shirt!)

Click here to buy a shirt!

Home Study #4: Check

Well, folks. We're done with our home studies. This is great news. We're practically (not quite) done with two out of four steps of our adoption process, though the wait comes next.

We went though the normal home study process where our social worker came to our house, Nellie wiggled and squeaked with excitement, and we chatted.

Up until this point, Adam and I have been working on educational classes, 10 hours (each) had to be completed by the end of our home study:

• Adopting an Older Child
• Conspicuous Families
• Finding the Missing Pieces: Grief and Loss
• Medical Issues in International Adoption
• The Journey of Attachment 

This home study focused mostly on these classes. Lindsay asked us any concerns we had from those classes and ways we would address any problems that may arise. It seems like the most important thing she touched on was how to foster attachment with the child.

She also gave us a book to read, The Connected Child, which helps adoptive parents understand and face the challenges that come along with adoption. Have any of you read this? Any insights? 

So what happens next? 

Lindsay will need 2–3 weeks to finishing writing up the home study report and then it will get sent off for approvals. After the home study report is completely approved, we'll need to start gathering documents for our dossier (they need to be the most current documents, which is why we can't start now), and apply for our immigration approval (more money + fingerprints). 

Thank you for joining us on this journey, we'll be done before we know it...right? 

Fundraiser #2: T-shirts

It takes a village to raise a child. ––African Proverb

Oh that's nice, and it's African, so that's fine. But what does it mean? 

Well, here's what we thought: You guys are our village. Our village for love, support, guidance, laughs, and so much more. Where would we be without our village? Who knows. But definitely not here.

It's not just now that our so called, village, has come into play. You've also helped shape us into who we are by offering the same items that I listed above (we just didn't ask you to buy t-shirts then [insert chuckle]). 

So, without further ado, let me just get to the point. Will you buy a t-shirt? We love what they represent and of course the placement of that little heart sits right upon Uganda.

These shirts are $22 and 100% of all proceeds go towards our adoption fund. There is a bit of a caviot: This site is only open until July 29, so if you want one, better do it now. Once the site is closed, they will make the shirts and I'll ship them out to those who don't live near me. Click here to buy a shirt, or copy and paste this into your browser: https://village.eightsevencentral.net/shop/it-takes-a-village/

Please consider purchasing a shirt. And tell your friends.

Blessings to you!

[While you may be familiar with the Hillary Clinton book that shares the same name, I assure you that is not what we were going for.] 

Garage Sale Success

We had our first fundraiser in the form of a garage sale this past weekend. And it was a great success!

We had some awesome support before and during the sale. Thank you to all of our friends who helped spread the word!

So, I know, you're probably like, on with it already! Drumroll, please: we made $661!

What?!

Unbelievable. I am so overwhelmed! I was expecting us to make, like, $250, tops. So the garage sale was a serious success.

I look at this situation and wonder how people can think it's a coincidence that this garage sale was such a success. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Hmm. . .

I'm praising Jesus for bringing so many people to us and put our cause on their hearts.

Home Study #3: Check

Home study #3 has been completed! Three down, one to go.

Lindsay (our social worker) came to our house last Thursday to meet with the two of us. This time around, she didn't have any paperwork for us, and we didn't have to be separated. There really wasn't much to it. 

Her questions consisted of our family information, our past and childhood, and a bit about our finances. So we talked about where we grew up, who we hung out with, what we did in school, that kind of stuff. Then we discussed a little about our finances (basically just that she would need a bank statement) and then we just discussed the relationship we have with both of our families.

After we chatted for about 45 minutes, she had the tour the grand tour. We walked through the house, room by room and she simply observed; didn't really say anything, didn't write anything down, just observed.

One thing in particular that she did was look in every closet. I'm not exactly sure why she had to do that, but she did. She made a comment that she had to see that "this wasn't where you kept the bodies". But I assure you there are no bodies. . .

Our next home study is scheduled for July 24, which will be after we return from RAGBRAI, the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Check it out.