Next Steps and Puzzling Info!

     This is the culmination of 11 months of hard work! Doesn't it all look very official?? All of our paperwork now has pretty gold seals on it which means our dossier is complete and has been sent to our adoption agency for their review.  Please pray that I did everything correctly!  I would hate to have any more setbacks at this point!   We are grateful to everyone who helped us get all these documents together. It was truly a joint effort.

     Our agency will go through everything and make sure that all the documents are in order just the way Poland likes it.  Unless you've made a dossier like this, you cannot understand the many many details that make up this packet.  I was tempted to give up along the way, I was frustrated by the bureaucracy, I was defeated by the tediousness.  But Kevin and I knew that at the end every paper cut would be worth it.  I also felt a little sad because I knew that others along this same path had given up before they reached the goal, due to cost, or being overwhelmed, or many other factors.  There are so many orphans that need mommies and daddies to give them a home.  Kevin and I are honored, with God's help, to be able to say at the end of this process that there are two less orphans in the world.

   Will you help us reach that goal? I have purchased a 1000 piece puzzle of a beautiful lake in Poland.  It looks like this:

 

This is Morskie Oko Lake, in Tatras, Poland.  The name "Morskie Oko" translates to "Eye of the Sea". According to an old legend, the lake was connected to the sea via an underground passage.  The puzzle itself is made by Castorland Puzzles which is located in Cracow Poland.   

    We are giving you an opportunity to join us and help an orphan by buying a puzzle piece for $5.00!  We will then write your name on the back of the puzzle. When all the pieces are sold we will assemble the puzzle, frame it, and hang it in our daughters' room.  You may buy as many pieces as you like.   We are using a site called youcaring.com to run the fundraiser.  This is the link here.  Thanks for your support!

 

 

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  Romans 8:15

 

 

 



 

Home Study, Classes, and more

  

   I can finally say that spring has come to Indiana!  I know it has been a while since I posted, but there has been a lot going on and I have been outside enjoying the sunshine!    We had our home study visit a few weeks ago.  If you are not familiar with the process, part of the home study consists of collecting paperwork and writing an autobiography, and the other part is having a social worker come to your home for a visit.  We prepared for the visit by cleaning the house from top to bottom.  We needed to do some spring cleaning anyway. I wish my house could stay that nice all the time! 
     When the social worker came, she interviewed Kevin and I together. She asked questions about our families, why we are adopting, our history together, our views on child rearing, etc.  She then interviewed us separately about our personal histories.  After we passed that (whew!), we showed her around the house.  Our daughters' room is still a guest room for now.  It didn't need to be set up as a child's room for the home study, they just need to see the room to make sure it is a safe environment. She requested a few more documents that we just needed to make copies of and that was it.  The whole thing didn't take very long and we were happy with how it turned out.  The social worker writes up a report then and sends it to our home study agency and our placing agency.  I haven't heard yet if they have received it, but I'm sure I will hear something soon.
   As part of the adoption process, each country requires so much training for adoptive parents.  Adopted children, especially those that have been in orphanages, may require different parenting techniques.  These classes help equip parents to deal with any challenges they may face.  Poland only requires 10 hours of training and although Kevin and I had already met that requirement we wanted to attend the 4th and last class of the series that our first agency teaches. We are always glad to attend these classes and meet other adoptive parents because we share advice and valuable support.  Part of this class was about whether or not you should rename your child which has its pros and cons because your child is probably already responding to their name.  Kevin and I talked about how we are hoping to Americanize our child's Polish name so that it will be similar, but not the same. We are not sure how close we will get since the Polish language has so many different characters than our American alphabet.
    

Once we get a copy of our home study, I can start working on applying for grants.  Until then, our Ebay/Craigslist fundraiser is going really well!  I cannot thank enough all of our friends who have donated items for me to sell.  We have been so blessed by your support!  As you are spring cleaning this year, we are always taking donations.  I am continually putting things on Ebay and larger items on Craigslist.  We will also be having a rummage sale this summer for any extra items.  Items that sell well on Ebay include electronics, cell phones, video consoles and games, and kids items. Thanks for thinking of us!
    
We have also had a very generous offer from our friend Beth Kresja, a hairstylist at The Salon and Spa here in Muncie. She is donating $5 for every service to our adoption fund.  So if you need a new hairdo, call Beth at 744-8788!
  








 God is still moving and we are feeling His blessing. Thanks again to all of our family and friends. We couldn't do this without your support!
    

Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

 

 

Easy Opportunity to Help!

     I've recently caught the ebay bug.  I know it's been going around for quite some time, but I never thought I would get it.  I was cleaning out our spare room the other day and came across some items that I didn't use anymore but didn't want to just throw away.  So I listed them on ebay and they sold!  I couldn't believe it!  So now I'm looking around and trying to figure out what else we can get rid of that might be worth something to someone else.  My husband even sacrificed his old Xbox to the cause. But I'm running out of things to sell.
     Here's where you come in. Have you wanted to help support our international adoption but not sure how you can help?  Ebay can be a great fundraising tool!  All you have to do is find items in your house that you are no longer using, but might be useful to someone else.  Items that sell well include:  digital cameras, camcorders, ipods or mp3 players, game consoles, small kitchen appliances, hand tools, e-readers, and electronic toys.  While you are spring cleaning this year, will you please put some of these things aside?  I will pick them up and sell them on ebay and all the money will go towards bringing our daughters home.  Just let Kevin or I know or you can contact us at beachadoption at gmail dot com.  Thanks for your help!

Please be praying for us this week because our home study is Saturday!  We are very excited to finally get this part done.  A lot of things can't be finished until the home study is completed, so this will move us farther along.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly.  Thanks!

Spring Forward

     I love this time of year!  I am so excited that the sun will be shining longer in the evening.  I am so much more motivated to get moving after work when it is still light out.  I have been running on the treadmill more these past few months but I am looking forward to being able to run outside. 
      I have been spending my time after work either exercising or working on paperwork.  With the switch to a new agency, there has been some additional paperwork to do.  Each agency has their own forms and procedures based on what the adoptive country requires.  This has been a little frustrating for me since I had hoped that part was behind us.  Every time I think we are moving forward to a new part of the journey, it seems we have to back track and start over.   But I am relying on God's timing and am trying to take this one day at a time. 
     So one of the things Kevin and I did this week was go down to City Hall and get fingerprinted.  We have never been fingerprinted before so that was a new experience.  We then sent our fingerprints off to the FBI and they will send us an "all clear" letter to prove that we are not criminals!  We also had to get more copies of our birth certificates and new medical forms.  St Mary's Adoptions has been very helpful and willing to keep in touch and answer any questions that we have.  They are currently working to get our home study ready to be scheduled. 





      Our new T-shirt store is up and running! We removed the Russian t-shirts and replaced them with different colors of the other t-shirts.  Adoption Bug doesn't have shirts for Poland yet. You can visit our new store here.    
    
We are also selling delicious coffee products at Just Love Coffee.


If you are thinking about adopting or know someone who is, here are some resources online that can help with the process and with funding:

www.resources4adoption.com/

http://showhope.org/

http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/

http://www.jeremiah29-11project.com/
 
     http://helpusadopt.org/
 

Don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight

 or you will be late for church tomorrow!