Well I have the urge to write and unwind alittle. I feel like I need to put my thoughts in writing to see what I've done and what needs to be done. I have been doing paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. Luckily I am fairly organized with this kind of thing but I get stressed easily. With my personality I like to get things done and I don't rest until everything is completed. There are positives and negetives to that. Clay is opposite he will sit on something until it is due and not stress about it one bit.
Today I got our homestudy paperwork. We will start the homestudy in 2 weeks. We will have 4 meetings with our social worker. There is a lot of paperwork to pull together for this. One thing is a 2-4 page autobiography for Clay and I to do. I got the instructions on it today and guess what, I did it today! Today we got some official looking papers from the government too. They are very vague and tell us to be at the USCIS office at a specific location, date and time. I am pretty sure we are just getting fingerprinted but it doesn't really say that anywhere.
Here is what I have done so far for the Dossier(pronounced dosea) in case you ever hear me say that. The dossier is all of the papers we will send over to Ethiopia-probably in January.
1. Application Letter
2. Ordered new Birth Certificates for the family
3. " " Marriage Cert.
4. Got physicals
5. Proof of insurance through Merck
6. Financial info
7. Proof of income/employment
8. 1 reference letter
9. FBI records/background reports
10. Sent off I 600 gov't form(don't ask I don't know)
11.Got my passport
12. I've finished 8-10 hours of online training! Clay has done 20 mins or so
Still need:
1. Clay's passport
2. photo pages
3. I 171 approval
4. a finished homestudy report
5. 2 reference letters
Most of these papers have to be notarized so I need to do that too!
Things I have completed for the homestudy:
1. My autobiography(rough draft)
2. Income tax returns
3. Medical reports for my kids
4. copies of insurance cards
5. Police clearance
What I need to do or get:
1. Read 5 books of required reading.
2. along with lots of forms to fill out.
3. Clay's autobiography
With every check mark I put on something completed I know that I am one step closer to our boy or His boy.
Total expenses so far:
Application Fee $250.00
Online Training Fee $175.00
1st payment to AWAA $1,500.00
Tracy's Physical $15.00
Clay's Physical $15.00
USCIS for I600 $830.00
Marriage Cert and 2 birth certs $46.00
Passport Photo(2) $20.00
Passport Clay $100.00
Passport Tracy $100.00
Police Report-Tracy $29.00
Police Report-Clay $29.00
Anslee's Birth Cert $17.00
Homestudy $1800
Post placement fees: $1050
Total: $5976.00
God is still blowing us away with the money coming in. We have no worries regarding the financal end of this. We KNOW that he has called us here and he will provide!
Once our homestudy is complete we can start applying for grants and receiving tax deductable donations.
Thanks again for all of your love and support!
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
8.07.2008
6.30.2008
Jehovah-Jireh - The Lord Will Provide
Wow! I am so excited to write this post! We have been blown away by your generosity and support. Throughout this process we have had a peace and felt God assuring us that he would provide for us! Here is what He has done for us in the past 2 weeks!
The Garage Sale was HUGE! Thanks to my freshman girls, all of the people who donated and the Tony family! We made over $700! Yeah!
We have sold almost 20 shirts.
People have been so generous in giving! We have received about $1200 in donations.
Thank you, thank you for all of your support and generosity. Every penny counts!!
We have been asked many great questions about this process. Why Ethiopia, will the baby have a name, will you go to Africa to pick him up, will the child be healthy, why a boy, ect.... In the comment section you can leave your questions and we will answer them in a future post!
The Garage Sale was HUGE! Thanks to my freshman girls, all of the people who donated and the Tony family! We made over $700! Yeah!
We have sold almost 20 shirts.
People have been so generous in giving! We have received about $1200 in donations.
Thank you, thank you for all of your support and generosity. Every penny counts!!
We have been asked many great questions about this process. Why Ethiopia, will the baby have a name, will you go to Africa to pick him up, will the child be healthy, why a boy, ect.... In the comment section you can leave your questions and we will answer them in a future post!
6.25.2008
T-Shirts are here!!!!!!!!
They are here and look great!! If you ordered one already I will get it to you or mail it out soon!! If you want one just order one on the right side bar. All of our profit will go straight into our adoption fund--helping us bring home our baby boy!!
6.21.2008
Garage Sale/Car Wash fundraiser
My freshman girls from church are having a fundraiser to raise money for our adoption THIS SATURDAY!! I am so proud of them and think it is awesome that they came up with this!! Thanks girls!! I love y'all!
If you have any garage sale items that you would like to get rid of and donate:
Contact me at: tracyleev@yahoo.com or for further details about location AND HOURS!
Please come if you can. I will have the T Shirts there for sale too!
6.18.2008
Some BIG News!
Some of you may or may not know about some excitement here in our family. We are so thrilled to announce that we are starting the process of adopting a son from Ethiopia. This has been something God laid on mine and Clay's hearts years ago. Through many things we were lead to have a heart for Africa. Throughout our 6 years of marriage we have never experienced anything as exciting as having children. We have always talked about how neat it would be to have a large family. Our little girl turned one in January and this is when we started to really pray about baby #3. We were then bombarded with confirmation that we were to adopt. Then the question went from not if but when. We prayed about this decision and again we felt God preparing things very quickly. It is amazing how much confirmation we have received from God's word, friends, our finances and a sermon at our church. . I would love for you to listen to this sermon
http://www.longhollow.com/messages/series/13
It will bless and convict!
It is wonderful. Here are some points the speaker made that spoke to us:
**Jesus is hungry in Africa, Jesus is hungry in Sudan.........b/c Jesus says whatever you do to the least of these you are doing to me. (Matthew 25:40)
**Who is going to sing all of those children lullabies and tuck them in at night?
**What are you doing with your spare bedroom?
After all of these things Clay and I were blown away by how personal God is in answering our prayers.
God began revealing his heart for the fatherless to us.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
“Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.” Psalm 82:3
"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deut 24:19
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you.” Prov 23:10-11
We felt how much He cared for orphans and the command that we have to take care of them.
I began to research countries in Africa that adopt internationally as well as adoption agencies. We soon found out that our daughter had to be 18 months old before we could even turn in an application to start the process. So here it is almost July and we are turning in some intial paperwork to get the "paper pregnancy" started. Through my research I have found that it will be "on average" a year long process before we fly over to get him. The cost of an international adoption from Ethiopia ranges from $20,000-$30,000 which is much larger than us but not our God. God has confirmed over and over that we are to step out in faith and he will provide.
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
We are very encouraged and cannot wait to see what he does. I know that God has great plans for this child and we feel privileged to be able to do this.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
It has been interesting the reactions that we have already had in sharing our hearts with friends and family. Some negative and many positive. We understand many people have concerns but when you are called by God to do something you can't ignore it. We ask for your prayers as we proceed with this journey. We hope that our blog will open eyes to the needs of orphans from all over the world and encourage people to ask God what their role should be. I have been blessed by many blogs that have also adopted. I want this blog to be a resource for those who are interested in adopting and also allow people to see the adoption process step by step.
How can you help?
#1 Pray for us!!
Pray that we stay in the midst of God's will for our family and that we don't make a move without Him.
#2 Buy a T-Shirt
If you are interested in a shirt they will be $20. The shirt is a dark gray like in the picture. All of the profit will go straight to our adoption fund. On the right side bar of this blog there is a T Shirt order button through paypal. The shirts are on the press and I should have them within a week to a week and a half so you can go ahead and order now if you are interested!
#3 Donations
We are so humbled that many people have asked about donating money towards our adoption. If you are interested in this there is also a donation button on the right side bar.
If you are interested in a tax deductable donation email me directly: tracyleev@yahoo.com we will have to do this through our agency.
We will post as often as there is news.
http://www.longhollow.com/messages/series/13
It will bless and convict!
It is wonderful. Here are some points the speaker made that spoke to us:
**Jesus is hungry in Africa, Jesus is hungry in Sudan.........b/c Jesus says whatever you do to the least of these you are doing to me. (Matthew 25:40)
**Who is going to sing all of those children lullabies and tuck them in at night?
**What are you doing with your spare bedroom?
After all of these things Clay and I were blown away by how personal God is in answering our prayers.
God began revealing his heart for the fatherless to us.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
“Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.” Psalm 82:3
"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deut 24:19
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you.” Prov 23:10-11
We felt how much He cared for orphans and the command that we have to take care of them.
I began to research countries in Africa that adopt internationally as well as adoption agencies. We soon found out that our daughter had to be 18 months old before we could even turn in an application to start the process. So here it is almost July and we are turning in some intial paperwork to get the "paper pregnancy" started. Through my research I have found that it will be "on average" a year long process before we fly over to get him. The cost of an international adoption from Ethiopia ranges from $20,000-$30,000 which is much larger than us but not our God. God has confirmed over and over that we are to step out in faith and he will provide.
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
We are very encouraged and cannot wait to see what he does. I know that God has great plans for this child and we feel privileged to be able to do this.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
It has been interesting the reactions that we have already had in sharing our hearts with friends and family. Some negative and many positive. We understand many people have concerns but when you are called by God to do something you can't ignore it. We ask for your prayers as we proceed with this journey. We hope that our blog will open eyes to the needs of orphans from all over the world and encourage people to ask God what their role should be. I have been blessed by many blogs that have also adopted. I want this blog to be a resource for those who are interested in adopting and also allow people to see the adoption process step by step.
How can you help?
#1 Pray for us!!
Pray that we stay in the midst of God's will for our family and that we don't make a move without Him.
#2 Buy a T-Shirt
If you are interested in a shirt they will be $20. The shirt is a dark gray like in the picture. All of the profit will go straight to our adoption fund. On the right side bar of this blog there is a T Shirt order button through paypal. The shirts are on the press and I should have them within a week to a week and a half so you can go ahead and order now if you are interested!
#3 Donations
We are so humbled that many people have asked about donating money towards our adoption. If you are interested in this there is also a donation button on the right side bar.
If you are interested in a tax deductable donation email me directly: tracyleev@yahoo.com we will have to do this through our agency.
We will post as often as there is news.
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Clay and Tracy
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