It's Time

Well, it's time for us to 'hit the road jack'!! We WILL be coming back, though. Gonna be leaving the ATL headed for LAT within the next few weeks.  Be praying for us as we make our journey. Can't wait to update you all when we get home. We will be leaving as 2 and coming back as 3. (At least that's what our prayer is.)

All is a go - as soon as...!!

V's social worker from the Latvian Adoption Court has been to see her and talk to her about the adoption.  All is a go!!  We are just waiting for our "referral" to make it official.  We should get that by email any day.  The next step after the referral is a date for us to appear in the Latvian adoption court, which is what we will plan our first trip around.  So, now it is just a matter of time...we are hoping to travel in Oct. or Nov!!

Pray that we get all the details worked out for our first trip(including childcare for our own children) :)  and that all goes according to God's plan.  Lots and lots of details to work out!!  We still have shirts for sale if anyone is interested...$15 for adults and $12 for kids.

Dossier

We have sent our dossier over to Latvia with another adopting family.  It should be delivered to the attorney on Tuesday the 7th.  The paperwork will then need to be translated and presented to the courts.  We will then be given a date to appear in court, and we will have to plan our first trip around that date.

Looking at average time-lines, we will probably be traveling in October or November.  That means cold and probably snow!!  Should be beautiful!

Please pray that the dossier goes through the system smoothly.  Pray for V. as a social worker meets with her to let her know about the adoption plans.  Pray that the money for the first trip will be available when and where it is needed.  Pray for us as we prepare for and then take our first trip to bring our daughter home!

More $$

We just received notice that we were approved for a matching grant through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. They will match up to $5,000 that is donated toward our adoption.
If you are interested in helping us reach this goal of $10,000 ($5K donated + $5K matched), please send your tax deductible donations to:
                    Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
                    DeJong Family
                    18318 Mimosa Court
                    Gardner, KS  66030
For tax purposes, please address the envelope as written above. DO NOT put our name on your check. 
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!!!

Good news

Well, the week of the 4th brought good news for us!! We got notifications that we had been awarded $10,000 in grant money.  Yipee!!!! Praise the Lord!! So, now we are praying for the remainder of our $$ - approximately $7,000. We have a couple of other grants we are waiting to hear from! Thankful for every cent!!

Waiting and Wanting

Not a lot has happened since our last post - so just checking in! June was a busy month. We had VBS and 2 weeks of children's camp. June 4 - our church partnered with Action Ministries to deliver lunches to the children in Butts County. Our church began serving these lunches (M-F) to approximately 37 children - and last week we added 30 more children.  We have teams of people who come each day to prepare and deliver lunches to these children. While I thought delivering these lunches would be such a GREAT ministry to these families, as it turned out, it has been such a blessing to me - and I think for everyone who has taken part. We have become involved in the lives of these families who live in a 5 mile radius of our church. Most of whom do NOT attend church. We've celebrated birthdays! We've celebrated the birth of a baby! It has been awesome. Our church family has gone above and beyond to donate funds and food for this ministry. I can't wait to see what God will do through this simple act of kindness.
June 10th - our dear friends hosted a breakfast at our church prior to SS. Their goal was to raise $300 for us to help with our adoption. They raised almost $1800.  WOW!! Our church folks are
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!  We completed one interview for a grant through Katelyn's Fund. We are praying that we will hear good news from them in a couple of weeks. We have not heard anymore from the other 3 grants (one - a matching grant) we have applied for but are praying that we will hear within the next week.  These grants - if approved - should give us enough $$ to send our paperwork to Latvia AND make our first trip. Please pray with us about this.  As the days pass by, we get more anxious. We are 'farther removed' from V with each passing day, and even though we try to talk to her every few weeks, her English gets less and less. Today, as we talked to her, Daniel tried to explain to her that we were working very hard to try to come see her. He told her we were trying to get enough $$ and get our passports and such. She got real quiet - and then I heard her say, "HERE? To LATVIA?" He told her it would be a while - probably after she goes back to school - but that we hoped to see her soon. She said, "Here?" Then, she began speaking very excitedly and rapidly to her family in the background. Of course, my favorite parts of our call are when we get ready to get off the phone - I say, "I miss you!" She says, "ME, TOO!" and I say, "I love you!" - She says, "ME, TOO!" The excitement in her voice when she says those two words - though some may not think is much - is enough to keep us working toward our end goal - Bringing Her HOME!!! If you have not had the opportunity to give toward our goal, please visit our fundraising page and click the donate button. You can give through Paypal.  You can also click the link to go to Village to Village International to make a tax deductible donation.  To those of you who have already given - THANK YOU!! A MILLION TIMES THANK YOU!!! We will NEVER be able to repay you for the sacrifices you have made to help change the life of our 'special orphan'.
FYI - stay posted! We should have our t-shirts available for purchase soon  ($15).
Prayer needs:
**Pray for the New Horizons families who are hosting nearly 200 orphans from Latvia and Ukraine RIGHT NOW!! Pray that they will be the light, and that these children will feel the love of Jesus while they are here. Also pray that these children will find their forever families. Visit newhorizonsforchildren.org for more information on how YOU can participate in this hosting program.
**Pray for V - that God will fill her with His love - and she'll feel the excitement that something better's coming!
**Pray for Show Hope and God's Grace and Katelyn's Fund and Hand to Hand as they review our grant requests. Pray that we will receive approval and funds in a timely manner.
**Pray for the last few documents we need for our dossier - one specifically from my Dr. I had to have them do it twice BEFORE I had it notarized ( I goofed!). Then, we messed it up when we had it notarized - so I'm having to get it done again! I've called and emailed! I did finally get an email from them but she basically said she didn't know when she could get it done. Just pray that she'll show me grace and get my papers signed and mailed to us. We really need to get our papers apostilled.
**Pray for my brother, Clark, and sister-in-law, Susan as they have begun the process of adopting a precious baby from China.
**Pray for Kati (Susan's sister) and Lew as they are patiently waiting to get the word to go to Congo to get their precious babies - Arthur & Gigi - who are just adorable!!
**Pray for our Orphan Awareness Silent Auction/Banquet we are in the process of planning - which will take place August 18th. Most importantly pray that we will be able to adequately make people aware of orphan needs and orphan ministry opportunities - domestic and international. Pray that we will have the attendance for which we are hoping. Pray that people will be generous with their donations (if you have anything you'd like to donate - message me!). Finally, pray that we will raise some much needed funds for our adoption.

Plane Tickets

We will need three round trip tickets for our first trip to Latvia (Daniel, Heather, and Vita).  We will then need 2 round trip tickets for our second trip (Daniel and Vita) and 2 for our third and final trip (Daniel and Vita).  If anyone has Delta sky miles and would like to use them to purchase a ticket, the tickets are selling for 75,000 sky miles each right now.  Please let us know if you have enough miles and would be willing to donate them to bringing V home!!

Village to Village

We are now being hosted through Village to Village International Ministries. We need approximately $6,000 in order to send our paperwork to Latvia.  If you could spare any 'change' each week, please go over to Village to Village and make your tax deductible donation to help us bring Vita home. Giving up a soda or coffee every day would equal about $7-$10. Every little bit helps. Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!!
We also have puzzle pieces left if you'd like to purchase one for $10.

Village to Village International - DeJong Family

Happy Mother's Day

Today I feel so blessed!! So thankful for my 4 angels who made me a mommy!! Thankful for angel #5 -14 years old - who will make me a mommy again - hopefully soon! We have been gone the last few days - visiting with family! So happy to see my brother, Richie and his family. They are relocating to NC from MI - and we are so thankful! As a result of this move, I got to kiss on and love on my new nephew, Drake, who is such an angel as is his big sister, Madelyn. So, after not getting the mail the last few days, I checked it today when we got home after church. The best Mothers Day 'card' EVER was in the mail - our immigration approval!! HALLELUJAH! Thank you Jesus!! Now, to move forward - - maybe a few fundraisers, hopefully some grant approvals, and maybe a few donations. We are so anxious to get this paperwork sent off. One special girl is waiting on us, and we don't want to miss anymore time loving on her than we have to! So pray with us that God will provide! Thanks for your support and prayers through this process.

Cattle on a Thousand Hills

We are in the process of applying for several grants that we pray God will use to help fund the next leg of our journey to bring our girl home. Please pray that God will provide. We have a couple of very large expenses due before we can move to the next step. Once we are approved by immigration, we can send our dossier to Latvia, but we have to have paid all of our adoption agency fees first (in the neighborhood of $7,000). We also need to be prepared to leave for our first trip to Latvia when they approve us and tell us when our court date is ($8,000 + plane tickets). So, we need God to sell one of His cattle on a thousand hills! We trust that He will do this through one or more of these grants, and through special donors like you!! It has been amazing to watch God work through this journey. It is one thing to talk about faith and watching God do the impossible, it is quite another to be in the midst of it. God is so good!

Good Friday

Good Friday - - Such a strange name for such a 'sad day' of history. The day our Savior died! But looking back, it was a GOOD FRIDAY! The best GOOD that was EVER done for mankind - was done over 2,000 years ago!! It was a bit bittersweet today for us as we celebrated the life of my uncle. He left a legacy of faith, hope,love, perseverance, and humility to his children and grandchildren - and it was WELL portrayed by his son today! As far as the adoption goes, we got our receipt in the mail from immigration saying that they had received our paperwork. So, now we wait - - again! ;) We also received some $$ from one of the grants for which we applied! Thank you JESUS! Praying for V this weekend - as we celebrate our Savior - I pray that she'll have some sense that it is a special day! We introduced her to Jesus and taught her about His birth while she was here during Christmas. I can't wait for next year to teach her about his death, burial, and resurrection. (Well, we talked about that while she was here, too - but to celebrate it with her on Easter Sunday - teaching her at the same time will be AMAZING!! We still have a long way to go to raise our needed funds to be able to send our paperwork to Latvia. If you feel lead to give, please visit our fundraiser page and click the donate button! Every dollar, every penny puts us one step closer to bringing our girl home!! Thanks for your prayers! Love to you all as you celebrate our Savior this weekend!! Be sure to share it with others! Remember - Jesus is ENOUGH!!

Monday, Monday

Well, I just wanted to take a minute to write a short 'blurb'. Several things on my heart this morning as I took a walk in the cool morning breeze: My uncle Ed, my dad's brother, passed away yesterday afternoon as he napped in his chair. This comes in the midst of so much trial and heartache for their family - but we are rejoicing that he is no longer in pain. Please continue to pray for them - that God would comfort them during this loss and give them the strength they need to make it through the week. (especially, Kent, who has cancer);Our friends Mark & Lisa Tribble. Lisa was in a car accident a week ago and she remains on the vent. 14 broken ribs and 2 broken ankles will make for a long recovery but we know the Great Physician who is ABLE to do ALL THINGS; a few friends who are in the midst of big decisions - life changing decisions. May God give them wisdom and guidance; my cousin Ashley and my sister-in-law, Stephanie, who will be having babies any day now. Praying for Holt & Drake as they make their entrances into this world. May they grow to be men after Your own heart, God. Thankful to God that his mercies are new EVERY MORNING!! After my wonderful walk, enjoying the beauties of spring, I have spent most of the morning working on paperwork-mounds of paperwork. Every time I get frustrated or tired of signing my name - I just look at the sweet face of our girl - and get renewed energy to keep on keeping on. Besides our 'legal' paperwork, we are also working on grant applications. Be praying that the people who receive these applications will feel led to approve us for the grants. Every little bit helps. Now begins the waiting game!! So, we wait for approval and pray. Thanks for the prayers and words of support for so many of you! May God bless your families as we enter into a time of reflection on what Jesus did for us on that cross!!

Next step taken

We mailed our home study off today! Should be received tomorrow. Now the waiting begins - AGAIN!!! Please pray specifically for a few things: 1-pray that our paperwork will be received tomorrow by the most compassionate, christian agent in the CIS - one who has a heart for children and christian ministry; 2-pray for V - that she'll feel our love over the miles and feel in her heart that something GREAT is about to happen; 3-pray that we will TRUST God while we WAIT!!; 4-pray that if any questions arise before our approval, we will be able to answer them satisfactorily; 5-pray that God will continue to multiply our 'fundraising'-about to get to the BIG FUNDS! ;) Thanks for all you have done so far and for your prayers!! We serve a great GOD who is 'able to do above and beyond all we could ask, think or imagine'. (Eph 3:20)

They Are HERE!!

Yay! May not seem like much to most people - BUT - our Passports arrived today! This means ALOT to us for SEVERAL reasons! #1 - we can complete our home study; #2 - a completed home study means we are ready to send paperwork to Immigration; #3 - a completed home study means we can apply for all of the wonderful grants out there to help us complete this process; Finally - and most importantly - When they send us the invite to come get our girl, we can leave the country!!! :) Next prayer request - pray for us to get a WONDERFUL, GODLY Immigration agent!! Pray that our paperwork will go through w/o a hitch!! Thanks for your prayers!

Happy Birthday, V!

Happy 14th Birthday!!!! So very sad that we are not celebrating her Birthday with her - not sure how much of a birthday celebration she will be getting! But in honor of her birthday, we will be having our traditional 'birthday pancakes' for breakfast! We will sing happy birthday to her (in spirit). We will PRAY that God will let her feel the LOVE across the ocean blue!! My prayer for her this birthday is that God will fill her with anticipation that something bigger is coming! He will fill her with His peace that there's a family in Jackson, GA who love her and are trying to bring her home.
Visit our Fundraiser page and click on the donate tab  - if you have a few extra $$$ available - $14 to be exact - to give for her birthday! Let's FLOOD the LOVE today!!
Still waiting on passports to complete our homestudy. Pray they come soon!!

We talked to our daughter again yesterday!  We never know how the conversation is going to go...sometimes it is very short, and she says very little like she's distracted...but yesterday, she was upbeat and excited to talk (still very broken English, of course).  We are so ready to bring her home!!  Keep praying that we will be able to slog through the process and that all the t's will be crossed and all the i's dotted correctly, so we can bring our little girl home!!  Thank you for all your support and prayers!
Daniel

Home Study visit 3

Well, the REAL home study VISIT was this morning!! It was totally pain-free and easy! Well, maybe the PREP wasn't pain-free but you know what I mean! lol  She was here less than 30 minutes.  Hopefully, our dear ANGEL, Kelly, will get our home study completed and send it to us to 'proof' this afternoon.  Of course, we still have to wait on our passport numbers before it can be really COMPLETE!! We are anxiously awaiting the completion of our home study so that we can begin applying for grants.  People are continuing to GIVE and for that we are SO VERY GRATEFUL!!
It is getting more difficult to communicate with V when we call her each week because she is losing a lot of the English she learned when she was here. She cannot understand us very well at all anymore.  This really saddens me to think that probably in the next few weeks we may not be able to communicate at all other than "hey", "I love you" and "bye".  But, we will continue to call her regardless.  We have not told her of our intentions.  Months is a LONG time to wait for a child - well - for an adult, too. We felt it would be best not to make her have the long wait that we are having.  Furthermore, something unforeseen could happen during the process to delay it even longer - so for now, we are just praying that God will prepare her for what is to come!! I pray that God will give her a peace and anticipation that something EXCITING is waiting 'just around the bend'.
Please be prayerfully considering if God would have your join with us on our quest to bring our daughter home.  You can give via Paypal through the Fundraiser link on our blog or send me an email if you'd like our address to mail a donation.  Puzzle pieces are still available.  We will also be having several upcoming fundraisers - t-shirts; portrait sessions; etc. So - stay tuned and PRAY!!

Been a while

Well, been about a week since I posted. Not much has happened - other than we enjoyed a great ski trip with our youth and the FBC Jackson Youth!! Fun TIMES!! No - I didn't ski - I cooked! We took Raylyn this year. She LOVED it!!!  Hopefully, next year - we'll be taking 3 girls w/us!! :) (YES - that's Daniel w/the orange hat on!)

We have applied for our passports. Praying they won't take as long as they normally do. Didn't realize the wait time was 5-6 wks. Can't finish our home study report until we have passport numbers.  All in God's time though!
We are also still praying for the remainder of our caseworker fee - which will be coming due in a few weeks.  If you feel led to give, we would SO GREATLY APPRECIATE your donation. For those who have given, thank you SO VERY MUCH!! We have puzzle pieces still available for $10/each.

2 down 1 to go!

Well, home study meeting #2 is behind us!! Praise God! Daniel's physical is done - paperwork signed! Now to wait on our 3rd and final visit the first week of March and wait to receive our passports. Then, the home study will be complete!! Praying as we add an arrow to our quiver that we can shape her to be a 'world changer' for God!! Remember our puzzle fundraiser!! $10 per piece! Spread the word! Let's get that puzzle put together and we'll have $2500 of our money raised!! Thanks for the support and prayers! You guys are awesome.

Sunday again

Another Sunday has come and gone - but I hope we don't leave this day an unchanged person! I hope as we worshiped our Savior today that it was meaningful and LIFE-CHANGING!!! Worthless Worship is not beneficial to us or to God!!  We had an AWESOME day of worship at Macedonia. Then, it was great to enjoy lunch w/friends - especially the lady who made the very first donation to our adoption! :)
As another week has gone by, I can't help but think that we are one week closer to seeing Vita again!! The thought of that gets me all excited, but at the same time, even more anxious!! I've had several people ask me "What is the total cost of this adoption going to be?" I don't think I've posted that on here for fear that people won't give because of the seemingly impossible task it's going to entail - but here it is - $34,000 (approx.). Parts of this amount are variable (airfare, other travel expenses, etc.). This is the reason we have posted little bits at a time - we don't want to get overwhelmed by the enormous amount looming over us. As time grows closer, however, our goals will grow larger.  As I said in a previous post, the current goal is to pay for caseworker fees.
Where we are: Daniel & I have our 2nd home study meeting on Tuesday. Then, our final home study meeting - in our home - will be on March 6th - after which our current goal of $1500 will be due. Tomorrow we will be applying for our passports.
We will doing a t-shirt fundraiser coming up soon so keep watching for information about that. If your business would like to sponsor an ad spot on the back of the shirts, the cost is $25. Just email Daniel at daniel@mbcjackson.org or fb message us for details. T-shirts will cost $15.
Thanks for your continued prayers, encouraging notes, and monetary support. I continue to be amazed at the love being shown to us during this time! You guys are awesome - but most of all - GOD is AWESOME!!!

One Million Arrows - by Julie Ferwerda

"People get all bent out of shape at God, wondering why He isn't solving world hunger, or giving destitute people homes to live in, or giving people clean water to drink, or keeping people free from curable diseases. The fact is, God's children - you and I - are His ambassadors on this earth. We are His hands, His feet, His heart, His food, and His money. You and I are possibly the only chance this world will ever get to actually see Jesus."
1 John 3:16-18 - "This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.  If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let's not talk about love; let's practice real love." (msg)

(This is a great book!)

Delayed but not discouraged

We had to reschedule our 2nd home study meeting. But, God has a purpose in it  - whether it's to keep us off the roads on this messy day, allow us more time to get some more paperwork done, or just because it wasn't HIS time. So, we will forge ahead with getting more paperwork done and have our meeting next week!! And  - this frees us up to call V today to wish her a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! Hope your day is filled with LOVE & BLESSINGS!! Thankful for the blessing you all have been to us!!

Sunday rest

About to go take a Sunday afternoon nap - - a much needed nap! :) We had a GREAT morning of worship at Macedonia learning how to make our offerings acceptable to God! Really stepped on my toes a bit. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that Daniel & I will be going for our 2nd home study meeting on Tuesday - - Valentine's Day! What a way to spend a 'love' holiday - - working toward adding more 'love' to our family! This will be our last - real - TALKING meeting. The 3rd meeting will hopefully take place in the next couple of weeks and that will actually take place in our home. Praying that we get all of our paperwork completed and that we are able to finish up our home study in the next few weeks. Whenever we have a completed home study, we can begin applying for grants to help fund our adoption. We are seeing God do amazing things through this process - including helping teach our children the VALUE of money as they watch us SAVE up to bring V home! I hope you enjoyed a great day of worship at your local church.Thanks for your commitment to pray for us! We still have puzzle pieces available for $10. Help us put our family back together!! (I feel like when the process is done, ALL of you need to meet us at the airport when we get back to the USA with V because you ALL had a part in it!) Thanks again!

Home study visit 1 - - check

Well, Daniel & I went for our first home study meeting today - no it wasn't really at our 'home'. We went to our  case worker's home - - go figure! (And, by the way, Kelly is AMAZING!!) :) It lasted about 3 hours - but was actually rather enjoyable. She answered alot of our questions and relieved some of our fears. Next, we left there and went to get the dreaded FBI prints  done. However, the nicest lady - located in the basement of the courthouse in Marietta - made it a VERY pleasurable experience. Daniel & I both said that she was way TOO nice to be down in a basement!! (If all public service workers were like her, the world would be a better place.) We are opting to take the route of the 5 day FBI check - which will cost an additional $100 BUT we just don't want to wait 8-10 weeks to go the cheap way. I woke up praying about it this morning. I prayed that if it was in God's will for us to go this way, then Daniel would agree to it the first time I mentioned it. So, I mentioned it, and he said, "OK - Thought we'd do that anyway." So, that's decided. The most enjoyable part of the day, however, was a quiet lunch at a quaint little cafe in downtown Marietta. It was delicious and nice to sit and talk quietly about all of the things we had just learned. Only a few more papers left to turn in and a physical and TB tests and we'll be done with our home study paperwork.
We have just about reached our first goal of $1600. At the completion of this goal, our new fundraising goal will be $1500, which will go towards our caseworker fees.  We still have puzzle pieces available - so don't forget to get your name on a piece.  Help put our family back together again.  Also, all you Jackson folks, check out our fundraising page for information on the PHOTO FUNDRAISER we will be having March 30 & 31st.  It's time for those Easter pics in all those pretty Easter clothes. So sign up for that. 1/3 of all purchases will go toward our adoption and the photographer, Daniel's dad, is an AWESOME photographer!! Thanks again for all of the prayers and support we have received thus far!! We are SO excited to see God working!!!

Just another Manic Monday

Well, what an exciting Saturday of fundraising we had. Thanks to a donor willing to match up to $300 of funds we received between Saturday and Tuesday - people donated over - not counting that $300 or the money in the mail on the way to us. We are SO excited about that!!
Step by step, we are getting closer to that completed home study. Our first meeting is Thursday so that $$ will be a GREAT help!! It just costs $$ for everything - gotta pay out more $$ next week for a TB test, drug screen, HIV test, etc... Then $$ for D to have a physical!! It is absolutely AMAZING the kind of info they have to gather on you to approve you to ADOPT a child but people can get pregnant and HAVE children EVERYDAY without doing any kind of 'checks'.  What kind of sense does that make? Maybe if they did these kind of checks BEFORE people had children - - there would be fewer orphans - - but I guess that's another story for another day! Thanks again for your prayers. Hopefully today we will be getting our last set of fingerprints done today for our home study. Be praying this will take place.  Thanks again for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, donations, etc. You will never know and I could never express with words how much this means to us!! Thanks!! God IS ABLE!!!

MAIL

I've never looked forward to getting the mail too much in my adult life - - except around Christmas time when all those GREAT Christmas cards are coming every day. (SIDE NOTE: I have NOT mailed my cards yet! So, even though they SAY Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on them - just think Happy Valentine's Day when you receive them. lol) Anyway, these days, though, I am actually loving getting the mail.  I got $$ in the mail today! YAY!!! It's coming right along!! I just keep saying Eph. 3:20 OVER and OVER in my mind!! I really don't know why I doubt so much!! Faith like a mustard seed! That's what I need!! :) Thanks for your prayers - CONTINUALLY!!!

What is Faith?  Is it doing only those tasks that can be easily accomplished?  Is it obeying only those commands that can be accomplished with the resources we have on hand?  Is it only following God in the direction we want to go?  Or is it radically obeying, following, and doing every task God sets before us and trusting Him to provide the needed circumstances, resources, desires, and abilities?

Hebrews 11:1 " Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (NIV)


Daniel

So far from FUN - - but SO worth it - I know!

Just got ALL the information on getting our homestudy completed!! WOW!!! God, give us strength!! Of course, all Daniel sees are $$$$. :) Although, he was the one who made the initial decision to take this 'LEAP' of faith.  $$ needed for the homestudy report but also for all of the STUFF to go in the report! So, if anyone would like to 'purchase' a FBI report for $18/each (of course, this takes 8-10 wks to complete) or we can get one done in 5 days for $50/each, please feel free to donate!! lol Or you can purchase a physical for each of us at the cost of who knows how much along w/a TB test. Then, of course, we have to get the GBI clearance for $33.65 each - so if you feel led to stay in GA with your purchases, you can go w/the GBI clearance. ;) I am sharing these specific sums of $$$ with you so you can pray SPECIFICALLY for us. My prayer would be to receive $100 in the next two weeks SPECIFICALLY for getting the 5 day FBI report. But if we have to wait 8-10 weeks - we will praise him, love him, serve him!!!

Weekly Phone call

Well, it's Sunday again - so we called Vita! She was eating chocolate cake when we called. Hannah was excited to tell her that we sang Blessed Be Your Name at church this morning. (This was Vita's FAVORITE song while she was here, and she took it home w/her on her MP3 player!!) Vita had received the care package we had sent her via New Horizons and was excited about the things we put in there - candy, stickers, pens, pencils and especially pictures!! It was great to talk to her but made us that much more anxious to see this process behind us!! Thanks for your prayers and thanks to those who have already given - I even found a bit of money in my church bag this morning. (Thanks to whoever you are!!) Check out the fundraising link! If all of my facebook friends would give $10 that would be almost $8000. :) Just keep giving! Just keep praying! We can't wait to be on the other side - but while we're waiting... we will love him, serve him, praise him and you do the same!!!

Let the games begin.....

Well, the first of the MOUNTAIN of paperwork is ready to mail today - - along with the first of the $$$$. So, prayer request #1 - the next sum of $$$ we need is $1600 for our home study.  Pray with us that God will send this $$$ at JUST THE RIGHT TIME.  He knows when we need it!! Prayer request #2 - - be praying about how God would have YOU help BRING V HOME!!! We serve a GREAT GOD - - who is not limited in any way! He can do GREAT THINGS, and we can't WAIT to tell V all about it!

She's AVAILABLE!!!!!

Email just received from our ANGEL, Kelly! Vita is available to be adopted - and quote from the Latvian attorney, "orphan court is VERY pleased Vita will be adopted". So, may the RACE begin - - and the fundraising!! Keeping you posted!

Going to try to keep you updated as we go about this process - so you will know how to pray.  God has called HIS church to 'minister to orphans & widows in their distress'.  To some, this ministry is through adoption.  To others, it's through prayer - and, of course, to others it's through giving (but we'll get to that on another day!).  We have our paperwork ready to turn in - - but we are waiting on an orphan court approval for Vita to be adopted abroad.  This should not be a problem to acquire - we just have to wait for the right person to do what needs to be done! In the meantime, we wait and pray and wait and pray!!! You can also be praying about our first big sum of $$ due after we receive this approval - $1600.  God is not limited by our lack of resources!! Thanks for your support through this and we can't WAIT to see what our God is going to do!!!

Ephesians 3:20 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (NAS)

Already one of the family

Numbers 11:23

There are many things in life that we can not do.  There have been many times in my life that God has called me to do things that I couldn't afford, didn't have the ability or talent to accomplish, or that just plain didn't make good logical sense to me.  Adoption is one of those things.  And yet that is exactly what God has called me and and my family to do!!  Lucky for us, we serve a God who is not limited by the same weaknesses that limit us.  


Numbers 11:23 says, "The Lord answered Moses, 'Is the Lord's arm too short?  You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.'" (NIV)


The awesome aspect of accomplishing a task that is impossible is that God gets all the glory!!


Adopting Vita is God's will.  It is God who will accomplish this adoption!