A little update

So dusting off the cobwebs here to share some excellent news that we received regarding the progress of bringing "S" home!

As most of you know, we accepted his referral in October and because we missed the September 1st deadline, we were under the new PAIR (pre-adoption immigration review) process.  This is a US side of the process that means another investigation into the documents surrounding "S"'s case. So in the timeline of things, we accepted our referral and were waiting to be cleared to submit paperwork to USCIS for our PAIR review.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that on December 26th, we were made aware of a meeting that took place in Ethiopia regarding the future of adoptions. During this meeting, there were many people present on both sides of adoption and child welfare issues. It was proposed that adoptions from the country be closed all together.

While we fully believe in "first families first" (birth parents raising their children even if it doesn't look like it does in the US), we also believe that adoption should be an option for children who have no other options. Our son is one of these children. Due to privacy regulations, I cannot give specifics on his case until he is legally ours and even then, some of his history won't be shared publicly for the simple reason that it is his private story and we wish to respect that. However, there are things that I am eager to share about the miracle of his birth and his life so far. I look forward to telling you these details but I simply cannot at this time. That being said, we have no doubts about his case and the event surrounding him landing in an Ethiopian orphanage and know that without adoption, his life may be in jeopardy.

So, at this meeting, it was proposed that a committee be formed to explore adoption issues further. A 10 business day deadline was placed on this committee and we are expecting news by January 16th on the future of adoptions from Ethiopia. There are many possible outcomes and of course we are praying that whatever the outcomes may be, that they keep Ethiopia's children's rights at the forefront.

At the same time as all of this went down in Ethiopia, we were told that we would not be waiting to submit to PAIR before we submitted to court in Ethiopia. So, we were told that we would go ahead and submit to court and then soon after submit to PAIR. So here is the flow chart for those that have no idea what I' saying here (don't worry, it's taken me 4 years to understand)...

accept referral -->submit to PAIR--->submit to court in ET---->wait for PAIR clearance---->MOWCYA in Ethiopia writes a letter clearing your family---->travel to Ethiopia for court----->come home and wait for embassy level clearance---->travel back to Ethiopia to pick up S.

Ok sorry that's basic but I'm burning dinner as I type so...

Back to our case.. I was waiting to hear the magic words that we had been submitted to court. When I got that phone call this week I was beyond shocked to hear that we HAD been submitted to court....IN November!! Due to some things literally getting lost in "translation" and the Thanksgiving break, we had been submitted to court several months ago! THIS IS HUGE NEWS! This puts us so much farther along in the process than we thought we were. Also, we were able to submit to PAIR and our submission arrived at USCIS on Monday! So that's two steps further than we thought we were! For those following the flow chart that is steps 1,2,3 already complete and currently on step 4.

We expect to wait on PAIR for approximately 6 weeks if no issues arrive in our case. We could travel for our 1st trip in about 3 months! If we have issues and the good people at USCIS find issues or request more information, we could be looking at significantly longer delays.

At this time, we are rejoicing that our case is still moving despite the news that we received regarding the future of adoptions. The Lord has provided a miracle in the fact that we were submitted long ago and didn't know it! I can't say a lot on such a public forum but we do believe that if adoptions close, we may still be able to proceed. Of course there are no guarantees and Ethiopian officials certainly have the power to close adoptions whenever they want. We are however hopeful that the number of steps completed means that we may be allowed to move forward!

And now dinner is really burning.... but..

I really want to THANK YOU for the amazing ways in which you have reached out to support our family through all of this! We feel incredibly loved and lifted up through this time that has been confusing and
heartbreaking for all of us. Please, please, keep praying! God is moving and we can feel it!!

Update!!

Wow!! I have been trying to write this post for over an hour and just don't even have the words to describe what has happened since my last posting!! So a quick re-cap... 

When I last posted (September 30th) we were given a two week deadline to come up with the $6,636 to pay the fees needed to move forward in accepting our referral for our sweet little boy. We had also been blessed with a Lifesong matching grant that would go towards our adoption costs.

So now, here we are 30 days later. I honestly can't believe that it has been 30 days. It has just flown by! To be quite honest, Jamie and I were a little nervous that the money might not come The thing is, $6,636 just seemed like such a huge amount.

When we did the math, it just seemed like such an impossible total. Here was some of what was going through my brain:

- We needed $6636 in 2 weeks

-That's $3318 each week for 2 weeks

-That's $474 each day for 2 weeks 

-That's $19 per hour for 2 weeks 

Yeah... so after looking at the numbers, I was more than a little panicked. And then, there was a very wise friend of mine who pointed me upwards....

Philippians 1:6    And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

She reminded me that all of the money in the world belongs to God. 

So, with that, we pressed forward. We made our needs know to the body of Christ and my oh my, how big did God move!! 

So here is where we are today and some of the highlights from our fundraising so far:

- Our Lifesong grant is FULLY FUNDED!  We were able to pay all $6636 to our agency so that our case would keep moving forward! 

- We received $573 from our Chrome Buffalo T-shirt fundraiser thank to so many loving friends! If you bought a shirt, THANK YOU! It means the world to us! I am seriously so amazed at  this fundraiser.  Friends that I haven't seen in years reached out to buy a shirt alongside of some of our newest friends as well. And most interestingly were the complete strangers that stumbled upon our story and reached out to help. Seriously! Wow God! 

- We received donations directly to us and to our Lifesong Grant. I will respect the privacy of these donors but I am beyond amazed at the love and generosity we were shown through these donors and this grant. 

So, if your still with me here - IT HAPPENED! Every penny of $6636 was raised!!  Our Lifesong grant was fully funded and our adoption agency already has the money in hand! 

You know, I really think that I am done with "doubt". As much as I hate to admit it, I doubted a little bit that this would really happen. I really can't explain the doubt though because God has provided for our adoption from all directions from day 1. He has made sure that our son was provided for a protected in Ethiopia and He has made sure that we had every dollar needed to keep moving forward.

So. what's next?

At this point, we have about $3800 left to raise to COMPLETE our adoption!! I just can't even believe that I am typing that number. Seriously, I wasn't sure we would ever get here! 

 I know it is still kind of a lot but just look how far we have come! And when I say we, let me be 100% clear - I mean we as in the body of Christ, by God's grace and provision alone! We HAVE NOT done any of this on our own! We give all of the glory to HIM, and we thank all of you who are praying for us and who have given to us so very generously! 

No more doubts. God is so not done with His work here! We know that there is so much more to the story both financially and most importantly - spiritually! I just can't wait to continue to share updates with all of you! 

Our Lifesong grant will remain open even though we have met our goal. You can still continue to donate and receive a tax deductible credit! Here is the link! 

https://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/one-time/?giftchoice=Adoption%20Funding&adoptionfunding=Family%20Specific (our family account number is 3821) 

Stay tuned! I will write again soon with what the actual process looks like from here! 

Referral Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 2009, our girls made a cute litte video announcing our adoption to all of our family and friends... You can see it here - My oh my! They have grown! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCfA5B-St9k

In June of 2011, we sent our big stack of paper work - our dossier- to Ethiopia and we began our wait for an infant up to 24 months old. 

In 2012, our hearts were burdened for children who were no longer considered "infants" and we raised our age request to one child up to 4 years old.

In July of 2012, we decided that our hearts had room for  "just one more" and Elliot James was born
And now, 2013..............

After 4 long years of waiting, we are thrilled to announce that we have a referral!! We have a SON in Ethiopia!! An absolutely gorgeous little boy with the most beautiful brown eyes you have ever seen !!! Our son was on our agencies waiting child list and he has waited FAR TOO LONG for a family! I so wish I could share his beautiful face with you but for now his cute little "piggies" at the top of the page will have to do! Trust me though - he is beautiful.

We had seen his face many times on the waiting child list however it took God moving MOUNTAINS in our hearts and minds before we were ready to call him our son. His story is heartbreaking and he has been through more in his little life than any child should ever have to! Both Jamie and I have been completely broken for this little boy as we have spent the last few weeks learning his story. Let me just tell you, we have fallen hard for this sweet boy and just want more than anything to hop on the next plane to Ethiopia, scoop him up and kiss his little cheeks!!! 

 As much as we just want to "go", of course it's not that simple. Before we can go and officially meet our son, we have to jump through a few more hoops (you get really good at that after waiting for 4 YEARS!). Our biggest "hoop" at the moment is coming up with the money needed to formally accept our referral. Our total adoption costs when we bring our son home will be about $35,000.  At this point, we still need about $9800 to complete our adoption. Annnnndddd, the really scary part is that we need $6000 within the next TWO WEEKS! 

I start to panic a little when I see that number and then I realize that it's not OUR money.... it's His! He's got this! We have been 100%  dependent on God to provide for this adoption from the beginning and we certainly aren't giving up now! I can promise you that we have never had a giant money tree in our yard that has paid for our adoption. We have simply prayed and relied on God to provide and he has faithfully from day one. 

When we began our adoption journey, we knew that we had two options. #1, we could save our money for several years and wait for the right time to adopt financially or #2, we could move forward counting on God to provide.  As you know, we chose option #2. We decided that "comfortable" for us financially was a luxury that our child might not be able to afford. We knew that every minute a child waited was a minute too long. We have had to depend on our faith more deeply than we ever and we have had to swallow our pride many times throughout this process. 

The awesome folks over at www.Lifesongfororphans.org have given our family a matching grant for $3000!! See! God provides!! This means that if we raise $3,000 Lifesong will match that and double the amount to $6000! Our goal date for raising the $3000 is October 15th though Lifesong will honor the grant until our son is home.  If you would like to donate to our adoption 100% of the money you give goes directly to our adoption costs! You can make an online donation here: https://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/one-time/?giftchoice=Adoption%20Funding&adoptionfunding=Family%20Specific (our family account number is 3821) 

-or you can click the paypal button at the top of the page

or you can mail a donation using these instructions:

Make checks payable to “Lifesong for Orphans.
In the memo, note : family account number (ours is 3821)
and “family name- Stump ”to assure it goes to the correct account.

Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans,
PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744.
All donations are tax deductible!

Also, our desire is to be totally transparent as we continue the journey. We hope that you will share in our joy as we move forward. I want to say a very special "thank you" to our generous and loving friends and family who have already helped us financially and spiritually on journey so far. Please understand that asking for help is hard and I certainly don't want to make light of those that have already given. Please know that even though it has been 4 long years since we started this journey we are so incredibly thankful for those that have helped us along the way! And for those that have been there from the beginning - hang on!! He's coming home soon!!!!

So, stay tuned! We hope to have more information soon!! In the mean time, please feel free to share our blog with your friends and family and PLEASE join us in prayer for our son (I wish I could share his name, but I can't just yet) "S". Please pray for him while he waits as well as for his birth family and the other waiting children that have not yet found their forever families! 

- Oh yeah! And..... Gracie Stump would like for you to know that she does not have a uni brow and that she has cake in her eyebrows in the lovely picture at the top of the page!