A Satisfying feeling

Today, I feel accomplished.  And it's still early!  We completed our Both Hands project on Saturday!  It was such a blessing to serve Ms. Wilma this week.  Please continue to pray for her as she continues to serve children in the Foster Care System.  So far, we have raised close to $2000 through our Both Hands project.  You can still donate here.  When our video is complete, I will definitely be uploading it and sending it out!  I can't wait to see it myself!  I have also completed all of our grant applications!  HUGE victory here!  There is so much paperwork involved in applying for grants, and I am so glad that I'm done with it, for now.  There are a few more grants that we can apply for after we receive our referral, if necessary.  So, right now, we are truly in the WORST phase of adoption, so far.  The waiting.  I'm pretty sure, my "worst adoption phase" will change, when we're waiting and we actually know who she is, but for now, we are just waiting to find out all about her.  Please pray for her with us, that she is being protected and cared for at this time.  All of our paperwork is complete for now, we have no other applications to work on, just fundraising, and waiting.  So, if you haven't checked out our fundraising merchandise, please check it out!  We've got tees, Just Love Coffee (and I have some at home, in stock!), Compelled Designs Jewelry, Merchandise from Uganda (paper bead necklaces, sling bags, wall art, beaded bracelets, nativity), and Apparent Project bracelets (paper bead bracelets from Haiti).  Check out the photos on our facebook page for details.  Also...COMING SOON...we will be hosting an online auction for a couple of quilts, made by my amazing mom, Nancy Swor!  We hope to do this in time for Christmas, so be on the lookout!  I know they will be amazing.  We will also add other items to the auction, so let us know if you'd like to donate something.  Thanks for supporting us and praying for us as we continue our journey!  Be sure to "like" our facebook page...and post and comment on it!  When other people see your comments (not just likes), it brings more and more people to our page, and more and more people will follow our journey, support us, and pray for us!

Getting Excited!

It has been whirlwind of a few months!  Besides life in general and the busyness of summer, we have been preparing for our Both Hands project.  We are so blessed to be able to participate in this project, and are excited to help Ms. Wilma out on August 24.  We had our Envelope Stuffing Party last night, and are getting all of our letters ready to send out.  The turnout was not what we had hoped, but we are praying, and have faith, that God is already working on the people who will receive our letters.  I have a fear that it will become a "One Hand" project...lots of people wanting to do the work on project day, but not willing to do the prep work that will benefit the orphan.  However, I'm reminded of our VBS verse from last week:

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.  2 Timothy 1:7

We have been blessed in the last few weeks with a one time grant of $1000.  Our adoption agency has already received this money, so it's sitting in our account, waiting until the next fee is due.  Praising God for that!  We're still waiting on another grant application (Show Hope)...we won't find out about that one until October.  

We received some hopeful news from our adoption agency last week about the climate of adoption in Ghana.  We're still in a wait and see mode, but we are the 6th family on the waiting list!  As soon as referrals are ready, it won't be long until we know who our precious princess is.  

In the meantime, we're working on fundraising, gathering supplies for project day, and praying for God's blessings.  If you'd like to contribute to our Both Hands fund, please use the link above.  Please pray with us!

We've added a facebook page, please like our page here!

Like us on Facebook

We've started a new facebook page, dedicated to our adoption.  Like our page to stay current on adoption news!

https://www.facebook.com/AlexandersAdopt

Lots of Adoption News...

There has been some action on the adoption front...besides just "paper-chasing"!  Here's what's been going on lately:

May 6: Received our finalized copies of the Home Study

May 7: Mailed i600A to USCIS (for US Immigration to approve us as an adoptive family and assign a biometrics appointment.)

May 8: Submitted application to Both Hands for a fundraising project

May 8: Submitted grant application to SBC Pastor's Adoption Fund (received approval on 5/20 for $500 grant upon child referral!)

May 9: USCIS receives our application

May 13: USCIS issues "Notice of Action"...they've received our application, and forwarded it for an appointment assignment

May 13: "Adoption Alert" issued: The government of Ghana has issued a temporary suspension on all international adoptions.

May 15: Submitted application to Show Hope for adoption grant.


May 23: Received biometrics appointment notification for June 12.  Sarah will be in Uganda, so we must reschedule...appointment planned for June 20 or 21.

May 24: Received photos of our Africa pottery necklaces, designed just for us by Compelled Designs!  We can't wait to get them in!  We'll be selling them for $24 each, plus $3 shipping, if necessary.

May 24: Received official approval as a Both Hands family!  We are so excited to be able to help a local widow, while raising funds for our adoption.  If you would like to be part of our work/planning team, let me know as soon as possible.  There is room for everyone, and we'll have a variety of projects that anyone can do!  Check out the following video, that shows the heart of Both Hands.

BOTH HANDS FOUNDATION from michael sydenstricker on Vimeo.


As far as the temporary suspension of adoptions from Ghana...We're in a wait and see pattern.  We were kind of caught in an in between stage, so we're just in a holding pattern to see what happens in Ghana over the next few weeks/months.  The United States is still processing things on this end, so we continue, pray, and will see what happens.

As always, we covet your prayers.  Please pray for the children of Ghana, that their best interest will be at the heart of any new legislation/rules.  We will soon begin the fundraising efforts through our Both Hands project, and we appreciate prayers that God would bless those efforts, as well as bring our team together for the project.  Please, let us know if you would like to be involved! 

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you...

Our next adoption fundraiser is going on now!  We have our own adoption tees...they are available in chocolate or purple tees, both with silver ink.  They look really great!  Contact us here on our blog, or email sarahtalex@yahoo.com if you'd like to order.  We can ship, too! 

Crazy Weeks, but Oh, So Worth It!

It really has been a crazy few weeks, but we are definitely moving along in our adoption process!  We have completed all our meetings, education, and paperwork for our home study!  We received the rough draft of the home study report tonight, and will now wait for the final draft!  Hallelujah!  This is the first major hurdle in the adoption process.  Basically, we can't do anything else until the home study is completed.  So, now that it's done, we'll start on some other stuff.  The first major thing we'll do is to file our I600A.  This is for official approval for us to adopt from US Customs.  We submit this application, and then wait for them to assign us an appointment for fingerprinting.  Please pray that this appointment IS NOT assigned while I'm overseas on a mission trip!  Also, we can now begin applying for grants.  There are lots of grants and matching grants, so we've got to research and start applying!  We will also be applying to do a "Both Hands" project (also a fundraiser).  Here's some more good news: We had a garage sale fundraiser this weekend and raised $2180.65!

 We are blown away by God's goodness and His blessings! 

Crazy "Paper-Chasing" this week...

Please be praying for us this week.  It is going to be a week packed full of adoption prep!  On Tuesday, we have our first home visit (for the home study).  This appointment will last 2 hours.  At this appointment, we'll probably also receive a bunch of our "homework".  This will be training videos and website info for training and education.  We'll also be able to turn in everything we've gathered together so far. 

On Thursday, we have our Orientation meeting with Generations Adoptions, our placing agency.  I'm sure we'll be inundated with information at this 2 hour Skype meeting!  It's so exciting to be officially on the move with everything, though.  And honestly, I'm such a nerd, that I enjoy gathering and filling out the paperwork, as menial a task as it sometimes can be.  Hopefully we'll get a better idea of our timeline at this meeting, and we'll definitely have a better idea of the entire process!  We understand that a lot of the timing is not up to us, and there are no guarantees.  When we're working with the government, and in this case, 2 governments, there will probably be some sort of hold up in the process!! 

Also, beginning on Thursday evening, we will have a booth at The Old TownSquare, a new store in downtown North Platte.  They are having their Grand Opening celebration this weekend, so we will be there with some fundraising products.  We'll have Compelled Designs jewelry, Apparent Project bracelets, and Just Love Coffee.  This fundraising event will be Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday. 

 

Please pray for us as we have a busy week, and pray that our fundraising efforts will be successful!