Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter

We had a very nice Easter. We had a Good Friday Service at church that was excellent and then my mom and uncle came up to visit Saturday to Sunday. It was so fun to watch Drew hunt for his basket this year! Here are some pictures.


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Bump

We've reached a minor bump in the submission of our dossier... Ahhh, the funds. But, we are positive that The Lord will provide them in His timing and that His timing is better than ours. So, we wait upon The Lord...
Here is a bit of what I read for encouragement today. Maybe you'll find some encouragement in it too?

God never changes. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
"He is the everlasting God. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Matthew 24:35 (NIV)
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:28-31 (KJV)
These are just words of encouragement to hopefully help you through your day. There are times when it seems like God is not there. However, take heart, God is always with you. He may be silent, but he is there.
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)
When the storms of life come, we tend to wonder where God is and ask why He is not answering our prayers? Perhaps He is, just possible not the wait we expect nor in the time frame we want.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth.”Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 (NIV)
God instructs us to be patient, remain hopeful and keep praying. Our time is not His time
"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." 2 Peter 3:8 (NIV)
He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what you need and the desires of your heart. Rest assured that God loves you and He has your best interest at heart. Be patient. Wait on the Lord, the everlasting God. Be at peace. Let your strength renew. 
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Finally Pictures

FINALLY - here are some pictures of us with the big check from the Burrachos Fundraiser...


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dossier

  I should have been more specific in the last post - by this time next week, we should be on the wait list for baby #3 IF we have the $3000.00 dossier fee by then. I am totally counting on the Lord to provide this. I knew that probably multiple times in this journey that would be the issue -- we'd be ready to take the next step but the money wouldn't be there... It's ok though. I have a real peace that it will be there in just the time He puts in there so we can get that dossier sent in and be ON THE WAIT LIST!
  Being on the waitlist means soooo much to me. It makes the whole thing real. It means that - ANY DAY - we could get to see a picture of our next child -- the child that has already filled up so much of my heart!! Realistically, it won't be any day. We receive frequent updates from our agency lately because of all the changes being made to the Ethiopia adoption process (that all make the wait time for a referral significantly longer) that make my head spin. But God knows the time for us and I just can't wait. Once I see that picture, oh boy! (Or girl?) I just CAN'T WAIT.
  I'm so thankful to God for this calling He has placed on our hearts and this desire to help there be one less orphan in the world. I'm confident in this call and (as I think I've mentioned) I CAN'T WAIT to travel to Ethiopia and meet our little one. I will miss our little ones here when we travel but Drew is super excited to meet his little brother or sister from Africa (he still INSISTS that we are getting a big boy and a little girl - but I have to burst his bubble - 1 at a time for us, I guess). And it will be so worth it. This will add to not only our story, but each of our children's stories as well. And that is awesome.
  So, please pray with us that God will provide the money so we can send in this dossier and get on the wait list (looking to be like 9 months as of right now, but that can change big time at any time) asap and bring our baby home! ONE more time -- I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!
Just received our 171H form. Ready to turn in our dossier by the end of the week now! By this time next week, we should be officially on the wait list for baby #3!!!!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Update

Just a quick update as to where we are at...


Step
Cost
Date Paid
Due Date
Application Fee – LSS
$420.00
10/25/10

Application Fee – Holt
$300.00
10/27/10

Home Study Fee – LSS
$2,780.00
1/14/11

USCIS
$890.00
2/2/11

Program Fee – LSS
$1750.00

NOW
Dossier Fee – Holt
$3,000.00

Estimated: 4/27/11
Program Fee – Holt
$9,890.00

Upon Referral
Post Placement Fee – LSS
$1,300.00

Upon Referral
Trip 1 to Ethiopia
$8,000.00 (estimated)

Upon Scheduled Travel Date
Trip 2 to Ethiopia
$8,000.00 (estimated)

Upon Scheduled Travel Date


FUNDRAISERS
  • Just Love Coffee: $5.00 to us for each bag of coffee sold  www.justlovecoffee.com/TheThomas
  • Pampered Chef: 20% of products sold to us  www.angelakruger.com  host: Thomas Adoption Order until April 25th, 2011.
  • Lifesong for Orphans: Make a tax deductable donation by April 30th. Make checks payable to ‘Lifesong for Orphans’. In memo section: ‘ THOMAS #1855 ADOPTION’. Send to Lifesong for Orphans  PO Box 40  202 N Ford Street  Gridley, IL  61744


PRAYER
  • -          Finances to come through. Successful fundraisers. Grant money awarded.
  • -          Jaden working on recording his first album (all proceeds earned to go toward the adoption).
  • -          Our child (requesting 1 child age 0-12 months, either gender). He/she will go through mourning at the loss of his/her biological parent(s). We pray that this is a smooth transition and that he/she will stay safe and healthy in the orphanage until we are able to bring him/her home!!
  • -          Our child’s birth parent(s) who will suffer a HUGE loss in relinquishing their child. That they may know God’s love for them and find some comfort that we are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to meet our child and bring him/her home!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

An Update Written March 31

Hello Family & Friends, 
                                                                                                                      3/31/11

Just writing to give you a quick update on our adoption. . .
Wow. We had a blast at our Burrachos Fundraiser! It was great to see so many people show up. Very exciting! We had well over 85 flyers turned in and made a total of $349.77 toward our adoption travel expenses! This was a huge deal to us and we thank you all so much for coming.

Lots of people have been asking where we are at in the process: We are a BIG chunk of the way through. Our dossier is completed. We just need to have our 171-H form from the USCIS back, and then we are ready to send it off. Our fingerprinting date is April 6th and, from what I’m hearing, it usually takes about 3 weeks after that for you to get your 171-H form back. So, looks like our dossier should be sent in by about May 1st. Then, we will be placed on the wait list. When they have a child for us, they will send us a picture and any medical information (a referral). If all systems are a go, looks like we’ll be traveling to Ethiopia for court just a few months later! How long is the wait list now? Well, AS OF TODAY, it is about 5 months from when you send your dossier to when you receive the referral. BUT there have been many (not so super) changes with the process lately and that wait time is estimated to increase and become significantly longer any day. So, God’s timing is better than ours, and we are trying to take it all in stride at this point. Trying…

For now, we still have the coffee fundraiser going. It is $12.95 per bag of coffee and we make $5.00 off of each bag sold. To purchase coffee go to www.justlovecoffee.com/TheThomas. I am so grateful to those of you who have ordered coffee – some unsuspecting people have ordered to help us out and I really, really appreciate it!

We are having a Pampered Chef Fundraiser. We will make 20% of items purchased. I will be having a gathering for our consultant to show off some products on April 14th, but you can also purchase online from now-24th at: www.angelakruger.com. Our host name is: Thomas Adoption. If you’d like, you can have your orders shipped to me for $4.50. I’ll contact you when they come in and you can pick them up. Otherwise, you can pay more to have them shipped to your house. Remember, Mother’s Day is just around the corner! There are some great gift ideas from Pampered Chef!

Also, we have an account with Lifesong for Orphans set up. If you’d like, you can make a tax deductable donation to Lifesong and they will put it in an account for us. We then send them our adoption “bills” and they send in payment from our account (your tax deductable donations). They will send you a receipt for tax purposes. To send money: Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Thomas #1855 adoption” in the memo section of your check. (*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use). Mail checks to: Lifesong for Orphans  Attn: Thomas #1855  adoption  P.O. Box 40  Gridley, IL 61744. Or you can make an online donation via PayPal (there is a 3% fee withheld by PayPal if you use this method though): Payment to Lifesong via bank account or credit card (remember to enter our name and account number – Thomas/#1855 - in to the “purpose” field). http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html

Your prayers and support for us are very much appreciated. Prayers right now are needed especially for:
-         -  Jaden working on finishing his songs and getting his songs copyrighted so he can record his first cd (ALL proceeds going toward the adoption).
-        -  That upcoming fundraising efforts and grant applications prove to be successful in both getting the word out about adoption and financially to bring us closer to being ready to go get our child!
-          - For our future child and his/her birth parents who will suffer a great loss.
-          - For our patience in this process and to continue to take it one step at a time!

Thank you all so much!
The Thomas Family

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Fingerprinting -- Check!

Fingerprinting went great yesterday. No problems! :) Whew! That's really the last big thing we have control over. Now that that is done, we wait for 171-H form and then we are ready to send in (given that we have the money to go along with it) our dossier. We will then be placed on the wait-list for a referral (a picture of our child). Since we've started the process, it seems that there have been several events that have lengthened the process that we have had no control over, so we'll see how long the wait appears to be!


We are having a Pampered Chef Fundraiser to help earn some money toward our travel expenses for our baby adoption from Ethiopia. You can get a catalog from me or you can also shop online. To shop/order go to: www.angelakruger.com. The host name to order under is 'Thomas Adoption'. All orders are due by April 25th. That's the day after Easter, so you can always get some more orders from friends and family that you may see over the holiday time. You can have the orders shipped to me for a standard shipping rate of $4.50 (feel free to order with a friend so the 2-3 of you can split shipping). Or you can have items shipped to you, but it will cost extra in shipping. We should receive items on time for Mother's Day, so keep that in mind! We will earn 20% of items sold. Please let me know if you have any questions or problems with ordering!


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Fingerprinting Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our fingerprinting date!! I'm very excited to take this next step, cross it off the list, and get it done!! :)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Our Anniversary

7 years of marriage TODAY! :) What a wonderful feeling to be married to my partner, my best friend. We are truly blessed!!