fingerprints & luck

aaaaand now its november.
november???
thankfully, it still looks as though we will be able to turn in the remainder of our dossier to ghana by the end of the year.  WOOHOO!  yesterday, we had our biometrics/fingerprinting appointment with immigration in west sacramento.  everyone told us it would be a breeze....and it was.  our appointment was at 12:00, but because i'm not one to be late, we arrived at 11:30am.  they saw us right away and we were spared the wait when 15 people showed up at 11:50am.  praise God for the small things!  so now we wait for a week or two or three until we get our I600 approval.  once that is in hand, we take the (hopefully) last round of paperwork to be notarized, state sealed, shipped to the corporate office in michigan, and then off to ghana!!!

our needs right now:
1. peace.  it is hard to wait.  it is.
2.  endurance.  as with bringing any child, biological or adopted, into your family, it takes a lot of work.  and it wears you done when there are so many other things screaming for your attention at the same time.
3.  funds.  we currently have about $3000 of the $8000 we need to officially be on the "waiting list."  ashley still has photography sessions going strong until the middle of december (photo blog) and ben is working feverishly to repair music instruments with his home business.  so many friends and family members have donated...what an overwhelming joy to come together and make one less orphan!

in other news:
we have a lot of people say things like, "wow.  that child from ghana will be so lucky to have you as parents."  its a strange thing to hear quite frankly.  first of all, because we don't believe in "luck."  the almighty creator God is in charge of all things and nothing happens by chance, but by His direct will!!!  secondly, "they are so lucky" sounds like we are some sort of saint or martyr.....let me clarify: we.  are.  not.  we are normal, average, everyday people like you who simply heard the call of children in need and answered.  no superheroes.  just love in action.  i read a really great post by another ghana-adoptive family that answers the "they are so lucky" dilemma even better:
The View from 36.5 inches

thank you for your encouraging words.  you don't know how much that pushes us to keep on keeping on.  its a long road.
and OH SO worth it.

october

october has been a busy month!!!!  there are four specific reasons for this:

1.  USCIS aka immigration.  We turned in all our I600a paperwork and were pleasantly surprised to get a fairly quick fingerprinting appointment for 10/31.  hooray!

funny how excited you can get over a little piece of paper

2. potty training.  the dreadest.  the worst.
but josiah, at 2 years old, has rocked it.  it was a rough 3 days of intense battles filled with marshmellow bribery...but we can now declare a solid victory.  praise.  the.  Lord.

3.  PANCAKE BREAKFAST FUNDRAISER!  we had a wonderful wonderful blessed time at our big fundraiser on 10/6.  our team of volunteers went above and beyond to help make the event a success.  so many of our friends and family (and complete strangers with a heart for orphans!) came by to enjoy the tasty tastiness and stand alongside us as we strive to bring our ghana baby home!  we cannot thank you all enough for the generous donations you gave - in your words of encouragement, your time, and your pesos.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  all together, God answered prayers in a big way and helped us move almost $2000 closer to making one less orphan.
**if you were not able to attend and still want to donate, you may use our online donation site!

sportin' our black star tshirts!

our dear dear friends, mary lou & brenda, that helmed the kitchen for us!

4.  photography fundraising!

ashley has had a blast looking at lots and lots of pretty through her lens.  aside from shooting her regular clients, a huge number of people have answered the call and booked sessions knowing that 100% of the profit benefits our adoption fund!  a huge answer to prayer as we need about $8000 in order to send all our documents to ghana and officially be on the waiting list for our child!!  

here are a few highlights from ashley's recent photography sessions:

we covet your prayers.  there is much to be done and far to go...but we serve a mighty God who created the stars and owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  

we are coming little one.  we are pedaling as fast as we can to get you.

one less orphan.

one more cain.

almost pancake time!

ALMOST PANCAKE TIME!
tomorrow, october 6, is our big fundraiser.  join us from 8-10am at 3800 n shingle rd for pancakes.
eat a pancake...help an orphan find a family.
:)

if you are prevented from joining us, but would like to be a part of bringing our child home, please PRAY and consider donating.  we cannot thank you enough...the adoption process is bigger than just one family and we rejoice that we are able to include others in our journey!

josiah helping to pack the cart FULL.  come and eat pancakes with us!

so many have already overwhelmed us by slipping us bills and checks and cards dripping with encouragement and heartfelt prayers.  THANK YOU!

2 corinthians 9:15
"thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

and the Lord provides...again and again! *fundraising*

this morning, ashley had the privilege of taking school portraits for rainbowland christian preschool.  as with all the profits from ashley's photography business, the portrait orders from the wonderful rainbowland families will benefit our adoption!  there has been a generous number of pre-orders already and we praise God for His continued provision!!  a huge thank you to the school's director, sandy foster, for asking ashley to photograph all her precious students.

it was especially fun to see our little one, josiah, sit like a big boy while mama took his picture.  doesn't he just melt your heart?  its one of those times where i think about all the labor and toil we went through for josiah's adoption and i think, "it is ALL worth it.  adoption is such a beautiful thing...."

looking forward to day 2 of preschool portraits tomorrow!

mini-sessions: adoption fundraiser #2

saturday was the second of three photography mini-sessions that we had planned specifically as adoption fundraisers.  it is so encouraging and such a joy to spend time with so many lovely people!!!

the first family on saturday made my day with the adorableness (yes, that's a word) of their little 14 month old girl.  doesn't her smile just melt your heart?

the second family are good family friends that just recently moved back into the area.  their two kids have grown into delightfully photogenic fun-size people!

a HUGE "thank you" to our cain photography clients for coming alongside us in our adoption journey.  it is a joy and a pleasure to spend time with each of you!

papers flying to ghana

*insert happy dance of joy*
three REALLY SUPER exciting things happened since friday:
1.  this afternoon, our social worker notified us that they have received our first dossier package and everything passed "inspection."  this is a huge ordeal as there can always be small changes or little items missing.
2. we raised the last $200 we needed to be pay our program fee and NOW OUR AGENCY WILL SEND THE FIRST PART OF OUR DOSSIER TO GHANA TOMORROW!
3.  in the mail, we received a check for the exact amount needed for our immigration processing and fingerprinting!!

ethan & josiah making room for our ghana baby

it is really easy to become overwhelmed whenever you are in the middle of a long process.  our God is so kind to give us encouragement through (not so) little ways like a check in the mail for the exact amount we need!  it shouldn't surprise us that God is able to orchestrate these types of things since He created the universe....buuuuuuuut....IT IS AMAZING NONETHELESS!!  "O Lord God Almighty, who is like You?  You are might, O Lord, and Your faithfulness surrounds You" (psalm 89:8).

next on the journey:

PANCAKE BREAKFAST!!

we are feverishly working to make october 6th's pancake breakfast a God-glorifying, profitable, and joyful time of fellowship.  please be sure to mark your calendar and join us:

our next, big fundraiser: pancake breakfast on 10/6!

the little things add up!

guess what?  guess what?!?
we are mailing in the first part of our dossier/application tomorrow!  EEEEEEK!

the first package all pretty, sealed with kisses, and ready to mail!  PRAISE GOD!

it felt like the past two months crept by and that we were getting no where safe.  but all the little things we have been doing are adding up and here we are, ready for our next big step. woohoo!  so here's a little rundown:

*july was spent finishing up our home study and waiting for the right people to approve/notarize/mail originals to us.  we received our two notarized copies the beginning of august.  FIRST TRIMESTER OF THE PAPER PREGNANCY DONE!!!
*please insert happy dance & squeals*

*august has been filled with fundraising and more notarization.  there were three particular documents that we needed to fill out "just so" in order to begin our dossier: an adoption application for ghana's social welfare department, medical reviews (signed by our doctor), and power of attorney forms (these will enable the Bethany Christian Services team in Ghana to work on our behalf in-country).

*a dear friend of ours is a notary and VERY generously offered to notarize all our documents free of charge!  this has been a huge blessing to us as it saves us hundreds of dollars!

*already looking back at the fees we have had to pay, we are amazed at how God has provided...$11,000+ to reach this point.  AHHHHH!  many of our friends and family have generously come alongside us to help financially and we cannot thank you enough for your demonstration of love towards us.  the three main areas of fundraising we have focused on are: ben's instrument repair and instrument sales, ashley's photography business (Cain Photography), and donations (Cain Adoption GoFundMe page).

*once we had the next chunk of change needed and all the forms notarized, ashley took the stack of documents downtown to have them "state sealed" at the secretary of state's office.  isn't it pretty???

long, scary hallway at secretary of state's office leads to state seal!
one step closer to our little one....

so what's next?
1. gathering the final 4 of the 15 items needed to complete our dossier.
2.  notarize.
3.  another trip to the secretary of state's office to have them sealed.
4.  trust that the remainder of funds we need will come together.  in order for our entire dossier to be shipped and processed in ghana, we need an additional $8700.  ashley has several photography fundraisers planned and we have a BIG pancake breakfast fundraiser scheduled for october 6!

flyer for our pancake breakfast fundraiser.  MARK YOUR CALENDAR AND JOIN US!!

our prayer is to have everything turned in, processed, approved, paid by the end of the year.  *whew*  it all seems impossible and insurmountable.  how thankful are we that we know a God who specializes in the impossible?!  Luke 1:37 reminds us that "for nothing is impossible with God!"  *extra happy dance of joy*

as a side note, here are two songs that have been particularly encouraging to us recently.  enjoy!