Follow us in our journey to expand our family through the gift of adoption! We are in the process of our second adoption through Bethany Christian Services...this time in Ghana, West Africa. We covet your prayers for our new child and ourselves during this precious journey. God bless!
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!
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!
*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!
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!
