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!
*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!
on saturday, august 11, we held our first of three photography fundraisers! ashley carved out three half-hour portrait sessions and all four were filled quickly. unfortunately, one family had to back out due to unforeseen business travel. but you know what? that precious family sent us a donation anyway AND rescheduled to take their portraits at a later, more convenient date! praise God!
the two families that came really braved the heat. it had been hovering around 105 all day. even though we were shooting in the shade later in the day, it was still in the upper nineties. whew! both families were such good sports and came prepared with joyful hearts and ready smiles. it. was. a. blast!
the first family is a jolly bunch that my husband has known since he was little. i had the priviledge of shooting their four girls two years ago and it was so fun to see how much they have grown up! they are each so unique - it really showed up in their portraits, i think.
the second family was a new client! they have been following ashley's photography for awhile now and took the opportunity to join our adoption journey with the mini-session fundraiser. it is always fun to meet new people and capture their "joyful togetherness" with a camera. this family is so sweet with two BEAUTIFUL children! we'll excited to get them know when even better since they have already scheduled another session in october for Christmas present portraits!
a HUGE thank you to all the clients that joined us for the fundraiser. it was a JOY to spend time with each of you! thank you for helping us inch closer to bringing our ghana baby home.
if you would like to schedule a portrait session with ashley, 100% of the profits benefit our adoption. contact her at iamacain@gmail.com. see more of her work here: cain photography.
more. prayers. answered. praising God as we should get our final confirmation on our home study this week or next! in the meantime, we have a photography fundraiser on saturday evening. we made four 30 minute slots available for $100 each and they filled up FAST! with all the interest in this type of fundraiser (and Christmas right around the corner), we have scheduled TWO MORE mini-session dates! yay! if you might be interested in a 30 minute family portrait session on the morning of september 15 or the late afternoon of october 20, please contact ashley ASAP: iamacain@gmail.com.
our home study is finally in the authorization process and should get its final stamp of approval from our agency within the next two weeks. PRAISE GOD! this also means that our next payment of $2500 is due...now. we currently have $680 in our adoption account and expect to bring in $500 more next week with ashley's photography jobs and fundraisers (more info here: www.cainphotography.blogspot.com or www.cainphotography.showitsite.com). so we still have a ways to go and yet we can't move on to the next step or even begin to apply for grants until we have that home study in hand.
these are the times where its easy to get overwhelmed. these are the times where its easy to throw your hands up and think, "there is no way...and this isn't even a quarter of what we still to gather to bring our child home!"
BUT
these are also the times where GOD'S GLORY SHINES.
there are also the times where GOD MAKES A WAY and all we can do is diligently seek His Heart and trust.
so we strive with hearts eager to see God's name glorified despite our feeble attempts and shaky faith. Joshua 1:9 is so very comforting at times like these: "have I not commanded you? be strong and courageous! do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." think of joshua when he heard God Almighty remind him of this promise: he was taking over from an amazing man of God who had just died (Moses) and leading a ragtag bunch of people into battle....they were desert nomads, not warriors. and yet, joshua believed, had faith, remembered who God was (and IS!) and ACTED.
our heart's desire is to complete this adoption without incurring debt. we have already been overwhelmed by the gracious giving and participation of so many brothers and sisters. what a joy to see God's family come together to accomplish something so much bigger than them!
another news and updates: while we gather our pennies and planning fundraisers, we are also working on our next stack of papers: the dossier. a HUGE ANSWER TO PRAYER: a very dear friend of ours is a notary and has graciously agreed to notarized our TON of paper free of charge. you cannot believe how huge of a gift this is and the amount of money this allows us to put towards other expenses. the first section of the dossier requires $3500 plus our home study, medical forms, and formal ghanian adoption application. we have the medical forms and ghanaian application notarized and ready to go. we are simply waiting for the home study to be approved and then work/wait/trust/strive to gather the next set of funds!
as you may know, ashley has a photography business that God has seen fit to bless tremendously. we were able to use this business to help us fund more than half of our second son's adoption! YAY! 100% of our current profits from photography are not directly benefiting our ghana adoption, and we could not be more thankful for all the love and support our clients have shown us.
on saturday, august 11, we are offering a special mini-session package to FOUR families (single household only, first-come, first-served). sessions are available at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 6:30 at our property in shingle springs. donations of $100 will include the session fee, fully edited images, and all digital negatives on CD mailed directly to your home.
if you are interested in taking advantage of a session AND helping our adoption AND getting an early jump on Christmas cards (YAHOO!!), send us an email: iamacain@gmail.com.
if we have enough interest, we will plan another mini-session day in september or october.
