Hard Fought

{I get it now. God takes those “less likely” and turns us inside out if we’ll let Him. It’s breathtakingly beautiful what happens in this great romance between Creator and created…Crucified and called…Lover of souls and the lost. He mends and blends, transforming us and spilling out of our regular lives. God has not forgotten you. Your dreams and passions are not wasted. Perhaps Jesus is asking you to blindly follow…To let the cold of discontent drive you into the warmth of His embrace…}

He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires,
Brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very
Limit, Road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back;
Finally he brought us to this well-watered place.
(Psalm 66:10-12 The Message)

I cannot tell you how hard this devotional hit home. I have been pulled and stretched further than what most would consider to be comfortable. KC and I have been in a place where we had nothing financially and were literally digging in the couch cushions – but God ALWAYS pulled us through. I have had seasons of feeling like I have heard nothing from God for months, but kept plodding on. I have had times where I have had to force myself to talk to God – the one Whom was still remaining silent. I have had seasons of powerful “emotional purges” (aka bawling my eyes out) to my husband because I felt like I COULD NOT do this anymore. As KC was finding out more about his ministry and our ministry together, I was hurting inside because I still did not know how God was going to use little old me. Yet still I trudged on. Why? Because I knew, I KNEW that God had brought me too far for me to turn my back on him. I knew that this season wouldn’t last. Deep DEEP down, I knew He’d pull me through.

In those times, He was teaching me; even in His silence. And with each step I took, I passed another test and became stronger in who I was and stronger in Him. When the trials came, I could fight on knowing that He would be waiting for me on the other side. I was growing. Learning. I was being refined. And you know what? Right now, KC and I – we’re in that “well-watered place”. I’m not going to lie, it didn’t happen easily within a few months – we’ve been “road-tested” for about 2 ½ - 3 years. But man, I can’t tell you how sweet this feeling is: knowing we’ve made it.

Now, I know we won’t be in this level place forever. I’m keeping up my strength for the next season – but it’s amazing to see even what I’ve learned in this place of rest. KC and I are doing well financially (PLT), God is speaking to me more often than not, and I finally feel like I know what my role is. I finally know how my role ties in to KC’s ministry and our ministry together! All these things are appreciated so much more because they were hard fought.

So, for those of you who feel as though you’re being taken to hell and back – stay faithful. He’s waiting for you on the other side with open arms. He’s ready to let the rivers of plenty pour over you. And man, does it feel nice.

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Wow... 2 months

Yikes! My last post was at the beginning of February. Sorry to leave you guys hanging. It was a crazy couple of months. I’ll continue on with trying to update everyone at least monthly; especially now that we’re getting to the homestretch! I’m finishing up with all the paperwork to update our home study and will get that to our social worker here in the next couple of days. Then, I’ll send our updated information (and notarized home study) to Little Rock to be state sealed and double checked. Then, it’s off to Ethiopia! This should all happen within a matter of weeks.

We can definitely use your prayer as we continue on. God has been so good to us through all of this, always providing. We’ve had a few people ask if we are going to have another yard sale for our adoption, and we said yes. So, if you have a garage or attic full of yard sale worthy items, we’ll be more than happy to take them off your hands. :-P

On a related topic, I’m not sure how many of you remember me posting about little L. A girl on the wait list that KC and I prayed long and hard about. But she was in South Africa, and we didn’t feel like we were able to switch programs. Well, after seeing her month after month on the list and praying for her, I just noticed last week that she is no longer on the list! That means that she has been spoken for! I praise God for answering prayers and sending a family for this beautiful little girl. Each time we pray over a new girl on the list, it’s so exciting to see when she is taken off. You really have no idea how full of joy you are after praying and getting a gentle ‘No, she’s part of someone else’s family’. I mean, in little L’s case, she was waiting for 7 months after we inquired about her. But God had different plans for her and us. So little L is now someone else’s daughter, and I’m glad that all our prayers were answered.

March, April, May!

Hello to all you lovely readers!

I’m sorry that I've been so quiet this month. January is notorious for being insanely busy. Well, we've not had anything new happen since my last post. We will be able to re-submit our USCIS paperwork in March; so long as we don’t hit any snags. And we've made sure everything is in order because we DO NOT want to do that. Haha! After talking with our family coordinator, right now our time line is looking like this:

MARCH

·         Bethany sends employment verification letter to JB Hunt

·         Once Bethany receives letter back, they will update home study

·         Once home study is updated, we re-submit our application to USCIS

APRIL

·         SHOULD get our USCIS approval back by middle/end of the month

·         Will be able to send USCIS approval to Little Rock to finally join the rest of our Dossier/BigFatFile

·         Bethany in L.R. will get Dossier State Sealed

LATE APRIL or EARLY MAY

·         Our Dossier/BigFatFile should be on its way to merry ol’ Ethiopia!

·         Approval of Dossier by Ethiopian government

And the last step: FINALLY ON THE WAIT LIST FOR A REFERRAL!!!

So what happens after our Dossier is approved? We wait. Haha. BUT, all our waiting counts. Right now, it could be anywhere from a year to 18 months of waiting. Possibly longer. But we’re not worrying. We just cannot wait to finally be at that point! I’m beyond excited thinking about it. I mean, c’mon! It’s already February! May will be here before we know it.

Please join us in prayer that everything goes smoothly and we are able to get our Dossier approved by the end of May. This has been a long time in the making – and it’s so surreal to think that we are only a few months away from actually being able to receive a referral. Thank you all SO much for your thoughts and prayer during our journey.

We started this process on my 24^th birthday, and next Monday is my 26^th. Gosh, it’s crazy to look at it like that. But it’s worth it. This could be the year.   <3   

-Sandia 

  

  

  

  

  

Oh 2013, how lovely of you to start off with a bang!

While we thought that 2012 was ending on the somber note of having to pay and redo our USCIS paperwork, it actually ended with a glimmer of hope. After applying for 9 grants (I counted to make sure), all of which gave unfavorable replies due to lack of funds, we were unsure of how to proceed. 

After seeing our run of unsuccessful assistance, our agency suggested a credit union that they work with sometimes. They offer low interest adoption loans to families who are running out of options. Yep, that was us - snag after snag and nowhere else to turn. Our agency needed our next portion of fees, and we just didn't have it. KC had just started a new job because his old one wasn't providing as it had in the past. We. Were. Stuck.

 

We have been debt free since I lost my job when I was preggers with Oliver. We own both our vehicles, we rent our house, and other than a few small medical bills, we have no payments save utilities. So, as far as credit goes, I’m sure we were sub-par. That made us a bit nervous about even trying. But, we decided to give it a shot. 

We gave them a call and gave them all the necessary preliminary information. Well, the holidays came and went, and we hadn't heard back from them. KC and I assumed were weren't eligible. But I convinced KC to call them one last time. I wanted to at least know for sure.

 

KC called me back on Monday the 31st and said we were approved! We were so excited! But then, we realized it was “pending account membership”. Well, we've never worked with a credit union before, so we didn't know if the rules were different. So, we sent in all the paperwork and sent up a few prayers. Wednesday night we got a call from our loan officer – Miss M. She had a few questions about the paperwork so I gave her the information she needed. Then, this conversation went on:

 

Me: Is there anything else you need?

Miss M: No, that should be it! I’ll work on getting this processed.

Me: Great, so do you have an idea of when we’ll know anything?

Miss M: …… Know what?

Me: About when we’ll know whether or not we got the loan.

Miss M: Oh! You were approved for the loan.

Me: *starting to freak out but reigned it back in* Right, pending account membership. When do we find out about that?

Miss M: Oh – I am so sincerely sorry. I should have made it more clear. You were approved for the loan and your membership was processed and approved today.

Me: …… Seriously. Seriously!!!

Miss M: *laughing* Yes, I’m so sorry I didn't realize you didn't know that.

Me: So we got it!?

Miss M: Yes, you got the loan.

Me: KC! We got it! Oh, man. Oh my goodness, thank you SO much! I’m about to cry! (then I proceeded to babble... I'm not quite sure what else I said. Haha)

Miss M: *laughing* Congratulations. I’m glad I could be of help! Now, I’m processing this today and tomorrow and they should be able to get a cashier’s check cut on Friday and mailed to you. Does that sound okay?

Me: (still in shock mind you) Um, yes, yes that would be fantastic!

Miss M: Great! You should get it sometime next week.

 

Yeah, I seriously said that. I would've hugged her through the phone if I could have.

 

Now, I've not done this in the past because people will use any excuse to bad-mouth adoption and adoption agencies, but I’m going to break down what our fees have been and what we have left to give you an idea of where it goes. I want you all to keep in mind that there are real live people out there helping us bring our daughter home – on both ends. They have families and have to make a living too. No, adoption isn't cheap, but there are a lot of people and procedures out there to help keep it as ethical as possible – no matter if you’re adopting domestically or internationally (and don't forget how big the medical bill is after giving birth, you're just lucky that insurance helps cut that cost down for you).

 

I’m not going into deep detail, but I’ll give you an idea of what’s been done and what is left. So many of you have helped us in the past, and we want you to see how much you have helped us in our journey. It really does take a village.  :))

 

Agency fees: $8,800

Country fees: $9,000

Third party fees (USCIS, visas, etc): 1720

+ 890 to re-file our USCIS Immigration approval

Total: $19,610

 

This number does not include all the documents we had to pay for at the beginning to even start the process: multiple certified copies of birth certificates and marriage license, passports, 10 hours of online training classes, books to read, physicals, psychologist evaluation for me (it’s official, I’m NOT crazy. Haha!), etc.

Estimated Travel costs: $6,980-$11,600

The travel costs depend on a variety of factors: travel visas, airline tickets, the size of room we want at the guesthouse our agency uses, transportation in-country, etc. When we researched tickets, most airlines had them at $1,200+. However, we've heard of a few tricks to use and even of a travel agency that specializes in adoption travel. Tickets through them were closer to $900. And after much discussion, we don’t need more than a small room for sleeping at the guesthouse or our own personal bathroom - we're fine with using the Jack and Jill type one adjoining 2 of the rooms. We’ll be out and about most of the time anyway.    :)

 

We have paid well over 7,000 in our official fees (plus all the other extras) and have just about $12,000 in fees left.

 

Our loan is for $10,000. Seriously amazing right? Now, we continue to save the other little bit and travel costs. The other good news is, since we own both our vehicles, we can take out another small loan to help with travel costs! Even more amazing eh? 

We also talked to our social worker on Friday, since KC started his new job, we're supposed to wait until he's been in the position for 3-6 months before getting a letter from his new employer so we can re-file our USCIS paperwork. They do that so they make sure he is out of his orientation period. We were a bit bummed at the idea of waiting another 6 months! But we found out our agency will send the letter to JB Hunt at the beginning of March! Only after 3 months instead of the normal 6. Why? Because they know we've been waiting SO long and have hit so many setbacks. Haha! So that was definitely another blessing. If everything goes right, we could get our Dossier sent to Ethiopia in late April or early May..... we will officially be waiting for a referral. *cue ridiculous amount of squealing on my part and maybe yours too!*

This is it guys. This is the LAST step before waiting to see a picture of her. This beautiful year is turning out to be amazing! Maybe, just maybe this is the year.....

  -Sandia