Just Hangin' Out in NY

We talked with our contact at Living Hope Adoption Agency today hoping for good news on the progress of our dossier.  The news wasn't what we were hoping for.  She said that our dossier was still in New York.  She told us that the Honduran contact in New York is very thorough in his review of each dossier, so we are hoping the dossier travels back down I-95 by mid-week next week.  Living Hope is waiting for some of their paperwork to be finalized that needs to go with our dossier, so we were told that it will probably be at least two weeks before our paperwork goes to Honduras.  We are just being reminded that all things will be completed in God's timing.  We are just reminded of the passage in James 4

(James 4:13-17) 13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as you journey with us.

New York, New York!

Our dossier made its way back from Harrisburg to Living Hope agency.  Today it began its journey up I-95 to New York.  New York is the final stop before our paperwork goes to Honduras.  In one sense it is hard to have to just wait, yet at the same time it is good to know that things are moving along.  Lord willing our dossier will return to Living Hope agency early next week and then it is off to Honduras.  Once it arrives in Honduras, the six month clock begins - we will receive our referral within six months.  We know that we are among the first three families sending dossiers to Honduras, so we need to be ready for all kinds of "hiccups" in this process.  We are still hoping to travel before the end of the year.  Alicia and I are sporting sore shoulders because of immunizations - one in each shoulder (typhoid and Hep-A).  Now that Ariana and Alexa are planning to travel with us on the second trip, Ariana is hoping that her childhood immunizations will be good enough...she does not want to get a shot.

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Updates in the Mail

We returned home from a week of ministry at Pinebrook Bible Conference to receive two pieces of news in the mail.  Via email, we learned that the process for finalizing the adoption in the country of Honduras will be about six weeks.  This would require us to stay in the country for the entire time, or take two trips.  Alicia and I just spent about an hour estimating the finances of these two options.  For the two of us to stay in the country for the entire time would cost us about $6000 more than taking two trips and taking Ariana and Alexa with us for the second trip.  So, it looks like we will take one trip for about 5 days to meet our daughter and go through the initial interviews and do all of the necessary paperwork to finalize the adoption and for our daughter's US citizenship.  A few weeks later, the four of us would go for 5-7 days to finalize the process, and bring her home.  With estimated food and other expenses, this is about $4500 more than the original estimate that we were given.  We are still waiting for our paperwork to go to New York then to Honduras, but at least we now have a clearer picture of what the travel process will look like when it is time to travel.

Another piece of news that we received in the mail was from a grant request we had submitted to Show Hope.  We were informed that we have received a grant, which will be a huge help with the travel expenses.  It has been awesome to trust God through this process as the details seem to change regularly, so does His provision.

Both Hands Goal is Reached

We have been completely overwhelmed by the generosity of so many that have given to the Both Hands project to help with our adoption costs.  When we began planning for the Both Hands project, we needed to raise about $19,000 to cover the "anticipated costs" of the adoption.  We were able to get a no-interest loan for $10,000 to help pay for the dossier fee which was due in mid-June.  As we set a goal for the Both Hands project, I recommended that we set a goal of $5000, but Alicia said that we would need about $9000 to $10,000 for traveling to Honduras and covering all of the fees for finalizing the adoption.  We set the goal at $10,000.  I did not believe that we would come close to reaching that goal.  We received an email yesterday informing us that we have received $10,782 toward our Both Hands project.  The great thing about this is that now we are completely ready to travel, and any more money that is donated to the project will help us pay back the $10,000 loan.  If you did not get a chance to view the video from our project, check out the post entitled "Both Hands - The Video".  For all of you that have been praying for us, and for those that have given time and money to help us - THANK YOU!