I’m Not Sure About This

Test

Well it seems like we have been apart of this adoption process forever (which by the way is nowhere near as long as some people in our agency that are still waiting to bring their little one/s home) and I know for our friends and family it has been a long process as well.  It seems that not day goes by without some one asking Jamie or I  “when will you be bringing your little one home” or some version of that question.  So I thought it was about time I explained in depth what we have already done and what we still have to do between now and meeting our little one.

• March 2006 – We first made contact with out adoption agency CAFAC
• September 2007- We got our information package from CAFAC
• November 2007 – Application to agency
• January 17th 2008 – Started filling out Dossier
• February 1st – 3rd  2008 – Adoption Retreat   
• February 22nd 2008 – Launched our Adoption Fundraiser website
• April 11th – Home Study 1
• April 16th – Home Study 2
• April 30th – Home Study 3
  
• May 15th – Home Study 4 (Home study completion Estimated time 3-7 months: Actual Time 5 weeks)
• May 15th 2008 – We finished our Dossier and sent it to CAFAC (Dossier Completion Estimated time 4-7 months: Actual Time 4 months)
• July 10th 2008 – Approval from the Province
• July 14th 2008 – Dossier sent to Foreign Affairs (Estimated time 2-3 weeks: Actual Time 4 weeks)
• August 12th 2008 – Dossier sent to the Ethiopian Embassy (Estimated time 2-3 weeks: Actual Time 8 days)
• August 21st 2008 – Our Dossier was sent to Ethiopia
• August 27th 2008 Our Dossier arrived in Ethiopia
• August 29th 2008 – Sent off our stage 1 of the Citizenship process
  
• ???? – Referral of our little one (Estimated time 2-16 months: Actual Time ????)
• ???? – Successful court date (this is where our little one becomes legally ours) (Estimated time 2-3 months: Actual Time ????)
• ???? – Our little one’s  immigration papers are ready
• ???? – Travel to meet our little one (Estimated time from time of referral 4-6 months: Actual Time ????)

As many of you know, Jamie & I are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. After our devastating experience with miscarriage to our consistant and unexplained inability to conceive again, we decided to pursue this course. It took us many months of prayer and consideration, but we truly believe this is God’s plan for our family. Among the challenges we will face along the way, finances will be our biggest hurdle. There are significant expenses involved in this process. As missionaries, this will be exceptionally challenging to our support-based income. To that end we have launched an exciting fund raising project:

We are asking you to consider getting involved in helping us in the process. At the website there is a beautiful picture of a baby.. The pixels of this image are yours to “adopt”. Simply visit the website and “adopt a pixel”. Every donation, even as little as $1, will really help. As donations come in, we will keep you updated. Our goal is to raise $20,000 towards the process. Scroll over the image to see how many pixels have been adopted!

You can also help out by getting the word out. We are asking anyone who is willing to promote this on their blogs and websites, both by posting on it and/or adding the button to your site (see above). We also have a Facebook cause that you can join and invites friends to join. Every little bit helps.

This was honestly one of my best weeks in a long time.  It started last weekend when we attended our adoption retreat.  We were a little unsure what to expect and was blown away by our adoption agency.  Not only was the weekend very well organized, with lots of information (you should see our syllabus) and advice, but it was great to meet the people that are working so hard along side us to see this become a reality.  It also was great to meet other couples who have decided to adopt as well.   We came away knowing that this was what we were meant to do and that Ethipia is definately the country for us. 

If that wasn’t enough in one week on Tuesday our bookstore finally opened.  YEAH!!!   Who would have thought.  It is nice to see my husband truely happy and working in his element.  If you live in Winnipeg or close by you should definately drop by and check it out.  What a week!!

I can’t believe it is nearly the weekend.  This week has flown by.  At the begining of the week the city gave us the go ahead to open up YWAM’s used bookstore.  So as of next week Tuesday we will finally be open!!  YEAH!!!  It has been a long time coming and right now I just feel relief that a dream that Jamie had a year and half ago will be up and running.  It is so much nicer and better than I could ever imagine.  If you live close by I really suggest dropping in.

The other big thing we have been trying to prepare for this week, is our adoption retreat.  Tomorrow we will be heading out of town to an educational seminar.  Every step is a step closer and it is pretty exciting to meet the people that will helping us to make this a reality.  I also want to learn more about what we can expect over these next few months, and the years to follow.

As most of you know our life is usually rather busy and hectic but this week it just seems bigger and I mean that in a good way.  Hopefully Jamie and I will have the energy to get through next week as well.

I decided that since I am entering a new chapter in my life it was time for a new look for my blog.  While I am still not completely happy with it (what’s with the deer) it is definately different from my old Blog.

We are still in the midst of the adoption paperwork (I know it won’t be done until about a year after we get our child, as we will have to apply for pemanent residency/citizenship) and I have begun to wonder do they really want to know that much about me?  I am really not that interesting.

Our most recent  package from the adoption agency has about 10 questionaires/forms each ranging 1-3 pages long, most of them Jamie and I both have to fill out seperately.  The one I filled out last took me 4 hours and ended up producing 7 pages of typed info.  Now don’t get me wrong I know that they want to make sure we will make good parents and that they match the right baby to us and I honestly do appreciate it but it also seems like a lot. I really do feel sorry for the person who has to read it all.

I know it will totally be worth it in the end but right now it seems like a lot.

I know it has been almost 2 years since I blogged and if I am totally honest the last few posts were cut and pasted off my husbands blog. I know it’s bad but maybe not too bad when you understand what this blog was meant for.

I started this blog when Jamie and I first began to try starting a family, I thought this would be a journal of our story the the beautiful process, as most of my family and closest girl friends live so far away. I thought like most women it would be easy. My family has no history of any of the women not be able to get pregnant so I had no reason to think I would be any different. Three and half years later I realise that story I had written in my head was not going to fruition.

As I tried to change the blog to be something else I realised that it was just another painful reminder that my life was not going the way I wanted it to and at that point I had enough reminders. So I stopped and began to try to come to terms with the new story I needed to write, one that is definately not as romantic but is more honest and realistic but still hopeful.

So you may be wondering why after so long am I back. It is because, at this moment, Jamie and I are happy to announce we are “paper pregnant”. After 3 1/2 years of exploring the fertility process we have decided that it is no longer the process for us, at least not at this stage. So just before we left for Australia we began the process of adoption of a child from Ethiopia. Hopefully in the next month or so we will be launching a website so that you can follow the process more closely and I am sure it will have a lot more details.

I know this is not the route we intended and I know both Jamie and I (as well as our families) have had to give up on some dreams and hopes and that has been hard. However I also know that we are so excited that there are other options out there. And that, as much as we will be answer to the prayers of many people for our child from Ethiopia, this child will also be the answer to many of our prayers too.

So please rejoice with us and pray for us because there are many months ahead we are in thick of paper work and you all know how much I love paper work. I feel like I am going for my landed immigrancy again. ugh…

In northern Uganda, a conflict has been waging for 20 years. Over the last three, tens of thousands of children have been kidnapped from their homes during the night. They have been tortured, terrorized, raped and killed. They are kids like the ones in our own homes, schools and churches – doing schoolwork, listening to music, hanging out with friends. And yet they face the daily risk of being kidnapped by Joseph Kony, leader of the “The Lord’s Resistance Army” or LRA. He’s a twisted, cultic leader who mixes shallow Christian ideas with folk religion and politcal rhetoric, aiming at ruling the country. Sadly, very little is being done. Calling it one of the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, the United Nations has been calling for intervention.

After watching the ground-breaking documentary, “Invisible Children”, several of our staff decided that had to act. And so they created the Gulu Prayer Project. Starting on March 16th at 8pm (Central Time), they are attempting to orchestrate a prayer initiative that will run 24 hours a day for two week straight- 336 hours of focused prayer. We have created the website www.guluprayerproject.blog.com to facilitate the movement. We are committed to see this prayer project to be the launching point for direct involvement on serving these children, both through awareness and on-location development.

That is where you come in. We need to get people involved. We need to get the word out. We need people to help make this happen. Therefore, I am asking that you take a few minutes to visit the website, considering how you might help out and let me know. You can even sign up for a slot using the comment section of “Sign Up To Pray” page.

Thank you so much for taking the time make this dream a reality. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

To all my friends and family,

I know it has been a while since I have written on this blog, so long that I am not sure if any of you are still checking to see if I am posting. Things here are not so good. I was hoping that this year would be a huge improvement from the last but it hasn’t started off that way. And Jamie and I could really use your support and prayer as we push through this and into what God is calling us to.

As many of you know, I am Australian and has been serving with YWAM here for several years. In the process of renewing my visa, we recently received a call from Immigration Canada suggesting that they are considering NOT renewing the visa, as they think it is time I apply for Permanent Residency. We have an interview with them on Feb. 28th to find out.

The trouble is that they could very well make me leave the country to apply from Australia. Needless to say, this would be terrible. One of the reasons we have not applied for my status earlier is that it requires a significant amount of money to do so. It goes without saying we are dealing with a great deal of stress right now.

Our first hope is that they grant us the visa that will allow us to pursue Permanent Residency while I remains in Canada with Jamie. However, even if this is the case, we face the challenge of raising the finances (nearly $2000 in the end) and dealing with the limitations of the process that will strongly impact my ministry leadership (i.e. travel limitations, etc.).

As if that weren’t enough, we came home to find that the YWAM Mission House furnace, which we just spent $500 to repair a month ago is dead again. Sure, it isn’t a huge deal, but in times like this, every little challenge gets blown out of proportion.

That is why we really need your prayers during the next few days, weeks and months. God has always been faithful in His provision. Stand with us as we seek Him for the peace and wisdom to deal with each day.