Thursday, January 31, 2008
For those who don't know...
I have another blog that I frequently post on. For some rather exciting news for our family please check it out.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I keep forgetting
to update on here. Friday we sent our dossier off to AdoptIntl. I had talked with Candace that morning for almost a half an hour! I think it is awesome to have such lengthy conversations with the one who will be working to bring our daughter home! She said she has about 7 applications for her pilot program and she is taking no more at this time. We are fortunate to be one of the families. I was also told that she was looking into one little girl to us, to check whether she had any siblings. Apparently most of the children have siblings and its unfortunately just not something we can do at this time. So I've been praying for that little girl like crazy. I know nothing about her but I pray she's the one! God knows! I have such a peace about the whole process. You'd think after our experience (or lack of) with the other agency that I'd be a bit nervous. But it is such a faith journey. You step out in faith and trust God every step of the way. He knows who she is, where she is and when she's coming home. I'm really praying that is is by June though as it looks like we'll be moving this summer (thankfully).
Sunday, January 20, 2008
News Flash!
Amazing! Our old agency, Acres of Hope actually sent our refund and complete dossier back! There are MANY people who were told they're not getting any money back (and they've sent more in than what we had) and many who are not getting their paperwork returned. I sent our letter via email as well as snail mail. It took only a WEEK to get our dossier returned to us. It probably helped that I tried to be as friendly as possible in my letter. I also didn't want to post much on here until I received it!
With that said, we withdrew for many reasons. Red flags started going up when more and more people began withdrawing from the agency. Then what I thought was a 'key player' in the agency, Donna, quit. Then people were getting kicked out of our yahoo group! I brushed it all aside until after Christmas and then the Lord nudged me to pursue the issues. Finding out that the agency is not using their funds as they state they are, that they're lying to families and saying that children have been relinquished when they haven't, and that they've even lied on medical reports were some of the many things I discovered. Also, they have increased their fees dramatically since July! Doesn't that send up red flags??? There is more than that, but those were some of the bigger red flags when I heard it all. I felt like I'd hit a brick wall when I heard the news. How could this be? Everybody had raved about this agency! When I told Zach he was furious and said I needed to immediately write a letter to get our dossier and refund back.
The same day I found out this information I was told about another agency, Adopt International. I called the number I was given and actually talked to the director herself, Candace O'Brien! I've never once talked to the director of AoH! Candace was so friendly and answered all of my questions. She answers emails when you have questions. After talking to her and reading about this agency we sent in our application. I'm pretty certain that the Lord has led us to this agency.
We have not lost faith in this journey. We know the Lord will lead us to our daughter, we are so confident of it no matter what roadblocks there may be. With our daughters (we have only one so far) we'd like their middle names to be 'fruits of the spirit'. Princess' is Joy. I'm thinking this little girl will have the middle name of Faith. Adoption is stepping out in faith in the Lord. When we began we didn't know where we'd be 6 months from then, where we'd get the funds or anything. But we didn't fear. We stepped out in faith, got both feet wet and have been splashing in the pool of adoption ever since. Some may think you need to wait until the Lord provides the money, which could be years down the road. We were even told, "How do you know somebody won't walk up to you on the street and hand you $10,000?" We don't know, but are we supposed to idly sit by waiting for that to happen, meanwhile allowing more and more children to suffer the pangs of hunger and disease? I don't believe that is the case. Our Example, Jesus didn't lounge around waiting for things to happen- He MADE them happen!
I thank you all for your continued prayers. I thank those of you who shared the truth in love, even when it went against the 'flow' to open our eyes. And I'm also thankful to those of you I've met through this journey~ I believe we have bonds that will never be broken.
With that said, we withdrew for many reasons. Red flags started going up when more and more people began withdrawing from the agency. Then what I thought was a 'key player' in the agency, Donna, quit. Then people were getting kicked out of our yahoo group! I brushed it all aside until after Christmas and then the Lord nudged me to pursue the issues. Finding out that the agency is not using their funds as they state they are, that they're lying to families and saying that children have been relinquished when they haven't, and that they've even lied on medical reports were some of the many things I discovered. Also, they have increased their fees dramatically since July! Doesn't that send up red flags??? There is more than that, but those were some of the bigger red flags when I heard it all. I felt like I'd hit a brick wall when I heard the news. How could this be? Everybody had raved about this agency! When I told Zach he was furious and said I needed to immediately write a letter to get our dossier and refund back.
The same day I found out this information I was told about another agency, Adopt International. I called the number I was given and actually talked to the director herself, Candace O'Brien! I've never once talked to the director of AoH! Candace was so friendly and answered all of my questions. She answers emails when you have questions. After talking to her and reading about this agency we sent in our application. I'm pretty certain that the Lord has led us to this agency.
We have not lost faith in this journey. We know the Lord will lead us to our daughter, we are so confident of it no matter what roadblocks there may be. With our daughters (we have only one so far) we'd like their middle names to be 'fruits of the spirit'. Princess' is Joy. I'm thinking this little girl will have the middle name of Faith. Adoption is stepping out in faith in the Lord. When we began we didn't know where we'd be 6 months from then, where we'd get the funds or anything. But we didn't fear. We stepped out in faith, got both feet wet and have been splashing in the pool of adoption ever since. Some may think you need to wait until the Lord provides the money, which could be years down the road. We were even told, "How do you know somebody won't walk up to you on the street and hand you $10,000?" We don't know, but are we supposed to idly sit by waiting for that to happen, meanwhile allowing more and more children to suffer the pangs of hunger and disease? I don't believe that is the case. Our Example, Jesus didn't lounge around waiting for things to happen- He MADE them happen!
I thank you all for your continued prayers. I thank those of you who shared the truth in love, even when it went against the 'flow' to open our eyes. And I'm also thankful to those of you I've met through this journey~ I believe we have bonds that will never be broken.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Change of Plans
We have decided to withdraw from the agency we were using. We have known there were things 'going on' for some time but we weren't sure what exactly. After receiving more concrete details we felt like we needed withdraw from the agency we thought was so wonderful. I'm not going to post any details but they're out there in blog land in various places and bits and pieces if you are interested or you can always email me for more information. At first I had this sinking feeling and I emailed a friend and told her it almost felt like a miscarriage. Since then I have a complete peace about it. It saddens me that the integrity is not in an agency we trusted and believed in and I pray for the people involved, but God has given me His peace. Some people will probably think, "Oh, that's a sign that they shouldn't even pursue this" which is why we haven't been too public about it. We know that our little girl is in Liberia and we will continue to pursue this wonderful adoption journey as God leads. Please continue to pray that He leads us to her (and soon)! Also please keep Acres of Hope and its staff and the sweet Liberian children in your prayers. Many people have left the agency and I can't help but wonder about those precious children.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Changes
Well you can see I changed the look of this blog too. I lost all of my links and finally got around to adding them again (hopefully I didn't forget anybody), but somehow the list seems longer! Great, now I have all the more blogs to try to keep up with;)
Please keep us in your prayers as we make major decisions concerning our adoption. No we don't have a referral or anything like that, but we have already taken some steps and need more prayer for God's guidance in this. We are adopting not only because we want to but because the Lord has laid it upon our hearts to, therefore we need to heed His voice and honor Him in this process.
Please keep us in your prayers as we make major decisions concerning our adoption. No we don't have a referral or anything like that, but we have already taken some steps and need more prayer for God's guidance in this. We are adopting not only because we want to but because the Lord has laid it upon our hearts to, therefore we need to heed His voice and honor Him in this process.
Friday, January 4, 2008
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