I haven't given an update on the progress of our adoption in a little while so I thought I'd share the wonderful things that God is doing. Our first portion of money has been raised and our dossier, along with that money, is in Haiti right now being worked on. The pastor that heads up the orphanage told one of the people in our group that he thought it would be 6 months to a year before we could get them home. I don't know if this means from the time the dossier was turned in or if that was from now to 6 months to 1 year. We know that God will brin our sweet girls to us in His timing so we wait on Him knowing that He has a will for our family's lives.
We have been praying about how we are going to be able to raise the 2nd $6000 orphanage fee. We have felt God saying be patient and wait on me. So we've been trying to rely on the Lord and not stress about the money portion. I got an email 2 weeks ago stating that we were awarded a grant from Show Hope! This is just amazing. We were told by MANY different people that it would probably be a waste of time to fill out the applications (the apps took about 3 hours to fill out) because we aren't going through an adoption agency so they wouldn't be able to award us anything. We kept praying about it and Micah and I decided to fill out the paperwork to three different organizations offering grants, Lifesong, Show Hope, and Abba Fund. Abba Fund sent us a letter almost immediately and said that we did not qualify for a grant from them so we figured we'd probably get letters from each of the others saying the same thing. Well, this grant from Show Hope is a good portion of that $6000. All in all, we probably only have another $3600 to raise! This is amazing!!! We need $1200 more for care fees (we pay $200 a month for 12 months). Then, there are fees for what's called readoption, when they get to the states they will need birth certificates. And then we'll need some of the second portion of the orphanage fees! We'll also need to travel either to Miami or to Haiti to pick up the girls which that can vary from about 600-1500 dollars depending on if we have to travel to Haiti or to Miami and how long we'd have to stay at either place. (Travel fees are not included in the $3600.)
God is so good! Just remember if God told you to do it, He will provide a way for the finances, the energy, the paperwork, all of the resources necessary to accomplish what He's told you to do. We are all called to help the orphan and the widow (James 1:27). This will look different for every person. Ask God what He wants you to do and He will show you! Thanks again to everyone who is supporting us monetarily and by prayer. They both help out so much!
