Thirty-one Fundraiser

Long time, no update! We've been quiet, but still busy and steadily working on this adoption process! 

We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is paperwork! We are currently finishing up our Dossier which is the enormous stack of notarized and state sealed documents that will be sent to Uganda. The day they land in country, our official wait for a referral begins. Each month our agency sends out a program update that details how many families have received referrals, how many are traveling, how many have passed court, and how many are HOME with their precious children. We are VERY excited that it looks like once our Dossier lands in Uganda, our wait for a referral will be quite short, most likely only a month or two. 

As we continue to work on our Dossier, we are also applying with many non-profit agencies for grants to aid in the expense of this adventure. Our social worker seems to think we are very likely candidates for such assistance, which is very exciting! However, we are also beginning to make plans to raise the funds that we need to bring our daughter home in other ways. 

Recently we had a good friend, Danielle Hill, approach us about a potential fundraiser. She is a sales rep for the company "thirty-One" and she offered to host a "show", and donate her commission to our adoption efforts!. Isn't that amazing? We are so touched  by her generosity, and grateful for her help.

Thirty-one is a company that specializes in bags, totes, etc. of all sorts. Their products are versatile, beautifully made, and SO fun. I hope you'll consider flipping through their inventory. items can be personalized and make great gifts for any occasion! 

The best way to help is to spread the word, so please feel absolute freedom to forward this information and flier along to anyone who you think may be interested. I will also be posting on facebook.

Here’s how to shop: 

1)Browse the website(click below) or ask for a catalog. Roberts Family Adoption Fundraiser

2)Email Sarah or Danielle with your order and we will get you your total as soon as we can. 

3)Mail a check (preferred) or call with your card information. 

4)We will be closing the party in the middle of June and your items will arrive about 2 weeks later :) 

AT LEAST 25% of all sales will go directly to the Roberts’ adoption fund! 

As an added bonus: 

Spend $31, then purchase a Large Utility Tote, and an EXTRA $25 will go to help Bring Her Home! 

This month only, the Large Utility Tote will be offered in the ‘Fun Flops’ Pattern! 

Contact Info:
Danielle Hill (Consultant) 
Hillsplus2@gmail.com
559.273.6770 

Roberts Family
RobertsRacket@gmail.com 
559. 978.7514

When you e-mail with your order, we will provide you with the address to send your check to!!!!

Thank you for your support!

A LOOOOOONG update...

Time for a little update, don't ya think?

It's been a wild ride, folks. 

Last Thursday evening, our wonderful social worker came to our home for our final home study visit. She met the boys, which was hilarious, I'm sure you can imagine. When we walked into the backyard, Cole took it upon himself to state, "Our backyard? It's not so nice", which of course made us all die laughing. If you want the truth, ask the Cole-man. I decided long ago not to be concerned about our backyard and it's lack of beauty. We let the boys dig and have mud fights and have total ownership of that area, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus, we have a wild and crazy dog. :-) So, when he made his little statement, I just laughed. He also shared that when he gets in trouble, his time outs can last a half hour, "but only for the BIG deals". All in all, it was a great visit.

Our agency is now finalizing their report and approving it (not a problem) and then we move on to immigration and dossier compilation. For those of you who don't know much about this crazy-wonderful adoption world, here is a quick explanation. Once our home study is approved, we can apply with immigration to bring a child from another country into the states. This is preliminary, and we have to pass the BIG fingerprints to get approval. We've never participated in any evil crime schemes, so I'm guessing we'll be fine. Once that approval comes in, that piece of paper goes in our dossier which is a stack of 20 or so documents that have been gathered and notarized (bank statement, letters of rec, employment letter, marriage and birth certs., etc.), that will then be sent to the country from which we are adopting. Once they receive it, we are officially waiting for our referral for our daughter.

So, exciting times ahead, wouldn't you say?

As most of you know, we began this journey with the thought that we would adopt from Ethiopia. It made sense for our family, and it was kind of all we knew. 

But then. Oh, man. A PRECIOUS little girl on our agency's Waiting Child List caught our hearts and we inquired after her. She was in South Africa. So, after talking and praying, we decided to switch countries. We knew from the get go that it might not work out. Our home study was just beginning and we didn't have the funds to make it move any faster than we were. Our home study would have to be finalized and sent to South Africa for anything to become official in any way. But, we fell in love and decided to go for it. God provided and we worked diligently to keep moving forward. And then we got the e-mail that she had been matched with another family that was further along in the process than us. As we processed, we were very aware that this was a WONDERFUL thing for her. She'll have a family soon. 

But for us, it was difficult. 

I firmly believe that if you start down this road, the temptation to guard yourself, to protect your heart, is strong. And I think it's straight from the pit of hell. We need to LOVE these children. We need to engage totally and completely, because they are worth that. It's that falling in love, that desire to have them in your family, that will drive us to go after them with everything in us. I tell myself that if one of the boys were in another country, alone, apart from us, I would beg, borrow, steal, to bring them home. Adoption is a little different, of course because we don't know who our daughter is yet... but we trust that God is orchestrating every event to bring us closer to her. Even allowing us to have broken hearts as we lose the little gal we thought was ours.

I'll take it. I'll invest again. I'll not get my guard up. I want her and I'll always want her. God gives us mama bear hearts for a reason, and I refuse to let Satan tell me my emotions are more important than her circumstances right now.

So, there you go. That's my little tirade for the moment. :-)

After she was matched, we stepped back. We reevaluated. We thought about going back to Ethiopia. And then, God changed everything. I called our agency and talked to them. After some back and forth, they suggested looking into Uganda.

UGANDA??? We didn't even know our agency HAD a program in Uganda. Turns out, it's fairly new, but going extremely well. When our social worker mentioned Uganda to me, I simultaneously experienced a leap of joy and screeching of  breaks in my heart.

When we began this journey, one of the books that helped to shape my convictions and break my heart, was "Kisses from Katie" about Katie Davis, a 19-year-old girl from the US who moved to Uganda and has subsequently adopted 14 daughters. Sounds a little crazy, I know. READ the book and then tell me it's a crazy you don't want. The woman is in love with her Savior and that love has moved her to action that really isn't all that crazy. She's loving people and feeding them and serving them. She's giving her daughters a family. Not really all that nuts. Just very different than what we're used to, or what we're willing to do. ANYWAY, her book changed me. And it also made me fall in love the people and country of Uganda. If you would have asked me, I would have told you that I felt called to adopt from Uganda.

But Uganda is a big, bad word in the adoption world. Corruption, child trafficking, and lies abound. Many say, STAY OUT OF UGANDA. Not wanting to participate in any adoption that wasn't completely ethical, I knew we wouldn't be adopting from Uganda.

So when my social worker mentioned Uganda, I saw red flags. I started googling. And then I found it.An article that gave me hope and excitement and peace.

 http://mnnonline.org/article/16855

Turns out, our agency is there to HELP the problem. I requested supporting documents for how they are processing, and the complied immediately. Investigations are done on each and every kiddo. Third party investigations, social worker investigations, orphanage investigations, lawyer investigations, Life Book investigations. It's awesome. They are working DIRECTLY with parliament  and the work they are doing will mean that adoption will continue in a country who must continue to have it as an option for the kids who are legitimate orphans.

We want to be part of it.

So, we're going to Uganda. 

That's the update. Keep praying, we need God's protection, provision, and your support. Thank you, we're grateful.

Gift Wrapping Fundraiser

Hello Friends! We've been steadily working away at our Home Study and on Thursday, it will be done! Woo hoo! We are excited to continue down this road and God is showing us that it is Him alone providing for every single payment toward this adoption. It's amazing. Some day, I hope to recount these stories to you. Trust me, we serve a God who is involved in the details and He is so faithful.

We're very excited to announce a fundraiser toward the next phases of this process. When I look at the numbers that we have to come up with, I just laugh. It might as well be a million dollars! In some ways, it's kind of nice to have such huge numbers staring back at us. We are VERY aware that there is no way we can come up with those on our own. This is truly God's bill. We'll just keep handing it to Him, because He's already promised to cover it. 

One way we're hoping to have Him provide these crazy funds is through a Gift Wrapping Fundraiser!

If you live near us and would like some help wrapping gifts this Christmas season, please shoot me an e-mail at RobertsRacket@gmail.com. 

Gift Wrapping Fundraiser

All proceeds will help us to bring our daughter home!

Choose from Fancy, Festive, or Fun styles!

Pricing:

Small: $3

Medium: $5

Large: $7

Extra-Large: $10

I promise to do a lovely job and will have your gifts back to you in 72 hours! 

(or faster if you need them quickly!)

Changes and Home Study Visit #1

We had our first home study interview yesterday! Before I stepped into the world of international adoption, I assumed the home study was a super intense home inspection where a pinch-faced woman in cat-eye glasses walked around our house searching for unlocked medicine cabinets and soap scum on the shower doors. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! Our home study will consist of 4 main meetings, a joint interview (yesterday), 2 individual interviews, and a home visit during which our social worker will meet our kids and make sure we actually have walls and a roof. 

Yesterday, we were interviewed together and it really wasn't all that scary. She asked some pretty personal questions, but nothing uncomfortable (for us) and nothing that didn't make total sense. We are blessed to have a very knowledgeable and kind social worker, so it was pretty comfortable overall. 

During the second half of our time together, she walked us through our home study packet. Oh man. We have a LOT to do. Physical, marriage certificates, birth certificates, 1040s, employer letter, health insurance letter, 3 major questionnaires (and by the way, those definitely have some seriously personal questions), about 20 hours of training, fingerprinting, etc. She estimated 3 months to complete it all. Brandon joked that she'd find our completed packet on her doorstep by this morning. He was definitely exaggerating, but I have zero intentions of this taking 3 months. Maybe a few weeks. Max. :-)

The big news is that we are fairly certain we are switching country programs. At this point we will most likely be adopting a little girl 0-7 from South Africa. What prompted our switch, you ask? Well, that is a story for another day. I hope to share soon the miracles God is working as He leads in this direction. I will say however, that we believe that God is directing our steps, and this switch was not something we could have ever planned. We are excited and hopeful about it and we covet your prayers as these leaps of faith are starting to become bigger and bigger.

Speaking of prayer, if you're so inclined, here are the specific areas in which we need prayer right now:

- That we would discern clearly God's intent as we finalize switching countries

- That the remaining home study visits would go smoothly (and that our boys would behave during our final one!)

- That we would be able to get our physicals sooner than our doctors are telling us (appointments are in Nov. and Jan. right now, I'd like them MUCH sooner)

- That all the waiting children on our agency's list would find their forever families, and that our hearts would remain committed to that hope, even if it means disappointment for us right now

- That we would continue to see God's provision as we have many fees due very soon, and that we would wait on Him so we can see His miracles in this area

Thank you all. We are so excited, and so completely amazed that God is allowing us to walk down this road. We are so blessed.

On Stories and Waiting Children

So, here's the thing. I like stories. I like real people. I struggle with generalities. When I say there are 143 million orphans in the world, my own mind doesn't compute that. I need faces. I need stories.

I really want to move you. I want to say things that stir you. I want to tell you all that I've been reading and have it come over you like a flood, so that it will change your whole life. I want to tell you the numbers, the facts, the truth about what is happening in our world.

But every time I try, I fall flat. I get preachy and I probably turn you off.

This adoption process is a little bit like that for me. We're putting our ducks in a row, filling out paper work, making phone call, counting our pennies... all for a child out there who is part of that huge number. A child who seems faceless. I think that is one of the reasons that we have been so interested in pursuing a child who is considered a "Waiting Child". These kiddos are a little bit older, have special needs (minor and major) and have not met the requirements of people who are accepted into a program through an agency. To be frank, the "Waiting Child" list is basically a last ditch effort to get these kiddos into a forever home.

Most of you know that we have two biological children with minor special needs. Every single day I look at them and realize that if they had been born somewhere else, it is very likely that they would be Waiting Children.

Are you kidding me?????

My boys are so special. They are so unique. They're hilarious. They have loving hearts and quick minds.  They are the greatest gift God has given me. And they would stand a very good chance of being unwanted had their circumstances been different.

So when I think of 143 million orphans, I think about how far down the list my boys would be, and that makes me absolutely certain that these children are not just statistics looking for someone to take pity on them. They are breathing, brilliant, funny, sweet souls who desperately need to be snuggled and taken to the pediatrician and colored with and tickled and prayed over and read to and fed vegetables and loved every single day.

Please pray for us as we take the next steps necessary to bring a Waiting Child home. This is a one foot in front of the other process and today we took some steps. We're  nervous, we're unsure, we're excited, we're trusting. Pray for the little girl whose story and picture has stolen my heart (and is closing in on Brandon's). We have no idea if she is our daughter, but we know that for some reason, God has lined up some things that sure make it seem like she could be. No matter what, she needs a family. No matter what, we want the very best for her.

We know just a paragraph about her. But that paragraph told a piece of her story. And for me, today, that made all the difference. When I think of the 143 million, I think of her.

Affirmation, Hope, Reality

As you read in my last post, things have been going down hill in the appliance and cars category in the Roberts household. The truth is, things have been pretty difficult in general. We've had some major relief this week, but I am very aware that this sort of thing will continue to happen to us as we continue down this adoption road. 

Last week I wrote a post at my other blog, "Motherhood She Wrote", that shared pretty clearly where I was at emotionally. It was rough. 

Today, I read this post from a mother who has adopted twice, with a total of 8 Ethiopian children. Did I mention she started out with 4 biological children? And before you think she's some weirdo in a flannel jumper singing hymns as she homeschools her 12 children, she's SO not. Her kids aren't even homeschooled (which means that according to some, she's already points ahead of me on the cool scale). She writes honestly and lovingly about their journey to being a family with 12 children. So, she's been there. She knows a thing or two. Read her post. After you do, you'll probably understand a little bit why I had tears streaming down my face at 10 AM this morning, and was shaking my head in wonder of a God who knew I needed someone to tell me that. All of that. 

He's good, that God. So, so good.

What I want to remember

The week (in May) we decided to adopt in the immediate future, our van died. In the months since, we have had the following break down or fall apart:

- our kitchen and entry tile all began cracking and breaking apart (We got a GREAT deal on laminate tile and replaced ourselves)

- our shower head completely broke (normally not a big deal, but it is original to the house and difficult to replace) (UPDATE: B fixed it this weekend!)

- our disposal has broken twice and is now beyond repair (UPDATE: B replaced this weekend)

- our washing machine has broken twice (UPDATE: we finally had to replace it. Boo!)

- our dishwasher is now leaking (UPDATE: Mostly fixed. We think.)

- our bathtub drain is totally broken

- our new van is making a funny noise

- another belt went out in Brandon's car (resulting in no AC during the hottest part of this lovely summer)

I'm keeping this list as a reminder of all the tempting distractions and moneysuckers that flew our way during the early part of this journey. I'm pretty sure this list means two things:

1. Satan really doesn't want our money going toward bringing an orphan into our home and family

2. God was serious when He impressed upon us that we would have to depend on Him for every bit of this journey.

So, Satan, in case you're reading this, we have no intention of quitting. We don't care how long it takes. We are in this for good.

And God, we trust you. You have never failed us. You will not fail our daughter.