Progress!

Major progress this week! I have my COMPLETE APPROVED HOME STUDY in my possession! This timing was critical as I needed it complete to be able to apply for a grant that I am very hopeful about getting. That grant application has been sent in and I have about five more I need to sit down and fill out this weekend.

The completed home study also means I was able to take the next major step- applying for USCIS approval. I sent in my I600-A form today with $805. The US government will read my home study, validate what it says, and approve me to bring an orphan child into the US (after I am assigned a date to have my fingerprints done- this will be the fourth time for this adoption so far!). It's possible they'll ask for more information, but I'm hoping all goes well and it moves along quickly.

Get Involved!

In order to raise funds for Gina's adoption, her friends have created Team ONE and invite you to participate! 

Together, a team will run, bike, and swim the TriUtah Ultimate Relay- 126.5 miles on August 4th, 2012, from Ogden to Midway, Utah. Team ONE will raise awareness about the orphan crisis, and ultimately, will help ONE orphan find his or her way to their forever home. AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!

There are several ways you can get involved.

1) Sign up to run, bike, or swim the TriUtah Ultimate Relay on your own Team ONE Affiliate Team! If you're not in great shape at the moment, you still have FOUR MONTHS to train! The swims are 1000 meters, the runs are 6 miles, and the cycling events are between 17 and 41 miles. Each team can have between 3 and 6 participants, so you can do from 2-4 events. We're going to get press coverage to bring awareness to our cause, and the more people we have participating, the better! Each team will be asked to have their family and friends sponsor them in their efforts, and we're hoping each team will be able to donate $126.50 to Gina's adoption fund (one dollar for every mile of the race). If there are six members on a team, that comes out to a little over $20 per person in sponsorship funding. Go here for more info and to sign up. Please leave a comment below letting me know you signed up, so I'll know where we're at. (If you know me in real life, you know I'm fairly out of shape. But I'M DOING THIS TRI. Please join me!!) As an alternate option, if you live out of state and can't travel for this tri, train with us and run/bike/swim "virtually" from your own city! If you do this, please also leave a comment so I can add you in to the numbers. I'm aiming for all 40 teams to be registered and established by May 15th.

2) Sign up to be a support person for one of the Team ONE Affiliate Teams! Each team will need one vehicle to drive the course and shuttle the participants to and from their events. This is going to be a RIOT. If you can't run/swim/bike, please consider this option.

3) Follow this blog. In addition to adoption updates, there will be various giveaways (including an iPad giveaway) and other fundraising efforts that you won't want to miss.

4) Donate an item or service for a giveaway, which will be advertised on X96 (reaching 70,000 listeners). Items/services donated are eligible as a tax donation. Leave a comment below to donate!

5) Consider donating directly to Gina's adoption fund. Adoptions from this region cost between $30,000 and $35,000. There are several ways to help provide an answer for this need. a) You can also donate through the Chip-In on the right, which is tax deductible. b) You can contact Gina and send a check directly to her (thus bypassing Pay Pal/Chip-In fees). Please leave a comment here and she will contact you. c) We are currently doing a sippy cup drive where people are collecting their spare change in a sippy cup provided by Gina. When the cup is full, you donate what you've collected and start again! Leave a comment below and Gina will get the sippy cup to you.

6) Spread the word on Facebook, through email, on your own blog, to your family and friends, etc. Even if you can't donate or otherwise get involved, someone you know may want to and be able to. If you share during a giveaway, leave a comment on this blog and you will be entered to win one of the prizes! No donation necessary. 

7) Pray/support/send good vibes. Your prayers, thoughts, and support are very much appreciated. This is a difficult process with any number of obstacles, and your support matters!

No matter how you choose to get involved- THANK YOU!

Where I Am

March was an incredibly slow month adoption-wise, so forgive my lack of blogging. The first home study agency I used turned out NOT to be licensed to do international home studies after all. Therefore, after nine weeks in-process, I pretty much had to start this adoption over with a new home study agency. (Don't worry- I got every penny back from the first agency!) It took awhile before they could get a social worker out, but the great news is I've really liked this agency! Their response time is fantastic and I LOVE my new social worker. A woman after my own heart. My home study should be written up this weekend, and then it will be sent to my adoption agency to proof. They'll send it on to their facilitator in the foreign country, who will approve it (or make needed changes to clarify). It should all be done in time for me to apply for a HUGE grant that I'm very hopeful about possibly getting! Also, my FBI clearance to adopt showed up last week. After the HS is complete, I'll make sure all my paperwork for my dossier is together and will take it all to be notarized for free at my credit union, and then have it apostilled.

A Whisper

This post is used with permission by Julia Arnold Nalle and her original blog post can be seen here.

Just a whisper. A Holy Spirit breathed whisper. A longing. A stirring that began years before but began to grow louder and more insistent as time passed. Adoption. One day, I said. One day. Later. Too busy now. My days too full. Not enough money. Not enough time. Later. Much later. When I'm married. When I finish my current projects. When my bank account is above zero. Another day. Not today.

All good arguments but the whisper stayed. The stirrings continued. The voice wasn't silenced. The God-ordained encounters with those who had gone before kept happening. Consider. Just consider. Pray. But... but...no...can't...not....all the arguments. Mental gymnastics. The money, God. Where? How? It can't work. It's crazy. I'm just out of school. So much to do. So many plans. My schedule is insane. Dear Lord - it's just not the right time. 

Louder. No longer a stirring but a wave. A push. An emptiness. A realization that I lacked. Something. Someone. My life was full of nothing. Crazy, chasing after useless dreams. Circling - protecting my life, from what? My spiritual life - going through the motions. For what? My passion gone. Realization of my empty cup.

Then one day, suddenly- 
The Holy Spirit whisper becomes a scream. 

GO. 

   GO. Now. Say yes. Despite the bank account. Despite the schedule. Despite the arguments. Despite it all. GO. 

The Beginning

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O'Donohue ~

I first came upon this poem at the time I was first considering international special needs adoption, and it spoke directly to my heart. My life at the time was wholly satisfactory, but what was I doing for others? Not much. What was I doing to make my life-long dream of becoming a mother a reality? Nothing, really. What was I doing out of the ordinary? Nothing at all.

I came upon blogs of other families who were adopting special needs children. "Someday," I told myself.

When I make more money.

When I have a bigger house.

When I'm married.

When the timing is better.

I did my best to put the whole orphan crisis out of my mind.

And yet....and yet.

The emptiness was growing, and I was becoming tired of my "safe" life.

Finally, finally, I stepped onto new ground.

Suddenly I knew:

I make enough money.

My house is big enough.

I can raise a child without a spouse.

{One parent is most certainly better than none.}

If not now...when?

If not me...who?

I have so much to offer a child. Something {or Someone} much bigger than myself has been preparing me for this road for a long time before I ever had any idea this road would be in my future.

So here I am, preparing to adopt a special needs child from Eastern Europe as a single mother.

My destination is not yet clear, but I'm trusting the promise of this opening. It is, after all, at one with my life's desire.