More home study drama

In my last update, I mentioned that our home study was finally finished, and we were thrilled. Well, it seems like nothing is going to be as easy as we expect this time around, because when we got the home study, we discovered a few small but critical mistakes in it. We contacted the home study agency, and they were very understanding, and agreed to fix the mistakes as quickly as possible. We emailed them a statement of what the homestudy should say, and they printed them off and sent them back out to us. Imagine our disappointment when our home study arrived for the second time, and there was STILL one critical mistake in it. In their hurry to get our home study back to us, they had missed one of the corrections. They apologized again, and corrected it one more time. This time, the let Greg proof an electronic copy before printing it out, and he said it looks good. The home study finally arrived yesterday for the third (and hopefully the final) time, so we are hoping to send our paperwork to USCIS in Monday's mail. In addition to the frustration with the errors, our home study agency told us that they were very sorry, but they had accidentally sent us an outdated fee schedule, and we owed them another fairly large fee right then. We were feeling pretty discouraged.

But God graciously provided us with encouragement when we so badly needed it. I also posted that we were going to be having a Jamberry fundraiser, and I am happy to report that it was a huge success. As a result of that fundraiser and other donations that have come in since my last post, we have the funds that we need to pay the extra fee to our home study agency, and still almost $200 more toward our next agency fee. We are still short of the money that we need, but we are closer than we were, and we are very thankful for that. We know that God will supply all that we need in His perfect timing. Many, many thanks to everyone who participated in the fundraiser or donated to our adoption. You have know idea what a huge source of encouragement you were!

Thanks always for your prayer and support.

Fundraiser and update

After weeks and weeks without anything to report, we finally have good news. We learned yesterday that our home study is finally done and on its way to us. YAY! Neither of our other home studies took anywhere near this long, and we have been struggling with a lot of discouragment as we waited, but we know that God's timing is always perfect, and we trust Him to bring Jonathan home at exactly the right point for him and for us. We should have our home study in hand by Monday or Tuesday, and then we can submit our form for USCIS approval. We have the form completely filled out already, so we just have to drop it in the mail as soon as the home study arrives. At that point, we will also be able to start filling out grant applications. God has provided all of the funds that we needed for our pre-approval fee, the initial agency fee, our home study fee, and USCIS fee. We are very thankful for that, but we are several thousand dollars short of the money we will need for our next agency fee, and we have to pay that before our dossier can be sent to China. Please continue to pray that God will provide all of the funds that we need, and that our adoption will not be delayed.

We do have a fundraising opportunity that we are excited to share with you. We will be holding a Jamberry Nail wrap fundraiser from Monday Sept. 8 through the following Sunday. During that time, 30% of everything bought through Jonathan's party will be donated to his adoption. I will be sending out facebook invitations to many of you to join Jonathan's party, but if you don't get an invitation and would like to participate, please contact me and I will happily add you. I know there are some who follow this blog, but aren't friends with Greg or me on facebook. I can highly recommend these nail wraps to anyone. They really do work as advertised and come in many fun colors and patterns. I have used them with great success on my sister Kathryn. Because of her significant cerebral palsy, it is very difficult for her to hold her hands still and flat long enough to have them painted, and they chip almost as soon as they are finished. When we use the Jamberry wraps, they look nice for a full week. It is fun for her to be able to have fancy nails like her sisters

Kathryn is showing off her Easter wraps, and the confetti wraps she chose for her birthday party.

As always, thank you for following our story, and for all of your support as we work to bring Jonathan home.