Adoption Fundraiser

We are so very thankful....

We cannot even begin to describe how blessed we feel to have so many wonderful friends and family.  For the last four days we have been in full blown garage sale mode.  We have been all over Coppell picking up generous donations for the sale.  There are so many amazing pieces- two treadmills, a sleeper sofa, antique chairs and lamps, 2 desks, wingback chairs, a wooden playset, a 1966 Encyclopedia Britannica set, 5 TV's (yes, five!), strollers and so much more.  It's been a lot of work getting everything organized, but we know it will all be worth it in the end.  We cannot thank you all enough for all the love, support, and prayers you have sent our way.

One more thing we accomplished this week- our paperwork for All God's Children!  My goodness, there must have been over twenty places in that 12 page contract that we needed a notary.  Thank you Susan for being so patient with us, we love you!  Our contract hits the mail tomorrow- a major hurdle in our "paperwork" stage.

Next week we will compile our documents for the home study.  Luckily, since we just completed this process back in November, we have all our paperwork organized and tabbed in a binder.  Really all we need to do is get a medical clearance from the doctor.  Our wonderful social worker, Tinya, from Family to Family, will start meeting with us the last week in June and is hopeful she will finish in less than six weeks.  Amazing!

Lastly, we are posting a video below for all to see.  Dennis Wilkinson, the pastor at FUMC Coppell, has been an incredible cheerleader for our adoption cause.  Not only did he climb up into his super hot attic to grab some items for the garage sale, but he has been spreading the word of our adoption.  We love Pastor Dennis!  If you watch below you will see his son, Graham, is tremendously talented.  One of our favorite things about this video is getting to see the extended family sing along with Graham.

To find our more about Graham go here: http://www.grahamwilkinsonmusic.com/

Garage Sale

That's right, we are having our very first fundraiser on Friday, June 17th in Coppell.  We would love to take all your junk (and by that we mean anything!) off your hands for the sale.  Just give us a call and we will come pick it up!

Natalie is putting the final touches on the Scott Adoption T-Shirts and meeting with our favorite t-shirt lady tomorrow.  We will post the images on here soon and start taking orders.

Please, please continue to pray for our adoption.  We are excited, scared, overwhelmed, and overjoyed to be at this stage.

We've only just begun...

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:21

We are at the very beginning of our Ethiopian adoption process.  We have decided to work through All God's Children International (www.allgodschildren.org).  One of the reasons we picked this agency is because they have an amazing program called Positively Chosen.  This will allow us to adopt a special child that is HIV positive. (To find out more about this check out www.projecthopeful.org)  Although we have been "pre-approved" for this program, we have not been officially matched with a child and will probably have to wait a few months for that decision to be made.

Right now we are trying to get our ducks in a row, which includes a LOT of paperwork.  You all may remember back in October when we were frantically pulling paperwork together for our Russian adoption.  Since we are now changing adoptive countries, we will be starting the home study process over again.   On top of that, we are also investigating several fundraising ideas and grant programs.  When we look at the numbers for this adoption it can be very scary, but we are putting our faith in Him!  

Just last week, Ethiopia announced they are decreasing their international adoptions by up to 90%.  This may mean we will be waiting significantly longer to be able to take our sweet orphan home, but we know that this is all in His time, not ours.

This is a video of Hannah's Hope Ethiopia.  John and I watched it a couple of weeks ago and it's been on our minds ever since.  

As we continue on our adoption journey, please keep us, the orphans, and the incredible staff at All God's Children International in your prayers.  May all involved in the process know God's eternal love and follow the path He paved.