Sunday Prayers vol. 8

This past week has been one of extreme spiritual warfare!  For starters my company car was hit last weekend in the middle of the night.  More than half of the appointments I'd set up for work cancelled, or no showed on me.  Wes and I both are feeling very pulled by our jobs and careers.  I have a giant bruise on my backside and an eye infection!  And those are just the things that come to mind quickly!!!

Here are this week's prayer requests:

1. Health and restful sleep for both Wes and me.
2. RAIN...we got a little more this week, but I'm still praying for more.
3. Danny.  As always he is at the front of my mind and the top of my heart.  I love him so much and yet I've not met him.  How is this possible?
4. USCIS application: we plan to put this in the mail this week.  Prayers for a speedy return are greatly appreciated.

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.  #4 on our list is very important, so if you choose one, I ask that be it!

Thanks for loving and praying with us!

best news ever! (ok, so far)

Our FBI back ground checks showed up TODAY!!!! I thought it would be another week or so, but God is good and they were there today.  That means we are only waiting for one more item and our home-study will be done.  After that we will be submitting our USCIS application, which is somewhere between a 45 and 90 day process.  Next prayer request: USCIS gets back as soon as possible.

Thanks for continuing to pray friends!

it's probably too early to tell you this...

But I talked to the folks at the FBI today (ps: that still cracks me up!) and got some good news!  Our back ground checks have been completed, and sent to be "sealed." Once the seal has been applied they will be mailed to us, so we should have them by next week!

Also, our social worker called today with some last minute questions since she is working on the final draft of our home study.  She promised commited to get it done so we can be ready to submit our USCIS application in the next two weeks.  This means we are finally making forward progress!!!

**Update on Sunday Prayers**

1. Stephanie Barnett has updated her blog with a short and sweet post...and she had to go to the hospital today, not sure what's up, but something with her foot/ankle.  Please pray she is mobile soon!
2. The Rhodes's insurance is going to cover the damage to the rental property!!  They will pay only a small deductible, so fundraising and saving for the adoption continues.

Sunday Prayers vol. 7

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I'm quite proud of myself for blogging under this title (on time) for seven weeks in a row.  I only wish that I had thought of it sooner, so I could easily know how many weeks we have been in the process of adopting.  Oh well!

Before I get to this week's requests I want to let you know of a few crazy things that have been going on this week.  Our friends, the Barnett's, car was broken into and their laptop with all their adoption paperwork on it, was stolen.  My company car was hit while it was parked on the street Friday night.  Our other friends, the Rhodes's, rental property flooded leaving at least $10,000 worth of damage.  The thing that links all three of these families together is that we are all adopting via Reece's Rainbow.  Needless to say, Satan has been working over-time in our lives, and we all need your prayers.  Now more than ever!  So here goes with this week's edition of Sunday Prayers.

1. David & Stephanie Barnett get their laptop returned. Also, that they hear this week when their travel to Eastern Europe will occur so they can go meet their beautiful new children!
2. Marty & Mandy Rhodes insurance will cover the damage on their rental property with a minimal deductible.
3. That my company will choose to replace my car so that I can be safe in all my travels.
4. RAIN!!  (We got a little last week, but it's gonna take a whole lot more.)
5. That those FBI back-ground checks will come back THIS WEEK.
6. For our USCIS (immigration) documents to be ready to mail by NEXT WEEK.
7. That USCIS will be speedy in getting our "golden ticket" to us so we can travel to meet Danny in October.

This is a pretty serious list this week, but I know you are all serious prayer warriors.  Thank you again for following along with us, and praying with us.

Sunday Prayers vol. 6

I can't sleep well lately, so I've been spending lots of time thinking about our boy.  The wait is so frustrating for me at this point!  Our hands are tied until we get our FBI back-ground checks in, however I've realized something.  Since our Social Worker is so thorough we will pretty much be ready to submit our dossier when she is finished with our home-study.  Now, we won't be able to do this because then we start waiting for the USCIS approval, which we need before we send our dossier...but the nice thing is we are getting closer.  Slowly but surely!  Here are this week's prayer requests in no particular order:

1. RAIN!  (still completely unrelated to adoption, but it's getting desperate over here!)
2. Peaceful heart and mind.  I am really struggling with how long this process is taking and could use some peace, and I'm hoping with peace comes rest.
3. Danny.  We love him so much, and I have days I weep that he is in an orphanage and doesn't know we are coming for him....I've heard other families who prayed someone would whisper in their child's ear to let them know mom and dad are coming.  Will you pray this with me? We want Danny to know we are coming just as fast as we can get there!
4. Our jobs....I know this is a repeat from several weeks ago, but things aren't resolved yet, in fact, there are even more questions lately!  Please pray for discernment for both of us that we are in the jobs our God needs us to be in right now.
5. Our friends the Barnett's are waiting for travel dates to go meet their kids in another Eastern European country.  This is great news, but it's much faster than originally expected, so please pray for blessings in fundraising (they still need about $10,000!!!) as well as their children who will stay here while they travel, and their three they are going to meet.
6. Today I am going to begin working on our USCIS application.  This is a 30 page document that has to be perfect, and you can't save it while working on it!  Please pray that I get all the little boxes filled out the right way the first time.

Thank you friends and family for following, praying, and loving.  Have any of you considered expanding your family through adoption today?

who doesn't need joy like this in their life?

Josie appears to be one of the most joyful faces on Reece's Rainbow right now.  Have you thought about adopting?  Would Josie fit in your family?  Think about it...pray about it...do something about it!

Sunday Prayers vol. 5

Gonna be a short post tonight, and since I'm out of town until Friday this is most likely the last one until next Sunday's installment.  :)

1. Our friends the Barnett's...their country has decided to keep adoptions open for special needs children while they reorganize their structure.  This is fantastic news for the Barnett's, but it also means their timeline to raise $10,000 has been greatly shortened!  To help out and read their story click here: Donate to the Barnett's.

2. Our friends the Hinz's.  Same story as above.  To help them out and read their story click here: Donate to the Hinz's.

3. RAIN!  We got a little bit today, but need a lot more.

4. The FBI.  I am asking you to pray for them because if we don't get our back-ground checks soon I'm gonna get really mad!  (hahaha)

5. Remember that job thing from last week?  Keep praying on that please.

6. Finally, I will be travelling for work all this week, so prayers for safe travel are greatly appreciated.

Thanks friends, we love you all!

obstacles

To say adopting is filled with obstacles is an understatement!  We are still so early in the process and yet we have come in contact with obstacles a plenty.  Here are some, and how we are handling them, or what we are doing about them and in some cases suggestions if you want them.

1. Money!  I think this is probably the single biggest reason families who might be compelled to adopt end up not going through with it.  We are very blessed with friends and families who are very supportive of us financially.  Also when we bring Danny home (finally!) our respective companies will provide us a small amount of assistance.  Are you thinking about adopting, but can't pull the trigger because of money? Check with your employer, many times they offer adoption benefits that are never used because no one knows about them!

2. Paperwork! Whew.  This is a doozy.  I have a huge file folder that is already completely full of the paperwork that adoption requires of us.  And yet there are still missing items at this point.  Our homestudy won't be complete until we get our FBI back-ground checks back, our medical statements, as well as our psychological statements.  You read that right, we have to be evaluated psychologically in order to adopt!  With both of us working more than full time jobs right now this is far and away the most daunting obstacle we have faced so far.  It has taken a significant amount of time to go to doctor's appointments, get forms signed, notaries, apostilles.

3. Nay-Sayers! While completely expected this is still quite frustrating.  Wes and I have been very lucky that we have been quite shielded from this, but it still happens.  I am finding that our new "adoption friends" are enduring much more of this than I think is appropriate.  We know that adoption of a child with special needs is controversial but the questions that come are incredibly exhausting and most of the time RUDE.  If you want to know why we are adopting...ask.  If you have a question that you think *might* be offensive it probably is.  If you still want to know the answer...ask, but don't be surprised if you get an answer you don't like.

4. Time! I am not a patient person. Adoption takes a long time.  Things do not move quickly and most of them are out of our control.  There aren't a lot of things we can do to speed this process up other than pray.  So we are spending this waiting time praying, fundraising, making new friends and praying! (Yes, I know I put that last one in twice.  We do it a lot.)  If anyone has any suggestions on this one they would be appreciated!

So those are the current obstacles.  This is not a complete list by any means, just what we are dealing with now.  Again, any questions let me know and I will do my best.  Thanks for your prayers!

twitter followers unite! (or something like that)

If you're coming here because of twitter - welcome! We are currently trying to gather items for a silent auction to Help Bring Danny Home. We will be holding this auction at a fundraiser in October. Danny is a beautiful 3 1/2 year old boy currently living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  He has Down's Syndrome.  Jessica & Wes (owners of this blog) are in the process of adopting him. We, their friends, are trying to help raise funds to offset the astronomical cost of bringing this little boy to the loving home he deserves.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Email me at crystal at gaitanfamily dot com. You can read back posts of this blog to hear more about their story and how Jessica and Wes arrived at their decision.  If you would like to speak to me by phone, email me and I will send you my phone number.

Any funds raised beyond the needs Wes & Jessica have in their adoption will be donated back to Reece's Rainbow to help other orphans! 

Much thanks!

Crystal, Emily & all Friends of the Family!

Sunday Prayers vol. 4

Today has been a tough day.  Even though our grant has been growing steadily for the past three days and we see hope I am still discouraged.  I spent the day at the pool with friends and watched tons of kids and all I could think about was Danny!  He needs to be next to me in the pool!  Has he ever seen a body of water bigger than a bathtub? What did he have for dinner?  Is he sleeping well? Clothed properly? Loved, hugged, kissed?  I'm torturing myself, so here are our prayer requests this week:

1. That Danny is happy and healthy.
2. That we get the rest of our paperwork together in the next two weeks.
3. Pray that the FBI gets back to us no later than July 14th.  (This is the date they told me was their legal deadline.)
4. RAIN!  (It still hasn't, and there is none in the forecast!)


Thanks friends!

adoption bonus!

One of the totally unexpected (to me) parts of adoption is the new group of friends we have made.  We continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by the support we get from people who have adopted, are adopting, have kids with Down Syndrome....it's amazing!  Do you want to "meet" some of our new friends?  Check out their blogs, links are embedded.  Thanks for the donations today, every little bit helps a ton!  Check back tomorrow as I attempt to make it four weeks in a row of Sunday Prayers.

The Rhodes Family

The Hinz Family

The Lewis Family

The Woddell Family

The Lim Family

The Barnett Family

our Grant took a jump!

I was just sitting here thinking about how it's been weeks since our grant moved....but I was wrong!  It has moved sometime in the past week or so from $290 to $340!!!!  It's great to know that we are $50 closer to getting Danny home.  Every little bit helps, friends!

PS: Have you seen what our friends the Rhodes are doing? I'm resorting to guilt here people!
Click the link below to find out...
$13 and 1,000 people can make a HUGE difference!