A Couple of Things…

What a good week!

We have received our USCIS clearance this week!! It was sooo exciting to get that in the mail. Praise the Lord! This is a HUGE step!

We are totally amazed at what God has done in moving our process along. This means we need to raise our final fees and our travel expenses ASAP.

We are currently doing two fundraisers to help. Would you take a look and maybe pass them along?

First: Usborne Books! I have ordered from Usborne before, and they are good quality books.

The lady who is hosting this for us is donating 100% of her profits to our FSP on Reece’s Rainbow. Pretty cool. Click on the following link, then click “shop” and then click on the name Jeanie Lewis.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fw3170.myubam.com%2F&h=XAQG4152E

Our other fundraiser is these adorable (mostly) glass bead bracelets made by a local artist and completely donated to our cause. For just a $5 donation to our FSP, you can pick the bracelet of your choice. The instructions are listed at the top of this album.

https://www.facebook.com/jeanie.lewis.773#!/jeanie.lewis.773/photos?collection_token=100004284393488%3A2305272732%3A69&set=a.190085327810946.1073741829.100004284393488&type=3

I am so excited and overjoyed! (And a bit exhausted, LOL!) Thank you so much for your patience and support! God bless you.

What’s Going On This Week

Yesterday the hubby and I drove in the early morning traffic down to USCIS (immigration office) to have our biometrics done. Basically, we are walked into a building where they electronically take our fingerprints and send them to the Dept. of Homeland Security. (Sounds so official, doesn’t it?)This means that as soon as these are processed, we will have approval from our country to bring our daughter into the U.S. After we receive the document stating this, we will have all our “stuff” finished on the U.S. side, and we will just be waiting on our daughter’s country to process and send us a travel date. Yeah!

This week we were also able to send a small photo book to our sweet girl! Included were pictures of our family and our home. The orphanage director wants to work with her to make sure she is familiar with us so that the transition can go more smoothly. Oh, her little heart! I cannot wait to see that sweet face and hold her in my arms. Also, the wonderful folks at her orphanage were kind enough to give us updated measurements on her so that we can begin to buy clothes. HOW FUN!! (She is teeny tiny, by the way.) Please keep the prayers coming and remember to share our link with anyone who has a heart for orphans. We need this number to be $6000 to be fully funded for travel expenses. http://reecesrainbow.org/55760/sponsorlewis-4

Peace, Love, and Joy!

Seeing God Working

“Faith is the deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” ~Oswald Chambers

The house next to ours has been on the market for a long time. Due to the recession, it’s changed hands and was finally given back to the bank. It just sat there for over a year, and was becoming a nuisance to our neighborhood as our property values seemed to be sinking as they continued to lower the price on this house. It has finally sold!

It’s funny how God works through seemingly ordinary things.

I met the family yesterday that is planning to move in to that house. I practically blurted out way too much information to them when I heard their accents. Their nationality? You guessed it: the same as Riya’s! Our new next-door neighbors will share the same heritage as our daughter. Can you believe that? This gives me so much joy!

Now if only I can get them to not think I’m crazy…

God is so good.

Yipee!

Well, I cannot write a blog about our needs last week, and not update you on what has transpired since, can I?

Because of God’s provision and your generosity, we are about to send in a payment to our agency! Woop! This will cover a huge chunk of our fees, and will allow us to move forward and get a lot closer to bringing this precious child home to her family.

Can I tell you how overjoyed we are? THANK YOU SO MUCH!

For those of you who gave directly, Thank you. You have enabled us to pay for fees that were already due. I cannot portray to you how kind and generous folks have been. We have been stunned by your thoughfulness.

For those of you who have supported us in our fundraisers, like Snacks N Strokes, etc, Thank you! You have allowed us to send in a larger check to our agency and helped to create memories for us and our daughter.

For those of you who have given to us through Reece’s Rainbow (http://reecesrainbow.org/55760/sponsorlewis-4), Thank you!! This will continue to grow as you give, and will help us cover our final costs and travel expenses.

To our new friends who have thoughtfully helped us learn more about the culture of our daughter, we are eternally grateful.

Please continue to pray for us as we await US immigration approval and go through the final phases of this journey.

Finally, please pray that we will find favor with a grant agency and receive what we need to pay for our final costs.

Joy, joy, joy!

 

Confession

I have a confession to make.

I like to think of myself as a person with strong faith. God has brought me so far. He has rescued me from so much. He has healed my family. He has held my hand when we lost a child. He has carried me in His arms when we discovered our Emmie was not ever coming home. He cannot be unfaithful because FAITHFUL is who He is. Praise God!

But this week I have not been as strong as I like to think that I normally am. I have worried. I have stressed. I confess. God forgive me! When has my God ever given me a reason to worry? Never. He has always been by my side.

Here’s what’s going on: We have some funds that are due right now. Scratch that. We have funds that are past due. Our agency has been so patient with us, but now the time has come for us to pay. We need to pay several fees that add up to over $8K. This seems like a bit of a mountain, but MY GOD created the mountains and He sure can move them!

We’ve paid a lot so far, in a large part to the generosity of our loving friends and family. Through our yard sale, our T-shirt sale (Thank you Meggan!), our online selling of used items, our photography mini sessions (thank you, Vanessa!), our selling of refinished furniture, our puzzle fundraiser (there’s still time to participate in this one), and simply sacrificing what we can from our personal funds, we have paid approximately $6k already. We are working HARD! THANK YOU!

I know that God has called us on this journey, and we can only do our best and let Him handle what we cannot.

So here I am, humbled, grateful, but unashamed. I will ask again. Because what is important is to walk by faith and obey God’s calling. If we are following His word to reach out to the orphans and widows, we are walking in His will.

Frequently asked questions:

Why does adoption cost so much?  It’s crazy, isn’t it? The truth is, we have to pay for many different services. One fee goes to our doctor for check ups, another to our agency for their work, another to immigration, another to India’s program, another to get passports, other costs help us fly and travel, etc.

Why didn’t you wait until you had $30K in your savings account to adopt? Again, a good question. The truth is, God called us clearly to adopt. He called us now. Waiting ten years to come up with that amount of savings can be a death sentence to an orphan who ages out of the system and is thrown to the streets of a third-world country. We are walking by faith. It’s hard. We are watched and judged. But we must listen to God rather than men.

Why not adopt from the U.S.? We feel strongly that our calling is to reach out to orphans overseas. That is where our heart is. However, we also realize that there are needy among us right here at home. So, we tried that! It was not meant to be. You can read our story here: http://reecesrainbow.org/55760/sponsorlewis-4

I am praying for you. Please pray for us. And please, consider giving to help this child come home soon to receive the medical care she needs.

You can give here: http://reecesrainbow.org/55760/sponsorlewis-4 This will help us with our travel expenses (We will need approx. $6K).

Or you can give via Paypal, which will help us now. (you can “gift” us any amount, using the email address (putting spaces in it here to help halt spammers): j ean iech arlie@y ahoo. com

In Christ,

Thank you!

Razors are sharp! (And other facts we take for granted…)

This morning I noticed that my razor was lying on the edge of our bathtub, and instinctively picked it up to put it away. As a mother, my natural inclination is to remove dangerous items out of reach of little hands: razors, knives, chemicals, plastic grocery bags, etc. I suppose after doing it for over a decade, it has become second nature to me.

On this occassion, I hesitated for a moment, thinking to myself, “The kiddos are old enough to know better. They wouldn’t play with my razor.” Ha. I laughed that thought away, because I know the natural inclination of little boys is to push the limits and seekout new adventures without even a thought.

Then it dawned on me. What about our daughter? Will Riya even know better? Has she ever even seen a razor? Or a knife? Or been told to be careful around such objects? We take for granted the basic facts that we all know since they have been engrained into us since we were infants; stoves are hot; don’t play behind a vehicle; don’t use the hair dryer in the bathtub; beware of strangers; etc., etc.

But imagine for a moment that you never lived in a home with a family. Imagine that you don’t know that a family eats dinner together, or never felt a bubble bath. Imagine being in first grade and never had a hug from your mom or dad. Imagine having never been tucked into bed at night.

My heart breaks for orphans, especially older orphans who have never known the love of a family. Please say a prayer for the orphans around the world. And if you’ve ever felt a tug at your heart to adopt, pray about doing so. There are so many orphans who need a family.

I know of a family who adopted four teenage girls. They told us that their daughters were never allowed at the the orphanage to do anything…not chores or cooking or  anything. Thier days were spent in boredom and waiting. So when the girls came home, they were so excited to learn basic skills, such as laundry and cooking. They soaked up the knowledge and attention like thirsty sponges. What a luxury to be able to learn and be given attention!

We will raise our daughter differently than most Americans will. We will take things slowly and not push her to be exactly like other little girls her age. We will allow her to learn at her own pace what it is like to be loved and grow and learn in safety. You may think some of our parenting methods are a bit unusual. If I let my daughter sit in my lap when she is 7 or 8 or 12, so be it. If I rock her to sleep at those same ages, she deserves it. She will know that it is ok to be vulnerable and that she is safe in our family.

In joyful anticipation…

P.S. Please continue to pray for us! We are currently awaiting immigration approval and still need to raise funds. Remember to RSVP for our Snacks N Strokes fundraiser in April!

 

Moving Quickly…

Wanted to update you all. More good news!

I will try not to bore you with complicated details, but I will say that we’ve jumped through two hoops in about a week that both usually take six weeks or more. God has heard our prayers and is moving our process along at a quick pace. THANK YOU JESUS!!

So, please bear with me and allow me to ask a favor of you. Would you copy and paste the following link onto your Facebook page or even send it to your email list? We will be required to pay a lot of upcoming fees (thousands of dollars) in a very quick amount of time. Here is the link:

http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorlewis-4

God bless you all. You prayer warriors have fought hard on our behalf and we are so very grateful!

Happy Dance!

I just got the wonderful news that registrations have opened in India! Woop! This is an answer to prayer. We are in the process of getting registered and boy will the ball begin to roll.

Thank you for praying! It means so much more to us than you can know.

Now that things are moving along, we will be due for a lot of money all at once. Please consider joining us for our Snacks N Strokes fundraiser on April 13th. For just $30 a person, or $50 for a couple, you can come paint a masterpiece to keep, enjoy delicious snacks and drinks, and help bring an orphan home to her family!

Or…

If you would like to give a tax-deductible donation, you can do so here:

http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorlewis-4

We are so excited!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Homestudy Cleared!

We just got word that our home study has cleared DHR and is ready to be sent to the USCIS (US immigration approval) in record time! Whoop! Praise the Lord!

One step closer….

Thank you for your prayers! Keep Praying!

Grants

We have begun applying for grants to help fund our adoption. Whew! More paperwork to fill out. But by this time I should be used to it.   We are praying for God’s favor on our applications so that we can be fully funded when the money is required.

This week, please pray for the following:

That the process continue to go smoothly.

That all red tape become no issue in our process.

That we can receive some specific information that we are awaiting from India.

That our fundraising efforts will pay off and be blessed!

 

Did I mention I love that little girl? I can’t wait to have a daughter at home!