We did it! We made it! Our wonderful, magnificent, all-powerful, and simply amazing Lord has provided us every dollar we need to fund our entire adoption!! Hallelujah! And yes, I really have been doing the Snoopy Dance. Just ask the girls...I do believe Jolene thinks I'm crazy! But I cannot help it, I am just SO excited! (And little does she know I did the same dance when we got her adoption referral - ask my sister, she will vouch for me.)
Well, if you missed the five hundred announcements I've made everywhere else, here is the scoop... We just received word on Friday that we have been awarded a $2000 grant from Show Hope. After our great grant news last week, the yea or nay from the Show Hope grant department was kind of the last piece to our puzzle. An "I'm sorry" message would have been okay as we were already really close to covering all the costs, but would also have meant a good deal of number crunching to be done to determine just exactly how shy of the goal we were. A "Congratulations" message of as little as $1000, however, would mean a definite coverage of our expenses and the freedom to relax and just enjoy the rest of the ride. Truth be told, between this grant, last week’s grant, and the money we have raised through our fund-raisers we should easily be able to cover every remaining expense associated with Jack’s adoption. Hurray! Hurray!
I cannot begin to fully express the miracle of this moment. We began this journey back in September as a complete leap of faith. We had not planned to adopt now, we had no financial plan to adopt now, and we really had no savings or budget to draw from to pay for adopting now. But as you all know we jumped in anyway and we are SO GLAD we did. With all of its ups and downs, delays and crazy interruptions, this journey has played out with more miracles and more “God moments” than we could ever have imagined. We are SO lucky that God chose us to be the participants in this story! And we are so excited that all of you have come along on the journey with us! I've said it before and I'll say it again - Our God is an AWESOME God, and there is NOTHING He cannot do!!!!
I cannot begin to fully express the miracle of this moment. We began this journey back in September as a complete leap of faith. We had not planned to adopt now, we had no financial plan to adopt now, and we really had no savings or budget to draw from to pay for adopting now. But as you all know we jumped in anyway and we are SO GLAD we did. With all of its ups and downs, delays and crazy interruptions, this journey has played out with more miracles and more “God moments” than we could ever have imagined. We are SO lucky that God chose us to be the participants in this story! And we are so excited that all of you have come along on the journey with us! I've said it before and I'll say it again - Our God is an AWESOME God, and there is NOTHING He cannot do!!!!
And here is the even better part... As much as we needed this last gift of funds to cross into adoption financial freedom, there is a slim possibility that we will end up not needing all of these funds as our current fee estimates may turn out to be too high. But let me see if I can explain that for you.
Right now, based upon our April 18 Log-in Date, we are looking a potential travel window of mid-August to mid-October. Obviously we are praying for August over October and happily earlier is actually more likely than later given the current dates being assigned by the Chinese government. But here is the catch, if just one of our remaining hurdles is completed ahead of schedule and we are able to travel in the first few days of August our final adoption expenses could be approximately $2400 lower than our current estimate. Why you ask? Because China just changed their post-adoption regulations and the new rules go into effect for all families getting their Travel Approval, which is typically received 10-14 days prior to travel, on or after August 1, 2011. So... if we travel as expected we will fall under the new regulations. If we travel just a week or two earlier than expected we will beat this deadline and thus not fall under the new regulations.
How does this save us money? Well, the new regulations require four more post-adoption reports than the two currently required as well as putting a few more minor changes into place. At a cost of $400 per report that difference adds up quickly. Not to mention our agency has doubled the post-adoption deposit they require from each family to assure compliance with the report requirements. In addition, our agency has also raised the processing/translation fees associated with these reports as they will now be processing a total of six reports per family rather than the currently required two reports. Understandable expenses all, but they still add up quickly. So, all this to say, if we can somehow be blessed with just a slight uptick in the processing timeline somewhere we could potentially travel a couple weeks earlier, avoid the higher fees, lower our actual adoption costs by about $2400 and thus have money left over at the end. How about that for an amazing possibility? Start with nothing, finish with extra and get to give money back. Now THAT is a miracle I would LOOOOOVE to see!
Right now, based upon our April 18 Log-in Date, we are looking a potential travel window of mid-August to mid-October. Obviously we are praying for August over October and happily earlier is actually more likely than later given the current dates being assigned by the Chinese government. But here is the catch, if just one of our remaining hurdles is completed ahead of schedule and we are able to travel in the first few days of August our final adoption expenses could be approximately $2400 lower than our current estimate. Why you ask? Because China just changed their post-adoption regulations and the new rules go into effect for all families getting their Travel Approval, which is typically received 10-14 days prior to travel, on or after August 1, 2011. So... if we travel as expected we will fall under the new regulations. If we travel just a week or two earlier than expected we will beat this deadline and thus not fall under the new regulations.
How does this save us money? Well, the new regulations require four more post-adoption reports than the two currently required as well as putting a few more minor changes into place. At a cost of $400 per report that difference adds up quickly. Not to mention our agency has doubled the post-adoption deposit they require from each family to assure compliance with the report requirements. In addition, our agency has also raised the processing/translation fees associated with these reports as they will now be processing a total of six reports per family rather than the currently required two reports. Understandable expenses all, but they still add up quickly. So, all this to say, if we can somehow be blessed with just a slight uptick in the processing timeline somewhere we could potentially travel a couple weeks earlier, avoid the higher fees, lower our actual adoption costs by about $2400 and thus have money left over at the end. How about that for an amazing possibility? Start with nothing, finish with extra and get to give money back. Now THAT is a miracle I would LOOOOOVE to see!
Now, you have to understand me here. Getting our Travel Approval before August 1st is not something that should happen. All timelines out there place us traveling mid-August at the very earliest. We have absolutely no reason to expect our paperwork to be completed on the China side in order for us to beat the clock and avoid the new regulations. To put it simply, it would take a complete act of God for this to happen. But since our expected dates are so very close to where they need to be and our God has done so many crazy-amazing things thus far, I for one am not willing to take it off the table. Wouldn't it be totally cool if the whole reason God put all of those crazy delays in place during our journey this winter was so He could work His miracle magic here at the end and show His awesomeness once more? I mean, it could happen, right? If I have learned anything over the last several months it is this - God can do ANYTHING - so I am certainly not going to say He can't.
So I guess that leaves me here... Counting how many days its been since our Log-In Date. Counting the days that pass as we wait for our Letter of Approval. Hoping that mountains will move so our Travel Approval will arrive before August 1st. Dreaming of the day we will actually board a plane to Luoyang, China, whether it be in August, September, October. And thanking the Lord daily for all that He has done and for all that He has yet to do. Yes, we have the funds we need to complete this journey, but the adventure isn't over yet. There are a lot of steps left for us to complete, but I am just excited as can be to see how they play out. On one hand I feel like nothing would surprise me at this point, but on another hand I can't wait to see how He does. =) God is good, and His love endures forever!
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to the Most High.
It is good to proclaim Your unfailing love in the morning,
Your faithfulness in the evening,
accompanied by the ten-stringed harp
and the melody of the lyre.
You thrill me, Lord, with all You have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what You have done.
O Lord, what great works You do!
Psalm 92: 1-5a
to sing praises to the Most High.
It is good to proclaim Your unfailing love in the morning,
Your faithfulness in the evening,
accompanied by the ten-stringed harp
and the melody of the lyre.
You thrill me, Lord, with all You have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what You have done.
O Lord, what great works You do!
Psalm 92: 1-5a
PRAISE THE LORD!!! SOOO excited for you all!!! Continuing to pray as you look forward to your TA and traveling at last! :D
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