I posted this morning on the baby brother blog and decided to post it here as well. Lord willing, perhaps soon we will have a baby brother.
We did it!
As of April 10, 2008, we have a completed home study and are officially approved to be able to adopt a child! I feel as excited as I would if I finally passed an entrance exam, got a much anticipated acceptance letter or was looking at a positive pregnancy test! It is a stellar day.
After five months of countless hours of writing, reading, training, interviewing, compiling and copying every important document I own – we have a nine page report that concludes with this recommendation:
“Dan and Beth present a close, loving and stable relationship. They are devoted to one another and their children. They are experienced parents and excellent role models with supportive extended family members and friends. They have strong moral and ethical characters. Dan and Beth are emotionally mature and financially stable. They are able to provide optimal opportunity for growth and genuine love for an additional child. Family Connection Christian Adoptions highly recommend Dan and Beth Lambdin for adoption.”
Within minutes of getting this official report I got online and began applying for adoption grants….yes more paperwork. <sigh> 🙂
The first grant application should be in the mail by Monday. (and will take 90-120 days to process) I will be researching other grants as well.
Here is our current financial situation:
The final adoption through the agency in Tennessee will cost: $7,500 (as long as there are no unforseen legal expenses)
The airfare to Tennessee to pick up the baby will cost aproximatly: $800 – $1000 (for 2 round trip air fares)
The “post placement” visits will cost a total of: $1,200
That is a grand total of $9,500+ left for us to raise before we get “the call” that there is a baby waiting for us. We are leaving it in God’s hands. We have already spent over $5,500 on adoption and home study expenses to date.
$9,500 – hmmmmmm – to us it might as well be nine million. But to God it is NOTHING!
We curently have $125 in our adoption savings account and although it feels like starting over – but we are ready to get going on this next amount.
We will be having a yard sale on Saturday, May 10 – for anyone locally who has sellable items they would like to donate. That is currently our only “plan”.
The girls and I were brainstorming the other day and “running some numbers” to see how many donations it would take to get to this amount:
Easy Math – 9,500 people each giving $1 (of course we do not know 9,500 people) or how about 950 people donating $10 each?
How about this math?
100 donations of $15 each = $1,500
100 donations of $25 each = $2,500
100 donations of $50 each = $5,000
Maybe we do know 300 people who would help us out! (Thanks to the several dozens of you who already have helped us by donating or by purchasing a wreath at Christmas) If you want to be a part of helping us adopt a child you can donate Online here! (Paypal or credit card) Or you can mail a check to:
313 W Robinhood Dr
Stockton, CA 95207
We appreciate all of you who have become a part of this adoption journey with us. If anyone out there has any great ideas on how to raise this money – please let us know!
Inspire Ministries 