Making it Happen | Reece's Rainbow

The other day in a facebook group for those who have adopted or are in the process, the topic of grants came up.  I was a little surprised to learn that many, many members of the group said they'd applied to every grant listed on google, and had received none.  I'll be honest and say that I had been really hoping, maybe even depending, on grant money to make this adoption happy.  I was a little dismayed for a while, and worry really started to set in.  How in the world were we going to pay for this adoption?  Was it going to actually happen, when it came down to the wire for the funding?

After a gentle rebuke from a faithful friend reminding me that fear is not of the Lord and that, if He is bringing me to "Mila" then nothing in the world can stop that, I began to breath again.  God has been faithful over and over in this adoption already! Goals have been shared and met on repeat. He keeps showing up in mighty ways!  But let me share some encouragement for anyone considering the process and worried about funding: don't.

We are not rich people. Actually, I laughed as I typed that sentence, because the idea is so hilarious.  Granted, we are rich when you consider the bulk of the world and those in poverty.  We're rich because we have indoor plumbing and electricity and we don't worry about our next meal.  But in America's mind, we are not rich. Honestly we're probably lower middle class.  You know, the "Working Poor" who doesn't qualify for assistance but struggles at times to make ends meet.  We have six children, who are eating 23 hours and 45 minutes out of every day, I think, and one has celiac disease, meaning our house eats a gluten free diet to avoid him becoming cross exposed and having a serious medical reaction.  My 12 passenger van is 17 years old.  The other day I grabbed a shirt out of my closet and later saw in my facebook "on this day" that I had worn the same shirt eight years ago. Ha! So we are not rich. Not by most standards, anyway.

But, we are determined.

As I type this, my husband is on the second half of a 16 hour shift.  I have packages in the mailbox outside, because I've been selling my daughter's outgrown dresses in facebook resale groups. I have 425 hearts on my wall (still more to go, but my hand started cramping at all the cutting, lol) that I sold for $1 each in a fundraiser.  I have three boxes of gently used clothing I've been gathering for a local friend selling in a consignment sale to benefit us.  I annoy the snot out of everyone on my facebook friends list ON THE DAILY to help us, to see her sweet face, to see the faces of OTHER kids, too, and to get involved.  We are waiting on our tax returns to file the i600-a immigration paperwork we need to be allowed to bring her into our country.  Each dress I can sell or every 10 hearts means one more sheet of paper I can get apostilled for our dossier.  I'm working with Walmart to do a bake sale. There are two friends who own/manage restaurants that are doing fundraisers for us.

We work our tail ends off to get it done, because when something is important to you, you find a way, not an excuse.  And she is important to us.  Her life is valuable, and we will do what it takes.

A friend used this analogy and it hit home for me. Pretend for a moment that your child was kidnapped and held for, let's say, $30,000 ransom.  Would you walk away, sadly, shaking your head? "Well, that's impossible.  I guess she's just gone now."  No! You'd sell everything not nailed down and beg everyone you knew to help! You'd work as many hours as your employer allowed for overtime. You'd empty your 401K.  If you'd take out a loan for a house, you'd certainly take out a loan for your child's life.

So that's where we are.  If you would ask if we're CRAZY, I would laugh and tell you that absolutely, yes, we are crazy.  But if you ask how we can afford it, well, this is how.  Sheer determination, a Mighty and Faithful God, and a large amounts of coffee.

She's worth it.  And she's not alone.  There are millions more like her, waiting to be worth it to someone else.  Are you ready to make the sacrifice?

Heart Attack | Reece's Rainbow

Our house is under a "heart attack!"

I posted a video of my son sharing about this adorable Valentine inspired fundraiser for our adoption, and word spread like wildfire! Every $1 donated equals one heart on our wall, which may be personalized with a name (or phrase, bible verse etc).  This visual representation of all the people supporting us and "praying Mila home" has been so encouraging and inspiring to our family!  

I see post after post about the forgotten orphans. Children who have died -usually of starvation, drug overdose, or abuse- before families found them. And while these posts are incredibly hard to read, they're so important, because this is reality.  This is a serious issue, and people need to know just how urgent the need is.  However, it's incredibly draining.  It's difficult to think about all our girl may be experiencing before she's in our arms, but seeing that she's not forgotten, that our girl is SEEN by the people in our lives and even strangers who care,...I can't tell you what it means to us.  She's so real in our lives and hearts already, so much more than a picture.  She's our daughter.

In other news, our first dossier packet came back from the apostille yesterday! Actually apostilled, this time, haha. Hopefully I can find another family traveling soon who's willing to take our papers with them, and they'll be in her country before long!

There's really not much else to report, honestly.  We are working on our educational requirements for the home study and umbrella agency.  Watching videos, reading books. I spend lots of time each day googling adoption grants that we can't yet apply for but I'm getting everything ready to send the day our home study comes back completed.  We are just at work.  It's a full time job, but it's the absolute best kind of "work."

Thanks for the "heart attack," Guys! The fundraiser is going on through Valentine's Day! If we aren't facebook friends, there's a link to our Reece's Rainbow page here on my blog, and you can donate there. :)

Community | Reece's Rainbow

I just have to share this because it's really on my heart. Yesterday our social worker asked us about "community." Not where we live, but a community of friends and family around us who care for our family and support our adoption process, and whom we can count on to love and care for us and "Mila" once she's home.

We have that.

Honestly we have lived in this city for only two months and at least three or four of the people in mind as our "community" are local to our new home. Isn't that incredible? I feel like the Lord really went before us and prepared and ordained every step of us buying our house exactly where we did, so that we would meet the people we've met. But they aren't the only "community." There are many people in our lives who love our family so well. Whether that means sharing clothing your kids have outgrown, helping out with fundraising, offering to keep kids while we attend appointments to meet dossier requirements, or just simply asking how things are going and letting us know you are thinking of/praying for us, this community built around "Mila's" adoption is absolutely immeasurable in value to us.

So, yes, we have a "community." Mila has a community.That sweet girl doesn't even know we exist yet, but she is loved beyond measure, prayed for daily by many mouths, and faithfully cared for, to prepare her way home.

So thank you, to each of you who are a part of our community. I hope there comes a time when we can return to favor and be more on the giving end of things, but for now we are more thankful than I think many of you realize, for your love and support while we go through to process of bringing "Mila" from orphan to daughter. I had no hesitation at all in telling our social worker that "Mila" will have community here, when she's home. She is already so well loved.

Weight Lifted | Reece's Rainbow

After two months of gathering paperwork, filling out forms, having medical visits for the eight of us and our two dogs, and waiting on background checks to come in, today we finally met with our social worker to begin the home study process.  Let me tell you, I cleaned my house like the Queen of England, herself, was coming! I mean, really, this lady is more important to me. No offense to the Queen, I'm sure you're lovely, but this lady is key in bringing "Mila" home, so... LOL.

Wouldn't you know, she just barely stuck her head in the boys' bathroom? I spent DAYS cleaning. You could LICK THEIR FLOOR, People. She just glanced in.  I'm all, "Hey, let's pull back the shower curtain! What's that? The tile is FLAWLESS?! I'm so glad you noticed!" Hahaha!

But anyway, our social worker was quite nice, and we had a wonderful discussion regarding Mila, Robbie and my families, she met our children, walked our home, and all of that wonderful, normal stuff.  And in the end, I was completely over-stressed out about today's visit, for absolutely no reason.  Robbie and I are good parents with a safe home with adequate space, sufficient income, and clean bills of health and background checks.  I just tend to be an over-thinker, by nature.

Also, I have a three year old, and you never know what might come out of his mouth. Ha!

In other adoption news, our dossier packet #1 is (back) at the apostille today!  It was sent once before and promptly returned, which led us to the discovery that our state requires each document to be county certified before apostille. After getting that finished, it's once again back at the apostille, delivered this morning. Big day, between the home study and the apostille!  Hopefully these dossier documents will be back shortly -apostilled this time- and we can send them to her country.  Finally!

We are so eager to bring Mila home! Right now we are focusing on completing the educational portion of our home study, which includes some videos, books, and Hague education.  We're still trucking along with our dossier, as well, and getting grants ready to be sent out once the home study is complete.  It's a lot.  It's often overwhelming.  But it's bringing us closer to our girl, so we just keep right on!

Slow and Steady | Reece's Rainbow

We are still making slow and steady progress toward bringing "Mila" home.  There's so much to be done and sometimes I really start to worry about the funding, but I'm choosing to believe that God's hand is all over this adoption, He loves "Mila" even more so than we do, and this is not only for her good and ours, but for His will and glory.  It's going to be okay.

Yesterday we found out that our dossier costs will be exactly double what we'd expected.  Our first dossier packet was returned to us from the apostille, not apostilled.  Apparently our state is one of only a few that require county certification of notarized documents before they're apostilled, and that fee is equal to the apostille fee, meaning we pay double for every single sheet we send out.  And there are a lot, lol.  Our passport document alone is ten pages, and just a small portion of our dossier.  Today we will be finishing with the county certifier the returned paperwork, and getting those sent to the apostille once again.  A small hiccup, but we will be right back on track soon.

I have spent the past couple of days in the bedroom that will belong to "Mila," sanding and painting her dresser, Two of our other children also share that bedroom, for now, so I've had to rearrange everyone's clothing to prove to our social worker that there is adequate room for our Eastern European Princess and all that she will require. The whole family got involved with chipping away at the old paint and sanding!  Our three year old son was so proud of himself, and kept saying how he's going to be a big brother again. We are all so excited!

"Mila's" bed is set up and waiting for her, and she has a few articles of clothing in her dresser.  Reality is setting in, and it's wonderful! Though I'm collecting a few things for her now, I intend to get much more after we have met and I know more about what size clothing she'll need.  We have decided to make two trips to her country rather than one long stay.  Because "Mila" has physical needs to which we do not yet know the extent, Robbie and I feel that making two trips will give us a chance to better prepare our home for her, before she's living here.  At that point we'll also better know any more needs we have, such as clothing but maybe more, and can share with our family and friends who are eager to be able to help out.  We've been truly blessed with lots of people who love our girl already!

I think that's all for now!  There's really a lot of "behind the scenes" work going on with the dossier, but there's just not a lot to tell.  It's the paper chase!  We are hurrying along. :)

Got Coffee? | Reece's Rainbow

We are making progress toward bringing "Mila" home! It often seems painstakingly slow, but then I look back and see how far we've come in the six weeks since we made our commitment to her, and it seems like a lot is getting done! I guess adoption really is a lot like a "paper pregnancy" in that it seems to go by so quickly for everyone except for the mama. :)

We have our first dossier papers at the apostille right now, hopefully back this week, and then another adoptive mother is bringing them in country with her, when she travels later this month. That feels like a big step, and it's so exciting to know that something with our name on it will actually, finally be in our daughter-to-be's country!  This week we will be working on more dossier papers, and getting them sent out to the apostille, as well.  If it sounds boring and repetitive, well, sometimes it feels that way.  Sign, notarize, get approved, apostille, send out. Repeat. :) But it's all several small, baby steps closer to bringing her home.

Fundraising! As the title of this post hinted, I've got a coffee fundraiser going on right now! I'm really excited to announce that we have teamed with Just Love Coffee, and a percentage of each purchase using our link will be donated toward the cost of "Mila's" adoption. There are lots of great options, too! We love coffee in this house, so I love this fundraiser that really fits us, haha!

This week I'll be working in Rosie and "Mila's" room, sanding and painting a dresser to put in there.  I really just can't wait to fill it up with clothing for "Mila!" At some point recently, it really hit me, how profoundly sad it is that no clothing has ever been bought specifically for her.  I honestly can't even fathom that.  The things we take for granted over here on this side of things, right?  When she leaves the orphanage, we will be changing her clothes first, because this sweet girl is not entitled to even the clothes on her back. Not that I want them! I'm more than eager for her to leave behind her orphan status and everything associated with it, and step into the role waiting for her, as wanted and cherished daughter and sister.  But goodness, it breaks my heart, how this sweet girl has never worn a dress that someone bought because they wanted her to have it.

So thankful her story doesn't end in that orphanage. So thankful our own story includes her, in the future. I'm looking forward to the chapter where her story meets my own. <3

Introducing "Mila" | Reece's Rainbow

I have attempted to blog several times over the course of the past few years, but I've been encouraged and motivated beyond the norm to start and maintain one, now.  We are in the process of adoption!  I'm so excited to say that we are committed to adopting a sweet little girl who currently resides in an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  "Mila" is already a loved and anticipated addition to our forever family, and we can't wait to bring her home!

A little family background, for those who do not know us: Robbie and I are high school sweethearts.  We started "dating" (as much as you can "date" when you can't yet drive!) when we were fourteen years old, in our freshman year.  We married less than six months after we graduated and the rest, as they say, is history! We have been married for thirteen years now, and have been blessed to be parents to six biological children ranging from 1 year to 11 years.  We first had five sons, followed by a daughter. "Mila" will be coming into a family full of love and eager anticipation for her arrival!

I have been asked why a family who already has six children and obviously no fertility issues would be looking at adoption.  Here's the short answer: God. To further elaborate, God really pushed on our hearts to care for the "least of these," as the Bible says. Who is more vulnerable in life than the orphaned child?  God began to work in breaking our hearts for the orphan in a way that our family no longer seemed complete.  We want to be clear that we are not "saving" Mila. God alone saves and God alone redeems. We are simply following where the Lord leads, and He is leading us to add this precious face to our family.  We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to love and raise "Mila" as our child and we love her already!

I'll continue to update this blog as we progress in the adoption process, and any fundraising opportunities. For now, we ask for your continued prayers for the process to go smoothly and the funding to be there, so that we can bring Mila home.  We also ask for prayer for Mila herself, as she will go from the only "home" she's ever known -the orphanage- to a family in a new and unfamiliar country.  We recognize that it will be quite the transition for her, and we pray she quickly bonds with us and feels safe and loved as we bring her home, and as we get the medical attention she will be needing.

Here's our family page, if you feel led to help us along on our journey!
http://reecesrainbow.org/113916/sponsorperry-5