DTE
>> Monday, April 19, 2010
We need how much right now? That was my response when Erika told me that we needed $7,200 to be able to take the next step in this adoption. We hadn’t been clear on exactly what was due when and so this amount was a shock to me. At that time our “adoption fund” had about $800. Last Wednesday Erika wrote a check for $7200 and sent it with all of our paperwork to AWAA to be reviewed. Our family coordinator, Nicole, told us on Thursday that our dossier looks good and will be sent to Ethiopia on Friday, April 23rd. We're excited to be done with the paperchasing stage and amazed that God provided so much money in such a short amount of time.
We are so thankful to all of you who the Lord has used to get us to this point in the adoption. Not very many weeks ago it did not seem possible that we would have all that we needed at any time in the near future. But God has been faithful to provide through many different ways.
As of Friday we’ll be DTE (dossier to Ethiopia). Now we begin this new phase of waiting for the good people in Ethiopia to connect us to a child. We still have to raise more money for some final fees and our travel costs. But we look forward to see how God will provide just as He has done until now.
We are so thankful to all of you who the Lord has used to get us to this point in the adoption. Not very many weeks ago it did not seem possible that we would have all that we needed at any time in the near future. But God has been faithful to provide through many different ways.
As of Friday we’ll be DTE (dossier to Ethiopia). Now we begin this new phase of waiting for the good people in Ethiopia to connect us to a child. We still have to raise more money for some final fees and our travel costs. But we look forward to see how God will provide just as He has done until now.
11 comments:
Hoooooray! Did you see we blatantly stole your thermometer idea? You know, cause you guys are probably the first ones to use one. Love you! Erika, I promise I'm going to email you back. For real.
Morgan, what are you talking about? Do you have an adoption blog I don't know about? I just checked both of your blogs and can't find a thermometer. Please explain.
Oh, haha, that's funny. I guess we haven't linked to it yet. I'm working on a Facebook group too. Anyway, ot's not for us personally - we started a non-profit (yikes) to fundraise for local adoptive families - http://127adoptions.org . For our own adoption(s), we're hoping to go through Antioch Adoptions.
Not to be judgmental or to say that you are wrong, but I don't understand why you would spend so much money, travel to another country to adopt a black child when there are thousands in your own county that are languishing in horrid foster homes. They will pay you to adopt a black or biracial child. Our American children are languishing in foster care, abused, unloved, neglected and stuck in a system that throws them out at 18 and sometimes loses them altogether. Why do you go to a Godless nation and not care for the ones here?
Sorry, have to speak up here. The Clelands have already adopted two lovely children domestically. God does not call us to only care for neighbors that are close in proximity but to show His love to all nations. And a Godless nation? If it is a Godless nation, how much more should we bring those children into our homes?
And feel free to delete my comment if you would like. :) Love you guys!
I do not understand how you can care for other nationals when your own are in such dire need. That is my point. You may not agree, but I come back to the verse in I Timothy 5:8. Maybe you see it as only referring to the immediate family members but I see it as national, your culture, your own people. We let our own children suffer and reach out to foreigners, provide safety and shelter, a God fearing upbringing, and yet our own nations children are abused and abandoned into a system that rivals the corruptness of third world nations. We abandon our own for the exoticness of a foreigner. In the Bible, it was not a practice to give the gifts of the son to foreigners before their own. This is my objection to foreign adoptions. Until we have saved our own, it is disgraceful to give what could be given to our own children to outsiders. Christ provided for the chosen people first, then the gentiles. He did not prefer the gentiles over the Hebrews.
Again, I don't mean to sound harsh or condemning, to save a child is to save a child. But I would never leave my child alone to watch another child.
I understand David adopted domestically. I am sure there is not a limit. And while private adoptions are expensive, he could save quite a bit if he were to foster to adopt. If helping children is the goal, there is no more worthy of a department than his local DFACS. While a child in another nation takes an American bed, millions of children in America cry out for parents to love them. That is my point. I won't clog up David's blog with my opinion again. Thank you for responding.
I am so excited about all of this. The last time we spoke about this opportunity was last summer in the Bradish's backyard and now WOW! The Lord has orchestrated this with such grace. Isn't amazing what He does and how He can grow our faith through these pursuits of love! I am glad to get this update and will be praying for you. The Lord works in miraculous ways, and His ways are not our ways (thank goodness!). He can do more than we ever hoped for or imagined. MUCH Love!!! ~ Lisa
hey all, just wanted to share with anonymous what a blessing it is that GOD calls us to different places, and different things, even different people.
the clelands have been called to ethiopia... rejoice that they are answering the call of our Lord :)
Amy, thank you but I hope more people are called to the 600,000 children abandoned into foster care in the United States.
Anonymous,
Just like the Clelands, I do understand and agree that there are significant issues to wrestle through regarding where to adopt from.
My husband and I have felt pulled in both directions and have ended up landing (for now) in some sort of foster to adopt situation (through Antioch Adoptions) for an existing sibling group...partly for some of the reasons you have mentioned.
But this route is not without problems that need to be really thought through from a Christian perspective as well...inviting government agencies into your home to "approve" your parenting, the myriad concerns that come with open adoptions, etc., etc. Not to mention that from my understanding, the statistic you gave is a bit misleading - isn't it around 100k that are legally free? That whole process is another deterrent for many families to adopt through the state.
I definitely think there are excellent points on each side, all of which need to be considered...I would just love to see more churches doing just that. Considering, encouraging and equipping their people to adopt...from somewhere! It's clear that you have a passion for unloved children, as do the Clelands (and the other commenters) - that puts us all on the same page.
Why is it that so many will praise mothers who can love their child enough to put the child's need for a loving family before their own desires to keep their children and watch them grow, but once that child is adopted it is because they were "unloved" or "unwanted".
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