The Best Friends in the World

Hey! We met our goal! Through the support of friends and family, our final fundraiser has been a success – thanks be to God!

A little background...When we began praying for wisdom and clarity at the beginning of this process, we knew we would need to do some fundraising. Our goal at the outset was to raise 1/3 of the total cost on our own, and fundraise 2/3 of the cost. So many people have generously purchased puzzle pieces and been a part of this journey up to this point – we have the best support system in the world.

In case you are curious about the financial commitment for adoption, here is a brief overview. When we began educating ourselves about the process, the estimated total cost was between $30-35K for an adoption from Ethiopia. This total is comprised of home study costs, domestic agency fees, referral fees, and travel costs.

But due to some new steps in the Ethiopian bureaucratic process – all designed to protect the children – the wait time between being paired with a child and bringing them home has been extended. Extended time means the cost for caring for the child increases, which means the referral fee required by the adoption agency is now higher. While these increases were not anticipated, we are in full agreement in these new developments that are intended to promote the well being of orphaned children.

And, because our friends and family are generally awesome, these changes have not been an impediment to our process. We have met our puzzle fundraiser goal. Below is the image that was assembled piece by piece, each a unique expression of love, that will hang in our little girl’s room as she is growing up:

Pretty cool, huh? Of course, the back of the puzzle shows the names of everyone who was a part of pulling it together. It will be framed with glass on two sides so we can read them and be reminded of this amazing journey. To think that she will be reminded each day she sees it of all the love that helped bring her home, coming from people who had yet to meet her…well, that’s just beautiful.

So what’s next?

We will share more information as we are allowed to, but the short of it is that we still have 3-4 bureaucratic steps to take (mostly waiting on paperwork to process), before we can make our first trip over. We are looking at a window of 6-9 months from now until that time. That seems like an eternity – we want to go get her now!

But we will wait, full of gratitude and longing, a very complimentary set of feelings, until that day comes.

We are so grateful for all your interest, prayers, financial support, and celebration. Our hearts are very full.

Please continue pray for all five us during this journey.

In God’s Grace,

Kameron, Nathan, J. Henry, Amelia and our New Little Girl!