We are bursting with joy because we are getting ready to send our dossier to Ethiopia!
The dossier is a packet of papers that essentially goes to the Ethiopian government so they are aware of your intent to adopt from their country. They process the paper work and then send you a referral for a child/children.
The Lord has been faithful and supplied the money we needed to send this packet over to Ethiopia. I have been fundraising through giving art lessons to children, drawing wedding save-the-dates for friends, and just recently held a "Ladies Night Out Paint Party" where my sister-in-law invited ladies over to her house, we had wine and snacks, and then I instructed the ladies on how to mimic a painting I had created. We also got our tax return back, which has helped to finance this chunk of our adoption process.
We are hoping to send the dossier to Ethiopia by the end of April! Then the real fun begins.....WAITING FOR THE PICTURE OF OUR CHILDREN TO ARRIVE!!! I never thought I would be so excited to WAIT for something in all my life..... I usually have the patience of five year old on Christmas morning....
This process could take up to 9 -12 months, so we are prepared to wait. While we are waiting, we will be fundraising like crazy! In order to accept a refferal for one child we will owe $9,200 and to accept two children we will owe $14,200.
Once you have paid to accept the referral, we wait to get travel dates to meet our children. Of course, making 2 trips to Ethiopia will not be cheap.... But, God has not let us down yet!
It sounds like a lot of money... but today at work, a woman came in and showed me a picture of the sweet boy she and her husband were adopting from the Congo. He had been abandoned in a market. They do not know his birthdate, but are guessing he is around one year old. When you hear stories like this it seems their is no price too high for a child's life. Seeing her son's picture and hearing her story was just another encouragement from the Lord to continue on... someday soon he will be sending us our picture... sweet faces we can stare at every night until they are home in our arms.
We have applied for an adoption grant so that we can afford to accept a referral and we hope to sell T-shirts soon as well. We've got to stock pile that money so we are ready for the wonderful day when we see our childrens' faces.
Please pray:
- For money to continue to come our way
- For more art lessons/Paint Parties
- For the health of our children
- For the health of their birth parents
- That they are being held and loved on
- That God is preparing their hearts to know Him
- Contact us at sltodd02@gmail.com if you are interested in learning more
