GOD IS GOOD~~ALL THE TIME!!!!!

I have a VERY exciting update.....

We are DTC as of September 29th (woohooo!)

This has been an amazing weekend, and I have to give God all the glory. We had a complete the puzzle event at Christina's Desserts and Coffee in Hanover, Pa http://www.christinasdesserts.com/ It was great, while we did not complete the puzzle, we had an opportunity to share our story & testimony to God's faithfulness during this process. Additionally we raised $3,000!!!! That's right~ we are almost completely funded! We still have several puzzle pieces remaining, but trust that it will be completed. It was so touching to see the number of people who were truly moved by Mira's story.

We are so blessed to have been chosen to be Mira's family and we can't wait

to have her in our arms! We're coming baby girl!

In awe of His faithfulness~

Vanessa

DT-WA

What?!?!? You say?
In Chinese adoption when you get all docs sent to China, you become what they call "DTC" well, we are not quite DTC (dossier to China). We have sent our docs to Washington state where our adoption agency is located. They are in the process reviewing all docs, they will then go to translation (takes a few days) then, they will be sent to China...at that time we will officially be DTC!!!! We are sooo thrilled!

As you may know from previous posts, our fundraising efforts have not gone the way we planned. So a couple months ago we decided to "be still" and look for direction from God. Then a several weeks ago we were approved for a seedling grant from Brittany's Hope, if we raise $2,0000 they will match it. So we decided to contact Applebee's and have a Pancake breakfast. To make a long story short I invited everyone I knew, sent emails asking friends to invite friends. When about a week before I realized I was going to have much of a turnout I began to think...ok I guess I wasn't still long enough...I decided to pray to God that I was through with trying to do this, I told Him that He can do great things and I laid this down to Him. WELL.....I've come to realize that God is quite the showoff!!! Sunday morning came, 30 people (including kids) came for pancakes...with those figures we should have raised $135. The generosity that we were shown was AMAZING!!! At the end of 2 hrs we raised a grand total of $1,000 exactly!!! How cool is that????
I am in awe of God's presence in this adoption, we know that He wants us to be Mira's family!
So, the moral of the story is this, YOU can't but HE can!
Our family has been so emotional over Mira this past week, I think in part because we know that every dollar we raise is taking us closer to bringing her home. But I also think because there is so much mystery here. We have never been down this path before and we are imagining so many things!
As you can see we have a new chip-in, we have approximately$4,000 to raise for our travel expenses. Included in these expenses is my roundtrip airfare, Mira's one way ticket home, approx 12 nights lodging & in country travel by train, bus & taxi.
We have an amazing opportunity coming up on Oct 7th & 8th to hold a "Finish the Puzzle" event at a friends coffee house, see the EVENTS page for details. We are so excited to have this opportunity to spread adoption awareness & to the tell our story of how God brought Mira to our family.
If you feel led, please continue to spread our story and share our link to this blog.
Thanks!!

Baby Steps...atleast they are Forward!!!

So this has been an exciting week!!!
Tuesday I was greeted with a GREAT surprise when I opened the mailbox!!!
I-800 marked APPROVED~woohooo!
This was the official document from the US government stating we were approved to adopt Mira! This was a huge mile stone for us.
Next we had to get our entire dossier (huge stack of papers worth millions of dollars in time!) "certified on the county level" this was the easiest thing I have ever done! Literally walk into the Clerk of the Courts office pay $1 (yes JUST$1) per page, they printed off some slip of paper and said "Have a nice day!"
What's left??? Well, I need to do the same thing in Annapolis (hopefully on Mon) then I need to take the dreaded trip to Washington DC. When all of that's done I hope to have my docs off to be translated by 9/16...then, let the waiting begin!!!!! Waiting to get the Ok to go get our sweet girl!
Hold on, we're coming....I promise!
This week, as I was stalking blogs of other adoptive families, a lady said something that hit home for me....
When the paperchase is in your hands, every day you don't do something is one more day your child is in the orphanage.

God, I know this is in your perfect time but that doesn't make waiting any easier!!!
~Vanessa

August 16th Update

We are coming down the home stretch as far as our obligations go, however this seems to be the hardest part~ being at the mercy of others (especially the government) is TOUGH!!!
Last Monday August 8th Greg and I went to Baltimore to get our final set of fingerprints done, we are now waiting to get a letter from the US government that says Mira can be a citizen of the US. After a few more "hoops" we will be sending our dossier to China. At that point, we will just be in the waiting game. The most popular question right now is: When??? My answer has to be: On God's time! This adoption has been entirely on God's time~ from thought to currently and I'm sure completion will be the same!
As for Mira, here's what we know:
A very close friend has a very reliable contact in China, she has connections to the orphanages. She contacted Mira's orphanage and they simply said they will not give an update until we have our travel approval :(
I have been in contact with another lady who recently went to Mira's orphanage, I was in great hopes that she would get to meet Mira but she did not.They were only permitted to meet the children that weren't considered adoptable. However, we did get to see photos of the orphanage & photos of the director. I have to say it is a brand new VERY beautiful building that she lives in....for now this is enough to comfort my heart!

I know initially when this adoption came about many people (including Greg & I)questioned our ability to pay for this. I want to give you a financial update, some may feel this is personal info but we feel it is important to be upfront with where we are as we need to continue to fundraise. As mentioned before this has ALL been in God's time!
If you look at my blog it only shows that we have raised $1700. I am unable to add in the money that is sent to us by check or cash donations. It has been SIGNIFICANTLY MORE!!!! We have also been blessed by a grant from Brittany's Hope, it is called a Seedling Grant. How this works is that if we raise $2,000 for them to continue what they do, they will inturn GIVE us $4,000. In order to raise this money we are having a pancake breakfast at Applebee's. Attached is a link to the flier, tickets are just $7/pp.
Here are the final figures of what we need to complete this adoption:
Orphanage donation: $5,000
Roundtrip Airfare: $2,000
One Way Airfare for Mira: $1,000
In Country expenses: $4,000 (hotel for 11nights, meals, trains, cabs etc.)
If you recall, the original estimate for costs was about $23,000. All other fees have been paid & we have a small nest egg in savings (thanks to MANY generous donations).
PLEASE note: THIS POST IS NOT TO ASK YOU FOR MORE $$$ I know many of you have already donated & for this we are grateful, it is merely to give an update. But also, there are a few ways you can help:

#1~ Please pray.... specifically that the next few months will go smoothly until we can travel to get Mira, that God will prepare her heart to accept us as her family, pray that her health is stable & remains that way to travel. Pray that my family will be healthy while I am gone & pray that the funds will come in to complete this adoption. Also, please pray for the caregivers at the orphange and for those children that are not adoptable.

#2~ Be A Piece of Mira's Future.... I know many of you have bought puzzles pieces and we want to thank you!!! I have even had some buy them to put "In Memory Of" & some with scripture references. Just to refresh your memory, by paying $10 for 1 puzzle piece you can have your name or family name put on the back of a puzzle that will be framed in a double sided frame & hung in Mira's room. That way we can show her just how many people it took to bring her home! If you wish to buy puzzle pieces you can do so by visiting my blog & using the chip-in on the right hand side.
~So far we have sold: 149 pieces....only 351 to go!!!!!

#3~ Flap Jacks For A Cause.... follow the link below to access a flier that you can view, print, email etc. In brief the details are this: Applebee's in Westminster Sunday September 18th from 8-10am tickets are $7/pp ($5.50/ticket will go to Brittany's Hope to directly benefit Mira) tickets should be purchased in advance by contacting me!

#4~ ADVERTISE.... believe me, I know in these economic times it is tough to find a few extra dollars BUT we can all help by spreading the word. With email, facebook & even old fashioned face to face conversations we can help! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!

Blessings~
Vanessa

Puzzle & adoption update

Hard to believe it has been almost a month since I last posted! I am happy to report we have had a few VERY generous donations sent our way recently. The official count on the puzzle pieces is 74 pcs. We aren't giving up hope yet! All things come in God's perfect time!
I would like to offcially announce the approval of a seedling grant from an organization called Brittany's Hope. The way this works is they approve a grant amount and we are required to raise 1/2 of the money in return for others to use. So if they grant us $4,000 we are required to raise $2,000. You can look at it as a dollar for dollar grant, they will match every dollar we raise upto $2,000. This is an AWESOME opportunity for us to keep reaching towards our goal!!
As a way to kick this event off we are holding a "Flapjack's for a Cause" pancake breakfast at our local Applebee's. The event will be held on Sunday September 18th from 8-10am. The greatest part is we able to hold a silent auction or raffles as well. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing tickets~ they are just $7/pp
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation please send checks payable to: Brittany's Hope
But please mail to my address:
Vanessa Newman
2169 Woodview Road
Finksburg, Md 21048

Our family is longing for the day we can meet Mira and welcome her to her Forever Family! It seems so far off, but I know with God's perfect timing and His plan all will come together.

It has been a while since I have posted, for many reasons. Things are progressing quite well, we received notice that our homestudy has been approved by everyone. We are actually waiting for it to come in the mail anyday now! The next step is to mail off the I800A, this is requesting permission from the US government to allow Mira to become a citizen of the US. This process usually takes about 60 days. At that time we will be able to send our dossier to China.

I mentioned before that I had a few fundraisers in the works and I wanted to post an update on them. The vendor open house that I had back in early June was not as successful for all as I had hoped but I did manage to raise about $300 through the generosity of the women who came. This was a difficult time of year and perhaps closer to a holiday maybe a better time! I do want to thank each of the ladies for their time.
Thanks~ Diane, Nikki, Peggy, Pam, Jenna, Amanda & Krista!!!!

Also, I had mentioned that I was working on a Family Fun Night that was due to be held on June 24th. Due to a number of circumstances this event had to be cancelled.

At this point we are at a standstill for fundraisers. We are waiting to see where God leads us. We know He is faithful in providing, especially for things in His will. The "control" in me doesn't want to wait, but I know I must be still. Besides, how can I give God the Glory if I do it all???

We are continuing to ask people to keep us in prayer (especially Mira). We pray that the next few steps come together quickly, with no speed bumps! Our family has grown to LOVE this sweet child and we want nothing more than to bring her home~ SOON!!

One final thing~~our PUZZLE UPDATE!
We are pleased to announce we have sold a total of 70 pcs!!! (only 430 to go~hehe!) Many thanks to ALL who've bought pieces!!
Please share our story with those you know, it will only be by word of mouth that this puzzle can be completed!!

Love n Prayers~
Vanessa

puzzle, vendor show & homestudy...

There's alot to update....

WOW!!! SO far we have sold 54 pcs~woohoo!

Many thanks to all who contributed! Especially a few young kids who donated their OWN money. Thanks to Debbie, Sally & Michael Barth and Shane & Dylan Ryder...you guys are AWESOME!!!!! Please keep telling your family & friends about the puzzle!

Click on the pic to see it bigger & Look for your name!

Your name isn't there?? Use the chip-in to buy a piece!

Last Friday I opened my home to 7 different vendors, Tastefully Simple, Cookie Lee, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Willow House, Tupperware & Thirty one these ladies sold quite a bit of stuff! Each of them will donate a portion of sales to help bring Mira home. What a FUN way to raise $$...lots of good food, shopping & friends. I will have exact figures for you soon! (But I think it was worth it!!)

We are waiting for the rough draft of our homestudy, should be early this week! Yippee. Greg and I have completed 1/2 of our required education classes, we should be complete by the end of the weekend! There's a few misc papers to turn in and then we are complete! I am still learning the details of what comes next... it is my understanding that we have a series of notarizations, certifications & authentications to do. Praying for a smooth process to get our little girl home soon!!! I'll keep you posted!

Leapin & Prayin~Vanessa