Sometimes I am glad that I made a mistake! It is not often, but it does happen. :-)
I was looking at the figures from the other day when I calculated the expenses and thinking that something just wasn't right. I finally realized that I counted the expenses for the in country facilitators twice, so the actual amount we need to be fully funded is really $24,000 instead of $36,000! I feel like we just got a big check in the mail. It is still a lot of money, but somehow $24,000 seems much more manageable than $36,000.
Right now we are waiting to get all of our police clearances back. We already have our Texas clearances, but we are still waiting on the New York and FBI clearances. Our home study can't be officially approved until we have the FBI clearances so we are in a holding pattern until those come in.
Once we have the official home study we can submit for our USCIS approval and once that is done all we have to do is send in the dossier! We are getting closer and closer, one small step at a time.
Once the home study is complete we can also start applying for grants and loans. We are anxious to be able to do this so that we will have a better idea of how much we will still need to raise to get our little man home.
Keep praying!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
More Answered Prayer!
A while back I posted about Kiril's family's struggles to bring him home after a judge in his country denied his adoption. Many of us have been praying for hearts to be changed and Kiril's adoption to be approved and today his adoption was finalized. Kiril is coming home!! Praise God for answered prayer!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
That was a no good idea!
"That was a no good idea!" is Eve's way of saying "I don't think I should have done that!".
Tonight I decided I should sit down and figure out how much money we have spent so far on the adoption, and how much we have left to spend. Now I am saying "That was a no good idea!" I have just sent myself into a state of shock that may take a while to recover from!
The total cost to get Allen home will be about $41,000. We have already spent a total of $5,000 on various fees and paperwork. That leaves a grand total of $36,000 left to go. Gulp!
Deep breath! Deep breath! This is going to be OK!
I KNOW that God will provide the funds for this to happen. But in my humanness I wish that all $36,000 was already sitting in the bank just waiting for us to need it to pay the next expense on the list.
I have been praying about the possibility of adopting two little ones and after seeing these numbers and realizing that we will most likely never be able to afford to do this again I am praying even harder. The extra cost to adopt a second child from the same orphanage would be about $1,500 (which is just the medical clearance, visa, and transportation home). It makes my mind say "Why not just spend the extra $1,500 now and rescue two?" Compared to doing the entire process all over again in a few years to the tune of $41,000 it seems like a logical question.
Prayer requests:
That God will move mountains and provide the $36,000 that we still need to go get our little boy!
That God would clearly and specifically reveal His will if we are supposed to pursue bringing home Texas Jakubauskas #8.
Tonight I decided I should sit down and figure out how much money we have spent so far on the adoption, and how much we have left to spend. Now I am saying "That was a no good idea!" I have just sent myself into a state of shock that may take a while to recover from!
The total cost to get Allen home will be about $41,000. We have already spent a total of $5,000 on various fees and paperwork. That leaves a grand total of $36,000 left to go. Gulp!
Deep breath! Deep breath! This is going to be OK!
I KNOW that God will provide the funds for this to happen. But in my humanness I wish that all $36,000 was already sitting in the bank just waiting for us to need it to pay the next expense on the list.
I have been praying about the possibility of adopting two little ones and after seeing these numbers and realizing that we will most likely never be able to afford to do this again I am praying even harder. The extra cost to adopt a second child from the same orphanage would be about $1,500 (which is just the medical clearance, visa, and transportation home). It makes my mind say "Why not just spend the extra $1,500 now and rescue two?" Compared to doing the entire process all over again in a few years to the tune of $41,000 it seems like a logical question.
Prayer requests:
That God will move mountains and provide the $36,000 that we still need to go get our little boy!
That God would clearly and specifically reveal His will if we are supposed to pursue bringing home Texas Jakubauskas #8.
Family Fun this Saturday!
If you are looking for something to do this weekend come join the Patterson Family for their Boss Your Heart Memorial Benefit and Team Roping Event!
Here are some of the details in case you can't read the flyer:
Saturday, May 21st
10a.m. - 5 p.m.
Hays County Civic Center
Spectator admission is free
Lots of family friendly activities (bounce house, horse rides, bake sale, games, etc.)
Roping books open at 10a.m. and roping starts at 11a.m.
Don't even ask me what all of the roping details mean, I have NO idea! Remember I grew up in New York! LOL
All of the proceeds from the benefit will be used to start the Patterson's new non-profit Boss Your Heart Orphan Ministries!
We'll be out there with our crew. Come join us for the fun!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Answered Prayers
On Monday Eric went to the Fed Ex office to send off our first packet of documents to Europe. I had expected it to be a little expensive, but when he came home and told me it was $103 I almost fell over! I had a mini-panic attack thinking "Oh My! How many times are we going to have to do this?" I was seriously thinking we might have to do a fundraiser just to cover postal services!
A little while after he got home I went through the things I still had in my bag from the day before. Several people had very kindly given us checks or cash at church and I still had those in my bag to go through. Guess how much the donations totaled? $103!!!!!
God is so good! And He has a sense of humor.
A little while after he got home I went through the things I still had in my bag from the day before. Several people had very kindly given us checks or cash at church and I still had those in my bag to go through. Guess how much the donations totaled? $103!!!!!
God is so good! And He has a sense of humor.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Signatures and Notaries and Apostilles, Oh My!!
I knew there was going to be a lot of paperwork involved in getting our adoption done, and after 15 years in the Air Force I am used to bureaucracy but I am in shock at how much time we have spent compiling documents over the last 5 days.
Every item we sign has to be notarized. Then, if it is going overseas, it needs to go to the State Department to be apostilled (which is basically the Federal government certifying that the notary is true and accurate). Thank goodness we are so close to Austin and can get the apostilles done in person. If we had to mail them in and wait to get them back I would probably lose my mind!
And as if making the documents official wasn't complicated enough we have to go through not one, not two, but three separate fingerprints sessions and police checks! I have a military security clearance, but I still have to have my background checks done. Geesh! I am beginning to think that everyone wants a "piece of the pie" so to speak. Why should Texas and New York let us use the FBI clearance we have done when they can charge us some money and make us do it again? Sorry to be cynical, but I am just a little frustrated with this process!!
Please pray that everything will go smoothly and we will be able to get our dossier compiled very quickly. I want to get Allen home FAST!
Every item we sign has to be notarized. Then, if it is going overseas, it needs to go to the State Department to be apostilled (which is basically the Federal government certifying that the notary is true and accurate). Thank goodness we are so close to Austin and can get the apostilles done in person. If we had to mail them in and wait to get them back I would probably lose my mind!
And as if making the documents official wasn't complicated enough we have to go through not one, not two, but three separate fingerprints sessions and police checks! I have a military security clearance, but I still have to have my background checks done. Geesh! I am beginning to think that everyone wants a "piece of the pie" so to speak. Why should Texas and New York let us use the FBI clearance we have done when they can charge us some money and make us do it again? Sorry to be cynical, but I am just a little frustrated with this process!!
Please pray that everything will go smoothly and we will be able to get our dossier compiled very quickly. I want to get Allen home FAST!
Friday, April 29, 2011
So Very Excited!
We have officially been "matched" with a gorgeous little guy in Europe. Based on the medical information that we have gotten we are fairly certain that he has something called Kartagener Syndrome. With this diagnosis the longer he goes without highly skilled treatment the more risk he has of suffering permanaent damage to his lungs, so we are very anxious to get him home as soon as we can.
So, when can we bring him home? The answer depends on several factors:
1) How quickly we can get the dossier compiled and sent to his country. Believe me when I say we will be doing this as fast as humanly possible because now that he is "ours" I can't stand the thought of him sitting in an orphanage for even one day longer than he has to!
2) How quickly the various governments involved process the paperwork. We don't have any control over this one.
3) How quickly we can raise the funds we need to travel to Europe to complete the court paperwork and then bring him home. Won't you consider a donation to help us get him home quickly? If you click on our family page on Reece's Rainbow (Allen for the Jakubauskas Family - Buda, Texas) you can make a tax deductible donation that will go directly to Allen's adoption costs.
Let's get Allen home!
So, when can we bring him home? The answer depends on several factors:
1) How quickly we can get the dossier compiled and sent to his country. Believe me when I say we will be doing this as fast as humanly possible because now that he is "ours" I can't stand the thought of him sitting in an orphanage for even one day longer than he has to!
2) How quickly the various governments involved process the paperwork. We don't have any control over this one.
3) How quickly we can raise the funds we need to travel to Europe to complete the court paperwork and then bring him home. Won't you consider a donation to help us get him home quickly? If you click on our family page on Reece's Rainbow (Allen for the Jakubauskas Family - Buda, Texas) you can make a tax deductible donation that will go directly to Allen's adoption costs.
Let's get Allen home!
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