**********************UPDATE**********************
So far I have ordered 4 pairs of shoes.
My Aunt Betty has ordered 5 pairs of shoes.
Let's keep it going folks. Let's help Yoel help others!
*********************************************************
This story really touched my heart and I have to share it with you all. I participate in many adoption groups online and have met some wonderful people.
Lyvone is one of those people. Lyvone and her husband have 8 children. Yes 8! In the last year they brought home a boy and a girl from Ethiopia. While they were there they met two other children that touched their hearts. So in a couple of months they will be traveling back to Ethiopia to bring home two more children. Yes they will have 10 children!
They asked their 8.5 year old son Yoel what he would like to take to his village when they went back to visit and bring the other children home. This is what Yoel decided in Lyvone's words!
Yoel thought very hard and seriously about it and decided that since his feet are beginning to heal that all the kids in his village needed shoes too. I asked him what kind of shoes was he thinking of giving and he went to our shoe closet (which is large, with 8 kids!) and he pondered which shoes would be the best for the rocky and often wet conditions in their village. He decided, all on his own, that Crocs would be the best because they are durable (my word) and washable. He said in his cute little accent, "good shoes, wet okay, dry good, no socks if hot, yes sock if cold". I stood by the closet crying, knowing how blessed he feels to have 4 pair of shoes of his own.
How can we not bring 100 pair of shoes to this village? We were planning on bringing 5 suitcases of donations again anyway. That is 20 pair per suitcase and the shoes are very lightweight. We are hoping to hear from the Croc manufacturer soon about reduced pricing. So, along with our son and daughter we have started a 'Socks and Crocs for Ethiopia' campaign in our area. We just received an email from another adoptive family that traveled when we did, to pick up their new daughters, and they have already begun to receive shoe donations and even monetary donations to help us purchase the shoes and socks.
If anyone would like to contribute for this village by purchasing a pair of Crocs or a package of Socks, they can be sent to: Yoel Lees, 922 Bradford Greens CT NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525.
I would encourage you all to consider sending a pair of crocs his way! Isn't that amazing!!!
I went online to www.payless.com I found their brand of crocs and ordered 4 pairs. Right now they are buy one get one half off. So for four pairs and the shipping it was right around 50 bucks. So worth it in my opinion. You can have them shipped right to Yoel that way. One pair costs about $12.00.
Let me know if you decided to send some shoes! I'd love to know how many pairs the group of people I love send!
Jessie
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Change Of Plans
Well I'm a very organized person. I like to develop a plan, complete the tasks and then celebrate the end result. That's just how I work. I don't do much that is spontaneous. Well that's a changing!
Last Friday I got a very unexpected call. The social worker that did my home study called me. She explained that somehow they have ended up with no families on their waiting list for a newborn bi-racial or African American child. There is NO ONE! So she wondered if I would want to switch programs and pursue a domestic adoption.
I've had an interest in domestic adoption. I looked into it first. But every agency I talked with closed doors, didn't work with singles, or felt I wouldn't get matched with a baby in a timely fashion. So I went with the Ethiopia plan and I was thrilled with that.
But now that she called and explained the new information to me I felt pulled to pursue it. I felt like it was a sign from God that my child is here in the US. After much prayer I really felt like closing this door would be a mistake. So in a matter of hours I attended the domestic adoption seminar, completed new paperwork, and got on the waiting list.
I completed my profile last night and I'm awaiting approval on that. Once it is approved they will start presenting me to birth families and I will just wait for a call. Right now they are anticipating that I could have a baby home anywhere from a matter of weeks to twelve months. I have a feeling I'll be rocking a newborn by Christmas.
So now that I've put myself out there on this leap of faith I'm praying that things will go well. I have a strong feeling they will.
Jessie
Last Friday I got a very unexpected call. The social worker that did my home study called me. She explained that somehow they have ended up with no families on their waiting list for a newborn bi-racial or African American child. There is NO ONE! So she wondered if I would want to switch programs and pursue a domestic adoption.
I've had an interest in domestic adoption. I looked into it first. But every agency I talked with closed doors, didn't work with singles, or felt I wouldn't get matched with a baby in a timely fashion. So I went with the Ethiopia plan and I was thrilled with that.
But now that she called and explained the new information to me I felt pulled to pursue it. I felt like it was a sign from God that my child is here in the US. After much prayer I really felt like closing this door would be a mistake. So in a matter of hours I attended the domestic adoption seminar, completed new paperwork, and got on the waiting list.
I completed my profile last night and I'm awaiting approval on that. Once it is approved they will start presenting me to birth families and I will just wait for a call. Right now they are anticipating that I could have a baby home anywhere from a matter of weeks to twelve months. I have a feeling I'll be rocking a newborn by Christmas.
So now that I've put myself out there on this leap of faith I'm praying that things will go well. I have a strong feeling they will.
Jessie
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Great Find
Today I came across a great magazine called Adoptive Families. They have some great articles and links on the website. And the subscription is pretty cheap. It's like $27.00 for a year. So I ordered it. I was impressed with some of their suggestions, information, etc on the site so it looks like the magazine should be pretty good. I'm looking forward to the first copy showing up in the mailbox.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dossier
Well I received a call from Lauren at WHFC today. She received my dossier packet and said it looked good. They are requesting bank statements and a couple other financial documents to add to it. My income is low, being a social worker doesn't pay much, but I have a good amount of money in savings and investments which is good. So I need to prove I have that money. So I'll mail that stuff off to her tomorrow. They also need that approval from immigration and even though I stalk my mailbox it has yet to arrive. I'm not to concerned about it yet. It takes most people in Kansas about 6 weeks to get that approval and I just got fingerprinted on the 6th so I can't get to worked up about it yet. Nothing like waiting! I seem to do a lot of that....
Monday, April 9, 2007
Questions
I first posted this on my other blog Hunna's Happenings to address some questions and comments I have received. I thought I would just repost it here.
After my post about the adoption process I was going through I received many emails. Some of the emails had some valid questions that I will address. Some of the emails were rather negative and honestly completely ridiculous and I will not be addressing those. I have emailed back privately to everyone that emailed me. But I'm a firm believer that if one person has a question so do many others so I'm choosing to address the questions here also... Here we go!
Why Ethiopia?
I made the choice to adopt from Ethiopia many years ago. I've always wanted to adopt and Ethiopia was the country that fit best for me. It is important to me to include my child's native culture in their daily life in my home. I felt like I could include the Ethiopian culture in a meaningful way into our lives. I feel a connection to the country, the history, the people. So the question for me was "Why Not Ethiopia"?
Why Don't You Adopt A Kid From Foster Care in The US?
This is a wonderful question and a topic I am passionate about! I work in the child welfare arena. In fact my job involves matching children in foster care with adoptive families and finalizing those adoptions. I am a firm believer that every child deserves a forever family. I encourage people often to adopt from foster care. With that said it is important to me to keep my personal life and my professional life as separate as possible. At this point in my life adopting a child from foster care doesn't fit for me. I would like to adopt an infant and that isn't very likely in foster care. I also know that I could not handle having a child placed with me, bonding with that child, and then having that child returned to a biological parent. I want to parent a child full-time.
Why Don't You Pursue A Domestic Private Adoption?
Again another great question! This is an option that I considered and researched in depth. There are many barriers for me to adopt as a single woman in the US. One barrier is that most children placed for adoption are placed by young single mothers. Those mothers have the right to pick the family their child goes to. When that young mother looks at profiles of a bunch of happily married couples and a profile of me an accomplished, dedicated, stable single woman the couples are gonna win out the majority of the time. I talked with four agencies about this and 3 of the agencies allowed single woman to adopt but had never had a single woman picked by a bio family. The other agency didn't even allow singles to be considered. So no luck there.
How Much Are You Spending To Buy A Baby?
I personally don't like this question. First I'm not buying a baby I'm financing an adoption. Second, children are priceless! And finally if you are that interested in the cost of international adoption I urge you to Google it and low and behold you will find a wealth of information to answer this question. As a side note adopting from Ethiopia is cheaper than adopting domestically.
Don't kids need a dad?
I think fathers are amazing! I'm a big fan of mine. I think that a father is an important part of every child's life and this is an issue I've put much thought and prayer into. As much as a child needs a father they also need love. When I'm prepared to offer a stable loving home environment now should I make a child in need wait until I find a husband. I think not. I think an orphan would rather have a family than not. If I find a husband someday that is great. If not I'm going to do the best I can on my own, have strong male role models in place, and be grateful God gave me the ability to be successful on my own.
Why Don't You Just Have Your Own?
Not a big fan of this question either. I have always had a strong desire to build my family through adoption. I have planned to adopt since I was a teenager and I've also planned to have biological children someday too. However, I have PCOS and that makes pregnancy difficult. As a single person I didn't want to go through all the infertility treatments, in-vitro, etc and still have no guarantee of a baby. The adoption process in Ethiopia in very predictable. I know I will come home with a baby. I don't know that I will through artificial insemination. And as a single woman that values herself enough I don't just have sex with random men. I have yet to find a man that I feel I would want to parent a child with. Therefore I'm not going to take the steps to get pregnant until I find the right person to parent with.
So that's a few of the questions I received. I hope that clears up some questions and provides some legitimate answers. If you have other questions feel free to leave them in the comments. I would encourage all of you to read the book There Is No Me Without You. And of course I would encourage you all to pursue whatever form of becoming a parent is right for you.
After my post about the adoption process I was going through I received many emails. Some of the emails had some valid questions that I will address. Some of the emails were rather negative and honestly completely ridiculous and I will not be addressing those. I have emailed back privately to everyone that emailed me. But I'm a firm believer that if one person has a question so do many others so I'm choosing to address the questions here also... Here we go!
Why Ethiopia?
I made the choice to adopt from Ethiopia many years ago. I've always wanted to adopt and Ethiopia was the country that fit best for me. It is important to me to include my child's native culture in their daily life in my home. I felt like I could include the Ethiopian culture in a meaningful way into our lives. I feel a connection to the country, the history, the people. So the question for me was "Why Not Ethiopia"?
Why Don't You Adopt A Kid From Foster Care in The US?
This is a wonderful question and a topic I am passionate about! I work in the child welfare arena. In fact my job involves matching children in foster care with adoptive families and finalizing those adoptions. I am a firm believer that every child deserves a forever family. I encourage people often to adopt from foster care. With that said it is important to me to keep my personal life and my professional life as separate as possible. At this point in my life adopting a child from foster care doesn't fit for me. I would like to adopt an infant and that isn't very likely in foster care. I also know that I could not handle having a child placed with me, bonding with that child, and then having that child returned to a biological parent. I want to parent a child full-time.
Why Don't You Pursue A Domestic Private Adoption?
Again another great question! This is an option that I considered and researched in depth. There are many barriers for me to adopt as a single woman in the US. One barrier is that most children placed for adoption are placed by young single mothers. Those mothers have the right to pick the family their child goes to. When that young mother looks at profiles of a bunch of happily married couples and a profile of me an accomplished, dedicated, stable single woman the couples are gonna win out the majority of the time. I talked with four agencies about this and 3 of the agencies allowed single woman to adopt but had never had a single woman picked by a bio family. The other agency didn't even allow singles to be considered. So no luck there.
How Much Are You Spending To Buy A Baby?
I personally don't like this question. First I'm not buying a baby I'm financing an adoption. Second, children are priceless! And finally if you are that interested in the cost of international adoption I urge you to Google it and low and behold you will find a wealth of information to answer this question. As a side note adopting from Ethiopia is cheaper than adopting domestically.
Don't kids need a dad?
I think fathers are amazing! I'm a big fan of mine. I think that a father is an important part of every child's life and this is an issue I've put much thought and prayer into. As much as a child needs a father they also need love. When I'm prepared to offer a stable loving home environment now should I make a child in need wait until I find a husband. I think not. I think an orphan would rather have a family than not. If I find a husband someday that is great. If not I'm going to do the best I can on my own, have strong male role models in place, and be grateful God gave me the ability to be successful on my own.
Why Don't You Just Have Your Own?
Not a big fan of this question either. I have always had a strong desire to build my family through adoption. I have planned to adopt since I was a teenager and I've also planned to have biological children someday too. However, I have PCOS and that makes pregnancy difficult. As a single person I didn't want to go through all the infertility treatments, in-vitro, etc and still have no guarantee of a baby. The adoption process in Ethiopia in very predictable. I know I will come home with a baby. I don't know that I will through artificial insemination. And as a single woman that values herself enough I don't just have sex with random men. I have yet to find a man that I feel I would want to parent a child with. Therefore I'm not going to take the steps to get pregnant until I find the right person to parent with.
So that's a few of the questions I received. I hope that clears up some questions and provides some legitimate answers. If you have other questions feel free to leave them in the comments. I would encourage all of you to read the book There Is No Me Without You. And of course I would encourage you all to pursue whatever form of becoming a parent is right for you.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Mission Accomplished
Well today was the mission to immigration and it went very well. I have to send a huge thank you to Bethany and Jeff! At 11:00 last night I was sending Bethany emails with questions about the forms I was filling out and she was firing answers back as quick as I sent questions. It's so nice to get help from someone that has already been there and done that! So thanks again!!!
Once Bethany got me straightened out on the forms the process at immigration was painless. We found the building easily and we were 45 minutes early and they got us right in. We actually completed everything about 5 minutes before our scheduled appointment. The nice thing was that they do the fingerprints electronically so now ink this time around!
When I got home from immigration I put together my dossier packet and have it ready to mail out in the morning. Then all I do is wait for the approval letter from Immigration and I fax that to my agency and then I'm on the waiting list. The paperchase is coming to an end. Thank goodness!!!
Once Bethany got me straightened out on the forms the process at immigration was painless. We found the building easily and we were 45 minutes early and they got us right in. We actually completed everything about 5 minutes before our scheduled appointment. The nice thing was that they do the fingerprints electronically so now ink this time around!
When I got home from immigration I put together my dossier packet and have it ready to mail out in the morning. Then all I do is wait for the approval letter from Immigration and I fax that to my agency and then I'm on the waiting list. The paperchase is coming to an end. Thank goodness!!!
Monday, April 2, 2007
Appointment Set
Well since the FBI fingerprints came back my home study is officially finished. Now that it is completed I can get an appointment with immigration to get fingerprinted there and apply for approval. I had heard that it can take a long time to get an appointment and that they aren't flexible about scheduling and all kinds of other things. But that isn't the case at all. I was able to go online and schedule appointment for Heather and I for April 6th at 1:15. So Friday will be the big day. Hopefully it will be the last time we are fingerprinted in a very long time!!!
Jessie
Jessie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
