I feel like we may be setting the record for fastest paperwork filler-outers :) We have the final meeting for our homestudy tomorrow evening. We have a great homestudy agency which is processing our homestudy very quickly and not charging us the usual extra fee to do so. The director of the homestudy/adoption agency has been so helpful and has made herself available to answer our questions and help us pro-bono. She has been so patient and kind and has been a tremendous help to us. Reece's Rainbow has a team of volunteers that have compiled our dossier for Ukraine and are guiding us step by step as we complete it. Because we are adopting "independently" we are saving thousands of dollars. We could not do this without the time and help from those volunteers at Reece's Rainbow and the director of our homestudy/adoption agency.
We have completed our I600A Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. This document along with our completed homestudy goes to USCIS (formerly INS) and they set up a time for us to go to Atlanta to be fingerprinted. Then they approve or disapprove of us adopting Nikolai and bringing him back to the US (the simplified version). Well this process typically takes 90 days in Georgia and we don't have 90 days. We have contacted Georgia Senator Chambliss' office and they have been so helpful. They have already contacted USCIS on our behalf and are going to follow up on our application. We pray and hope that the added nudge from the Senator's office will speed up our application!
Until USCIS approves and processes our paperwork we can't submit all of the necessary documents for our dossier (which goes to Ukraine). Please pray that everything will go smoothly and quickly. We want so badly to bring Nikolai home soon! We pray that he is kept safe and well til we can see him.
Showing posts with label Reece's Rainbow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reece's Rainbow. Show all posts
Adopting a Child With Down Syndrome
Adoption is something that Drew and I have always known God had for us in our future. When Drew and I were dating, a friend of mine thought she would be funny and blurted out "Drew, you know Kam wants 12 kids, right?" When we got in the car Drew asked me "Do you really want 12 kids?" (He had a very concerned look on his face). I almost lied, but I told him I really did want 12 kids, give or take a couple. Thankfully, he didn't break up with me right then, and 7 years later we have been married for 5 yrs. and have two children.
Yesterday, as I sat in the waiting room of the Speech Therapist office a lady sat down next to me with her daughter who has Down Syndrome. We started talking and she told me about an adoption ministry called Reece's Rainbow that helps place international children with Down Syndrome into loving homes. I was immediately interested, actually my heart was pounding with excitement. I had almost skipped the kids therapy appointments that day!
When I got home I immediately went home and looked at www.reecesrainbow.com to find out more. I started weeping and couldn't stop. And it was not tears of pity for these children; it was tears of joy that God had answered my prayers. We had been looking into ways to foster or adopt children with Down Syndrome or other special needs, but because of the 90% abortion rate in the US there really are not a lot of children with DS available. My heart had been somewhat restless and impatient waiting for God to show me the "how." I thought "This is it!" I couldn't wait til Drew got home from work, I called him right away. We hadn't really even considered the possibility of adopting a child with Down Syndrome internationally, but now it just seemed so clear.
After the kids were in bed, Drew and I talked for hours; we looked at the pictures of these children waiting for their "forever family." I told Drew I had already requested and received the initial application. He laughed and said with a huge smile on his face "I figured you did, I just assumed you had probably already filled it out and sent it in too." (Which of course I had not). I love my husband, and I love that God brought us together, and has knit our hearts together in this way. And so the adoption journey has officially begun. Though, as I look back I see God's hand working in big and small ways to bring us to this place and preparing our hearts to adopt.
Please pray with us as we pray and plan. We have some logistical and financial obstacles to tackle. And I do not know how we will ever decide on just one child. We know God has already decided that.
Yesterday, as I sat in the waiting room of the Speech Therapist office a lady sat down next to me with her daughter who has Down Syndrome. We started talking and she told me about an adoption ministry called Reece's Rainbow that helps place international children with Down Syndrome into loving homes. I was immediately interested, actually my heart was pounding with excitement. I had almost skipped the kids therapy appointments that day!
When I got home I immediately went home and looked at www.reecesrainbow.com to find out more. I started weeping and couldn't stop. And it was not tears of pity for these children; it was tears of joy that God had answered my prayers. We had been looking into ways to foster or adopt children with Down Syndrome or other special needs, but because of the 90% abortion rate in the US there really are not a lot of children with DS available. My heart had been somewhat restless and impatient waiting for God to show me the "how." I thought "This is it!" I couldn't wait til Drew got home from work, I called him right away. We hadn't really even considered the possibility of adopting a child with Down Syndrome internationally, but now it just seemed so clear.
After the kids were in bed, Drew and I talked for hours; we looked at the pictures of these children waiting for their "forever family." I told Drew I had already requested and received the initial application. He laughed and said with a huge smile on his face "I figured you did, I just assumed you had probably already filled it out and sent it in too." (Which of course I had not). I love my husband, and I love that God brought us together, and has knit our hearts together in this way. And so the adoption journey has officially begun. Though, as I look back I see God's hand working in big and small ways to bring us to this place and preparing our hearts to adopt.
Please pray with us as we pray and plan. We have some logistical and financial obstacles to tackle. And I do not know how we will ever decide on just one child. We know God has already decided that.
