News in three subjects

Well today's blog will be three announcements of very different news:

 

First PRAISE THE LORD is that we have made our goal of $600 by the end of November. Woohoo!!!Between the Chip-In / $11 for Eli donations, a "Spare Change for Eli" can that Levi made to help bring his brother Eli home and put in our den and we've all been adding coins to, and a generous donation of $500 by an adoption advocate family friend we have our first goal of $600 for our official application. God is good!

 

Second news report: We are still patiently awaiting an update on a 9 yr old boy we are very interested in. Praying and wondering why it's been 2 weeks since our agency requested an update and still no news. We also have not received any info from our orphanage call we ordered either. So I can't help but think "Lord, is he not our child?" Then hubby says it could be God telling us no, or it could be the enemy trying to keep us from him. Pray! So why do I keep thinking about other boys... especially one little one... So you see, we need prayer for clear direction to our son Eli. And I want to thank those of you that I know are praying for us. It is much appreciated!

 

And third announcement is that even tho there is no progress on the Lock-In front, there is progress on the calendar... It is full!!! Yay!!!

 

The 2012 Adoption Success Stories Calendar has 12 months of wonderful families and beautiful adopted kiddos!!!

 

The sponsoring highlighted families are busy submitting their great pics & stories, and the giving professional artist is busy creating it all into one great calendar for everyone to share and enjoy.

 

So now it's time for everyone to place their orders... because as soon as the layout work is done, this thing is headed to the printer. Don't miss out!

 

What a great way to share the wonderful blessing of adoption 12 months a year, and what joy to share a different success story every month.  :)

 

All proceeds will be going towards our adoption to help bring Eli home, specifically towards our $3,000 agency fee first payment.

 

Calendars cost $12 each, plus S/H  ($3.50 for one, plus $1 per additional calendar). 

 

That's only $1 per month!!! (Not including shipping, but the more you order the cheaper shipping per calendar will cost.)

 

You can place order via the Chip-in on our blog www.adventure4eli.blogspot.com or Paypal to adventure4eli@gmail.com

 

Thank you to the 12 great sponsoring families, we couldn't do this project without you & I can't wait to see your beautiful children on each month.

 

*Permission to cross post. I'd love to share these stories with the world...

 

In closing, please remember this is the season of advent... I'd like to share a thought which came to me as I am writing this update, and that is that the meanign of advent is a preparation season for our savior. And that has special meaning and new perspective to me this year. As adoptive parents we spend a season of preparation for our children to arrive. Many of us are doing it right now. And in a sense, we are viewed as their saviors. But something to consider is tho Jesus is our savior and therefore blesses us, how can we be a blessing to him as our children are to us. I don't know if I am expressing my words well tonight, I am so full of emotions. But I know I love and appreciate my Lord and Savior so much and I pray I can be a blessing to Him and please Him this Christmas season by taking on a spirit of giving to as many as I can in lots of ways.

 

God bless you all tenfold for your giving spirits!

 

Sincerely,

a thoughtful Sherry 

Thank you for your prayers!

Well for those praying & following our adventure 4 Eli, we did not get the boy we hoped transfered yesterday. Turns out the other family, from the other agency, chose to proceed with adopting him. So we are happy he now has a family (Yay! That's ONE less!), but still praying to figure out which boy is our son.

We did request an update on a boy a week ago. Because his file was 5-7 yrs old. Our agency put in the request to China, but no word as of yet. We also put in for an orphange call for him thru Ladybugs 'N' Love http://ladybugsnlove.com/  So we are hopeful for good news soon.

We appreciate all the prayers & support, it means a lot, and will keep everyone updated with news. Please keep praying 4 Eli, cuz God knows who he is...

On the fundraising side, we have gotten several sponsorships for months in our "Adoption Success Stories Calendar 4 Eli". We are awaiting a few more folks to choose which month they want. But at present we know we have 5 months still available. So if you are successful adoptive parents and would like to help us out we'd love to share your children's story on our calendar. For a gift of only $37 you get your children/family on a full page of the wall calendar; plus you get a FREE calendar!

Please email us to sponsor a month.

Donating Adoptive families will submit-

Family Picture:

Plus one single photo of the adopted kids (optional):

Family name:

Family city and/or state (optional):

Adoptive kids’ first or first & middle name:

Adoptive kids’ Gotcha Day:

Adoptive kids’ place of birth:

Adoptive kids’ Special Need if applicable:

One line testimony sentence:

*All design and art work provided by professional photographer/artist for each month sponsored. Photographs can be snapshots or professional & need to be 250 or 300 dpi. If professional pics, you need a release from the photographer.

Sponsoring Families please donate Gift of $37 via Paypal to adventure4eli@gmail.com

Thank you all for following & prayer us thru our adventure 4 Eli!

For those wondering...

and hopefully praying. :)  I thought you'd like an update.

Steve & I had our physicals done yesterday. The drs office is waiting for the lab results before notarizing the medical forms. Once we have those in hand, we will send in our package to be able to "Lock" our son.

Next, our agency contacted the agency with the boy we wish to adopt yesterday. The other agency did not say No to the transfer. But that they needed to make sure there were no interested families in their own agency and then would have an office meeting to consider if they all agreed to transfer his file. They said they were open to transfer tho, and would get back to our agency in a couple days.

So we took that as good news! Yay!

Next news was an encouraging message I received from a dear friend this am, who shared their plans to make a nice size donation to help our adoption. That is all I can say at this time. But I praise God for his continued encouragement!

Then later this morning I received a message that the agency with the boy we want, has one family reviewing his file now. They hope to know by Monday if the family wishes to move forward or not, and they'll let our agency know as soon as they know if he becomes available for transfer.

We are not discouraged by this news, because we know adoptive parents review lots of kids files. We ourselves have several boys files we have considered. So IF he is indeed meant to be our son, as we hope and pray, he will be available for transfer to us. Perhaps we just need to wait... :) 

And the next tid bit of info is a glimpse at a fundraiser I hope to do, if there is enough interest.

Adoption Success Stories Calendar Fundraiser for Eli

*Our goal is to raise adoption awareness and while raising funds to help bring Eli home.

We will offer adoptive families, with children already home, the opportunity to tell a little of their story by submitting pictures and info of their kids to be spotlighted for a month of choice in the calendar, for a donation. **They will also receive one FREE calendar with their sponsorship.**

2012 Wall Calendar (8.5 x 11)

January-                                 February-                               March-                                   April-

May-                                       June-                                       July-                            August-

September-                             October-                                 November-                 December-

Donating Adoptive families will submit

Family Picture:

Plus one single photo of the adopted kids (optional):

Family name:

Family city and/or state (optional):

Adoptive kids’ first or first & middle name:

Adoptive kids’ Gotcha Day:

Adoptive kids’ place of birth:

Adoptive kids’ Special Need if applicable:

One line testimony sentence:

*All design and art work provided by professional photographer/artist for each month sponsored

We will then also be taking orders for the calendar sales to anybody & everybody. They will make great testimonies on your own wall, share your adoptive friends’ stories, but think Christmas gifts too. J

Once we have all the months sponsored and info submitted, we can order the calendars to be printed, hopefully in time for Christmas. J

We’ve seen this fundraiser done for pet health & rescue awareness, how much more important are the orphans.

The donation amount we’ve seen for sponsoring a month for your family’s story was $50, but we’re open to suggestion at this point. We also think we can sell the calendar for approx $12, but would need to add S/H.

We’d really like to hear feedback both on who’s interested in sponsoring a month to spotlight their kids’ story, as well as how many folks are interested in purchasing a calendar of this type… And if there is enough interest we can begin immediately and get them done in time for Christmas.

Well that's all for today. Actually that was quite a lot to update. But I am looking forward to the responses.

Zai jian,

Sherry

I have an important prayer request…

We want to adopt an 8 yr old little boy (SN: post-op club feet) that is on an agency "individual list", but not the agency we are already working with. Our agency told me today that they can, and are willing to, request the other agency to transfer the child if we are committed and paperwork ready. Now the tough part, I had asked the other agency a couple weeks ago if he was available for transfer and was told no, but that we could switch to their agency. However, we have a peace about our current agency and desire to stay with them thru our adoption adventure. So our hope & prayer now is that with all our paperwork ready for Lock, and proving our commitment, the other agency will be swayed to say yes to our agency. And then prayerfully, CCCWA will also agree.

This is the boy that when we first saw his picture, we believed he was our son. But when he didn’t seem available to us, we searched and searched the older boy listings trying to find our son and make a commitment. Wondering why this seemed so hard. We have multiple boys files and have even asked for update on a boy we were considering. But then today someone posted something about the 8 yr old on one of the yahoo groups… and my heart leapt. So after a few emails, phone calls and questions, we have decided to pursue him. We have dr apts tomorrow and are going to overnight all our docs to our agency tomorrow, and have them go ahead and request his transfer.

I am asking everyone willing to support us in this, to please pray over the next 24 hours. Please! And we will send out update with any news we receive.

Thank you in advance!

God bless,

Sherry & family

And we are off...

Announcement of our Adoption is out and we have begun our first Fundraiser... $11 for Eli

November is National Adoption Month… in honor of that, we have begun our first fundraiser & am asking those that are able & willing to donate $11 for Eli.

We are trying to raise $600 by the end of Nov to cover the “official application” fee.

Anyone interested in helping can donate via Paypal to: adventure4eli@gmail.com (please specify "gift" to prevent fees), or use the convenient "Chip-In" button on this blog; or you can email us for a mailing address.

We are also pleased to have our Dr appointments for Steve & my physical exam on Tuesday! Praise the Lord we got an apt and our insurance all changed in time.

We are praying about a certain little boy right now. We have a couple other files too. We hope to have answers & our paperwork into CHI next week, and be matched and Lock-in our son. As soon as a decision is made, we will let everyone know. We appreciate all the prayers and encouragement we have already received from the adoption community. Thank you & God bless! 

***Note: If anyone has any questions, our adoption agency is Children's House International www.childrenshouseinternational.com. Our coordinator is Heidi Hawkins heidigoestochina@msn.com.

Chinese Legend How a Koi becomes a Dragon

In researching some Chinese stuff tonight and deciding on a theme maybe for Eli and/or a fundraiser we are planning, I came across the following info and it really touched my heart and screamed "That's our Eli!"

What do Koi Fish Symbolize?
When considering a topic as historically rich as koi symbolism, one must look at the legends and myths surrounding the koi fish to discover it's true meaning within the context of Japanese and Chinese culture.

Dragon's Gate on Yellow River

According to Chinese legend, there was a place called Dragon's Gate at the top of a large waterfall on Yellow River. Carp would swim up the river, against the current to reach the base of the waterfall. Although many would try, only a few were brave and able enough to attempt the final leap up the waterfall. It was said that if a carp was able to complete the journey through Dragon's Gate at the top of the falls, then it would be transformed into a powerful dragon.

In Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol of great power.

The story symbolizes that anybody who is able to persevere through great trials can accomplish their highest goals to become great.

http://www.everything-ponds.com/koi-symbolism.html

That's our Eli...
The Koi that becomes a Dragon, accomplishing all that he dreams to achieve, becoming a great and godly man, and so much more.

The beginning

This is the first of what I hope will be many blogs about our ADVENTURE 4 Eli.
"A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step." - Confucius

We have just begun looking into something we NEVER expected to do... ADOPT! We currently have four birth children: Cory James (19), Drew Jacob (17), Zoe Bell (14) & Levi Joel (10). Each of our children are a blessing, and each has their own story and lesson of faith we've learned one way or another. Steve & I will celebrate our 22nd Wedding Anniversary on Nov 20th. Steve recently retired from active duty military service after 22 yrs in the US Air Force. We have been quite content with four kids, and had planned NO MORE. But when God calls you to do something, you might kick and scream a little, but you eventually obey and look forward to the many blessings that follow. Although we have many questions and uncertainties, we have FAITH that what God wills for our family will happen IF we simply walk out the adventure in faith.

At this time we feel a leading towards finding an orphan boy age 7-10 yrs old from China. We have found an agency to be our tour guide on this adventure: that is Children's House International. We are praying about several possible boys, and waiting for God to show us our son. At this point we have only submitted a pre-application and received a few boys files. Oh, and looked at a ton of pictures. :) We do not know all that lies ahead or even much at all at this point... except that we are trying to be obiediant followers of Jesus Christ. And as we begin the real paperwork & fundraising, we will appreciate all prayers and support anyone can offer!

God bless,
Sherry & family