Entering the Second "Trimester"

Well we have finally arrived! It is time for the "feel-good" trimester. The time where you start to feel like things are getting a little more real. The trimester where we would typically have an ultrasound to determine the sex of our baby, maybe even getting a 3D picture of the little one growing in my womb. But this trimester is going to have a little different feel!

Month One: NOVEMBER

Our home study is officially in review and will be complete, supposedly, within a week. In November we will send off our first Grant Application, apply for immigration, and collect all official documents needed for our dossier.

Please Pray

We are applying for a grant with the JSC foundation. This is a wonderful grant that could cover well over $6,000 in adoption fees, unrelated to travel costs. Please pray that we are not only awarded a significant amount of grant money, but that we would receive the money BEFORE our next agency fee is due (when our dossier is sent to China). That way the money can be applied toward that fee, and others unrelated to travel, which is the bulk of our remaining expenses.

Month Two: DECEMBER

In December one of two things could happen. Our immigration could come back at the very beginning of the month and we could be DTC (Dossier to China)!! If this happens, we could be Logged in and start receiving referrals of our daughter by Christmas (what a gift!) The other thing that could happen is that we could be waiting on immigration well into the month of December and send our DTC more towards the end of the month.

Please Pray

We would love to have immigration go through in just 4 weeks time and get DTC as soon as possible! Please pray things go swiftly, but mostly pray for God's perfect timing. Remember, the grant money could possibly line up with agency costs associated with this timing!

Month Three: JANUARY

The final month of this trimester is a mystery. More than likely we will still be receiving referrals, but it would be so amazing if we would be in the official matching process at this point. This is the part of the process where we have viewed referrals, "found our daughter," sent a letter of intent to China and wait for their approval.

Thank you for reading, praying, coming and giving! God is at work. Thank you for being a part!

The First Snag and Fall Fun

Thanks for following along with us as we move closer everyday to meeting our daughter in China! If you are in a hurry, please skip down to "While we wait" to see the "Second trimester" of fundraising events!

Well we have never been so thrilled to see a month come and go! The beginning of October marked the end of our Home Study paperwork and interviews and the end of our elementary school Hike-a-thon event! After much planning and lots of help, our Hike fundraiser was a great success. And after a very chilly morning field day, God smiled on us and brought the sun for the Hike!!

We are looking forward to this new season, which ushers in cool breezes, autumn colors and favorite Fall festivities like "cabin-ing," a visit to the pumpkin patch and "Trunk r'Treating!" It also ushers in a new ADOPTION season. This is the EBB and WAIT season.

Though we finished our final interview and paperwork for the Home Study last Wednesday, we learned that we were missing some needed clearances for the states where Larry and I served as camp counselors and summer missionaries. We are now waiting an additional 3-6 weeks for clearances to come back from AL, ME, SC, FL and NM! Wow! Honestly, I am thankful, because I was starting to feel a little rushed to make payments and send off new forms. I am sure this is God's way of slowing me down and giving me his Sabbath rest. Hallelujah!

The good news is, once these forms come back, our Immigration forms are ready to go! We also have the money needed for this process already in our bank account, thanks to previous fundraisers!

Next Steps

We anticipate that our dossier will be ready to go to China by December. While we wait for paper work to go through over these next 8 weeks or so, we will be doing some intense fundraising. It costs approximately $6,000 to send our dossier to China: a little over $2,000 in fees for the actual process, and a little over $3,000 for our 3rd agency fee that is due at the same time.

Fundraising Update

During the "first trimester" of our paperwork pregnancy we raised $7,000 to cover all fees thus far. Thanks to all who donated on our Youcaring.com/teamsecrest website, supported us at the Chic-fil-A night, our Adoption-ade stand, through the Mary Kay fundraiser and by purchasing a Team Secrest tee-shirt! Totals from the tee-shirt sales and Mary Kay fundraiser will be coming in soon!

While we wait

It's time for round two of our Fundraising wave! Welcome to the "second trimester" of our paperwork pregnancy!! The goal is $6,000 to get our dossier to China. Please view the following ways you can get involved!

1. Buy Mary Kay

My friend Autumn, who hosted a Mary Kay party for me this month, has graciously extended this fundraiser through December. Just click on the link below to purchase wonderful products from Mary Kay and 40% of your purchase will go straight to our adoption funds! When you check out, be sure to type "SECREST ADOPTION" in the comments so she knows to flag the funds for us!

http://www.marykay.com/amitchell58855

2. Comedy Night Tickets are still on sale!

Please contact ASAP for tickets. The more we sell the more they will give us to sell!

3. Adoption-ade stand: October 24th from 2-4pm at our house!

Join us for an afternoon of Fall goodness featuring home-made hot chocolate, cookies, breads, scones, donuts, muffins and more! You can also purchase "S'mores" in a bag and roast them right there in our fire pit!! Mark your calendars now and get ready to stock up on your baked goods!

 

We will also be offering Rainbow Loom bracelets and our featured adoption bag tags and necklaces from Pop Top studios!

 

4. Shop Thirty-One

My friend Amanda will be hosting a Thirty-One shopping event in our honor on Tuesday night, November 17th from 7-9pm. The new Fall catalog will be available at our Adoption-ade stand if you want to browse and even place an order then! Christmas is coming! Think Thirty-One!

 

5. Adoption dinner

 

A Tuesday night dinner is in the works for Tuesday night, November 10th from 5-8pm! Mark your calendars and let us cook for you. Details to come.



Cha-Ching

Cha-Ching

I have said before that the adoption process is one that ebbs and flows. It can also be described as a "Hurry up and wait" kind of process! We are in the "HURRY UP" and "flow" part of the process. In just TWO days we will complete our final of four interviews for the lengthy home study process. This means paperwork, background checks, pictures,  and home tours for this part of the process will be done!

No sooner is this done than we will have a lot MORE paperwork to fill out for our dossier. The Dossier is a large packet of documents from the home study, as well as additional documents that must be collected and authenticated and added to the home study documents.

Please pray that we will:

• have no glitches in this next process of collecting and authenticating
• have the needed funds to complete the process and send our dossier to China.
• be approved for grants that we will begin applying for now.

God has blessed us immensely through your support and generosity over these last 3 months! We have not missed a step and are making incredible strides towards "finding" our daughter in China. Thanks to Chick-fil-A, Adoption-ade Mary-Kay, and your generosity, we will make our next large payment this week!

These next 6 weeks will be some of the most challenging in terms of fundraising. Once our immigration forms are returned to us we will be ready to send our dossier to China. At this time there will be approximately $6,000 in fees due! This seems like an astronomical feat to me! But I keep my "theme song" on repeat, "No Such Thing as Impossible" by Building 429.:) We know that God provides where he guides and that His timing is perfect! He has been faithful thus far, we will not find him unfaithful in the future!

Team Secrest t-shirts will be on sale through September 30th for $20!

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son." Ephesians 1:4-5 The Message

In the meantime, we are really looking forward to our upcoming fundraiser at the Comedy Caravan! I don't know about you, but we are in desperate need of a date night AND some laughter! We would love to pack out the house with 200 of our closest friends! Would you consider getting a group together and joining us on October 16th?

Thank you for your prayers. We need them to sustain us through this process. We are hoping to have another FALL adoption-ade stand in October, in case you missed out on Labor Day! This stand will feature fall favorites like hot chocolate, pumpkin breads and apple cider donuts!

Coming Soon, just in time for Christmas shopping!

• Bottle cap necklaces and key chains by Pop-Top Studios (October)
• Thirty-One party (November)

Change for China, part 1

The adoption process is in full swing and really picking up speed. Like a kid rolling down a grassy hill, we will hit bottom before you know it, and I am just praying that all goes well when we do!:)

There are lots of changes going on around the Secrest house as we ready our hearts, our dossier (paperwork), and our home for "Little Sister!" Here are a few things we have been up to just this week!

Paperwork

• We have been working through the final hours of our required education and only have about 2 hours left to complete before our final interview on September 23rd!
• We recently added two new kittens to our family and they received proof of Rabies vaccinations this week, which are required for the Home Study.

  

  Meet Peaches and Daisy

• Yesterday we began the tedious process of grant applications. I am happy to report that my earlier discouragement with the process has turned to encouragement! Please pray that our efforts in these applications are very fruitful!!

Fundraising

•  On Monday we had a very successful first "Adoption-ade stand", which brought in $565! What a blessing, and what fun!
  
• We are continuing to sell our "Team Secrest" tshirts. Sales have been great so far but we hope to make several more before September 30 when we turn the order in.

  

  T-shirts are $20

• We are also selling tickets to the Comedy Night, which we are really looking forward to!! This fundraiser has the potential to bring in a couple thousand dollars if we pack out the house at Comedy Caravan. Please pray with us that it will be so!

  

  Tickets are $15 each. The show is October 16th at 7:15pm

• We are gearing up for our "China-themed" Mary Kay event this Thursday. Ladies will be able to try on new products, but friends and family may also order online. 

  

  Okay, Autumn promises that our make-overs won't look anything like this!;)

On the Home Front

September has been an incredibly busy month for our family as Larry gets moved into his new office at the church, back-to-school activities are in full swing, we are heading up a major fundraising event for the PTA at our kids' elementary school on October 1st, and trying to finish up the home study! In addition to this we are doing some things to prepare our home for some changes...and our family for some much needed rest!

• This week we have done some cleaning out of future yard sale items and started cleaning out our guest room. This involved moving a queen sized bed out of the house and re-doing Mackenzie's room with a full-sized bed, suitable for guests!                                                     One room make-over down, 4 more to go!!

• 

  Mackenzie moved from a twin bed to a full-sized bed!

• We are planning to do some major renovations on our lower level, which includes changing all the carpet to Pergo wood flooring. After 8 years, 3 cats, 2 kids and a dog, it was time for a change!!! This week we purchased 47 boxes of flooring. It took Larry three trips with the minivan to bring it all home. Thanks to a couple of neighbors who helped haul it all in!

  

  Out with the queen sized bed and in with the flooring boxes!
  We still have the pretty tapestry of our babies hanging up though!

• I started thinking forward to Fall break, which falls right after the Hike-a-thon fundraising event we are planning. We had intended to go tent camping this Fall, but decided we needed more of a vacation. We are super excited that we booked our first cabin this week!!! Rest and relaxation, here we come!
  

Thanks as always for following our progress and for holding us up with your prayers, your encouragement, your presence and your finances! We could not do this without your unending support. May God richly bless you on this brisk, Fall day!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to him be the honor and glory forever and ever, amen." Ephesians 3:20

"Paperwork Pregnant"

It's true adopting a child is not the same as carrying one in your own womb. I know, because I've carried two. Really, I had great pregnancies. No major morning sickness, weight gain or complications. A lot of heartburn, trouble sleeping, Charlie horses and feet in the ribs. Other than that, pregnancy was great!

I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with Mackenzie! I couldn't wait to start feeling all the symptoms of pregnancy. I actually WANTED to be sick and fat and tired! I wanted to have cravings and intense smells and a maternity clothes wardrobe! After all, there is no such thing as being "a little pregnant." Either you are pregnant or you are not.

But these things took time. And before I was "cute and pregnant," I just felt blah and bloated. Then I heard her heartbeat. I know that should have made it feel real, but really, that could have been a sound effect. I didn't look pregnant. I barely felt pregnant. Only God knew what was going on inside my body.

And that, my friends, is where the similarities of natural pregnancy and this stage of adoption lie. I am "paper work pregnant." I am in the "first trimester," if you will. I don't look like I'm adopting. Sometimes, I don't even feel like I'm adopting. It feels more like going to school...or therapy...or a job interview...or an interrogation...or applying for the space program. I am "paperwork pregnant." I keep saying that my daughter is out there, and God knows she is- he knit her together and has ordained our lives and spaces to collide in his beautiful time. But I don't know who she is. I don't know where she is in that great big sea of 1.2 billion people, 556,000 orphans that is China.

And as we press on through paperwork, interviews and background checks we are also reaching out to our "village" to help us bring her home. This, dear reader, is where natural pregnancy and paperwork pregnancy really part ways.
It's been said, "It takes a village," to raise a child. But in the case of adoption- in the case of our adoption- it takes a village to bring a child to her forever home. While we will provide for our "Little Sister" for the rest of her life, by God's grace and provision, we must rely on the heart-promptings of others to give selflessly to bring her home to us!

So thank you. Thank you for walking with us by FAITH and not by SIGHT. We have nothing to show for our efforts.
No baby bump. No morning sickness. No ultrasound photo to say this child exists and she is ours. And yet you give, and we "praise God, from whom all blessings flow."

"Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

"We walk by faith and not by sight."
  (2 Corinthians 5:7 )

Blazing Through the Home Study

We are super excited to announce that we have completed 3 of the 4 required interviews for our Home Study! By the end of September our entire home study process will be complete! 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
1. It means we will be able to send off our home study documents to immigration and apply for our 1-800A immigration document, necessary for our dossier.
2. It also means we will need to raise an additional $2,000 through all of our adoption fundraising efforts to cover the cost of agency fee B, as well as the cost of the 1-800A document. If you have been planning to donate, but have been waiting, now would be a great time to make your donation. You can give in person or Donate online at our youcaring.com page.
3. Once the home study is completed at the end of September, we can start applying for adoption grants! This is a BIG prayer point!

WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
Below is a list of awesome ways you can help support our fundraising effort! We are so thankful for your support during these early months of our "paperwork pregnancy." :) Once we pay for our completed home study and our immigration document (1-800A), it will be time to send our dossier to China!! This will be our next expense of approximately $5,000!

Soon after the dossier is sent to China we will be able to start receiving referrals of waiting children in Chinese orphanages!! Once the Lord reveals our daughter to us we will be raising the remaining funds (close to $20,000) for travel and finalization expenses. We are praying that we receive a significant amount of grant money to help cover this! Again, Big prayer point!


Upcoming Events: SHOP TO ADOPT

September 7th: Labor Day "Stand for Orphans"
Come try our "Adoption-ade" and special "From China with Love" cookies, plus homemade accessories made just for our adoption, Laughing Derby Comedy Night tickets and t-shirts!

September 17 (Thursday) China-themed Mary Kay event
                        Check out the new Fall line and actually try the product!

October 16 (Friday) The Laughing Derby Clean Comedy Night featuring Andy Pitz
Check out Andy at andypitz.com. Grab a sitter and make it a date! Grab some friends and help us sell out the house! Tickets are $15 each.

November 17 (Tuesday) Thirty-One party 
                        Come check out the new Fall line and get ready for some serious holiday shopping!