Awesome Friends and the Garage Sale

Sadly some rain messed up the sign

At some point during this process we planned to have an adoption fundraising garage sale. I just thought it would be after we had a referral. But since we don’t know when that will be, and because we are in garage sale season, my friend “C” encouraged me to have one now. It made sense, so June 24th-26th we did.

We both put out a request for donations and we were blown away by the responses. There were so many donations that we actually had to use space in our neighbor’s garage the first night.

Not only were Ken & I blessed with donations, we were also blessed by the number of friends who donated their time. What an awesome help!!! What awesome friends we have!!!

Another thing that stands out from the garage sale was the number of people that stopped by to tell me their adoption stories. It was so cool!! We also had many people, many of which were strangers, donate money to our adoption. We really felt the support of our friends and the community. What an awesome blessing!!

We do have one sad memory from the weekend; one we don't want to have to share, but it part of our journey, our story. Ken’s parents were very helpful & kept the kids for us while we were having the sale. On the 26th, a couple hours before the sale completely ended, I received a call from my mother-in-law. Nicole, who had be seizure free for 5 years and off her seizure meds for almost a year, had a seizure. My heart sunk & hurt for her. It was so very hard not to be with her; it was the first known one she had without me. We also feared that the progress we saw in her after she went off the meds would be lost when she went back on them.

It’s been a few weeks and thankfully she has had no more seizures. They did put her back on the meds, but only half the dose she was on before. And thankfully she has not lost any of progress she had previously made.

Below are some pictures from the garage sale. Sadly, I thought about taking pictures the last day of the sale. I wish I had a picture of our full front yard and of each of the friends that helped. To everyone that helped make our adoption fundraising garage sale a success, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!!

This was made by "C'. It asked for people to help

 bring friends home for thier children. Thank you!

A couple of awesome friends. Thank you "J' & "LJ"!

 

More awesome friends. Thank you "S" & "C"!!

 

The Ghana display table

FINALLY!!!

Yay, I am all caught up; well actually I’ll be caught up when I tell you our good news. Fine, fine, I’ll tell you already…


Tuesday, June 8th we received a call from our social worker informing us that WE GOT OUR ENDORSEMENT LETTER!!!! FINALLY!!!! Music to my ears!


We have been waiting for it for almost 4 months; it was supposed to take two weeks. This letter is required to complete our home study and is necessary for us to move forward with our adoption.


What does this mean for us? It means we are officially on the waiting list for a referral (clapping hands and giggling). Before we were kind of penciled in, if a referral would’ve come up we would have been passed over. We’re ever so thankful it never happened.


Today, I will be mailing our home study with the (long awaited for) endorsement letter to USCIS (immigration). This will complete the requirements for the I600a.


Needless to say we are rejoicing. Praise God! Praise God!! Praise God!!! I am giddy with excitement.

A Fork in the Road

Well, I need to get you caught up because I have good news!!! But sorry, you’re going to have to wait. Now, for where I left off from the previous post…..


We spent 19 days (yes, I counted) trying to find our way. We struggled with all the new requirements and costs (if interim decree; 2 years of monthly post placement visits, delayed government reimbursements) resulting from the changes in court proceedings within Ghana (multiple trips, extended stays, interim decrees, orphanage closing). Obviously all the changes made us sort of nervous. We prayed about what we should do, and we questioned if God may be closing the door to Ghana to us and opening one to Ethiopia. It seems He was.


I will be honest with you, when we started looking into adoption; Africa was not on my radar. But when we felt God's call for us to adopt from Ghana, I fell in love!!!! With all the changes, I questioned if God opened our hearts to Ghana in order to open our eyes to Ethiopia. I even joked that our blog might have to be changed to Ghana Be More Bechtolds by Way of Ethiopia.


We prayed, read books on Ethiopia, I read blogs, joined Ethiopia groups online, talked to families who had adopted from Ethiopia, but we just did not have peace about going that direction. We don’t know what was holding us back. On paper it was definitely the hands down easier, smoother, & quicker path, the children are beautiful, the program is established, but it just didn’t feel right (not to say one day it won’t...hmmm). We didn’t know where we stood. Many things we knew about the Ghana program had changed yet, we didn’t have peace moving forward with Ethiopia, we were discouraged.


Then on May 4th, we received a group email from our adoption coordinator. In it she shared that 3 families had just received final adoption decrees. When Ken and I read that we got really excited and felt a peace. We knew what we were going to do. We were going to take the tougher road and trust God to see us through. We realize that we are not guaranteed a final adoption decree, but we are going to have faith that we will receive one. Something you can all be praying with us for.


We did have some agreements to work out between us, our adoption agency and our state concerning a potential interim decree and how it would be handled. It only took us about 4 weeks, but it finally got all worked out! Praise God, He is good! Another step behind us.


Okay, you’re almost caught up.

Too Much Time has Past

Yes, it’s been too long since I last posted; two months in fact. Once again a lot has happened.


In the previous post I touched on some changes that had occurred with Ghana and adoptions; let me expand on those changes.


I) Most of the judges are now issuing a two year interim decree instead of a final adoption decree. And because of the state we live in, which requires us to be a licensed foster home, our children would fall under the fostering laws. Since the adoption would not be finalized, we will be required to pay for monthly home visits during that 2 year period or until the adoption is finalized. No offense, but who wants social services in their lives for two years; which will include an extra $2400. 2) Both parents are now required to go to court; this requires an extra trip. 3) One of us will need to stay in country for 2-3 weeks. 4) The orphanage we had thought our children would come from was closed. This was done to be respectful to Ghana’s social welfare direction. The children will now be in foster homes, which will hopefully be a good change as they will be in a home instead of an institution.


At the beginning of April, our coordinator went to Ghana to walk a couple of families through the new process. While she was gone discussions continued between our adoption agency & our state.


On April 16th I was contacted by the director of our adoption agency letting us know that our file had land on her desk because our coordinator was gone. She also wanted us to know that we would be required to have monthly home visits and because of everything, had we considered Ethiopia? We had not. After I hung up the phone with her, I called back because I thought I better have all the facts and not act on emotion. We had several conversations that day between phone & e-mails.


On Monday, April 19th, in an e-mail we were informed that our agency was considering closing the program to families in our state. GASP!!! I emailed her back & asked when that might happen & would that affect us or future families.


Tuesday, April 20th, we received a call from our home study agency. They wanted to set up a conference call with them, DCFS & us. We thought our adoption agency should also be involved so I called the director to see if she could be on the call. Before I had a chance to ask she told me that a decision had been made and the Ghana program was being closed to families in our state. Major gulp!!! I was taken off guard, but proceeded to tell her the reason of my call. I told her maybe things would change once we could all talk & maybe we could still be able to adopt from Ghana.


Wednesday, April 21, we had the conference call with our home study agency, DCFS, our adoption agency, Ken & I. We thought the call went really well. It was so nice to have everyone on the same page and fully informed. An agreement was made between the three agencies as to our requirements. Best news was our adoption agency changed their minds and the Ghana program was reopened to our state. Regardless of what happens, we are excited for the reconsideration.


To be continued…..

Changes, Changes, More Changes, and One Who Never Changes

A lot has happened over the past two weeks. I’ve tried multiple times to blog about it, but I’m not sure what to say or what we can say. Please forgive me if this post seems cryptic, I’m trying to be respectful of the powers that be while trying to keep you updated.


Sunday, March 14th we learned that there are changes with Ghana adoptions. Part of what this means is an extra trip for both of us and a longer stay for one of us. While it complicates things this is something we are more than willing to do for our children.


Monday, March 15th we received a call from our adoption coordinator informing us that the state we live in is going to make the process even more complicated. Ugh!!!! It is going to awesome to see how God works through this!


At this point we are waiting for all the details to be worked out between our adoption agency, our state, and us. We will not receive our endorsement letter until this is all settled.


We’ve spent the last couple weeks processing, questioning, doubting, frustrated, and sadly not enough praying. Changing that!


A week after we learned of the changes we picked up Chinese for lunch. With our lunch were 3 fortune cookies, each containing a message fitting for what we are facing. No, we don’t believe in fortune cookie furtunes! But they did put a smile on our face. Here were the messages:


1) “Traveling to the south will bring you unexpected happiness.” (hmm, desired court ruling?)
2) “The project you have in mind will soon gain momentum.” (a referral?)
3) “When one door closes another one opens.” (This one was perfect for the news we were to receive later that week. Again, sorry for being cryptic.)


Later that night I came across a quote from Corrie Ten Boom, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."


It is amazing what God uses to redirect you back to Him. In all those things I felt the Lord soothing my heart. Using these various sources to remind me He is in control.

My How Time Flies…and Not!

It’s hard to believe that 1 year ago Ken came home and asked what I thought about adopting. A year I could not have dreamed we would be on this journey.

3 1/2 months ago we started full steam ahead toward adopting 2 children from Ghana. Right now we feel like we are at a screeching halt. According to our home study agency, it was to take about 4 weeks for the report to be written and receive an adoption endorsement letter. Currently, we are 4 weeks past that projected date. Needless to say we are a bit frustrated.


We can’t wait for this step to be completed, so we can complete our 1600a. And hopefully one day soon receive the call that telling us about our children.


Yes, we know things take time. Yes, we continue to trust in God’s timing. Yes, we’re human. And yes, this is one of the MANY lessons in patience we will experience on this journey. Can’t imagine doing this without Him!

Children of My Heart

I love you so much and yet I don’t even know you.
I long to hold you and I don’t even know your names.
I pray for you wherever you are.


Are you still with your family?
I pray they are loving and caring for you as best they can. Be with them as they are about to make one of the hardest choices they’ll ever make.


Are you are still with your family and it’s not safe? Are you alone on the streets?
May you run to the arms of safety. I pray protection over your bodies and souls.


Are you already in an orphanage waiting for us?
May God bless the hands that are caring for you.


My children I love you beyond words, miles, and the time that passes before we are together.