The weather outside is frightful

Well it has been a long time since I have posted.
Recap of my last post: we were denied our adoption loan and in a state of hopelessness.
I am please to announce we are back on track!

God always provides. We have officially started our homestudy. We have initiated the paper work and as soon as I get back from India ( yes! I said India) we will begin our finger printing and back ground check.
Also, I have found a new agency, American Adoptions. This agency is nothing like ANLC. With American adoptions we will be able to set a budget and our total adoption ( minus airfare and home study) will not exceed it. The agency have been very responsive and helpful. The consultant is very educated with their programs and is always willing to clarify any misunderstandings. We hope to apply to their "limited risk" program as soon as I return from India. (The limited risk program is a specific program for African American children)

So India... Yes I am leaving for India on Thursday. My mom is taking me on a trip of a lifetime. My most amazing mom promised each of her kids a trip to anywhere after they graduated from college. My brother went to Ireland, me to India, and Alli will be headed to the Galápagos Islands in a few years. I graduated in 2010 and it has finally worked out to go now. Unfortunately, I will be leaving Nathan for the holidays, so I'm sending him ( and the pup) to Alabama to spend time with his parents.  I am very SUPER excited for this trip.
With that said, I'm off to pack some more.
Look forward to pictures!
Until next time... .

Our plans aren't always HIS

We were counting down the days until October. Now I wish we could take it all back.
October was suppose to be a big month for us. We were suppose to be approved for our adoption loan, sign our contract, and start our home study. We were suppose to be well on our way to bringing home our baby.

Unfortunately, our plans are not always Gods plans.

We were denied our adoption loan. This was and still is devastating news to me. Also, we have had some difficulties with the agency we chose. We have had to reconsider even using this agency. You see, I had this whole adoption thing planned out and now our my plans are going down the drain. We, mostly I, feel like we are at a loss. Months of research, planning, and saving feels like it was all pointless. I know it wasn't but I still feel hopeless.

Many people have said, "God is doing this for a reason." And I believe that but sometimes that is not what you want to hear. Sometimes what you want to hear is "you should be mad" "you deserve you emotional break downs" "your situation is crap!" (Maybe I'm a glass half empty kinda gal).

I do know there is a reason why this happened to us. I do know that we will eventually get our baby but it is hard all the same when things don't go as expected. I would like to know what Gods plan is. I would like to know the correct answers to all of the open ending questions we have. I would like to know exactly what God wants from us so we can do it right from the beginning. Since I won't be getting any of these answers from myself, I will continue to pray.

So we sit here... Back at step one.... Looking for an agency.

October can't come soon enough

I have started counting down the days until October.

October will be a very exciting month for us. We will sign our contract with Adoption Network Services and kick start our "official" adoption journey.

We have had to wait (since June) to sign our contract. Come October we will official have health insurance and be able to proceed with our adoption.

The adoption process tends to be a very long heart wrenching journey. With ANS they have found a way to fast track adoption. If all goes well, we will be expecting to bring home our baby by spring.

Here is what we have to accomplish:

1. Sign contract

2. Begin home study

3. (After a successful home study) create family portfolio

4. Wait to be chosen by a birth mother

5. Accept birth mother

6. Wait for baby to be born

7. Pick up baby

8. Wait for allotted time to finalize adoption.

 

It feels like a lot to do. But we keep praying that God will help all the steps go as smoothly as possible... starting with signing the contract in a few weeks! YAY!

Summer

Recently I was in Ca, visiting my family. I had a wonderful time visiting everyone. I really didn't do much but was busy the whole time. My time was spent by visiting friends and family in Lodi, Manteca, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis and of course boating on the river (Nathan's favorite... too bad he wasn't able to make it out this trip). Nathan and I both miss Ca tremendously and can't wait to come back.

While there, I was able to raise a little more money. My Grandma, sister, Alli and her boyfriend cashed in their soda/beer cans (and man did they have a lot). Also, some of her friends chipped in a donation. Please keep saving your cans!

I just wanted to give a little update on where Nathan and I are at in the fundraising process. The donation meter says only $800 raised but in all reality we have raised/ saved $2,355+ (new payments pending). We are slowly but surely making our goal.

I’m sure I say this all the time but we are so excited and I can't wait until October. It has been really hard not to get my hopes up too much. It’s so easy for me to browse through the infant section of Target or window shop for all the furniture and things we will need. I tend to forget all the steps we have to go through before we reach our goal.

From one extreme (me) to the other... Nathan has been very composed about the whole thing. He reminds me that lots of things can still go wrong.

1. we don't raise enough money
2. we don't pass our home study
3. a family doesn't choose us
4. possibility of birth mom taking the baby back...
The list goes on...

I just keep praying that God will continue to show us His will and that we will follow it openly.

Until next time...

Fundraising and more

It can be VERY overwhelming to think about the different expenses that come along with adoption (home study, cost of the agency, birth mothers living expenses, and the legal fees). I just finished reading a book called Adoption without Debt. It was a great book with lots of fundraising ideas for your adoption. I would recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about adoption and the major expenses that come along with adoption.

There were some awesome ideas for fundraising in this book; hosting different benefits, karaoke party, etc. Unfortunately, we just haven’t established a large enough social network here…. yet to host these ideas. Most of you know, we sent out a ministry letter explaining our dream. Also, I have done different things to cut living costs (couponing, cutting down on entertainment, etc.) I have even started collecting soda cans to turn into the recyclers. Nathan goes through a ton of soda and every bit counts. I have even recruited my Grandma and sister into collecting cans. If you are local and would like to donate your cans please let us know!

Other exciting news…

One of my closest friends contacted me the other day. She informed me that she is opening her own etsy account and whatever she sells a part of that will be donated to us and our adoption. She has such a huge heart! We are so blessed to have her and her family in our lives.

It is becoming more and more apparent that this is what God wants for us. Doors keep on opening up and we couldn’t be more excited.

Until next time…

The Puzzle

It has been brought to my attention that the Chipin fundraising meter is not recording donations. I want to assure you that I am receiving the donations even though the meter is not recording it. I’m not sure why it won’t track the donations like it is supposed to. I will keep the meter up because it is an easy and secure way to donate. I will just keep you guys updated with how much we have raised!

Moving on…

We have decided that we want our child to know all the people who have helped to bring he/she home to us. This is how we are going to do this- If you donate we will sign your name to a piece of a puzzle.  Once our goal is met we will put the puzzle together, frame it, and hang it in the baby’s room. This way the baby will have a wonderful reminder of everyone who has helped bring he/she to us. If you choose to be anonymous, we would be happy to sign it as “anonymous”.

Thank you all for your support and contributions.

Total donated: $450

Intro To Us

If you have known me for any extended period of time, you would know that I love children. I always have. I was the little girl who didn’t play with dolls, only babies. You could find me next to any mom who recently had a baby at church. Since I was a young girl, I knew that I wanted to be married and have a large family.
3 years ago Nathan and I were married. We wanted to start a family right away. Unfortunately, we encountered many problems. And after many doctors visits I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Right away, we started with fertility medications. After discovering the medications were not working, we were faced with the realization that having a baby of our own may not be possible.

This awareness was devastating.  My childhood dream would not come true. After many months of struggling with jealousy and anger (mostly on my part) God showed us that there is another way to accomplish our dream. Part of our journey in accepting infertility was the realization that what we wanted most was to have a family and be parents, not simply pregnancy. God has showed us that adoption is the way to accomplish this. - Meghan

I feel that God has placed me with the wife that he intended me to have. God has given me the desire to expand my family with children.  After Meghan was diagnosed with infertility, my heart was sad but mostly for her. I knew she has always wanted to be a mother. After many long conversations and lots of prayers, God showed us that adoption is how we will grow our family. I eagerly look forward to the day that we get to bring our baby home and can’t wait to raise our baby in a Godly home. -Nathan

Unfortunately there are millions of kids in the United States alone whose parents are unable or unwilling to provide a loving home for them. Adoption is so amazing because it takes a misplaced life and places it in an environment to be loved. Families were designed to be the safe environment for a child to grow up knowing they're loved and cared for. It is such a wonderful opportunity to be able to extend that to a child who is unable to experience it otherwise.

Adoption changes a child's identity from left-behind, alone, abandoned, and unwanted to loved, cared for, and part of a family. Regardless of what happened causing them to be orphaned - whatever child God gives us will literally be chosen to be part of our family. This is a crazy, awesome feeling - even as we've been adopted and "reborn" into God's family - to offer that same invitation and love to a child.

The adoption process can be a very stressful time. We believe that God has shown us the right adoption agency to begin this process with. We now need to begin to start raising money to complete our goal of 25 thousand dollars to be able to bring home our child.  As we start on this adoption process, we ask you to pray that God continues to show us his will and we follow it eagerly in this journey. Also, we would like to ask you to pray fully consider donating any amount of money to help bring our baby home. Please follow our journey by visiting (http://meghanperez.blogspot.com).

-Meghan and Nathan