Officially a Waiting Family

We made it! The home study is finished and our dossier is complete. It is sitting in the Marshall Islands right now. How cool is that??? Now, we just wait until we get a phone call with our referral. Seems so simple, right? I guess in reality it is, but for now I get to live with my heart stopping for just a second every time my phone rings and wondering how long it will be until we get The Call. 

As far as a time frame goes, we have no idea. It could be a year. It could be less than a year. It could be more than a year.......it could be enough time to drive me crazy waiting! Even though the wait will be longer than we want it to be (which is assured because I'm already tired of it), we are patiently-ish waiting and praying that we are receptive of what God has in store for us during this period. We have learned so much about His character as we have walked this journey and I know that He will continue to teach us more as we slow down and wait. I pray that we continue to seek His will and look to Him in the (relative) silence. With no more paperwork to do, no more meetings to prepare for and nothing requiring my immediate attention, I feel a little lost. I know that things are happening and moving on the country's end, there is just nothing left for me to do. When our social worker cleared our dossier and said the words, "It's out of your hands now," I thought it was the sweetest thing that I had ever heard - I had worked so hard to get to that point, for us to be deemed acceptable parents, to prove that our home was ok and safe for kids, for the government to make sure that we had no criminal records (multiple times by every level of law enforcement), to complete what seemed like the same forms over and over and over...the laundry list goes on and on. Now, the control-freak part of me desperately desires to take over again. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not in control anyway and to let it go. The desire to control everything runs deep and is too often my first reaction to any situation but I'm working on that!

So, during our wait we will continue to save/raise money, knowing that with The Call comes the need for the largest portion of our expenses. All at once we will have referral fees, acceptance fees, attorney fees and travel. That fact is what motivates me to continue feeding my people more rice and beans than they would like ;), selling everything that doesn't move/serve some purpose in our home (and even some things that do), applying for every grant that I can, and baking all the cookies and cakes that y'all want! We will continue to pray for our family to be as prepared as possible for the new baby and for the family that we will forever be connected to. We will continue to praise our God that has brought us this far and will continue walking with us, even as we become more and more impatient with the wait. 

On that note, if anyone would like some homemade iced sugar cookies or a sour cream pound cake, please let me know! The cookies are $12 a dozen and the cakes are $20. They are both delicious and are perfect for holiday gatherings!

We cannot begin to tell everyone how much we appreciate all of your support and prayers. It means the world to us that you love us so much! As we wait, please continue to pray for and with us. Pray for our patience, for us to continue to prepare the boys for the changes ahead, and for our future child and their birth family. 

Side note:  November is National Adoption Month and this coming Sunday (Nov. 8) is Orphan Sunday. Please take a moment to remember the millions of orphans worldwide and carefully consider your role in caring for them!

Love, 
Ellie

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Summer 2015

Ok, so our lives got flipped-turned upside down...sorry...channeling a little Fresh Prince there...

But seriously, our summer has been INSANE. Very shortly after my last post (wayyyy back in May), the paperwork end of our process got serious. We were accepted into the program for the new agency (you can read back for those details) and began our home study immediately. We were on a bit of a time restraint to get that finished due to all of our travel in July. We wanted everything as complete as possible when I started back to work. That is yet another example of God's hand in the schedule. We were given the opportunity to complete the entire home study and the vast majority of our other paperwork by the week we started back! Perfect!

For those who don't know, the home study involves a series of visits (at least one actually in our home) and way too many questions about our entire lives. If I got into a fight with you in third grade, the social worker probably knows about it. We also had to turn in every type of document you could ever imagine having that testifies that you are a real person and have not committed any terrible crimes, not hiding a secret family, or have a cold. Our social worker was wonderful and did a great job! We recently got our copies of the completed report...it is crazy to read about your own life like that. Kind of like reading a biography of someone else.

So, that is done. We are currently completing our dossier, which is the paperwork that will actually get sent to Majuro, RMI. We have had some issues getting some of that paperwork and, for today at least, that part of the process is stalled. Hopefully we will wake up tomorrow with news that everyone has decided to cooperate and will send us our stuff!

There is also one unique task for us to complete before we can send in our dossier-our profile book. Our adoption is going to be open, which means that we will have continued contact with the baby's birth family. This is very rare for an international adoption and was one reason that we ultimately decided to adopt from RMI. The agency that we are with now gives the birth mothers/parents profile books for them to look at to choose the family that will adopt their child, much like a domestic adoption happens in the US. We have poured hours upon hours and about a gazillion prayers into creating our book. We know that the family that God has for us will choose us, but it is so hard to put together a short book that really gives a good picture of your life. I'm not going to lie, I cannot wait to be finished with the book. I promised myself I would have it done by today but that hasn't happened.

All in all, that doesn't sound too bad for a summer, right? Just a lot of paperwork. But add in the super fun stuff we did and you can begin to see the craziness! We spent a week at the beach (thanks DeeDee and Papa!), spent way too many hours in the garden/canning/freezing food, and spent two weeks in the Dominican Republic (me and the boys...Brett only got to stay for one week). The trip to the DR was Caleb's first and he loved it! I still hear about the "Minican Public" daily. He can't wait to go back!

So that is the simplified version of our last two months. If you've hung on that long and read all of that, congratulations! You get the chance to buy a brand new t-shirt! Seriously, with everything moving along and us totally taking a break from extra fundraising, it is time for us to start again. We are selling our t-shirts again, in what we believe to be the most beautiful colors on the face of this earth...maroon and gray! Bring on football season!!! Hail State!!! Go Dawgs!!! Sorry, got a little excited there. Anyway, here is a picture. The maroon looks brown-ish in the pic but I promise it's not. 

The shirts are Canvas brand (aka the softest shirt on Earth) and are both crew neck (that's the round neck for anyone like my husband who thought that meant v-neck). They are tri-blend maroon and tri-blend gray and come in Adult Small-Adult 2XL. Kids shirts will be regular t-shirts in the same colors. The adult shirts are $20 and kids are $15. $4 for shipping. We are very kindly offering the gray for anyone who has taken the wrong path in life and supports The School Up North ;)...and I guess for anyone who actually likes gray. 

We also have a brand new, super special, incredibly-amazing-for-anyone-who-needs-help-waking-up-in-the-morning fundraiser coming in the near future. Stay tuned!

Love y'all!

Ellie

"It is important to realize we adopt not because we are rescuers. No. We adopt because we are rescued." -David Platt

#bcheadoptedme

Just an Update...

Guys. There is literally no way for us to explain to you how blessed we have been in the past few months. It has been a long time since we have updated everyone on what has been going on (mainly because we can barely keep up with everything ourselves!) so I am going to take a few minutes to give an overview...

We have had lots of ups and downs recently but we can most definitely see God's hand at work in everything that is going on. We (read: I) have had to learn my lesson, over and over, that my plan is NOT always God's plan. It is awesome to see the work that God does through times that I feel like everything is falling apart. As my husband often (sort of jokingly) says, "You should just start every conversation with the assumption that I am right." I am often reminded that I should enter every situation with the assumption that God is right, that He has the situation under control.

With that said, since January, we have put our house up for sale, taken it off the market, are in the process of changing adoption agencies and have held a couple of (very successful) fundraisers, as well as lived the typical calm, serene life you expect with a four year old and almost two year old in the house....HAHAHA. RIIIIIGHT. Life has been crazy, Brett is currently working in a new position at work that requires some travel, went back to the Dominican Republic in February and is umpiring baseball most evenings. I have just made it through the busy season at work for me (IEPs...ugh...for anyone who knows what that's about) and we are wrapping up the school year...YAY!!!

The house deal felt like a big hit to us, but like I said, God has been there the whole way. He has given me total comfort with staying where we are and making the changes necessary for the home study. We know that staying there is part of His wonderful plan for our lives, so we will be happy in our home until He tells us to leave!

A few months ago, we learned that the timeline for completing an adoption through our current agency had been extended by many, many months so we began researching the other agency (there are only two that are involved in RMI). We felt comfortable with them and began their application process. It is much more lengthy than the other agency and has required several interviews as well as a book report...before they even send us an actual application. I feel sure that this will be the easiest part of the entire process, so no complaints!

Now on to what tends to be a very touchy subject in the adoption world--cost. Until now, we have not spoken much to anyone about the actual cost of the adoption, but after praying about the subject, we felt led to let people in on what is really going on. Many of you have poured so much into our lives: praying for us, spending time helping with the various fundraisers, and financially by participating in the fundraisers as you felt led. There is no way to say thank you enough, and we feel it is only fair that you guys get a better picture of how you have helped.

As most of you know, adoption is expensive.** Period. Domestic, international, either way you go it costs money (and time, and emotional well-being, a little bit of your sanity...). We know the arguments for domestic vs. international adoption and the long and short of it is that God led us to this particular country so we will be adopting from there. We don't know His reason yet, and may never really know, but we are doing what He has called us to do.

Of course, our first question was, "How in the world will we pay for that???" And of course, the answer was (had to be) "God will handle it." He has taken care of everything so far and we know that He will continue to provide. He has allowed us to save, Brett to receive a raise as well as umpire, and His hand has been on every fundraiser we have done.

So as far as the actual costs go, we expect to need around $40,000. At this point, we have saved/you guys have blessed us with almost $15,000!!! We are beyond excited!!! Seriously guys, everyone who bought cookies, shirts, raffle tickets, gave us money just because you love us, or donated items to the rummage sale...you made this happen! We wouldn't be where we are without all of you! We knew that God would provide and He has. He has provided us with an amazing, generous support system that will not only help bring our baby home, but will also love on our baby and teach him/her about God's love. We really couldn't ask for more!

Our goals were exceeded with our most recent fundraisers (our new t-shirts and the rummage sale). Just to get a glimpse of how God has worked in these--for the t-shirt sale, we set of an overall goal of 91 shirts. That would mean raising $1,000 on these shirts. When I say overall, I mean that each time we sold shirts ADDED TOGETHER we hoped to sell 91. When I went to bed the night that orders were due for the FIRST order, 91 shirts had been ordered. Yep. What can you do at that point other than praise God?! I mean really. No one else could have arranged that.

As for the rummage sale, thanks to all of the wonderful people who donated items and worked their tails off, over $2,000 (which was our goal) was raised! We are still recovering from the sale but the work was totally worth it. We even had some left over and are planning another (much smaller) sale at our home over the summer.

These are a few pictures from the rummage sale. Caleb was a totally willing participant...until he learned that we were actually selling all of those super cool toys everyone brought!

We are currently planning on making a cookbook as a physical way for us to remember (and one day for our baby to know) how many people loved and prayed for our child before he/she was even born. We would love for everyone to participate. All you need to do is send recipes to me and they will be included along with your name in the book. They can be snail-mailed or emailed to me (ebouchillon@gmail.com) or you can get them to anyone who knows how to contact us and they will pass them on. If you can get them to me by May 22, that would be wonderful!

All of that to say, we wanted to give you a detailed look at what is happening because the more details you know, the easier it is to see God moving in every tiny area. God has a huge, amazing plan for our lives (as He does for yours!) and we appreciate your support, whether it be through prayer, time, or financially, more than you will ever know!

Love,
Ellie

**Many people don't realize why an international adoption is so expensive. I mean, shouldn't they just give those babies away for free so they can have a home?! Trust me, as much as I wish that were true, it's just not. There are administrative fees, attorney fees, background checks, reports written, often times a certain amount provided to the organization/person caring for the child, travel costs, etc. It seems ridiculous once it adds up, but we don't work for free and we can't expect anyone else to either.

"That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"
Psalm 30:12
#bcHEadoptedME

And the Winner Is....

The winner of the $220 cash prize (the profit was split due to raising less than $500) is...

Susan Ricks!

The winner of the $50 Wal-Mart gift card is...

Sam Childers!

CONGRATULATIONS to both of the winners and THANK YOU to everyone who participated!!! You have helped us get one step closer to bringing home our precious baby!

Love,

Brett, Ellie, Caleb and Brunson

"I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High." Psalm 7:17

#bcHEadopedME