So this week has been very crazy with trying to get packets of information out to all of our runners for the Derby Mini Marathon. Wait! I have not told you about our fundraiser! Let me back up and tell you a little about all that is going on!
At the beginning of the year, We (Ken and I) along with some very good friends (Nathan and Sarah) started brainstorming about different fund-raising ideas. Well, I am still not sure who exactly came up with the idea, but it came about so that is all that matters. :) Anyways, we came up with the idea of running the Derby Half-Marathon on April 24th to raise money for the adoption. We figured that if we could 'convince' a few runners to run with us, we could get sponsors to sponsor each runner per mile or maybe a one time gift. Well as we started getting the word out to our friends and Sunday school class, the idea caught on and we received a ton of positive feedback!!
Ken and I are so excited and are so thankful at how the Lord has provided so much support through our church, friends, and family! We now have 18 people running with us gathering up supporters. The Lord is so good!! We thought we might be able to get 5 maybe 10 runners to do the half marathon with us. We are so grateful for those running with us and for their dedication to run the half marathon and to gather up supporters!!
So tonight Ken and I have been working on a packet that will go to each runner to give out to their supporters. For each supporter the packet will contain a letter from Ken and I, a letter from Lifesong, a prayer card and a send in card to let the runner know the commitment. Two pieces of paper and two postcards seem like overkill but we want to keep everyone informed!! Lifesong has allowed us to go through them so that our supporters will be able to write checks tax-deductible. This is a Huge blessing! Lifesong has also said that they will consider us for a matching grant up to $4,000 but will not be able to do so until our home study is completed. We are praying for our home study to be completed quickly and we are trusting the Lord to provide. The Lord has already provided $5,000 towards the adoption. He is so good and we are so thankful!
That is all for tonight!! I will hopefully soon post pictures of events going on in the Lovett household!!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Homestudy
So I realized that I haven't posted anything for over a month and decided that it was time to start typing. A lot has gone on since the beginning of February. For starters, or last home study meeting was on February 3rd. Yay! That was very exciting to have that out of the way! Some of you may be wondering, OK that's great but what exactly is a home study? Well, before we get to the home visit, lets talk about how you start out before the visit even takes place.
Ken and I first sent in an application to the home study agency recommended to us by our adoption agency. After we sent in the application and were accepted, they gave us a list of every kind of paperwork we needed to send in. We sent in birth certificates, a marriage license, autobiography, financial information, medical information, background checks, references and a few other things. After all of that was in order, we were ready for our home visit. Now, back to the home study part.
A home study is, in my opinion, the easiest part of the whole process. It is where a case worker (already assigned to you) comes to visit your house and makes sure it is a safe environment for your soon-to-be children to live. Our case worker first visited us January 27th and asked us questions about our background, how we met, how we grew up, what we have done throughout our life, about our marriage and how we handled happy times and stressful times and other basic questions to get to know us better. I think we were only supposed to meet for an hour, but Ken and I like to talk so we accidentally talked with her for like two hours. :)
The next meeting took place a week later on February 3rd. During this meeting, we talked more about how we would raise the kids, how we would incorporate their culture into our culture (that was interesting), our background in working with children and/or being around children, and other kinds of questions on how we would parent our children. After we talked to her about the kids, our case worker did a home tour to make sure we had room for two children and that it was a safe environment. I think the only part we 'failed' was that we didn't have a first-aid kit. I think it was in the car...or we might not even have one. I can't remember. With all of that said, Ken and I thought the home study was going to be more intense than it was. After it was all over we were like, really? Was that all? I mean Ken and I even role played how we were going to answer "big" questions we thought she might ask. It was so fun and a whole lot easier than we thought it was going to be.
We are now in the process of waiting for the home study to be finalized. When the home study is finalized, it will be sent to USCIS (the US immigration office) to be approved. When they approve it, we will then begin our longer 'paper chase' for the dossier (The paperwork that we will send to the Ukraine). Ken and I are really excited about all that is going on and I hope that you will join us and pray for us as we journey through the deep waters ahead.
Ken and I first sent in an application to the home study agency recommended to us by our adoption agency. After we sent in the application and were accepted, they gave us a list of every kind of paperwork we needed to send in. We sent in birth certificates, a marriage license, autobiography, financial information, medical information, background checks, references and a few other things. After all of that was in order, we were ready for our home visit. Now, back to the home study part.
A home study is, in my opinion, the easiest part of the whole process. It is where a case worker (already assigned to you) comes to visit your house and makes sure it is a safe environment for your soon-to-be children to live. Our case worker first visited us January 27th and asked us questions about our background, how we met, how we grew up, what we have done throughout our life, about our marriage and how we handled happy times and stressful times and other basic questions to get to know us better. I think we were only supposed to meet for an hour, but Ken and I like to talk so we accidentally talked with her for like two hours. :)
The next meeting took place a week later on February 3rd. During this meeting, we talked more about how we would raise the kids, how we would incorporate their culture into our culture (that was interesting), our background in working with children and/or being around children, and other kinds of questions on how we would parent our children. After we talked to her about the kids, our case worker did a home tour to make sure we had room for two children and that it was a safe environment. I think the only part we 'failed' was that we didn't have a first-aid kit. I think it was in the car...or we might not even have one. I can't remember. With all of that said, Ken and I thought the home study was going to be more intense than it was. After it was all over we were like, really? Was that all? I mean Ken and I even role played how we were going to answer "big" questions we thought she might ask. It was so fun and a whole lot easier than we thought it was going to be.
We are now in the process of waiting for the home study to be finalized. When the home study is finalized, it will be sent to USCIS (the US immigration office) to be approved. When they approve it, we will then begin our longer 'paper chase' for the dossier (The paperwork that we will send to the Ukraine). Ken and I are really excited about all that is going on and I hope that you will join us and pray for us as we journey through the deep waters ahead.
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