Twas the night before 'Week 19' when all though the house, Not a referral was stirring...

 

Yes, that right, we're still waiting after 18 weeks! Our LORD is definitely refining us in the area of patience. That said, we're at peace knowing that God is in control of it ALL. In His perfect timing, we'll receive the big news of who our little boy is. Please continue to pray with us for God's perfect will and timing during these days of waiting (thank you).

 

 

With Christmas around the corner, the kids are becoming more and more excited by the day! Below is a beautiful handcrafted Christmas ornament made by friends of ours as a special keepsake of Africa. Thank you Bob and Jackie Todd for this very meaningful ornament.

 

 

 

~ Meet The Vogtmans ~

Yes, this weekend our family is traveling to MD to visit friends, the Vogtmans. Early in our adoption journey we connected on a adoption support group and became close friends. We're very excited to finally meet face to face, rather than email, Facebook and phone. May God bless our time together and continue to deepen our friendship.

 

Thank you again to all who have been supporting us along the way. We greatly appreciate your prayers, financial support and encouragement.

 

May the birth of our LORD Jesus Christ renew within you His Spirit of wonder, peace, joy and love this Christmas. Be Blessed in His life giving Holy presence in the days to come!

 

~ Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ~

 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..."  James 1:17

 

I AM LOVED from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

 

PRAY for them SPEAK UP for them PROVIDE for their needs SUPPORT those who support them PROTECT them from harm VISIT them where they are GIVE sacrificially to them ENCOURAGE them to press on ADOPT them into your family MOBILIZE your church for them

PRAY for them: Tape a waiting child’s picture to your dashboard and pray for the child every time you’re in a car. Visit AdoptUsKids.org or RainbowKids.com. Organize an evening prayer vigil at your church and pray for children in foster care or an orphanage overseas.

SPEAK UP for them: Carry a waiting child’s picture and show it to other believers. Ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home. Become a court appointed special advocate for a child in foster care. Visit NationalCASA.org for details.

PROVIDE for their needs: Give sacrificially to a reputable orphanage. Financial gifts can be designated for specific items and aid needed by orphans. Visit HelpOrphans.org for more information. Organize a drive in your church to collect school supplies for children in foster care or shoes for orphans overseas. Visit GainUSA.org or ShoesForOrphanSouls.org.

SUPPORT those who support them: Mow, baby sit, or organize meals for a week for foster parents. Pray with them and tell them you appreciate what they do. Encourage a family adopting an older child by hosting a shower for them.

PROTECT them from harm: Become a foster parent or emergency foster parent. Raise money to build a children’s home to help remove children from the streets. Visit WorldOrphans.org for details.

VISIT them where they are: Go on a mission trip to an orphanage as an individual or family. Visit GainUSA.org or HelpOrphans.org for information. Take dinner to a foster group-home on a regular basis.

GIVE sacrificially to them: Support reputable orphan care organizations on a regular basis. Contribute generously to an adoptive family to help offset their costs. Visit ShaohannahsHope.org or LifeSongForOrphans.org.

ENCOURAGE them to press on: Sponsor a child, support them financially, and encourage them through your letters. Visit VsionTrust.org to learn more. Become a mentor or tutor to a teenager in a foster group-home.

ADOPT them into your family: Give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption. Adopt a young adult who has aged out of the system.

MOBILIZE your church for them: Be a catalyst in your church for starting a sustained orphans ministry. Visit HopeForOrphans.org for resources and to learn more about attending a Your Church and the Orphan workshop.

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Waiting.... Week 6 and counting!

Well it's been awhile since our last post...

This past Monday (9/16/13) we received a few of our travel vaccinations and antibiotics from our local hospital travel clinic (Holy Spirit Hospital ~ Travel Health Program). Our Doctor recommended the following vaccinations and antibiotics for our travels to Ethiopia:

- Yellow Fever Vaccination

- Meningitis Vaccination

- Hepatitis A and B Vaccination

- Vivotif (oral typhoid vaccine)

- Malarone (oral malaria antibiotic)

- Ciprofloxacin & Lomotil
  (Antibiotics for traveler's diarrhea, bowel & stomach - as needed)

Over the past month we also began a countdown chart to pass the time. We created an elephant pocket sleeve for each week "in waiting" which holds a particular scripture verse. Every Sunday evening the family gathers in the living room to reflect on their day and to read the special scripture verse for the week! We place a giraffe 'cut out' in the 'sleeve of the week' to track our waiting time until the BIG NEWS... News of who our little boy will be! Hopefully, God willing, we'll be getting our referral email (the BIG NEWS) which tells us who our little boy is and all his information in the coming month... Please continue to keep us in your prayers (thank you).

August Update

Well, it's official we are finally a waiting family. Our dossier arrived in Ethiopia on July 26th. It was translated and registered during the following 20 days. August 15th was our official day. We don't have a whole lot to post right now because Ethiopian courts are closed and it's their election time. So that means all movement stops in the country for a while. Please pray that this process won't take long and we will receive our referral soon. Our agency says it can take anywhere from 2-6 months for a referral. I'm still holding on to hope that we may be able to travel before Christmas to see our little boy.

Some other good news is that we are very close to having our adoption fully funded. God is so GOOD! He has brought us so far. If you would like to help we are still selling puzzle pieces. They are $5 each. For every piece you buy your name will be written on the piece and we will display the finished puzzle in our sons room. You can donate through the link on the home page of our blog. All donations are tax deductible and go directly to our agency. I'm also selling my personalized towels from my Etsy shop to fund the remaining amount of the adoption. If you are interested please go to my shop and check out my towels. There is a sale going on now until Sept. 1st so stock up for Christmas! www.littlehousekids.etsy.com

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. They have meant the world to us. Oh, and if you have any adoption questions I would be happy to share what I know. I'm very passionate about adoption and love Ethiopia.

Adoption Update

Our Dossier was mailed at the beginning of the month and is NOW in country (in Ethiopia)! Another step closer to our little boy.

According to our agency, Adoption Avenues, come the 15th of August, 2013 we will be officially on the wait list for our child (referral). We're still in need of some fundraising to meet our end goal amount. So please check out our fundraising tab to see where you can help and share it with others.

Thank You for your continued prayers and support  :)

July 1st - Finished certification of dossier
July 2nd - Mailed Dossier to Agency
July 3rd - Dossier arrived at Agency
July 15th - Dossier arrived in Washington, DC for authentication
July 26th - Dossier arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Progress Update

BIG news to share this week!

 

Our Hoss's fundraiser is complete and we raised a total of $370.00. It wasn't quite the outcome that we were hoping for, but we're very grateful for each dollar. A very special thank you to ALL who came out to support our cause. We hope to have another fundraiser in the fall... We'll keep you posted.

 

In other news, thanks to the diligent efforts of my dedicated wife, our dossier (which is the collection of all our paperwork that's been compiled over the past three months) is now COMPLETE! It has truly been an enlightening and humbling experience completing this milestone. Thank you God for getting us to this point and all those who had their hand in helping us with it! Please pray for this special document as it travels from our agency to DC for authentication, then off to Ethiopia for translation and registration. We're hoping to have it registered "in country ~ Ethiopia" within three weeks... We're one step closer to one less orphan in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW Hoss's restaurant Fundraiser

(This fundraiser has ended ~ Thank you everyone)

Friends we need your help!!! It's time for fundraising. In order for us to raise some money for our upcoming adoption expenses we are having a fundraiser night at Hoss's Steak and Sea House. Please consider joining us on June 29th or 30th any time of day for a wonderful meal and great cause. Hoss's will donate 20% of your purchase to our adoption! If we reach $1,200 they will donate 25%!! So make sure to share the word with your family and friends. Please remember to print the flyer below and hand it to your server. Thank you so much for your support.

Yard Sale Fundraiser

Yesterday was a BIG day for my family! We had a yard sale to raise money for the next expenses in the adoption. The HUGE payments are coming up and we wanted to prepare ourselves. Well, God blessed our day and we raised $899.00 with the yard sale and the kids lemonade stand over the last few weeks. Praise God!!! We are having another yard sale next Saturday, May 25th because we still have tons of great stuff to sell. After that all that's left will be donated to our church's Caring Closet for the needy in our area. All my local friends and family please pass the word along about the sale. I know it won't be as crowded because it's not a neighborhood sale but with help from you I'm sure we can get the word out.

As for the process on the adoption...we are still waiting:( I'm hoping the USCIS fingerprint forms will come soon so we can get that taken care of ASAP. Tomorrow we are having the dossier notarized. Later this week I will take all the pages to the Department of State in Harrisburg and have everything apostilled. That's $15 a page...so expensive. But honestly nothings cheap about adoption:)

Please pray that this next step goes well and we don't have to repeat pages. Also pray for our shots that we need. Anyone that knows me knows I hate shots...and we have to get lots. Did I mention each shot is around $140 and our insurance won't cover travel vaccines. It's going to cost around $600 for Mark and I...JUST FOR SHOTS!!!! I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

Last but certainly not least thank you to all our friends and family that helped with the yard sale. We had some amazing donations (Mom, Dad, Sean, Rachel, Elizabeth, Matt thanks a million). Also a special thanks to my wonderful Mom who stayed over night and helped me set up. She also stayed the whole yard sale to help as well. I couldn't have done it without her. Mom you are the BEST!!!

Home Study

Today we were thrilled to pick up our home study. It is completely finished. Now we wait for USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) clearance. That is estimated to take 2 months but I am hopeful it will go a little faster. We mailed in the form and the money on April 24th and mailed the home study to go along with it today. I hope that will speed up the process. We still have our dossier to authenicate and be translated into Arhamic but other than that we are really moving along. Ahead of schedule...I may add. So now we wait, wait, wait...I guess we better get used to that. From what I've heard from here on out there is a lot of waiting.

Next Step

So the home study is done...but not in hand. We are still waiting on the FBI clearance. Hopefully soon:) Last week we mailed in our USCIS paperwork for the I600a. This is the approval from Homeland Security. We can't completely finish this step until the FBI clearance comes in and the home study and sent in. But we are hoping that because we sent it early that will make the process move faster. I can't believe the amount of PATIENCE (and MONEY) you need to adopt. So much is out of our hands. Well, that is really all that is happening for now. I hope to have more news next week.
Oh, I almost forgot we did have a significant change this week. We changed our request of a boy from 2-4 years old to a boy 12 months to 4 years old. I know...it doesn't seem like that big of a change but it is to us. We really hadn't thought about going back to a baby. But after a lot of prayer we decided to broaden the age range hoping that the process might move faster and the transition will be smoother when he arrives home.

Second and third home study visits

The second and third home study visits are over. We are done with the visits. Now we just sit and wait until some of the clearances come back. (FBI, I wish you would get a move on).

During the second visit she went over my autobiography with me. We talked all about my upbringing and my family and friends. I took her on a tour of the house and we went over a very long check list of items that we had to complete. Fortunately we passed. Later that day she interviewed the kids. It went really well...and they even behaved. The cutest story that I have to share is the home study agent asked Emma if she was worried about anything once her new brother comes home. She could have said a million things like having to share my toys or not getting enough attention. But my sweet daughter said she is worried about her new brother having to get lots of shots. So cute, we explained to her that he wouldn't have had the proper health care he needed and he would have to have many immunizations when he got home. That was her biggest worry...God love her! So that being said the visit was a success and we only had one more to go.

On the third visit Mark had his one on one time with our agent. She asked him all the same questions she asked me about his family and childhood. It went great. I'm really going to miss her. I think she knows me better than Mark...lol.

After about six hours of interviews and house tours I can officially say we are done with the home study. There are a few documents left for the paperwork end of things but we are one GIANT step closer to our little guy.

So we had our first home study visit last Friday and it went great. So exciting things are really moving along. Our second visit is on Wednesday. On the next visit she will tour the house and interview me privately and then the kids. Ha! That should be good. Can you imagine what the kids will say? Actually, I 'm sure they will do well. They can't wait to talk to her and show off their rooms. They are so excited about having a new member to the family. I am so BLESSED with a very supportive husband and children.

Today, I picked up our birth certificates, marriage license, dropped off medical forms and mailed out child abuse paperwork as well as our request for our deed to the house. I'm tired just talking about it. And did I mention a two year old was with me the whole time. She was great I carried lollipops:)

Each new step is one step closer to our little man. I can't wait to see his little face. But I also can't imagine the anguish that his birth family is going through. I pray for our son but more than that I pray for his mother and the choice that she has made. What an amazing women. He may not have a mother and we won't know for sure until we get the referral but there is most likely family out there grieving for their child. Pray for those parents and pray that God will give them the strength and peace they need.

We are the Ayers Family and this is our story, our journey of "Becoming His HOPE"

 

 

A year ago a journey began that would ultimately change my life, and the life of my family.  My name is Jamie Ayers and this is my journey of “Becoming His HOPE” with God’s perfect plan for my family.

So, let me tell you a little bit about my family. We have three beautiful children. Emma is 9, Jacob is 8 and Annley is almost 3 years old. The two older kids attend West Shore Christian Academy. The youngest will go to preschool in the fall. They are the love and joy of my life. I have an amazing supportive and loving husband of ten years of marriage. He is the only one I would ever want to go through this crazy life with. We have two pets Liberty our sweet loving golden retriever and Abby our shy cat. They are a huge part of our family and could not go without mention. We are a fun family that loves God, family, friends and taking vacations (especially to Disney World).

A few months ago, I prayed the prayer “God break my heart for what breaks yours” and He did just that… With this simple prayer my heart and home were opened to grow my family through adoption. We are on this journey because we were called by God to not only see the orphans of the world but to do more.  James 1:27, says “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” And that brings us to where we are today – being humble and faithful servants of God.

We started researching countries and our eyes and hearts were opened to Ethiopia. The amazing people and culture were one reason but the true poverty and need is why we choose this beautiful place. Africa has millions of orphans and Ethiopia has 5 million orphans in a country double the size of Texas. That is staggering to comprehend. We are so excited to think that over 7,000 miles away God has a little boy ready for his forever family. We have already experienced many humbling affirmations that God is right there with us each step of way. We are grateful for the love and support of our family and friends and ask that you please pray for our journey.

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for Me.” - Matthew 25:40