Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Update

Dear Family & Friends....

Thought it was time to update you all on the progress of our Haitian Adoption. We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we have received and are so blessed to have an amazing circle of family & friends!!! We thank you all for your ongoing love, support and prayers!

We have submitted our 1st document mailer and will begin working on our Dossier. That is the step they call the "paper chase". The deadline for us to have our Dossier into Children of All Nations is 6/28/11. Our first and immediate need is the funds to get our home study completed. There are many steps and things we can not do without an approved home study. When we mailed our 1st scheduled document mailer we needed to submit our next payment of $2200.00 and only by the grace of God did we have almost exactly what we needed!! Our adoption fund is now back to about $100.00 and we need at least $1500 for the home study. We know God will provide!! The Dossier is much more extensive than we originally thought- but we will do what needs to be done to bring this dream to completion!!

We do have some fund raising events planned over the next couple of months and look forward to watching God bless those as only He can!!! If you are interested in any of the upcoming fund raising events, feel free to email me or call me at 554-7399.

James 1:27
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father mans caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Blessings to you all!
Darren & Shelly Condon

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

1st Mailer

Our 1st Mailer is ready to be sent out today.... God has shown us His abundant favor continually during this journey and we are setting our sights on Him and Him alone!!!

Immediate needs and prayer request.

After mailing our "1st Mailer" in today with the next payment of $2200, our adoption account goes back to almost a zero balance. This next leg of the journey is what I would call the "big one".. We need to get our homestudy done pronto ($1400) and start working on all the document collecting. It's hard to say what the next step will cost in total-it's large... but we know God is bigger!!! We will be looking into setting up an account for people to make on-line donations that will go directly to our adoption agency into our account. We are learning as we go....so be praying God gives us wisdom, financial favor and an abundant portion of trust in Him!!

Blessings to you all
Shelly & Darren

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

God's Favor!!

Wow... we are just so thrilled and excited !!!

A couple of weeks ago we took most of what we had left over from our two garage sales this past summer to the Trash & Treasure Sale at the Fourm, and what bounty over flows!! We now have the $2200 we need in our adoption account for our next payment deadline of November 2nd! We raised just over $1000.00 at the T & T Sale and Darren found a buyer for his sled too!!! That money put us at what we needed!!!


Thursday, September 9, 2010

Our Next Step

We are anxiously awaiting our "Welcome Packet" from Children of All Nations, and that should arrive within the next two weeks. We are in awe at how God is moving already in this journey. It's so overwhelming to pray for your child... and not even know what he/she looks like... to dream about hugging and holding that child...

We have about $500 in our adoption fund after mailing out the $2488.00 retainer fee to the agence.....Our immediate need is to raise $2200.oo to mail into CAN's in 2 months as well as cover the cost of the home study (that ranges $800-$1200). Please be praying for these dollar amounts and for God's favor and provision. We fully believe we are in the will of God and trust He will meet our needs.

Thank you all for your prayers and support...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Journey Begins

We finally got to the point where we were ready to mail in our initial application, and after 2 weeks of holding our breath... Children of All Nations accepted us as new clients... Our first order of business is to read and sign the 18 page contract/agreement and mail in our agreement fee of $2588.00. IF... we get this postmarked by Sept. 3-- we will save $100 off that fee!!! I LOVE DISCOUNTS!!!! In our adoption fund we have about $300 more than we need for this first payment... and from the information that has been fed to us from a wonderful lady named Lily at CAN's... our next payment of $2200.00 plus $1500.00 for the Dossier Service is due in about 2 months---the 3rd payment of $2588.00 is due about 7 months after this one - this should be about the completion of our Dossier... during this 7 months we'll have a home study done, estimated cost of $1500.00, fingerprints done in Portland, collection of all the documents they require (and pay out of pocket any expense it requires to obtain these documents).... And then the near $5000 we have to pay after we are paired up and accept our child, to the Haitian Gov. And the 3 payments of $300 that we will need to send to the orphanage to care for our child until we are cleared to fly to Haiti to pick up our son or daughter.... Toss in travel expenses, immunizations, extra unforseen expenses--- this is all VERY overwhelming... I was reminded today of these truths... He thought of me as He was on the cross... He knows my name... my life... and the plans He has for me... and the same is true for Darren. We can cling to and hold onto the promises of His word.... He will NEVER leave us, nor forsake us. We can have peace that surpasses ALL understanding through Him. And we are called to "walk by faith, not by sight"... We serve a good God..... and He is bigger than all these dollar amounts...

We are so blow away by the out pouring of support from our family and friends.... emotional, prayer & financial... it's so overwhelming!!! We are in the midst of a journey that we never ever expected and it's been over the top amazing!!! We both know this will be a great growing and learning experience for us as a couple and as individuals.... We would greatly appreciate your ongoing prayers as we move forward... God Bless!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Raising Funds!!!!

**** Presque Isle Redemption Center-- if you would like donate toward our adoption, just tell Mike when you drop off your bottles/cans that you would like the funds to go into the Condon Adoption Fund account that my sister arranged for us. (Thanks Sister!!!)

*** July 10th- Fort Fairfield City Wide Yard Sale!!! We will be having a garage sale to raise money toward our adoption... you can either donate items to us to place in our sale, or stop by and see what we have for sale... 9 White Hill Street - Fort Fairfield

FMI - call 554-7699 or 554-7399

Friday, June 4, 2010

Our Journey

Just wanted to post a quick update about where we are at with our adoption process. We have been working on some financial issues and have a plan set in motion to get those things taken care of and a deadline to submit our initial application for the end of July... so by August... we WILL be mailing in our initial application to Children of All Nations!!! I know, both Darren and I are excited and nervous all at the same time... this journey get's more and more real as time goes by. We would ask for prayer cover these next couple of months that we would remain steadfast in diligence with our written budget... and prayers of blessings and God's favor over the application we will begin to complete...

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Update

I guess it's going to be a normal situation to have people ask, "how are things going with the adoption." I feel like we are at a snail's pace, with not much to report... It's a blessing to know that so many people care and pray for us as we slowly move forward toward gaining our dream of parenthood.

We have just decided that part of this journey for us is going to be a bit more financial freedom. We have some debts that we want & need to dig out from underneath, and feel that doing this is part of our first initial step in this process. We will, for the next few months, be working hard and diligent toward cleaning up some old debts and putting money into our savings account. Until we feel more secure in this area, we are going to hold off filing out the adoption application. Although this makes both of us a bit sad, we feel this is the right step to take. We are focusing on trusting that God will honor us by the way we are attempting to honor Him with being more responsible with the resources He has entrusted us with. We know this will put us back a few months, but really feel this is a very vital and important part of this journey for us personally. We would ask for prayer cover during this time to make wise decisions and that we would not be discouraged.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Egg Hunt!!

Yesterday Darren and I had the extreme joy and pleasure to participate in a very simple tradition... an Easter Egg hunt !!! (THANK YOU Tania and Dana!!)

We hid some Easter Egg's outback at our house for Olivia and Meghan to find... we look forward to the day we begin to celebrate these small, but joy-filled traditions with our own child...or children!

Sometimes the smallest and simple things... hold the most special memories!!!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Moving Forward!!!

An email arrived yesterday informing potential parents that the Haitian Gov. is going to be opening up the adoption process again!!!! PTL

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

trusting.....

We are still in the process of the initial application for our adoption... and working through a few financial decisions as part of our first step... We would really appreciate prayer cover for a deep and supernatural trust in the Lord plan and guidance. We are feeling a bit discouraged, even at this early stage.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Today's News

Hello Friends...

We are still at the decision stage... trying to decide between the four agencies we've narrowed our search down to... hoping by the end of this upcoming weekend, we will have made our choice...

My awesome sister, Tania has arranged a 'fund raiser' for us. She set up an account at Presque Isle Redemption (at the corner of the Washburn Road in Presque Isle). Anyone wanting to invest in our adoption can return their bottles/cans there and have the money go into our account there.

We would covet your ongoing prayers for us as we continue in the very early stages of this journey... we have many changes coming and big decisions to make. We need much wisdom!! We did have the chance to keep Meghan, Olivia & Riley (our nieces- 6,3 & 7) this weekend... great practice!!! What a blessing it was to have the girls!! They filled our home with great love, laughter, silliness and a bit of 'tattle-taleing'... but that comes with the blessing of children right!!??

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Journey Begins.....

About three weeks ago Darren and I had a long overdue and much ignored conversation about adoption. We had both been feeling and sensing the Lord speaking to us both about this topic, but the flesh side of both of us walked in fear of even opening that door. Fear we couldn't afford it, fear that we would be turned down, fear that things wouldn't come together along that way for us.... After a discussion about adoption and asking for some prayer and confirmation from friends and family... we have decided to follow the Lord's prompting and begin the journey of adoption a child (or children) from Haiti.

As of this moment our steps have been slow and emotional. We have been SO blessed by the outpouring of support, tips, prayers and guidance from a ton of friends and family. We have been collecting information (I like to call this phase 1) these last few weeks on difference agencies and seeking the Lord's will for which one of these agencies we are suppose to choose. We have narrowed it down to four. Our immediate prayer request is that we would have clarity and unity on this decision.... and the guts to move forward. We are thrilled at what we know and trust the Lord has for us during this journey and overwhelmed by the overflow of support and love we have already received. We are a blessed couple and are humbled so much already. We know big changes need to happen in our daily lives and in our finances, but we trust the Lord to make our path straight -- He promises that to us in His word and we are clinging to those promises!

We will continue to post updates on our journey and look forward to your comments!!

Darren & Shelly