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!

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

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...

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.

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!!!

Moving Forward!!!

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

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.