Walk by faith, and not by sight

One step at a time!

We have submitted our home study packet and wait to hear from St. Andre's to call and schedule our home visit and interviews.... We find ourselves anxious about this step, as you can not move forward without an approved home study. We are trying to just remember that God has called us to this journey, and He is a faithful God and will provide what we need, when we need it.

Last week marked the year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. The news footage is getting harder and harder to watch. We know that our child is there waiting for us. We do not know who they are yet, but our hearts are there with them. Please keep praying for all the children in Haiti and the people as they continue to rebuild.

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

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

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!!!

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...

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