Fundraising Update

We have been overwhelmed by the love and support that we have received over the past two weeks!  Today we were notified of our current balance in our fundraising account through Lifesong for Orphans.  We have been deeply moved by each financial gift.  We have received $7,000 in donations! We are overwhelmed, speechless and immensely grateful for all of the encouragement we have received since announcing the news of our referral.  Every gift brings us a little closer to holding Hailey in our arms!

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they make take hold of the life that is truly life." - I Timothy 6:17-19

We still need to raise close to $12,000 to bring Hailey home and are so excited about this amazing adventure!  We recently connected with a travel agent who helps adopting families in booking last minute flights.  When we get our "travel call" from our agency, we will need to travel to Seoul within one week!  We are praying for great rates and know that everything will come together in God's perfect timing!  Thank you again for your love, support, excitement and prayers!

Remembering June 21, 2007

TODAY MARKS EXACTLY 5 YEARS SINCE WE STARTED OUR ADOPTION JOURNEY!  On June 21, 2007, we were totally overwhelmed with a $30,000 mold/water damage claim in our home.  Our insurance would not cover the claim (since they considered it a pre-existing claim).  I had just lost my job (and insurance coverage for our family) and we were considering international adoption.  Were we crazy?  How could we afford an international adoption after losing my job and facing this huge claim? 

It was Aidan's 4th birthday.  Mike and I prayed specifically that morning and asked God to miraculously help with our water claim to confirm our adoption journey.  We received a call that afternoon from GE that blew us away.  Someone had encouraged Mike to contact GE (since our GE fridg had caused the damage), so he sent GE a fax with the claim information.  GE contacted us that same afternoon and I'll never forget that call.  They asked me, "Where do we send the $28,000 check?" I was shocked and burst into tears, not only because the claim was being covered, but because God made our adoption call so clear. 

In order to cut costs on our house claim, we did some of the work ourselves. 

The boys had fun helping!  We had to completely replace the wood flooring and walls. 

After 5 years of trying to adopt in 3 countries, we have finally seen the beautiful face of our little Korean princess.  To be honest, over the past few weeks I have been dreading today.  I thought that June 21 would arrive with the sadness of another failed adoption.  But we received news last week that changed everything!  June 21 will always be a special day as we celebrate the birth of our second child and the calling to adopt our third!

Seeing her face for the first time!!!

"The Lord longs to be gracious to you, he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!" - Isaiah 30:18

On Tuesday, June 12th, at 7:45 am, it finally happened!  I (Jenni) was prompted to check my emails while the boys were finishing breakfast before school.  I don't normally check my email at this time, but something led me to the computer.  In shock, I read this short, but life-changing note from our Korea program director:

"Urgent!  Call me when you have a minute.  Pretty important. Thanks, Tammy"

I instantly knew that this was it.  I screamed at Mike and picked up the phone.  Words can not describe the shock and numbness I felt when I heard the words, "You have a referral of a little girl!"  To be honest, we are still in a bit of shock, pinching ourselves and wondering if this is real! 

We are unable to post photos of our daughter until we have a password protected blog site. 

Stay tuned for details!

We learned that our precious daughter was born on June 10, 2011, and she is currently being cared for by a Christian foster family in Seoul.  It was indescribable seeing her face for the first time!  We were overwhelmed, scared, excited, anxious and thrilled beyond belief.   Our boys were ecstatic, and I'll never forget Aidan's words, "I'm finally going to be a big brother!"  The past few days have been a blurr as we've filled out extensive paperwork, met with our social worker and reviewed our daughter's medical history with two doctors.

Our referral included photos of our daughter, background information on her birth family, detailed descriptions of her development, eating, playing and sleeping schedule as well as an extensive medical history.  We are so grateful for the level of care that our daughter has received!  We officially accepted the referral on June 14, Mike's 44th birthday!  Our daughter's packet arrived that morning via FedEx.  What an unbelievable birthday gift!  The packet included twenty photos of our daughter, one photo with her foster mother, two books about Korea and a daunting stack of paperwork!  We completed and notarized all of the paperwork that day and expect our "Acceptance to Korea" (ATK) paperwork to be delivered on Monday!

There are so many incredible details that we would love to share about this unbelievable week.   Here are a few:

(1) When we received our referral, our home study was outdated (due to our recent move).  This means that our new house had not been approved for an adoption by a social worker.  When we moved in April, we were questioning if we would ever receive a referral, so we decided not to contact our home study agency.  We almost gave away all our baby clothes, furniture and toys during our move!  After speaking with our Korea program director, I immediately called our social worker, who typically works on adoption cases on weekends, to ask if he could come to our house ASAP!  He lives an hour away, but it just "so happened" that he had a scheduled appointment that day with  friends of ours (who had just returned with their daughter from China) just a few miles away from us!  He was able to stop by our house that evening and our home study was updated the following morning.  Unbelievable!

(2) Our adoption agency required us to review our daughter's medical files with an international adoption specialist as well as our family doctor.  Both doctors were able to review and respond to her file within 24 hours, and both confirmed that she is healthy and thriving. The email response from our family doctor absolutely shocked and sobered us, especially since we had decided to make our final decision after receiving the doctors' responses:

"I studied the record and photos of that little girl. She is perfect.  She does not have any medical issues.  She was sick one time and got better.  God is sending her to you!  Heed his word." - Dr. Long (3) In August, 2012, Korea will announce significant program changes which will affect all families.  They have announced that families will no longer be able to request the gender of their child.  They have also announced that there are very few girls available for adoption.  Their current law states that adoptive parents must be younger than 45, and Mike just turned 44 this week.  Because of these changes, we were seriously questioning if our family would receive a referral.  Needless to say, our referral this week was totally unexpected, especially since families who are "ahead of us in line" have not yet received referrals.  Our agency also rushed our referral so that we could be placed in a faster travel group.  We hope to travel this fall.  Once again, we are reminded that God's timing is perfect and when we follow Him, there are no such things as"coincidences."  On Wednesday, June 13, Mike celebrated his birthday a day early with his co-workers.  They took him out for lunch and he chose Korean food.  That night we were able to enjoy a date night while the boys went to youth group.  Guess which kind of food he chose again?  Korean!  It was so fun to finally be able to talk about our daughter's new name, our trip to Korea, her new bedroom, and all of the dreams that we have shared for so many years.  It was also special to share "our little secret" between the two of us.  As you can see from the photo below, his fortune cookie said, "Good things come to those who wait.  Be patient." After dinner we walked across the street to a Korean market.  We literally felt like we were in Seoul and know that we will return to this market many times.  I found my favorite book, "Radical" in Korean and was so excited!  We wandered through the store laughing, taking in the sites and smells and wondering what kind of food our daughter eats and how we will incorporate her Korean life into our American world.  Words can not describe the emotions that we have experienced this week.  We are overwhelmed, grateful and amazed by the faithfulness of our God. In January, 2008, a friend gave me this verse to claim over our adoption: "But these things I plan won't happen right away.  Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow, be patient.  For it will surely take place.  It will not be late by a single day." - Habakkuk 2:3 We have learned so much these past five years about waiting on God and trusting His timing.  And we are amazed by all that He has done as we have waited.  This blog is filled with many of the miraculous stories that we have experienced during our season of waiting.  Next month I am privileged to lead my eighth orphan outreach team to the beautiful country of El Salvador.  Through this long season of waiting for our daughter, God has placed a lifelong calling over our family to care for and advocate for orphans.  We have been honored to lead teams, start an orphan care ministry in our church and birth "The So Cal Orphan Care Network."  We will continue to share the cry of the orphan with everyone that we meet.  There are approximately 147 million orphans in the world and this is an international crisis that can not be ignored. But this week brings good news!  There is one less orphan in the world.  Our daughter is no longer an orphan.  She is a Ramsey! We are finally posting this exciting update on Father's Day!  What a special Father's Day for Mike!  We surprised our church body this morning and shared the news at the end of the service.  We displayed our daughter's photo up on the screen so that everyone could celebrate along with us, and there were many shouts of joy and tears.  What an unforgettable day! We still need to raise close to $20,000 in order to bring our daughter home.  If you would like to support our adoption costs, you can give a tax-deductible gift through Lifesong for Orphans (see info on the right side of the blog).  We also have a personal adoption savings fund if you would like to contribute directly to us.  We will continue to update our fundraising status on the blog.  These remaining costs include Korean adoption fees (for foster care, medical care, visas, etc.), immigration fees, travel costs to Korea and post placement social worker visits.  It is our deep desire to bring our boys with us to Korea, but this will depend on how much funds are raised and the timing of travel.  Please pray with us as we continue to journey through our amazing adoption adventures!