Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Now it Begins.....

Well, as of April 19, 2011, Jonathan and I are officially done (I say this lightly) with what we have to do in order to continue the adoption process.
Ok, so there is more to do, but for now we are done. The paperchasing pregnancy has almost come to a close and we are ready for delivery :)
On Tuesdsay (April 19th) we went to Memphis to get fingerprinted by the USCIS. I loved seeing all the different nationalities represented there. Most of these people were there for interviews and a few like us there for fingerprinting. It wasn't busy at all, but like a government run office, we had to wait. The location of the building is in a strange location - across from Garden Ridge and next to a U-haul rental place - not the exact location for such an official place. My appointment was at 8 and Jonathan's at 9. We arrived at 8 and were out by 9 so the wait wasn't too bad.

So now we wait. Once we receive our I-171H document (which was the need for the fingerprinting) our dossier will be ready to send off to our home office in VA, then to DC for Hillary Clinton to sign and then off to Ethiopia for the long wait.

As we get closer to our paperwork being in Ethiopia I begin to be more anxious (in a good way) about the little girl that will be our little girl. I pray (and ask that you pray) for the mother that will carry her for 9 months. I pray for health and safety. I pray that the Lord will fill the void in her heart that will occur when she departs with her child. I pray that the Lord will bless her in a mighty way. You see in the story of adoption there is a wonderful, beautiful side and a heartbreaking, sorrowful side. God is revealing the darker side to me more and more. I have already pondered will our little girl's mom remember her on her birthday? Will she wonder what she is doing and how she is? I can't help but think those will be hard days for her. Please pray for the young lady (whomever she is).

So we wait and we trust.....

Monday, April 4, 2011

Building Castles....One Foot at a Time ?!

Adoption is expensive - there is no way to say it nicely but it is. The processsing costs, the application fees, the post placement fees, the USCIS fees, and much more add up to well, a lot of money. I would dare say that for a majority of people that would like to adopt finances is the main reason why they don't pursue it. However I would also say that when God calls us to do something he provides for us. I don't believe that money will fall from the sky, but with a combination of donations, savings, grants, and yes, even loans, you can bring a child into their forever family. We are not called to be obedient once all the cards are counted, we are called to be obedient immediately to His calling on our life and in this case, a child's life depends on our obedience.

So as I mentioned in an earlier blog, you may not be called to bring a child into your home but as believers we called to do something. This may include sponsoring a child, fostering, and yes, giving to others that are adopting.


Asking is a humbling thing. We as humans like to be self-relying. We are taught early on to provide for ourselves and our families and anything less is almost failure. However, as believers our whole identity is based on asking. Asking Christ for forgiveness, relying on him to provide, trusting Him to lead the way - Christ humbled himself so we are to humbly ourselves.


So I humble myself......I am asking for your help in bringing our forever child home. In an effort to help fund our adoption we have started a flip flop campaign called:



"Building Castles One Foot at a Time". In conjuction with our local church, West Jackson, for each pair of flips flops purchased (adult or child sizes) a child's pair of flip flops will be donated to children in Costa Rica that are a part of the ONE to ONE Project. With your donation of $20, you will be providing flip flops for a child in Costa Rica, obtain a cute pair of flip flops for yourself and help bring home our little girl from Ethiopia.

If you are interested in purchasing a pair of flip flops, email me at ncastles@uu.edu . See pictures on previous post of some sample flops we've already done: