We are having our first adoption fundraiser event, Ladies Night Out Adoption Fundraiser this Saturday, November 14th at 6:30pm. I hope to see some of you ladies there.
We are looking forward to an enjoyable evening with a spiritually uplifting message, music, as well as fun with an auction featuring many wonderful items donated by friends and local businesses including:
Jewelry by Joyia and IB Design
Original watercolor paintings by Marilyn May
These things and more will be available.
For more information visit our Facebook event page.
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
So now what? Shouldn't you be done by now? Not quite.
Some of you have heard our announcement that we have gotten our USCIS approval. We were really excited about this because it meant that we don't have to re-do any of the paperwork we have already done. Basically our U.S. paperwork is done and approved. Praise the Lord this was a HUGE answer to prayer!
This is not the final stage by any means. So what is next? International paperwork! We needed approval from the U.S. before we could even start the international paperwork, which is called our dossier. This paperwork we just completed yesterday and sent to our adoption agency. There it will be notarized, approved, and sent to the foreign country we are adopting from. This paperwork will be translated into a foreign language and we will be officially be waiting to adopt a child from that specific country!
From there there are two ways it can go, we will either wait to be matched with a child which can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. The other option is that we will find a waiting child that we feel we can parent and apply to adopt them. Waiting children in our country of choice are children who have already been available to be adopted within the country for 6 months and have had their paperwork presented to potential parents, but for whatever reason the parents chose not to adopt them. These children's information is given to adoption agencies to advocate for them. Some children are represented by multiple adoption agencies. Most waiting children both domestic and internationally are over 8 years old or/and have medical or developmental special needs or delays. We are hoping to adopt a child under 7 with minor medical needs and some developmental needs or delays. Some people are surprised by this thinking we will adopt a healthy infant. Although we are looking for a young child we are not looking for a baby. In fact within the adoption world, children over 3 are considered "special needs" because they are an older child. Each adoption agency is given specific children to advocate for. I regularly check these lists of waiting children for children that we believe we can care for. If we are able to find a waiting child we wish to adopt we may have to wait 1-2 months for our agency to acquire their file from the country, if the child is currently being represented by another agency. If the child is still available, our adoption agency can request their file. From there we decide to pursue the specific child for adoption. From there the process is much quicker: 6 months to 1 year! We would make travel plans to meet the child, decide to adopt them, return home for several months and wait to be given official custody of the child. Once we have official custody we travel back to the country to pick up our child and bring them home. From there our real journey begins, our journey as parents 24/7.
So yes we still have quite a ways to go, but we celebrate each small step on the way there. In the meantime we are doing our best to save and raise funds and learn more about parenting vulnerable children. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, your prayers, encouragement, and gifts mean so much to us!
This is not the final stage by any means. So what is next? International paperwork! We needed approval from the U.S. before we could even start the international paperwork, which is called our dossier. This paperwork we just completed yesterday and sent to our adoption agency. There it will be notarized, approved, and sent to the foreign country we are adopting from. This paperwork will be translated into a foreign language and we will be officially be waiting to adopt a child from that specific country!
From there there are two ways it can go, we will either wait to be matched with a child which can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. The other option is that we will find a waiting child that we feel we can parent and apply to adopt them. Waiting children in our country of choice are children who have already been available to be adopted within the country for 6 months and have had their paperwork presented to potential parents, but for whatever reason the parents chose not to adopt them. These children's information is given to adoption agencies to advocate for them. Some children are represented by multiple adoption agencies. Most waiting children both domestic and internationally are over 8 years old or/and have medical or developmental special needs or delays. We are hoping to adopt a child under 7 with minor medical needs and some developmental needs or delays. Some people are surprised by this thinking we will adopt a healthy infant. Although we are looking for a young child we are not looking for a baby. In fact within the adoption world, children over 3 are considered "special needs" because they are an older child. Each adoption agency is given specific children to advocate for. I regularly check these lists of waiting children for children that we believe we can care for. If we are able to find a waiting child we wish to adopt we may have to wait 1-2 months for our agency to acquire their file from the country, if the child is currently being represented by another agency. If the child is still available, our adoption agency can request their file. From there we decide to pursue the specific child for adoption. From there the process is much quicker: 6 months to 1 year! We would make travel plans to meet the child, decide to adopt them, return home for several months and wait to be given official custody of the child. Once we have official custody we travel back to the country to pick up our child and bring them home. From there our real journey begins, our journey as parents 24/7.
So yes we still have quite a ways to go, but we celebrate each small step on the way there. In the meantime we are doing our best to save and raise funds and learn more about parenting vulnerable children. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, your prayers, encouragement, and gifts mean so much to us!
Monday, 29 June 2015
Good News, progress finally!
Good News in our adoption journey! We have finally completed step one. We are officially three months into the 2-3 year process. That three month step, unfortunately, took fifteen months to complete. I am very thankful that we did not have a specific child in mind from the beginning, as these delays would have been agonizing. We are now waiting to see if this document will pass inspection by the U.S. government, please pray that it will not have to be revised. If it needs any revisions, there is only a brief window for them to be completed in without having to reapply with a new costly fee. Pray that we find helpfulness and cooperation with the people that are in charge of these things.
We now have documents from three states, two territories, and two federal agencies proving that we are not criminals. Medical tests proving we do not have tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, or anything else that the doctors know of. Yet we still need another paper signed by a doctor and yet another set of fingerprints to be done if I am not mistaken. Some of these things seem a bit redundant to us, but I told our adoption agency that it is actually exciting getting to fill out this next round of paperwork since it means we are moving forward with this process.
Both Abe and myself will be turning thirty this year, if we had waited this long to start the process we could have chosen a different country as some countries have a requirement that both parents be over thirty years old. As it is we are planning on sticking with the country we have chosen, their program seems very stable and well run, compared to some. We still meet the requirements to adopt. We have received many generous gifts from friends, family, and even strangers! Many people are praying for us and are excited for us, we are too. We have been able to take on some additional jobs (cat and dog sitting, graphic design, chauffeuring, and selling Jamberry nail wraps so far) and save back money. All told we already have about a third of what we expect we will need. Pray that God will prepare us to be the best parents we can be to a child or siblings that come from a background of pain or neglect.
We now have documents from three states, two territories, and two federal agencies proving that we are not criminals. Medical tests proving we do not have tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, or anything else that the doctors know of. Yet we still need another paper signed by a doctor and yet another set of fingerprints to be done if I am not mistaken. Some of these things seem a bit redundant to us, but I told our adoption agency that it is actually exciting getting to fill out this next round of paperwork since it means we are moving forward with this process.
Both Abe and myself will be turning thirty this year, if we had waited this long to start the process we could have chosen a different country as some countries have a requirement that both parents be over thirty years old. As it is we are planning on sticking with the country we have chosen, their program seems very stable and well run, compared to some. We still meet the requirements to adopt. We have received many generous gifts from friends, family, and even strangers! Many people are praying for us and are excited for us, we are too. We have been able to take on some additional jobs (cat and dog sitting, graphic design, chauffeuring, and selling Jamberry nail wraps so far) and save back money. All told we already have about a third of what we expect we will need. Pray that God will prepare us to be the best parents we can be to a child or siblings that come from a background of pain or neglect.
Thursday, 13 November 2014
Plans and Prayers
Hi friends,
It's about time for an update. Many people have asked how our process is going. Usually my response is "slow". We have experienced some delays in some of the initial steps of the process. We have been able to meet with our social workers and go over some needed revisions to our homestudy documents. We have finished gathering some of the additional information that needed to be added. Now we have to wait for the process to work again. Join us in praying that everything comes together correctly, and that we can have this first major step done before Christmas. We have been praying for direction and praying for specific waiting children. Pray that the right parents will adopt these children. That parents can provide a healing environment and that family bond that everyone needs.
I have also begun a new money making venture to help bolster our finances a little. I am now an independent consultant with Jamberry Nails. What are Jamberry Nails? They are an awesome new nail art product made from vinyl based material with a heat and pressure sensitive adhesive that forms a bond to your nail. I'm hoping I will be able to save most of my earnings from this business to help pay for some of the costs associated with our adoption. It's fun, I get to host parties online and in person to show off the product, I like the fact that I can work from home and not have to quit helping Abe with his church related ministries. It is also something that I can potentially continue after we become parents and our schedules and priorities change.
My website is MyLittleMani.jamberry.com
God bless, Bethany Kennedy
It's about time for an update. Many people have asked how our process is going. Usually my response is "slow". We have experienced some delays in some of the initial steps of the process. We have been able to meet with our social workers and go over some needed revisions to our homestudy documents. We have finished gathering some of the additional information that needed to be added. Now we have to wait for the process to work again. Join us in praying that everything comes together correctly, and that we can have this first major step done before Christmas. We have been praying for direction and praying for specific waiting children. Pray that the right parents will adopt these children. That parents can provide a healing environment and that family bond that everyone needs.
My website is MyLittleMani.jamberry.com
God bless, Bethany Kennedy
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Based on a true incident: Chalk
I really can't say anything about this video except I know why we are doing what we are doing.
Thursday, 3 April 2014
It's PARTY time!
In the meantime we are taking an online course teaching us more about the different aspects of inter-country adoption. We are both learning so much about the process, the needs of these precious children, and how we can be better parents to them.
To get ready for upcoming expenses we will be sending out a support letter. If you would like to receive one send me your mailing address at artistbethanykennedy@yahoo.com. We will also be hosting an online fundraiser PARTY! It is running from now until April 13th.
Shop at: https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E4391091&from=DIRECTLINK&extern=true
Our consultant, Paula O'Brian, will be donating 25% of the purchase price to help with our adoption. Thirty-One Gifts: Buy trendy and affordable purses, totes, bags & accessories and help support a great cause.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Learning to Connect
As part of our home study and approval process, we are required to be educated on parenting an adopted child. I find this very valuable. We recently finished some required reading in the form of the book "The Connected Child". I enjoyed reading this book. Parenting will likely be one of the most challenging things we have ever done. I know I appreciate all the help I can get. I plan to re-read this book again in a year or so when we are getting ready to bring home our child.
The case studies of different children and what helped them get through behavioral and emotional obstacles in their lives were very insightful. I was impacted with how important developing healthy attachment and trust with parents is for a child. It made me wonder how much of that we are losing as a culture who sends our children to daycare for most of the day, then sets them in front of the television for the rest of it. I am also very grateful for the loving, healthy, whole, Christian families my husband and I were raised in.
The case studies of different children and what helped them get through behavioral and emotional obstacles in their lives were very insightful. I was impacted with how important developing healthy attachment and trust with parents is for a child. It made me wonder how much of that we are losing as a culture who sends our children to daycare for most of the day, then sets them in front of the television for the rest of it. I am also very grateful for the loving, healthy, whole, Christian families my husband and I were raised in.
Abe has been able to use some of the techniques used in the book with the children he works with at the Lighthouse After-school Program. He has been able to connect with some of the children and correct some behavioral problems already. We will be receiving two and a half hours of educational credit for reading this book.
We are waiting for our social worker to schedule our next visit. Pray that we will be able to connect again soon. In the meantime, we will continue to work on fulfilling our educational requirements. On the financial side of things, we still have a long way to go, but we are making progress. God is faithful to provide our needs and even our wants! We were blessed to be able to acquire a "new to us" microwave and a new toaster-oven after our microwave broke a few months ago. We are given free food regularly as well. We raised $100 more with the help of friends who have helped sell fundraiser bracelets and necklaces for us. We also received two more donations. Praise the Lord!
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