Delicate Fortress

We met with the social worker last week. The meeting couldn't have gone better. Thank you to those of you who have been praying. We had a pleasant interview and our social worker should be able to come to our home this week for her second visit. Needless to say I have been busy with cleaning and reorganizing my house to be ready for the visit. Abe had been helping out, but I still have alot to do!

We will be meeting with her about five times, so she can write a report about us to send to the country we are hoping to adopt from. When the report is finished, sometime in March, is when our next payment to our agency is due. Our agency will then be helping us gather the necessary documents to send to the country.

We need as much help as we can get to make this dream a reality. We will be hosting a one day only fundraiser on February 4th. We are partnering with with Delicate Fortress Creations (www.delicatefortress.com) to help raise money for our adoption. 

Every purchase you make on February 4 with coupon code "KENNEDY" will not only help bring our family together but will also be helping impoverished and vulnerable women and children around the world.  We are very close to our next financial goal. Thank you to family and friends who recently donated getting us only $1249 away from our next goal of $6270. It would be awesome if we could raise this much with this next fundraiser. We need your help to do it. Plan to shop next Tuesday and invite your friends. 

God Bless,
Bethany Kennedy

Remember, buy something with coupon code KENNEDY on February 4th and support two good causes at once!

Phone Calls and World Awaits!

Friday the phone rang. The social worker called! Our first appointment to meet with her is scheduled for Thursday morning. This is the official start of the interview process that will allow us to become adoptive parents. We have been waiting for this call for a couple of weeks and are excited to see the process start moving.

Looking ahead, we will need your help to adopt a child. We will need lots and lots of prayer, as well as financial help to bring a child home forever. We have decided to celebrate each time we receive a donation for our adoption by adding a piece to this 3-D globe puzzle. A donation can be $1, $15, $800 or more. No amount is too small to help. The last piece we add will be the piece with the country we are hoping to adopt from. We are very grateful that we have received seven donations so far. Part of Antarctica is already put together! You can help our future child/children and donate today by clicking on our Paypal button or by sending a personal check. Contact us for our mailing address.

Making a home for the Holidays

With the nostalgia that surrounds the holidays, it was easy for me to find myself thinking about my children. Life for an orphan is nothing like the life that I grew up in. I grew up in a great family, with two parents that loved God, each other, and me and my siblings. We had family traditions that go back as far as I can remember, as well as cultural traditions like what foods you eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas, or what you do to ring in the new year. I was sobered the other day, by the realization that an orphan has none of these. They grow up in the care of the few staff that work in their orphanage, unable to get the close attention they need, as the staff are over worked and over stretched already. They don't have anyone to show them how to eat a turkey leg, or how to dunk an Oreo. This lead me to a familiar place now, as I began again to pray for the orphans, both the ones that will be mine, and the others that may or may not be so fortunate.  I have no idea where they are right now, but I know God knows them very well. That is a huge comfort to me, as I trust them to His care and protection.

 
Well, with most places closed more days than they are open, the holidays were a slow time for getting paperwork filed and processed. No reason to get upset though, we found other ways to spend our time productively. Bethany has never had an adult passport before, and mine expired this summer, so it was off to the passport office for us. We were happy to find it open, and were able to fill out our paperwork for new passports. I have never been happier to sit down and get my picture taken! After all, this little picture is part of the road that will lead our child home, so every step is worth it.

After the passport office, it is time to start preparing our home for the inspections that are to come. Bethany started the cleaning of extremely dusty book shelves, while I tackled the joyous work of installing child safety locks on our cupboards and closets. While the preparation of our home far from finished, we've gotten a good start, and look forward to making greater steps in the future. Adoption is a long road, with many bumps and twists along the way. We've only just started, but we are confident that our path is ordained by the Lord, and that He already knows what will come.

T-shirts and Legos

Our T-shirt fundraiser has closed now. We are glad to announce that we were able to raise $132 through that fundraiser. Thanks to all who participated, and purchased shirts. That money, along with more to come, will be used to bring our child (or children) home, and for that we thank you. God is good, and I have often found that when I have no idea what to do, that is when God shows me something spectacular.

The Friday night before Christmas, Bethany and I were on our way home, and decided to make a unplanned stop in Kmart. We went in, and as we wandered through the store, we came to the clearance isle. I came across several sets of legos that were marked 70% off. Legos are never on sale! This was amazing! I showed them to Bethany. Being the smart girl that she is, she reminded me to check their going rate on Ebay, just to make sure. I did, and found that this were about half of what they were selling on Ebay. We purchased several sets, and put them on Ebay two days after Christmas. After all, who doesn't want to buy legos with their christmas money, right? The bidding ended, and I am happy to say that we made more than 100% profit on the venture. We spent about $70 on the legos, and we gained $106.59. We are now $238.59 closer to our goal! God is good, and shows us even small ways to finance our adoption.

God Bless,
Abe Kennedy

Ready to Run!

Sometimes, it feels like the start gun will never fire. You know it will, but you are so focused on running the race, that you just can't wait to go! Well, that has been my point of view lately. Bethany and I were accepted by our adoption agency, Lifeline Children's Services, in November, and that opened the door for us to pursue starting our homestudy with our local Department of Human Services. The homestudy is a three month long series of interviews, visits, and education so we can be approved to be adoptive parents.

We were able to talk to the great people here, and get the paperwork in place, but it was just our luck that the holidays fell right in our path. We were told that our social worker would be calling us, but that because of the holidays, it might not be right away. Hmm, that is not what I wanted to hear! Still, I understand it, and that's just another part of the adventure. We are working on preparing our home for our child, and figuring out how to make our home into their home. Maybe we will have to wait a few more days for that phone call to come, but we wont be bored while we wait. There is so much to prepare, and so much to learn.

In coming posts, I'll talk more about what we have learned, but suffice it to say, we have learned a lot! Who knew that there was so much to know about parenting, right? God is good to us though, and takes care of our needs. We have been able to raise $3,714.00 so far, through a mix of saving and fundraisers. God will take care of us, and when we look back on this time, it wont seem like so long to wait.

Abe Kennedy
Prospective Adoptive Father

Two more days for t-shirts!

Only two more days for our t-shirt fundraiser: Anchor of Hope. 

http://chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=363

Many thanks to those who have bought t-shirts already! Your t-shirts will be made and sent out when the fundraiser is complete. We have made $99 so far and I hope you can help us double that number. Talk to friends and family, and put in an order together to save on shipping.

We have a few more money raising endeavors. We are some selling Lego sets and some video games on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/sch/Quick_silver101/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1#item338910bfce

 
These make great gifts for kids and movie fans. Bid now and help support our adoption!

Hope is my Anchor Fundraiser

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast..." Heb. 6:19a

Our first adoption fundraiser starts today! We are selling t-shirts at http://chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=363 The t-shirt drive lasts only ten days, so get you shirt while you can. Each shirt costs $22 and we will receive $11 for each t-shirt to go toward adoption related expenses. Our first goal is to raise $4270. Will you be able to help us reach our first financial goal?

P.S. A couple or people have asked me if they could donate to us directly. You sure can! You can donate with paypal

Or you can send a personal check to:
The Kennedys
P.O. Box 24248
Christiansted, VI 00824