Dossier--Check!

Drum roll, please . . . The dossier is done.  I'm hoping after our agency receives it that nothing will need corrected but with hundreds of sheets of paper that's a pretty large margin of error. 

It has been signed and notarized and four sets of copies have been mailed to our agency for the last review. That means it should be in Washington by the end of the week and I can finally collapse with a big sigh of relief.

Thank you Jesus!   Now, we are waiting on a court date!

The Orphan Foundation Grant

Back an August, i spent the majority of my free time applying for Adoption grants.  Adoption is expensive. 

Crazy expensive!! 

We had a few friends that wrote reference letter after reference letter for us.  We are incredibly blessed to be walking alongside of some fabulous people in this thing called life.  I know life is busy and they would drop everything and send off a reference letter whenever i called.

One of the grants we applied for was through The Orphan Foundation.

The Orphan Foundation - This a foundation with programs that range from providing financial grants to low and middle-income adopting families, to a host of other volunteer services. They are all volunteers who are trying to make a difference in the life of a child. Their website says they award approximately 10 grants of $500 per child yearly, and they review their incoming grants on a quarterly bases. Their application process was fairly brief and entirely on the web. I received a response for them and hope they will be reviewing my application soon.


Sadly, they only have funding for 3 families this quarter.  By the grace of God, we were one of the three.  We received a $500 grant today.  I am amazed at God's hand on our adoption. 

The reality is that their funding is still very low, and The Orphan Foundation is trying a variety of ways to raise monies.

The have a program at a crowd-funding site, Indiegogo: http://www.Indiegogo.com/100orphans, but you can see that they haven’t yet reached the halfway mark to one $500 grant.

They think they will be able to issue 1-2 grants next quarter, but unfortunately, their push to raise additional donations has been more than offset by many new applications for grants.

I will Praise Him in this Storm

Yesterday morning, i was in a drive thru flu shot line and my phone started to ring.  It was "home" and i figured it was my oldest asking me something about crocheting.  I went through the line.  I received my shot.  OUCH!

I called home and got THAT call.  Micah told me that he was on his way to Tampa General because his aunt and uncle were in a motorcycle accident.  

His uncle has bleeding on the brain and is in a coma.  Praise God, his aunt just needed a few stitches.

We are close.  My heart is breaking, but all i can do is pray.

In this thing called life we are either going into a storm, smack in the middle of a storm or coming out of a storm.  

Life is hard.  It's not fair.  Life as we know it can change from one minute to the next.  We are not promised tomorrow.

But, God is on the throne.  He is sovereign.  He is in control.  

I choose to praise Him in this storm.  I choose to trust Him with whatever may happen. 

I look around and see the laundry that needs to be folded and the dishes that need to be put away.  None of that stuff really matters.  

It's the people that we love that truly matter and so often we put the stuff that really doesn't matter before the people we love.

Hand in Hand Matching Grant

Hello Everyone,


Oh my goodness!! We have been awarded a dollar for dollar matching grant for up to $5000!!!

What does that mean? That means for every dollar that we receive Hand in Hand will match dollar for dollar up to $2500 for a total grant of $5000.

Below is our letter with the information about our matching grant. Please feel free to share our blog address and/or this info with anyone who may have a heart for adoption. THANK YOU!!!

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters of Adoption,
As many of you may have already heard we feel that God has called us on a new journey to provide a “forever” family to a child through the process of adoption.

We have started down this path of adoption and will be excited to bring a child into our home within the next two to four months.

We have felt led to pursue a little girl from Africa. She is 6 years old. We officially accepted the referral last month.

This road to adoption is full of many joys and challenges, the greatest joy being the inclusion of a child into our family and the greatest challenge being finances.

The costs of adoption include the expense of a home study, adoption agency, lawyers, travel expenses, etc., with the total cost ending up somewhere around $25,000.

We were recently awarded a matching funds grant to help with the expenses of our adoption through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. a non-profit private operating foundation.

Hand in Hand will match any funds that are donated through our friends and family for the expenses of our adoption.
All funds received through our friends and family will be matched dollar for dollar by Hand in Hand up to our awarded grant amount. All donations are tax-deductible.

Please find enclosed a grant award letter that will explain more about the matching grant program from Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.

You can find out more about Hand in Hand through their website at www.handinhandadopt.org. If you have further questions about the Hand in Hand matching grant program please feel free to give us a call at 941-429-1224 or email us at poulinsj@hotmail.com.

You may also contact Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. with any questions you may have.
They can be reached at 913-248-5015 or by e-mail at handinhandadopt@gmail.com.

Please send all donations made payable to “Hand in Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by Nov 26 to:

(for tax purposes please include our name on the outside of the envelope ONLY…do not put our name on the check itself)

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Micah & Sheila Smith
18318 Mimosa Court
Gardner, KS 66030

Thank you for your prayerful consideration in helping Brenda find a “forever” family.


Walking Hand in Hand,



Micah & Sheila Smith
941-429-1224
poulinsj@hotmail.com

Waiting...

So, do you want to know what's new on the adoption front???

NOTHING!!!  But....

This statement is so easy to quote unless you have to live it out.

Please lift us up in prayer as we come to mind.

We are hoping to have our family complete before Christmas, however it feels like we're on an endless journey without a map.