Waiting...

Just wanted to send out a quick update on how things are progressing with Marek. As of mid-August, we are officially on the waiting list! This means that we have been approved by Gladney, and our government and all of our paperwork is being processed with Ethiopia's government/leadership. As of right now, the average wait time is 8 months (Currently the longest waiting family is 8 months) for a baby boy from 0-12 months. By this scale, we hope to receive an official referral to a child sometime around March/April. Upon referral, court dates must be established in Ethiopia which can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks...then, it is travel time!

In the meantime, we are going through numerous hours of training that is required by Hague regulations. We are also in the process of applying for some grants to help offset the remaining expenses. International adoption is expensive BUT God has blown us away by how He has provided. At the end of the day, we KNOW it is Him...and this is just the way we like it! We are looking forward to Him continuing to amaze us as He provides the remaining money. To HIM be the glory!

Please forgive us if we are slow to update during this wait time. According to most people we have talked to that have already been through this process, the waiting time is the hardest. All of the paperwork is being processed behind the scenes and we will likely not hear anything from anyone until the phone rings one day with a sweet voice telling us that we have a baby! You will probably hear us screaming with excitement upon this call! Oh, how we look forward to that day...

Thanks for checking in on us...we love you!

A New Home

As many of you already know, Dustin recently graduated from SEBTS.  Prior to graduation, we began interviewing with Burkemont Baptist Church in Morganton, NC.  To say the least, we all fell in love with each other.  The staff at the church are amazing men who love the Lord and enjoy having fun with each other.  The people of Burkemont are loving, strong, faithful, and desire to see Jesus shared with all.  After a few months of interviewing and visiting, God could not be clearer about His new plan for our family.  So, a few weeks after graduation, we started packing!

All of that to say, we are now residents of Morganton, North Carolina! The move went SO smoothly! The movers that the church sent were terrific and did a spectacular job of keeping everything safe and sound! Since arriving in Morganton, God has sent us some extremely special people to help make the transition so much easier. Matt and Alicia Clark, precious friends from Wake Forest, came on Thursday, move in day, to help us unpack boxes and they were a HUGE help!! Then, on Saturday, Momma Patty, James, and Bailee SURPRISED us when they drove into our drive way around 10 a.m.!!! We were all ECSTATIC and Hollis was beside himself to have Bailee here to play with. Their sweet servant hands helped in NUMEROUS ways with projects around the house and they also went to church with us on Father's Day - our first Sunday at our new church, Burkemont Baptist! After their departure on Sunday, Momma Carol arrived on Monday to stay the week!!!! She worked like a maniac helping us with curtains and yard work ALL week long. Hollis loved planting flowers with his Nana!

We did have to update our Home Study once we arrived but thankfully, it has already taken place.  We are now finishing up the last few pieces of paperwork (new employment letter for Dustin, new insurance plans, etc...) for our foreign dossier and will send all of it off mid-week.  Once this is complete, we start waiting...and waiting...AND waiting!  Right now, it looks like we will go on the "official" wait list for our little man sometime towards the first of August.  Right now the "wait time" is about 8 months but of course, it could be shorter or longer.  (We are hoping for the "shorter route!")

Thanks for checking in on us.  We will update our contact info as soon as we get our cell numbers changed.  Love you!

Thank you, Wake Forest!

We recently held a silent African auction fundraiser at Thales Academy (where April teaches 2nd grade).  Honestly, we really did not know what to expect!  We sent out invitations to all of the families associated with Thales and also to numerous friends from Wake Forest.  It did not take long for God to, once again, remind us that we are so bad about "putting Him in a box." Our expectations of what He is going to do is so small sometimes!  Thankfully, He overlooked our silly, short term memory and blew us away!  Due to the sacrifices by those we love and care for so much in Wake Forest, many needs were met!  After all was finished, we were able to deposit another $2600+ into Marek's adoption fund!  Praise Jesus - our Jehovah Jireh!

We desire to be good stewards of the money that God has provided through the sacrifices of many, so we have opened up a separate checking account designated strictly for the adoption. Any expense, fees, deposits, etc... flow directly through this account.  As of today, we have completely paid for all of the "before child" expense and have enough money left to purchase our airline tickets.  There is only one more big fee that is remaining, but it is not due until after Gladney places us with a child.  We are going to be working diligently on some grants to help offset the remaining money that is due.  I know this stuff is not fun to read but it is our heart's desire to be upfront and honest every step of the way to you all.  Your dedication and financial support is precious to us and we want to handle your gifts with integrity and in a manner that is honoring to you and, most importantly, Christ.

You are precious and are loved beyond words!

Gladney APPROVED!

Dustin and April,

Congratulations, you are now Gladney approved and ready to begin the dossier and ultimately the referral phase of your adoption process. I am mailing you both an approval packet with your approval certificate and quarterly training information for your “approved and waiting” period.

These words jumped off the page as we opened our email today!  We are officially "approved" by Gladney and are now proceeding to work on our foreign dossier.  Thank you for your continued support, love, and prayers!

Standing AMAZED!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21

WOW!  We are not sure if words can even come close to expressing the gratitude that is overflowing from our hearts as we reflect on these past few weeks and the fundraisers that YOU made a H-U-G-E success!  Upon setting out for our trip to AL, we thought to ourselves "if we could just make $1000 between the two fundraisers, we will be doing great!"  (Note: this is probably about the time God starting laughing at our lack of faith!)  As soon as we arrived in Eufaula, we knew that God was definitely up to something...

Friday morning, Glenn (April's dad) got up and grabbed breakfast for the fam at Piggly Wiggly (don't knock it...it is 'off the chain' good!) and brought it back home for us to enjoy.  While at "the Pig," the sweet lady behind the counter asked "have you gotten your grandbaby from Ethiopia yet?"  When Glenn explained where we were in the process, this precious lady reaches into her pocket and gives him a $10 bill to help out.  Please understand, this was a definite sacrifice for this remarkable woman.  Our hearts burst into smiles when we found out about this sacrifice and it was at that moment, we saw the handprint of God!  

Sunday afternoon rolled around and the fellowship hall was filled with wonderful, wonderful people who were so eager to offer encouraging words and lots of hugs!  After the lunch and auction were complete, although tired, we could see the handprints of God!  

We went to spend some time with April's precious grandmother is Arab, AL and when we were packing up to leave, we received a phone call from Uncle Mark concerning a gift he left for the adoption. Again, the handprint of God!

The Boston Butt fundraiser was equally as fun, except for the staying up all night part!  Mr. Mike Turner and Mr. Robbie Shugart slaved over the hot smoker all night as they so sacrificially gave of themselves to see that this meat was perfect!  Once again, after all of the Butts were picked up, we could see the handprints of God!

Why do we put God in a "jar" so many times?  We have asked ourselves this question over and over again as we journeyed back home to North Carolina.  As we began putting all of the money together and getting prepared to make a deposit into our adoption account, we were left speechless.  Why, you ask?  Here was our deposit amount....$6584.00 !!!!!

Yes, seriously!

Through YOUR sacrifices, our little angel is literally halfway home!  The relief that is felt within the Scott home cannot be put into words!  With this money, we will be able to completely pay for our organizational fees, our foreign dossier, and still have money left over.  We are still in the process of filing for grants to help with the remaining fees, but thanks to the precious, precious people of Eufaula, Prattville, and Arab, AL, we are over HALFWAY!

Thank you simply is not enough.  We love you!

To God be the GLORY!

Upcoming Fundraisers

Thank you so much for checking in on us.  We hope you are doing well and would love to hear from you.  We wanted to share a few fundraisers that some very special people are hosting for us in the upcoming weeks to assist in offsetting some of the fees and expenses concerning the adoption.  God has been so precious to place some wonderful people in our path from each of our "homes" to host these events.  Here are the details:

Prattville Fundraiser

Mr. Mike Turner is cooking Boston Butts for us.  If you have never tasted some of Mr. Mike's BBQ, you have missed out!  Delicious does NO JUSTICE to describe how incredible the taste!  If you would like to purchase a 'Butt', they are only $25.  Due to us having to pay for the meat up front, the deadline to order and pay is March 30th.  Pickup will be at Camellia Baptist Church on Saturday, April 4th from 9am - noon.  (Note: This fundraiser is not affiliated with Camellia Baptist, they are just allowing us to use the parking lot for pickup.) 

To place an order, email MrScott3400@hotmail.com

Eufaula Fundraiser

Join us on Sunday, March 29th at Parkview Baptist Church for a Spaghetti lunch and African auction!  Lunch (donations accepted) and auction will immediately follow the AM worship service.  Here are just a few items that are up for bid: Authentic African items, Antique furniture, clocks, and MUCH more!  Another cool part of this special day is that we will actually have a LIVE auctioneer "calling" for us.  It is sure to be a blast!

Wake Forest Fundraiser

We will also be having an African auction in the upcoming weeks!  We are still working on an official date but we do know the location will be at Thales Academy.  Some of the items up for bid include: Hand-carved wooden chairs and tables, African "toys", picture frames, handmade banana leaf pictures/art, and so, so much more.  We will let you know as soon as we nail down a date.

Thank you again for all of your support throughout this process.   We are finished with all of the domestic paperwork and have begun working on foreign documents.  While this is an exciting time, we are a little overwhelmed by some of the upcoming fees.  However, God has been so gracious to provide every penny that we have needed thus far and we want to give Him all of the praise.  

We love each of you dearly!

Home Study Update!

Today was SUCH an exciting day for us. Around 10:30am we received a phone call from Connie Landen, the rep from Gladney who will be conducting our Home Study. We were originally told that it took approximately 30 days from the time the Home Study is ordered until we would be contacted about scheduling. (From our previous post, you will recall that our Home Study was ordered on January 12th so we were not expecting to hear anything until mid-February at the earliest.) To make a long story short, Mrs. Landen informed us of an opening in her schedule for NEXT week! So, please be praying for us on Thursday, January 29th as we will welcome this sweet lady into our home and begin our Home Study! WOW! God is oh so good!

Long, Lost Update!

First of all, please accept our apologies for not posting in the past month or so.  We trust that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and are experiencing an awesome start to 2009. Needless to say, we are pretty excited about 2009!  This new year is going to bring lots of changes for our little family from graduation, a new job, and moving (and all that entails!)!  However, all of these changes pale in comparison with our biggest change in 2009 - a precious new addition to our family.  If everything continues to run as smoothly as it has thus far, we should be able to bring our sweet baby home towards the end of the year.

Speaking of the adoption, God is continuing to do great things.  As of this past Saturday (January 10), God has provided the money for all of our blood work.  Thankfully, the Wake County Public Health Department gives free HIV and Syphilis test which saves us about $500.  However, we still have to be tested for a few other diseases and the cost for these tests are totaling around $400-$500.  God has been so good to provide this money through the sacrifices of some of our dearest friends and family.  We could not be more excited!  (Well, except for Dustin who is SO THRILLED about the numerous needles that are about to enter his arm!)  Once we get these test results and a few more forms filled out, our application will officially be complete!  WOOHOO!  

Also, we received confirmation today that our Home Study has been ordered.  As mentioned in the last post, this is HUGE!  We are so hopeful that once this Home Study is completed, we will be able to receive some financial assistance from different organizations.  Gladney has been so awesome to work with us on the numerous fees that are due with the adoption.  Because Dustin has been ordained and we are adopting from Ethiopia, Gladney is waving HALF of their organization fees!  This brings our program fee to $2100...which still sounds like a whole lot but God is SO able!  Basically the first funds we receive from this point forward will go to pay Gladney and then progress through the other fees.  Please be praying that we are diligent in our search for grants and that God continues to provide.  We desire, more than anything, for Him to be glorified!

In our quiet time together the other night, God gave us this verse that we ask you to join us in praying over our family throughout this year.

"For if I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; Your right hand will hold onto me."  Psalm 139:9-10

Thank you so much for checking in on us!  You are dear to our hearts!