Next Steps, Fundraising, and Holding Pattern

   Last week, I shared with you about how Aaron and I have started the process to hopefully adopt a child with special needs from out of foster care. Currently, we are in somewhat of a holding pattern as we wait for our foster care classes to begin, but since we are not very good at staying still, we have entered full force into fundraising mode.
   After I posted our blog last week I was overwhelmed by the support we received and the offers from people who want to help. One of those people was a friend who is incredibly creative, named Kim. Kim contacted me the morning after I posted the blog and told me about these beautiful prints that she has designed.

 
 These prints are available online here: http://kd316.com/2015/06/13/heart-hope-justice-adoption-aaron-and-lisa-tant/. Each print sells for $16 and $10 from each sale will go towards our adoption fund.
     I am an Usborne Books and More consultant and my upline suggested that I do Parties for a Cause. So for the rest of this summer, every party I do, whether it be a home party, a Facebook party, or an e-show, will be Party for a Cause, with 20% of the retail sales going towards our adoption fund. I am very excited about this because I get to share something that I love with people and help children get their hands on amazing books, all while raising money to prepare to expand my family. Doesn't get much better than that! You can learn more about Usborne by going to my website: https://z3029.myubam.com/103894

   

 Another way we are raising money and involving our family in North Carolina is by doing a Cards for a Cause fundraiser through Usborne. Our family is selling boxes of greeting cards for $30. Each box has 30 individually wrapped greeting cards with envelopes and these are the really nice cards that normally cost $4 at the store. There are 2 general boxes and a Kids' box. The general boxes have a variety of cards-get well cards, thank you cards, birthday cards, etc. The Kids' box has 30 kid-friendly birthday cards. The best part is that $13 of every box sold will go to our adoption fund. 

  

  Towards the end of July or the beginning of August, we will be having a yard sale. Several of our friends have offered to go through their stuff and donate items for the sale. Aaron is the least excited about this particular fundraiser as he does not like yard sales, however we are committed to raising money however we can.

    Finally, we also have a GoFundMe page. 

    So that is where we are, taking our next steps and trying to be productive while in our current holding pattern. Continue to pray for us throughout this journey and if you are interested in any of our fundraisers, please let me know. 

Stepping out of the Hypothetical

    A little less than a year ago I shared with everyone my family's desire to begin the adoption process. In all honesty, even though we had a time frame in mind, adoption was still a very hypothetical "one day we'll do it" type of thing. That all changed a few weeks ago.
    My mom and sister were up for a visit and one evening my mom was contacted by a friend who is a social worker. This friend shared with my mom that a child with special needs was going to be available for adoption soon. As my mom was describing the child, I immediately said, "I want him." There was no hesitation on my part, I just knew that he was the child I wanted.
    I talked about it with Aaron and it didn't take long for him to get on board as well. We started feeling the waters to see if adopting this child, who is currently in another state, was even a possibility. After talking to our friend, we learned that inter-state adoption was very much a possibility and that our next step was to beginning the process of being licensed as foster parents in our state. It just happened to work out that the very day we called to get information they were having an information meeting that night. Attending the meeting was the first step in becoming foster parents and we signed up that night to begin classes the first weekend in August. This morning someone from county where this child is called us and reaffirmed that inter-state adoption was possible and that we are definitely on the right track to adopt this child. In the matter of a few days, adoption went from a "one day hypothetical" to a very real possibility.
     So what's next? While we are waiting to begin our foster care classes there are several things that need to be done. First is we need to do some remodeling on our home. The biggest priority is remodeling the basement. Currently we have a guest room on our main floor which will need to become this child's room. That means that our basement, that is partially finished but not a very pleasant place, needs to be remodeled into a functioning guest space. We would also like to open up our kitchen to accommodate more people. Another large purchase we will need to make is a mini-van. Currently, our vehicle cannot comfortably seat 5 people, and this child will require equipment that will require more storage space in our vehicle.
    All of these things unfortunately cost money (oh how I wish we still worked on the barter system). We do not wish to go into more debt, so we are going to begin fundraisers in the coming weeks. We plan to do a Cards for a Cause fundraiser, a yard sale, search for grants, publicize our GoFundMe page, and ask for people with skills to donate their time and skills. Our goal is to raise enough money to purchase an appropriate vehicle and do the necessary renovations in our home. Then if there is any money left over we will use that money to pay down our debt. We want to be the best stewards of our resources so that we can best care for our children, and we feel that getting rid of our debt is one way to do that.
     We will attend pre-service classes every Saturday in August and then at the end of that month our first home visit will be scheduled. Our hope is that all the necessary renovations are complete by this point. During this time of waiting my husband and I also plan on becoming experts in this child's disability so that we are prepared when the time comes.
     During the next few months please pray with us and for us. Pray that we will continue to have smooth sailing with the process. Pray that we will be able to raise the necessary money to do all that needs to be done before our home is ready to welcome another child. Pray that we will continue to have realistic expectations through this process. We understand that this will not be a quick process or an easy transition and that there is a chance that this child will be placed with another family.