Adoption Update

ADOPTION UPDATE (sorry if it gets lengthy):

- We are about thirty days from flying to China. Should be able to fly out 1/1/2016. Please pray with us for ticket prices. I just got quotes yesterday. Some looked good and some were astronomical.

- We have had to resend (AGAIN...for like the THIRD time) our paperwork concerning the waiver. I am still working on certifications of the document here in the U.S. So it is not even to CHINA yet. Much less approved. If it does not get approved then we will have to pull together an additional $5800 at the last minute. Whew...breathe, momma. PLEASE join us in praying specifically for this to come through.

- We have made room for John Preston in our family closet. Can I tell you how good that feels? Now to fill his cubbies with clothes. We have had some sweet friends send us things for him and now I need to get busy with all of the basics. I do not want to buy too much until I know for sure what size he is. Just enough to get him home.

- Excited that it is time to get his booster seat for the car. I already bought new ones for Ellie and Ethan so we can rearrange the seats to make room for our sweet boy. It is TIGHT but oh, so cozy. ;-)

- We need to start making plans for a friend to come and stay with the girls at our home while Bryan is at work each day. (Probably 6:30 am to 4:30pm) If this is something you might could help with, please let me know. My momma heart is aching at the thought of leaving MinLan especially and I want these two weeks to be as smooth as possible for her. We have poured ourselves into attachment with her for the last year and a half and are praying that we do not take huge steps backwards because Ellie and I leave for two weeks.

- I know everyone is in Christmas mode, instead of adoption fundraiser mode but I feel strongly that I need to press forward towards raising this $5800 in the event our waiver is denied. Have we done a fundraiser that you would like to see us do again? Something you missed out on? So many fundraisers have been done to death in our adoption community so I hesitate but I am willing to do whatever. I am looking for ideas that can knock this out quickly in a big way. We have very little time left and I'll be honest, that my brain is in a million different places. If we raise additional funds and then receive our waiver, we will donate to another Reece's Rainbow family adopting a little one with Down syndrome that is close to travel and not fully funded. If you want to make a tax-deductible donation, you can at any time to John Preston's Reece's Rainbow account. He is listed here as "Timothy": http://reecesrainbow.org/88597/sponsorparris-2

- In closing, we covet your prayers. For God to provide for us with this waiver, for health for all of us as we prepare to travel, for MinLan to not suffer setbacks from us being gone, for John Preston's heart to be prepared to join our family and for Bryan as he coordinates life here at home and work while I am gone.

God is faithful. He has proven it over and over again to me, even when I am filled with doubt. Today, after crunching adoption finances, is one of those doubt filled days. The devil uses days like today to weaken my resolve...to make me doubt my sanity...he is the master of lies....he wants us to believe there is no way that this will all work out...he wants us to believe that God will not provide...he wants us to believe that the addition of our son to our family will be chaos....but we know better. We know that God is a God of order and not chaos. We know that He has plans to prosper us AND John Preston...to give us hope and a future.

That future begins when we step on that plane, take John Preston's hand, and bring him home. Forever. He is a son. An heir. With all rights and privileges that come with the status as a son. He is so loved. We are racing to get to him. We are prepared to march through any hurdle the devil puts before us. This momma wants her boy home. NOW. <3

John Preston Update

We got an update today on John Preston! Praise the Lord! We got one recently but the pictures were all the size of postage stamps! ACK!!!!

1. Height and weight

height 121 cm = 47 inches

weight 20 kg = 44 pounds

head 49 cm = 19 inches

chest 58 cm = 22 inches

foot 19 cm = 7.48 inches

teeth 17

In case you are wondering, his measurements are almost EXACTLY Roo's measurements. Though he does look taller in the pics and videos to me.

2. His current sleep arrangements. Does he sleep in a bed alone? Does he sleep with a foster sibling or foster mom? He goes to bed at 9:00pm and gets up at 7:00am. He goes to bed by himself but shares bed with another foster child.

3. His favorite song? All music. He will dance once hearing music.

4. His favorite foods? He can eat most things but does not like sweet food, bread or bun. He likes soft food.

5.  What is he afraid of? Not found.

6. Does he know we are coming for him? Foster parents have been teaching him. He has some idea and can accept it.

Click here if you'd like to donate to help us get our son HOME!!!

We are so thankful for everyone who has helped us get this far!  We have anywhere from $14,000 to $20,000 to go by December 8th to bring him home.

Possible Travel Scenarios

On October 15th we received our LOA!!!!! Wooohoooooo!!!!! This is China asking us if we accept John Preston as our son. 

Uhhhmmmmm......YES WE DO!!!!! 

So now is crunch time. We have two different funding scenarios and we are not sure how either will work out.

Scenario #1

China grants our waiver request and we still owe about $14,000 to get John Preston home.

Scenario #2

China does NOT grant our waiver request and we owe about $20,000 to get John Preston home.

Can you guess which one we are praying for?

The way the calendar is playing out right now, we should most likely get travel approval (TA) from China between 12/8 and 12/11.

At that point, China sends us an invitation to come and get John Preston. That is the date that we will have to decide if we have enough money to travel. If we do not have all of our funds at that point then, we will have to delay our trip. I just can't even wrap my mind around that right now. The thought of not traveling immediately when they say we can is heartbreaking. 

But God has been so faithful to us. We started with zero dollars towards his adoption and God has brought us over $12,000 closer to getting him home. I just can't even comprehend how faithful God has been!

Please help us by sharing our story and donating if you feel led. We know that we can not do this without you. 

Love,
Jenifer

Adoption Auction

WE NEED YOU!!! If you would like to donate an item to our adoption auction we would be so grateful. Would you mind filling out the quick form below to help me track items? If you don't have all the details just fill out what you know and I can get back with you this coming week.

We will start on November 1st and run for only two weeks!

 DONATION IDEAS:

 ***store gift cards

 ***items from direct sales companies that you represent

 ***food items if you're local or they can be shipped

 ***know a friend that sells something, would you contact them to see if they would be willing to donate? Their business and website will be listed in the auction listing.

***any items you would like to purchase and donate 

***services that you can offer locally ***

ANYTHING!!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for helping us get John Preston HOME!!!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE AN ITEM

LOA Baby!!!!!

 

 WE GOT LOA!!!!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!

This beautiful piece of paper is on its way over the ocean to our agency!!!!! They will overnight it to us, we will sign it saying that we ACCEPT John Preston, complete a little bit more paperwork then we are on our way to China!!!!

FRIENDS, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY with us! We need a miracle from the Lord to pull together the remaining funds needed to go! Bryan reminds me constantly that He is faithful, that He called us to adoption and He is going be to make a way. Time is slipping away, I'm finding it hard to have faith! Pray that I stay confident in the Lord's promise to us! If you feel led to help us, tax deductible donations can be made into John Preston's account with RR at anytime at the link below!

They will send us these funds when it is time to travel and we will use them to go get our boy!!! Please pray with us, please share our story, please give as you feel led....God is calling some of you to be a part of our story! Thank you for partnering with us to change John Preston's life!!!!

"We adopt, not because we are rescuers but because we are the rescued." ~ David Platt

http://reecesrainbow.org/88597/sponsorparris-2

PRE-PAID SOAP ADOPTION FUNDRAISER

Time for a soap fundraiser to help with our adoption of John Preston!

Thanks to everyone who has ordered from us before. I hope you'll select some for yourself and buy for gifts as well! Great time to stock up!

Our sale starts Wednesday, October 7th and ends Friday, October 16th.

They usually take about three weeks to come in and then we have to cut them and let them dry for a week or so.

All bars are $4 each. Shipping info at the very bottom of the order page.

Please send payment via PayPal using the "friends and family option". My PayPal email address is jmparris@cableone.net

CLICK HERE TO ORDER AND SEE FRAGRANCE OPTIONS

Thank you for helping us get John Preston home!

The Finish Line

Well...here we are...October the 1st. I have missed checking in with you during the day this month but it has been a good break. Got a minute? I'd love to share a few things with you. This will be long, but I love you...please hang with me. <3

We took September off from actively fundraising and selling anything for our adoption. I feel like it gave me focus and helped me regroup. I really thought about things we might offer you, that you would be interested in and that would also help us get John Preston home.

In the next few days, I will share about several fundraisers that will run concurrently.

First, we are hosting a Diffuser Necklace Fundraiser. This is right up the alley of all my oily friends. You drop your essential oils on the pendant, place around your neck and your oils go with you. I have been wearing Lavender around my next for the past two weeks. If you know me, you know what it is for but I don't think the FDA will let me tell you. ;-) I encourage you to get one of these not only for yourself but for your kids. What an easy way to help them! My oily business friends, these would be a great gift for friends you have enrolled. I know I have TONS of friends that use essential oils. This would be such a huge tangible way you could help us AND help your family. We have a REALLY ambitious goal for this fundraiser and we need your help!

Here are all the details:

http://jeniferparris.com/2015/10/01/diffuser-necklace-fundraiser/

Next we will be putting together another soap order. I can not tell you how much I love these soaps. And everyone that buys them from us loves them too. We are constantly being asked when we are placing another order. We need to get them ordered soon so they will arrive and have time to be cut and dried to use as Christmas gifts. Please consider helping us with this fundraiser when it is shared in the next few days. All soaps will be pre-payment orders and we'd love for you to help us when the time comes by getting the word out. I expect to have all the details ready sometime tomorrow.

We will also be hosting an iPad Mini Giveaway. You'll have the chance to donate $10 per chance. You can purchase as many chances as you'd like! This would a great Christmas gift or even a treat for yourself if you win! I'll be sharing details about it probably on Monday.

We have also been blessed with a matching grant. We are not allowed to give towards this grant...our friends and family make donations and then the organization matches them for up to $2000. So that would mean $4000 total to help bring John Preston home if we reach our goal. More details coming soon about this. If you want more information, please let me know.

Tax deductible donations can also be made anytime to help bring John Preston home in his Reece's Rainbow account at http://reecesrainbow.org/88597/sponsorparris-2

We have about $2100 left to be finished paying our agency fees and then we can begin to focus on travel expenses of about $13,000. I am praying that these fundraisers above help us knock out the agency bill in the next two weeks. Ambitious? Yes. But I serve a big God. We started this adoption process with nothing and God has met our needs right on time. Have we struggled? Yes. But who doesn't? Bryan reminds me of this constantly when my faith waivers. When I look at the numbers on paper and begin to wonder if God will make it happen in my time. Oh, how I want it to be in my timing. But God's timing is perfect. He is right on time. Pray for me specifically to stay strong, work hard and continue to have faith that God is going to meet us right where we need Him.

Can I tell you that the thought of traveling most likely towards the beginning of December has me wanting to jump up and down. We are not financially ready to go yet but my heart is. Our boy has waited over EIGHT years for a family to love him. EIGHT YEARS. If you have children, can you imagine missing that much time with them...missing all the milestones, not celebrating birthdays and holidays? We have a lot of time to make up for. We have a lot of love to give. John Preston is loved and wanted. He has a family waiting for him. Our family. He has siblings that are waiting on pins and needles to get him home. We have friends and family and a whole community of people who can not wait to love on him.

I know we are all stretched thin. Everytime we turn around money is needed for something..to pay a bill...a kid's sport equipment...school supplies. It never ends. I know. We are there too. Sometimes I wish a money tree would pop up in our backyard and I could play catch up on everything at once. But instead we do what we can each payday, much like you, I'm sure.

We do not take for granted even ONE dollar you have used to help us bring our son home. Not one dollar. We are so thankful. We could never really communicate to you how much it means when you purchase something we are selling to fundraise...or the times you have just made straight out donations...you just stopped and wrote a check to help us bring our son home. I know you could have spent your money on other things. I know you didn't have to help us. I know you helped because you love us and you love John Preston.

We need you. We need you to come alongside us. We knew in the beginning we could not do this alone. We need you to hold us up on days when it feels like it is harder than we can handle. We need you to hold us up when we are wondering where the next fee will come from. There are so many of you that have told us you are praying. That is exactly what we need. You standing in the gap for us.

We need our community...we need our church family...we need our ballet friends..our soccer friends...we need strangers. Anyone that agrees with what Scripture tells us in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows their distress..."

Will you commit to pray with us?

Pray for John Preston's safety and health. Pray that his needs are met. Pray that he feels loved by his foster family and pray that his heart softens to begin to love us as much as we already love him.

Pray for the hearts of our children at home. Pray that God will protect their hearts form what potentially could be a very hard transition. MinLan came home as basically a baby. John Preston is going to bound in the door as an eight year old. Very different circumstances. Pray that our children already home, will know that family is forever...even in the hard days...pray that they will know that we love them, even when their new brother is likely to be taking a lot of our attention and time.

Pray for Bryan and I. That we will be strong...that we will work hard...that we, with God alone, can move these mountains to get our son home. Pray that our relationship stays strong and that we work together as one in the final two months especially.

Friends the time is here. I can see the finish line. And let me tell you...it is beautiful. I see that ribbon stretched across the horizon and I am sprinting. Running as hard as I can to our boy. Pray we don't stumble right before the end. Pray we stand tall and burst through that ribbon in victory with only the Lord receiving the glory. It is He and HE alone that has brought us here. No one else. He has been faithful.

Love,

Jenifer