Matching Grant Opportunity

As most of you probably know, the financial side of adoption can be the most daunting & "faith-testing" part of the whole process.  In fact, it's one of the main reasons people decide not to go the adoption route.  Bart & I have always valued living a debt-free life so taking out a loan or putting adoption charges on a credit card just weren't options for us.  So how in the world were we to come up with the $30,000 it would take to adopt again.  We had always told people for years not to let finances hold you back from following God's call if He was leading you to adopt but it's a different story when it's you sitting in that boat.  We would encourage people to seek out the numerous grants out there & look into fundraising opportunities.  In fact, through 2011, you could receive a $13,500 federal tax credit once your adoption was final.  Well, that tax credit ended in 2012.  On top of that, at the same time we began the adoption process, our church Momentum was in the middle of attempting to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to launch it's second campus so we felt conflicted about fundraising for our own adoption.  Still with all of that, we knew we were to keep trusting God to provide while doing what we could on our end.  So Jodi  made it her second job to apply for any & all grants she could get her hands on.  And it truly paid off with us receiving $12,000 in grants over the past several months.  Plus Jodi picked up extra hours at work which helped too. But that still left a short fall & increasing anxiety as the adoption journey seemed to pick up speed as of late & our travel now right around the corner.  Again, we had to keep trusting!!  

On December 5th, we were so relieved when we got the call that we had been approved for a $3000 matching grant from Promise 686 (http://www.promise686.org).  They are a partner with Lifesong for Orphans (www.lifesongfororphans.org) & all donations are actually directed through Lifesong.  The super cool part about a matching grant is every dollar given up to $3000 is matched for a total of $6000, and anything donated over that amount still goes towards our adoption expenses.  The bad part is we are not allowed to personally donate towards our own grant.  In order for us to get the full matching amount, the money must be donated from our friends & family.  We know what a financially difficult time of year this is & do not want anyone to feel pressure.  In fact, we'd prefer you to pray about it before giving.  If you then feel led, we are including the address below you can mail a donation to & also including a link to the right if you would like to donate online.  Please include in the memo line of your check "preference Stone/#3507 adoption". If paying online, there will be a place to enter this same information.  All donations are tax-deductible & 100% received by Lifesong for Orphans go directly to cover adoption costs.  Nothing is taken out for administrative costs. 

          Mail check to: Lifesong for Orphans

                                    PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford Street

                                    Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you for what you have meant to our family and for coming alongside us on this journey.  Your prayers & encouragement really do mean more than you know! We love you all and can’t wait for you to meet Lexi Marie!

So humbled & grateful,

Bart & Jodi

We got our I-800 Provisional Approval! Holla!

Well I'm am starting to think that God wants us to get to Lexi Marie sooner than later!  Our agency gives us estimated time frames for each step of the process and we continue to be getting everything super fast which is SO not typical in the adoption world.  I just read a blog where someone recently waited 7 months for their LOA.  We got ours in 37 days.  But what I do know is things could come to a screeching halt at any minute so I need to count my blessings while I can & hold on for the ride because it could get bumpy.  Here's the crazy part though, if things do keep coasting along at this speed, we could be getting our travel approval (TA) in the next 3-4 weeks & be traveling to China 10-21 days later (that is late Jan/early Feb folks).  WHAT!!  It was so cute tonight Bart said "Babe, I can't get there fast enough.  I'd go tomorrow if I could." Me too, Babe!  Who needs a nursery anyways?!!