India is Calling..

Well everybody -

I CANNOT believe I am finally able to write this post after 3 very long and hard years of waiting. WE ARE GOING TO INDIA!!!!!!!!!!!! All the praise goes to Jesus for we could not have done this without faith & trust in Him,  His perfect timing, and His hand over the whole entire thing!!!!! 

So here is what is going on....

Since Feb. 15, when we received the written court orders, we have been anxiously awaiting K's passport. Week after week went by and then the Indian holiday, Holi came and went, and still no passport. But TODAY, Friday, March 24 we got news that her passport had arrived to the orphanage, complete with her cute but slightly awkward head shot in it! LOL 

Aside from a visa appt. that needs to be made by our agency with India, we are all set! This appt. will be confirmed on Monday or Tuesday and then some last minute paper work needs to be filled out and we should be booking our plane tickets for the first week of April!!!!

This gives us 1 week to pack and repack and pack again and to wrap up our old life as a family of 2! :) 

We are using an adoption travel agency to help get us there and we will have a guide with us the entire time we are in India. We will also be somewhat "Americanized" on our trip since we will be staying at a Marriott and Hilton - pray they have french fries and pizza! ;) But we are truly excited to experience the beauty and culture that India has to offer! 

Thank you guys for taking this journey with us and sticking with us through to the end. We are so excited to meet our little girl and share her beautiful smile with you all! 

*Don't forget to get your name on the map!!! Message me for info if you don't know what I am talking about! :)

Written Court Orders Received!!!

Written court orders came yesterday, Feb. 15 (took 9 days)! This means the next and FINAL step of our adoption journey is here! We now wait for her orphanage director to apply for her passport. Once they receive it (1-2 months estimated time), we get to catch that plane to India!!!!

#mygodisfaithful #3longyearscomingtoanend #imnotsadaboutit #prayingaprilwillbeourmonth

And as always, please keep #praying4k 

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?"

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?" {Gen. 18:14} The answer is no.

9 months stuck in court, 2 judges, numerous court hearings, silence & waiting AND floods of prayers later .......... WE HAVE PASSED COURT!!!!!! The judge gave us verbal approval today! Praise God for His faithfulness to us and thank you all for praying without ceasing! K is officially our daughter and we have to give God ALL the glory!

Our next steps include: waiting for written court orders (these are needed for her passport application) and waiting for her passport to be applied for by the orphanage director and received. Prayers for these LAST 2 STEPS to happen at record speed! Then we will be getting on that plane!!!!!

#weareofficiallyparents #indiaadoption #powerofprayer #pray4k #courtsagaisover #praisegod

This song has been on replay nonstop for me lately and now it rings true more than ever!!! It's a great one - check it out! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DciMh_ciwkk

Court Update !!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS THIS WEEK! We are humbled and grateful by the amount of constant love & support! Wow - it really does blow my mind!!! We just received a COURT UPDATE. Our case WAS seen on the 20th and they have scheduled another hearing for this Wednesday, Jan. 25. This is a positive update for us, especially compared to our previous ones. With it being so close to our last date, it shows that they are working on it and hopefully we hear that we passed by the end of the week. Thank you guys so much for every single prayer! #sheiscomingsoon #godisfaithful #prayerispower #pray4k #indiaadoption

Court Saga Continues...

Happy Snow Day to all of those in NC! We have so enjoyed these past few days of the beautiful winter wonderland outside! I kept thinking of what K will think the first time she sees snow! So much to look forward to!!

We survived the holidays....barely! Ryan was very sick for most of it [all the while knocking out an awesome Christmas Day sermon #proudwife], I was pretty down due to another Christmas without our girl, and things just felt different this year. BUT we are up and ready to plow through 2017 and get on that plane to India and come back with our sweet Indian princess!

Here is the "oh so exciting" update! 😐

Back in November we had sent a letter to the judge declaring that we so badly wanted to be K's parents and to please pass our court case. Well, come to find out, our letter was never read by the judge and our December court date never happened! Why, you might ask? Well, we received a call that our Judge LEFT - like left his seat, quit, no longer there, LEFT! The past 6 months of this judge seeing our case month after month without approval...to now him leaving, it just does not make sense!

Sometimes I think to myself - {what. in. the. world. India.} GET IT TOGETHER!

So, after this sad news, our agency contacted CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) in India, with no luck. A few weeks later we were able to contact the minister of women and children in India, Mrs. Ghandi to see if she could help us!

Shockingly, she immediately responded and said she would work on our case!! PRAISE GOD FOR MRS. GHANDI {and for a super fast response}!!!!!

This week we have learned that our case was taken to another court where there is a judge seated and our next court date is January 20!!

We have not lost heart yet.....we are praying that THIS IS IT!! Especially since Mrs. Ghandi is involved and hopefully she has put a bug in this new judge's ear that we need to be approved.

Once again, prayers are greatly appreciated! {I know for those who read these blog updates regularly, that you are so sick of hearing about court dates and judges, but somehow God is going to show himself through all of this (more than He already has)! Not sure when or how, but if we EVER pass court...it will be all because of our faithful Father!

"Feeling like our life is full of unknowns can be hard. But without those blanks, we would have no room for God to enter in and write His answers. For Him to become the Way when there is no way. For Him to be the Truth when lies long to be what consume our thoughts. For Him to be the Life He’s designed on the other side of our crumbling attempts to control our stories.

Our God is not fickle, forgetful or fragile in any way. He does not make mistakes. He purposes the gaps. He allows sacred spaces and blank places. He leaves room.

If we had all the blanks filled in, we would explain away God’s part in our story. God doesn’t want to be explained away. He wants to be invited in. He wants us to make room for His additions to our story." 
-Lysa TerKeurst *y'all need to follow her on Facebook {she is my FAV}

Prayers that 2017 will be the year we become parents!

Love you all!

Ryan & Megan 

India Tees Are Back!

We have a new batch of India T-Shirts! Consider purchasing a few of our super comfy India Adoption Tees! These shirts not only fit & feel great, they also help spread adoption awareness and help us raise the remaining funds needed for our trip to India to pick up our daughter! Thank you for your support!

Shirt Details: These are unisex Comfort Colors t-shirts available in adult sizes S-XXL (they run big). We are offering 3 colors (Blue Jean, Crimson, & Seafoam). Cost is $20 (will ship for an additional $5). Also - there are a few toddler & youth shirts left too, for just $10! We have the following sizes & colors left. You can pay online here. 

Please email me with what size & color you would like! megananne1020@hotmail.com

SMALL
Blue Jean - 1
Crimson - 1

MEDIUM
Blue Jean - 2
Seafoam - 2

XLARGE
Blue Jean - 1
Seafoam - 1
Crimson - 1

TODDLER & YOUTH
4T lavender - 2
youth S - teal - 2
youth S- periwinkle blue -1
youth M - pink - 1
youth L- lagoon blue - 2

*all sizes & colors are first come, first serve. Updated 2/10/17

Slowly, but surely..

Here we are mid November, holidays approaching, and our case is still sitting in court. We had a court hearing on November 11, but did not pass at that time and another hearing was scheduled for January. :( We were devastated & upset. But with the help of our agency and the advocate (lawyer) working on our case, they were able to move our next hearing up to December 10.

For those confused by this court process, welcome to the club! Who knows why the judge needs to have so many hearings before finalizing our case? Who knows what they do at each hearing? Why is this dragging on? I wish I knew the answers to those questions! 

We were registered for court in April, 1st hearing was in June, and we are approaching hearing #5 in December (insert eye roll). Good news is we are going to be able to send a letter to the judge expressing our strong desire to adopt K and how eager we are to provide a home for her, etc, etc (we could write a book at this point on how much we love this child we have never met). But hopefully a letter will help....

So for now - please pray that our letter will be well received by the judge, that the court will see our case on Dec. 10, and of course that we would pass court very soon so that K can be legally be ours!

I have begged and pleaded with the Lord, as has Ryan, that we would get to India before the year ends. While that looks pretty impossible, we still know that our God continues to work in ways we do not see or understand and can do the IMPOSSIBLE. For nothing will be impossible with God. - Luke 1:37 #letfaitharise

As for this wait - I do not wish this on anyone...it can bring very dark days! But the minute I get a glimpse of my sweet girls face or a video of her doing something as simple as eating her dinner, it brings me PURE JOY!

So I know without a doubt that this wait will be SO WORTH IT when we get to hold her in our arms! p.s. We have had the privilege of seeing several families come home from India this month with their child - God is moving! 

Thank you all for praying, checking on us, supporting us, and so much more.

Pray for our hearts and K's heart as we continue our wait. It's coming to an end y'all, I can feel it!

xoxo Megan

Lord, we will wait...

Hey everyone -

Not much progress has been made since our last blog post other than we have survived a few more months of waiting. Here are some updates....

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY K: Our daughter turned FIVE a few weeks ago (Sept. 2). We threw her a birthday party to celebrate! It was a wonderful night of prayer, laughter, food, and cake. K was certainly honored and has lots of goodies to open up once she gets here! I would be lying if I said that her birthday wasn't a sad day for us - I definitely was not prepared for the emotions that I would face on that day. It was so hard knowing that she had to spend yet another birthday as an orphan...without a family. But we look forward to her next birthday when she is home with us! Here are a few pics from the party...

• COURT CONTINUES: We had our 2nd court date on September 3 and as far as we know, our case did not pass at that hearing. I am not sure what to think. There is no reason they are giving us as to what the hold up is. All we know is that there is nothing we can do at this time, but wait for the judge to pass us. We ask for your prayers again as we approach our 3rd court date on October 5.   ::sigh::

• ON A POSITIVE NOTE: We FINALLY finished K's bedroom and playroom (thanks to our families who helped with painting, moving furniture, cleaning, decorating, etc.)! We are so excited for her to have a room of her very own, for the first time in her life. Take a look at a room fit for an Indian Princess!

• UPCOMING FUNDRAISERS: We have 2 fundraisers going on right now as we continue to raise the remaining funds for our travel to India. Any financial support is appreciated, but your support and prayers mean the most! 
• First - there is a jewelry sale with Noonday Collection currently happening online until October 7. You can view & purchase products HERE (100% commission from sales will be donated to our adoption fund). This stuff is SO cute - Go check it out! Great Christmas gifts! 
• Second -  is our "Sign the Map" fundraiser. With every donation (min. of $10), we will write your name on the canvas map (pictured below). Our goal is to fill the map with names and hang in K's room. Each day she will be reminded of those of you who helped to bring her home. You can donate HERE. 

This has been the toughest stage of our adoption journey so far. To be honest, this has been the hardest month of my life. I have felt sadness, depression, discontentment, worry, and doubt more than ever. Satan is working overtime trying to convince me that this whole adoption thing is a silly idea and that it will never work out; that we will never bring K home. I can't let these thoughts take over my mind. I have to continue to lean on my almighty and faithful Father who continues to reassure me that this is all a part of His big plan for us. Ryan and I believe that God is working on both of us right now, in preparation for K to get here. Our marriage & spiritual lives need to be strong so that we can love and raise this child to know Him. 

These verses have helped me lately and maybe can help someone else who is also in a season of waiting.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12

But as for me, afflicted and in pain - may your salvation, God, protect me. Psalm 69:29

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, Deut. 7:9

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Prov. 3:5&6

-Megan 

Court Update

For those keeping up with our court saga.....I have an update.

The court website now says that our next hearing is scheduled for September 3! We are not sure if this is a good or bad thing, hopefully it just means they are moving along and this will be the next and final hearing. We still do not know any details regarding that first hearing on July 11. Gotta love when God puts a "super planner" person like myself, in these "just wait" situations! haha 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Please continue praying for us to pass court QUICKLY! The sooner we do, the sooner we get to hop on that plane! 

Meanwhile, to fill our time "waiting," we are in the process of doing some things around our house to get ready for K's arrival. Complete with a freshly painted lavender bedroom and girly bedding set. I can't wait to complete her room and show you guys! 

Hope to update you VERY VERY soon with some GOOD news! 

:)

xoxo Megan 

It's the little things that count....

Well I wish I had a BIG "ALL CAPS" kind of update to give right now, but unfortunately I don't. :( 

However, I do want to publicly thank ALL OF YOU who have been praying this past week and checking up on us. You will never know how much your support means, especially during this hard and long ending stage. Just knowing that so many people in our community and in other cities are praying for K and thinking about her is just TOO awesome! One day when she is older and she reads this blog, I hope she is filled with immense gratitude and love for all the people who helped get her home!  

So anyways, back to my point of writing today.....

We do not have a court update as of now. We are still waiting and have not heard any news or progress yet. One might think it is as simple as going to court, passing, and then moving on. But with India, especially north, things are very "up in the air." The court site said that we had a hearing scheduled for July 11, but for all we know, they could have taken the day off or pushed it to another date. This is what we are trying to figure out. Hopefully no news is good news. But, we are still "guesstimating" to go get her by the fall of this year. That is our prayer!

But I do have a couple "little" updates that may brighten your day like it did ours. 

The past few months, we have received some updated pics/videos of K, one in particular of her holding a baby doll and attempting to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in English. It was PRECIOUS! And at the end of the video, she says "Mama, Papa...I love you."  I mean what are they trying to kill me haha Bring on the kleenex! It was the sweetest thing ever and we have watched it about a thousand times. She is beautiful and has the tiniest little voice. So, that was a blessing to get see more of her personality! 

Another cool update is that we have sold most of our India t-shirts and have raised roughly $1,500 from this fundraiser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are so awesome, like that amount is insane! So we will be adding that to our travel fund and use it to go towards the purchase of a plane ticket to India. This fundraiser could have been just semi-succeful, but God orchestrated it all and with the help of everyone who purchased a shirt, we were able to get one step closer to meeting our goal! Thank you! 

I will post another update as soon as I hear one! Keep praying......God hears us! We almost have our baby girl home! 

K singing and holding her baby doll. Look at those cute feet!

- Megan xoxo

Earnestly they prayed....

A friend and I have been studying through the book of Acts and in chapter 12 this week, I was reading about how the church prays for Peter while he is in prison after being persecuted. Enduring Word says: Constant prayer was offered to God for him: The word constant also has the idea of earnest; literally, the word pictures someone stretching out all they can for something. “The verb ektenos is related to ektenes, a medical term describing the stretching of a muscle to its limits.” (MacArthur)"

So with this story on my mind, I have been even more aware and convicted of how I should be praying for our little girl -  constantly, earnestly....not just at night or when I get the chance. Ryan and I have really tried to be more intentional of praying constantly, especially with our 1st court date coming up on July 11 over in India.

We already know the facts from several reliable sources in regards to the court process: 1) the state where she lives doesn't get too excited about international adoption, their culture looks down on it 2) cases in the past have been delayed by judges, making it a long and trying process for everyone 3) sometimes they don't even show up to court on the date that is posted online 3) our agency can't do anything to speed up this process 4) and it really is out of our hands at this ending stage. Our case and our daughter's future stands with the judge at this point. 

So..... here is what I have read over and over and over again this week! 

"When every other gate is shut and locked, the gate to heaven is wide open. We take advantage of that open gate through prayer."

Join with us in praying that July 11 will be a successful court hearing and that God will work a miracle! We want to get K home as soon as we can, but we also want the judge's heart to be changed and softened by adoption. We truly believe that prayer can bring K home sooner and I am thankful that God's word reassured me of that this week! Have a great day everyone!  xoxo

P.S. Our photo book was delivered to the orphanage TODAY which means K gets to see pictures of her new home, pets, toys, and FAMILY!  :) 

P.S.S.  t-shirts are still for sale, see previous blog post here for info. 

Help bring K home by purchasing an India tee!

Hey everyone!

We have a few remaining t-shirts to sell before we can begin our next fundraiser. Consider purchasing one of these comfy shirts for yourself or a friend! These are unisex Comfort Colors t-shirts available in adult sizes S-XXL (they run big). We are offering 3 colors (Blue Jean, Crimson, & Seafoam). Cost is $20 (includes shipping if you are out of town). Also - there are a few toddler & youth shirts left too, for $10! We have the following sizes & colors left. You can pay online here.

Please email me with what size & color you would like! megananne1020@hotmail.com

SMALL
Blue Jean - 1
Seafoam - 1

MEDIUM
Blue Jean - 1

LARGE *Sold out*
XLARGE *Sold out*

XXLARGE
Crimson - 1

TODDLER & YOUTH
4T lavender - 2
youth S - Lagoon Blue - 3
youth S- flo blue -1
youth M - Crunchberry - 1
youth L- lagoon blue - 2

*all sizes & colors are first come, first serve. 

We Have a Court Date!!!

Very exciting news came today!!!

After daily court-stalking, our case has finally showed up!! We were registered this past Saturday with our first hearing on July 11 (court in India)!!!!!!!!!! Please please please pray that we pass in 1 hearing! It is very uncommon {in the state that she is in}, for court to only have 1 hearing, so we are preparing ourselves for several. BUT God can do whatever He wants to do and we are praying for a miracle that this judge will pass it the 1st time! Mark July 11 down in your calendars and be praying with us! Once our case passes, we are SO close to going to India and bringing our sweet girl home!!!!

If you would like to join in on the fun of helping bring K home, you can visit our online donation site here. We still have about $12,000 in travel costs to raise/save! And looks like we may be travelling sooner than later! YIPPEE!!! Let the craziness begin! :)

The countdown continues....

Hey guys - A couple of quick updates.

• A little over a month ago we received our NOC (no objection certificate) which moved us into the final stage which is the "court stage." We were given the timeline of 3-6 months for this and we keep praying that it will not be any longer than that. The state of Uttar Pradesh in which K is in, does not have a good reputation for moving cases quickly, so we are a little worried that there will be some delays. This final stage is not easy for my OCD self as I'm checking the India court website daily to see if our case shows up. I have to remind myself that it will happen in God's perfect timing....but its so so hard. So- be praying daily for court to move quickly, pretty please! 
• We had our pictures made for K's photo book that we get to make and send to her. We are finishing up putting that together and it should make its way to India by May. We are really excited about this since this will be the first time she is "introduced" to her new family. We had a lot of fun with these pics and couldn't have done it without our family and the super fabulous Courtney Paige Photography aka my best friend/sister. Y'all go check her out here. 
• We haven't made much progress on getting K's room ready since we have been super busy with end-of-school year stuff, but hope to knock that out in May. :) 
• And lastly, our India t-shirts that some of you purchased were sent to us with a small mistake, so they had to re-print them all and ship new ones to us. They have finally made it here and I will be sorting all the shirts and delivering them this week and next. We have some extras, so I will post specifics on how to order those very soon!

I know it seems like our adoption process has been the longest wait in human history, but we want you all to know how so very thankful we are that all of you are still supporting us and praying for us since we began this journey in 2014. It means so much and I look forward to the day when I get to flood your emails and news-feeds with pictures of our sweet girl in our arms. Keep praying - I know I say that a lot - but prayer works y'all! :)

If you didn't get a t-shirt but want to help be a part of bringing K home, you can visit our online donation site here. We still have about $12,000 in travel costs to raise/save! 

xoxo

Ryan & Megan 

p.s. here are some pics for our photo book! 

WE HAVE NOC!!!!

Last week I posted about how we were struggling with the wait for our NOC approval. Well our prayers were answered and we received the news of our approval last Friday! We now have our NOC (NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE) to adopt our little girl! The wait time for this was estimated to be 3-9 months, and we waited 4. We are so thankful that the Lord guided us through that time and allowed us to receive the approval quickly!! Thanks for praying y'all!

What's next.....

We begin the court process (last step before travel). 

"The purpose of the court process is for the judge to legally finalize the adoption and confirm the adoptive parents as the legal guardians." This process is estimated to take 3-6 months. "In most cases, there will be several court hearings where the judge conducts a preliminary review of the case and orders the court social worker to visit the orphanage and check the child's file. The social worker will prepare a report that will be given back to the court for the judge to review. Most judges will not rule on the case immediately following the review but will instead schedule another court date. At that final hearing the judge will approve the adoption." We will hear from our orphanage once there is a "verbal approval." While the court documents are being finalized, the orphanage will apply for K's passport. Once the passport and court docs are received, we can GO GET HER!

Now that we have our NOC, we have the privilege of making a photo book for K filled with pictures of us, our home, our pets, family, etc. The orphanage that she is at will decide when the right time is to show it to her and tell her that she has a new family! This is such a bittersweet time because we are so excited that she will now know that she has parents, but at the same time, it's hard because we are not able to be with her yet. We pray she is filled with joy and peace as she looks at it. :)

Also, since we have the NOC, we are going to begin working on her room! This means lavender paint, girly things, and elephants galore! So fun!!

We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so please continue praying with us!!!

Love,

Ryan & Megan 

Last Call for India T-Shirt Pre-Orders! *update in children's colors

We now have enough orders to go ahead with our t-shirt fundraiser. If you would like to pre-order your India Adoption T-Shirt, please do so within the next few days. We will be submitting our order at the end of the week. By pre-ordering, we can guarantee the color and size you would like, especially with the CHILDREN'S shirts. Otherwise, we will have for sale the extras that we purchase in various colors and sizes.

Here are the specifics!

• 100% cotton "Comfort Colors" shirts with our very own design
• Comfort Colors are pre-shrunk, 100% ringspun cotton. They are very soft with a more washed look (similar to the Life Is Good shirts). *Note toddler shirts are not comfort colors
• We are offering 3 colors for adults (Blue Jean, Seafoam, and Crimson), 3 colors for youth (Crunchberry, Flo blue & Lagoon blue)  and 2 colors for toddlers (Caribbean & Lavender). 
• Cost is $20 per shirt for adults and $10 per shirt for children. We are asking $5 for shipping if you do not live in Greensboro or surrounding areas. 

This is a fun and easy way to help us fundraise while not only getting a comfy shirt, but also spreading adoption awareness while you wear it!

Check out the pics below and go HERE to pre-order & pay for your shirt (you will click "donate now" to pay and there is a space for comments - Please list your NAME, EMAIL, and SIZES & COLORS of t-shirts needed). If you would rather pay me in person, shoot me an email with your order and I will get the money from you when I see you! *All proceeds will go towards our adoption travel expenses.

color: Seafoam (available in adult S-XXL)

color: Blue Jean (available in adult S-XXL)

color: Crimson (available in adult S-XXL)

color: lavender (available in 2T, 3T, & 4T)
other color option for toddlers is Caribbean - not pictured (blue/green color, similar to Seafoam)

color: Lagoon Blue (available in Youth XS-L)

color: Crunchberry (available in Youth XS-L)

color: Flo Blue (available in Youth XS-L) 

While we wait......

The Not So Good News: It seems like an eternity since we sent our dossier over to India because these last 4 months have just CREPT by. We continue to wait for our NOC to be issued by the committee in India so we can move to the next step in the process. This NOC wait is estimated to take 3-9 months. With several families receiving their NOC this week, it has been hard, but we are hopeful that ours is just around the corner. I will say, that it is very difficult to pray each day for something that you have no control over and that hasn't "come true" yet. My faith is being tested and I have to continue to tell myself, "trust in the Lord." And while it may not be fun or easy, this wait is definitely bringing me closer to Him.

The Good News: As these 4 months have been very long and difficult, we were sent some JOY the other week that helped tide us over. We received some new pictures and videos of our sweet girl. And while I cannot share due to confidentiality, let me just say, she is absolutely gorgeous, precious, happy, and full of personality. Y'all are going to be in for a treat when you see her! The phrase is so true, "a picture says a thousand words." As we stared at her and went through these pics over and over and over, we could see her personality, her joy, her playful side, her laugh. It was so amazing, but then also heart wrenching at the same time. But, I am able to rest easy knowing that she is in a good place where she is clothed, fed, and treated well. However, she is still an orphan right now and that is killing us!

So with all that, friends, please keep praying. Please pray for God to move mountains, to break the barriers that are keeping us from getting our NOC and to help us get through the final stages quickly. That is all we can do now, so your prayers are very much needed and appreciated!

And while I'm on here.....

We have finished our new India t-shirt design! This t-shirt is a 100% cotton "Comfort Colors" shirt. Comfort colors are pre-shrunk, 100% ringspun cotton. They are very soft with a more washed look (similar to the Life Is Good shirts). We are offering 3 colors (Blue Jean, Seafoam, and Crimson) for adults and 2 colors (Seafoam & Lavendar) for children. PREORDER YOURS TODAY! Once we receive at least 15 pre-orders, we can order the shirts! Cost is $20 per shirt for adults and $10 per shirt for children. This is a fun and easy way to help us fundraise while not only getting a comfy shirt, but also spreading adoption awareness while you wear it!

Check out the pics below and go HERE to pre-order & pay for your shirt (you will click "donate here" to pay and there is a space for comments-Please list your name, email, and sizes and colors of t-shirts needed). If you would rather pay me in person, shoot me an email  with your order and I will get the money from you when I see you!

color: seafoam (available in adult S-XXL and child's sizes)

color: blue jean (available in adult S-XXL)

color: crimson (available in adult S-XXL)

color: lavendar (available in child's sizes)

We have Article 5!

Very short & quick update! We received our Article 5 today for K!!!!

Article 5 = a very important piece of paper issued to us from the U.S. Department of State that says, "K is authorized to enter and reside permanently in the United States following the adoption....." 

Our FC will be sending this to K's orphanage & they will submit our Article 5 to the NOC committee in India where we continue our wait for their approval.

Another step done and complete! Thanks for praying! 

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.    - Psalm 27:14

xoxo 
R&M

The NOC wait....

Here is a quick update for those following....

Last you heard we had accepted a referral for a 3 yr. old (now 4 yr. old) little girl. We sent our dossier (paperwork) over to the orphanage for their approval. They will then pass our dossier on to the NOC committee in India. The NOC committee meets once a week and consists of different staff and directors in CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority). CARA will look at all of the family's dossier documents, referral documents, and approvals. There is no way to know how many dossiers are waiting in line for approval ahead of us. This NOC approval could take months to be completed which is why we do not have a time frame idea yet. Please pray for a quick and easy NOC approval for our family! 

Meanwhile, while we wait for our NOC approval, we are working on several other adoption "to-do's" on our end. Today, we applied with the U.S. Department of State for an Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration for little K so that we can bring her into the country. Please pray that our application will be processed quickly and that her visa will be approved!

We are also working on applying for a few grants to help out with our travel expenses when the time comes. The main grant that we are applying for is through Show Hope Organization. They only take a certain number of families based on their circumstances. Please pray if we are eligible, that we will receive a grant or grants to help with our India travel expenses! 

Lastly, we are brainstorming on India t-shirt design ideas so that we can have another t-shirt fundraiser. We are open to suggestions! We will also be hosting a final fundraiser dinner in the spring to raise the remaining funds needed to bring K home. If anyone has a connection with a venue, entertainment, food, etc in the Greensboro area, please email me at megananne1020@hotmail.com. We would love to have our family and friends involved in this event. 

We have roughly about $12,000 left to raise for us to be done with our fees, travel expenses, court expenses, etc. The Lord has been faithful in providing for us so far in this adoption process through fundraisers, donations, savings, etc. and we know that He will see us to the end. Your prayers and support are greatly needed and appreciated in this final year of our process. We are one day closer to bringing little K home from across the world! Yay!

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/smith-india-adoption/159909

Love you all!

Ryan and Megan

It's a Girl!

In celebration of World Adoption Day today, we figured it was the perfect time to share our latest India update with you guys!

It has been a long & exciting 4 months so here is a recap....

On July 24, we received "the call" with news from our agency that they had a referral for us. I (Megan) was actually away on a girls weekend so this news, although very exciting, did not come at the most opportune time (a.k.a. I was freaking out)! Our family coordinator, Elise shared some information about the child and told me she would send me the records. Ryan and I were shocked/excited/nervous/every emotion possible when we opened the email.

We had received a referral for a sweet, precious 3 yr old little GIRL!

Her picture immediately brought me to tears. I didn't know what to do in that moment other than cry. After communicating with Ryan via phone all weekend while I was away, I headed home so we could get to work. We were informed that same day that India's adoption authority (CARA) was putting some new guidelines into place in the near future for all international adoptions. This meant we had to act fast to secure our referral with India.

We had to immediately meet with doctors to review her medical files [shout out to Dr. Norris & Dr. Amos for working under such short timelines], talk with our family coordinator about what to do next, and pray A LOT for confirmation that this was the child that God would want in our family. After a crazy couple of days we accepted the referral on July 27.

We were so nervous on the days in between because we were ultimately choosing our child. It was a major decision, but one that was made evident by the Lord and we were filled with peace when we told our family coordinator, "yes, we accept this little girl." It was the hardest, but most precious few days that we had ever experienced because of how huge this decision was.

So you may ask, "what took so long for the announcement?" Well, we had to wait for her original documents from the orphanage and sign them before it became "official." Sounds easy right? Get the papers, sign them, move on......well after waiting about a month for these documents, we found out that they had been lost in the mail. Our family coordinator was actually planning a trip to India at the time, so she ended up retrieving the documents by hand and bringing them back with her. Hallelujah! We received them on October 16. 

Signed. Sealed. Delivered. >>>> Our dossier has been sent to India and we are now just waiting on our signed referral docs to come back from the Secretary of State from being apostilled. 

It is funny sometimes how God works to show us that He is present and to test our faith in Him. As most of you know we originally started in the Ethiopia program and with a big leap of faith, we switched to India. And then, with another big leap of faith we went with 1 female instead of 2 males. Everything has been the complete opposite of what we had planned, but that is why we are thankful that we rely on an Almighty God for all our decisions instead of relying on our own simple minds.

Thank you for reading and for keeping our daughter in your prayers!  We do not have a timeline yet on when we will get to bring her home, but we will be sure to update our blog when we find out!

Here's to #worldadoptionday !

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Psalm 63:3

To visit out fundraising site, click here. 

#worldadoptionday

pink packet for a GIRL!