Send us your Empty Chair pics!

It has been really awesome to see how so many of you, our friends and family, have jumped on our Empty Chair bandwagon! We have sold about 75 shirts so far and have been distributing and shipping out the first batches this past week.

Why not ask one more thing of you? Once you get your shirt(s), send us a picture of you sporting it. Be as creative as you want. Our first submission is from the Stouts. Thanks also to John Wesley for posing for the picture as well. If only he had a shirt, too!Here are the young Droddy lads sporting their shirts while bouncing on a rocking horse, complete with coordinating gaping mouths.
Seth randomly struck a pose and I was fortunate to capture this look of....um, surprise? fear? madness? Who knows? Sure is funny though!

T-SHIRTS ARE IN!

We received our first batch of T-shirts today. We already have 40+ spoken for but there are plenty left. (Here I am modeling one of the first ones out of the box.) Please let us know if you would like one. Remember, each t-shirt we sell brings us one step closer to making our adoption happen.

Decision made regarding visas.

Good news. The State Dept issued a clarification regarding legal guardianships in Uganda. This clears up the uncertainty--moving forward, legal guardianships will contain the correct wording to insure issuance of a IR-4 visa for a child to travel to the US for the purpose of adoption. BOTTOM LINE is that the clarity is good for all future adoptions from Uganda...including ours!!

Check out the State Dept notice issued today.

Prayer Request

Our social worker at the adoption agency has let us know about an issue that is prohibiting adoptions from progressing in Uganda. While we are still early in the process, the situation in Uganda can ultimately have an effect on our adoption--potentially delaying our adoption.

I'll try to summarize: The adoption process for Uganda requires prospective adoptive parents to petition the court in Uganda for legal guardianship. Once legal guardianship is granted, a visa for the child must be granted by the US Embassy for travel back to the US. Legal adoption then takes place in the US. Currently, the US Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has not been granting visas (since Feb 3). According to our agency, this backlog in the process could affect all future adoptions.

Tomorrow morning, April 14, 2010 at 11:30am to 12:30 pm in Senate Russell 453 in Washington DC, there will be a briefing advocating for a resolution in Uganda regarding IR4 visa issuance. Simply pray that this issue will be resolved speedily and favorably!


(Look at how much we're learning!!)

The time is now...for T-shirts!

One thing we have known from the beginning of this adoption process is that we cannot do it alone. First, we know that we will make it through this journey only by God's power. Not meaning to be trite, but this is truly a God-sized task in our lives. Second, we are depending on our friends and family to walk beside us through this process. We have already received encouraging words, wise counsel, and diligent prayers from those who know us best. With that support in mind, we knew that at some point we would have to make a request of you all to help us reach the financial goal to make this adoption happen--that time is now!!

Switching to international adoption means that our agency payments come sooner--we wrote the 1st check yesterday!! Our agency has provided us with a pretty good estimate of what this adoption will cost us--so, our goal is $25,000. Fortunately, we have already received a couple of donations to get the fund started. Also, we are personally saving and adjusting our famly budget to reach our goal quicker.

So, here's how YOU can help us. You can donate to the cause and/or purchase one (or more) of our new Empty Chair T-shirts:The suggested donation for each shirt is $20. You can go to our Empty Chair T-shirt page to get more details. We will be placing our first order on April 12. We are excited to see how God will provide. Please pray for us through this entire process and check back often.

2 New Editions + a preview

Much like the adoption process itself, we are learning as we go with the adoption BLOGGING process. We added two components to this blog. First, you will find "Our Story...so far" in the Pages section of our blog--this just brings you up-to-speed with what brought us to this point.

Additionally, there is a button to the right by which you can donate to our adoption cause. Like many adoptions, financing is our main hurdle. However, we are confident that God will provide because we cannot do this on our own. We will be counting on donations from friends and family to help us make this adoption happen.

This week, we will be introducing our only planned fundraiser for this adoption--selling T-shirts. We will be posting our design and explaining how you can place your order. Check back later this week for more info!

No (april) Foolin'

Welcome to our adoption blog! For those of you did not know that we are moving toward adoption, welcome to the party!

This blog represents another huge step in a lengthy process--one in which we are still in the early(ish) stages. Up until now, we have just talked about our call to adopt with the people we are around most and only usually when people ask us about it. This step (blogging) is a move to proactively tell our story to people who are a part of our circle of friends and family--our community (past, present, and even future?).

This post will only serve as our "hello" to everyone and as an invitation to come back often to check our progress.