Many people have already asked us what we plan on naming our child. To us, it is more complicated than just picking a name out of a book. Through the adoption process we will be taking this boy/girl out of their home country and everything they have ever known. What will they have left? Because of this we hope to keep at least part of their original name intact. We might make some changes or only keep parts of the name because it may be difficult to pronounce for English speakers. Interestingly enough, we found out that when you participate in an international adoption the US government names the child for us upon our re-entry in the country! Initially their name will be their original first name and then the father’s first name will be the child’s middle name and then the family’s last name. That sounds confusing….our child’s name will be _____ Jeremy Logue. And this is the same for both boys and girls! Fortunately there will be an opportunity to legally change the child’s name to whatever we have selected :)
ADOPTION UPDATES:
We had a fabulous garage sale! Thanks to everyone who made generous donations. After we spit the profits with our brother and sister-in-law (who are also pursuing adoption) we got to apply $1,000 to our adoption!
We recently submitted our paperwork to the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services. Next the USCIS will schedule a biometrics appointment for us to go to Salem to have our fingerprints and photographs taken.
We are hopefully still on target to submit our dossier to Ethiopia by the end of October.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Children are Priceless
Even though we are not parents yet, we understand that children are priceless. The truth is that children are expensive whether through adoption or by the old fashioned way. No parent would ever put a price on their child. There will be people that ask the question, “How much did you pay for your child?” After learning about adoption our answer will forever be, “He/she is priceless.” As many of you already know, it requires a significant amount of funds to finalize an adoption process. No one actually pays for a child (it is illegal!). Of course we will pay an agency, lawyers and travel costs…just like many other parents would pay doctors and hospital bills to have a child. We already know that the cost will be nothing compared to the joy gained from growing our family.
In the process of seeking ways to raise funds for our adoption, Megan came across Just Love Coffee Roasters. You can read more about the company on their website: www.justlovecoffee.com. The owners have a heart for the people of Ethiopia (sparked by their own adoption journey) and a knowledge of coffee. They combined those two passions and started a business. By setting up an online store we can support the hard working people in Ethiopia and also provide a simple way to raise funds for our adoption. Just Love Coffee makes a small donation to our adoption with each purchase from our online store. Click the image on the right side of the blog to get to our coffee site. We are so thankful for your generous love and support! Please continue to pray that God will prepare our hearts as we take each step closer to our child.
In the process of seeking ways to raise funds for our adoption, Megan came across Just Love Coffee Roasters. You can read more about the company on their website: www.justlovecoffee.com. The owners have a heart for the people of Ethiopia (sparked by their own adoption journey) and a knowledge of coffee. They combined those two passions and started a business. By setting up an online store we can support the hard working people in Ethiopia and also provide a simple way to raise funds for our adoption. Just Love Coffee makes a small donation to our adoption with each purchase from our online store. Click the image on the right side of the blog to get to our coffee site. We are so thankful for your generous love and support! Please continue to pray that God will prepare our hearts as we take each step closer to our child.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Paperwork, Paperwork and More Paperwork
The process for international adoption has been interesting - so far just full of paperwork. The beginning phase of the adoption process has been given the nickname “paperwork pregnancy”. Just so you know…it is a lot of work. When we first got the information from America World, we thought “this doesn’t look too bad”. It seemed simple looking at the required documents on the computer. Here are a few examples of the paperwork needed:
• Birth & marriage certificates - has to be issued within the last 5 years
• Fingerprinting – this was done at the police station
• Physical Exam - This has to be notarized which means bringing a certified person with you to the doctor’s office (Thanks Clint!)
• Criminal background checks
• Letters from your employer
• Letters of reference
• Financial statements
• Etc. Etc. Etc.
Slowly but surely we have been gathering all the necessary documents. The hard part is keeping it all straight. Because one person needs some documents, another person needs other documents and then some of those have to be combined. Confused yet? We sure were. For a few days we had all the documents lying on the kitchen counter in different piles. Every once in a while we would rearrange the documents, make a new pile and start another checklist. We finally decided, after talking with our social worker, that we should just complete each form and then email it her and our family coordinator with America World. So we fill it out, scan it and email it to both of them. Then they tell us what else we still have left to get to them and what we need to keep for our Dossier.
Update: We have just completed our second meeting with our social worker. She will now work on typing up our home study while we complete dossier paperwork. We are hoping to be done and ready to send it all to immigration by beginning of October. Thank you for continued prayers!
• Birth & marriage certificates - has to be issued within the last 5 years
• Fingerprinting – this was done at the police station
• Physical Exam - This has to be notarized which means bringing a certified person with you to the doctor’s office (Thanks Clint!)
• Criminal background checks
• Letters from your employer
• Letters of reference
• Financial statements
• Etc. Etc. Etc.
Slowly but surely we have been gathering all the necessary documents. The hard part is keeping it all straight. Because one person needs some documents, another person needs other documents and then some of those have to be combined. Confused yet? We sure were. For a few days we had all the documents lying on the kitchen counter in different piles. Every once in a while we would rearrange the documents, make a new pile and start another checklist. We finally decided, after talking with our social worker, that we should just complete each form and then email it her and our family coordinator with America World. So we fill it out, scan it and email it to both of them. Then they tell us what else we still have left to get to them and what we need to keep for our Dossier.
Definition: Dossier dos•si•er (dŏsˈē-āˌ, dôˈsē-āˌ)Our definition of dossier is: tell us everything about you plus some more information that you don’t even know about yourself yet. This has all been an interesting process and has brought up some great questions about what kind of parents we will be. We have already had some good discussion about parenting styles, discipline and how we can foster bonding/attachment with our child. Of coarse we still have a lot to learn!
A collection of papers giving detailed information about a particular person or subject. (from http://www.yourdictionary.com)
Update: We have just completed our second meeting with our social worker. She will now work on typing up our home study while we complete dossier paperwork. We are hoping to be done and ready to send it all to immigration by beginning of October. Thank you for continued prayers!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
A New Journey: international adoption
Over the past year or so we have been considering starting our family. Through many different joys and trials we believe that the Lord has led us to the point where we are beginning the process for international adoption. This is something that we have felt would eventually happen – we talked about this topic before we were even married! Since we both have had the privilege of traveling to several other countries we have seen and been touched by the incredible number of children who live as orphans in this world. It may surprise you that we are choosing to adopt our first child (it did us too!) but we know that God has great things in store as we follow His leading.
Over the past 6 years Megan has been to Africa twice and Jeremy has been once. We are both excited to be going again to Tanzania in three weeks. Those beautiful children have captured our hearts. When we decided to start the adoption process it was obvious to us that we would pursue a child from the land that we both have grown to love. On March 17th, 2010 we were accepted to the America World Adoption Agency. We will be adopting from Ethiopia.
Why Ethiopia? Why not!?!
There are many reasons why we chose Ethiopia. To name a few:
1. We meet the country requirements. Each country sets its own requirements for adopting couples. For example: net worth, length of marriage, and how old you are, etc.
2. Young children and infants are available. Since it is our first child we wanted to be able to experience as much of those first stages of life as possible.
3. The time it takes to process an adoption is shorter than most countries allowing us to bring home a younger child. Also, our stay in Ethiopia is only 7-10 days many countries require 2-6 weeks.
4. The children are well cared for in Ethiopian orphanages and are given thorough medical exams. America World only adopts through orphanages that make certain that the children are actually orphans – thus preventing child trafficking.
5. There are an estimated 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. Most often Ethiopian children become orphans because their parents have died or they cannot afford to care for them. These children are in desperate need of families!
So our hope is that this blog will serve in two ways….we want to keep a written record of this incredible journey and we want to include our friends and family in this process. This will allow those of you who live in other parts of the nation and world an opportunity to be a part of this crazy adventure. Thank you for those of you that have already poured out encouragement and love! We are so grateful.
Over the past 6 years Megan has been to Africa twice and Jeremy has been once. We are both excited to be going again to Tanzania in three weeks. Those beautiful children have captured our hearts. When we decided to start the adoption process it was obvious to us that we would pursue a child from the land that we both have grown to love. On March 17th, 2010 we were accepted to the America World Adoption Agency. We will be adopting from Ethiopia.
Why Ethiopia? Why not!?!
There are many reasons why we chose Ethiopia. To name a few:
1. We meet the country requirements. Each country sets its own requirements for adopting couples. For example: net worth, length of marriage, and how old you are, etc.
2. Young children and infants are available. Since it is our first child we wanted to be able to experience as much of those first stages of life as possible.
3. The time it takes to process an adoption is shorter than most countries allowing us to bring home a younger child. Also, our stay in Ethiopia is only 7-10 days many countries require 2-6 weeks.
4. The children are well cared for in Ethiopian orphanages and are given thorough medical exams. America World only adopts through orphanages that make certain that the children are actually orphans – thus preventing child trafficking.
5. There are an estimated 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. Most often Ethiopian children become orphans because their parents have died or they cannot afford to care for them. These children are in desperate need of families!
So our hope is that this blog will serve in two ways….we want to keep a written record of this incredible journey and we want to include our friends and family in this process. This will allow those of you who live in other parts of the nation and world an opportunity to be a part of this crazy adventure. Thank you for those of you that have already poured out encouragement and love! We are so grateful.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Crazy Love by Francis Chan- Chapter 8 "Profile of the Obsessed"
The first thing that Chan does in this chapter is define the word obsessed. To be honest I have never really thought much about what this word means. Most of the time I equate it to somebody who is crazy about something. This was the definition Chan gave at the start of the chapter - Obsessed: To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic. Based on that definition of obsessed, I’m not sure I have ever really been obsessed. Well maybe I have….during high school wrestling, I was probably obsessed with winning. When I was preparing for a match all my focus and energy went into the thought of winning. Thinking back on those few hours before a wrestling match, my focus slowly got more and more defined as I got closer to the match. Rarely would you find me sitting 30 minutes before a wrestling match. I would pace back and forth thinking about what I would do on the mat. I guess that is what I would call obsessed in my life. The honest truth is that I have never thought of my relationship with Christ to be something that I’m obsessed about. But that is because I thought being obsessed was a bad thing. After reading this chapter I want to be obsessed. Here is how the chapter went…Chan would give a characteristic of an obsessed person, talk about it and then give a phrase that described that characteristic in one or two sentences. The way I read this chapter was that each of these are ways we can be obsessed. Chan listed 12 different characteristics that an obsessed person could have. They are: lovers, risk takers, friends of all, crazy ones, the humble, server, giver, sojourners, the engrossed, unguarded ones, the rooted, the dedicated and sacrificers. It would take me forever to write out even just the phrase for each of these things listed. I wanted to pick a couple that really got my attention and spoke into my life. These two things really made me think about my relationship with Christ and the way they are explained help change my perspective.
Lovers
I read the word lover and I go straight to the marriage relationship between a husband and a wife. That is what lover has always meant to me in my life. I was a little confused when he used this term to explain a way a person can be obsessed. Read Luke 6:32-36. This is the definition of what it means to love someone. Jesus is the ultimate lover. The reason I say that is because He loves us even with all our dirt. He loves us so much He gave His life. We can’t pay Him back.
Unguarded Ones
We as humans are rarely, if ever, honest with each other about everything. Most of the time we are scared about what people will think of us if we tell them the truth about ourselves. We carry this same attitude to our time with God. What I often forget is that God knows everything I have done. So even if I don’t say anything He knows it. But you know, I think there is still tension between us and God if we don’t tell Him everything. He wants us to be unguarded and willing to tell him everything we are happy about, struggling with or have messed up.
Those were just two of the 12 things Chan talked about in this amazing chapter. It was so much information that it is probably something you should go back and read again and again. Chan ended the chapter with a great short paragraph that really spoke to what we need to do with all these characteristics.
Lovers
"People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly, without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them and who can never love them back."
I read the word lover and I go straight to the marriage relationship between a husband and a wife. That is what lover has always meant to me in my life. I was a little confused when he used this term to explain a way a person can be obsessed. Read Luke 6:32-36. This is the definition of what it means to love someone. Jesus is the ultimate lover. The reason I say that is because He loves us even with all our dirt. He loves us so much He gave His life. We can’t pay Him back.
Unguarded Ones
"People who are obsessed are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or their failures. Obsessed people don’t put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace."
We as humans are rarely, if ever, honest with each other about everything. Most of the time we are scared about what people will think of us if we tell them the truth about ourselves. We carry this same attitude to our time with God. What I often forget is that God knows everything I have done. So even if I don’t say anything He knows it. But you know, I think there is still tension between us and God if we don’t tell Him everything. He wants us to be unguarded and willing to tell him everything we are happy about, struggling with or have messed up.
Those were just two of the 12 things Chan talked about in this amazing chapter. It was so much information that it is probably something you should go back and read again and again. Chan ended the chapter with a great short paragraph that really spoke to what we need to do with all these characteristics.
"While these descriptions combined don’t necessarily answer the question of what it looks like to be wholly surrendered to God, they represent important pieces of the puzzle. Hopefully you are beginning to imagine and pray about what this looks like in your own life."
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Crazy Love by Francis Chan- Chapter 7 "Your Best Life…Later"
“By now you’ve probably realized that you have a distinct choice to make: just let life happen, which is tantamount to serving God your leftovers, or actively run toward Christ.”Francis Chan started chapter 7 with this little statement. Megan and I sometimes have trouble making choices. It can take us up to 30 minutes to decide where we would like to go out to eat. Choosing something that simple should not be a difficult task. To be honest, I have never really thought about my relationship with Christ in the way Chan described. I really have to ask the question, am I serving God my leftover by just letting life happen? It is so very easy for us to fall into the trap of just living the life and trying to be good enough. Well I don’t feel called to live good enough, I feel called to something else. There are two things I know will happen during this calling. God will change not only my life but the life of others around me. And I will fail more often then I would hope, but that is the great thing about God’s grace. Chan then moves into talking about those in Hebrews 11. By faith each person took this action because God was working in life. My desire is that I will chose to actively run toward Christ and allow him to work through me.
“Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.”If this statement doesn’t challenge you in some way then you are either living this life already or you are giving God your leftovers in your relationship with Him. I can tell you that I fail at living this life more often then not. I don’t believe there is one way to live this life. God has a plan for each of us, so we will each live this out in different ways. I’m trying to think of a way my life didn’t make sense to an unbeliever. The thing coming to mind is going to Africa to work with churches. People understand why I go and realize it is a nice thing to do. But what unbelievers don’t understand is why I would give up my vacation time for such a trip. People also don’t understand why I put so much time and effort into teaching students about having a relationship with Christ (I sometimes wonder that myself!). The relationship I have with Christ drives me to do these things. Honestly I don’t always have time to do the things I want to do, such as watch TV or hang out with friends. I also don’t always have the time to get the things done around the house that I need to do. For example, I have been telling Megan since we moved in that I would touch up the paint around the house…and we moved over 5 months ago. Living for God means making choices about how we use the time that we have been given. Sometimes it means that we have to choose to make a sacrifice. I’m going to end this post with a statement from the book. This statement is something I would like to think about for a while.
"Christians today like to play it safe..But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way. We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity"Post your thoughts. God Bless.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Crazy Love by Francis Chan- Chapter 6 "When You’re in Love"
We all have an opinion about what the word ‘love’ really means. It could be so many things, from “I love my shirt” to “I love you”. But the crazy thing is what we do when we are “in love”. Let’s do something fun. If you are willing…post a comment to this post about something crazy you did because you were in love. I asked Megan the question, what is something crazy I did because I was in love? She came up with two things. First while I was in Colorado visiting my family for Christmas, I spent hours talking to her online instead of hanging out with family at night. Then the first summer we were dating, I went to five weddings with her. Four of them were for people I didn’t know, one of those I had to sit by myself because Megan was part of the wedding party. In this chapter, Chan is talking about how love is part of our relationship with Jesus our Savior. Chan says,
Galatians 5:6 says, The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. This verse really makes me think about my faith. Does the faith I live out express itself through love? Often times I would say it doesn’t and that I need to work on that part of my relationship with Christ. I want people to see my faith through my acts of love. That may be the hardest thing to live up to, but that is part of being a Christ-follower. For people to see our faith through love, we need to grow more in love with God. The best way to do this is through prayer and listening to Him. Chan made a comment about the cycle we can enter with praying for more love.
Father, Help me to be more in love with you. Give me the desire to long after you in all the parts of my life. I want people to see my faith in you through my love for them. You are an amazing God that you would love us so much yet we struggle to love you. I want to love you more. Amen.
Is loving God—and, by extension loving people—what you are about?
Galatians 5:6 says, The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. This verse really makes me think about my faith. Does the faith I live out express itself through love? Often times I would say it doesn’t and that I need to work on that part of my relationship with Christ. I want people to see my faith through my acts of love. That may be the hardest thing to live up to, but that is part of being a Christ-follower. For people to see our faith through love, we need to grow more in love with God. The best way to do this is through prayer and listening to Him. Chan made a comment about the cycle we can enter with praying for more love.
Our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to pray more, which results in more love…We have always been told this and it is much easier said than done. The more we fall in love with God the more we will love others. In the end a question comes to mind, what is something crazy I have done because I was in love with God?
Father, Help me to be more in love with you. Give me the desire to long after you in all the parts of my life. I want people to see my faith in you through my love for them. You are an amazing God that you would love us so much yet we struggle to love you. I want to love you more. Amen.
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