Time Has Flown and Life has changed

I can't believe how the last year has changed our family and strengthened our marriage in so many ways. Let me catch everyone up.  In the last year we sold our home, moved in with my in-laws, built a home, Lewis was downsized from his job, unemployment, loss of Melissa's rock her grandmother,  and three wonderful boys who just keep growing.  Over the last year our adoption journey has been one of ups and downs, doubts, and tears.  It seems that one of us at one time or another was ready to pull out due to all that has happened.  We have heard for Children's Hope that we are currently number 41 on the waiting list with some families ahead of us that are on hold.  This actually means that we are lower on the list then 41.  I am excited, but extremely nervous. 

Due to Lewis's job loss we have had to use all of our savings to just live.  So our adoption funds are gone.  Lewis has started a new job with Algate Insurance Advisors.  He is now an independent insurance agent.  This has created a wonderful opportunity for him to work from home and reconnect with the boys.  His job in commission only so it has been a little slow starting out but we are praying for God to bless this business. 

Well we are between 4 - 6 months away from receiving our referral of our little girl, but we need help.  We will need $9000.00 to accept our referral and then will need financial resources for two trips to Ethiopia.  Overall we will approximately need $15,000 - 18,000.  We know that anything is possible through God.

Here is how you can help:
1.  Pray for our little girls health and well-being.
     Pray for God to bless our fund-raising efforts
     Pray for Lewis's job to be blessed and start producing income for our family
    
2.  Help with Fund-Raising:  We currently have one fundraiser going through Ordinary Hero.  This is extremely simple and rewarding.  Simply log on to www.ordinaryherostore.org  here you can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, tumbler, etc.  all products are made to help orphans.  When a purchase is made we will receive 40% of the purchase price during checkout when you select Melissa Painter (when it asks how did you hear about us) .  All items on the Ordinary Hero website will make a great Christmas gift with a great cause. 

3.  We are looking into a large fundraiser coming soon with Comedy Sportz.  Comedy Sportz is a clean impromptu comedy club located in downtown Indianapolis.  This will be a family friendly event for all ages.  More details to come.

If you have any fundraiser ideas please please send them our way!

Peace
Lewis & Melissa Painter

Oh Happy Day!

We are on the list!!   We can not tell you how excited, relieved, and blessed we are to have been given the news yesterday.  We are officially number 98 on the list.  How the referral list works is very simple, yet hard to understand at times.   As families receive a referral of a child we will go down on the list.  However, not every family on the list is looking for an older child.  Children's Hope has told us to use our number as a guide of progress, but not to hold to much weight in the number since there are not 97 families on the list looking for a girl between 2 to 4 years of age.  Some families are seeking infants, boys, or siblings.  We have been informed that due to the US embassy requesting more documentation of the status of the children being orphans the referral process has slowed down.  Ethiopia is a very relaxed country that does not have the conveniences of Internet, fax machines, or at times working phone lines.  Please join us in praying that God will provide the money needed to finish our journey, that our daughter is safe, for all orphans in Ethiopia and the world, and that God will grant us patience as we patiently wait for our phone call.  We will update everyone with our new number when it is received. 

We are almost on the referal list!

Wow it has been a long six months of ups and downs, but we are happy to announce that we should be on the referral list by the end of January.  Praise God!!!  We were informed this week by Children's Hope (our adoption agency) that the US embassy in Ethiopia is requiring more paper work on the children prior to the adoptions being finalized.  This has created a back log of paper work and has slowed the entire process.  We were told that our wait on the referral list will probably be close to a year due to these new requirements.  This is sad news, but we do trust that God is in control and his plan is the perfect plan.  I have to admit that I can not wait to meet and hug our daughter.  We have a few fundraisers currently going on:  T-shirts are still for sale at $15.00, a garage sale planned for late March early April, and a new fundraiser of purchasing a puzzle piece.  Our puzzle is a picture of Noah's Ark. We chose this puzzle due to the fact that God keeps his promises and they are always true.  A puzzle piece can be purchased for a donation of $2.00.  You or your family will be able to write on the back of the puzzle piece any message you would like.  Once all 1000 pieces have been purchased this puzzle will be framed so that both sides are visible as a reminder of how awesome God's love is to our family.  Please pray for continued guidance as we are approaching the long wait period.

New Year

Wow Christmas was great this year full of family, friends, love, and Christ birth.  So much has happened lately.  We can hardly contain our excitement.  On Thursday we mailed in our dossier packet to Children's Hope for final approval before sending them on to Washington.  We are so close to being on the referral list!   God has provided so much for us while on this journey.  We are praying that he will continue to provide the last amount needed to bring our little girl home.  We are only $18,000  from being full funded in our adoption.  In March we are planning to have a large garage sale as our next fundraiser.  While cleaning up from Christmas and the beginning of Spring cleaning please think of our family with any donations for our garage sale.  This sale will be a wonderful event.  Please pray with us that God will bless our family with the means to bring our little girl home.

Fingerprinting

The day has finally arrived for Lewis and I to be finger printed for immigration.  I am so excited and nervous.  Excited because it is taking us one step closer to our little girl, but nervous that we are closer to meeting our little girl.  We feel truly blessed that God has taken our family on this amazing adventure.  I am so thankful for our family and friends for your prayers, support, and gifts.  We have a new prayer request that could use as much prayer as possible.  Lewis and I have applied for an adoption grant through helpusadopt.org.  The grant we have applied for will be for $10,000.  The prayer is that God will inspire the hearts of the committee to find our application worthy.  

Pancake Fundraiser

I am still in awe of how God showed up in such a wonderful and profound way on Saturday.  After  weeks of preparing, planning, and praying our first large fundraiser is over and completed.  We personally want to thank our life group and our parents for coming out so early in the morning to help us.  We also want to thank and brag about our three boys. They were awesome helpers and willing workers.  Our boys were the waiters and I am happy to report we did not have any spills.  Our breakfast started at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m..  When no one showed up until 8:30 we were getting nervous (I have to admit).  However, at 9:00 it started to pick up.  We served 50 people breakfast! The fundraiser made close to $1,000!  We should have only made $200 if everyone had paid what was asked.  This amount would not have covered our expense, however, God showed up!  God had who he wanted to be at our breakfast.  We are so thankful to God for taking care of us and our daughter! Thanks God you rock!

One Week Away

We are one week away for our biggest fundraiser!  Please Please help us by spreading the word.  Please email, facebok, or tweet your friends.  This is a great opportunity to have breakfast with your life group or friends.  We have not set a goal because we trust that God will truly come through.  Remember Saturday October 29 from 7:00a.m. to 10:30 a.m. All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast at Holland Park in Fishers.  We would love to see you there.  If you would be interested in volunteering please let me know.  Please pray for our family during this time.  We are far below our goal needed to make the next step in our adoption happen.  We are around $2700 dollars short.  God Bless to everyone