Who's preapproved? This family, right here

We got out preapproval back from Daniel's country.  We're in like Flynn.  Assuming Flynn were fat and trying to adopt from a country that cares whether or not Flynn was fat.  Or something...  Now we move on to the fun stuff, like prepping our dossier and finishing our homestudy.  Our next big financial goal is raising to 1,950 dollars to pay for the rest of our homestudy (some has already been paid) and the fees for filing our dossier.  So on that note, we're having a tee-shirt fundraiser.  This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and probably the primary reason why we adopt, although in no way is this an adoption specific shirt.  "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men"~Frederick Douglass. 

https://www.booster.com/addingandersons

They are long sleeve, ultra warm, and come in both men and women sizes.  You have to click the link on the description page to find the men sizes.  Only $20 bucks to look awesome, feel warm, and help out a kid who needs a family.

Also, if you are remotely interested in just donating, you'll note we have two donation buttons on the side.  One comes right to us, the link on the bottom for youcaring.com.  We get all that money, straight away which is certainly helpful.  We can use it how we need to, for our dossier, agency fees or anything else adoption related.  The link on top is a family sponsorship profile on Reece's Rainbow.  We don't get that money until we get our LOA, or Letter of Approval, from Daniel's country.  This is our final approval.  Also, some of the money, about 10% is given to RR, which is a wonderful organization, to help adopt other children aside from Daniel.  The advantage to the top link, is that Reece's Rainbow is a tax deductible donation and you can claim it, if you donate that way. 

So anyway, on to the next section of our big adventure.  We have until mid-June to finish preparing our dossier.  But I have a feeling, from looking at the packet, that we will need all six months to do it!

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An Orphan's Worldwide Family

Janna's family has an FSP!  Janna, as you may recall, is the little girl who started us on our journey.  As it happened, we were not able to adopt from Janna's country.  But this sweet family, who shares our religion, our sense of humor, and our love for Janna, has stepped in and is bringing her home. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/70139/sponsorgillette

These guys are awesome and this child is so special.  I know I've said it before, and no doubt I will say it again lol.  This girl is a chosen one, a blessed child.  And now she's literally been chosen.  I know everyone has a hard time financially around this time of year, but if your New Year's resolution is to help change the
 
world, consider donating to this amazing girl and this equally amazing family.  There she is!  In a way, I will always consider her my sweet girl.  But I believe this is the unique situation of many orphans.  They have many mothers, many fathers, many hearts who love them deeply, even when reality makes it impossible to parent them.  It can only be to their benefit to have some many who pray for them and long for their safety and happiness.  I don't mind sharing my boy Daniel with anyone who has ever prayed for him and loved him from afar and wondered why he had yet to be chosen.  I hope that no one minds it when they bring their orphans home to a new family to remember they have a worldwide family.  So if you can spare a few bucks, please consider being a part of this girl's worldwide family, so she can be part of the Gillette family. 

The most important letter I've ever sent

I stood in line at the post office for over an hour today.  It's an unfortunate month to be sending a package, but now was the time.  I had three large padded envelopes, and not one of them were presents.  But all of them needed to be sent today.  One was full of necklaces I had given away during a launch party for one of my books.  One was an ornament someone had ordered from one of our fundraisers.  And one was continually clutched to my chest like some random person was going to run by and steal it.  The man behind the counter asked me if it was worth anything.  Those were the words he used.  "Is it worth anything?  I mean, do you want it insured?"

I truly said, "Empirically, I suppose it's not worth anything.  There's nothing inside but papers.  But it's the most important letter I've ever sent."

Well, there was also a check for $2,500 inside, but I could have cancelled it, had it been lost.  But it really was the most important package ever in my possession.  In the future, I have no doubt there will be packages even more important than that, but this one was not just sending paper, it was sending the future of our family.

See, today I sent our preapproval packet for Daniel.  His country is somewhat (really, really, really) anal retentive about their process.  Bless them for caring, but they have an excessively difficult screening process that involves multiple instances of going through approvals.  The first is this one, preapproval.  For us, this is our first make or break moment.  They may tell us no to our very first request.  Especially since we need a BMI waiver.  You see, Daniel's country also has a list of requirements as long as your arm.  On average, it's about two thirds more than the length of qualification lists from other countries.  We don't meet one of them.  Typically they will waive for special needs children, depending on what kind of waiver you seek.  However, they can feel free to say no at any time.  And because of changes that his country has been going through of late, they may indeed do just that.

So cross your fingers for us as we freak out our way through the waiting process to see if we are preapproved!

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