An Update

We have officially been waiting on receiving our referral for 4 months now; so of course people are asking, “How are things going with the adoption?” I keep telling people that I am so thankful that we have kids and are in a busy season because it has made the wait easier, but that is really a lie. I didn’t think that it was a lie at first, but now I am realizing that I was just saying that so I did not have to really share what my heart feels. Which is… we do not know how long we will have to wait, our agency has recently officially increased the wait times so we are looking at 10 – 18 months, with 4 of them down and the feeling that wait times will indeed be increased again before we have our next child home. In the mean time, I cry while putting away unused “baby items” around our house as our current children grow out of them, get a pang in my heart when I hear of another mom who rejoices over the new life formed in her, and tear-up when we place an extra plate and cup at our table to remind us of the place at our table that our next children have, while it reminds us of the place that is set for us in heaven when our earthly life ends.

Josh and I have prayed and thought really hard about if it would be a good decision to open up our age-range and only request 2 children from Ethiopia. The problem with that is… because of the age-range we would be requesting, the process would take longer, and we are not ready to displace the age order of our current children by opening up our age range. (Plus, we are not approved in our homestudy for more then a 3 year old.)

The longing, and unrest has been compounded by the fact that our agency will now allow for families to build their families through other means while waiting for their Ethiopian adoption to be completed. We feel called to adopt at this time, so having another biological child felt like taking things into our own hands, and as we started to initially investigate domestic adoption, we felt like it was too far out of our price range. But, we have been in contact with a domestic agency here in Arizona, Family Child Care, and have found out that they are within our price range. The great thing is that our homestudy is completed and we will only need an update… So while we wait for our child from Ethiopia, we are going to pursue a domestic adoption. The average wait time through this agency for placement is about 11 months, and I am praying that I will be able to rest in God’s timing as we move forward. Please, pray with and for us as we embark on the next stage of our journey.

Almost There

In February 2010, we began a journey that would change our family forever. We had always known we would adopt at some point in our lives, we had talked about it, prayed about it, we knew it would happen. It was just a matter of when. That when came 15 months ago.

After deciding on an agency, landing on adopting from Ethiopia, we started the process of applying and raising money. At the beginning, raising over $30,000 seemed insurmountable. We were church planters with 3 small kids at home, we didn’t have $30K, didn’t know anybody with 30K just laying around.

We’ve done rummage sales, applied for grants, talked with friends and family, put in our savings and tax returns in hopes of getting there.

On February 25th, we were halfway there. In 12 months, we had raised $15,000. We decided to start a puzzle fundraiser. We set a goal of raising the other $15,000 by today (in 3 months). Here’s what our puzzle looked like:

As of today, here is what it looks like:

We only have $5,400 left to raise!

There are a couple of ways you can help. You can buy a puzzle piece to help us get our child home to be part of our family. Each piece is $10.

You can contribute towards our adoption in a few different ways:

• Use the PayPal link on our adoption blog to donate any amount (the direct link to PayPal is here). (A small processing fee is taken out of the donation.)
• To give a tax-deductible donation, please send a check to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40/202 N. Ford St, Gridley, IL 61744. Please put our last name in the memo section Reich/#1685 adoption. *Note:  In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization.  This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use. If you give through Lifesong please let us know, so that we can follow up with you. You can also give online at http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html just put add Reich/#1685 adoption to the comments. (Again, a small processing fee is assessed if you give online.)

For every $10 donated, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece, and our next child will forever know the loved ones who helped to bring him/her home.

You can help us get the word out. Cut and paste the message below and put it on your Facebook wall:

Help piece together the Reich’s Adoption! The Reich’s are on the countdown to raise the remaining $5400 ~ it’s as simple as $10 for a puzzle piece! Be a part of bringing their next child home to his/her forever family! Go to http://bit.ly/j7U0Lp for details and donate today!

Or on Twitter:

Help my friends complete their adoption, buy a puzzle piece for $10. There’s $5400 left to raise. Go to http://bit.ly/j7U0Lp & donate today!

It Takes A Lot of People to Adopt

The longer the process of our adoption goes on, the more I’m reminded of how hard adoption is and how it takes so many to make it happen. The money, the stress, how tiring it gets. It truly becomes a community project.

From rummage sales, phone calls, supporting us, helping us raise money, the list goes on and on.

Not to mention the folks that are praying for us and the child who will one day be a part of our family.

I was reminded of this today. A good friend posted on his blog that he would be donating $100 and was challenging his friends to donate $10 to help us complete our adoption puzzle. Now, people I have never met are sending me messages over twitter letting me know they are donating and praying for our family. It truly is humbling.

Have you gotten involved yet? $10 helps get us one step closer to making one less orphan in the world.

Adoption Update…

Seed Adoption – Ethiopia Project

This is an exciting thing that is happening Ethiopia. The goal is to help equip, resource and train Ethiopian churches and pastors to care for the orphans in their country.

For more information, check out www.seedadoption.org

Rummage Sale Update

We had our rummage sale on Friday night and Saturday morning and it was a huge success. We were able to raise over $1,200. The crazy thing is that most of the large items that had been donated (couches, beds, book shelves, entertainment centers, bikes and tables) did not sell. So, we will be selling them on craiglist to raise more money.

We are humbled and blessed by how many people not only donated items, but gave up time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday unloading items, setting up the sale, working the sale and then tearing it down.

Thank you for the hours you put in and for helping us get closer to making one less orphan in the world.

Buy Something on Amazon & Support our Adoption

I love things where I can do what I already do and make a difference or support something.

Enter Amazon.

We set up an amazon associates store to support our adoption. This means, if you are going to buy something on amazon (clothes, jewelry, electronics, DVD, video games, music, books, insert anything), simply email me the link and I will send you a new link through our associates store.

It is still the same price for you but we get a percentage because you went through our store.

It’s that easy.

Adoption Update: We’ve Raised Over $2,000 in 10 Days!

We launched our most recent fundraiser for our adoption less than 2 weeks ago. Like many families, we are using what we are affectionately calling “Our adoption puzzle” in an effort to piece together our family.

We have asked friends to spread the word through facebook and twitter. I wanted to let you know that your efforts of giving and helping us get the word out is paying off. We have had over $2,000 given to our adoption puzzle in the last 10 days!

That is huge!

Our prayer has been that we would raise the remaining $15,000 in the next 90 days which is a lot of money. Our hope is that when we are told we need to go to Ethiopia, that we are ready and able to go right away.

As of today, our dossier (which is all our paperwork) has made it to Ethiopia. So the wait now begins.

If you could help us continue to get the word out on twitter and facebook that would be great.

On facebook simply put this in your status update:

Help my friends Josh and Katie Reich piece together their family. They’ve raised over $2,000 in the last 10 days! It’s as simple as $10 for a puzzle piece! Be a part of bringing their next child home to his/her forever family! Go to http://reichadoption.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/help-us-piece-together-our-family/ for details and donate today!

On twitter simply put:

Help my friends complete their adoption. They’ve raised over $2,000 in the last 10 days! Go to http://ow.ly/4c5tn for details & donate today

Thanks for all your help and support.

UPDATE: As of Saturday, March 12th, we had another $1,000 given. Bringing our grand total so far for the puzzle to $3,000. Which means:  We are 20% of the way to what we need to go to Ethiopia! Thanks so much for helping us get the word out and supporting this adoption.

A Response…

I am pleased to announce that we are officially DTE as of 3/4, so we are finally
on the list to wait for a child(ren)! (The crowd goes wild.) After getting our tracking number to
watch our dossier head to Ethiopia we got the email (see last post) about all that is happening
with MOWA and the courts. I am frustrated about what this might
mean for our wait time, but trusting that God is big. I have been reading
through a trilogy of books by Anne Ortlund, The Gentle Ways of a Beautiful Women
and came across the hymn that follows by Bradford Torrey.

Not so in haste, my heart!
Have faith in God and wait.
Although He linger long,
He never comes too late.
He never comes too late;
He knoweth what is best.
Vex not thyself in vain;
Until he cometh, rest.
Until he cometh, rest,
Nor grudge the hours that roll;
The feet that wait for God
Are soonest at the goal,
Are soonest at the goal
That is not gained by speed;
Then hold thee still, my heart,
For I shall wait His lead!

I am reminded afresh that the end goal of our adoption is not strictly the
addition of a precious child into our family, but the journey is one that God
has us on to mold us and teach us. May we call on Him as we wait and allow
ourselves to be responsive to His voice in our life, so that we can not only add
to our family but be transformed in the process to help push the Gospel forward.

I am anxious to see how God is going to show Himself through this and the other
road bumps we will experience in this journey!

The State of Adoption in Ethiopia.

Below are 2 emails that we received from our agency, America World, in regards to changes that are happening in the adoption process in Ethiopia! Please join us in prayer as we wait to see the outcome.

We are writing to ask your family to join us in prayer for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWA) regarding the number of cases they will be able to process each day. They have made statements that they desire to decrease the number of recommendation letters they write each day. We understand that because of these statements  the Court and MOWA are in the process of meeting to discuss and work out  any potential changes or new processes regarding adoptions in Ethiopia. We want to blanket these meetings with prayer and ask you to come along side us in this.

We are sorry to be sending information to your family so late in the day, but we wanted to communicate this request to you before the weekend. We know rumors and concerns can arise from any information being shared in the adoption community, and our desire is to continue to primarily provide you with any confirmed information in a timely manner. Please rest assured we will continue to seek information on what is happening in the adoption process in Ethiopia and will share with you any new confirmed information we receive.

Email 2:

To follow up from the email sent on Friday, thank you for joining us in prayer. It is a blessing to know so many families are praying on behalf of the current situation in Ethiopia.  We would ask you to continue to pray as court and MOWA are still meeting and will continue to do so in the days and weeks ahead.

As of today, MOWA has begun to write fewer recommendation letters each day for families in the court process. This is something we anticipate will continue over the next few weeks as the court, MOWA, and other entities meet to discuss MOWA’s desire to decrease the number of recommendation letters they write.

We know many questions arise from difficult news, please be assured we will continue to inform you as further details unfold and will be in touch with your family directly as we have new information.