Change, Change, Change...

A lot has happened since the last time we wrote anything on the blog.  Since July we have been waiting to hear word of another matching meeting in Lesotho but every month seemed to come and go.  On December 1, the Lesotho government decided to join the Hague convention for international adoptions.  I am sure there are others out there that could explain this better than me, but from what I understand, they are trying to protect their children from trafficking.  What it means for adoption agencies and prospective families is more paperwork and higher fees, etc.  With all this said, the Lesotho government also asked for 3 more months of a break from meetings to work on getting their new system in place in Lesotho.  All of the above brought many new questions for us, including whether or not our current placing agency would really be able to finalize our adoption since they are not a Hague Accredited agency.

After a lot of discussions and prayer, we decided to walk away from our investment in a potential match in Lesotho.  It felt very much like what I imagine a miscarriage to feel like.  …All the expectations of a son from Lesotho, imagining what he would look like, imagining traveling there to bring him home.  

…None of that will happen now.  But…unlike a miscarriage, we are moving full speed ahead.

For the last month, we have been diligently working on updating paperwork with Adoption Associates in Jenison, MI (our new placing agency) to have a new dossier sent to… Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA!!

 

homestudy complete *check*

Another milestone in our adoption journey has been reached - our state mandated home study is complete.  *Yea!*

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
Joshua and Jaclyn Cooper are a loving couple who have been married for nine years.  They are excellent candidates for adoption, as they have a vibrant marriage, stable employment, and a healthy child rearing philosophy.  They also have plenty of room in their hearts and in their home for an additional child.  Based on the facts presented...it has been assessed that Joshua Paul Cooper and Jaclyn Sue Cooper are suitable and eligible to adopt from the country of Lesotho.


We just wanted to share this good news with all of you, and to thank all of you who have and continue to pray for us as we journey together to bring our son home.  Y'all rock!

On a more personal [and related] note, our friends, Bryan and Anita, wrote on their blog [http:ourbeautifulmission.blogspot.com] that an infant unexpectedly died two days ago at their orphanage.  Even as I type, I get all choked up because this shouldn't be happening.  Yet, it's the reality that the Lesotho babies and children face each and every day.  Every day there is a battle between life and death.

Please continue to pray - not only for us - but for our friends and the children of Beautiful Gate.  And now...we wait.

As our paperwork makes its way to Africa.

As patiently as we can.

garage sale success

We are tremendously grateful to all of the 20-some families who helped make last week's garage sale such a huge success.  At the end of the day, we managed to bring in just over $900!  This is such a blessing and the timing couldn't have been better because we learned that our home-study is complete and has been forwarded to our placing agency in Indianapolis.

The kids made a few extra bucks selling granola bars and apple cider.

One of the coolest moments of the day was when a woman from our neighborhood stopped by because she had heard we were adopting (and it turns out she has 5 adopted children as well) and she gave us the name of an adoption grant organization of which her friend is the founder.  She insisted we contact her friend's organization and when we did we were to call her so she could recommend us.  Now - this stranger did not know who we were or anything about us.  Before this encounter, we were complete strangers.  I guess it was one of those moments where you "just had to be there" to get the full weight of the conversation.  Needless to say, we were deeply touched and tremendously grateful for the referral.  All in all, it was a really good day!

garage sale this saturday

Make your way to 43 S. Jefferson St., Zeeland this Saturday from 8 - 3 for our first adoption fundraiser garage sale!

We have hundreds of items for sale including:

• Men's, women's, & children's clothing
• Books, games, and children's toys
• Electronics
• Dishwasher
• Furniture
• Bed
• Printers & faxes
• 10-speed Schwinn bicycle
• LED Christmas decor
• Power tools
• Mirrors & coat racks
• Gaming chairs
• Much much more!

Hope to see you then!

garage sale fundraiser

We will be having an Adoption Fundraiser Garage Sale on Saturday, October 8.  If you have any items to donate to the sale, please contact us via email, facebook, or leave us a comment.  Also, if you have any sources to advertise the garage sale (school, work or church newsletters) please help spread the word for us. 

Here are the details:

Adoption Fundraiser Garage Sale

Saturday, October 8

8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

43 S. Jefferson Street

Zeeland, MI  49464

a little q & a

So...it's been a while since our last update.  Life has been pretty hectic, our days have been full, we're still getting used to writing blog posts together...AND, we've been up to our armpits in homework for the home study.  Lately, much of our "free" time is chewed up reading adoption-related books and working through online studies.  We are getting really close to having our homework done - so that's something to be thankful for!

One of the things I (Josh) wanted to do was to interview my wife (Jaclyn) to give all of our friends, our family (and the occasional random person who drops by) a sense of what is happening and what we are learning about at this time.

Q:  It's been a few weeks since the last update, what is the current status regarding the adoption process?

A: Our final home study appointment is tomorrow (Thursday).  We are completing our “homework” for the Michigan Adoption agency (reading books, completing online courses, etc.).  After this process is complete, everything gets sent to our Placing Agency in Indiana.  After they compile the paperwork, we pay our first ½ of the fees and then we wait to be matched with our son. 

Q: What is God speaking to you at this time?A: Patience.  I am at peace with the process and timeline. 

Q: Any concerns right now?A: I am praying for financial peace.  I don’t want our children to think that we are poor but I also want them to learn the difference between need and want.  We have been emphasizing that we are choosing to spend our money in different ways, but it is always difficult to say "no" to our children. 

Q: What are you celebrating?A: Our children are so excited about adopting.  It is wonderful to see them share with their friends that they will have a brother from Lesotho. 

Q: How do you respond when people ask you - "Why not foster care?  There are 4000+ orphans in Michigan, and it's less expensive than international adoption?"
A: We feel called by God to adopt internationally and not domestically through foster care.  It is what it is.  J 

$11.96

$11.96 is a pile of money to an 8- and 5-year old.

$11.96 is what Naomi, Elijah, and their friends brought in yesterday from their lemonade stand.

$11.96 is what they worked hard to earn selling lemonade, brownies, and bracelets.

$11.96 is what they gave away.

$11.96 is what they gave to the adoption fund.

And I have the jar of change to prove it.

God's leading, our response (part two)

The possibility of adoption began for me (Josh) nearly two years ago while Jaclyn was still pregnant with our youngest, Abigail.  Family and friends will recall that while all three pregnancies were physically hard on Jaclyn's body, the third pregnancy was the most difficult of all.

I'm not very good at remembering dates, but when we went for a routine ultrasound, somewhere around week 20, we learned that there was a problem.  The ultrasound showed a large problematic hematoma.  By all appearances, Abigail was healthy and safe, but the doctors could not be certain.  Jaclyn was immediately placed on modified bed rest and was not allowed to return to work until the doctor gave the all clear, and we were subsequently referred to a specialist in Grand Rapids for further consultation.

Jaclyn carried Abigail full term and I remember being exhausted by the time she came along - physically, emotionally, spiritually.  The hematoma...the bed rest...plus the disabling migraine headaches that Jaclyn was prone to took its toll on us, and I remember saying to myself: "That's all I can handle.  I have reached my limit."  After Abigail was born, I recall saying to Jaclyn that we'd have to pray hard and be absolutely certain before getting pregnant again because I wasn't sure I could endure all of that again.

Though I was pretty darn sure we were done having biological children, I was wide open to the possibility of adoption.  As Jaclyn shared earlier (see previous post from her), through a series of events - books we were reading, Sunday sermons, adoptive parents we met, and prayer - we were simultaneously sensing both a push and pull to adopt.  The push came through God's Spirit speaking to our spirits about taking greater risks for Him and the Kingdom.  All the while our heartstrings were being pulled as we learned more about the orphans our friends, Brian and Anita, were caring for in Lesotho, Africa.

Today is a "milestone" kind of day.  Today, Jaclyn and I have our first (of three) homestudy appointment.  For those who don't know, a homestudy is a detailed report made by an adoption agency submitted by an adoption social worker.  The details of the report will be submitted to our adoption agency - Americans for African Adoptions - to help make a final determination if we can, as a family, continue on in the adoption process.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated as we continue on this journey.  Peace.
Josh

God's leading, our response

I (Jaclyn) have grown up in a home that has been supportive of international adoptions.  I have 2 younger sisters that were adopted when I was 14 (Suzanne) and again when I was 20 (Kelly).  When my youngest sister, Kelly, was adopted, I went with my Mom to the Philippines to finalize the paperwork and take her home.  We also have a niece that was adopted from Guatemala 5 years ago.  I was able to visit her in Guatemala with my older sister, Shelly, prior to their adoption being finalized.  Due to the history of my family, I think we both have a real understanding of the process of adoption and the difficulties that can and will occur in a family setting afterwards.  However, we also know how wonderful adoption can be and how blessed the whole family is as a result. 

Several months ago, I had been reading a couple books (Crazy Love and Unshaken) and was overcome with the emotions and feelings that we needed to adopt.   I felt like we really needed to live out our lives the way God intended, including taking care of orphans and widows.  But I didn’t act upon it then as it didn’t seem like it was the right time for our family.  Then just recently, my younger sister, Suzanne, married the love of her life.  My older brother, Greg, officiated at the wedding and spoke about how love in a marriage is a choice, just like the love in adoption.  We choose to love each other through the good times and the bad.  We have had a lot of rough times with Suzanne throughout the last 19 years she has been a part of our family, especially in the last couple years.  But through it all, we still love her as a sister.  This wedding was almost like a positive reinforcement/resolution for us that through it all good can come.

A week after the wedding, Josh and I were sitting outside at another wedding.  We happened to be seated right in front of a couple that is going through an adoption from Haiti currently.  They shared their amazing “God moments” about the process and it was so exciting to see their joy.  You see, I spent 18 months in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a teacher just before Josh and I were married.  I have a heart for the people of Haiti and instantly felt connected to this couple. 

The next day, on July 3, 2011, we sat in church and listened to our children’s director talk about giving your children purpose in life.  She talked about how if you want your children to grow up serving others that we need to do that as a family together now.  Something in her talk really hit me (Jaclyn) in that we need to adopt now and not wait for the perfect time.

The next week I started looking into international adoptions.  Our previous neighbors and good friends moved with their family of 5 to Lesotho, Africa in December 2010 to work at an orphanage for 5 years.  We have stayed in touch with them through Facebook, their blog, and Skype.  We have since grown to love the people of Lesotho, which is why we chose this country through which to pursue adoption.