We have been very busy over the past month or so, doing lots and lots and LOTS of paperwork. We have nearly completed the paperwork for our home study. We had our interviews and our home inspection and I am happy to share that we have been approved through that process! We are now starting our dossier, which is the huge file of paperwork that will be submitted to Haiti. Our agency understands the urgency of our situation, since the boys are hungry and suffering from malnutrition, and they are doing everything they can to speed up the process. This is wonderful and such an answer to prayer, but this also means that we have to complete things very quickly on our end, and also have huge fees due much sooner than we thought they would be. So, while we are rushing to complete paperwork we are also rushing to do lots of fundraising, so that lack of money doesn't slow down the process for us. We are doing all of this while still doing normal life stuff, so it has been overwhelming to say the least.
Despite all of the craziness, there have been some AMAZING things happening as well! It is great that things are moving so quickly with the adoption. Even our agency is amazed at how quickly things are moving. The last update was that things have also been processing surprisingly quickly in Haiti, so I think our prayers are working! Also, we have been very blessed with the amount of donations that have come in. This past week or so, I have been really fretting over money. But while my anxieties have been going up, the money coming in has increased too. This past week we have had 3 checks for $100 come in, as well as other smaller donations. Our soaps have also been selling like hotcakes! We feel beyond blessed at all the support people have been showing and are so thankful for each of you! In addition to money, we have been experiencing an unexpected blessing. This is how many people who have volunteered their talents to help us out! We have had people helping with fundraising ideas, with photography, with making flyers, with notarizing things, and the list goes on from there! It's amazing how many people have offered free services to us, for things that we really really need!
There will be great difficulty in this journey, I am sure. This part of the journey feels especially hard to me because it is filled with two things that always stress me out- paperwork and money. But we feel surrounded by love, and know with greater certainty each day that passes that we are doing the right thing by choosing to bring these boys home where their needs can be met better than they can in Haiti. Thanks so much to all of you for the love and support you have shown our family!
Friday, December 2, 2016
How You Can Help
We have been very busy over the past few weeks with fundraising! We have a big payment due in about 4 months and need to raise quite a bit of money by that time. We won't know the exact amount until our adoption agency sends us a more accurate breakdown of fees, hopefully on Monday, but in the meantime, I thought I would put all our current fundraisers together on this page so you can see more easily how you can help if you feel led to do so.
UPDATE: 1/13/17 We are very close to having the $13,000 needed upon submission of dossier paperwork. To date we have about $12,200 of this money. However, this payment will use up all of our adoption savings that we have, so we will be starting from 0 to raise the $20,000 or so needed to get the boys home. So many of you have been so generous and we realize that the same people can't keep giving, but please feel free to share our story with others, and if you have ideas for fundraising we would love to hear them! As we have known from the start, this will truly take a village and we can't bring our boys home without all of you.
UPDATE: 3/10/17 We reached our first goal of $13,000 and are now at a point where we are out of money. We have approximately $25,000 of upcoming expenses to bring Wilson and Yvenson home, and then will have post-adoption expenses as well. If you are unable to help yourself, please share our blog with anyone who might be willing to help. It truly is a life or death situation for our boys, as they go to bed hungry every day. We have been so blessed by friends and family so far, but still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goals and be able to bring our boys home. See all current fundraisers below.
UPDATE: 1/13/17 We are very close to having the $13,000 needed upon submission of dossier paperwork. To date we have about $12,200 of this money. However, this payment will use up all of our adoption savings that we have, so we will be starting from 0 to raise the $20,000 or so needed to get the boys home. So many of you have been so generous and we realize that the same people can't keep giving, but please feel free to share our story with others, and if you have ideas for fundraising we would love to hear them! As we have known from the start, this will truly take a village and we can't bring our boys home without all of you.
UPDATE: 3/10/17 We reached our first goal of $13,000 and are now at a point where we are out of money. We have approximately $25,000 of upcoming expenses to bring Wilson and Yvenson home, and then will have post-adoption expenses as well. If you are unable to help yourself, please share our blog with anyone who might be willing to help. It truly is a life or death situation for our boys, as they go to bed hungry every day. We have been so blessed by friends and family so far, but still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goals and be able to bring our boys home. See all current fundraisers below.
Adopt Together!!
Adopt Together is a crowd funding page for adoption. Through this website, your donations will be tax deductible and we will receive gifts as a grant. Find us at
adopttogether.org/josephfamily
Trades of Hope!
I have recently become a Compassionate Entrepreneur through Trades of Hope! Trades of Hope is a Fair Trade company that sells the work of talented artisans around the world, who are working hard to leave a life of poverty. Each purchase helps women provide a better life for their families, and helps our fundraising efforts. There are three ways to get involved! 1. Purchase an item 2. Host a party to spread the word or 3. Join my team, become a Compassionate Entrepreneur and make a lasting difference for my family and the families of our artisans! Email me for more information at tradesofhopebyliz@gmail.com or check out my website at www.mytradesofhope.com/elizabethjoseph
Chick-Fil-A Night!!
Join us at the Newport, KY Chick-Fil-A on Monday, April 24th from 5- 7pm. Mention Joseph Family Adoption fundraiser when you place your order and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to our adoption fund!
Carabello's Coffee
Purchase bags of Carabello's Coffee and help us raise money for our adoption! We will have order forms available from March 17- April 1. Please call at 859-609-3377, email at lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on facebook if you are interested in ordering coffee! A percentage of each purchase will be donated to our adoption fund!
Go Fund Me Page
https://www.gofundme.com/joseph-family-adoption
Puzzle Piece Fundraiser
More details about this are in our first blog entry, but the basics are that we are creating a beautiful puzzle that will include all the names of people who have played a part in bringing the boys home. This puzzle will show them how many people love them, are praying for them, and who wanted them to be here with us. A donation of $30 will get your name or message on a puzzle piece. So far, as of 1/13/17, we have sold approximately 150 puzzle pieces!! That being said, we still have 850 to go. We have raised the funds to meet our goals thus far and that has been amazing!!
Puzzle pieces can be purchased through the following paypal link or by sending check or cash to: Liz Joseph, 130 Division St., Bellevue, KY 41073
Puzzle pieces can be purchased through the following paypal link or by sending check or cash to: Liz Joseph, 130 Division St., Bellevue, KY 41073
Handmade Soaps
We are selling handmade soaps as a fundraiser. All information is available on the flyer below.
To order please email: lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. We are adding new scents all the time so check in with me for our most current offerings!
To order please email: lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. We are adding new scents all the time so check in with me for our most current offerings!
Christmas Tea
UPDATE: The Christmas Tea fundraiser is over and it was a huge success! We raised about $1,000 from this fundraiser! Another upcoming fundraiser. All proceeds from ticket sales and a percentage from product sales will be donated to our adoption.
I will continue updating this as new fundraisers come up. We have been overwhelmed by support so far! I certainly don't expect the same people to keep supporting us, but please share our story with others so that these fundraisers can reach a lot of people, and so that our boys and our family can be surrounded by lots of prayer!
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Look How Far We've Come
It has been a busy few weeks as we continue to work through the home study process. We have submitted lots of paperwork, had a physical to ensure that we are in good health to parent these children, and just last night, we started the Adoption Training Program. This is a collection of videos that we must watch, while completing a workbook with discussion questions and then at the end we will take a quiz. Last night's video was just the intro video, but I found that it was mostly geared toward couples who have dealt with infertility, becoming parents for the first time through adoption. Not much of it pertained to us. Most of the questions felt like no brainers: will we love these boys as if they were our biological kids? If we had any doubt of that we never would have started this process. Will we openly discuss adoption with our adoptive children? We would always want our kids to feel free to talk to us about anything and we will always try to be honest. I used to have doubts and fears about adoption, which is probably why it took us 13 years to get to this place. I used to doubt I could love an adopted child as my own. I used to be afraid the birth parents would want contact with my child and I didn't think I could be okay with that. I worried about older children who would come to us damaged and who might damage my biological children or my family. It is amazing to reflect back on how far we have come to get to this point. Even 5 years ago these "no brainer" questions in our training video would have led to tough conversations. It is amazing how much God has changed and molded us to prepare us for adding to our family in this way. Our adoption announcement has been mostly met with excitement, encouragement and support but there have been a few who think we are crazy and have suggested as much. My feelings are this: it may appear to some that we are not equipped for this job, or that it is crazy to take these children in when we don't have the funds to get them here and don't even have a house large enough for everyone to have their own bedroom. But I see how much we have changed to get to this point spiritually and emotionally, where we are ready to open our home and our hearts to these boys. And I am surprised that I feel in many ways like they are already mine. If we have come this far already without even trying, I have no doubt God will equip us with everything we will need now and in the future to get them here and to be the best parents we can for them when they get here. And I already know in my heart that they will be an even bigger blessing to us than we will be to them.
Fundraising Update:
We are so thankful for all those who have participated in our puzzle fundraiser. So far we have raised about $600!
We are currently planning a fundraiser at Chick-fil-a, as well as a Christmas tea fundraiser and look for a Jamberry nails fundraiser coming up at the end of the month! Our short term fundraising goal is to raise about $2,000 in order to submit our I800 form in the next few weeks. Please pray with us as we work toward this goal!!
Thank you for reading and for joining us on our journey toward bringing our boys home!
Fundraising Update:
We are so thankful for all those who have participated in our puzzle fundraiser. So far we have raised about $600!
We are currently planning a fundraiser at Chick-fil-a, as well as a Christmas tea fundraiser and look for a Jamberry nails fundraiser coming up at the end of the month! Our short term fundraising goal is to raise about $2,000 in order to submit our I800 form in the next few weeks. Please pray with us as we work toward this goal!!
Thank you for reading and for joining us on our journey toward bringing our boys home!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Ready, Set...Here We Go!
Last month, we submitted our application to our adoption agency and it was accepted. Since then I feel like we have been flying toward this adoption at 100 mph! With the way things are moving, it is hard to believe that it could take more than two years until the boys are actually home with us. This part of the process has not been fun. We are filling out so much paperwork our eyes are crossing, and sending off checks for thousands of dollars for each piece of paperwork we submit. At this rate the money we have saved for the adoption will probably be gone in a matter of months.
We are already needing to rely on our faith that the money will be there when we need it. So many of you responded so positively to our announcement about the adoption and to our first fundraiser. We feel so encouraged to know that we are supported by an entire community of people who don't think we are crazy for doing this! We are also so appreciative for the money that has come in so far. The puzzle piece fundraiser has raised about $300 so far, and that money will probably be spent on the many background checks that are required for this adoption. Many, many have said that they would like to give but have not given yet. I ask you to prayerfully consider giving soon if you feel led to give so that we have the funds necessary to get all of our paperwork submitted to Haiti in the very near future.
We are also looking at some more options for fundraising so keep an eye on this blog as we look for some fundraiser ideas that might work as great ways for people to support us and get some Christmas shopping done at the same time!
As we go through these difficult steps of paperwork, fees, home study interviews and inspections, we try to keep the future of these boys at the forefront of our minds. While some of this feels like an invasion of privacy and a lack of trust in us as decent human beings, I know all too well through my job that there are many children out there in homes who do not have decent human beings taking care of them. I understand that, when it comes to the safety of a child, one can never be too careful. And I am thankful that we are working with agencies that want the best possible outcome for these boys and that work so hard to make sure they will always be safe in our home. Thank you for the outpouring of love and kindness you have shown us this past week, and thank you for following our story.
Love,
The Joseph Family
We are already needing to rely on our faith that the money will be there when we need it. So many of you responded so positively to our announcement about the adoption and to our first fundraiser. We feel so encouraged to know that we are supported by an entire community of people who don't think we are crazy for doing this! We are also so appreciative for the money that has come in so far. The puzzle piece fundraiser has raised about $300 so far, and that money will probably be spent on the many background checks that are required for this adoption. Many, many have said that they would like to give but have not given yet. I ask you to prayerfully consider giving soon if you feel led to give so that we have the funds necessary to get all of our paperwork submitted to Haiti in the very near future.
We are also looking at some more options for fundraising so keep an eye on this blog as we look for some fundraiser ideas that might work as great ways for people to support us and get some Christmas shopping done at the same time!
As we go through these difficult steps of paperwork, fees, home study interviews and inspections, we try to keep the future of these boys at the forefront of our minds. While some of this feels like an invasion of privacy and a lack of trust in us as decent human beings, I know all too well through my job that there are many children out there in homes who do not have decent human beings taking care of them. I understand that, when it comes to the safety of a child, one can never be too careful. And I am thankful that we are working with agencies that want the best possible outcome for these boys and that work so hard to make sure they will always be safe in our home. Thank you for the outpouring of love and kindness you have shown us this past week, and thank you for following our story.
Love,
The Joseph Family
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Over the past few years Bernadin and I have been mulling over something big in our hearts. Something that had us asking ourselves, "do we have room in our lives and our hearts and our family to help more, share more, and love more? Would we welcome the stretching, the growing pains that may need to happen to make room for something so big?" And recently we have come to a decision. There's room. Our family has room enough for more. Our hearts have room enough for more and we can make room in our lives to help. So it is with great joy that we share with you that we have decided to open our hearts wide and become a family of six through adoption.
We have taken the first steps in a long journey to bring home two children from Haiti. These children are struggling each day and we hope that by welcoming them into our family their stories will be able to take a turn in a different direction and instead of worrying about whether they will eat each day, they will have some room to relax, breathe, and enjoy being kids.
This will not be an easy undertaking. Haiti is one of the most difficult countries to adopt from. It is an unbearably long process and an incredibly expensive process, especially when multiplying that by two. We feel that God will provide what we need to bring these children home but we know that we can't do it alone. It will take a village; our entire support system and then some to come along side us for the sake of these kids. We have always been blessed with a large, strong support system and are so thankful for that in our lives. We know that this story is not ours alone, but that many will come along side us and will play a part in this story.
A Thousand Pieces
This adoption is a BIG thing. It will be a long road and a difficult one. It will cost more money than we have. This is something we can't do alone. Thankfully, we are not alone and neither are these two little boys. They sit in Haiti right now and have already known their fair share of hardship. They have lost their mother and are often hungry. So hungry that they are willing to leave behind everything that is familiar just to have food in their bellies every day. If we can come together for these boys and each claim just a small part of the puzzle, I know we can provide them with so much more than just full bellies. Unfortunately, life has been hard for them but it will get increasingly harder in the near future. After the destruction of Hurricane Matthew, food shortages, lack of clean water and spread of disease are all real problems. It is my prayer that God will provide, through this fundraiser in a way that ensures that we can keep them safe by bringing them home as soon as possible, and that we never slow down the process because we don't have the money to fund the next step.
Here's how you can help. My mom will be creating a beautiful design to be featured on a 1,000 piece puzzle. We will be "selling" puzzle pieces for $30 each. When you join us on our journey by purchasing a puzzle piece, I will write your name, a message, whatever you would like, on the back of that puzzle piece. Buy them in honor of your children, in memory of a loved one, as a family, or even for a pet! When we have sold 1,000 pieces we will have a meaningful keepsake to use to tell the boys the story of their journey to us. They will know the names of all the people who helped to bring them to us. And we will have raised a huge chunk of the amount needed to fund the adoption, which is estimated to be over $40,000. When the puzzle is complete, we will share the beautiful picture it will create, as well as all the names of the beautiful people who helped to bring our boys home.
Please consider supporting us by buying puzzle pieces and/ or sharing our story with your circle of friends. You can purchase puzzle pieces through the paypal link below or by emailing me for our home address at lizjos80@gmail.com. Thank you for joining us on this life changing journey.
Liz, Bernadin, Olivia and Elijah Joseph
paypal
We have taken the first steps in a long journey to bring home two children from Haiti. These children are struggling each day and we hope that by welcoming them into our family their stories will be able to take a turn in a different direction and instead of worrying about whether they will eat each day, they will have some room to relax, breathe, and enjoy being kids.
This will not be an easy undertaking. Haiti is one of the most difficult countries to adopt from. It is an unbearably long process and an incredibly expensive process, especially when multiplying that by two. We feel that God will provide what we need to bring these children home but we know that we can't do it alone. It will take a village; our entire support system and then some to come along side us for the sake of these kids. We have always been blessed with a large, strong support system and are so thankful for that in our lives. We know that this story is not ours alone, but that many will come along side us and will play a part in this story.
A Thousand Pieces
This adoption is a BIG thing. It will be a long road and a difficult one. It will cost more money than we have. This is something we can't do alone. Thankfully, we are not alone and neither are these two little boys. They sit in Haiti right now and have already known their fair share of hardship. They have lost their mother and are often hungry. So hungry that they are willing to leave behind everything that is familiar just to have food in their bellies every day. If we can come together for these boys and each claim just a small part of the puzzle, I know we can provide them with so much more than just full bellies. Unfortunately, life has been hard for them but it will get increasingly harder in the near future. After the destruction of Hurricane Matthew, food shortages, lack of clean water and spread of disease are all real problems. It is my prayer that God will provide, through this fundraiser in a way that ensures that we can keep them safe by bringing them home as soon as possible, and that we never slow down the process because we don't have the money to fund the next step.
Here's how you can help. My mom will be creating a beautiful design to be featured on a 1,000 piece puzzle. We will be "selling" puzzle pieces for $30 each. When you join us on our journey by purchasing a puzzle piece, I will write your name, a message, whatever you would like, on the back of that puzzle piece. Buy them in honor of your children, in memory of a loved one, as a family, or even for a pet! When we have sold 1,000 pieces we will have a meaningful keepsake to use to tell the boys the story of their journey to us. They will know the names of all the people who helped to bring them to us. And we will have raised a huge chunk of the amount needed to fund the adoption, which is estimated to be over $40,000. When the puzzle is complete, we will share the beautiful picture it will create, as well as all the names of the beautiful people who helped to bring our boys home.
Please consider supporting us by buying puzzle pieces and/ or sharing our story with your circle of friends. You can purchase puzzle pieces through the paypal link below or by emailing me for our home address at lizjos80@gmail.com. Thank you for joining us on this life changing journey.
Liz, Bernadin, Olivia and Elijah Joseph
paypal
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