If you donate, you get entered to win a Dream Screen 100 valued at $399.99! WOW! Let's help Vinnie come home!
Visit the Sheffield's blog at www.sheffieldadoption.blogspot.com!
Thank you!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
GIVEAWAY!
Okay, this is not for Jonathan, but for another precious boy....Vinnie! His family is working very hard to bring him home. His is about ready to be transferred to an institution in Eastern Europe. His mama wants to get to him before this happens.
If you donate, you get entered to win a Dream Screen 100 valued at $399.99! WOW! Let's help Vinnie come home!
Visit the Sheffield's blog at www.sheffieldadoption.blogspot.com!
Thank you!
If you donate, you get entered to win a Dream Screen 100 valued at $399.99! WOW! Let's help Vinnie come home!
Visit the Sheffield's blog at www.sheffieldadoption.blogspot.com!
Thank you!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I wonder..
I wonder what Jonathan is thinking. I can't imagine being a 16 year old, living in one place your whole life and being told a family wants to adopt you from another country. You would be leaving everything you know behind. The familiar smells, the language, the food, your friends. You've dreamed of being adopted, but as you got older you gave up on that dream. No one wants to adopt an older child. What is your new life going to be like?
I think about this everyday. What must be going through his head. Is he going to like us? Is he going to be afraid? Is he going to change his mind? Will he want to call me mom? Or maybe Hansina? I'm okay with whatever he decides. I will keep praying for him. The Lord knows!
Mark and I would like to communicate with Jonathan before we get there. We got permission to write him letters. I just finished one and am enclosing bags of candy for his friends, a hat, scarf and gloves. I also made a photo book for him with pictures of the family and our home, and a journal with his picture on it. I'm waiting for those to come in, then I will send it next week. I would like to send him something every week until we get there. I'm hoping that it will make it less awkward when we first meet.
We got fingerprinted for USCIS on Monday, so hopefully we will hear something soon from them. I've only done a couple things for the dossier, so I need to finish that up. We also need to do some fundraising. That's a hard one for me. Mark is doing extra work for families and asking them to donate for Jonathan's adoption. Not sure what else to do right now. Believing the Lord will provide!
I think about this everyday. What must be going through his head. Is he going to like us? Is he going to be afraid? Is he going to change his mind? Will he want to call me mom? Or maybe Hansina? I'm okay with whatever he decides. I will keep praying for him. The Lord knows!
Mark and I would like to communicate with Jonathan before we get there. We got permission to write him letters. I just finished one and am enclosing bags of candy for his friends, a hat, scarf and gloves. I also made a photo book for him with pictures of the family and our home, and a journal with his picture on it. I'm waiting for those to come in, then I will send it next week. I would like to send him something every week until we get there. I'm hoping that it will make it less awkward when we first meet.
We got fingerprinted for USCIS on Monday, so hopefully we will hear something soon from them. I've only done a couple things for the dossier, so I need to finish that up. We also need to do some fundraising. That's a hard one for me. Mark is doing extra work for families and asking them to donate for Jonathan's adoption. Not sure what else to do right now. Believing the Lord will provide!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Prayers for Jonathan!
Sorry it has been a while! We finished updating our homestudy and it will go in the mail today to USCIS. The Lord brought us an amazing social worker! Beautiful Christian woman who did the update quickly for us. What a blessing she has been!
We found out that Jonathan has one living relative, a great aunt. He called her and said a family wanted to adopt him. And she said he should go with the family. The director of the orphanage is glad we are adopting him and is very supportive of us. It's very hard for the older kids when a family wants to adopt them. No one has ever wanted them before, why now? If you all would please be praying for Jonathan that the Lord will guard his heart and mind and close his ears to those around him with negative talk. And a hedge of protection to be put around him. Thank you!
Now, I will start working on the dossier. I have a few things done, but still more to go!
We found out that Jonathan has one living relative, a great aunt. He called her and said a family wanted to adopt him. And she said he should go with the family. The director of the orphanage is glad we are adopting him and is very supportive of us. It's very hard for the older kids when a family wants to adopt them. No one has ever wanted them before, why now? If you all would please be praying for Jonathan that the Lord will guard his heart and mind and close his ears to those around him with negative talk. And a hedge of protection to be put around him. Thank you!
Now, I will start working on the dossier. I have a few things done, but still more to go!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Part 2
Okay, back to the story! Our facilitator bought her train ticket to go to the orphanage. She received a phone call a few days beforehand from the orphanage director saying that she would not be in the office. She asked for pictures of our family to be emailed to her so she could show them to Jonathan and ask if he wants to be adopted. Our facilitator emailed her the pictures and the director showed them to him.
He said the family looked nice, but he wasn't sure what to answer. He said he never expected anyone would be interested in adopting him. The director asked if he would like to think about it and he said he would. He came back four days later with his answer. The director called our facilitator and put Jonathan on the phone with her. He told her he would like to go to this family!
I was very impressed with his mature response. He didn't jump right on it. He wanted to think about it! Our facilitator is on her way there this week to meet him and find out more information about him. We don't have a lot on his background, so it will be good to know something.
Our son Nathan was adopted from Russia over seven years ago. He has dealt with a lot of junk. He's come a long way and we are grateful to the Lord for his progress. We had his therapist, Mel, come over last Friday because we hadn't seen her in a year. Nate did great with Mel. She was very surprised how far he's come! We showed her the picture of Jonathan. Mel covered the top of his head and the bottom of his face, just so she could look at his eyes. She stared at him for a long while until Mark asked what she saw. Mel said she saw sadness and softness. She said his eyes weren't hollow and empty like a lot of orphans are. She is not the only one to tell us this. Good friends of mine that have adopted have said the same thing.
There have been so many people praying for Jonathan. God has a special plan for this young boy and we are so blessed to be a part of it! I will keep you all updated as soon as we hear anything!
He said the family looked nice, but he wasn't sure what to answer. He said he never expected anyone would be interested in adopting him. The director asked if he would like to think about it and he said he would. He came back four days later with his answer. The director called our facilitator and put Jonathan on the phone with her. He told her he would like to go to this family!
I was very impressed with his mature response. He didn't jump right on it. He wanted to think about it! Our facilitator is on her way there this week to meet him and find out more information about him. We don't have a lot on his background, so it will be good to know something.
Our son Nathan was adopted from Russia over seven years ago. He has dealt with a lot of junk. He's come a long way and we are grateful to the Lord for his progress. We had his therapist, Mel, come over last Friday because we hadn't seen her in a year. Nate did great with Mel. She was very surprised how far he's come! We showed her the picture of Jonathan. Mel covered the top of his head and the bottom of his face, just so she could look at his eyes. She stared at him for a long while until Mark asked what she saw. Mel said she saw sadness and softness. She said his eyes weren't hollow and empty like a lot of orphans are. She is not the only one to tell us this. Good friends of mine that have adopted have said the same thing.
There have been so many people praying for Jonathan. God has a special plan for this young boy and we are so blessed to be a part of it! I will keep you all updated as soon as we hear anything!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Part 1
I would like to share with you all how we found Jonathan and his reaction to a family wanting him, so I will break it up into two parts.
I am friends with a sweet lady named Patricia on Facebook. I noticed her profile picture was of a sweet looking young man, but didn't think past that. On a Monday morning back in December, I told my husband that I didn't want to adopt from Eastern Europe, if we ever decided to adopt again. Maybe Africa, is what I was thinking. On Thursday of the same week, my husband and I were sitting on the couch and I went to Adeye's blog. There was that picture of that sweet looking boy! Adeye was advocating for him to find a family. Well, I knew when I looked at Mark what he was thinking because I was thinking it, too. Finally, he was the first to speak and told me to find out if we could adopt him. It looks like we are heading to Eastern Europe. Doesn't the Lord have a sense of humor? I just told Mark I wasn't going there again!
I spent the next several days on the phone and computer trying to figure out Jonathan's visa and if we could adopt him. All we needed was a homestudy update and his visa secure before his 16th birthday. Talk about crazy, stressful days! We got so much information from so many different sources and none of them lined up. I wasn't sure we would be able to do this. But God knew better. This is His child and He had it all planned out.
Through my good friends at About A Child, I got in contact with the US Embassy in Jonathan's country. They let me know what I was to do about his visa before his 16th birthday and we got it done. We received the receipt from USCIS the day of his birthday!
Most people don't like the fact that we are stepping out of the "birth order." But one of my friend's told me it is not about birth order, it's about God's order! I'm sure we will hear many more negatives about our adopting an older child. But it isn't about us. It's about Jonathan. We know what happens when these 16 year olds are released. They are given around $30 and a small bag of belongings. Do you know who is waiting for them outside? Not friends or family. The traffickers. They don't know anything but the orphanage. Can you imagine?
I'm about ready to write a novel! I'll pick it up later....
Blessings,
Hansina
I am friends with a sweet lady named Patricia on Facebook. I noticed her profile picture was of a sweet looking young man, but didn't think past that. On a Monday morning back in December, I told my husband that I didn't want to adopt from Eastern Europe, if we ever decided to adopt again. Maybe Africa, is what I was thinking. On Thursday of the same week, my husband and I were sitting on the couch and I went to Adeye's blog. There was that picture of that sweet looking boy! Adeye was advocating for him to find a family. Well, I knew when I looked at Mark what he was thinking because I was thinking it, too. Finally, he was the first to speak and told me to find out if we could adopt him. It looks like we are heading to Eastern Europe. Doesn't the Lord have a sense of humor? I just told Mark I wasn't going there again!
I spent the next several days on the phone and computer trying to figure out Jonathan's visa and if we could adopt him. All we needed was a homestudy update and his visa secure before his 16th birthday. Talk about crazy, stressful days! We got so much information from so many different sources and none of them lined up. I wasn't sure we would be able to do this. But God knew better. This is His child and He had it all planned out.
Through my good friends at About A Child, I got in contact with the US Embassy in Jonathan's country. They let me know what I was to do about his visa before his 16th birthday and we got it done. We received the receipt from USCIS the day of his birthday!
Most people don't like the fact that we are stepping out of the "birth order." But one of my friend's told me it is not about birth order, it's about God's order! I'm sure we will hear many more negatives about our adopting an older child. But it isn't about us. It's about Jonathan. We know what happens when these 16 year olds are released. They are given around $30 and a small bag of belongings. Do you know who is waiting for them outside? Not friends or family. The traffickers. They don't know anything but the orphanage. Can you imagine?
I'm about ready to write a novel! I'll pick it up later....
Blessings,
Hansina
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Welcome!
Welcome to our new blog! I didn't think I'd be blogging again, but here we are! Back in December Mark and I saw a 15 year old boy who was about to age out of the orphanage. When that happens, the Eastern European country gives him around $30 and a bag of belongings and out he/she goes. They normally have no family and no where to go. We know who and what waits for them. It's not a good life.
Mark and I both looked at each other and knew, without words, what the other was thinking....go get him! He's your son! So we've started the process of adopting Jonathan. He just turned 16 the end of December.
So please join us on another adventure!
Mark and I both looked at each other and knew, without words, what the other was thinking....go get him! He's your son! So we've started the process of adopting Jonathan. He just turned 16 the end of December.
So please join us on another adventure!
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