Ethiopia - Birthplace of Coffee

Did you know that they say that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee? They even have ceremonies there to bless the coffee (no wonder Vicki wants to travel there!) ;-)

We have been looking for a way to make coffee a part of our fundraising efforts and are excited that we have found a way. We have found the "Just Love Coffee" Company who have opened up the online "Jansen Expansion Coffee Store". For every bag of coffee that is purchased, they will send a portion of the money for our Adoption efforts and will continue to do so until our adoption is complete. We think that the coffee bags with the Ethiopian flags on them will be especially tasty....... Please check out the link to your right and start shopping!

We are thrilled to find this opportunity and excited to partner with this company, who deeply care about the orphans in the world. Please take some time to read the "Just Love Coffee" story on our Store page. Thank you for your help in caring for the orphans.

Please take 4 minutes and watch this

Please take a little over four minutes and watch this video at www.vimeo.com/13771428

I came across this video today on the blog of another family who is awaiting the adoption of their child from Ethiopia. I join them in feeling like what we are doing is not enough and yet, at the moment, my hands are tied to not do more. Or can I? What else can be done to help these people, these children, all of who are important! For now, I post this video and plead with you to watch it and open your heart to what God may want you to do. At least pray for their safety, protection and peace. For now, I can help spread the word of these orphans who need to be cared for.

Addis Ababa is where we will someday fly to bring home our child - this video makes me wonder if our child is out there rummaging through the trash? Please pray for our child - I can only trust that God is caring for him or her at this very moment. There are times when I must force myself not to think of our child, because I can not see the papers and procedures that need my attention through my tears. But, those tears are my reminders to keep pressing and plodding on, trusting in God's plan in it all.

Thanks to you!

Thank you to everyone who came to share in our Pancake Breakfast - and a very special "Thank You" to those who helped in various ways! We are so grateful! We were able to raise $1100.00 today, just enough to assist us in sending our Formal International Application Fee and first agency fee in this coming week (with just a couple of pieces of paperwork left to fill out, of course!) ;-) We had so much fun seeing so many friends today and appreciate the overwhelming support in so many ways in our adoption journey. YOU are making a difference in the life of an orphan - how cool is that?

If you were unable to attend the Breakfast, but would still like to contribute (we are only 1/5 of the way there in our financial journey of adoption) please contact us at VJansen90@gmail.com.

Thanks again everyone!

Home Visit #1 - Done!

Home Visit # 1 in done! Yahoo! We spent about 2 hours with Katie, our Social Worker, early this evening. She was very nice and did an individual interview with every member of our household, a couple interview and then a walk through of our home. She answered a few of our questions, clarified some paperwork and set up an appointment for her next visit....August 19th. Until then, Dave & Vicki have LOTS of reading assignments to take care of and just a few final pieces of paperwork.

Katie shared with us that the most likely reason our final Home Study paperwork might take a while would be our Child Abuse clearance from the State of Ohio, simply because it takes a while. Would you please pray specifically that this paperwork would be done ASAP? Thanks! We need our final Home Study paperwork done in order to apply for Adoption Grants and would really like to get the Grant paperwork process started soon (well, except that means we're just filling out more paperwork....again.....).

After the Home Study, our family enjoyed some ice cream together and then went to church to set up for the Pancake Breakfast fundraiser tomorrow. We were able to get everything as ready as possible for it and can't wait to see everyone tomorrow morning! If you're in the area......feel free to come and have some breakfast with us!

First Home Visit

We have our first home visit scheduled - finally! It will be Friday, July 30th at 6:30 p.m. and will take 2-4 hours. We are soooo excited! Now we await another packets of papers that should be coming in the mail for us to fill out as part of the home visit study. Vicki is staring to see forms and papers in her sleep!

Adoption by Abba

Our brother-in-law sent us this wonderful article today (Thanks Chuck!) www.Christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/july/10.18.html We encourage you to read it. It is a wonderful explanation of why adoption is SO important, and why those of us who are believers in Christ have some responsibility to the orphans in the world (did you know there are millions of them?). We too, were once orphans and we have been saved by a gracious God, who loves us as His own. We know that not everyone is called to adopt - but give it some thought. How are you being called to help an orphan? What is your responsibility? Take some time and figure out how you can make a difference in the life of an orphan. You will make God smile~

Answering some questions....

As the news has started to spread about "The Jansen Expansion", there have been a couple of questions that we've been answering a lot...

Are you getting a baby? No, we are not. Our preference is a child between the ages of 4 and 6 years old.

Will it be a boy or a girl? We don't know. We decided that we aren't going to pick. When we had our biological children, we didn't know what they were, and we'll go the same route this time. When the agency makes the referral to us, we believe that is the child that God has chosen to be in our forever family - whether it be a boy or a girl.

How long does the process take? 10-18 months seems to be about "normal" from what we've heard.....but we've also been told to plan on the unexpected and to just not plan on anything. So - the real answer probably is - who knows? (that would give you insight on how to pray - we like to be planners with a date, time and schedule - this waiting game may prove difficult).

Currently, we have been assigned a case worker with an adoption agency here in Columbus, who will do our home study - which, we hope, will deem us approved to be an adoptive family. :-) After the home study, and coming up with the formal application fees we still need, we will begin the more formal process with Adoption Associates (see website below), and start preparing our Dossier for submission to Ethiopia.

The journey continues.....