Tax Credit

Just got an email from our agency with the wonderful news that the tax credit was not just extended, it was signed into law! The email is below....

Lifeline Children's Services January 2013 Dear families,    We are very excited about the recent news that Congress has extended the Adoption Tax Credit.According to a media release from the National Council for Adoption, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act which will become law once signed by President Obama. Included in this act was an extension of the adoption tax credit. Our Executive Director Herbie Newell sees the extension of the adoption tax credit as a victory for vulnerable children around the world: "While I certainly cannot speak for the entire 'Fiscal Cliff' bill that was signed into law by President Obama, the portion pertaining to the adoption tax credit was a huge victory for vulnerable children around the world and those American families called to provide them families. This piece of the legislation was organized by a truly grassroots campaign aimed at simply extending the adoption tax credit. The measure to make it permanent assures that foster children, orphans, and vulnerable children will have one barrier to a home, finances, alleviated."    Complete details of implementation of the bill are still to be seen, said the release, but the bill permanently extends the adoption tax credit currently set at $10,000. However, the amount may again be scaled for inflation, bringing it closer to the 2012 amount of $12,650. Families whose incomes fall under $150,000 will receive the full credit, and the credit will gradually phase out for families with higher incomes.   We are thrilled to share this news with you and hope you have a wonderful end to your week!

67

Our new number as of Jan.1, 2013

For those keeping track, that's a drop of 20 spaces over the last 3 months. This was not as much as we had hoped for, but it is more than we expected.

Now for the not so great news...to the best of our knowledge, the adoption tax credit was not extended. We knew this was a possibility, but are still disappointed. It doesn't change our adoption plans at all, as the credit would not have taken effect until after an adoption was final anyway. 

If extended, the credit would have been used to repay debt from the adoption. At this point, our debt is small and very manageable as we have been VERY diligent in savings and budgeting  and also because of generosity of family and friends. 

We are so excited about this new year and all that has to offer. 

Please continue to pray with us that:

1) our adoption fund will be full soon

2) lots of children will find their forever loving home

3) that we can be patient in God's timing

Early Christmas Gift

Today I received a wonderful gift in my email, an early update and our new wait list numbers for December!!!!

We are so very excited! In two months we have dropped 15 spaces on the waiting list!!

How to pray specifically for us:

1) Praise: we have 1/3 of our referral fee 

   Request: We need $7,000 more to accept the referral by the time we reach the number one position

2) Praise: we are diligently saving for the cost associated with a baby, and the travel to bring them home

   Request: that we are able to save any addition funds necessary that we are not able to raise, quickly

3) Praise: The list is moving at a steady rate and children are finding forever homes

   Request: The list continues to move at a steady pace, our number drops each month

4) Praise: our agency is a Christian agency that not only places children in a home, they pray for them, guide them, and teach them about Jesus.

   Request: That our hearts are prepared to love our baby, that we would be the parents and examples God wants us to be and that our child will ultimately follow Christ

Orphan Sunday

Yesterday Warren and I had the opportunity to meet other families in our church who have adopted and those who are interested in adoption. We met a wonderful family who brought their son home from Ethiopia in May after 1.5 years on the waiting list. Also, we were able to talk with a couple who have been considering adoption for a while. They had a lot of question and we were able to openly share our experiences with them and explain the process some.

As eager as I am for our baby to come home, my heart breaks when I think of all the children without a home. There are over 4 million orphans in Ethiopia alone! To put that in perspective, it would be like the entire population of Kentucky, 1/4 of New York, or 7 Wyomings!!! In the world there are over 147 million orphans or about 1/2 of the population of the United States.

If you have ever considered adoption just do it. If adoption is not an option for you, please pray that waiting families receive their children soon. That the children waiting will be cared for and that all children will have someone in their lives who will show them God's love. 

Our lives have been so blessed because of this process and I can't wait to see what else God has for us!!

Wait List Number

We got our new number today!

We are slowly making progress :)

Thank You/Update

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who helped make the spaghetti fundraiser such a success. We are so thankful to all our friends and family who been praying for us, we know that without those prayers our adoption would not happen.

As of Saturday night, we are officially 1/3 of the way to the referral fee goal (this is part of our ultimate goal). God has been so good to us and I know that He will continue to make a way to bring the child He has for us into our arms.

Our new fundraiser is a Tastefully Simple party in Corbin on Nov. 4th. Feel free to contact me for more details or to place an order :)

If you would like more information about how much we need, or what adoption fees we will incur, we will happily discuss that privately.

Wait List Number

Our number is:



So what does this mean?

Once a dossier arrives in Ethiopia, it receives a number. At first glance this may seem like a large number and a long wait, and while it could be, that's not necessarily the case. Every family is on the same list regardless of the child they are hoping to adopt. For example, number 1 may be requesting a boy so if the next referral is a girl, then family 2 would receive the referral. Family 1 would be next in line for a boy...they don't lose their place, but people can move around them. People in front of us could be requesting special needs, a specific gender, sibling groups, etc.

At the beginning of each month we will receive our new number and will post it to the blog. This will help us to have a better estimate as to where we are.

To count down at home we made a paper chain and hung it in the soon to be nursery! Dorky, I know, but it gives us a tangible visual of our goal!