So, I finally finished my job, and the final tally is a bit surprising!
$29,158.88 Total Cost
16,957 Miles
4 Countries
1 Special Little Boy
It's pretty amazing to finally have the final tally, not to mention all the documents we will need come February when we file our income tax return for 2012!
Here's is a rough timeline:
August 3, 2011 - Ordered initial vital records
August 22, 2011 - Committed to our home study agency
August 29, 2011 - Committed to Griffin through Reece's Rainbow
September 2011 - Began compiling all documents
October 27, 2011 - Home study complete began compiling dossier documents
December 2011 - Missed holiday season cutoff by just a few days
January 2012 - Country changed paperwork drastically, back to the grind of completing documents again
February 2, 2012 - Complete dossier arrived in country
March 29, 2012 - Received travel dates
April 2, 2012 - Maria departed to take Little G to Mississippi
April 16, 2012 - Departed Germany for country
April 17, 2012 - Appointment to formally commit to Griffin in country
April 19, 2012 - We met our son!
May 18, 2012 - We passed court and are officially Griffin's forever family
May 19, 2012 - We head back to Germany
May 22, 2012 - Maria went to get Little G from Mississippi
May 27, 2012 - Chris's heads back after 10 day wait
May 28, 2012 - Maria & Little G get back to Germany & reunite Big & Little G
June 5, 2012 - Gotcha Day!!!!!
June 9, 2012 - Departed country for the good ole U S of A!
June 10, 2012 - Arrived in 'Merica and Griffin becomes a US citizen
June 11, 2012 - Obtained US Passport and began visits with families
June 15, 2012 - Departed US for Germany
June 16, 2012 - Homecoming, Mission Complete!
I think that about sums it up! Now for some heartfelt, gushy stuff from Maria! LOL!
See ya'll later!
Maria's View-
Honestly, what can I say? I'm sitting here trying to figure what to actually write in order to express my feelings properly. I don't think it's possible, but of course I will try. <wink>
Is Griffin our son? Absolutely 110% yes. He's ours. His pictured called out to me on Reece's Rainbow. God lined this adoption up for us. No doubt about it. Everything I prayed for in a son, God provided to us through Griffin. Right down to his birthday being on the 19th of the month, just like my biological children! Yes, I prayed for that. That was a "God Nod" for sure, my little extra treat.
Was he meant to be my son? Honestly, no. He was meant to be the son of his biological mother. For whatever reason, she was not able or willing to care for him. I have to say that I am tremendously thankful that she did not abort my son. He is the most amazing, most precious little boy in the entire world. She absolutely has no idea what she is missing out on and that makes me sad. I appreciate her sacrifice because I'm certain that it wasn't an easy choice. Or at least I don't think it was an easy choice for her... maybe it was. I don't know any details at all and I'll probably never know...and that's ok. I will be forever grateful to her for birthing this amazing little boy and giving him a chance.
A chance...
When we committed to Griffin, there was only $5.00 in his Reece's Rainbow grant. There were other children on there with $1000s in their accounts. So why didn't we choose one of those with a larger grant? Because they weren't ours. Hear me, I knew that I knew that I knew that I KNEW that he was meant to be ours. I knew he was mine. His ransom was costly. Yes, ransom. He was headed to a fate that that no little boy should be headed for. A short life in an adult mental institution where food is kept at a minimum in order to keep their size small and manageable. They are victims of horrible acts, horrible abuse, and sadly most will die shortly after they arrive. Thinking about my sweet boy headed to these conditions makes me sick to my stomach. My heart breaks for those who are in this situation right now. Pray for them! There are families for every one of these children! Every single one.
Were we nervous and scared? Of course we were! This was life changing! God kept whispering "go" and we kept inching forward. "God, are you sure?"
"Go."
"What if..."
"Go."
"But..."
"Go. Trust me and go."
And so we went and I wouldn't change it for the world. God doesn't make mistakes.
Where did the money come from? Well, actually, it's amazing. Up until yesterday, we were under the impression that our adoption cost exactly what we budgeted for $24,000, like down to the penny. We shot for $27,000 just in case of extra funds or emergency money but we didn't make that goal. We sold everything that we could live without. We cut back on our food expenses, no dining out. Every single place where we could cut a corner, we did. So we are shocked to see that our adoption expenses added up to $29,000 when we didn't have $29,000 and yet it was there. I still need to sit down and figure this one out because I'm floored.
But didn't God tell me to trust Him?
So many of you helped us get our little boy home. You donated, you prayed, you encouraged us, you did whatever your heart felt led to do and we are forever grateful for you! This lonely little boy whom no one wanted is loved by hundreds. Maybe thousands! He has sisters...a mommy and a papa...grandparents...aunts, uncles, great aunts and great uncles, cousins, and friends all around the world. He is loved.
And he loves giraffes! Who knew? And sloppy joe sandwiches and tacos! He loves to be bounced as high as possible on the couch! He loves to sing and dance and he loves his precious little life! Thank you, God, for this treasure!
Don't let numbers get in your way. Trust me, it can seem overwhelming, but it is so possible. The "things" in this life mean nothing. Treasures on this earth will not last. Life, love, family...that's where it's at. My heart is full and I am blessed.
Matthew 6:19-21- "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Here are some links to pictures of precious children who have already been transferred.
Sonny...God bless him. Can you see the difference? Transferred.
Ralph...Has possibly been transferred.
Abbott...Transferred.
Kyle...Transferred.
Sergei...needs a mommy to kiss those bruises away. Transferred. (with over $11,000 in his grant!)
Carina...A beautiful little girl facing transfer.
Addison...Transferred. A mommy needs to grow her beautiful hair out again...
Gemma...Beautiful eyes! Transferred.
My heart is breaking for this little boy. I know he is in great need and is surely to be transferred soon because of his age.
Jared...Let's help him find a family! I'm so excited to see that his grant has reached $277!
You are loved!
The list goes on and on. There is a great need.
Hosea 13:3- For in You the orphan finds mercy.
God bless them!
Just about 10 months. Almost a regular pregnancy. And I wonder how much a regular pregnancy costs if you don't have medical insurance? When I adopted people would ask me "How much did she cost"? Yeah, I know not too cool. But often I would ask them how much their child cost. After their first startled look, I would say "It's probably about the same." That was 21 years ago so it may not hold true anymore. The difference is that the hospital will take payments and adoption agencies, fees etc have to come all at once.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I have no idea how much it costs to have a baby since we are in the military but I imagine that it's very expensive, especially if a c-section is needed!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that if Griffin's country knew how valuable and awesome he was, they would have charged us a lot more. ;-)
Yep, you definitely got a treasure!
ReplyDelete