Hello Paperwork!!

Welcome to what I'm certain will be the story of our lives for the next, oh, two years or so! :) 

                                         

If you ask me if I mind though, the answer is a definite NO! Because I know on the other side of this mountain of paper work, and the small headache of dealing with government agencies, will be our sweet little angel waiting for us! :) And we can't wait!! (If you can't tell!) 

Things are moving right along-- We applied for passports today! So, in about 4-6 weeks we should have them back and be ready to travel, after we finally get matched with a child. (Which is still a LONG ways down the road!) But, we're one tiny step closer (& $300 down)! 

I know a lot of you are curious about this whole process, and so are we! haha We don't know a whole lot about this, and we're just taking one day at the time! Learning as we go. But,  I want to keep everyone in the loop and caught up on where we are! 

The next step, for those who are wondering, is mailing in our commitment packet and a check of $2,500! Before we can do that, we have to complete our 10 hours of on-line training and finish that pile of paperwork in the picture you see above! :)  Once our agency receives our packet, we will begin working on our home-study and dossier! Once we complete those (it will probably take a good little while) they will send our "dossier" over to Bulgaria to be translated and wait for our REFERRAL!! :) That will be the LONG wait! They told us it could be any where up to 36 months, for a healthy child under age 3- but we are praying it won't be that long!) We put on our application that we would accept a child up to age 4 with minor/correctable medical needs. We expect that to cut the wait time in at least half! *fingers crossed*  We know that the Lord has the perfect child for us, that will complete our family and we know that He will put us all together at just the right time! Words just can't describe how excited we are to watch it all come together!  We appreciate all of your prayers, for us and for our sweet pea (who may or may not even be born yet!)  We can't wait to witness this miracle that is going to take place in our lives, and we're glad you've chosen to follow along with our story! We have a little faith, and we're expecting big things! We know that "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27 :) 

                                 xoxo, 

                               Steffani  

Overwhelmed.....

With gratitude!! We are SO thankful to each and every one of you who have stopped by our page in the last couple of days! We never dreamed so many people would be so interested in helping us and following along on our journey to start a family! We cannot express enough how grateful we are to each of you, and to our LORD who is just lining things up and supplying all of our needs! We are honored and humbled that so many people feel led to contribute! It's SUCH a blessing!!

Some friends of ours have already started a "Hope for the Jones Family" campaign, and it is taking off!
           

How it works, is, you purchase one of these ^^pretty little necklaces^^  and all of the profits from the sales go DIRECTLY to our adoption fund!! So awesome! You get this pretty little symbol of hope, to wear around your neck (and remind you to keep us in prayer) and we are blessed by the proceeds! These things are selling like hotcakes, and we couldn't be more appreciative! We have some pretty amazing friends and family!! 

I've also added a "Donate" button to the top of our page here, incase you'd rather help that way! We're just so amazed and thankful to each of you and pray God's richest blessings on you all!  I never doubted that God would take care of us-- but to actually watch HIM work, and so soon too, it's just amazing us!!  Thanks again, y'all!! xoxo, Steffani 

ps~ Check out our Facebook page!   www.facebook.com/KeepingUpWithTheJonesesOurBulgarianAdoption

We're Approved!!

Happy Monday morning, everyone!
 Is it just me, or is it always harder to get going the morning after vacation!?

We had an amazing time in Orlando- great food, lots of fun, and just getting away was wonderful! I have to admit, 6:40 came early this morning, but I couldn't wait to get to work! I missed my girlies!! (I'm a Nanny, for those of you that didn't know!)We had a super awesome mini-vacation! Orlando was so much fun, and super hot!!   Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, CitiWalk, Downtown Disney, and of course-- the FOOD! (The most important part, right!?) It was all super good! We even got to take a little walk-thru of the resort we stayed at for our *honeymoon*!! So sweet!

                                      I have this same picture from our honeymoon! :)

                       

Vacation happened to be so much fun, that it completely took my mind off of the waiting game going on in our adoption process! We had mailed off our initial application on Monday and were told it could be a little while before we heard back, because the man who approved them was leaving the country this week.  So, I resolved to have a good time on vacation and try not to think about it every second! haha! Friday evening, I checked my e-mail- and there it was!!! WE WERE APPROVED!! *Sigh of relief!!* Our formal packet is in the mail and we should get it soon, then after a few hours of "adoption training" we'll be on to the next BIG step, the HOME STUDY. Just the thought of that is enough to make me break out into a nervous sweat, but after watching the Lord work out everything this far-- it's hard to be too worried about it! Let me just add here, that it is AMAZING to watch God work in this, guiding and providing every step of the way! We got home yesterday evening and some sweet, precious people had left us the sweetest note and $400! Our first official donation to our "adoption fund"!! We were so excited!! I can't wait to share this journey with you all and I hope you get a little blessing from watching the Lord work in our lives!! It's so nice to know that what HE does for others, He's more than happy to do for you- if you have faith and trust Him!!  Hopefully we'll have a lot of new exciting stuff to post soon! :) Now I'll leave you with this picture of our new bracelets we had made-- it's the Bulgarian word for love! We thought that was pretty fitting. :) xoxo, Steffani

And So It Begins!

Monday, June 17, 2013. The day we "officially" begin our adoption journey! We. Are. So. Excited!!!! Words cannot even describe! Pending approval of our application by the director of our adoption agency (we should hear back in the next couple of weeks), we will be on our way to becoming the proud parents of our precious treasure living somewhere in Bulgaria! 

   I know this is just the start to the LOOOONG road that lies ahead, but I also can see the hand of God working so much- I dare to hope that it won't be quite as long as they keep telling us! (A girl can dream, right!?)  It's so much fun to watch the Lord work things out in your life, things that you just KNOW HE did! 

And we've already began to see situations like that! I wanted to share this one with you all. 

Wednesday afternoon we received our information packet, application, and fee schedule for the adoption agency we have chosen! After the initial shock of the staggering price tag wore off, we decided we needed to take a step back and pray. We asked God for clear direction- specifically that HE would give us the exact  amount of money needed for every step of the way! (Because, as much as we would like it, we don't NEED all $32,000 RIGHT NOW!) All we needed right then was the $250 for our application fee. Which, I know that's not a lot- but we had prayed and felt like when the timing was right, God would send us the money and we would know it was time to get this ball rolling!     Friday morning rolls around, (*PAYDAY*) and after paying all of our bills, Spencer called to let me know that we had an extra $100 in our account, and he didn't know where it came from! I just chalked it up to "God was working" and went on about my day, not knowing where the other $150 would come from. Well, I got home from work a few minutes before Hubby that day, and when I went to the mailbox (expecting doctor bills) I was surprised to see a weird looking envelope from our insurance company. We had overpaid, throughout the course of the year, and they sent us a reimbursement check! (How often does THAT happen?!) I was even more surprised when I looked down  at the amount. $152.87! In the total of about 7 hours, the Lord had given us the EXACT amount of money needed for our application fee!! He even sent a couple of extra dollars for postage!!! I couldn't quit crying and thanking the Lord then Spencer got home and it started all over again! :) We of course, took that as our sign, and filled out our application over the weekend! And today, we went and mailed that baby off!! This is our first and probably shortest "wait" in the process, but I know it's going to drive me crazy! But hey, every day, we are one step closer to bringing our little Prince or Princess HOME!!! 

                                          xoxo, 

                                        Steffani

Beginning Our Road To Adoption!

        It's official! I did it! I up and CALLED an ADOPTION agency! I know that may not be a HUGE step for some, or even the first official step of starting the adoption process- but it's big for me-- and now we know how to start! Now, I know you might be thinking that we JUST got the news that we'll never have our own biological children--and we should think more about this-- but we are NOT fans of wasting time! Anyone who knows us, knows this to be true. We. Want. A. Family. And we want more than one child! *shocker, I know* God has definitely opened and closed the right doors, and given us the green light to get this ball rolling! We know when God is in something, you might as well jump on board, full steam ahead! And it's a good thing, because after speaking with the kind lady today, I found out the country we had in mind has an average 3 year wait for an infant! Wowzers!!! THREE YEARS.
Also, I found out:
 1.) We are pretty clueless when it comes to this sort of thing.
 2.) You don't have to be rich to adopt.
 3.) That horror stories are NOT the norm. Thank God.
 4.) You can bring home the perfect baby boy or girl of your dreams- it just takes time!
 5.) We need to do some serious praying and narrow down a country!
     
The sweet counsellor also sent me a link where I could view waiting children from that country and... I sat and cried.. And cried and cried. And then I cried some more! Now, (Not sure if it's the right way to go about this) but I have been googling countries for weeks now-- ever since we got the news from the Doc that we MIGHT not be able to produce our own children. And granted, I've seen a lot of cute kids, that I thought were precious, but THESE kids-- BROKE.OUR.HEART.  I guess, that's what it means for a country to "speak to you". I've always heard that there would just be one country that would call to you, and when you see your child, you will immediately know and love it! (Let me just say, I CAN'T WAIT for that day!!)  I'm not a particularly emotional person-- but something about the thought of those sweet babies over there, needing a home full of love, and WE can give them that! *amazing*

We know for sure we're on the right track. I'm so thankful for the way God leads and directs, and the PEACE that HE gives! It's truly amazing. I can't wait to watch HIM work all of this out "for our good and HIS glory"!

I really hope you guys are ready to hear about and see some serious miracles, because we serve a BIG GOD and we are trusting in the fact that "where HE leads HE provides".  A principle I've always seen evident in my parents and our family's life.  I know from experience, that when the Lord calls you to do something, He equips you with the tools you will need. That being said, we are SO excited to begin this (probably long, maybe difficult, and very emotional) journey to our family of three!! We are trusting God to lead, direct, and provide every step of the way!  So far, we've already seen His hand working-- it was evident, from the very first doctor's appointment. We can't wait to watch this new chapter in our lives unfold- and give GOD the glory for the great things He's doing in our lives!
                                                                           
                                xoxo,
                              Steffani

We're the Joneses!

Hi! We're the Joneses!
   I'm Steffani, and this is my dear hubby Spencer! He's really the man of my dreams, better than my dreams, actually! We met on March 12, 2010 and were married on March 12, 2011! (It's a magical story, really! I'm pretty sure a blog post entirely devoted to our love story is going to grace your blog feeds at some point in the near future! :)) Our love story is so great because we are in love with our SAVIOR, Jesus Christ, first and foremost! Everything else seems to fall into place, and we are absolutely perfect for each other! We have one fur baby (Maycee) who is the cutest little Malti-zu you've ever seen! (I'm sure a lot of pictures of the "Macerdoodle" will be clogging up this blog, as well! What can you expect?!) We are in love with our family, our church, and our life! The only thing missing is a tiny, little Jones, and since we can't make our own (we'll get more into that later) we are trusting God that He has the perfect one out there for us! And we know that he can bring us all together into the perfect little family!
  FYI, I'm completely new to blog land and I figured since we're about to start a completely new chapter in our lives, we might as well keep track of it, and others updated at the same time!
So, here's to this new adventure! Looking forward to letting you all in on how the Lord is working things out for our good and HIS glory!   ~Steffani