Sunday, July 31, 2011

We are on Facebook!

Hi y'all!

We have shared our blog on Facebook!  If anyone has questions for us or about the fund raising organizations, please ask.  Right now we only have four members on our blog, so please sign up too! 

For our fundraising, I will be hosting a 147 Million Orphans and Just Love Coffee parties in the near future.   I will post more information on our blog once we figure out a date. 

Just to keep everyone up to date in the process...

After having to turn down our first "referral", I immediately turned in our paperwork to Holt International (the placing agency we had decided on before we were called about the referral).  I was getting concerned because I had not heard back from Holt, so I called.  Unfortunately, they did not receive all the  mailed paperwork or the application we submitted. The last couple days have been spent resubmitting our application, getting paperwork notarized and mailing off documents again. I seriously believe God is teaching me a hard lesson in patience...He knows I definitely need it:)

Now, we wait to hear back from Holt. 

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Stop the Traffic 5K

To the right of the blog, we placed a link for "Stop the Traffic 5K".  The website contains information on an upcoming 5K run (October 8, 2011) for the purpose of raising awareness of an often unknown or unthought about epidemic known as human trafficking.  The victim's of human trafficking are often women and children and effects every major city in the U.S., including Louisville.
  • 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year
  • an estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States alone
  • more than 200,000 American children are at high risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year
  • ~80% of trafficked persons are women and children


Check out the website and run away for those who can't!



Helping the "Little Ones"

Hello Everyone!


We just added several links to our blog and would like to share with you all. Mickey and I discovered fairly quickly how expensive international adoption would be. In order to bring a child home, it is costing us approximately $25,00-$30,000, as of now.  To help with the costs, we are attempting to raise money through fundraisers, possible grants, donations, etc.  We have listed a few links to the left side of our blog regarding such possibilities.  A couple of the organizations listed will help provide food, water and medication for children in need, as well as help fund our adoption.

Just Love Coffee




A little bit about Rob, coffee and his cause...



"Rob Webb knows coffee.  When Rob was two years old, his father started Webb's Coffee Service, which blossomed into a full-blown refreshment service supplying businesses in Nashville, TN and the surrounding areas, and is now run by Rob. 
Rob Webb knows the adoption process.  In the summer of 2008, Rob and his wife Emily were called to adopt from Ethiopia. After much prayer and discussion with their first two children they started their adoption journey in August 2008. During the flurry of paperwork and preparation, Rob & Emily read books not only on adoption in general, but specifically on Ethiopia. Learning that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee caught Rob's attention, and after reading about the living conditions and wages of the average coffee farmer, he was compelled to take action. What developed through his reading and his trip to Ethiopia to unite with his daughters was a realization that he could combine his expertise and longstanding desire to roast his own coffees with his desire to help others.  Just Love Coffee Roasters was born!  Roasting Fair Trade Specialty coffees, Just Love uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world."

On the left column of our blog you will see a link to "Just Love Coffee".  When you click on the link it will take you to the Cohn Family store front where you can buy these gourmet coffees.  Everytime you purchase a bag of coffee from our blog, you will be helping a child in need and $5 of the proceeds fund our adoption.


147 Million Orphans


Mickey and I were fortunate to have crossed paths this summer with the founders of 147 Million Orphans Organization.  Below is their story and what their organization stands for.



family_pic
We are two moms who love orphans! We met six years ago as we were both going through our first adoptions (one domestic and one international) … Thirteen kids and seven adoptions later, we are bound together through faith and mission. We love “doing life together” and accepting the call to speak up for orphans everywhere. We want to help as many people as possible to see the 147 million orphans as scripture calls them, “…those who have no voice.”   We want you to see YOUR PART in helping change the life of an orphan. Could it be adoption, sponsoring a child, volunteering for orphan care ministry, rocking babies at an orphanage, financially supporting someone adopting, or buying these products?

 

    Helping You Help 147 Million Orphans...
Your purchase provides food, water & medicine to a child in need

When you click on the 147 Million Orphans link on our blog, it will directly take you to the fundraising merchandise.  When you purchase fundraising merchandise it will not only help a child in need, but part of the proceeds will help fund our adoption.  

If you would like to purchase a fundraising item from our blog, please contact us and we will place the order for you.  Unfortunately, the program is not set up to where you can go to our blog and directly order the item yourself at this time.

Amazon.com

                                      
On the left column of our blog you will see a link for Amazon.com.  If you purchase items from Amazon, you can click on the link on our blog.  Every time you use this link and purchase something (it cost you nothing, except for the price of the item) a small amount of the proceeds goes towards our adoption fund!  So if you routinely use Amazon.com, or plan on ordering from it, for any item, PLEASE access it through our blog : )

Donate Button

                                      



If you feel the desire to donate directly to our adoption fund, you can do so by clicking the "donate" button.  


Mickey and I cannot express enough how grateful and appreciative we are for purchases or donations made.  We are humbled by everyone's generosity.  Thank you!


  

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Proverbs 3:5-6

Hello everyone.

A lot has happened in the last several days and I am just now getting around to blogging.  I felt the title of this particular blog needed to be Proverbs 3:5-6 because the verse spoke to me and is helping me get through this adoption process.

Several days ago, Mickey and I had finished our paperwork for the placing agency and was getting ready to mail it off. We had just ate lunch and while sitting in my patrol car (literally putting all the documents into a folder to be mailed) my cell phone rang.  It was our homestudy specialist, who called to say the director wanted to talk to us about a little girl at a different placing agency.  I cannot describe how excited I was to think a week after our last homestudy visit and we could possibly be matched with a child!   Several minutes later, the director called and said there was an eight month old little girl who has not been matched yet; her special need was that she was visually impaired.  The placing agency wanted us to send our medical checklist before they even officially "referred" us this little one.  Mickey and I had put "minor" vision impairment on our checklist so we were uncertain if we would be referred.  Again, I can't emphasize enough the timing of how all this played out and how God is working in our lives. 

The next day, our director sent an email saying the placing agency was sending this little one's medical records...we were told she specifically matched our medical checklist!  I couldn't believe how fast all this was happening....and I couldn't stop staring at pictures of this sweet little face.  I quickly called the pediatrician and contacted a pediatric ophthamologist since we knew she had a "minor" visual impairment.  Both agreed to look at her records and give their professional opinion. 

Yesterday, we received a copy of her medical records and took them to both doctors.  Several hours later, we were at a friend's house eating dinner and my cell phone rang,it was the ophthamologist!  I listened to what Dr. Douglas said and my heart sank.  Our "future" little one did not have a "minor" visual impairment.  She was blind.  Words cannot describe how I felt at that moment and how I still feel.  How could this happen?  We were told she matched our checklist.  My friend consoled me and she was able to relate to what Mickey and I were going through (our friends had been through a similar situation with their adoption). 

Later that night, (10:57pm to be exact) my cell phone rang again; it was the pediatrician.  When I thought my heart couldn't be any more broken, Dr. Hinkebein gave us even more devestating news.  He described her medical conditions in detail and they were not "minor" by any means.  I just sat at the table and sobbed.  My mind raced and I felt guilty...and still do.  I felt guilt over the fact if I was pregnant with this little girl and she had all these conditions I wouldn't say "no" to her.  I wouldn't abort her or  get rid of her because she was special needs.  I would love her unconditionally and she would be perfect.  But, these were different circumstances and this was not a pregnancy.  We filled out the checklist with realistic expectations of what we felt we could handle given our situation. Mickey consoled me and expressed that we need to pray for this little girl and pray that a family, who is open to her needs, will adopt her.  It was such an overwhelming feeling of mixed emotions to know she was not our "little one".

This morning, I was looking through scripture and came across Proverbs 3:5-6.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
      And lean not on your own understanding;
       6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
      And He shall direct your paths.

I don't understand "why" this happened, but I must lean on Him.  I will pray for that sweet baby girl, her birthmother, foster parents and for that very fortunate family that will someday adopt her.
This is a learning experience and we are learning.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Furbaby!

Our Family

Family Photos

Our first post!

Hello everyone!

My husband and I are in the process of adopting out of South Korea and thought it would be fun to share our journey with family, friends and anyone else who would like to follow!  We began our adoption process in May 2011. Since we are new to blogging, I will give you a little history of our family and what our adoption journey has been like thus far!

My name is Jacklyn and my husband's name is Micah ( but we call him Mickey). We got married on August 16, 2008. I have two wonderful step-daughters and a pug named Sydney ( who I will often refer to as my furbaby). I will spare a lot of the details here, but after doctor visits, tests and a fertility specialist I was given a diagnosis. At that point, we really felt as if God was pointing us down the road to adoption. On May 23, 2011 we met with the director of Adoption Assistance Inc. and turned our initial application in on May 24, 2011. We had officially started our Korean adoption journey! On June 13, 2011 we had our first homestudy visit and on July 13, 2011 we had our second "in home" homestudy visit. We are in the process of turning our paperwork into our placing agency.