Serious Need

Below you will find a brief summary of our story so far and our finances. As far as we know, no one has given to our grant. There are only 3 days left to benefit from this! In the mean time we have called and talked to several banks and have had NO success in getting a loan of any kind. If you have the means, PLEASE consider giving to help us give this precious baby a loving home. If you can't give, please pray for us. This is very stressful, but we are trying to lean on the Lord.

We felt the Lord tug on our hearts to start our journey to adoption in January. As soon as we started talking about it we heard an announcement at church about an adoption info meeting for an adoption agency through our church. We took all four kids, went to the meeting, and decided to pick up the initial paperwork right then. We worked fast, and quickly turned in the our pre-approval application and got a very fast reply that we were pre-approved. Then we started the major work. We had to do a ton of paperwork of pretty much our entire life history. We also had to get background checks from three different states, several personal references, doctor physicals, create and print a family profile, and more. Along with the cost of all the fees associate with those things we also had to have a social worker do a home study and pay the first portion of the main payment to the adoption agency. All that totaled to a little over $3,200.

It was May when all this was said and done and we were home study ready. It was only 12 days after we were home study ready that our profile was being looked at by a birth family. After a couple of days waiting to hear, they decided they wanted to meet us. We met them and it went extremely well; The Lord was with us. Ten days later, they called us and said they picked us! This meant we had very little time to come up with $4,108. We had used all the money we had saved up and fund-raised from selling baked goods and babysitting for the first major payment. However, God blessed us greatly, at the eleventh hour, by providing the money we needed for this portion through gifts from people.

We just recently met with our adoption attorney and found out that our legal fees would be around around $3,767. Also, we found out that a law had recently changed and we have to get our home study updated through a different agency which will cost us about $250. On July 6th we will have to pay the remainder of the agency fees of $2,625. And then after we have the baby we will have to have three social worker visits that will total about $900. The approximate total cost will be about $15,456; having already paid $7,330, we are still in need of a little over $8,000. The baby is due August 6th and I will be going to a doctors appointment with the birth mom soon and will hopefully find out more information.

We just heard from Hand in Hand, which is a non-profit private operating foundation that gives grants to Christian families that are adopting. We got a matching grant. They will match dollar for dollar up to $2,000 which would be $4,000 towards adoption costs. Any money given through them will be tax deductible. Also, any amount over the grant amount will still go to us towards adoption costs, it just won't be doubled.

Please send all donations made payable to “Hand in Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by July 2^nd

to: Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.

Paul & Rebekah Hoover

18524 Juniper Street Gardner, KS 66030-9147

(for tax purposes please include our name on the outside of the envelope ONLY…DO NOT put our name on the check itself)

Thank you for your prayerful consideration in helping a child find a “forever” family. Also, if you would like to read more detail and follow us on our journey, feel free to follow our adoption blog: http://graftedinhoovers.blogspot.com/ and feel free to ask questions e-mail rhoover6@att.net or by phone 816-761-0073

Hand in Hand Grant

We were given a watching grant from Hand in Hand. Praise the Lord! Below is a letter that explains it as well as our grant award letter. Please feel free to pass along to any one that you might think would like a place to give that will be tax deductible. The check must be post marked no later than JULY 2nd. Also, even though the matching grant only matches up to 2k (meaning we would get 4k from 2k given), anything above that given will still be given to us, so don't feel restricted. We need over 8k total!

Dear Family and Friends,

As many of you may have already heard we feel that God has called us on a new journey to provide a “forever” family to a child through the process of adoption. We have started down this path of adoption and are excited to bring a child into our home within the two months. We have felt led to pursue a child from our current area (Kansas City) and are excited to announce that we have been matched with a birth family and will be welcoming a sweet baby into our home around August 6^th, 2011.

This road to adoption is full of many joys and challenges, the greatest joy being the inclusion of a child into our family and the greatest challenge being finances. The costs of adoption include the expense of a home study, adoption agency, lawyers, travel expenses, etc., with the total cost ending up somewhere around $15,000.

We were recently awarded a matching funds grant to help with the expenses of our adoption through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. a non-profit private operating foundation. Hand in Hand will match any funds that are donated through our friends and family for the expenses of our adoption. All funds received through our friends and family will be matched dollar for dollar by Hand in Hand up to our awarded grant amount. All donations are tax-deductible.

Please find enclosed a grant award letter that will explain more about the matching grant program from Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. You can find out more about Hand in Hand through their website at www.handinhandadopt.org. If you have further questions about the Hand in Hand matching grant program please feel free to give us a call at 816-761-0073 or email us at rhoover6@att.net . You may also contact Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. with any questions you may have. They can be reached at 913-248-5015 or by e-mail at handinhandadopt@gmail.com.

Please send all donations made payable to “Hand in Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by July 2^nd to: (for tax purposes please include our name on the outside of the envelope only…DO NOT put our name on the check itself)

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.

Paul & Rebekah Hoover

18524 Juniper Street Gardner, KS 66030-9147

Thank you for your prayerful consideration in helping a child find a “forever” family.

Walking Hand in Hand,

Paul & Rebekah Hoover

816-761-0073

rhoover@att.net

Award Letter

June 20, 2011

Dear Paul & Rebekah:

We have reviewed your application for a matching grant and are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a dollar for dollar matching grant up to $4,000. The specific amount received will depend on the amount of funds donated by family and friends on your behalf. The grant amount includes both the funds raised and the funds matched by HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc. If you raise $2,000 from family and friends, HANDinHAND will match those funds for a total grant of $4,000.

All monies will be disbursed directly to your adoption agency, adoption lawyer or other adoption expenses after HANDinHAND has received an approved invoice from one of these sources. Monies already paid will not be reimbursed. Only outstanding balances will be paid by your awarded grant. Monies will be disbursed up to the amount of the final awarded grant. Funds received over the grant amount will go toward your adoption expenses not to exceed the outstanding adoption costs. Funds received over outstanding adoption expenses will help other children find “forever” families through the general fund of HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc.

All donated monies must be in our HANDinHAND office or postmarked by July 2, 2011 to be considered in the dollar for dollar match for your specific grant. Funds received after this time will go toward the general fund of HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc. to continue to help children find “forever” families.

In the case of a disrupted adoption, monies will be held for your use for up to 1 year from the disruption then after that time will be used to help other children and their families through Hand in Hand’s general fund.

We are so excited to be able in a small way to help a child find a “forever” family. Thank you for being obedient to God’s call in your life to help a child. We appreciate your heart and look forward to working with you in accomplishing this goal.

Sincerely,

Trudy A. George

President

HANDinHAND Christian Adoption, Inc.

Busy Week

Thankfully I can meet our attorney by myself this time. I meet with him tomorrow afternoon. Then Wednesday morning I get to go to a doctor appointment with my birth mom. I am so excited!! Hoping they will do an ultra sound that day, but if not, I imagine it will be soon after. It will be nice to know a little more. We are still waiting to hear back from the two grants we applied for, but will hopefully hear something this week! Also, our new social worker said we will meet mid July. That's very helpful since my husband can't take time off work the next two weeks, but our social worker will not be available for the first week or two of July, so it makes me a little nervous to be doing it so close to the babies due date. Thanks for all your prayers and support, I will keep you all posted :)

Complications

So we have come into some complications. Missouri recently changed a law that the birth parents and adoptive parents can not have the same social worker, which we have. Now we have to go through another agency and get our home study updated. Thankfully they connected us with a social worker through Christian Family Services and are going to do it at an amazing price. However, please pray for timing, first of all we have only approximately 7 weeks until the baby is due, and these next two weeks are the hardest, longest weeks of the year for my husbands job. So, it will be incredibly hard and stressful if he needs to take time off for a social worker visit. We are also starting to work with an adoption attorney soon and am praying that won't take time from my husband either. And, of course there is always the money need. Thanks to our references working so fast, our application is being looked at today. Please pray they are able to be quick with their process at getting us our grant super fast. It will be a matching grant and will be tax free. I will post about that as soon as we get our info. We also submitted another grant that we are hoping to get some help from. I uploaded a financial need chart so that you can all see where we are at and what we still need. One more thing.... I am hoping to be able to nurse the baby and the inducing process is not going as well as I would like, so if you could say a prayer for me concerning this as well, I would really appreciate it! Thank you for your continued support.

MO Law

So the match meeting went really well this morning, but then later this afternoon we got a call about a new Missouri Law that JUST came out. The birth mom and adopting family can not have the same social worker!! This means either the BM or us have to do an update with a different social worker which means more money from us (either way) and more time needed from us if we have to change social workers; which isn't really an option with Paul's work right now. We will know more tomorrow about all this. Please Please Pray that it will all work out smoothly!! Also, pray that Hand in Hand moves quickly with the matching grant as well as the people who have to do references for it. If it takes the normal time, it will not be done in time to help us!! Thank you for your support and prayers!!! I will keep you all posted!!

Hallelujah!!

We got the money!!!! Thank you to all who made this possible. You all have a part in giving this baby a wonderful chance at life with a loving family!! May you be blessed 100 fold!! The next step will be talking with an attorney for the law part of all this, and costs of this are estimated to between $1500-$2500. I get to go to a doctors appointment with the birth mom on June 22nd. I don't know if they will do an ultra sound or not. I'm hoping we can find out what the sex of the baby is so that I can prepare better. She is due August 6th. We also have to pay the last portion of the adoption fees by July 6th which only gives us 3 weeks and that will be $2625. We have applied for a matching grant that will hopefully get approved very soon. If that happens any amount given to the grant will be matched dollar for dollar and will be tax-deductible. Thank you all for all your support with prayers and donations, we are so humbled and blessed!!

Faith

I'm trying to hold on to faith as tomorrow draws near and we still need $1968!!! All avenues we have tried have failed, so it is up to God. Please, Please, Please, pray!!!!! Even if you can only give $5 or $10 it all adds up!

Match Meeting and Financial Need

So it looks like we will have our "Match Meeting" on Tuesday afternoon. This is where we have to sign the match statement and pay half of the remaining program fee $2,625.00, Birth Mother Living Expenses #1383.51, and a Foster Care fee of $100. Totally of $4108.51. So far we have been given $2106.51 which means NEED $2002.00 by TUESDAY!!! Also, we will have to pay legal fees shortly between $1500-$2500. And July 6th we will have to pay the second half of the program fee of another $2625.00. There could also end up being a little more BM living expenses. So, all of this totals upwards of $9,233.51 that we NEED. Thank you to all those who have given already we couldn't do this with out your wonderful support!! If you can help us with our need we would be extremely grateful!! If you can't please pray the funds come in!

WE ARE MATCHED!!

The day we have been waiting for is finally here!! I got a call tonight not by the agency, but by the birth mother herself!! They wanted to tell us!! She is going to make a doctor appointment tomorrow and is going to let me know when it is so I can go with her!! So excited!! I will keep you all posted as things develop and our financial need. I should know more tomorrow after talking to our adoption consultant!!

Continuing to wait....

Don't really know a whole lot right now. I got a call and it wasn't what I was hoping, it was "They are still thinking." The father wanted to look at a couple other profiles before finalizing his decision, but the mother still seems to be set with us. I'm trying to keep my head and heart totally before the Lord. We want God's will for this baby. We feel it might be us, but not certain. But you better believe I am spiritually fighting for this baby to be placed in the right home whether it's with us or not. Please continue to pray for us, the baby, and the birth parents. We should hear something more by tonight or tomorrow, but I know I've said this before. An answer would be really nice.

The Waiting Continues....

I got a call from our adoption consultant letting us know that the social worker has a meeting with the birth parents on Tuesday. So we will probably know Tuesday night or Wednesday. It is so hard to wait because it puts doubt in my head even though we feel so good about it. However, this gives us more time to get money. We have really been blessed by those that have given so far. If we finalize next week, we still need roughly $3,250 by the later half of next week!! It's all in God's hands! All, I can do is pray for the couple and the baby and for God's will to be done in it all.

Patience

Thank you to all that have given so far, we have been truly blessed!! We still need about 3k to meet our need. I'm hoping to hear today that they finalized their decision, but I don't know. Trying to be patient and not anxious. I promise to update as soon as I know!