All I Really Want For Christmas Music Video

I heard a man sing this song on National Adoption Day in November. The video by Steven Curtis Chapman is even more moving.
Blessings,
Jordyn

GRANT APPROVAL

We were overjoyed this past week when we received a call from Katelyn's Fund approving us  for an adoption grant.  THANKS BE TO GOD!  God continues to amaze us with His provision.  This grant will be sent directly to our agency and is a great provision towards our next fee. 

We had an interview with the Katelyn's fund board on November 22nd.  At the close of our interview the board members prayed for our child(ren), our adoption process and our family.  We were very touched by their heart felt prayers.  It made me look forward to the day when I can tell our child who was praying for him...and for us to see how God is answering those prayers even now.   What an AWESOME God we serve!!!

Isaiah 45: 2-3 are verses that we have been praying over our adoption process.  "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.  And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel who calls you by name."
I was thinking how receiving this grant is part of God making the rough places smooth...for our child(ren).

Do you think our little one knows that a mighty God is moving on his behalf...on another continent ...through a group of people in a small town in Iowa...to help a family in South Dakota...pay adoption fees to an agency in Oregon....to bring him home? 

Waiting, praying and worshiping

We received the wait time from our agency...12 months.  That is 365 days of waiting.  Our case manager said to hold the wait times loosely.  They can be longer, they can be shorter.  Only God knows.  

Tomorrow morning James and I have appointments with USCIS for yet another set of fingerprints.  If the Lord brings us to mind, please pray that the time it takes to process the fingerprints and receive adoption approval from USCIS would be short.   We are still waiting on USCIS to assign an appointment for Jordyn.  Until all three of us are 'cleared' :-)  we will not receive approval.  The process with USCIS usually takes 3-4 months....we submitted our application about a month ago.  

Much of the paper chase of adoption is submitting and waiting.  The waiting can get old very quickly.  I have found that it is much better for me to focus on how far the Lord has brought us then to think of how far we have to go.   I am reminded often of the line from the song, "While I'm Waiting", that says,  "While I"m waiting, I will worship you".  

Trying to spend our wait time....worshiping the one who holds time in His hand. 

Waiting List!!

As of 4:25 today.....WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON THE WAITING LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are #60 on the waiting list for a little boy (age:  under 24 months)  and #44 on the waiting list for a sibling set!!

There is much rejoicing in our home today!

The Swansons

SHOPPING FOR A CAUSE

Wrapping up the final week of October and all too soon the mad holiday season will be upon us.    I really don't like the term "holiday season'.  It seems kind of generic for two very special celebration.  Be that as it may, it is the culture in which we live.    Each year, I rack my brain to come up with special gifts for the people I love.  Gifts that move beyond 'materialism' and the exchange of cash  (i.e. I buy you a gift card, you buy me a gift card etc); gifts that mean something, will bring joy or serve a purpose.    Last week, I came upon this site called, 'Shopping For A Cause' (see the button on our site).  A fellow AP (adoptive parent....took me forever to figure that one out!)  put together a list of families that are selling items to raise funds for their adoption.  Of course, this resonated with me!  So, click on the button and have a look around.  I am continually impressed by families in the adoption process and the creativity they display to bring their sons and daughters home.  If you decide to 'shop for a cause' know that you will be blessing the one who receives the gift, the family you purchased from and most importantly, a child who longs for a family and a place to call home.    Toni

P.S.  I think we fixed the 'Follower' setting...so feel free to 'follow' and receive our updates automatically.  

Marathon for Millions

I have a good friend who is running in the Twin Cities Marathon this weekend to raise money for the 143 Million orphans that live in our world.  As I was thinking about her this morning and all the training she has done to prepare for her 26 mile journey, I was reminded of her passion to unite orphans with their forever families.  For most of us, to live without family is incomprehensible.  We have no idea what it means to not belong to anyone.  Think on that for a moment...then think on the fact that there are 143 million children in our world today...who live this way. They belong to no one yet long to have a family.    It is those thoughts that drive my friend to push her body to run for almost four hour with the hope that she can impact the life of even just one of those children.

If you would like to sponsor my running friend, you can send donation to Katelyn's fund  www.katelynsfund.org and note that your donation is for the marathon.  Katelyn's fund is an organization that give grants to families that are in the adoption process, helping with the financial aspect of adoption, so that one more child can have a forever family.   Toni

143,000,000 Orphans

As I watched this video for the first time, reality came crashing down on me. I had always known that people lived in poverty, and some children didn't have parents. But I had never realized how many children did not have homes, food, school, medical care but most importantly parents to care for them. My prayer is that this video impacts you as much as it did me.
-Jordyn-

Home Study Approved

After being in a holding pattern for a while it seems like things are picking up speed.  Yipee!!!  We received our approved home study in the mail last week and are now ready to send in our dossier as soon as we have all of the fee that goes with the dossier.  Once that paperwork is approved, we will go on THE WAITING LIST!!!!  This is where the real 'waiting' begins. 

We thought we should mention that we are working with All God's Children International out of Portland, OR.  They have a relatively young program in Ethiopia but have established Hannah's Hope which is AGCI's transition home for children waiting to be placed with their forever families.  The children at Hannah's Hope receive wonderful attention and great care while staying at HH. We so appreciate AGCI's focus on doing all that is best for each child and for seeing each child as a treasure from God.

FBI

GREAT NEWS!!!!   We received our clearance letters from the FBI.  This will allow us to move forward with our home study (HS) and dossier process.  Our home study was in a holding pattern ...waiting on the FBI letters so now it is making its way through the approval process with All God's Children International.   Once the HS is approved we can apply for grants and submit our dossier papers.   The waiting list is now in site.  Current wait times are 9-12 months.  What a treasure to know that it is all in God's perfect timing.    (remind me of this when I complain about the waiting  :-) )

It's Manly!

After years of 'liking the idea of adoption' but not owning it, God dropped the proverbial final straw that broke my stubborn and selfish back bent against rescuing the fatherless.  He used this article by David E. Prince to be that straw.  For weeks, God brought His heart for the poor, weak, and fatherless across my path almost daily.  Then-BAM!  Out of the providential blue, I was looking for the Gospel Coalition's statement of faith and this article was highlighted on GC's homepage.  After reading it, God sealed the adoption deal in my heart and compelled me to live out the Gospel in joyful obedience.  Here is one quote, based on James 1:27, that challenged my manliness:  "To visit the fatherless is to deliver and rescue the fatherless. How do you do that? The most important way is to give them a father. Men, you are called to lead the charge. Pure religion calls for testosterone, courage, boldness. It's going to take courage to march into dark, difficult, and disease-ridden places, and to take a child and say, "You will be mine." It's going to take courage to march in to some neighborhood here in our own town and to take some child who has all kinds of baggage and say, 'You will be mine.'" I knew that God was asking me to put hands and feet to my gospel understanding and manifest a father's heart through making a child mine through adoption.  

Because that is exactly what my Heavenly Father did for ME!!  -James

An Adventure of Learning

As we venture along in the adoption process, we are learning many new things.  One of those being:  "How to set up a blog".   I am neither creative nor computer savy, so  I am relying on our oldest daughter for creativity and on my sister-in-law for the how to's. 

How God Led Us to Adoption

We have seen first hand the beauty of adoption. How adoption manifests God's sovereignty over lives, governments, cultures, finances and circumstances. Our adoption experience with extended family has put adoption close to our hearts for the past 17 years. Over the last four or five years, the desire to adopt pressed in. We have room in our home and even more room in our hearts for more children...so why wouldn't we? Many reasons presented themselves but when those reasons were weighed in they all came back as 'selfish' or of 'worldly wisdom'. This past fall, God showed Himself to be relentless in presenting adoption as a practical outgrowth of the Gospel. We were filthy in our sin and without hope, yet He chose to make us His own at an extreme cost to Himself. Likewise, adoption is seeing a fatherless child and making him/her our own...at a price that yes, is costly by the world's standards, yet pales in light of the sacrifice our Heavenly Father made in His only Son to provide for our spiritual adoption in His eternal family. So in March, we took one giant step onto the path of adoption with the anticipation of following God's leading hand.