God Providing

God Providing through you...

Money seems to be a touchy subject especially when you are asking other people for help.

If you do not already know, it is very humbling. Truly humbling.

When we started our adoption process in February, we knew knew that the financial aspect of adoption was going to be a hurdle.

We started asking ourselves tons of questions...Where were we going to get $30,000? Where we in over our heads? Would friends and family help support us? Do we want to ask people for their financial support? Will we be able to take advantage of the adoption tax credit? Will this change our family's financials for the rest of our lives?

We put our faith in the Lord and gave it all to him. Immediately, we started saving money. We cut way back on any optional spending, I started working more jobs to earn extra cash and we began putting money aside from our weekly paychecks. We have faith that God will provide if it is His will but we also understand that we need to do everything we can to contribute. We set up an account through adopttogether.org as a way of tax deductible giving. During our Fall Fundraiser, we were blessed more than expected. We were amazed but had a calm feeling that must have come from the Lord. Although our fall fundraiser is done, we have still been receiving gifts from family and friends.
 Gifts keep coming in and we feel a calm reassurance every time a gift comes through. Your gifts not only provide support but it also shows us that we are on God's path and he is directing the way.

Today, I would like to give you all a little idea of what expenses come with adoption, what we have raised so far and what is ahead of us.

Here is a link to our Adoption Fundraising Page.
This page breaks down all our expenses and shows what we have paid so far.
http://bertschfamilyjournal.blogspot.com/p/breakdown-of-adoption-expenses.html

Since we have raised an amazing amount already, I decided to add a fundraising thermometer to keep track of the total amount raised through Adopt Together and personal donations. Check it out in the side bar and watch for updates.

God has and is doing amazing things in our adoption journey. If you have not already, I would like to ask you to prayerfully consider supporting our journey in bringing our daughter home from China. Your support will be life changing to her life and to our family. We would appreciate your help!

https://www.adopttogether.org/bertschfamily

2 Corinthians 9

LID!

LID!!!

Log In Date

11/26/13

Our dossier has officially been logged into the CCCWA system. 

(The China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption).

This is a huge step in our journey. 

We are now eligible to receive a file from the shared list. The shared list comes out once a month at night and agencies wait up to find children that match adoptive family profiles. 

Things will be pretty quiet on the adoption journey until we receive a match. 

Please pray with us as we wait for God to show us our daughter.

we are praying for patience,

we are praying for wisdom,
we are praying for our daughter's health,
we are praying for the paperwork,
we are praying for the caregivers who are taking care of our daughter,
we are praying that God will prepare our daughter's heart for the crazy road ahead,

we are praying that God will prepare all of our children for this transition,
we are praying that He will prepare us for the final part of our journey.

Will you join us on our knees?

Dossier to China!

We are excited to say that we are 

finally DTC (Dossier to China)!!!! 

A dossier is what we have been working on for the past 11 months.
Pretty much an in depth look at our family.

Just a little to explain what went into the Home Study and Dossier...

Home Study:

• Home Study Application, Application Fee, Home Study Fee
• A Family Picture, a Data Sheet and Autobiography of both Nick and myself
• Certified Copies of our Birth Certificates and Marriage Certificate
• Copies of our Driver’s Licenses and Auto Insurance
• Our most recent IRS 1040
• Financial Statements
• Employment Verification Letters
• FBI Fingerprinting for both Nick and myself, as well as background checks
• Medical Statements from our physicians
• A Fire Inspection, Safety Audit and Home Evacuation Plan 
• 12 hours of online adoption/parenting Training
• 3 Home Study Visits with our Home Study Social Worker (These visits are turned into an 11 page biography of our family.)
• Letters of Reference

The completed Home Study was then sent to Holt to be included with the Dossier.

Dossier:

(Most of these items had to be notarized, state certified in Indianapolis and authenticated in Chicago)

• Application Letter
• Our Home Study
• Adoptive Parents Form
• Certified Copies of our Birth Certificates and Marriage Certificate
• Copies of both of our Passport Pages
• Photos of the inside and outside of our home
• Photos of our family together, Nick and myself, and passport size photos of Nick and myself
• Three Letters of Reference 
• Employment Letters 
• Certificate of Financial Status
• Physical Exams and Medical Statements
• Police Clearances for Nick and myself done by our local police department
•  I-797- Immigration approval

On Friday the Nov 8th we sent our dossier to our agency. They reviewed it and found a problem. UGH! We quickly signed an addendum and sent it back next day air. It HAD to get there before Thurs afternoon in order for our papers to go to China on Friday. Whew, they made it! 

On Friday, Nov 15th, our Dossier was sent to China. 

It will arrive in China Monday and they will log it into their system. 

In a couple weeks, we should get our LID (log in date). This is a very exciting thing. After we have LID, we are eligible to receive a referral. 
So, it could happen at any time. Of course, it could take a while too so we are trying not to get our hopes up. 

We would love additional prayers as God reveals HIS plan for us. 

Be sure to follow our blog for more updates.

Fundraiser Blessing

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

During these past couple weeks, I have been trying to come up with the right words to express our gratitude towards the support we received through our Fall Fundraiser . 

Conclusion, there is not a single word to describe our sincere thankfulness. 

Nick's Brother, Matt and his wife Elizabeth, put a lot of hard work and love into this party. 
Elizabeth, had beautiful decorations and the most delicious food prepared. 
She can easily be described as a gracious person. 
Thank you!!!!

Beautiful garage for our food line.

Just a couple of the many food and kitchen help. Thanks ladies for all your help!

Our Welcome table with information and delicious caramel corn.

Nick's sister, Terri, helped me welcome our guests the entire day. She also made all the caramel corn (which was A LOT). 

Thank you Terri for all your hard work and for your help! 

We appreciate you!

On October 20, the Lord gave us a beautiful day to celebrate our adoption.

Many of you, our family and friends and even complete strangers, showed up for tons of food and fun. We were so humbled as we greeted each of you. 

Thanks Bob for helping!

My sweet niece, Alaya

We had come fun activities like......
balloon dart game (thanks Terri!)

 Carnival type games
Nick's Mom bought goody bags and prizes for all the kids. When they finished playing a game, they could fill up their bags with trinkets and candy. 

Nick made this barn rope swing. Tons of fun!

Nick also made a couple of these climbing ladders. 

Such a handy man!

 Playhouse and swing set

 Barrel train ride. 
My handsome husband having fun driving. 
Love you honey!

Hay rides 

 This inflatable obstacle course was the main attraction for both adults and kids. 

My lovely husband being a kid and LOVING it!!!

We were able to capture the entire day through a friend of mine. Kelsi gave of her time to come and photograph the events of the day. Not an easy task but she did a fabulous job! 
Thank you for your kindness and support!


This fundraiser was a huge success!!! 
It exceed our expectations.  
Yes, adoption is expensive but we know that God has a plan. 

Through your generous giving and loving support we raised almost $6,000! 

Wow, our God sure is amazing!
Our family is so blessed!
Nick and I are blown away by all the love, encouraging cards, financial donations and promises of prayer. Thank you!