Home study is scheduled and a free way to raise money for orphans!

Our first home study visit is scheduled for Saturday, July 11th! Although we would like it sooner to move the process along, the timing seems perfect. It gives us time to get some business things taken care of, 4H projects put together and our house cleaned up a little more.

The 10 hours of dvds that we have to watch were just sent out today - so by the middle of next week we get to become a little more educated about adoption. I'm looking forward to it.

I was just emailed a great way to earn money for children who need to be adopted - and it's free! If you go to www.goodsearch.com and put in "Madison Adoption Associates" then 1 cent for every search you do will be given to Madison Adoption to be put towards helping orphans. It doesn't cost you anything. You can even add it as a toolbar so you always remeber to use it - oh, and it is a yahoo product so your search results will be the same as if you were just using yahoo to search. Please take the time to sign up for this as well as take the time to spread the word to others. We are using it even though Madison is not our adoption agency. It is the children that are important.

In His name,

The Burgess Family

One step closer!

We dropped off all the paperwork to the home study agency that we needed to in order to get assigned our social worker. We may get to meet with her next week! Looks like now I have to get busy straightening up our house!

We also sent in a check to our adoption agency to receive some DVD's that are a part of the "Because They Waited Education System". It is part of the educational requirements we need to fulfill. We will have to watch the DVD's and then go online to answer questions. We could have went to a local class for the training but because of the slow-down in adoptions most places aren't offering the class right now. I am looking forward to watching the DVD's with Kevin - all 10 hours of them!

In His name,

The Burgess Family

Great evening at Chik-fil-A

We had a wonderful, memorable time at Chik-fil-A the other night. Thank you to all who stopped in to eat - and to those who made a donation!

The kids did so well at cleaning up tables, wiping down trays, asking if anyone needed anything, and talking to other children's parents to see if they would like a balloon. We will remember the evening as a family for a long time to come. The kids really impressed me!

Paperwork update: We are working on getting a bunch of papers submitted to our home study agency. After that, we will be able to get assigned a social worker. Our plan is to have the papers to our agency this week.

In His name,

The Burgess Family

Come join us at Chik-fil-A in Plainfield this Thursday, June 4th from 5 to 8 pm!

We are so excited to be able to have a fundraiser at one of our favorite places to eat! Chik-fil-A in Plainfield is donating a portion of all sales this Thursday, June 4th from 5 pm to 8 pm towards our adoption of a little girl from China. We welcome everyone to come and enjoy an evening out at Chik-fil-A with us. There will be free coloring for the children (adults to if you want!) and free balloons as well!

Thank you Chik-fil-A for giving us this opportunity and for showing your support of adoption! As a Christian family, we our always thrilled to see how much, as a Christian business, you are involved in the community.

Hope to see you there,

The Burgess Family

Blessed to reach first fundraising goal – the same day the bill arrived in the mail!

We had a fundraising goal of $1,350, which is the first big payment due for our adoption. The very day we raised just over that amount, was the day the bill came in the mail. Coincidence? We don’t think so. We believe it was God showing us that His hand is a part of this process, and that He will be a part of it all the way!

I know I already commented on it – but our first yard sale was amazing financially – bringing in over $1,000 towards the adoption. That was on a Friday and Saturday. That next Thursday, we sold food at a Home School Used Book and Curriculum Sale. Thanks to the generous donations and food purchases of many, we were blessed with over $200.00 in just 4 hours of time! Then, the next day on Friday and then Saturday, we had decided to go ahead and set out the items left over from the first yard sale at our own home. We live off from US 40 where every year at this time there are hundreds of miles of yard sales through multiple states. We put out a few signs directing people to our sale and were blessed with another $200.00!

I know I write a lot about the fundraising part of this adoption, but I want to make it clear that it isn't only the financial aspects of the fundraising that we have been blessed. We have been able to speak with so many people that are adopting, have done foster care, are thinking about adopting, have had siblings who were adopted, and so on. We had so many people stop at our sales - just because the signs said "Adoption Fundraising Sale".

As a family, our eyes are being opened to something so big that words can't even describe it. Growing up, I would watch the television commercials saying that for just the price of a cup of coffee you can feed a child for a week. Those children are real! There are children that are starving not only for food, but for family - for someone to wrap their arms around them and say they love them - to stick by them and encourage them. To teach them of Jesus and give them a home filled with love. We are so thankful to God for bringing us down this road. We are thankful that we are able to provide a home to a little girl who needs one, we are thankful as a mom and dad who are looking forward to having another daughter, for two sisters who would like another to call "sissy", and for one brother who is already thinking about what he will do with THREE sisters instead of just two.

In His name,

The Burgess Family