Summer!

Well, another school year is done! Lud and I both get summer pretty much off, so we were really excited to take a little vacation away this past week.

We started off camping and fishing at Grand Isle, Louisiana, but we decided after a couple of days that we would venture to New Orleans to visit a friend and eat some good food.

Lud's first catch on our trip!

 The view from our tent on the beach. 

Alligator at Avery Island

Yummy beignets at Cafe du Monde! 

After a little Louisiana vacation, Lud reported to Annual Conference in Jackson, while I hung out with my mom and sissy. My sister got a labradoodle puppy this week and we are sooooo in love! I was so excited we were in Jackson to to meet her!

Meet Olive! 

We'll be doing all sorts of fun things this summer with family and friends, so  I hope to keep the blog updated more regularly. We'll see.... 

Adoption Update:     Our adoption fundraiser yard sale was a success! We raised enough money to be ready to submit our dossier and set some aside for the referral fee. We submitted our I-600A form and have received our FBI fingerprinting appointment. When those results are back we should  be able to submit our dossier!! I'm really hoping to have it submitted by the end of June, if we can collect the rest of our documents quickly.  While this paperwork has taken us a while, we know that everything is in God's perfect timing. Nothing in international adoption is fast, so we just keep moving slowly and steadily through the process. :)

One Step Closer & an Exciting Fundraiser

I am so excited to let everyone know that we have completed our homestudy! We're just waiting to receive the final draft, but we've already filled out our I-600A which is the next step before we send our dossier to Ghana. We have a few more documents to collect for our dossier that we'll be collecting while we wait on the I-600A to be approved. Collecting all the papers has been a lot of work, and I just can't wait to have them in Ghana because then we'll be ready for our referral!

I do want to let everyone know that we need your prayer for international adoption in Ghana right now. There are a few people in powerful positions who want to restrict international adoptions and are trying to suspend adoptions until there are more laws surrounding them. The main concern of these people is human trafficking, which we are also passionate about. We appreciate that they do not want orphans to be trafficked, but we do feel that our agency is ethical. While this news is disheartening, Lud and I know we are supposed to adopt from Ghana, so we will keep moving forward in the process.

On another note, we've sold my old car which means we are almost monetarily ready to submit our dossier! We're also having a a yard sale this weekend that we're really excited about. Our church family has been so generous in giving us furniture, clothes, books, and numerous other items. The money made from this should put us in good shape to send the dossier in soon. Anything we make over the amount of the dossier will be set aside for our referral fee.

Speaking of fundraisers....I am so excited that my sweet cousin Ashley and her husband want to help us fund raise through their business. They make  awesome map prints and mugs at www.MapMyState.com.

Here are some samples of their work:

She sent us this print of Africa with Ghana highlighted. We LOVE it!! These prints make great wedding gifts, going away gifts, house warming gifts, graduation gifts, or even just buying one to decorate in your home. All you have to do is enter "LUDLAMS" in the order notes when you check out and we'll receive the profits for our adoption!

*This Ludlam Special will run until May 15th. Spread the word! 

Adoption Update

Goodness! It's been a crazy few weeks....I had not even realized that so much time had passed since our pottery post. THANK YOU to everyone who shared our status and especially those to bought a piece of pottery!!! We still have a few pieces left and are picking some different pieces up this weekend, so I'll do another post about those soon.

This is what I've been hearing a lot of lately..."Sooooo, any adoption news?!?"

It's so sweet the way people want to keep up with our adoption. However, not much has happened on that front. We're still working on paperwork, our home study, and getting our dossier together. Also, as I have learned more about our agency and have been meeting other families with our agency, I'm learning that we may be in for a pretty good wait on seeing our baby's face.

Basically, I think I've figured out that we're #4 or 5 for a boy under three years old (for our agency). The family at #1 has been waiting 8 months for a referral. Another family was told the wait may be 9 - 12 months. So, even though none of this has been told to me personally by our agency, I would say we have a little bit of a wait ahead of us.  While we may see our baby's face in 2013, we probably won't be bringing a baby home until 2014. However, God is good all the time, so we know when He decides it's the right time it will be. :) Please pray with us for referrals!

One more thing I wanted to mention in this post is about our fundraising.  While most people have been so supportive, I know that it may not make sense to some people why we're fundraising. I've seen adoptive families defend themselves about fundraising, and I vowed I would never do that because it's our life and our decision to fundraise. However, I thought I might clarify why we need to. First, we truly believe we have been called by God to adopt from Ghana at this time in our lives. I also don't know if I've told y'all this, but it will cost close to $30,000 to bring this child home. Yes! I did just say $30,000! While we did start saving over the past few months for this, let's just say that it certainly has not reached that amount. (Not even close!)

Our next big amount is due when we send our dossier to Ghana. We need to send our dossier to Ghana as soon as possible so we'll be ready for a referral. That's where fundraising comes in. We're trying really hard to cut back and save our money in any way possible, but we've also got to get creative to raise money in order to be able to pay this next large amount.  We will apply for grants and such when our homestudy is completed, but that won't be soon enough to pay for the dossier.

Soooooo, if it offends you that we're fundraising, I'm so sorry. But --- we believe that God equips those whom He calls. He will provide for this adoption. If He uses you, we'll be so thankful! If you do like our little fundraisers, then look forward to a blog post about our next fundraiser really soon!

First Fundraiser!

Lud and I are very excited to begin the first fundraiser for our adoption! 

First, a word from Lud about our fundraiser: 
  
       "My mom, Jennifer Ludlam, has been an art teacher for over 20 years. Throughout these years of teaching she has become an expert in many areas of art, but her specialty lies in pottery. Her pottery is amazing! All of her pottery is individually crafted, skillfully hand glazed, and fired to perfection in her home kiln. We are very lucky that she has agreed to use her incredible talent to help us fundraise for our adoption. So, for the first time in history we introduce for public purchase, J. Ludlam Pottery."

We will be selling pottery that Lud's mom helped us make for our first fundraiser! It has a West African look about it, and each piece is one of a kind. If you would like to purchase a certain piece, please email me at darringtonl@gmail.com and let me know which piece it is. We'll work out the details from there! 

#1 Tall Vase w/ Chevron - 10" tall SOLD! 

#2 Tall Vase w/ Dots and Lines - 10" tall SOLD!

#3 Cross Plate - 8" x 8" (1 available) $35

#4 Flower Plate - 8" x 8" SOLD!

#5 Tall Vase w/ Ichthus - 10" tall SOLD!  $55

#6 Tall Vase a/ Big Chevron - 10" tall (1 available) 

*This one has a little white spot on the back so it's only $45

#7 Tall Vase w/ Lud's Crazy Swirls - 10" tall (1 available) $55

#8 Round Vase - 4 1/2" tall (3 available) $35

*We have more on the way, and when we run out of these we will make more of the most popular styles!

Also, you might notice that I have added a donate button to the side of my blog. If you feel led to donate, click the button and it will lead you to Paypal where you can enter in the amount you wish to donate. For any donations over $20 we have "Thank You" pottery crosses that we will ship you. 

We appreciate and feel so loved by everyone's support of our adoption. 

*Thanks to b.flint photography for photographing our pieces!*

Homestudy and Home Tour

I am so excited that tomorrow is our first homestudy visit! Of course, we've been cleaning like crazy people. I want to really thank my mama for coming and organizing our laundry room! (Plus doing a ton of other things!) We would really appreciate if y'all would pray that our visit goes well. I'll be so happy when we get done with our homestudy, because we'll be ready for that referral!

Since we have such a clean house and have to send in pictures for our homestudy, I thought I'd share the pictures of the house with y'all too.

Front of the house: 

Back of the house:

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Soon to be Nursery!: 

Guest Bathroom:

Study:

* I took these with my phone, so they're not great! I think you can tell, though, that we love color! Oh, almost forgot --- we do have a master bedroom and bath too, but I haven't taken those pictures yet. 

Overwhelmed

This week I have felt so overwhelmed . . . . by so many things.

At times, the loss of my grandfather is so overwhelming to me that tears stream down my face.

Sometimes I wonder how my classroom got so disorganized and when I will find the time to reorganize it.

While I can see the light with the end of my grad school classes in July, I believe this semester may be the most challenging yet.

In the midst of trying to complete grad school papers, now I have a mound of paperwork to complete for the adoption.

BUT - I have also felt overwhelmed by the response of all of our family, coworkers, Wesley students, friends, and church members to our adoption news. Everyone has been so excited and willing to support us! It has overwhelmed me a beautiful way. To be honest, I was hesitant to spread the news because I didn't know how people would react. While I feel confident that God is calling us to this, I didn't know what other people would think. I know that we will run into people who think we are crazy, but I am just so thankful for the people God has placed in our lives who simply support us.

During this overwhelmed feeling, I read this scripture one morning:
   1 Corinthians 10 : 13 (The Message)
  "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had  to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you through it."

Oh my goodness, it was so fitting for what I needed to hear.  How many women have children, are working, and in grad school? How many women have dishes to clean, furniture to dust, and floors to mop? How many women have jobs and have adopted? How many people have lost loved ones over the holiday season?  PLENTY! I'm not the only one. So many people have been through the same situations and survived just fine. Plus, I don't have it all on my shoulders. God is with me and he knows how much I can handle. What a relief! By today, I have repeated that scripture so many times that I feel ten times better than I did on Monday.

Also, as a bonus, God provided a contact that led me to a Ghana adoption group on Facebook that has already been so informative. I feel like I have so many resources to learn from and people to relate to now.

Yay for the weekend too!

Changes in 2013!

      I've been wanting to announce this in a cute, creative way, but with my grandfather being ill and passing away I haven't had the time or energy.  BUT - We are very excited to announce that we have begun the process of adopting from Ghana! 

      Almost exactly a year to the day that I felt God calling us to adopt, Lud felt that he was ready to begin the process of adopting. After researching the agencies who were still working in Ghana and requesting references from them, we decided to apply to Faith International Adoptions in Tacoma, Washington. We applied and got accepted into the program to adopt a child 0 - 24 months.  Over the holidays we worked on getting some paperwork filled out and have officially mailed in our contract! 

      SO - I know the big questions are 1) What happens now? and 2) How long will it take before you bring home a baby?

      Answer to #1:  Now we are filling out paperwork for what is called our "dossier."  Basically, it includes a homestudy (a report that summarizes visits and interviews with us), background checks, physicals, good citizen reports, birth certificates, our marriage license, etc. Most of which have to be notarized. It should take us about three months to collect all the documents and complete the homestudy. 

      Answer to #2:  As soon as our contract gets processed, then our agency will start the process of matching us with a child. Due to multiple circumstances, this could happen faster or slower just depending on our age parameters and the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare.  Once they find a child that matches our parameters then our agency will send us what is called a referral. The referral will have a picture and whatever information is available about the child's health. We will then accept the referral if we feel right about it. The referral could happen before or after we've completed the dossier.  If we haven't completed it by the time we get our referral, then you better believe we will finish it as soon as possible! Once we accept the referral and the dossier is processed in Ghana, then we will travel for our first trip to Ghana to meet our child and go to Ghanaian court. (I can barely stand typing this b/c I'm so excited!!) Unfortunately, after our first trip, we'll have to return to home without our baby.  We'll have to wait until the American Embassy processes the adoption. Then, we'll return to Ghana and bring home our baby forever! The entire process should take about a year. 

      While all this sounds so simple and easy in a paragraph, it is a very challenging and detailed process.  We will  need the prayers and support of our family and friends. I will use this blog to keep everyone updated, but it will also be used to help spread the word of ways you can help us bring our baby home.  From talking about this with numerous friends and family, I know everyone feels differently about whether it is okay to monetarily support families' adoptions.  While we are going to primarily pay for the adoption ourselves, adoption is different from having a baby in the hospital where the bill is mostly paid through insurance, and we may need to do fundraisers or ask for monetary gifts in lieu of traditional baby gifts. All I ask is that you prayerfully consider the way you feel comfortable about supporting us.  We love y'all and appreciate any support you give us! 

       We could have a baby home by the end of 2013! So excited about changes in 2013!