Loving Our Boys Home

You are the missing piece!  Help us bring Josiah and Gideon home!  We need to raise funds for our adoption and we wanted something meaningful for our boys' room so that they will be able to see who helped to "love them home."

.  

We have purchased an Asian-themed puzzle.  For each $10 donation you make to our adoption fund, we will write your name or the name of your choosing (your mom, dad, child or grandchild’s name) on the back of the puzzle piece. You can buy as many puzzle pieces as you like!  When our boys come home, they will be able to look at the back of the puzzle and see all of the people who gave so they could become a member of our forever family.  I love this so much!  I love that our boys will be able to know that each of you shared a part in bringing them home!

We have $5830 in fees coming up when we file for our visa and submit our dossier.  This puzzle coupled with the t-shirt fundraiser we completed will help us raise those fees.

So, how do you buy a puzzle piece?  Email me at adoptionrocks4@gmail.com or private message me on facebook (Heather Bishop Shubert).  I will reply with our home address, where you can send a check and the name(s) you want written on the back of the puzzle piece(s).  You can also donate through our tax deductible giving site, www.adopttogether.org/shubertfamily Just make sure to let me know what name(s) you want on your pieces.

You can follow our adoption and the progress of this fundraiser here or in our private facebook group. If you wanted added to our facebook group, comment below.

P.S. For those of you who gave in 2013 toward our puzzle fundraiser, this is the same puzzle and you will finally get to see it completed.  (We were planning to adopt from Taiwan and stopped promoting the fundraiser when our agency wasn't able to process adoptions anymore.)

I will update with puzzle progress and you guys can see if you can figure out what the image is!

Love y'all!

So where are you in the process?

We've had lots of people ask this question, "So where are you in the process?"  So I thought I'd take a moment to answer that.  :)  Because we were matched with two waiting children, we are completing a couple of steps at the same time.  Our home study is nearly finished and we are beginning to work on our dossier.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the China adoption process, our dossier is a huge binder of documents that we have to submit to China before they will begin on our adoption process from their stand point.  As of now, they have preapproved us to adopt Jing and Guang, but they require the dossier to officially approve us.

If you'd like you can pray for us as we complete this mound of paperwork.  Brian has some training to complete and another document that he has to complete in order for our home study to be signed off on by our home study agency.  Then, it has to be examined and approved by our adoption agency. After that, we can begin our application with USCIS.  We are already working on our dossier and compiling documents.  Please pray for understanding on my part as this is a bit overwhelming.  It is much more complicated than Nathanael's adoption was.

We also have some big fees coming up, so please pray that God provides.  If you feel led to help, there are a couple of ways you can do so.  We have a site where you can give and it's tax deductible.  www.adopttogether.org/shubertfamily  We love this ministry's heart for adoptive families.

We have t-shirts for sale until June 30th.  The story behind them is that God is calling us to be brave in stepping out to adopt our precious boys.  2 Timothy 1:7 is one of my favorite verses for putting my eyes on Jesus and not the situation.  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."  2 Timothy 1:7  You can find our shirts here if you're interested,  https://teespring.com/stores/shubert-adoption

Thank you so much for your support and your prayers!  We appreciate you all so much!

What's happening?

Hi everyone.  I apologize for neglecting my blog.  I wanted to help you understand why I haven't posted.

1.  There really hasn't been much news to share.  Our agency is referring babies to families at a slow pace right now.  They have been fundraising to meet a new requirement in Taiwan that would enable them (Taiwan Xi En) to place children independently.  They expect referrals to increase once they have met their goal.  ***Good news:  Taiwan Xi En has reached 74% of their goal.  If you'd like to help I have a few more baby bottles where you can collect change to help them reach their goal.  Just comment on this post if you'd like one and I will be happy to get it to you.  You can fill a baby bottle, you can hand them out at work, or you can donate directly here.  God is providing and it is so exciting to see it!!

2.  We have been in full on craft show mode.  You can also purchase our items on facebook here and on etsy here. They make great Christmas gifts! Be on the look out for some deals before Christmas!  Here are some of the items we are making and selling to raise funds for our adoption.
Brian makes wire crosses...

I make several styles of scarves...

 

And Nathanael and I make yummy striped lollipops called Jollypops.  These make great party favors or stocking stuffers and you can choose from several colors...

 

 

Thank you so much for praying for us during this adoption journey.  We really need it!  Waiting is so difficult, yet we know that God is in control.  He has confirmed to us that he will provide for our adoption and we are trusting HIM. 

 

Love to all of you,

 

The Shuberts

 

 

 

 

Matching Grant

We have a donor who will match all donations to our adoption fund, or sales in our crafting shop up to $1,000!  Isn't that amazing! If we can raise $1,000 and have it matched, we will be VERY close to our referral fee!  So how can you help?

1.  You can donate with a tax deductible gift here, 

2.  You can donate by mailing us a check.  If you'd like to do this comment on this post with your email address and I will send you our address. (Cash donations are also accepted.)

3.  You can purchase a puzzle piece from our puzzle fundraiser.  The pieces are $10 each.  You can buy as many as you want and the name or names of your choosing will be written on the back of the piece.  The puzzle will hang in Baby Shubert's room and he or she will know that you helped to bring them home to our forever family.

4.  You can purchase from our crafting shop here or here.  We sell t-shirt infinity scarves and take orders for jollypops and wire crosses.  They make great Christmas presents and you can request certain colors if you like for both the jollypops and the wire crosses.

5.  You can pray for God to provide the funds.  I would love to take advantage of the full $1,000 match.

I have added a thermometer to the right for you to see the progress of our match.  All donations must be received by October 18, 2013.

Thank you in advance for your prayers, shopping, and giving!

With love from The Shuberts

Todays Programming Is Brought To You By the Letter P...Preschool, Puzzle, and Packages

OK, I know it's cheesey, but hey, I'm the mother of a preschooler and Sesame Street is a part of my life!  Yes I said PRESCHOOL!  Can you believe it?  Since I last posted, Nathanael has started preschool. He goes 2 days a week for a few hours and really loves it!  It is so good for my little extrovert to get to be around other kids.

I also wanted to update you all about the adoption and our adoption fundraising.  We have had some awesome donations to our puzzle fundraiser.  The Martin Family--Ernest, Linda, Star, Nathaniel, Noah and Abigail as well as the Kirk Family--Mark, Sharon, Jake, Delaney, Heather, Ronnie, and Shiana recently purchased puzzle pieces bringing our total to 62/500 puzzle pieces purchased.  That's $620 of our $5,000 goal! If you'd like to purchase puzzle pieces with your name on them or the name of your loved ones, you can donate here and it is tax deductible.  The puzzle will hang in our child's room and they will know that you helped to love them home to our family through your giving.  Each puzzle piece is $10.  All 500 pieces sold= our referral fee.  This is the amount we need as soon as we are matched with a child, which could be any day or a few more months.  We have no idea.  Can you skip a coffee purchase or eating out 1 meal to help bring an orphan home to our forever family?  We'd be eternally grateful.  

Here is an updated picture of the puzzle.  Any guesses what it is?  Not yet?  Well, buy a few pieces or encourage your friends and family to!  

Now for the packages...I have been making and selling scarves like these to sell here on our crafting page.  Nathanael and I have also been making Jollypops (really cute striped lollipops).  All of this = lots of packages to be mailed out and lots of trips to the post office.  And I love every minute of it because every package mailed brings us a little closer to Baby Shubert coming home.  Nathanael loves it to, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with opening and closing the mail drop door at least 10 times every time we go! Love my little exploring boy!

Now we have added these wire crosses that Brian makes, as well.

If you are interested in purchasing any of our crafting items, click on this link.  Then click on photos and albums.  You will see all of our items currently for sale. They make great fall purchases or Christmas gifts! 

We have 2 craft shows next week.  Please help us pray that God blesses our efforts and this adoption fundraising.  We are so happy that you have joined us on this journey.  Thank you for your prayers, love and support!

Puzzle Progress

We've had more donations to our puzzle fundraiser and I wanted to give you guys a "sneak peek" at how the puzzle is shaping up.  We've had 26 puzzle pieces purchased.  Thank you to each one of you!  That is $260 toward our referral fee!
A special thank you to our newest "purchasers":  Joel, Kristi, Logan, Elijah, and Emily Foudy; Rossi Whitmer (x3); My secret sister (x2); and Patricia Stewart.

If we sell all of the pieces of this puzzle, we will raise our referral fee.  Pieces sell for just $10 each.  You can choose what name you want written on the back of the puzzle piece.  We are going to hang the puzzle in our baby's room and as he or she grows up, our child will know who helped to bring him home to our forever family.  So how do you purchase pieces of the puzzle?

1.  Click here.  This is our profile on Adopt Together.  Just click the "Donate Now" button.  Be sure write what names you want on the puzzle pieces.  There is space to do that in the comment section on that page.  This allows you to pay via credit card, debit card, or check and 100% of the money comes to us.  (It's tax deductible, too!)

2.  Email me at adoptionrocks4@gmail(dot)com  and I will reply with our mailing address.  You can then mail the money and names directly to us.

Thank you again for all of you who have given, prayed, and loved on us since we started this adoption process.  We love you all!!!

Hello Friends and Family!

I wanted to say hello and let you all know what has been going on in the Shubert household.  We were in Indianapolis last week for General Assembly for The Church of the Nazarene.  We had a great time catching up with dear friends, visiting with current friends, and meeting new friends.

This week I am at my parents' house.  I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a reception for my parents at Shelbyville Wesleyan Church.  My dad and mom were honored for 12 years of ministry there.  I am also helping them pack to move.  I can't say enough about my family.  They were the constant in my life as a PK.  I always knew I could count on them.  They weren't just my parents, they, along with my siblings were my best friends.  My dad has prayed for me (and my sister and brother) everyday of my life.  As a result, we all love the Lord and each other.  Both of my parents have lived the life of servanthood in front of their children.  I am so thankful my Heavenly Father placed me in their home.

While I've been here, I have been working on scarves to sell for our adoption.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out our page here.  I have made 22 scarves in the past day and a half!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all of you who have visited our page, "liked" our page, shared our page, or purchased a scarf!  You are such a blessing to us!  Look for new scarves soon.  I plan to take pictures and post the new scarves later today.

As far as the adoption, we continue to wait for a referral.  Would you pray for us that we would trust the Lord with our adoption process, finances, and timing?  This is easy to do when we speak in generalities, but the difficulty comes in the day by day...moment by moment decisions to trust.

Thank you for praying for us, loving us, and letting us be a part of your lives!

Puzzle and Notes from Nathanael!

We have had 15 puzzle pieces purchased up to this point.  Thank you so much for giving!  I have been having a difficult time getting the names on the back of the pieces to show in pictures, so I want to thank the following people who have given recently:  Courtney Chapman, Giselle and Terry Chapman, Matthew, Tara, and Mary Alice Fraser, Evan Offut, and Ellen Mindrup.  We appreciate each of you so much!
Here are pictures of the progress of the puzzle.

If you'd like to support our adoption by purchasing puzzle pieces for $10 each, there are two ways you can donate.
1.  You can make a tax deductible donation in any amount using the following link: http://adopttogether.org/shubertfamily/
Just type the name you want on each piece in the comments section.

2.  You can comment on here or private message me on facebook that you'd like to donate.  I will private message you our address and you can send us a check.


Nathanael wants to share some memories with you.  :)

                                                                  I see you!

                                                                         Cheese

                                        I'm so excited to ride on the boat with Papaw and Daddy!

                                                                       Boat time!

                                                I caught my first fish and I was so excited!

                                                       Then I caught 2 more all in 15 minutes!

I love to fish!

NEWS!!!

We are so happy to report progress in our adoption.  Our home study is complete!  We received it in the mail yesterday.  Our next step is to send our application to USCIS (immigration), which brings me to the next subject...fundraising.  I really dislike asking for money, but we are passionate about obeying God and following James 1:27. We have an immediate need of around $7,500 for our referral fee, USCIS fees, Nathanael's passport, etc.

View our profile on AdoptTogether. This is a crowd funding platform where our friends, family, and even strangers can donate to our adoption. And it is tax deductible!  For more information on AdoptTogether and how it works, watch the video on the right sidebar.

We have a profile at www.adopttogether.org/shubertfamily.  Please consider giving.  Any amount will help us reach our goal!  You can also help by sharing our profile on facebook or twitter.  Prayer is always a great support for our adoption.  We need it.

Thank you friends and family for your love, support and generosity!  You have purchased 15 puzzle pieces which is $150 toward our goal! Pictures of the puzzle coming soon!

Puzzle Fundraiser

Most of you know by now that we have begun the process to adopt our second child.  We are so excited to be adopting from Taiwan again.  We are starting our fundraising early in the process because this adoption will be much more costly than our last adoption.  We feel God clearly leading us to adopt again, so we are stepping out in faith to obey him.  

I wanted to share our puzzle fundraiser and our progress with it.

YOU are the missing piece!  

Help us bring our baby home from Taiwan.  We need to raise funds for our adoption and we wanted something meaningful for our new baby’s room so that he or she would be able to see who helped to "love them home"

.  

We have purchased an Asian-themed puzzle.  For each $10 donation you make to our adoption fund, we will write your name or the name of your choosing (your mom, dad, child or grandchild’s name) on the back of the puzzle piece. 

Then when our baby is a little older, he or she will be able to look at the back of the puzzle and see all of the people who gave so they could become a member of our forever family. 

We will post pictures as the puzzle begins to come together.  

So, how do you buy a puzzle piece?  Email me at adoptionrocks4 at gmail dot com or private message me on facebook (Heather Bishop Shubert).  I will reply with our home address, where you can send a check and the name(s) you want written on the back of the puzzle piece(s).

You can follow our adoption and the progress of this fundraiser here or in our private facebook group.  If you look to the right, you will see thermometers.  Check those to see how our fundraisers are progressing.

We've had our first donation to our puzzle fundraiser.  Can you guess the picture, yet?

Thank you for your support of our adoption through prayer and through giving.  We appreciate you!

We are adopting again!

We have felt God tugging at our hearts to add to our little family.  We are excited to announce that we are adopting from Taiwan again.  We have been on a waiting list to adopt for quite some time and just recently received approval of our adoption application. 

Here's how you can help.

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”—James 1:27

YOU are the missing piece!  

Help us bring our baby home from Taiwan.  We need to raise funds for our adoption and we wanted something meaningful for our new baby’s room so that he or she would be able to see who helped to "love them home"

.  

We have purchased an Asian-themed puzzle.  For each $10 donation you make to our adoption fund, we will write your name or the name of your choosing (your mom, dad, child or grandchild’s name) on the back of the puzzle piece. 

Then when our baby is a little older, he or she will be able to look at the back of the puzzle and see all of the people who gave so they could become a member of our forever family. 

We will post pictures as the puzzle begins to come together.  

So, how do you buy a puzzle piece?  Email me at adoptionrocks4 at gmail dot com.  I will reply with our home address, where you can send a check and the name(s) you want written on the back of the puzzle piece(s).

You can follow our adoption and the progress of this fundraiser here or in our private facebook group.

To the right you will see a fundraising thermometer.  As funds come in for this puzzle fundraiser, I will update the thermometer and you can see how things are progressing for us.

If you cannot give, please know that we understand.  Please follow our journey and pray for us!
Thank you so much!

Fundraiser and Prayer Request

Remember the Trees of Christmas, Silent Auction, and Cookie Shop event at Crossroads Church of the Nazarene in Ocean Springs, MS from 4-6 pm on December 5th. There will be great gift items as well as delicious goodies to buy for yourself or give as a gift. There will be cards available for you to put in your gift stating that the proceeds from the gift went to the Shubert Adoption Fund.

In other news, Please pray about our homestudy. I have contacted our social worker several times with no response. We cannot be matched with a child until the homestudy is completed. We have been waiting on one item to be returned to her from a government agency. We need this detail worked out to move to the next stage of our adoption...which is meeting Baby Shubert through pictures and information from The Home of God's Love. We would appreciate your prayers about this matter.

"Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among people who please God." Luke 2:14 NCV

Adoption Fundraiser

Come one, come all to Crossroads Church on December 5th from 4-6 p.m. Our church is hosting a Christmas event, as well as a fundraiser for our adoption! Come enjoyed themed Christmas trees and hot chocolate at the trees of Christmas event.
Stay for the silent auction ending at 5:30 p.m. and featuring pottery, jewelry, decorative crosses, crafts, a muzzleloader, a deer stand, a night of babysitting, a Dallas Cowboys jersey, an Alabama memorabilia item, a family portrait, a fishing trip for 4 on the gulf with food and bait provided, a father/son or father/daughter hunting trip in Stateline, MS and much, much more.
Also attend the Cookie shop where you can purchase a tin and choose 12 cookies, brownies, bars or candies to fill it for $5. Purchase as many tins as you like. These come in handy for Christmas parties and gifts.
We look forward to seeing you there! Thanks to all of you who have donated items and baked goodies for this event!

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are very glad." Psalm 126:3