I don’t even know where to start…..we sent out the letter below to our friends and family – it was to update them on where we are at in the process of our adoption, information on costs for out of state adoption and prayer requests. With the letter I added a little business size prayer reminder card and an envelope with our address on if they wanted to support us financially too.
I am lost for words at the generosity of our friends and family. As I mentioned in the letter – yes we are able to financially raise another little one, but with out of state costs associated with adoption it is a LOT up front once matched. Plus the cost of travel expenses and all that it entails. I just can’t thank everyone enough for their support, their prayers and also their excitement for our family.
No, we aren’t matched yet – and that’s ok. We know that God has our birth family chosen as well as our baby. We know that the wait might be long, we know that it’s not in our control and we’re good with that. He chose our son Wyatt for us and his birth family (who are amazing) and our prayer is that we are close to our next birth family as well.
Feel free to copy this letter, share it with friends who are also adopting and wanting to do a fundraiser. I used many different examples that I found on Google and Pinterest to write ours. I’ve shared it with our social worker to share with other families in our agency to write their own. We want to support other families who are also adopting – this is something that God has used us for many times over.
You can also check out our FB page for more updates: Paddock Family Adventures
Letter to Friends and Family:
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Hello Family and Friends!
We’re embarking on a new adventure this year with our family…another adoption. Yes, you read that right, we’re adding to our little family! We’ve felt that our family isn’t quite complete and last spring, while on a kid free vacation, Ryan and I felt God pulling us towards adoption again. It’s scary, exciting, stressful and awesome, all at the same time, and we can’t wait!
As of right now we are an “Official Waiting Family”, what does that mean? It means that we are home study approved by the state of Minnesota and are able to adopt! But one BIG difference with this adoption is we will be adopting outside of Minnesota. Specifically from one of these states: Michigan, Florida, Nevada, Utah or Arizona – these are the states that have approved our ‘cap amount’. What does ‘cap amount’ mean and why not Minnesota…the ‘cap amount’ is the amount that we’re willing to spend with an out of state agency (application fees, social worker fees, birth family fees), this is on top of our local agency fees – and we are going outside of Minnesota because the Domestic Infant programs have been closed to additional families, there are more waiting families than birth families creating adoption plans.
The National Infant Program (NIP) is helping us step out of our comfort zone a bit, we’re thankful that we are able to provide for a child’s daily needs, but the reality is a substantial amount of money is needed to bring our child home. Would you be willing to join us on this adventure? Whether you feel led to help us financially, or through your prayers and encouragement, it all means the world to us!
Support:
Your support will help with the cost of the adoption and travel expenses for Ryan and I, sadly, due to COVID, the boys will not be able to travel with us. We’ve been told that we will be in a different state for a minimum of two to four weeks. We are not allowed to leave the state, with our baby, until the paperwork has been approved by the courts.
There are a couple of ways to financially support us, you can use Venmo: @Marianne-Paddock, or if you’d rather send a check that’s completely fine too.
Prayer Requests:
Our prayer requests are: a quick match and placement, healthy little baby (or babies, we’re open to twins), healthy birth mom and safe delivery, openness between the birth family and our family (we have a beautiful relationship with Wyatt’s birth family and would love to have the same for our new addition), and safe travel with quick court approval to come back to the boys. It’s going to be hard to be away from them but they will be with grandparents and other family.
This is not an easy letter to write, we struggle with asking for your support. We would be forever grateful to know that you helped us bring our child home, knowing that this child will have the opportunity of growing up in a Christian home. We know that God already has our plan laid out, and our birth family chosen, we can’t wait to see what adventure he has planned.
Thank you for your prayers and support for our family.
– Ryan, Marianne, Hunter & Wyatt
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
Paddock Family Adventures 