Let's Do This Thing!

Woohoo! I've always thought it would be neat to have a blog but I had no good reason too and I didn't want to bore people with my everyday goings on. Now I have a reason! As most of you probably saw, I just posted on Facebook about our news that we're beginning the adoption process again. A few of you emailed me different questions about the process so I thought blogging would be a way to answer all of your questions all at once!

For those of you who are just finding this blog for the first time and don't know me at all, here's a quick introduction. My name is Mandi Letkeman. I am (almost) 26 and I live in the booming city of Warman, SK with my handsome hubby John and my ridiculously cute 2 year old, Cassidy. We adopted Cassidy privately from a woman in Saskatoon when she was 9 months old. After her adoption was finalized in March of this year, we immediately started looking into where to adopt from next.

After some research into different countries, and much advice from friends, we decided to go with the States. Many people have asked us how we came to this choice. Basically the biggest reason is that we (mostly me!) want a newborn this time. I am unable to have my own children, so I really want to experience the whole fresh-out-of-the-oven phase. Later, for our third adoption, we would like to try adopting an older child or a sibling group from Africa, China, or somewhere overseas.

This adoption will be very different from Cassidy's. Here is an overview of how the process will work. First we had to get approved by our central authority in SK, which we have. Next was the grueling process of picking an agency. There are many different agencies in the States and it was hard to decided which one to go with. After much prayer and searching around, we have found one that we hope will be a good fit for us. Please pray that as we start to work with this agency that things will go well and we will have a good experience with them. Now we are working on getting our home study done. This is not new to us, as we had to do the same thing with Cassidy. We have gotten the same lady who did our study with Cassidy to work with us on this one and that is a big answer to prayer as she is simply fantastic! We are very excited to work with her again. As we do our home study, we also can start getting our profile package ready. This is the fun part! This will be what the birth mother looks at when she comes in and picks a family for her baby. In other words, it will be her way of "meeting" us. We have to make a book full of pictures of our family, our house, our town, our church, extended family and friends, etc. Basically, everything that makes us look good, as this will be her first impression of us! Then once all that is done, it gets approved by our central authority and is sent off to our agency. Then we wait!!
I am so thankful going into this that we have one adoption under our belt. It makes this seem much less overwhelming, although it is very different.

So if you're wondering "how can I help?" this next part is for you! We need to raise $35,000. I know that is a crazy big number but God has given me complete peace that this is His plan for us right now and I am more then confident that He will provide. Unfortunately, there are not many grants that are open to Canadians, so to raise this money we need your help! It feels very awkward for me to ask for money, but we really don't have a choice. Please consider this in prayer and if you feel led to help bring our baby home, please contact me either through this blog or by phone or Facebook to hear how you can help! Right now I'm busy planning fundraisers. The first one we are planning is to have a big garage/bake sale. We are planning this for September, once summer winds down. If you have any items sitting around that you need to get rid of let me know! Also, I need help with fundraising ideas, so if you have any good ideas or know of fundraisers that have been successful in the past, please write me in the comments area or contact me and share! I would appreciate it! Someone has asked me if they could share our story on their blog and the answer is YES! Please, if you feel led, share our story and spread the word!

Mostly, I'm asking for your prayers. Prayer is always our most powerful tool. Please pray that God will continue to guide us along this path and help everything to come together. Pray that he will already be working in the heart of the woman who is going to choose to give us her baby. Pray that His will would be done in all of this. It was (and is!) completely humbling to see how the Lord led in Cassidy's adoption. From the very first phone call, it was evident that this was His plan. We are praying for the same evidence with this adoption, and that through it all He will be glorified and lifted HIGH! 
Thanks friends. Love you all!!!