Slow But Steady Wins the Race

You can probably guess that we are doing a bit more of the waiting. Seems as though we never can get fully used to the idea. Our I800 immigration form was received at the lockbox in Texas and accepted. This just means they check to make sure it is filled out properly and not missing signatures then it gets mailed to the facility in Missouri. That is were it sits right now. I emailed our immigration officer last night just to give her a heads-up that our application will be on her desk very soon. She was kind and emailed me back this morning letting me know, in her very formal way, that she is on the look out for it and will let us know if there is anything additional needed to grant us provisional approval. The good thing here is that the I800 applications are expedited, always. So, we are praying to have that approval by next week. 

To the left is a quilt that was made for Mariah. I absolutely love it! It is a large quilt that I am certain she will become quite attached to. I tried to get a close up picture of this quilt. A sweet lady made this for her and decided since we were adopting a little bit older of a child, she would make it larger. LOVE the colors!!!

Here is a full view of this beautiful quilt. Isn't it lovely? I have begun "nesting". It is just necessary cleaning and reorganizing to make room for Mariah. Last weekend I spent cleaning out Rebecca's other dresser making room for Mariah's things. Mission Accomplished!  I had all three of the kids' bedrooms a mess while having them try on clothes to see what fits this year. I had four unhappy, unimpressed children. So glad that job is done! Mariah now has a dresser and a small portion of Rebecca's closet to share. 

To the left is a picture of  a very special package we received in the mail. One of my adoption friends was in China (adopting two of her own) and she sent this to us. She had Mariah's name done in calligraphy in both English and Chinese. The man that does this is a Christian and owns a shop on the famous Shamian Island. This is in Guanghou, where all American adoptions are finalized.

His name is Jordon. He is a very outspoken Christian and loves to do this calligraphy for Americans....free! Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago Jordon found out that his shop was being shut down. He wanted to stay and last we heard they were going to allow him to have his shop up on the fifth floor, instead of on the street level. 


Those traveling for their adoptions now cannot find his shop. I am so thankful that my friend was thinking of us as she was there for her children as well. This is precious to us.  In the picture above, you will also see Chinese money. She sent us this money for us to have to purchase snacks once we land at the airport and to pay for bellboy tips!


We called our local (or should I say Ohio's) health department and found out about our travel immunizations. Looks like the CDC recommends Typhoid shots, Hep A and Hep B shots (series of three shots, one month apart), and Polio boosters. There is a Polio outbreak in China right now. So, we need to get started immediately and we will not be able to get the last Hep shots as we will not have enough time. Hard to believe those shots will run over $400 for both of us! WOW! My brother just traveled to China and he was able to take the Typhoid orally. Maybe that is an option since the health department only has 5 shots left and they are all spoken for.


The school year is wrapping up for us. My unit study material is finished next week!!!! The kids still have math, language arts, and a few other things to finish up after that. I am more than ready to be done for this year. It has been a school year with much added stress and anxiety. We all need a break. Reading about Archimedes the past two weeks somehow just does't seem all that interesting. Not sure that it ever would though. 


We are ready for a clean bill of health for Ben as we visit Cincinnati next Friday. I am frustrated with the lack of communication within the medical community. He needs to start back on his growth hormone so he doesn't lose any more ground. He certainly looks healthy!! He eats more than our teenager, Kyle. Jeremy and I are praying that his blood pressure is normal this time. The last several visits have shown elevated blood pressures. I think it is anxiety, even though you would think he was used to it all. 


I think I forgot to mention that we invited my parents to come to China with us. We had suspicions that they (mostly my mom) wanted to come. So my sister told me I should ask. Well, my mom practically screamed when I asked her. She said she'd call back later. Evidently, she called my dad in from the garage and she was crying begging him to say yes. So, that is the story of how my parents decided to come. 


Mom has told me several times that she wants to be there to support Jeremy and me. Jeremy and I both know that she wants to personally witness our "Gotcha Day" with Mariah just as she has been at the birth of all of their sixteen (yes I said 16) grandchildren. As far as my dad is concerned, he just loves kids and retired several years ago. After my mom begged, he said, "Sure! Why not!" Well, I can think of several reasons but if he is willing to take his first ever international flight/travel to China for 2 weeks to meet his newest granddaughter, I'm not saying a word. Let's just say he will probably frequent McDonald's while there. 


I'm glad someone else will be there to film those first moments and Jeremy and I don't have to take turns filming each other. Jeremy has already said he fully intends on being the one to hog her the entire time. We'll have to see. I think he forgets what this mommy is like with her babies!  We may fight over Mariah! The way I see it is, we have been pregnant for 15 months now. This labor has been far worse than the labor of our biological children! There, I said it. Keeping in mind, Becca was born without any medication and I still say that!  


We are praying that my next post will be about our immigration approval!!!

Paperwork and Progress!

This is pretty much where every important adoption document has been kept for a little over a year now. Honestly, I could probably use a file slightly larger, but I have thinned it out a little. Really, EVERY SINGLE PIECE of paper in this file is absolutely necessary for an international adoption from a Hague Country! Some files are also stored on Mariah's thumb drive. It is mind boggling to say the least!

This nice little collection of paperwork went out by FedEx on Monday evening to our agency. This is our immigration paperwork/application. All in all there were about 30 pages of documents that had to be signed then copied before FedEx'ing. 


I had a tough time with the I800 (immigration) form. One of the areas to fill in was the address of Mariah's orphanage. Sounds simple, right? WRONG!!!! The orphanage moved about three years ago. I had two addresses and no clue which was correct. Our agency was closed for Good Friday and I had no way to know for sure. I emailed our agency, my Yahoo! orphanage group, the company we used for Mariah's care package, another mom adopting from our orphanage, and my adoption mentor. My agency got back to me Friday night and said to leave the address blank. So, that is exactly what I did. I just hope it was fine. I think it is but time will tell.


We also mailed out our Visa applications with passports to a trusted courier in Chicago. The applications were 4 pages long and fairly simple. We are just praying that our brains were working properly at 2am trying to finish those up so we could get them out ASAP!

Here are a few pictures of some of the work we did on grant applications. Some applications required a large amount of work. We had to provide reference letters, statement of professions, W-2's, income tax returns, and usually personal statements of our adoption testimony and our faith. It was fun to connect with Jeremy in this way. After 16 years of marriage, I did learn a lot about him! His parents played a huge role in his salvation. I love hearing him retell that story! What a legacy was left for our children.

Here is just a little more of the work that went into financing this adoption. We only dreamed that we could do this debt-free. God worked in a very mighty way. We put hours into this part of the journey. A journey it has been!  I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the actual paperwork that was necessary. Take my word for it that we probably used an entire forest! 

This is the last of the mailings! We don't have final numbers yet, but we have seen first-hand how God provides. It required a very difficult leap of faith, but we did it!

As part of our celebration for our official approval from China, Jeremy's brother, Jeff, came down and helped celebrate. He wanted to treat everyone to dinner at Cheddar's. So, on Saturday we loaded everyone up in the van and had a yummy dinner! We had a great waitress and she took our picture. She was so excited when she found out what we were celebrating.






So......as it stands for now, I'm completely confused as to the next steps. Don't get me wrong, it is clearly spelled out on several websites. But when you start talking about receiving the pdf of our I800 approval from the NVC (National Visa Center--honestly, I'm surprised I know what that is) then our Article 5 drop-off and pick-up, we then wait for our TA (Travel Approval) but cannot schedule any flights until we receive our CA (Consulate Appointment), I'm a little confused. I think we plan on riding on the shirttails of those who are a step ahead of us. I'm glad I have met some of them online and they can help us!


Please keep us in prayer as we complete this journey. We are so close to the end. I cannot wait to wrap my arms around that sweet baby girl and smell her sweet "babyness" and give her kisses. I can almost smell the Johnson and Johnson baby wash and lotion I used on our other kids. Just to have those chubby little fingers on my neck is almost too much to process. But we are getting closer. Just to snuggle that sweet child in my arms makes me almost physically hurt to have her home. 


Galations 6:9     And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

Joy Unspeakable!!!

This is what an LOA looks like! This tiny red seal is what the entire adoption hinges. We have it after only 59 days!  We were not at the top of the waiting list for LOA's with our agency or in the adoption world in general. It sure is bitter-sweet. I have friends that have been waiting longer and are still waiting. However, they are so sweet and assured me that  I was not to let them steal our joy. My heart still hurts for them though. It seems as though there is little fairness in adoptions, foreign or domestic.  




Thankfully, Mariah's Chinese name and orphanage were spelled correctly. Our names were listed and spelled correctly as well. Now we can send this bit of paperwork on to US immigration and wait for our TA--Travel Approval now.  We are told to expect to travel 10-12 weeks from now. My heart's desire is to travel and be back in the U.S. for Rebecca's tenth birthday on June 28th. So, please pray this for us. It is not impossible, but it is also not likely. She would love this as a birthday present as well.


The phone call for our LOA came last Wednesday and Lifeline overnighted our LOA to us for Thursday. We were and are on cloud nine! As I was getting ready to back out of the garage to take Kyle to Morgantown for his ENT appointment, the FedEx truck pulled up! I jumped out of the van and ran up to the truck. I think I scared the poor woman!  Stalking is something we do in the adoption journey. We stalk our mail carriers, our UPS delivery drivers and FedEx drivers. I have stalked timelines for other adoptive families, Facebook groups for adoption and anything else adoption related.


The weekend was beautiful! We had gorgeous weather and company for Easter. We had friends over for our Easter dinner on Friday evening and Jeremy's brother also made the 4 hour drive to WV to spend the weekend spoiling our family. The only thing missing was Mariah! 


I got to work. Up until 3 am Friday/Saturday, we were filling out our I800 application for U.S. immigration. Our goal was to send that out Saturday. Well.....that didn't happen. Of all things, we could not find the address of Mariah's orphanage! We actually found three addresses and had no idea which was correct. We cannot risk send paperwork that is incorrect, so we had to wait to get clarification. Only to find out that we can leave that blank! We had to print a copy of Mariah's medical report (14 pages) and each had to sign every page. We had to copy the picture pages of our passports, send a signed copy of our original Letter of Intent (letter we wrote asking permission to seek adoption of Mariah back in December), and the DS 230 form for Mariah's visa/alien registration in the U.S. We also had another immigration form I864W that was a fairly simple one page paper. These all got put together to be sent to Lifeline by FedEx overnight.....today. Tomorrow LL should get that sent to USCIS! 


At the same time we are working on our Chinese visas. Those are not too difficult. They do consist of 4 pages for each application. We are using a courier in Chicago to do that for us. The U.S. Consulates require the visa applications to be hand carried. 

The picture to the right is a picture of what our school days are like. Rebecca decided this particular day (Wednesday) was a good day to be a pirate! She spent almost the entire day dressed like this. I honestly think it is adorable. One day she will lose that innocence. I'll soak it all up while it is here.

And here is Becca's counterpart! Our British soldier, Ben. The outfit has a fluffy white shirt, redcoat, three-corner-hat, white knicker pants, and weapons. These weapons are often Nerf dart guns, Star Wars light sabers, swords, or cap guns. None of which are appropriate to the period! But as Ben sees it......why should that matter! To answer any questions, YES THEY SWORD FIGHT! And YES, SOMEONE ALWAYS GETS HURT! 




We are always up for a little excitement here!  It is not always easy walking this road that the Lord has put us on. He calls us to be faithful. We have miserably failed so many times. We continue to be blessed as we watch the Lord work. We are starting to get a grip on how our adoption has affected others. Yesterday at church I was talking to a sweet friend and she began to cry as I was sharing a little about Mariah. The same thing happened last week with a different friend.  I had no idea how her life would affect the emotions of so many outside of our own family. This is a child we have never met. A child that is not just a little girl in China. She is our daughter! I could cry at the drop of a hat, but to see others do the same means so much to us.  I am beginning to understand how deeply we are all loved. I don't mean my family, I mean everyone.


I have been touched this past weekend also by a sweet friend, Karen. She and her husband are adopting a little girl who is about 9 days younger than Mariah and they are sitting beside each other in the pictures of Mariah's cake. Karen and her husband have waited many years to have children and they are so close.  She is waiting for her LOA any day! I pray that we can travel together. Karen has never met me but she is so sweet in our emails and asking about our children. We consider our girls sisters!  God has been good!!




Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD your God, he it is that does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.
                                                                                                  Deuteronomy 31:6

Everyday Beauty

To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here is a picture of a tree alongside our house that we think is absolutely beautiful in the spring. This picture is from last year...April 14, 2011. Jeremy took a picture of this tree just on Thursday. It is on his iPad (which I don't really know how to use) so I pulled this from my computer archives. But this is exactly what the tree looks like right now. We are about four weeks ahead of last year! This has been such a mild winter for us here in WV and I admit, I have missed the snow. I also will admit my ignorance with most things green. I believe this is a weeping cherry tree. Again, I'm not certain but I did Google it! I told Jeremy that if we were not going to have a real winter, then I am ready for our beautiful warm weather. Jeremy also did something he said he would NEVER do.....he cut the grass in March! We really had to. The grass has grown so much that we were among the few in our neighborhood that continued to "hold out". 


We have had so much rain that our side yard is "soupy", as Jeremy put it. So that will not get cut until we dry out some. Actually, when we get on a normal grass-cutting schedule, our boys really enjoy cutting the grass, especially Micah. Micah loves to see the lines from the lawn mower in the yard. He takes pride in cutting the grass, and he is only eleven. We have good kids and we are trying to teach them to have a good work ethic and take pride in doing things well. In fact, as Jeremy was cutting the grass on Saturday, Micah was standing on the front porch just dying to be allowed out to cut the grass. The problem is, Micah was sick.  


This past weekend has been a sick weekend here at the house. All four kids are under the weather. Kyle has been dizzy and has had a queasy tummy. Micah now has a fever, cough, stuffy nose, and his bones hurt (his words not mine). Rebecca says she feels "loopy" and tired. Ben has a cold, which is never just a cold with a child who has severe asthma. 


Friday a sweet friend, who is a plumber, came over to fix the plumbing in our kids' bathroom. We had it remodeled a year and a half ago but the shower was never right. Every time the water was turned on to the tub, water also came out of the showerhead. So, every morning when I would go into the kids' bathroom to rinse my hair (we only have a shower in our bathroom, no tub), my right shoulder was soaked from the shower. We cannot bring Mariah home and give her a bath with the shower running too. Dave came at 9am and left after 7pm! He was frustrated that the previous men took advantage of us and he corrected the problem with new copper pipes! It works beautifully!


Then we had invitations to a complimentary dinner at a brand new restaurant, Cheddar's. They invited business people in the community to come for a complimentary meal prior to their opening. They had contacted our church and wanted to give invitations to all the church staff and their families. Since my kids were sick, we called Dave and offered him our invitation. We thought he was going to take it; however, he called back and told us that he and his wife were going to come over to babysit our sick kids so we could go out as a couple. Keep in mind, our family all lives out of state and we only go out on a date once a year....our anniversary. This was so sweet of them. The wait to be seated was 70-80 minutes! We really enjoyed the time together. The food was absolutely delicious! It was a great night! 


When we came home, Dave and Cathy had the kids down in our theatre room watching Hop. We have never seen it before, but it looked cute. The irony of it was that this family had an older son (20's maybe) and an adopted daughter from China who was maybe ten or eleven. It seems as though adoption is constantly being put before us. 

We are praying for a healthier week! Kyle has allergy testing on Friday, again. Hopefully we can start him on a path to healthy, comfortable breathing. Ben also visits his endocrinologist on Friday. Dr. Jones is our favorite doctor! He always tells the kids a joke and enjoys our kids. He is a "kid person", he is a dad to six kids and has two grandchildren. He introduced our family to his wife and daughter a few months back when we went to Chick-Fil-A after an appointment with him in Morgantown. He is such a humble man who always makes our entire family feel welcomed (practically honored) to be there.


We are still waiting for our LOA from China. Maybe that will come this week too!

Shopping

This weekend was fun for us. As a family, we decided to go shopping for Mariah. Look what I found as we were going to the check out at Old Navy! It is even spelled correctly! I had to get it and it was only $5. Oh, the little things that excite me.

Kyle had a teen activity at the mall with the youth group. It is so hard to believe that we have a teenager! Aren't we too young for that?  I realized the other day that when Mariah starts Kindergarten, Kyle will begin his senior year of high school. I will be a well-experienced home school mom!

We dropped Kyle off at one of the mall entrances of the team he was to join. It just so happened to be.........all girls!  There was our timid Kyle with 5 girls on a mission! They were on a team that was not about to lose. The idea behind this Mall Masquerade was for our church youth group (about 35 kids) to look for 7 adults that were in disguise. Not costumes, just disguises. It was fun for them! I, however, was on a mission to shop.  Kyle's team tied for first place, they found everyone then headed back to the church for pizza and......honestly, I don't know! He was in the more than capable hands of our new youth pastor and his wife. Kyle loves them and they provide a lot of clean fun!

While Kyle had his masquerade we shopped for Mariah's things......clothes. I have NOTHING for her!  This was our first shopping trip solely for Mariah. We never thought we would be blessed with a baby in this adoption. We really thought a toddler. But a baby it is, and a baby we love and welcome. 

Becca and Ben each picked out an outfit for Mariah. Jeremy found a swim suit with lady bugs on it. For those who are not familiar with the adoption world (like us just a few months ago), lady bugs are believed to be a sign of good luck. Red is the good luck color in China. We bought things in 12 month and 18 month sizes. She will be about 19 months when we go to get her, so we are guessing at sizes. Chinese adoptive children often are smaller than their American counterparts.  If I only had that update, we would have a better idea of her size. Although in the winter, their measurements are taken over top of all of their heavy, quilted clothing. So, I'm not sure it would help much.

Generous Friends.....Again!

Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.      Jeremiah 33:3

Earlier this week we went to the mailbox and this envelope was among other mail...mostly bills. There was no return address, no letter, and the postmark was from Pittsburgh. So, that pretty much narrowed it down to all of our family and many friends! However, I noticed the handwriting and it took me just a few minutes to recognize who sent us this not-so-anonymous gift. She is a friend from high school and has a family and just wanted to help us bring Mariah home. I was so touched and I'm honored to call her my friend. Her cover was blown due to my uncanny ability to remember weird things, like handwriting. Why do I remember such odd things? Anyhow, this time at least it paid off and I can properly thank her for her generosity.

The picture to the right is something that was handed to me as we walked into church this evening. It was in a small gift bag and it was HEAVY!! My kids were so excited to see that I got a gift and couldn't wait for me to open the package. I think the picture might be a little dark but the gift included a jar of coins, mostly quarters....and lots of them! Included in this package was a red magnet of China and the sweetest two page letter and a story about this sweet elderly woman's heart for the people of China. She apologized to me and said she hoped it would help. I was so touched as I read the letter as church began and had to leave for a minute as tears made their way down my cheeks. (If you ever make an adoption journey you will learn that emotions are at an all-time high....just like a pregnancy.) She also included a recent missionary letter of close friends that she and her husband support in China. This woman's love for China began as a child. Her story was so sweet and means more to me than she could possibly imagine. What a memory book Mariah is going to have!

I have heard, not from my agency, that the Chinese Adoption Authority was moving offices the past few weeks. Not that anyone in this hemisphere knew, but it certainly explains why there have not been many approvals for families in the past few weeks. Evidently, they do not have access to computers or phones.  

So while they are moving offices, Mariah waits. Today is our 46th day of waiting for our LOA. It is a difficult wait, but somehow we manage to stay busy. We managed to make a trip to Morgantown to see Kyle's ENT on Wednesday. That appointment created more appointments in the coming weeks...allergy testing again for one! And we have several of Ben's doctor appointments coming up in Morgantown and Cincinnati. Then there are dentist appointments and orthodontist appointments. In a way I'm thankful for these distractions but I hate that Kyle's sinuses are such a mess and that our dear Ben has so much to go through. 

I love these kids with every ounce of my being! They bring us joy!! But I'll be honest, I cannot wait for school to be over. I have their school year scheduled through the end of April. I think we may need to go another week into May. We have had a very rigorous school year and we only took off a few days for Pap Leard's funeral, two days at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, and one "snow day". That's it! We began school in mid-August. If I was completely honest, we have had school many Saturdays too. Not that they appreciated that.....especially Ben.

Jeremy and I continue to be amazed at how this process has touched not just the lives here in our little house in WV, but also the numerous family and friends that just check in to see how things are going and to let us know they are praying for us and our dear Mariah. I feel like we have become popular at church as so many people just stop us and ask how it is going. WOW! Who knew that Mariah would touch so many lives? We are forever grateful for your love and support for us.  I will say thank you but that really doesn't come close to how we feel. Your prayers for us truly mean so much. We do as for continued prayer as we finish this process.


As a result of taking a rare Sunday afternoon nap, I am still awake at 2am. But I think I am finally getting sleepy.

In closing this blog post, I would like to request prayer for a sweet adoption friend who is struggling. In the process of her adoption, after being matched, her husband got sick and passed away. As she has tried to apply for grants, she is being denied because most grant foundations require you to be married. I am trying to help her with a few grants and I ask for prayer for her as she will be traveling in about 10-12 weeks to get her precious toddler in China. She lost her husband in the summer of 2011 and has two children she plans to take with her to China. 

                                      

A Week Full of Blessings

Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.   Jeremiah 33:3

The title of my blog post kind of gives it away. To be honest, it has been a difficult few weeks. We have been waiting for an update on our Mariah since the beginning of January. The only paperwork we have on her is missing a lot of general information. The Chinese doctor did not fill in the boxes on her medical form that included her blood pressure, a neuro-check, her skin, her vision, a few other things. I'm not all that worried, but that information would be nice. Today marks day 37 of the wait for our LOA. They say this is the toughest wait. I pray that we are not one of the unfortunate few that wait 130+ days for our LOA. There have been very few LOA's issued for the past two weeks. I am praying for the floodgates to open on Monday or Tuesday and for ours to be included.

Today, a very dear friend of mine boarded a plane with her husband and two of her children for a direct flight from Dulles to Beijing. She will be spending the next 20 days in China meeting the two newest members of her family. She has three biological sons, the oldest is fourteen.Their first trip to China was in 2010 and they brought home their first adopted son. She will have five sons and one daughter! I am so excited for her! She has been an adoption mentor to me. She has held my hand and walked me through the process and listened to me cry, complain, and rejoice (yes....probably all in that order). I don't think I would have been able to do it without her. So, thank you Kristin! I'm praying for you and your family.

That is the first reason of this week of blessings. Two orphans will be united with their forever family, raised in a Christian home. That is an example of The Great Commission. Personally, I have had a rather blessed week as well. We had sweet friends give us money for our adoption. It was unexpected and very generous. How do you thank someone for helping in such a huge way?  

I called Lifesong on Monday to see how our fundraising was going along. I was shocked that only 2 weeks into the matching grant fundraiser, we were halfway to our goal of $2,500.  I got a few emails this week of others who were sending their check in to Lifesong. 

I called Lifeline (our agency) on Tuesday to ask a few questions. Let's just say that our local home study agency is requiring us to keep up with our foster parent training. I was not happy. WE ARE NOT FOSTER PARENTS! Unfortunately, we are the only family in WV who is internationally adopting from a Hague country (since 2008). Our agency specializes in foster-to-adopt. Their regulations do not accommodate our adoption, so we have to continue our "education". While I was on the phone with Lifeline, our social worker asked if I had heard from the JSC Foundation. This was one of the grants that we had applied for back in February. She shared with me that they already received a check for $9,200! We are overwhelmed and in awe at how God has continued to provide for us in this process.

This frees up a little bit of money to get the house ready. Jeremy's office needs to have a make-over. The back wall will be made into a closet. It is large so half will be shelves for our board games and toys. The other side will be converted to a closet for clothes to be hung and stored. We need a car seat, a toddler bed, sheets, diapers, wipes, baby soaps, clothes, and countless other baby items. We took a huge step completely on faith. We were prepared to use Jeremy retirement, and take out a home equity loan. Now we do not have to dive into those savings or take out a loan. 

God called us to be faithful. We had our doubts. We ignored the adoption calling for several years. We thought we had all the right reasons. Money was the number one concern. We knew that Ben's health was another factor in our procrastination. Now that we have taken that leap, the rewards are countless and the blessings keep coming. 

Thank  you to everyone who has been a blessing to our family! We sincerely are touched by the generosity of our family and friends. Thank you to those that we asked to provide reference letters. Just when you thought you were done, we had to ask for more. Those letters were instrumental for the grants we have been blessed to receive.