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Top 10 Tips for Filing for the Adoption Tax Credit
If you’re filing for the adoption tax credit this year, you might want to read Top Ten Tips for Filing for the Adoption Tax Credit to Avoid Delays
Adoption Culture
Follow this link and see what Dr. Russell Moore has to say about creating an adoption culture in your church.
Tax Credit
Here’s an article from CNN on the adoption tax credit - http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/13/pf/adoption_tax_credit/
Adoption Links
Here are a couple of helpful articles on adoption. The first one takes a look at the decline of international adoptions, and the second one takes on transracial adoption from a theological perspective.
The Gospel and Trans-Racial Adoption
This post is taken from the Thankful 4 Adoption blog. It recounts one of the breakout sessions at the recent Together for Adoption conference.
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Just got to listen to my favorite preacher talk about race and trans-racial adoption (he’s also pretty cute too 
). Vermon is the lead pastor of our church in downtown Phoenix, Roosevelt Community Church, and we have a wonderfully diverse church of white, black, Asian, African, native, and Hispanic brothers and sisters in Christ.
I love hearing my husband talk about adoption and I love hearing him talk about race. Everything he said was right on. The session was taped and I will post the link once it is up on here because it is worth listening to every word.
Here are my favorite parts:
Some of the problems that happen when white parents adopt cross-ethnicity is the family emphasizing race too much or too little.
1. Families who talk too much about race.
-saying we want our kids to be “black” doesn’t work. Black culture isn’t monolithic. There are subcultures within the black culture so we need to make sure that we do not expose our kids to our one idea of black culture.
-sometimes the family views their white culture as negative for their children and so they over compensate based on, often, stereotypical views of what it means to “be black”
2. Families who talk too little about race
-there is a problem with divorcing your child completely from their culture. Your kids ARE your children, but they were not always your child. They have a story and they came from somewhere.
-the idea that your kids don’t notice that the way they look is different from everyone around them is ignorant. Especially with the black/white reality…the history of racial separation was not that long ago.
-when your child from Korea gets adopted by your Idaho farming white family, she doesn’t just become an Idaho white girl, but your family also becomes Korean. This is what Christ did with us…he became human so we could become righteousness.
If you adopt a child of a different race then your child WILL have tension. The tension is not a bad thing. It is nieve and ignorant to ignore that tension and it missed out on an opportunity to point your child to the gospel.
When we become believers we are placed IN Christ. We are not lost in Christ….but we are placed INto Christ. We do not become born into a people that makes my ethnicity insignificant. In Christ, our identities are redeemed and redeemed in a way that unites us to other people.
Many more great thoughts, but I can’t post his manuscript, so just make sure you watch the video.
Here are his 4 take away points:
1. Know the theology of adoption. Knowing that God has adopted us to a family changes the way we see race. Revelation 7 paints a picture of every nation crying out to God from every tribe. When John lcoks at the multitudes of people he doesn’t see one shade. He sees all sorts of different ethnicities. Ethnic designations remain in eternity, but all submitted under Christ.
We can help our children’s identity issues by having a robust theology of salvation and how that relates to adoption.
2. Don’t be afraid to talk to your children about race.
3. Your identity as a diverse family will be helped the more you are in diverse community.
4. Point out good historical role models from their racial/ethnic background AND their adoptive family background
5. Give your kids a gospel love for other cultures. Give your children Multi-cultural competency. They are citizens of heaven and that heavenly race is diverse.
Andrew Peterson Concert, a Win for All
On September 16, Andrew Peterson performed at Ninth and O. Baptist Church. The concert was a huge hit for Rosalynn’s Hope, adoptive families, and Peterson Fans. Approximately 450 people attended the packed concert. Peterson filled the room with smooth tones and uplifting lyrics. Fans enjoyed interacting with the artist and having their newly purchased albums autographed at the show’s closing.
Everyone in attendance appreciated coming together for the cause of the orphan. A short video was shown of NAOBC’s own adoptive families that can be seen here. Blake Ring, the Pastor of Evangelism at NAOBC, gave an encouraging message on adoption. Overall, $3,000 was raised for the ministry. This money goes to NAOBC’s orphan care ministry, Rosalyyn’s Hope. The money will be used to help partially scholarship families at NAOBC who need financial help to complete their adoptions.
NAOBC desires to have another benefit concert in the future. Stay tuned to see how you can support Rosalyn’s Hope simply by coming to see one of your favorite Christian artists.
Additional Info on the Adoption Tax Credit
There is a lot of buzz around the blogs and twitter about the adoption tax credit. Some are receiving their credit while others are receiving letters asking for more information. This past week the IRS released some guidelines to help families.
Here are six things to know about this valuable tax credit:
1. The adoption tax credit, which is as much as $13,170, offsets qualified adoption expenses making adoption possible for some families who could not otherwise afford it. Taxpayers who adopt a child in 2010 or 2011 may qualify if you adopted or attempted to adopt a child and paid qualified expenses relating to the adoption.
2. Taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income of more than $182,520 in 2010 may not qualify for the full amount and it phases out completely at $222,520. The IRS may make inflation adjustments for 2011 to this phase-out amount as well as to the maximum credit amount.
3. You may be able to claim the credit even if the adoption does not become final. If you adopt a special needs child, you may qualify for the full amount of the adoption credit even if you paid few or no adoption-related expenses.
4. Qualified adoption expenses are reasonable and necessary expenses directly related to the legal adoption of the child who is under 18 years old, or physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself or herself. These expenses may include adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees and travel expenses.
5. To claim the credit, you must file a paper tax return and Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, and you must attach documents supporting the adoption. Documents may include a final adoption decree, placement agreement from an authorized agency, court documents and the state’s determination for special needs children. You can still use IRS Free File to prepare your return, but it must be printed and mailed to the IRS, along with all required documentation. Failure to include required documents will delay your refund.
6. The IRS is committed to processing adoption credit claims quickly, but it also must safeguard against improper claims by ensuring the standards for this important credit are met. If your return is selected for review, please keep in mind that it is necessary for the IRS to ensure the legal criteria are met before the credit can be paid. If you are owed a refund beyond the adoption credit, you will still receive that part of your refund while the review is being conducted.
[Source: IRS.gov]
Go here to watch a video provided by the IRS
Andrew Peterson Concert
On September 16th, Andrew Peterson will be performing a benefit concert, and all proceeds will go to Rosalynn’s Hope adoption ministry. Go here to buy your tickets!
Adopt Without Debt
There is a new book that was recently released that aims to help families cover the cost of adoption without facing tremendous debt.
From Amazon:
“In 2000, Julie and her husband, Mark, declared war on their debt credit cards, student loans, cars and the house. Seven years later, as they wrote the check for their last mortgage payment, God called them to adopt two children from Ethiopia. A few months later, with their income unexpectedly cut by two-thirds, they wondered if they could finish the adoption without crossing back over into the red.
When they brought Wendemagegn and Beza home 12 months later, Julie and her husband proved debt-free adoption is possible!
Passionate about helping others achieve their adoption dream, Julie shares how to find extra money in your household budget, apply for grants, and fundraise in order to build your family without saddling it with debt. With over $65,000 worth of creative fundraising ideas from more than 25 adoptive families, Adopt Without Debt shows you how to fulfill your adoption dream without signing away your financial freedom.”
Kung-Fu Panda and Adoption
My husband recently took our oldest child to see his first movie in the theater: Kung Fu Panda II. Bryson loved the first movie and we knew he would love the second. Then my husband stumbled apon an article Adoption, Identity, and Kung Fu Panda written by Dr. Russell Moore. We both found it very encouraging and hope filled.
