Love for the Afflicted

Well, we got through mom's 50th birthday party.  It was a gloomy day outside so we spent the day celebrating indoors...but the real celebration began around 7pm when Jesse made it home (my brother who is currently serving through the Peace Corps in Honduras...we haven't seen him since last June)! 

Here's a small glimpse into the day full of laughter and YUMMY food!

Six of the eight girls were here to celebrate!!! (Missed you Aud, Corliss and the lonely boy, Jerry!)

After the party our family went over to mom and dad's house with Cain, Ally, and Jesse...we sat around giggling at the kiddos wrestling and running around.  It was a night just like any other night hanging out with the familly...a night full of comfort and love.

When I returned home and hopped into bed I was overwhelmed with emotions.  Our children are loved, spoiled, cuddled, safe, carefree children just like most of the children I know.  While we sit and celebrate birthdays and time with family there are MILLIONS of children around the world who have never celebrated a birthday or know what family feels like.  There are children who wait day after day for someone to take them in and for a place to call home.   

My heart just aches and aches for those children. To know we won't have our baby girl in our arms for 1-2 years feels not fair!!  Are we crazy to think this single act of love will make a difference in the world?!?!  God's love for the afflicated is shown over and over again...how can He use us to make a difference?  While I ponder these issues and wonder what more we can do, I can't help but try to be an advocate for those children who fall asleep every night without a mommy or daddy.

I put together a video to show others a small glimpse of what the Bible tells us about caring for orphans and how EVERYONE can make a difference some how (push pause on the playlist before before starting to video):


Bobby and I have no special training for this task before us...all we have is the direction our Father gives us...and someday we will have one more child to roll around with, rock to sleep, and love beyond measure. 

Love from our family to yours!

Exciting and Challenging

We are very excited to announce our acceptance into America World Adoption's Ethiopia program!!!!  We got the phone call yesterday and now have a stack of initial paperwork to get signed and sent off.  After the initial paperwork is processed, the "Paper Pregnancy" will begin (also known as the Dossier --pronounced doss-E-A).  We are excited to start this process but are told it is a time consuming, exciting, overwhelming experience!!!!!

On top of the paperwork side of things we really need to get going on raising funds.  People are SHOCKED when we tell them the costs of international adoption range from about 25-40K!!!!  Our adoption will probably land around 30-35K.  Intimidating.....YES.  Challenging....YES.  Do we have those funds just sitting around....NO.  BUT, we know this is all in God's hands and we hope to find some fun ways to raise money, along with donations that others feel led to give. 

I've heard from people in the past that they feel people shouldn't adopt if they don't have the money.  Honestly, this erks me beyond belief.  The Bible clearly states we should care for orphans (there are numerous verses in the Bible relating to orphans and the fatherless!!!).  Everyone can help in some way....weather it's through prayer, financial support, foster care, adoption, etc!  The need to care for orphans is ASTOUNDING and to answer the cry is doable for everyone in some way or another.

Here is a link to show where our 30-35K will go:
Ethiopian adoption costs

This week I ask that you pray specifically for our fundraising efforts.  This past weekend our basement flooded and we had to rip out all the carpet and move everything out.  What perfect timing....Bobby's busiest time of the year (therefore we will have no basement or garage for a couple of months) and right when we are trying to save money toward our new "baby" girl.  All I can do at this point is chuckle.  I've been questioning God lately and the possibility of raising $15,000-$20,000....and He threw this our way.  I know it's just a fork in the road to see how we can handle things and to prove His power in all situations.  We truly believe that the funds will come and that He will play His part in this process He has called us to.

We are trying to come up with a fun, wearable saying for t-shirts....if you have a good idea, we'd LOVE to hear it!!!!!!  We plan on selling shirts and Ethiopian coffee, and will possibly do other fundraising efforts as they come available and are needed! 

Thank you EVERYONE for your support you've shown already....your thoughts and prayers are felt!

We're off to a play date and then planning for my mom's 50th and Owen's 1st birthday parties!!!!!!  My brother Jesse will be in town Sunday night and I haven't seen him for a year....you can only imagine the excitement in this house!!!!!!!!!!!!


Love from our family to yours!

Eventful Week!

The end of May always gets crazy around our house (between close friends and our family we have 8 birthday parties in a three week spread!).  This past week has been busy with parties, park dates, the start to softball, and the end of the year for preschool.  On top of the eventful schedule, we've had a few memorable moments...

Owen is officially walking EVERYWHERE!  He apparently doesn't like the video camera or walking on cue...but here's a short blurb:

Also, on Saturday Ayla and I were doing some shopping when SHE decided she wanted her ears pierced.  I didn't think she would go through with it as she is quite afraid of needles, shots, or anything that hurts in the least bit....but she was a very determined super star (well, after freaking out when the ladies were about to shoot the guns...I reminded her that it was her idea and I wasn't going to make her do it and she proceeded with hardly any tears!). So, her birthday gift from daddy and mommy was this: 

And of course, the little princess turned three yesterday (May 18).  She had a memorable "royal celebration" with family and friends...

AND.....this week we've been throwing around different ideas to raise funds for our adoption.  On Tuesday I was speechless when a lady from my women's Bible study said she wanted to give us some support!!!   It was the first step toward our fundraising and it caught us off guard!! 

God is sooooo great!  Please be in prayer for us as we seek out ideas to raise our funds.

Why Ethiopia??

One of the first questions we get asked when we tell people about our adoption is, "Why Ethiopia?" 

God definitely called our family care for one of His.  When we started this journey we had many discussions and prayed a lot that we would be led to the country where one (or more!) of His children is waiting for us.  Ever since I was little and first thought of adopting, I  always imagined holding an Ethiopian child (looks like God was planting roots a long time ago--He is at work in our lives even when we don't know it!).  When we started this process I was worried that our family or Bobby would suggest a domestic child (not like that would be horrible or a bad thing, but my heart was to go internationally).  However, right from the start Bobby stated that his heart was to take in a child that lives in the "orphanage world" and our family and friends were more supportive than we could have imagined! 

So how did God lead us to Ethiopia??  Even though I had Ethiopia in my mind, I told God I would be willing to go wherever He saw fit.  Of course we both felt an inkling from the start that Ethiopia was for us, but we still wanted to look into other countries.  Little did we know that every country has their own requirements and stipulations for adoption (age of parents, number of kids at home, travel requirements, etc).

When we first started looking into countries, our first thought was Uganda where our church supports awesome missionaries at New Hope Uganda.  That idea was pushed aside when we realized that couples adopting from Uganda were required to stay in the country for 5-7 weeks at the time of adoption. 

Then when we started talking to America World Adoption and various other agencies, we were told we'd be a good fit for Ethiopia or Honduras.  As my brother Jesse is in Honduras through the Peace Corps, we felt it would be fun to do alongside him. However, the same requirements as Uganda are required and travel times  of 4-7 weeks don't fit in our family/work schedules at this time in life. 

It was on May 5th, 2011 after we had been looking into Ethiopia that we came across "Lucy Lane's Gotcha Day" video:

Watching this video with tears pouring down our faces, we knew that God had Ethiopia planted in both of our hearts.

This country that is about twice the size of Texas has an estimated 4.3 million orphans.
**For more numbers and facts about the need in Ethiopia click on the "About Ethiopia" tab**

There are varying numbers from different sources but it is estimated there are 147-163 MILLION orphans in the world (including children who have lost one or both of their parents).  Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan without a mother or father. That alone is too much for one person to fathom.  Of those orphans, 43.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa, 87.6 million live in Asia, and 12.4 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the United States there are over 500,000 children in the U.S. Foster Care system.  Of those children approximately 120,000 are waiting to be adopted. On average, those children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for almost 4 years.

Imagine...
There is One who infinitely loves each orphan and knows them by name. 
If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be no more orphans.

Number of caring adults it takes to make a life-long difference for an orphan: ONE!

James 1:27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress

Hosea 14:3In you the orphan finds mercy.

These numbers have been taken from the following websites which have more information on the need for foster/adoption parents: Christian Alliance for Orphans and Show Hope

~Love from our family to yours~

Do you REALLY mean it?!?!

So the title of this blog sums up a lot of our life in the past few months: a calling to adopt, getting a new job, and starting a BLOG!  Just four short months ago God totally changed my heart toward adoption.  Wait...back up...I have ALWAYS thought about adoption and it's always been something I've wanted to do AT SOME POINT IN LIFE.  After having Eli, Ayla, and Owen I was determined to convince Bobby to have another child...he had different plans.  He was adamant that if we had another child it would be through adoption. 

After having three kiddos, I didn't know if adopting was still in our plans and something I could do (how could I ever love a child as much as these three?!?!).  Bobby had obviously been praying that my heart would be changed because one February night as I was reading "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman (when I picked the book up I didn't know what I was getting into!!), I had a huge overwhelming feeling come over me.  I remember getting up out of bed around 11pm to turn on the computer and start researching Show Hope....and the obsession began!  Bobby laughed at my random (not to God!), sudden change of heart.  It was like a switch turned on and I suddenly had NO FEAR of adoption and knew God was speaking directly to my heart! 

So, here we are four months later, still enthralled with orphans/adopting.  We have been to Denver and back for an AMAZING conference through Show Hope and Empowered to Connect.  We have narrowed down our search for an agency and have decided on Ethiopia!  The process has already been exhausting, overwhelming, and emotional.  We started off with just a thought and are constantly learning new adoption jargon, facts, how to's, etc.  It is my desire that others who have even a tiny inkling of looking into adoption will be inspired by us.  I have read that 48% of people consider adoption at some point, but only 2% of people go through with it.

We started from scratch and are just beginning.  I'm excited about this journey and hope this blog will help our family and friends understand our hearts and be a part of this journey with us.  In the next week I will be updating this blog with things that have inspired us, facts about adopting, the monetary commitment, etc. 

Enjoy this ride through our hearts and lives!