Sometimes Jakob will cling to me and hold on to me so tight, tuck his tiny little head into my neck and pat his itty bitty hands on my back, even wrap his skinny little legs around my waist and squeeze so hard as he says, "mommy..." with a little giggle. In a, "you're my mommy. I've waited for you and I'm happy." kind of way.
The emotions can flood over me if I let them. If I think about what he is saying and how I know he is saying it (yes, intuition), it takes my mind places that are hard to go. Sometimes I don't let myself go there. I'm sure it would be beneficial for our bonding (on my part) but sometimes I just can't.
It is too much.
I think things like this: I'm finally here because I wasn't before. I know it isn't my fault. I know, at the heartbeat of all the sadness and trauma an orphan can experience, it is because of this screwed up world we live in. So dark without the Light. When he was in a womb--it wasn't my own. When he was born--I didn't hear his first cry or stare into his big beautiful eyes and wrap his fingers around mine. How could I have known he was waiting to come into the world? But the fact is, I really just wasn't there at all. There are 2ish years of his life that I will never know anything about. There are 2ish years where I wonder if he ever had a momma or the love of a mom. Sometimes when I change his diaper I see glimpses of him as an infant. Laying on his back and kicking his legs up into the air. I think it is odd that a 2 year old would still do this but I also feel in my heart it is mercy. Just a glimpse of what we missed together and it fills my heart with joy.
Or if I look closely enough I see Mawete: the pictures we were given when he was in foster care, the quiet eyes and full cheeks. These are always reminders of the only information we have of his life before February 8th. Only a few pictures from a few months. The momentary expressions also remind me of HOW FAR this child has come. I'm just floored when I hear him squealing with Julia, running around the house or riding his bike outside. Who would he have been if we hadn't come?
What about all the others? Don't tell me, I can't save them all...
I usually keep things like this inside because if I voice them I'm told that he has us now and he is so happy and I can't sit on these things. It is a kind thought and reassurance but honestly, he has become MY heart just as Julia is my heart. How can I not grieve for the things I have lost in my motherhood experience with Jakob? Or how can I not grieve what he has lost? And who knows what that is? Or the extent to how far and deep the loss goes into his little soul? It is a grief unlike grief I've experienced before. It is way out there, separate from all the rest.
So in the moments when I do let myself go there I have to consciously tell myself that God knows. The Rescuer and the Healer knows every detail and He was there every moment, even in the darkest and loneliest when we couldn't be. That will have to be enough and truthfully, I can move on with that.
But it takes some choking back of tears, a million kisses on his head till he squirms out of my arms and that "mommy..." becomes a "MOMMY!!!!" Just another reason for me to fall at the feet of Jesus.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Sorry about the blog look!
My blog is looking pretty lame lately and I know this! Sorry!
I'm playing around with some ideas and trying to figure it all out so if anyone has any suggestions I will take them!
ALSO: Blogger has this awesome stats section that tells me which countries my viewers are from. If you are from outside of the US would you mind sending me a comment or a personal message to let me know how you found me? It is just making me very curious!
I'm playing around with some ideas and trying to figure it all out so if anyone has any suggestions I will take them!
ALSO: Blogger has this awesome stats section that tells me which countries my viewers are from. If you are from outside of the US would you mind sending me a comment or a personal message to let me know how you found me? It is just making me very curious!
Meeting Jakob
The day came when we were going to meet Jakob after 20 months from start to finish.
We had been warned about Congo time; everything happens around 2 hours after you're told it will. This is no big deal; you're in the middle of Africa with nothing to do. I could accept that. So we woke up bright and early (I did) unable to sleep, took a freezing cold shower without a shower curtain so covered the bathroom in water, missed breakfast because Joe was still sleeping (jet lag) and I didn't feel like going to the kitchen by myself not yet having met anyone and I didn't speak the language. So finally 10 am rolled around and we promptly walk down to St. Annes lobby.
We walked over to him and I kneel down to him, he won't look at either of us. He is just standing in the parking lot. The young girl who brought him gives me a hug and tells me she doesn't speak English, I tell her I don't speak Lingala or French and we laugh. I'm emotional when she tells me her mom is the foster mom but she always took care of him. I think I hugged her again and my eyes welled up with tears. She is a teenager, not sure how old, looked like she definitely had style and here she was, taking care of my baby. She was one of the women who showed him love and held him when he was scared. Jakob was holding the infamous bottle of Afrika Fun soda. It was 1/2 empty... our first sign of obsession with sugar drinks!!! She nudged him closer to us and told him he could come to us, that we were his mama and papa. She took pictures of us, I'm assuming for her mom who couldn't come that day.
She leaves pretty quickly and we head upstairs. I think I've mentioned how we set him in the middle of the floor and he didn't move a finger, bat an eye, he was completely still, still clutching that Afrika Fun. He was exhausted. I think we all were. Emotionally and physically. What a day. I held him and I was full of tears. Then Joe told me he was sleeping in my arms. What a moment! So I laid down with him. Pure bliss.
The rest of the day was filled with getting to know our little boy. The first night he slept perfectly. We thought we won the jackpot only to learn the next night and the following ones that he wants to be held and I must be walking around with the Ergo for him to fall asleep. This took a while to figure out. The second night he would moan and whimper and cry. A couple times I had to leave the room because it was breaking my heart. I thought he missed his foster family. Or maybe his biological family. Or maybe he was wondering why he was with yet more people he had never met. Not to mention we had to look completely different to him. I think that is an obvious. So we just continually tried to show him what love was, who family is and that he was ours for forever.
We had been warned about Congo time; everything happens around 2 hours after you're told it will. This is no big deal; you're in the middle of Africa with nothing to do. I could accept that. So we woke up bright and early (I did) unable to sleep, took a freezing cold shower without a shower curtain so covered the bathroom in water, missed breakfast because Joe was still sleeping (jet lag) and I didn't feel like going to the kitchen by myself not yet having met anyone and I didn't speak the language. So finally 10 am rolled around and we promptly walk down to St. Annes lobby.
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| Isn't it beautiful?
We walked around the parking lot, up and down the street the Embassy and St. Annes hug (yes, even down to the end where everyone says you will definitely be kidnapped or mugged-we weren't). We explored some more of the parking lot and walked closer to the church. Got to know some men who sell souvineers outside the St. Annes entrance (we loved those guys). We made every vehicle feel extremely uncomfortable as we stared them down looking for a toddler in the back seat.
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| patiently waiting |
Then finally we meet 2 women I knew from facebook. They happened to be in the lobby once we made it back inside for some cold water because by now I'm about to pass out from the heat. Finally I met Christine and Alizon! Alizon was actually leaving that day so we were able to speak to her for an hour or so and that was the end of our journey together. Christine, her beautiful daughter Meizi and her hilarious mom Dolores became regulars in our daily if not hourly lives. We will always cherish those times we spent with them, Liz and countless others. So Alizon graciously takes our mind off the long wait and the heat and gives us some sort of guidance and advice about the DGM maybe or safety, can't really remember. Then Joe, in a very relaxed tone says, "Lindsey, I think he is here..." I didn't really believe it. There was no way this moment had finally come after so long and I was so calm. No way I didn't burst into tears and make a mad dash out of the lobby screaming for my baby. Joe stands up and confirms it is truly Jakob and makes some kind of comment about how he is definitely looking like the temperament we always assumed he would have (judging from pictures throughout process). Sad. Scared. Alone.
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| We actually saw a glimmer of hope in this one. This was February 2013, a week or so before we travelled. Perhaps they told him we were coming? :) |
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| Same outfit as when we met him with gifts we sent |
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| This picture came with the note that he was upset he had to pause while eating his rice- he hasn't changed! |
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| Our referral picture |
I think this was about the time I first held him. We walked into the lobby and it was then I first saw his toes, held onto his tiny legs and big belly, took in a deep breath of not so good aroma that was our baby. He was wearing the pajamas we had sent him in a care package with another family. They were dirty. I haven't washed them since we've come home and I can still put them up to my face and it takes me right back to that day. I just went upstairs... it still works. I'm weird. We took some pictures with his "sis."
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| she is so sassy I love it |
Eventually he woke up and we set him on the bed and gave him his Christmas present from December 2011. He was pretty excited about the wrapping paper. And by excited I mean he looked at it.
Then we started pulling out the big guns. Joe opened the hotwheels. The sky brightened, oceans parted, we heard angels singing. This means he moved his hands and reacted to our existence. The original video is much longer but I don't want to bore you. I watch it and I'm still amazed at who he was and who he is now. Two different kids. I still tear up watching this. Our sweet boy!
Then I get smart. Stickers and accessories. For any of you that know Jakob, you know he loves his hats, shoes and ties. This was only the beginning.
The rest of the day was filled with getting to know our little boy. The first night he slept perfectly. We thought we won the jackpot only to learn the next night and the following ones that he wants to be held and I must be walking around with the Ergo for him to fall asleep. This took a while to figure out. The second night he would moan and whimper and cry. A couple times I had to leave the room because it was breaking my heart. I thought he missed his foster family. Or maybe his biological family. Or maybe he was wondering why he was with yet more people he had never met. Not to mention we had to look completely different to him. I think that is an obvious. So we just continually tried to show him what love was, who family is and that he was ours for forever.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
This child's story will be one of redemption.
The old has past and the new is here.
It will be hard, it is hard, but I want our home to be open to those who need love. Open to those especially who are alone, who need family.
Someone shared these verses with me while we were in DRC and we were struggling. We knew Jakob had been hurt and that he was grieving. This became our prayer for him and for our family.
For you shall go out in joy and be lead forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 55:12-13
The old has past and the new is here.
It will be hard, it is hard, but I want our home to be open to those who need love. Open to those especially who are alone, who need family.
Someone shared these verses with me while we were in DRC and we were struggling. We knew Jakob had been hurt and that he was grieving. This became our prayer for him and for our family.
For you shall go out in joy and be lead forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 55:12-13
His pain has become our pain. We aren't a white family or a black family. While one may have brown skin and others pale skin, we became a NEW color all together, all at once. One may have an African culture and the others an American culture, but we've become an Afri-Merican culture. We will embrace him and blast that worship music as loud as we can when we feel broken and helpless. God makes all things new!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Jakob
Does anyone even read this anymore ;) ??
I'm not sure, even if nobody does, I think I should start posting. As if I have time! My last post was about leaving CAN... that was-August? Wow!!!
We have our son! Home!!! There have been 10 million emotions and 10 million valleys and even more mountains. It is impossible to put it all into words.
We love him so much. We are spelling his name "Jakob" because that is how it is spelled in his Lingala (native language) bible. Some days have been so easy and smooth sailing and some I've worried he will not like us for what we've done, bringing him into our family-am I going to ruin him? (poor Joe and the mid-day phone calls) These are really really low lows. This is Satan attacking; I know this. But all of these emotions are very very real and very raw. It is all so beautiful and all so messy... it will take time.
The good news is, he is attaching so well. He attached to us around day 3 in DRC. This is AMAZING because he never spoke to an adult the whole 7 or so months in foster care. He talked to Joe the 2nd day? God did that. I think my greatest epiphany through this experience is that children need a family. Government institutions will never fill the void they need. Yes, they can survive, but a child shouldn't have to "survive," but thrive! (And in the DRC, many are not even surviving). Some may say a child should stay in their own culture, surrounded by people who speak their language, etc. Well, this would be great in a perfect world, but a child needs a family, no matter what their skin color or language is. I don't think anyone could say anything to ever change my mind on this, not after we saw Jakob blossom after finally having a mom and dad. It was something I knew in my head and now something I truly know in my heart.
Julia and Jakob are the best of besties. He mimics every single thing she does when eating, when playing, when watching cartoons. It is hilarious!!! She tries to mother him a little too much sometimes but it is just absolutely adorable-poor kid. Today she insisted she help him buckle his car seat so she did, patted his hand, kissed his forehead and said, "love you honey!" He is so blessed to have her as a sister. I am so blessed to have her here during the day when all Jakob wants to do is cry and all I want to do is cry along!!! Seriously, am I a two year old? Being completely transparent here. But I can get frustrated (as I'm sure he is as well) when a language barrier gets between us. This happened yesterday and she came up to him as he was cryyyiiinnnngggg and I just kept trying to say the same thing in lingala over and over in my as calm as possible american accent and she rubbed his back and said, "it's okay!" to the two of us. Thank you, Julia, for reminding me that all I probably need to do sometimes is hold him and be quiet because now surely isn't the time for reasoning in 2 different languages, or 3 if you count my lingalish. What a blessing she is! Bringing her momma back to the basics.
I'm so thankful we listened to the still small voice that told us adoption was how we should add to our family. It took us so long looking at domestic, foster care, foster to adopt, then international, and all the countries that are included in that. DRC wasn't even on our list because of the "5 year married" rule. when we switched agencies is about the time they say Jakob was abandoned, shortly after we were matched with him. Perfect timing to meet our son on that computer screen. He was ready for us and we were ready for him. Deep heartbreak for Jakob and pure joy for us. It is terrible it works that way.
Please pray for him in this transition, that he will continue to attach and know we are his family. We don't know his story, we only know he was abandoned in a field sometime around June of 2012. We don't know what he remembers, how long he was in that field, who put him there, was it night time? Did he cry? Is that when he stopped talking? Or was it before, when he was with whoever had him prior? Did he have a momma who loved on him and covered in kisses? Was she ill? Is that why he was left in a field? Did he wander off and become extremely lost? My mind can wander and worry... As much as I would like to know the answers to the questions, and yes, I really would, I've found peace knowing the Lord knows and that is enough. The Lord knows every nightmare, good memory, bad memory, negative reactions related to forgotten memories, and that is good enough. He has gotten us this far, I don't see him abandoning us now, as we are truly just beginning.
Praise God for this journey; sometimes I still look at our family and laugh because it just seems so surreal that we traveled to Africa and brought a son home. It surely isn't for the faint of heart, but Jakob has only added to our already overflowing cup!
And so you see the transformation...
More pics to come; of course we have so many more!!!!
I'm not sure, even if nobody does, I think I should start posting. As if I have time! My last post was about leaving CAN... that was-August? Wow!!!
We have our son! Home!!! There have been 10 million emotions and 10 million valleys and even more mountains. It is impossible to put it all into words.
We love him so much. We are spelling his name "Jakob" because that is how it is spelled in his Lingala (native language) bible. Some days have been so easy and smooth sailing and some I've worried he will not like us for what we've done, bringing him into our family-am I going to ruin him? (poor Joe and the mid-day phone calls) These are really really low lows. This is Satan attacking; I know this. But all of these emotions are very very real and very raw. It is all so beautiful and all so messy... it will take time.
The good news is, he is attaching so well. He attached to us around day 3 in DRC. This is AMAZING because he never spoke to an adult the whole 7 or so months in foster care. He talked to Joe the 2nd day? God did that. I think my greatest epiphany through this experience is that children need a family. Government institutions will never fill the void they need. Yes, they can survive, but a child shouldn't have to "survive," but thrive! (And in the DRC, many are not even surviving). Some may say a child should stay in their own culture, surrounded by people who speak their language, etc. Well, this would be great in a perfect world, but a child needs a family, no matter what their skin color or language is. I don't think anyone could say anything to ever change my mind on this, not after we saw Jakob blossom after finally having a mom and dad. It was something I knew in my head and now something I truly know in my heart.
Julia and Jakob are the best of besties. He mimics every single thing she does when eating, when playing, when watching cartoons. It is hilarious!!! She tries to mother him a little too much sometimes but it is just absolutely adorable-poor kid. Today she insisted she help him buckle his car seat so she did, patted his hand, kissed his forehead and said, "love you honey!" He is so blessed to have her as a sister. I am so blessed to have her here during the day when all Jakob wants to do is cry and all I want to do is cry along!!! Seriously, am I a two year old? Being completely transparent here. But I can get frustrated (as I'm sure he is as well) when a language barrier gets between us. This happened yesterday and she came up to him as he was cryyyiiinnnngggg and I just kept trying to say the same thing in lingala over and over in my as calm as possible american accent and she rubbed his back and said, "it's okay!" to the two of us. Thank you, Julia, for reminding me that all I probably need to do sometimes is hold him and be quiet because now surely isn't the time for reasoning in 2 different languages, or 3 if you count my lingalish. What a blessing she is! Bringing her momma back to the basics.
I'm so thankful we listened to the still small voice that told us adoption was how we should add to our family. It took us so long looking at domestic, foster care, foster to adopt, then international, and all the countries that are included in that. DRC wasn't even on our list because of the "5 year married" rule. when we switched agencies is about the time they say Jakob was abandoned, shortly after we were matched with him. Perfect timing to meet our son on that computer screen. He was ready for us and we were ready for him. Deep heartbreak for Jakob and pure joy for us. It is terrible it works that way.
Please pray for him in this transition, that he will continue to attach and know we are his family. We don't know his story, we only know he was abandoned in a field sometime around June of 2012. We don't know what he remembers, how long he was in that field, who put him there, was it night time? Did he cry? Is that when he stopped talking? Or was it before, when he was with whoever had him prior? Did he have a momma who loved on him and covered in kisses? Was she ill? Is that why he was left in a field? Did he wander off and become extremely lost? My mind can wander and worry... As much as I would like to know the answers to the questions, and yes, I really would, I've found peace knowing the Lord knows and that is enough. The Lord knows every nightmare, good memory, bad memory, negative reactions related to forgotten memories, and that is good enough. He has gotten us this far, I don't see him abandoning us now, as we are truly just beginning.
Praise God for this journey; sometimes I still look at our family and laugh because it just seems so surreal that we traveled to Africa and brought a son home. It surely isn't for the faint of heart, but Jakob has only added to our already overflowing cup!
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| Jakob's foster sister brought him to our hotel. Such a sweetheart and he was really attached to her! |
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| Once brought up to our room, Jakob stood in the same spot for about 45 minutes without moving a finger, batting an eye. We gave him the soda bottle of Africa Fun he was clinging to when brought to us and he gulped the rest of it down like a pro. Point 1 for us! |
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| First Daddy-Son pic |
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| First Momma-Son pic |
More pics to come; of course we have so many more!!!!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Jacob
I actually just posted a draft I had from months ago. So much has happened and been on the rocks that it sometimes never seems to be sure enough to post an update. Not sure if that sentence made sense but hopefully you understand.
We left Children of All Nations. There were a few reasons and if anyone wants more details I could try to offer them personally, but we felt a little uneasy. But probably not uneasy like you're thinking, we felt uneasy about our son and where he was, we just weren't sure we were supposed to be with CAN anymore. We started finding people using DRC Adoption Services, an independent adoption consulting service. I could also give you more information about this and why we knew we were safe and trusted them. Amazingly, they have children waiting for families, not families waiting in line for children. There are so many orphans in DRC. As one new facebook friend encouraged, "Lindsey, there are way to many orphans to wait 2 years." So, we were uneasy. Not a complete peace anymore and we researched and researched. We told DRCAS we were signing up with them and 2 days later we saw our little boy's picture. Those big brown eyes, squishy little cheeks and striped Opie (that's for you, Mom) shirt. He was the one. If we had not switched to DRCAS, he wouldn't have been in our requested age range if we stayed with CAN, not to mention he wouldn't have been available to CAN.
That Sunday we heard a sermon in church talking about taking steps of faith, and boy was this one. The nail was hit on the head when he said, "sometimes you have to roll the stone away to see the gift of your step of faith" (referring to moving the stone from Jesus' tomb-must have sounded CRAZY!)
So we did and he is ours and we will call him Jacob :)-anyone catch the Nemo reference? haha... We still appreciate your prayers as there are always things that can go wrong. We think it will be wonderful to have him home by January (we were told a general 6 month timeline, which would put us at Feb). But at this point, just knowing it is happening is amazing. Seeing his face is overwhelming.
Want to know who his biggest fan is? Julia. I have seen her multiple times go up to someone on our street and say, "mmm baby brutter!" with the reply, "oooh!? You have a baby brother?" Julia will say, "mmhmmm! be right back." Then she will run into the house, get his picture and proudly display it to whomever will look. She's also asked for my phone to show the wallpaper pic if we aren't home. It warms my heart. That little girl is just too much. My heart overflows!
Things we've learned:
adoption is hard. it rarely goes easy.
God is in control and He will show you the path in His timing, and it isn't always straight!
I must continually pray to fall in love with his timing.
Those little nudges? Listen to them.
We left Children of All Nations. There were a few reasons and if anyone wants more details I could try to offer them personally, but we felt a little uneasy. But probably not uneasy like you're thinking, we felt uneasy about our son and where he was, we just weren't sure we were supposed to be with CAN anymore. We started finding people using DRC Adoption Services, an independent adoption consulting service. I could also give you more information about this and why we knew we were safe and trusted them. Amazingly, they have children waiting for families, not families waiting in line for children. There are so many orphans in DRC. As one new facebook friend encouraged, "Lindsey, there are way to many orphans to wait 2 years." So, we were uneasy. Not a complete peace anymore and we researched and researched. We told DRCAS we were signing up with them and 2 days later we saw our little boy's picture. Those big brown eyes, squishy little cheeks and striped Opie (that's for you, Mom) shirt. He was the one. If we had not switched to DRCAS, he wouldn't have been in our requested age range if we stayed with CAN, not to mention he wouldn't have been available to CAN.
That Sunday we heard a sermon in church talking about taking steps of faith, and boy was this one. The nail was hit on the head when he said, "sometimes you have to roll the stone away to see the gift of your step of faith" (referring to moving the stone from Jesus' tomb-must have sounded CRAZY!)
So we did and he is ours and we will call him Jacob :)-anyone catch the Nemo reference? haha... We still appreciate your prayers as there are always things that can go wrong. We think it will be wonderful to have him home by January (we were told a general 6 month timeline, which would put us at Feb). But at this point, just knowing it is happening is amazing. Seeing his face is overwhelming.
Want to know who his biggest fan is? Julia. I have seen her multiple times go up to someone on our street and say, "mmm baby brutter!" with the reply, "oooh!? You have a baby brother?" Julia will say, "mmhmmm! be right back." Then she will run into the house, get his picture and proudly display it to whomever will look. She's also asked for my phone to show the wallpaper pic if we aren't home. It warms my heart. That little girl is just too much. My heart overflows!
Things we've learned:
adoption is hard. it rarely goes easy.
God is in control and He will show you the path in His timing, and it isn't always straight!
I must continually pray to fall in love with his timing.
Those little nudges? Listen to them.
The CAN Family
One day it hit me that there are other Children of All Nations -DR Congo families out there and there had to be a way to find out where they are in their journey and we could hopefully support and encourage each other if we had a way to communicate. I started by finding an "adopting from DRC" yahoo group and introduced myself to all 500-something of them. I told them we were adopting through CAN, requested a 1-2 year old boy and especially hoped to connect with someone from CAN as well. God surely provided and a sweet gal emailed me and told me about the CAN DRC facebook group!!! It has been such a blessing to talk to these people although the only downside is I'm checking the page WAY too much to see if anyone has any insights to how quickly the process is moving along. Keep in mind, we were told that once our dossier lands in the Congo, it would take 6-12 months to receive a referral (heartbreak). I spoke with our CAN contact and found out we were the 17th dossier sent, and there were now 11 families ahead of us waiting for a referral. So we were # 12!!! Just a day or two later, my FB pal let us know she found out 2 other families received their referrals. We're now #10!!! It is the little things that make it seem more real. Knowing it will most likely not be a year from now till we find out his name, age, and see his sweet face just makes me want to jump for joy. Can I dare but hope that we will have him by Christmas? Now that will surely be a stretch, but a momma can dream.
Is it too early to get some really cool airplanes for his room? Start picking out fabric to sew his blanket? Nah...
We also just had 2 fundraisers. One was an awesome yard sale where friends and family donated a ton of items and we got to them sell to raise money. Last weekend we had our first of 2 One Less Photo Shoot in NKY/Cincinnati. My sister in law has recently started doing photography because she is AWESOME at it and she has such a big heart for her nephew she offered to take pics of families for a small donation. They turned out wonderful!!!! Here is a sneak peak:
In a couple weeks we will have a photo shoot for Louisville and I can't wait to see what Shannon does with these sweet families and this beautiful city. If you would like to see her blog, you can go here.
Last but not least, we've had some dear friends of ours send letters out to their family in hopes of raising us some money. We did not ask them to do this. And would you believe that their family members then sent out letters as well? We've received checks from people we have never met. Every single envelope has made me cry. I don't tear up, I cry. The Lord is showing us his heart for orphans and that he will provide the funds needed to set the solitary in families. I've realized this has absolutely nothing to do with us and that we are merely tools he is using to show his GLORY and his bright light in a world of sadness and disappointments. He is so good and he alone is worthy of our praise. My heart is so humbled to be his servant, I only hope we will always say, "Yes, Lord!"
Is it too early to get some really cool airplanes for his room? Start picking out fabric to sew his blanket? Nah...
We also just had 2 fundraisers. One was an awesome yard sale where friends and family donated a ton of items and we got to them sell to raise money. Last weekend we had our first of 2 One Less Photo Shoot in NKY/Cincinnati. My sister in law has recently started doing photography because she is AWESOME at it and she has such a big heart for her nephew she offered to take pics of families for a small donation. They turned out wonderful!!!! Here is a sneak peak:
In a couple weeks we will have a photo shoot for Louisville and I can't wait to see what Shannon does with these sweet families and this beautiful city. If you would like to see her blog, you can go here.
Last but not least, we've had some dear friends of ours send letters out to their family in hopes of raising us some money. We did not ask them to do this. And would you believe that their family members then sent out letters as well? We've received checks from people we have never met. Every single envelope has made me cry. I don't tear up, I cry. The Lord is showing us his heart for orphans and that he will provide the funds needed to set the solitary in families. I've realized this has absolutely nothing to do with us and that we are merely tools he is using to show his GLORY and his bright light in a world of sadness and disappointments. He is so good and he alone is worthy of our praise. My heart is so humbled to be his servant, I only hope we will always say, "Yes, Lord!"
Friday, May 4, 2012
There is so much to update on. My thoughts have been on all of these things I'm going to tell you, unless it is 12am, I don't have the time to write everything down! You should see my daily list of things to do... shoowee.
Our Dossier is supposed to be completed. This may change, because it has twice already. This has been such a frustrating part of the adoption-the sigh of relief that we are finished and only have to wait on others, then learning (or realizing) we are still. not. finished. Yeah, there are times in your life where things like this will happen, and the feeling is always frustration, but when it concerns your family, or, more specifically, one of your children coming home, it is enough to bring a momma to tears. Our most recent experience: all of our documents had been collected and sent to the agency. Our agency fees included the ability to send the dossier to CAN, then they send it to county/state governments to get sealed (this apparently is not common, a family must drive to get this done). Our adoption counselor sent everything off to be sealed and wrote us saying our birth certificates were rejected because the notary "expired." These certificates were only a couple months old!! But no worries, I had just ordered new ones and they already came in the mail. The next email, not even 10 minutes later, stated that we ordered incorrect wedding certificates. This was not our fault, but Ohio's fault because they just changed the law saying that the certificates must be signed by the judge, not just the deputy clerk. grrrrrrr. This and a reminder that the wait for a referral takes up to 12 months brought me to tears. There is nothing like going from the top of your game, getting shot twice then kicked in the gut. Maybe that is a little extreme but it is exactly how I felt that day. Since then we've sent in all the new documents and haven't heard anything. I'll take silence as a positive.
But God is taking care of us. A good friend reminded me that I would not get this time with "just Julia" back, so soak it all in. And that makes everything better. I love that little girl. She is my heart.
A week or so ago we had a mommy-daughter day at the zoo. We go to the zoo alot but I don't think we've ever gone just the two of us. I loved it. It was easily my favorite trip to date.
Doesn't she just melt your heart? I can't imagine having 2 babies to love this much. It will surely be a blessing.
We've also been overwhelmed by people that have come together to support us in our adoption. One of the biggest things that have happened lately is I've become a jeweler for Premier Designs. Can I just say I've secretly wanted to work for this company for a long time? I remember telling someone about that desire before Julia was born. I would used to go to shows with my mom and be so excited to be surrounded by the gorgeous pieces! Such a girly girl. So anyways, one day I approached a girl from church who is a consultant about ordering a piece for my mom's birthday (I look at it like supporting a local business or entrepreneur?) Now Christy and her husband adopted their sweet little boy so she has a huge heart for adoption. That girl offered to give us 100% of her profit. I was overwhelmed! This is one of the kindest things anyone had ever done for us. So I said yes. She also told me a little bit about the business opportunity but I wasn't too interested. I ended up going to a meeting where you listen to the business side of Premier and as a reward, you can order whatever you would like for 50% off. BINGO! Mom's gift. So I go, still not interested but I look at all the gorgeous pieces and start dreaming about having them for myself-yes, I took a purchase that was supposed to be about a gift for someone else and made it about me. haha! Well, I was enamored by all the beautiful jewels and couldn't help but think how FUN it would be to sell this product to raise money to bring our son home. One thing lead to another, details, details, God whispering, me questioning, Joe agreeing, and we signed up. I had an amazing debut show where Christy rocked and so many beautiful ladies showed up to support! God has been so good and the business has done very well! I'm so thankful for this opportunity, not only for the obvious reasons, but because I'm able to force myself to come out of my shell-in front of people! Yikes! Little by little, the Lord is helping me grow.
To be continued...
Our Dossier is supposed to be completed. This may change, because it has twice already. This has been such a frustrating part of the adoption-the sigh of relief that we are finished and only have to wait on others, then learning (or realizing) we are still. not. finished. Yeah, there are times in your life where things like this will happen, and the feeling is always frustration, but when it concerns your family, or, more specifically, one of your children coming home, it is enough to bring a momma to tears. Our most recent experience: all of our documents had been collected and sent to the agency. Our agency fees included the ability to send the dossier to CAN, then they send it to county/state governments to get sealed (this apparently is not common, a family must drive to get this done). Our adoption counselor sent everything off to be sealed and wrote us saying our birth certificates were rejected because the notary "expired." These certificates were only a couple months old!! But no worries, I had just ordered new ones and they already came in the mail. The next email, not even 10 minutes later, stated that we ordered incorrect wedding certificates. This was not our fault, but Ohio's fault because they just changed the law saying that the certificates must be signed by the judge, not just the deputy clerk. grrrrrrr. This and a reminder that the wait for a referral takes up to 12 months brought me to tears. There is nothing like going from the top of your game, getting shot twice then kicked in the gut. Maybe that is a little extreme but it is exactly how I felt that day. Since then we've sent in all the new documents and haven't heard anything. I'll take silence as a positive.
But God is taking care of us. A good friend reminded me that I would not get this time with "just Julia" back, so soak it all in. And that makes everything better. I love that little girl. She is my heart.
A week or so ago we had a mommy-daughter day at the zoo. We go to the zoo alot but I don't think we've ever gone just the two of us. I loved it. It was easily my favorite trip to date.
Doesn't she just melt your heart? I can't imagine having 2 babies to love this much. It will surely be a blessing.
We've also been overwhelmed by people that have come together to support us in our adoption. One of the biggest things that have happened lately is I've become a jeweler for Premier Designs. Can I just say I've secretly wanted to work for this company for a long time? I remember telling someone about that desire before Julia was born. I would used to go to shows with my mom and be so excited to be surrounded by the gorgeous pieces! Such a girly girl. So anyways, one day I approached a girl from church who is a consultant about ordering a piece for my mom's birthday (I look at it like supporting a local business or entrepreneur?) Now Christy and her husband adopted their sweet little boy so she has a huge heart for adoption. That girl offered to give us 100% of her profit. I was overwhelmed! This is one of the kindest things anyone had ever done for us. So I said yes. She also told me a little bit about the business opportunity but I wasn't too interested. I ended up going to a meeting where you listen to the business side of Premier and as a reward, you can order whatever you would like for 50% off. BINGO! Mom's gift. So I go, still not interested but I look at all the gorgeous pieces and start dreaming about having them for myself-yes, I took a purchase that was supposed to be about a gift for someone else and made it about me. haha! Well, I was enamored by all the beautiful jewels and couldn't help but think how FUN it would be to sell this product to raise money to bring our son home. One thing lead to another, details, details, God whispering, me questioning, Joe agreeing, and we signed up. I had an amazing debut show where Christy rocked and so many beautiful ladies showed up to support! God has been so good and the business has done very well! I'm so thankful for this opportunity, not only for the obvious reasons, but because I'm able to force myself to come out of my shell-in front of people! Yikes! Little by little, the Lord is helping me grow.
To be continued...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Dossier and Julia Shmulia
We're right in the middle of the Dossier! We sent off our first of three mailers at the end of December (signed documents and agreements-notarized) and then received information for our second mailer.
By this time I was seriously wondering what more they could possibly want from us. We had given them so much information with our homestudy, which is included in the dossier. By the way, our awesome social worker finished our homestudy and it has been sent off to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) along with our I600A-petition to bring an orphan to the US from overseas. Once that has been accepted, the petition becomes a I171 or something of the sort, and travels to the DRC along with our dossier. This takes about 40-50 days. Somewhere in there we also receive instruction to get FBI fingerprints which are included in our dossier.
This second mailer consists of quite a few documents that you can do quickly and in your spare time (or at 5 in the morning because you can't sleep). We had to put together a letter about our family and why we want to adopt from the Congo, letter about our home, another about Joe, Julia and my personalities, etc. We also fill out our millionth financial record which is becoming a bit redundant--you have to make sure everything is the same, so however much was in our bank account when we first started our homestudy in August, must also be on our dossier and sent to USCIS in their future package (there is another). Anyhoo--it is all worth it. And our agency has made it so easy for us: detailed descriptions of the mailers, a packet on each specific document and how it should be worded, headers and footers, notarization, etc. Children of All Nations is amazing. I've emailed our international help there sometimes 5 times a day with picky questions and she always responds so quickly and kindly. So back to the dossier! We need to send out our Police background checks that we requested for our homestudy so this was easy--they were in our Adoption Assistance folder. We also send out our notarized marriage license, and birth certificates (all three of us). I need a notarized letter stating that I am unemployed, and Joe needs one stating that he is employed. His poor boss, this will be his second letter. We need a letter (on official company letterhead) from the insurance company stating that they will cover an adopted child. This letter has to be signed. Yesterday I called the official branch for insurance from Joe's work and they sent me to the official insurance office. They sent me back to my first call. Nobody will write us a letter. Instead they want to send us all the documentation included in our benefits packets but we don't get the letterhead and signature. This is a little frustrating. That is something we will tackle next week, 8am on Monday!
CAN sent out an email to all Congo parents, letting us know that they are looking to hire more employees that can be on the ground at their orphanages and set up referrals. This is awesome because hopefully the 9-12 month wait for a referral will go back down to 2-6, or whatever it was!
Not concerning the adoption, our baby Julia is not so much a baby anymore. I think we only have a few more months where she will have those babyish qualities and then will turn into a 'kid.' This beaks my heart! I have been proof over the last 2 years that it is hard to leave stages behind and move to the next, but that it is worth it and only becomes more exciting, but I'm not sure I can handle this one! This is a whole other era of her life! Maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but she is my heart. It is happening so fast. I take every opportunity I can get to hold her and have her fall asleep in my arms at night before I put her in her crib, and every time she comes to me, reaches for my hand and takes me to her toys and pats the floor to sit down, I do it. Of course if my hands are covered in raw chicken I don't, but I have a hard time worrying that she thinks mommy cooks and cleans too much. And our house definitely doesn't show that I clean too much! Ha! Do any other mommies out there struggle with this? She will be 2 in April and I am so, so, so thankful for the time we've spent together. I wouldn't trade any day of tantrums and time outs for ANYTHING. I look forward to learning more about the personality God gave her before she was even created, but please pray for me as we leave a stage behind and move to another!
By this time I was seriously wondering what more they could possibly want from us. We had given them so much information with our homestudy, which is included in the dossier. By the way, our awesome social worker finished our homestudy and it has been sent off to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) along with our I600A-petition to bring an orphan to the US from overseas. Once that has been accepted, the petition becomes a I171 or something of the sort, and travels to the DRC along with our dossier. This takes about 40-50 days. Somewhere in there we also receive instruction to get FBI fingerprints which are included in our dossier.
This second mailer consists of quite a few documents that you can do quickly and in your spare time (or at 5 in the morning because you can't sleep). We had to put together a letter about our family and why we want to adopt from the Congo, letter about our home, another about Joe, Julia and my personalities, etc. We also fill out our millionth financial record which is becoming a bit redundant--you have to make sure everything is the same, so however much was in our bank account when we first started our homestudy in August, must also be on our dossier and sent to USCIS in their future package (there is another). Anyhoo--it is all worth it. And our agency has made it so easy for us: detailed descriptions of the mailers, a packet on each specific document and how it should be worded, headers and footers, notarization, etc. Children of All Nations is amazing. I've emailed our international help there sometimes 5 times a day with picky questions and she always responds so quickly and kindly. So back to the dossier! We need to send out our Police background checks that we requested for our homestudy so this was easy--they were in our Adoption Assistance folder. We also send out our notarized marriage license, and birth certificates (all three of us). I need a notarized letter stating that I am unemployed, and Joe needs one stating that he is employed. His poor boss, this will be his second letter. We need a letter (on official company letterhead) from the insurance company stating that they will cover an adopted child. This letter has to be signed. Yesterday I called the official branch for insurance from Joe's work and they sent me to the official insurance office. They sent me back to my first call. Nobody will write us a letter. Instead they want to send us all the documentation included in our benefits packets but we don't get the letterhead and signature. This is a little frustrating. That is something we will tackle next week, 8am on Monday!
CAN sent out an email to all Congo parents, letting us know that they are looking to hire more employees that can be on the ground at their orphanages and set up referrals. This is awesome because hopefully the 9-12 month wait for a referral will go back down to 2-6, or whatever it was!
Not concerning the adoption, our baby Julia is not so much a baby anymore. I think we only have a few more months where she will have those babyish qualities and then will turn into a 'kid.' This beaks my heart! I have been proof over the last 2 years that it is hard to leave stages behind and move to the next, but that it is worth it and only becomes more exciting, but I'm not sure I can handle this one! This is a whole other era of her life! Maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but she is my heart. It is happening so fast. I take every opportunity I can get to hold her and have her fall asleep in my arms at night before I put her in her crib, and every time she comes to me, reaches for my hand and takes me to her toys and pats the floor to sit down, I do it. Of course if my hands are covered in raw chicken I don't, but I have a hard time worrying that she thinks mommy cooks and cleans too much. And our house definitely doesn't show that I clean too much! Ha! Do any other mommies out there struggle with this? She will be 2 in April and I am so, so, so thankful for the time we've spent together. I wouldn't trade any day of tantrums and time outs for ANYTHING. I look forward to learning more about the personality God gave her before she was even created, but please pray for me as we leave a stage behind and move to another!
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| 6 months |
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| Julia's first birthday |
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Drum Roll... The Congo!
It seems like we've been walking in figure 8s these past couple months. Just because one thing makes sense to us, as a reason to or not to go through a certain country, doesn't mean the Lord won't lead us right back to that country to start our journey. That is certainly what He has done.
Joe found out that he can take off of work 5-6 weeks so we immediately told our agency that we were set to go through Uganda. I was so excited to be in the same country as JMCM and possibly meet the boys and see this ministry that has become so dear to our hearts. A week or so later we learn we are not able to adopt from Uganda because I am on a medication that Uganda does not approve of, and this is something 1/2 of the USA is on. Oh well. I'm on the phone with our social worker and she is telling me about Ghana's wonderful program and all I keep thinking is, "It takes 2 years!" I tell her I will talk to Joe because we might as well consider waiting until July when we've been married 5 years to apply to the Congo. Then she tells me we don't have to wait, we can start now! I asked her the same question 3 different ways, 3 times to clarify that our being married for only 4.5 years won't slow us down. Basically she told me she doesn't know what the other agency was doing. We've been together for 8 years and that is enough. There is something we could do to prove we've been together for so long. And that is... our prom picture! YES. LOL.
Well wouldn't you know once we signed up for the congo and paid a hefty amount of money for them to take us seriously, Congo had a botched election. With all this drama, a process that takes 9-12 months after dossier submission is now suspected to take 12-18 months. This means the referral timeline is generally expected to be 6-12 months now. What a bummer. But the weird thing is, although I'm upset, I feel a peace about it. Because I know that God could make it happen in 2 days if he wanted. I also know that if it takes 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, it will be because he wills it. One thing this adoption has shown me is the Lord's heart. I haven't seen all of it, but I've seen glimpses of it. There are orphans in the Congo (and our state, country, Asia, Latin America, etc.) that do not have parents, proper medical care, someone to love on them. How can we be so oblivious to this? How in the world can we know this information and not feel led to be an ambassador for these children? Have our hearts grown so cold that we can even forget this for one minute? Yes. And I pray that mine will warm up and he will use Joe and I. I've said it before, we can't change this crisis, but maybe someone else's heart will change from what we're learning. And that could save another life.
When we talked to our social worker in our last homestudy meeting (yay!) she told us that she hasn't heard of many Congolese children coming home. They can be matched with a family, but she knows of more than 1 or 2 that haven't made it to their homecoming because of disease, malnutrition. What in the world are we doing.
She also told us that if we bring a child home who is a bit older (and the older you adopt, the worse this scenario), the child may go crazy at being held because they never were. These aren't just horror stories, they are stories our own social worker has experienced. I kiss Julia all over her little face countless times a day. Hold her and squeeze her against her will more than I can guess. I cannot imagine our son not experiencing this while we are apart. Any child missing out on this kind of love. And that doesn't only happen to orphans, let me remind you. I have a sweet friend named Brooke who adopted their son from Ethiopia. Their story is much different, the caregiver for their son loved Bennett and they still keep in contact with her. I hope this will be our story.
Please pray for the Congolese orphans. For the families who are further through the process of their adoptions and they are still waiting on things to wrap up quickly. That God will be glorified in their stories and in ours.
Well wouldn't you know once we signed up for the congo and paid a hefty amount of money for them to take us seriously, Congo had a botched election. With all this drama, a process that takes 9-12 months after dossier submission is now suspected to take 12-18 months. This means the referral timeline is generally expected to be 6-12 months now. What a bummer. But the weird thing is, although I'm upset, I feel a peace about it. Because I know that God could make it happen in 2 days if he wanted. I also know that if it takes 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, it will be because he wills it. One thing this adoption has shown me is the Lord's heart. I haven't seen all of it, but I've seen glimpses of it. There are orphans in the Congo (and our state, country, Asia, Latin America, etc.) that do not have parents, proper medical care, someone to love on them. How can we be so oblivious to this? How in the world can we know this information and not feel led to be an ambassador for these children? Have our hearts grown so cold that we can even forget this for one minute? Yes. And I pray that mine will warm up and he will use Joe and I. I've said it before, we can't change this crisis, but maybe someone else's heart will change from what we're learning. And that could save another life.
When we talked to our social worker in our last homestudy meeting (yay!) she told us that she hasn't heard of many Congolese children coming home. They can be matched with a family, but she knows of more than 1 or 2 that haven't made it to their homecoming because of disease, malnutrition. What in the world are we doing.
She also told us that if we bring a child home who is a bit older (and the older you adopt, the worse this scenario), the child may go crazy at being held because they never were. These aren't just horror stories, they are stories our own social worker has experienced. I kiss Julia all over her little face countless times a day. Hold her and squeeze her against her will more than I can guess. I cannot imagine our son not experiencing this while we are apart. Any child missing out on this kind of love. And that doesn't only happen to orphans, let me remind you. I have a sweet friend named Brooke who adopted their son from Ethiopia. Their story is much different, the caregiver for their son loved Bennett and they still keep in contact with her. I hope this will be our story.
Please pray for the Congolese orphans. For the families who are further through the process of their adoptions and they are still waiting on things to wrap up quickly. That God will be glorified in their stories and in ours.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Congo, Uganda and Ghana
Well, we can't adopt the little boy.
It was probably 2 weeks ago that we learned he would not be our son. It was just a weird way to find out. The social worker from the agency wrote us and said, "Well, I have good news, the orphanage wants to work with you!" We were floored! It seemed unreal that this would actually be happening, that we had already seen the face of our son and that we knew his name. We wrote the worker and asked her for clearer details. Since he is in the Congo we knew we had to wait until we were married 5 years (July '12) and so we asked her if we would be able to travel to get him, say, in August. She wrote us back and said that we actually wouldn't be able to do anything but submit our dossier until the end of July (so the 8-9 month process would start then) and the orphanage didn't want to make him wait that long so we wouldn't be allowed to adopt P. This is totally understandable, and so good for him. This means that he will have a family much sooner than he would if we were to proceed with adopting him. That is what I truly wanted, was for him to have parents. But in reality, the orphanage doesn't want to work with us early, and I sincerely wish she would have told us everything first. Kind of felt like we were being strung along. Oh well. What are you going to do?
We decided we need to start the Uganda or Ghana program through a different agency. This is a longer process but we can start it now so it will probably end up being about the same length of time as it would be if we adopted through the Congo. The only thing holding us back is that both countries require a 5-6 week travel time. We need to know if UPS will allow this length of absence. Need to know soon! Please pray with us.
On another note, I started a prayer jar at home. It sits on our kitchen table so each time we sit down to eat and say Grace, we pull out a strip of paper that has a prayer request on it! We've done this for about a week now and we enjoy it because it reminds us of things that we may not always think of, but we should definitely remember from time to time. We even have one that says "don't ask for anything, but thank God for 5 things!" When I first started out I think I had 10 strips of paper and thought this would be plenty. Then the Lord reminded me of so many families, ministries, illnesses, etc. and 5 minutes later I was finished writing :)
It was probably 2 weeks ago that we learned he would not be our son. It was just a weird way to find out. The social worker from the agency wrote us and said, "Well, I have good news, the orphanage wants to work with you!" We were floored! It seemed unreal that this would actually be happening, that we had already seen the face of our son and that we knew his name. We wrote the worker and asked her for clearer details. Since he is in the Congo we knew we had to wait until we were married 5 years (July '12) and so we asked her if we would be able to travel to get him, say, in August. She wrote us back and said that we actually wouldn't be able to do anything but submit our dossier until the end of July (so the 8-9 month process would start then) and the orphanage didn't want to make him wait that long so we wouldn't be allowed to adopt P. This is totally understandable, and so good for him. This means that he will have a family much sooner than he would if we were to proceed with adopting him. That is what I truly wanted, was for him to have parents. But in reality, the orphanage doesn't want to work with us early, and I sincerely wish she would have told us everything first. Kind of felt like we were being strung along. Oh well. What are you going to do?
We decided we need to start the Uganda or Ghana program through a different agency. This is a longer process but we can start it now so it will probably end up being about the same length of time as it would be if we adopted through the Congo. The only thing holding us back is that both countries require a 5-6 week travel time. We need to know if UPS will allow this length of absence. Need to know soon! Please pray with us.
On another note, I started a prayer jar at home. It sits on our kitchen table so each time we sit down to eat and say Grace, we pull out a strip of paper that has a prayer request on it! We've done this for about a week now and we enjoy it because it reminds us of things that we may not always think of, but we should definitely remember from time to time. We even have one that says "don't ask for anything, but thank God for 5 things!" When I first started out I think I had 10 strips of paper and thought this would be plenty. Then the Lord reminded me of so many families, ministries, illnesses, etc. and 5 minutes later I was finished writing :)
Monday, October 10, 2011
Homestudy, Attorneys, Orphanages and God's Perfect Timing
So much to catch up on!
I've realized I never even talked about our first homestudy meeting which took place the first week of August. We were so stinkin nervous. What if our social worker thought we were totally lame? We tend to have a lot of lame jokes... I even gave Joe a briefing about how much of our humor we should actually share with her-we aren't normal. Our worker is named Rebecca, she was hilarious and immediately put us at ease, well, after telling us to relax the 3rd time I think we finally thought it was safe :). She asked us all kinds of questions ranging from, "Lindsey, why were you first attracted to Joe?" to "Joe, what does your brother do for a career?" Details, details details. We were there I think 2.5 hours and she gave us so much information to go on concerning different countries (we hadn't yet decided) and options such as waiting child vs. referral program. Which I can cover a bit later.
So at this meeting she told us we needed to pick our placing agency (the agency that would say, "this is your child" and help us through the process-referral program) then we could meet again and have our meeting at our home (make sure there aren't any meth labs in the basement kind of thing). It is now nearly mid October and we haven't chosen our agency. Very good reasons, this you will also soon see.
After the meeting I confessed to Joe that I felt the Lord was leading me to a specific continent. I told him I didn't think I should tell him, and he agreed, that he should see where he felt he was being lead. About a week later we both had the discussion and Joe told me he felt God was leading us to Africa-and I as well. This was huge. In the beginning of our journey we researched fostering to adopt, domestic adoption and international adoption. We had no idea where to go. Once we decided on international we both voiced that we certainly felt like Africa was not in our radar. I continuously told Joe I thought we were being lead to a hispanic or asian country, but it was definitely not Africa. And there we were... months later and the Lord used his perfect ways to direct our hearts to His plan, our son. Now when Joe and I were dating we always talked about Africa, visiting, living, we didn't know. Years later we thought that had passed, and now in His perfect timing, He has shown us why Africa was on our hearts so long ago (I say "so long ago" but in reality it's more like 8 years). God is good. I can't sit here and say that it has been easy wondering why in the world we felt that so long ago, I questioned it every single day and still do. If you want me to dive deeper into this issue I will but it will have to be through personal email, I can't share all of this with the blog world-lol. But it is satisfying to look back and HONESTLY say that I am joyful with His timing. And it hasn't even happened yet. This is so big. So, so big. It's been rough.
We began researching countries. Ethiopia has dramatically reduced their adoptions due to corruption (like Guatemala), Uganda has extreme need, DRC Congo requires a 5 year marriage. I started researching agencies that places children in Uganda with families, and attorneys and orphanages in Uganda. Our social worker had mentioned that if you skip the agency and go straight to an attorney (and they have their orphanage they work with) the timeline is considerably faster and it is even thousands cheaper. It didn't hurt to research. I emailed probably 10 Ugandan attorneys that listed "adoption" in their specifics and heard from maybe 3 that said they could help us. I then remembered Gwen Oatsvall from 147 Million Orphans and thought surely she could suggest someone to talk to about this attorney process. It was obviously risky to take this initiative without an agency to back you up and "protect" you. She sent me to a lady named Tosha who was actually in Uganda with her adopted little girl at that very moment, and she had used her own private attorney. I contacted Tosha and yada yada yada, wasn't too sure. I went back to Gwen (I know, this is getting long) and she said they adopted their children straight from an orphanage. Wow! More research... that night I stayed up to midnight researching lists of Ugandan orphanages and emailed around 45 of them. I think to this day I've only heard from maybe 15 of them. There was one that stuck out, Jesus and Me Children's Ministries. David Knowlton, the director, was on facebook. I have no pride, I requested friendship. David is such an encouraging man of God. We began emailing him with questions about adopting through JMCM and we have been so blessed in the short 2 weeks that we've "known" him to see his heart for orphans and, more importantly, his obedience and faith in Jesus Christ. Every email starts something like one of Paul's letters, "Greetings through our Lord Jesus Christ..." He has no doubt that a thousand dollars will be provided when they need the money asap to rent a larger house to provide living quarters for volunteers and children. And guess what-it happens. Why? Because honestly, in our life of abundant material things, we do not first go to God as our provider. If we need a thousand dollars, we call a family member, get a credit card, take out a loan. Why wouldn't we first go to the one that created us, said He will provide and sustain us? Why do we not give Him the opportunity to even show us what he can do? This saddens me. That is another blog post. Anyways, we finally contacted David and specifically asked him if he had any boys under 2. There are boys that JMCM provides for but they may still have living family members. He did not suggest we try to independently adopt a child who wasn't completely orphaned-he had seen people lose their adoption and their money because caregivers had protested at the last minute. However, he offered to consult with a local baby home, get to know the organization and children, choose a child for us, adopt him, then proceed with us adopting him through JMCM. How can you not be touched by his generosity and willingness to find an orphan a family? We declined his offer but thanked him for his offer. It just didn't feel right, although we had become somewhat attached to JMCM and their endeavors for orphans, we quickly knew that this wasn't the route for our adoption. That was okay-we are thankful to have gained a friend in David, and to have the honor of praying for this noble ministry. It feels like a small detour, like driving from Kentucky to California with the redwood trees as your goal but you see a sign along the way visit an awesome restaurant full of people you know you will see someday again. Because we will-they are our family in Christ and our hearts now think of the JMCM children.
The next day we planned to call the agency we've considered all along they way. But God had yet another plan.
A week prior to our decision I would still search the web for waiting African children (the waiting child route). We found a little boy who is 2 months younger than Julia (so 15 months). We inquired on him and the agency he is through wrote back and said he is still available and to look at the details. He is in the Congo. I told the social worker we were saddened that we wouldn't be able to proceed; we've only been married 4 years. Now is the day we're supposed to call the agency-she writes me and tells me sometimes they make exceptions. We were very excited and wrote her back immediately. They wanted to know if we lived together before we were married or at least how long we dated. Well, we didn't live together, but we dated 4.5 years. We've also known each other for 13 years! It has been nearly a week and a half but she hasn't heard back from the orphanage yet. Apparently the facilitator is traveling and hard to reach!
This little boy may be ours. He has a name, age, face, a story. But this may also be another detour we're for some reason being taken on. Honestly, if we don't bring this specific little boy home I will be okay just as long as he does end up going home to someone. He needs a mommy and a daddy. But I love him. It is up to the Lord if I ever get to show him that love.
As always, please pray for us and this little boy we will call "P". I would like to know things quickly so that we can proceed with whatever route we need to take. I know this is a lot to ask especially since I've seen God prove himself as the perfect timer, but my heart is so frail and all I want is immediacy!!!!
Thank you for reading all of this, if anyone does :)
I've realized I never even talked about our first homestudy meeting which took place the first week of August. We were so stinkin nervous. What if our social worker thought we were totally lame? We tend to have a lot of lame jokes... I even gave Joe a briefing about how much of our humor we should actually share with her-we aren't normal. Our worker is named Rebecca, she was hilarious and immediately put us at ease, well, after telling us to relax the 3rd time I think we finally thought it was safe :). She asked us all kinds of questions ranging from, "Lindsey, why were you first attracted to Joe?" to "Joe, what does your brother do for a career?" Details, details details. We were there I think 2.5 hours and she gave us so much information to go on concerning different countries (we hadn't yet decided) and options such as waiting child vs. referral program. Which I can cover a bit later.
So at this meeting she told us we needed to pick our placing agency (the agency that would say, "this is your child" and help us through the process-referral program) then we could meet again and have our meeting at our home (make sure there aren't any meth labs in the basement kind of thing). It is now nearly mid October and we haven't chosen our agency. Very good reasons, this you will also soon see.
After the meeting I confessed to Joe that I felt the Lord was leading me to a specific continent. I told him I didn't think I should tell him, and he agreed, that he should see where he felt he was being lead. About a week later we both had the discussion and Joe told me he felt God was leading us to Africa-and I as well. This was huge. In the beginning of our journey we researched fostering to adopt, domestic adoption and international adoption. We had no idea where to go. Once we decided on international we both voiced that we certainly felt like Africa was not in our radar. I continuously told Joe I thought we were being lead to a hispanic or asian country, but it was definitely not Africa. And there we were... months later and the Lord used his perfect ways to direct our hearts to His plan, our son. Now when Joe and I were dating we always talked about Africa, visiting, living, we didn't know. Years later we thought that had passed, and now in His perfect timing, He has shown us why Africa was on our hearts so long ago (I say "so long ago" but in reality it's more like 8 years). God is good. I can't sit here and say that it has been easy wondering why in the world we felt that so long ago, I questioned it every single day and still do. If you want me to dive deeper into this issue I will but it will have to be through personal email, I can't share all of this with the blog world-lol. But it is satisfying to look back and HONESTLY say that I am joyful with His timing. And it hasn't even happened yet. This is so big. So, so big. It's been rough.
We began researching countries. Ethiopia has dramatically reduced their adoptions due to corruption (like Guatemala), Uganda has extreme need, DRC Congo requires a 5 year marriage. I started researching agencies that places children in Uganda with families, and attorneys and orphanages in Uganda. Our social worker had mentioned that if you skip the agency and go straight to an attorney (and they have their orphanage they work with) the timeline is considerably faster and it is even thousands cheaper. It didn't hurt to research. I emailed probably 10 Ugandan attorneys that listed "adoption" in their specifics and heard from maybe 3 that said they could help us. I then remembered Gwen Oatsvall from 147 Million Orphans and thought surely she could suggest someone to talk to about this attorney process. It was obviously risky to take this initiative without an agency to back you up and "protect" you. She sent me to a lady named Tosha who was actually in Uganda with her adopted little girl at that very moment, and she had used her own private attorney. I contacted Tosha and yada yada yada, wasn't too sure. I went back to Gwen (I know, this is getting long) and she said they adopted their children straight from an orphanage. Wow! More research... that night I stayed up to midnight researching lists of Ugandan orphanages and emailed around 45 of them. I think to this day I've only heard from maybe 15 of them. There was one that stuck out, Jesus and Me Children's Ministries. David Knowlton, the director, was on facebook. I have no pride, I requested friendship. David is such an encouraging man of God. We began emailing him with questions about adopting through JMCM and we have been so blessed in the short 2 weeks that we've "known" him to see his heart for orphans and, more importantly, his obedience and faith in Jesus Christ. Every email starts something like one of Paul's letters, "Greetings through our Lord Jesus Christ..." He has no doubt that a thousand dollars will be provided when they need the money asap to rent a larger house to provide living quarters for volunteers and children. And guess what-it happens. Why? Because honestly, in our life of abundant material things, we do not first go to God as our provider. If we need a thousand dollars, we call a family member, get a credit card, take out a loan. Why wouldn't we first go to the one that created us, said He will provide and sustain us? Why do we not give Him the opportunity to even show us what he can do? This saddens me. That is another blog post. Anyways, we finally contacted David and specifically asked him if he had any boys under 2. There are boys that JMCM provides for but they may still have living family members. He did not suggest we try to independently adopt a child who wasn't completely orphaned-he had seen people lose their adoption and their money because caregivers had protested at the last minute. However, he offered to consult with a local baby home, get to know the organization and children, choose a child for us, adopt him, then proceed with us adopting him through JMCM. How can you not be touched by his generosity and willingness to find an orphan a family? We declined his offer but thanked him for his offer. It just didn't feel right, although we had become somewhat attached to JMCM and their endeavors for orphans, we quickly knew that this wasn't the route for our adoption. That was okay-we are thankful to have gained a friend in David, and to have the honor of praying for this noble ministry. It feels like a small detour, like driving from Kentucky to California with the redwood trees as your goal but you see a sign along the way visit an awesome restaurant full of people you know you will see someday again. Because we will-they are our family in Christ and our hearts now think of the JMCM children.
The next day we planned to call the agency we've considered all along they way. But God had yet another plan.
A week prior to our decision I would still search the web for waiting African children (the waiting child route). We found a little boy who is 2 months younger than Julia (so 15 months). We inquired on him and the agency he is through wrote back and said he is still available and to look at the details. He is in the Congo. I told the social worker we were saddened that we wouldn't be able to proceed; we've only been married 4 years. Now is the day we're supposed to call the agency-she writes me and tells me sometimes they make exceptions. We were very excited and wrote her back immediately. They wanted to know if we lived together before we were married or at least how long we dated. Well, we didn't live together, but we dated 4.5 years. We've also known each other for 13 years! It has been nearly a week and a half but she hasn't heard back from the orphanage yet. Apparently the facilitator is traveling and hard to reach!
This little boy may be ours. He has a name, age, face, a story. But this may also be another detour we're for some reason being taken on. Honestly, if we don't bring this specific little boy home I will be okay just as long as he does end up going home to someone. He needs a mommy and a daddy. But I love him. It is up to the Lord if I ever get to show him that love.
As always, please pray for us and this little boy we will call "P". I would like to know things quickly so that we can proceed with whatever route we need to take. I know this is a lot to ask especially since I've seen God prove himself as the perfect timer, but my heart is so frail and all I want is immediacy!!!!
Thank you for reading all of this, if anyone does :)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Prayerfully Waiting
We've taken a small break from the adoption process to focus on some other things going on and we feel the time to start up again is coming. I'm back to that overwhelming feeling of all the options this fallen world has to offer. There are orphans absolutely everywhere. Humans are starving, children don't have mommies and daddies, some of those children are inside dark rooms 24 hours a day without even seeing light. They're unadoptable. Unwanted, shunned by society. There are child soldiers who will face a lifetime of therapy and are in desperate need of a lifetime of prayer. Where in the world will this lead us? At the moment we are drawn to a traditional international process where we would proceed through a placing agency. But there is also the option of using a private attorney in a foreign country. I know of people in the blog world that have done this, in fact, there is one man out there who is extremely reputable and facilitating adoptions isn't even his job, but he does it on top of his mission work in Uganda. Apparently he is choosing to take a step back from doing adoptions, I secretly pray that the Lord opens doors and funds for him to continue. Someone like him could tell us a good orphanage to use and we could trust him with our money. Even while typing this, I know my trust should not be in some person I've drawn in my head who lives in a 3rd world country, but in the Lord. Sometimes it is so hard to believe that when we are finding out things like Sixty Feet exist, God knew the problem before they even got there to rescue those children. People always say that once you learn something about the world, you're forever changed and you'll either choose to ignore it or do something about it. Its that overwhelming feeling again like, "Holy cow, what do I do about it? How does He expect me to fix this?" As if that is His plan, to put it all in Lindsey's hands-made of dust. I think I woke up a little last night when I realized that he doesn't want me to fix the world, but as I sit there in my bewilderment and hopelessness, to realize that the creator of the universe does not let anything sift through His hands without knowing it. Another moment to give it to God. To recognize that I am so breakable and he is the one that puts broken things back together.
If you could pray for us that we will see the next step that would be amazing. This adoption journey so far has been fairly short. Already I am seeing what a gift it is to give every single moment to our Father and let him show us the path. His gifts aren't always easy but they form us more into his image and all I desire is His holiness. To be made like my Savior. So I'll take it. But I so eagerly want to know what this child's name is, how old he is, if he is in a safe place, if he has someone to show him affection, if he is old enough to know he is neglected (oh dear...). My heart is already aching for our son and I have to trust that, as always, His timing is perfect, and we will know.
If you could pray for us that we will see the next step that would be amazing. This adoption journey so far has been fairly short. Already I am seeing what a gift it is to give every single moment to our Father and let him show us the path. His gifts aren't always easy but they form us more into his image and all I desire is His holiness. To be made like my Savior. So I'll take it. But I so eagerly want to know what this child's name is, how old he is, if he is in a safe place, if he has someone to show him affection, if he is old enough to know he is neglected (oh dear...). My heart is already aching for our son and I have to trust that, as always, His timing is perfect, and we will know.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sseko Designs
I have been eyeing these sandals for a while now. They have interchangeable laces so that 1 pair can become many pairs, and each lace can be tied in a bazillion different ways. In my first post I alluded to helping and supporting orphans, this is a great way to support the women of Uganda. These beautiful shoes are made so that they can afford a secondary education! I love products like these, where you know the makers are treated fairly and you're supporting a great cause.
You can go here to buy a pair.
Here to see the women and read their stories!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
One Answer at a Time
So we are going international. It is exciting to know one more answer to all of our questions, to be one step closer. Now that we know our son is overseas, there is a very good possibility that he is already born or at least very close to being born! This means he will very likely be no younger than 9 months when he joins our family, as this is the earliest age we've ever heard of an overseas child being adopted. Please pray for his health and safety, as well as the health and safety of his birth mom.
We are still gathering paperwork for our first meeting with our homestudy agency. We sent off 2 background checks a week or so ago and hope those will be processed soon. We've sent my and Julia's medial reports to our doctors and plan on picking those up this week. Joe has to make a doctor appointment to have his form filled out as well. We also need to collect 3 letters of recommendation from friends. It is our goal to have our first meeting in August. I think it can be done!
As for countries, there is so much research to be done. Here's to patience. :)
We are still gathering paperwork for our first meeting with our homestudy agency. We sent off 2 background checks a week or so ago and hope those will be processed soon. We've sent my and Julia's medial reports to our doctors and plan on picking those up this week. Joe has to make a doctor appointment to have his form filled out as well. We also need to collect 3 letters of recommendation from friends. It is our goal to have our first meeting in August. I think it can be done!
As for countries, there is so much research to be done. Here's to patience. :)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
We are adopting!
Joe and I have decided to add another little one to our family of 3! This is certainly worthy of so much praise, what better name for a blog to share our journey? So we will talk of these things :) People have asked us why we've chosen adoption.
We talked about adopting children when we were dating, it is something that has always been on our minds.
There are 147 million orphans in the world. We know that our adoption of one boy will not change this crisis but we want to give one a forever family.
We truly believe that we have been adopted into the family of God. We were once orphans without a Father, slaves to sin. He called us out by name and made us His sons and daughters; We want our family to look like that, too.
As of now there are a lot of questions that we do not have the answers to. We are finding that this is probably normal for the adoption process and that is okay; it is in the Lord's hands and he always has perfect timing! Surprisingly, I have felt so much peace and ease while starting this. Unlike a pregnancy, there isn't a defined timeline and you don't know where your baby is at the very moment. A couple things we are certain of:
Julia will have a brother!
Whether he is in his birthmother's womb, an orphanage, or hasn't even been dreamed up yet, he is so dearly loved and has so many people praying for him.
We hope that you will pray for us during this journey. Prayer is so important right now! Here are a few things we hope you'll lift up for us on our behalf:
Peace, strength, love, and nutrition for our son.
Peace, strength and patience for Joe and I.
The Lord will show us how we should raise money.
We will soon see whether we should adopt domestically or internationally, his age, and what special needs we are equipped to handle.
This will be a fast, smooth process!
The following list has been hanging on our fridge for a year or so now. It is a moving reminder that there is something every Christian can do to care for the orphan and waiting child. Since we have truly been adopted into the family of God (can you believe it?) how fitting that we all take part in finding orphans a family.
You can find this official list at
http://www.sgtadoptionministry.org/images/user_files/tenways_inside.pdf
sorry, my insert link button is funny and can't figure it out yet!
We talked about adopting children when we were dating, it is something that has always been on our minds.
There are 147 million orphans in the world. We know that our adoption of one boy will not change this crisis but we want to give one a forever family.
We truly believe that we have been adopted into the family of God. We were once orphans without a Father, slaves to sin. He called us out by name and made us His sons and daughters; We want our family to look like that, too.
As of now there are a lot of questions that we do not have the answers to. We are finding that this is probably normal for the adoption process and that is okay; it is in the Lord's hands and he always has perfect timing! Surprisingly, I have felt so much peace and ease while starting this. Unlike a pregnancy, there isn't a defined timeline and you don't know where your baby is at the very moment. A couple things we are certain of:
Julia will have a brother!
Whether he is in his birthmother's womb, an orphanage, or hasn't even been dreamed up yet, he is so dearly loved and has so many people praying for him.
We hope that you will pray for us during this journey. Prayer is so important right now! Here are a few things we hope you'll lift up for us on our behalf:
Peace, strength, love, and nutrition for our son.
Peace, strength and patience for Joe and I.
The Lord will show us how we should raise money.
We will soon see whether we should adopt domestically or internationally, his age, and what special needs we are equipped to handle.
This will be a fast, smooth process!
The following list has been hanging on our fridge for a year or so now. It is a moving reminder that there is something every Christian can do to care for the orphan and waiting child. Since we have truly been adopted into the family of God (can you believe it?) how fitting that we all take part in finding orphans a family.
You can find this official list at
http://www.sgtadoptionministry.org/images/user_files/tenways_inside.pdf
sorry, my insert link button is funny and can't figure it out yet!
Plead with the Father for Them
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8
• Pray as a family. Cut and paste a picture from a waiting child listing to make bookmarks for your entire family. Commit as a family to praying for this child every time you open your book.
• Pray as a church. Organize an evening prayer vigil on behalf of the orphan and waiting child. Invite other churches to join you as well. You can pray for children all over the world or you can ask your local foster care office for pictures and names of waiting children in your city to pray for (you can also get these online).
Speak Up For Them
• Pray while waiting. Go online to find a waiting child listing (www.adoptuskids.org or www.rainbowkids.com). Print out a picture and description of a waiting child and tape it to your dashboard. Every time you find yourself waiting – in traffic, at a stop- light, in the drive-thru – pray for this child. Plead with the Father on their behalf.
• Pray as a church. Organize an evening prayer vigil on behalf of the orphan and waiting child. Invite other churches to join you as well. You can pray for children all over the world or you can ask your local foster care office for pictures and names of waiting children in your city to pray for (you can also get these online).
Speak Up For Them
Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9
• Keep a picture of a waiting child in your wallet or purse. When you are visiting with other believers pull it out and ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home. Be their advocate. • Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate. These are people from all walks of life who volunteer their time to get to know a child in foster care and speak to the court on their behalf. Visit www.nationalcasa.org for more details and to find an office near you.
Give Them What They Need
• Keep a picture of a waiting child in your wallet or purse. When you are visiting with other believers pull it out and ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home. Be their advocate. • Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate. These are people from all walks of life who volunteer their time to get to know a child in foster care and speak to the court on their behalf. Visit www.nationalcasa.org for more details and to find an office near you.
Give Them What They Need
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? James 2:15-16
• Organize a drive to collect school supplies or shoes in your church or Sunday School department. To learn more visit www.gainusa.org (click on “Projects”) or www.shoesfororphansouls.org.
Support Those Who Support Them
• Give an orphanage a washing machine, a crib, or a package of diapers. You can designate financial gifts to be used for an item of your choice to be given to an orphanage in the country of your choice. To learn more visit www.helporphans.org and click on the “Gift from the Heart” link on the left side of the page.
Support Those Who Support Them
... and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds ... Hebrews 10:24
Provide Them a Safe Place
• Mow a foster parent’s yard, offer to baby sit, or organize a few days worth of meals when a new child is placed in their home. And make sure you tell them often that you appreciate what they do.
• Throw a shower for a family adopting an older child. Often showers aren’t thought of for adoptive families especially when the adoption involves an older child. This will serve as a great encouragement to any adoptive family.
• Sponsor a local child welfare social worker. Commit to praying for them, taking them to an occasional lunch, and sending gifts or notes of encouragement.
Provide Them a Safe Place
The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. Psalm 146:9
• Consider becoming a foster parent or emergency foster parent (for short-term placements). Attend an inquiry meeting at your local foster care office to learn more.
• Build an orphanage—it’s not as hard as it sounds. Visit www.worldorphans.org to learn how a gift of $4,000 to $8,000 can cover the building costs of a new orphanage in one of dozens of countries. These homes are built in conjunction with a local church. Consider raising this money as a small group, Sunday school class, or youth ministry. **I've heard various sides to this one, I can point you to other valid opinions if you ever consider this.
Go Visit Them
• Consider becoming a foster parent or emergency foster parent (for short-term placements). Attend an inquiry meeting at your local foster care office to learn more.
• Build an orphanage—it’s not as hard as it sounds. Visit www.worldorphans.org to learn how a gift of $4,000 to $8,000 can cover the building costs of a new orphanage in one of dozens of countries. These homes are built in conjunction with a local church. Consider raising this money as a small group, Sunday school class, or youth ministry. **I've heard various sides to this one, I can point you to other valid opinions if you ever consider this.
Go Visit Them
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27
•Go on a missions trip to an orphanage. You can go on a construction trip, a medical trip or a trip to help conduct vacation bible school. Taking your family on an orphanage mission trip can be life changing. Visit the following websites for more information:
•Go on a missions trip to an orphanage. You can go on a construction trip, a medical trip or a trip to help conduct vacation bible school. Taking your family on an orphanage mission trip can be life changing. Visit the following websites for more information:
www.gainusa.org
www.helporphans.org
www.hopechest.org
Give Sacrificially to Them
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. II Corinthians 9:7
• Support reputable orphan care organizations on an ongoing basis.
• Give financially to a family in the process of adoption. See www.shaohannahshope.com and www.lifeintl.org for more information about financial assistance for adoptive families.
• Support reputable orphan care organizations on an ongoing basis.
• Give financially to a family in the process of adoption. See www.shaohannahshope.com and www.lifeintl.org for more information about financial assistance for adoptive families.
Cheer Them On
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. I Thessalonians 5:14
no place to call home. Call your local foster care office and let them know you have the desire to be a support for a child who is aging out of foster care.
Give Them a Forever Family
• Sponsor a child. This includes both monthly financial support and a ministry of ongoing encouragement through letter writing. Visit www.hopechest.org or www.visiontrust.org for more information.
• Over 20,000 teenagers a year “age out” of the U.S. foster care system with
Give Them a Forever Family
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families ... Psalm 68:5-6a (NIV)
• You can give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption. To learn more about these three types of adoption call 1-800-FLTODAY to order a free booklet entitled Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption. You can also download this resource, explore other information and identify key adoption agencies at www.HopeForOrphans.com.
Mobilize Your Church for Them
• You can give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption. To learn more about these three types of adoption call 1-800-FLTODAY to order a free booklet entitled Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption. You can also download this resource, explore other information and identify key adoption agencies at www.HopeForOrphans.com.
Mobilize Your Church for Them
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you ... Matthew 28:18-20
• Churches all over the country are making the decision to launch ministries expressly dedicated to the orphan and waiting child. The impact has been remarkable. To learn more about how you can be the catalyst in your church for sustained orphans ministry, visit www.shaohannahshope.org or www.HopeForOrphans.com.
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