Wordless Wednesday: Apple Works 2010

 

 

Last Call for T-Shirts!

Just a friendly reminder that we are accepting t-shirts orders through tomorrow, Friday, September 24!  Or, if you happen to be in the Indianapolis area this weekend, stop by our church's Fall Festival on Sunday from 1-7pm.  We, along with our friends the Hennessy's, will have a booth set up to our sell t-shirts and beautiful handmade dolls for the Hennessy's adoption! 

I promise that we'll return to our regularly scheduled blogging soon.  I've got new pictures of Mia to post, some new stories to tell, and of course, more progress to report on adoption #2.

Why Adopt (Again)?

To put it simply: it's what God has called us to do.  As it says in Proverbs 24:12, "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do.  God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act."  It's true.  Not just in adoption, but in every part of what Christ calls us to.  If we read and study His Word, follow the path He lays before us, and seek Him with all our heart, mind, and soul, He will open our eyes anew.  He will reveal fresh revelations to us, day by day, for our entire walk of faith with Him.  It's an awesome promise He makes to us, and frankly, it thrills me. 

Here's the catch - once we know something, we can't go back.  We can no longer claim ignorance and say we just didn't know.  When He reveals to us a new truth, it's usually not just for our benefit.  He wants us to use it, put it into practice, and it's always to bring Him glory.

So you see, when people ask why adopt again, it's because our eyes have been opened to this awful fact that 147 million children are nameless.  They have no one to call them their own.  They are alone, afraid, and at risk.  And we have come face to face with these facts.  I have seen their faces, their pleading and longing eyes.  No, I cannot adopt 147 million, but I can bring another home. 

I was reading on another adoption blog this evening about how the shear cost scares so many away from adoption.  Her friend replied, "How poor is your God?"

We do not deserve your help and support.  Just like the grace He so freely gives to us, we have done nothing to merit it.  But it brings great hope and peace to my soul to know that I serve an all-powerful, sovereign God who has infinite resources at His disposal. 

At the end of the day, this will be about Him, not us.  There will be one less bed filled in the orphanage.  One less victory for the enemy.  And hopefully, one more child in the kingdom of God. 

So What's the Deal with the iPad?

I know there's been a lot of activity on our T-Shirt fundraiser tab, and many of you have even purchased your own (thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottoms of our hearts!), but I wanted to draw your attention to our iPad Giveaway.  Yes, you read that right, we are giving away a 16GB WiFi + 3G iPad.  Why?  Well, truthfully I got the idea from my adoption buddy and Ethiopian travel friend Kathy Garrison, whose family is currently in the process of adopting 2 more kiddos from Ethiopia.  She had tremendous success with it, and really it seemed to me a no-brainer.  So we decided to do one too.

Here's how it works: For every $10 donation you make, you get one ticket entered into the giveaway.  So if you donate $50, you have 5 tickets.  Make sense?  But here's what I love about this fundraiser.  You don't actually have to donate any money to us to help us (although you might want to for your own ticket and shot at the iPad).  Instead, we'd like you tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, whoever about this giveaway.  It's a great way to get other people involved and raise awareness about adoption.  Please consider reposting this on your Facebook, blog, or even just plain ol' talking to your friends (I know, a shocking thought in this technological age!)

If you'd like to try to sell a book of 10 tickets, message me or leave me a comment.  I can send you everything you need and you don't have to give us any money up front.  It really does take a village, and please know how hard it has been for us to even ask you guys for help.  I can't begin to tell you how emotionally taxing the last few days have been for me.  When I received our first donation and t-shirt order, I was literally in tears.  It made me realize how important it is for me to be a blessing to others when the opportunity presents itself.  Thank you so much for surrounding us with your love and support to bring this little guy home.

Why Is Adoption So Expensive?

I'm sure that unless you've adopted yourself or know someone close to you who has, you might be wondering why adoption is so expensive.  You're certainly not alone, and take comfort that Travis and I had the same thoughts before God led us down this path.

First, let me tell you what all the money is not for.

It is not a donation.  We hear from many people what a good thing we're doing, how great it is that we're giving a child a family, etc.  While all of this is true, adoption is about so much more than this.  The blessing we will receive from this child will far outweigh the blessing we can give to him.  We try to think of it more like paying a ransom for our child.  Think of it this way: is there any price you wouldn't pay to get your child back?  It's the same for us, we just haven't held him in our arms yet.

It is not a business.  Adoption agencies, at least credible, Christian agencies like the one we work with, are non-profit organizations.  They receive no funding from the government and nothing from the countries they work with.  Their mission is simple: to join children with their forever families.  The money we pay them is entirely for the processing of our paperwork, our homestudy, their in-country staff and facilities that will care for our child before we can, and advocating for our child and us to the Ethiopian government.  I can't even tell you how much they do for us, especially while we were in Ethiopia.

It is not lining the pockets of corrupt government officials.  I know all countries have their problems, and each country is different, but I feel confident that the international fee we pay to Ethiopia is going where it should.  The money they receive goes to help run all the orphanages in country and to pay the MOWA (Ministry of Orphans and Women's Affairs) workers to process our paperwork as well help get orphans paper ready for adoption (meaning to verify that a child is truly an orphan and to obtain evidence to prove this so).

We decided that because we would be fundraising some of this adoption, we'd keep track of our expenses so you could see just where your money would be going.  If you click on the Adoption Funding tab at the top, you can view a quick total of our expenses thus far.  Please, please, please do not hesistate to contact me if you have further questions about any of this.

Africa Awaits...

I'm sure some of you have wondered when this post would appear.  I've had many people begin to ask us what our next plans are.  Would we have a biological child?  Would we adopt again?  And when?

Truthfully, we always knew we would adopt again, we just didn't know when.  But we've felt a stirring in our hearts that last couple of months that led to subsequent prayer and the decision to go back to Ethiopia.  We've been accepted into AWAA's Ethiopia program again, this time to bring our son home.

So now we begin this crazy process all over again, but this time with a little less fear and a bit more confidence. My goal is to have our dossier completed and sent off by around the time Mia turns 2 in February (a crazy thought in and of itself!).  Infant boy referrals have been around 4-6 months after dossier submission, so we're hoping for a referral by the end of next summer.  One big difference this time around is that Ethiopia has changed their travel policies so we'll make 2 trips this time.  (Before you think anything bad, please know this is for the good of the children, and I can explain it later in another post.)  Tentatively, we'll all three go on the first trip, and then my mom will accompany me on the second when we bring our son home (approx. 4-6 weeks later). 

Although we don't look at adoption as just a mission, it's how God is building our family, it is clear in Scripture the responsibility we as Christians have to the fatherless.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; 

maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 

Psalm 82:3

Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.  

Isaiah 1:17

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  

 James 1:27

So now we come humbly before you to ask a question we didn't our first time around.  Will you help us in this journey?  God may or may not be calling you to adopt, but perhaps He's calling you to be part of this ministry, prayerfully or financially.  Adoption is expensive, we're looking somewhere around $25,000 - $30,000, but we know that what God begins, He will finish.  He is faithful to His word. 

Please click on the links above to find out how you can get involved and help bring hope and love to the fatherless.  It all starts with one...  

Say Cheese!

So when your husband's a photographer, you might think we'd have tons and tons of family photos.  Wrong.  It's a tricky thing to actually photograph yourself in a picture while taking it.  And Travis is incredibly picky when it comes to actually being photographed.  But when Mia's one year anniversary came around, I knew we couldn't let the moment pass us by.  And I'm so happy to know photographers like Maike Tillen.  She knew exactly what we were looking for, and I feel captured our family well.  Here's a preview of some of my favorite shots.  Enjoy!