Just wanted to post an update on some upcoming fundraisers for our adoption!
A great big huge thank you goes out to my sweet friend, Jennifer, who set up our next fundraiser at Baja Jacks on February 2nd...
Some of my sweet Zumba friend instructors are going to put on a benefit class for us on Friday, February 15th at Fit For Her in Owasso. This will be so much fun! I hope lots of friends and family come out and join this Zumba party!
We have been selected as the "Featured Family of the Week" for Give1Save1: Africa. The premise behind what they do is to encourage everyone to give $1 (of course, more is appreciated if you are able to give more) towards the featured family's adoption expenses which will help save 1 orphan.
We'd like to thank all of those so much who have contributed to our adoption and especially to those who have prayed for our journey. We appreciate you so very much. Our adoption "theme" is "One Less" - meaning one less orphan. UNICEF estimates there are 210 million orphans in the world today. We are excited to bring one into our home and give him a forever family. We are so inspired by those who have already walked this path and we hope to encourage other families who are considering adopting or fostering, as well. It's such a great thing and something we can all be involved with in some way. So thank you to all who are contributing to our adoption - you are helping us get one step closer to our goal!
I would have never dreamt our family to be in the place that we are today. Like I've said before, I never imagined our family adopting. I've always been supportive of it and thought it was a great thing for other families to do but I didn't think it was for us - and especially not at this point in our lives. But within the last year, God has given me a passion for adoption and has stirred our family's hearts with a love and compassion for orphans.
I felt "the call" this time last year and had to ask myself "Why not adoption?" Did we understand God's command to care for orphans? Yes. Was there any legitimate reason why we couldn't bring another child into our home? No. Did we have love to give? Yes. Could we continue living our comfortable, every day lives knowing that there are children without forever families? No. We had to do our part. It's such a small part but we are seeing a movement, even in our own community, where families are stepping up and saying yes. Yes to The Call. Yes to forever families. Yes to adoption.
And let me add that by saying "yes", we are not saying it only out of obligation. We are truly looking forward to bringing "Little M" home to live with our family. We are so excited to have a little guy in our house! Of course, it's going to be a bit of a learning experience since we're so used to our quiet and crafty girls but we are beyond thrilled and hope it happens sooner rather than later!
This is a great video about the need for orphan care and how everyone can play a part in following after God's passion of caring for the least of these...
(Be sure to stop the music at the top of this page before playing the video.)
So today is January 1, 2013 - the start of a brand new year. As I do some reflection, I remember it was this time last year that I felt a strong calling from God for our family to adopt. While it seemed so very crazy at the time, considering our age and the stage of life we are in - yet I have enjoyed so much this path we are taking, despite the "bumps" and "hurry and wait" periods. We've learned a lot about adoption - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and I'm still so very grateful for the path we are on. I've met a whole community of supportive adoptive families which has been a huge encouragement to us. I always say I wish we would have considered adoption sooner but I just didn't feel the call until recently - it's all in God's timing and purpose for our lives, I suppose. ;-)
We were matched with "Little M" a few months ago and I've purposely tried to not get excited about our referral to protect our hearts after loosing "Little R" - but it's so very hard not to. I think about him all the time - I dream about him at night, we pray for him daily, his picture is even the wallpaper on my cell phone. It's amazing how you can love somebody so much before you even meet them. Just like being pregnant with your own child, you dream about what your future will be like with them. Now we are praying that it will come to fruition - and soon!
I've made a video to "Little M" - maybe he'll watch it and get to know our family before we come to get him hopefully this spring...
(Be sure to stop the music at the top of this page to hear the video.)
We thank everyone so much for your thoughts and prayers and for contributing to our adoption. We look forward to 2013 and are praying that our Christmas card at the end of the year has an additional little guy in it ;-)
We have been selected as the "Featured Family of the Week" for Give1Save1: Africa. The premise behind what they do is to encourage everyone to give $1 (of course, more is appreciated if you are able to give more) towards the featured family's adoption expenses which will help save 1 orphan.
