Give1Save1: Africa

If you're visiting from the Give1Save1 Africa blog, thank you for stopping by! We have two things to say...

1. Sorry about that cheezy video. It's for our two year old boy and how his story became a part of ours and we hope to show it to him once he's home. Kids understand cheezy ;-)

2. Thank you so much for your generosity! Our expenses are large mostly because international travel for a family of four does not come cheap but we can't imagine going to Uganda without our girls. Our entire family has been involved with orphan care ministries for the past four years and has fallen in love with Uganda and it's people. To see it come full circle to actually adopting a child from their great country and providing him a forever family is such a blessing for us.

To be honest with you, we really struggle with fundraising and asking for people to contribute to our adoption. We really really really dislike that part of it but I read this quote yesterday and I thought it was so true I just had to share it...

"When a family seeks help in raising funds for an adoption, it's not like asking people to pitch in toward a new boat, or help pay for a vacation. What they are doing is committing to heal, with God's help, a child who has suffered the profound damage of being unwanted and unloved. They are obediently living out the command given in James 1:27 to care for the orphan, clothing the gospel of Christ's redemption in flesh and blood and now. When they ask for the body of Christ to come alongside them financially and prayerfully, they are giving us the opportunity to be a part of the miracles God works through obedience." ~ Ashley Paradis Moreno

There is nothing "special" about our family or anything "great" about what we are doing. We're just an ordinary family that has told God we are available to do what He wants us to do. This adoption process has been a wild ride with lots of bumps and a little heartache at times - we've learned it's not necessarily for the faint at heart. But at the same time it's one of the best experiences I can say we've ever had together as a family. We've learned so much and our faith has grown tremendously. Ever since Day 1, I can say God's hand has been on our process and what many would call "coincidences" that happened along the way - I can say no, it's definitely a God "thang". I look forward to sharing more of our story after we bring home our little guy.

So now that we are winding down to the end of our process, I have to share 2 short videos of our girls of when they first found out we were adopting...

(You'll need to pause the music at the top of this page before watching.)

 

As you can see, they were a little excited. Up until last year, adoption was never even considered for our family. We thought it was a great thing that "other" people did but never even thought about it for us - and especially not at our age and this stage in our life. To be honest, we were pretty comfortable going about our daily routine. But how could we grow if we were just stuck in that box? How could we go on with life knowing there are kids out there that don't have a family? There are plenty of kids here in the States that need homes but what makes a child in another country any less worthy and undeserving? We had love to give and could provide for a child that didn't have a family so why not adoption?  Sometimes God likes to take us out of our comfort zone to grow us and to use us to accomplish His will. How could we say "no"?

We are thrilled beyond words to meet our little guy and to bring him home. And while we've been living in Girl World for the last 13 years, we are so excited to bring a boy into our family mix. I'm thinking by our girl's excitement that he's not getting just one new momma, but three. Lord, help him now! ;-)

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your generosity and we pray that you are blessed one hundred fold in return.

Here's our totals for the Give1Save1 fundraiser so far...

Free Fundraising Thermometer by:

www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com

$639 on 2/10/13 at 9:00 p.m.

Thanks for giving and sharing!