Thursday, April 18, 2013

A few more details now...

I have, for a very long time wanted to adopt. I remember as a child hearing stories of orphans who needed a family and feeling like someday I should adopt. Then fast forward quite a few years... Get married to a wonderful husband, have 5 amazing kids... still in the back of my mind was this thought of adoption. About a year ago we had a family photo session done for our Christmas cards. We had a bunch of cute pictures of the kids so I bought a couple collage frames to display them all in the living room. Turned out that when I ordered prints and filled the frame I ended up with one empty frame. Months passed and I never remembered to order an extra copy of one. So every day I pass these pictures of our family with one picture missing.... One day I jokingly said to Troy, maybe that empty picture frame is for our adopted child.... Fast forward another year and a half or so after much prayer and conversation to today. We are just about done with our homestudy towards Domestic Minority Adoption (In the US, not a Caucasian baby).We had our final homestudy interview today and Troy and I went over individually pretty much our life story. In thinking about it afterwards, I noticed how many times I had said "faithful" during the conversation. At our wedding we sang the hymn "Great is they Faithfulness" and God has shown over and over again to us just how faithful He is. This interview today was seperate from the kids so they didn't hear what we were saying. A bit later the Social worker was asking the kids about how they felt about adopting. She asked if they had any thoughts on what we should name the new child. Anna said "we should name her Anna:)" and John said we should name him John:). Then Lydia spoke up and said we should name her "Faithful". I said that was sweet, but then it didn't really hit me until a bit later the connection to everything I had been thinking during my previous conversation. I really feel that that will be part of our new child's name in some way "Faith" to honor a God who has time and time again been so faithful. We LOVE kids and feel they are a blessing and are so excited about the possibility of adding another life to our family. The craziest thing about this whole adoption process at this point is the financial aspect. It still seems outrageous to charge so much money, when there are so many children needing homes. But that is the way it is, but we know God will be faithful to provide. So we are starting fundraising at this point in a few ways. If you feel led there is a donate button to the side where you can directly donate any amount towards our adoption fund. If you or anyone you know needs a great baby carrier, all profits from our business www.frogmama.com are going directly to the adoption fund. We also are going to be selling rice neck warmers/heat/cold packs. There are two scents available. Lavender and Lemon Eucalyptus. We also are making smaller boo boo bags for kids or smaller areas. they are 2 for $10. These rice bags are great for the freezer for a cold pack when you have a sore spot or for a forehead when you have a fever. They are also microwavable for heatpacks. We are asking for a suggested donation amount of $10 each and they are handmade by our friends and family. If you are local you can pick them up or we are happy to ship them. Shipping is $6 for each one. If you would like to order one or 10 and have them shipped you can just go through the donate button and make a note there how many you would like. There are a variety of prints available you can choose from if you pick up locally. If shipping them we will choose a variety for you. These make great Christmas gifts and Christmas will be here before you know it. If you are local and would like to just pay us directly instead of through paypal please just call me to set up a time to come by. (530)921-8855 Here are the kids hard at work cutting out the fabric to make them:) Thank you all for your support. We also really appreciate all your prayers during this time. If you have any other ideas or suggestions for fundraisers please let us know.

1 comment:

Erica said...

I just wanted to tell you how wonderful it is that you are adopting! I have 3 adopted kids myself. I have bought a carrier from you in the past and I am also part of the Redding Homeschool group! Blessings on your family!