I've always liked the old saying "It takes a village to raise a family." I think it also takes a village to bring one together sometimes. We've had several friends in Lebanon who have offered to help out in the adoption fund raising, and I want to say thank you!! We would not be able to do this alone! :) It means a lot to all of us.
We're throwing around lots of ideas for the first fund raiser to get on the books, and ask that you all help us pray about what one(s) to do first. There are so many possibilities, and so much to do! It's exciting, and maybe a little bit overwhelming, but right now I'm just eager to get this ball rolling and make some progress! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share them with us. We're currently considering a teen lock-in, a "Forever Family Fun Day", barbecue sales, and several other ideas we're looking into. Of course we need to acquire permission, locations, and volunteers for these ideas, so we can make them happen. I think we can do it!
Of course we already have our coffee store up and running (see the Just Love Coffee link to the right), and now we have another online store almost ready! I got an e-mail this morning from the good people at www.AdoptionBug.com, saying that our adoption t-shirt store will be up and running some time this weekend! (I'll post the link to it when it's operative.) Profits from these t-shirts go to help orphans here and around the world. And if you buy a shirt specifically from our store, it will go to fund our adoption!
In other happy news, today we're sending in our initial application to the adoption agency! WOOHOO!! Adopting requires a ton of paperwork, but I'm glad to feel that we have a start, even if we've only filled out the first few papers. :)
Sara is very excited about having a sister, and the boys seem to be feeling more excited about it, too. When we first mentioned the idea, they had mixed reactions of feeling happy, and wanting to give a child a family, and just considering and adjusting to the idea of having another family member to share our things and space with. They're such realists, like their mom and dad. :) They think of all the wonderful parts, and all the challenges of having four kids in the family too. They are very compassionate by nature, though, and I am so proud of my kids for that. Just the other day, we were talking about conditions in an African village we recently learned of, where there are 300 children in a single orphanage set on a 5-acre plot, and 1,200 children in the streets, waiting to get into the orphanage to have a better life there. With Sara being only five years old, she doesn't fully understand the scope of things like that. The boys think of these bits of information soberly, though. Jacob thought for a moment, and said "Thank God we live here!". He meant it literally. I wholeheartedly agree!
Later that day, we later saw a listing on an adoption website of a little 8-year-old Chinese boy who was perfectly healthy, made good grades in school, was beginning to learn English already, and really liked sports, especially martial arts. If we weren't looking to adopt a little girl this time around, I would definitely have contacted the agency about that little guy. Then the kids started talking about possibly adopting another boy some day, and how if we had all the money in the world, we could adopt 10 or 15 kids! (Okay, this might be entertaining to talk about, but let's not get Too crazy!) They talked about how happy the kids would be just to have a family who loved them, and brothers to help teach them Taekwondo, and how to shoot an air soft gun...then the conversation shifted to having a family air soft war, if we had enough people, and went off on a tangent from there. But in the end, I hope and pray that my kids all grow up with a grateful heart, and a willingness to help others, and to open their hearts (and sometimes their homes) to those who need love. I think they may be growing into just that kind of people.
Did you know there are an estimated 147 million orphans in the world today? It's a problem of epidemic proportions! It can be overwhelming at times, because goodness knows one person (or one family, or even a city) can't help them all. But when I get overwhelmed, even with my to-do list or with every-day life, I have to just break it down, pick a starting point, and take it one step at a time. I saw a t-shirt the other day that said "How do you reach 147 million orphans? One at at time." I love that! Of course, that doesn't mean every family should adopt. Some people can adopt, while other people can help these kids find families by helping out with adoption fund raisers, donating to adoption agencies, by praying for them, purchasing fair trade coffee (see the link to the right) or purchasing an adoption t-shirt like this one, or in general helping spread the good word about adoption! We can all be a part of the 'village' to help to raise a child, even if it's a child we may never meet. There's a lot we all can do, and every little bit makes a very big difference in a child's life, in giving them something that can never be replaced--in giving them a family.
To all the people who are a part of my kids' 'village', thank you so much!
We're throwing around lots of ideas for the first fund raiser to get on the books, and ask that you all help us pray about what one(s) to do first. There are so many possibilities, and so much to do! It's exciting, and maybe a little bit overwhelming, but right now I'm just eager to get this ball rolling and make some progress! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share them with us. We're currently considering a teen lock-in, a "Forever Family Fun Day", barbecue sales, and several other ideas we're looking into. Of course we need to acquire permission, locations, and volunteers for these ideas, so we can make them happen. I think we can do it!
Of course we already have our coffee store up and running (see the Just Love Coffee link to the right), and now we have another online store almost ready! I got an e-mail this morning from the good people at www.AdoptionBug.com, saying that our adoption t-shirt store will be up and running some time this weekend! (I'll post the link to it when it's operative.) Profits from these t-shirts go to help orphans here and around the world. And if you buy a shirt specifically from our store, it will go to fund our adoption!
In other happy news, today we're sending in our initial application to the adoption agency! WOOHOO!! Adopting requires a ton of paperwork, but I'm glad to feel that we have a start, even if we've only filled out the first few papers. :)
Sara is very excited about having a sister, and the boys seem to be feeling more excited about it, too. When we first mentioned the idea, they had mixed reactions of feeling happy, and wanting to give a child a family, and just considering and adjusting to the idea of having another family member to share our things and space with. They're such realists, like their mom and dad. :) They think of all the wonderful parts, and all the challenges of having four kids in the family too. They are very compassionate by nature, though, and I am so proud of my kids for that. Just the other day, we were talking about conditions in an African village we recently learned of, where there are 300 children in a single orphanage set on a 5-acre plot, and 1,200 children in the streets, waiting to get into the orphanage to have a better life there. With Sara being only five years old, she doesn't fully understand the scope of things like that. The boys think of these bits of information soberly, though. Jacob thought for a moment, and said "Thank God we live here!". He meant it literally. I wholeheartedly agree!
Later that day, we later saw a listing on an adoption website of a little 8-year-old Chinese boy who was perfectly healthy, made good grades in school, was beginning to learn English already, and really liked sports, especially martial arts. If we weren't looking to adopt a little girl this time around, I would definitely have contacted the agency about that little guy. Then the kids started talking about possibly adopting another boy some day, and how if we had all the money in the world, we could adopt 10 or 15 kids! (Okay, this might be entertaining to talk about, but let's not get Too crazy!) They talked about how happy the kids would be just to have a family who loved them, and brothers to help teach them Taekwondo, and how to shoot an air soft gun...then the conversation shifted to having a family air soft war, if we had enough people, and went off on a tangent from there. But in the end, I hope and pray that my kids all grow up with a grateful heart, and a willingness to help others, and to open their hearts (and sometimes their homes) to those who need love. I think they may be growing into just that kind of people.
Did you know there are an estimated 147 million orphans in the world today? It's a problem of epidemic proportions! It can be overwhelming at times, because goodness knows one person (or one family, or even a city) can't help them all. But when I get overwhelmed, even with my to-do list or with every-day life, I have to just break it down, pick a starting point, and take it one step at a time. I saw a t-shirt the other day that said "How do you reach 147 million orphans? One at at time." I love that! Of course, that doesn't mean every family should adopt. Some people can adopt, while other people can help these kids find families by helping out with adoption fund raisers, donating to adoption agencies, by praying for them, purchasing fair trade coffee (see the link to the right) or purchasing an adoption t-shirt like this one, or in general helping spread the good word about adoption! We can all be a part of the 'village' to help to raise a child, even if it's a child we may never meet. There's a lot we all can do, and every little bit makes a very big difference in a child's life, in giving them something that can never be replaced--in giving them a family.
To all the people who are a part of my kids' 'village', thank you so much!
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