James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..."
Please allow me to share some of the alarming orphan statistics:
-There are over 140 million orphans worldwide.
-Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan.
-43.4 million orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa, 87.6 million orphans live in Asia, and 12.4 million orphans live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
-1.5 million children live in public care in Central and Eastern Europe alone.
-At any given point there are over 500,000 children in the U.S. Foster Care system.
-Orphaned children are at a higher risk of being forced into gang activity and the sex trade industry.
I have heard so many excuses for why Christians don't adopt. However, the one I hear most often is, "It just costs so much." Psalm 50:9-11 says, "I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains,and the creatures of the field are mine." God doesn't need anything we have, it ALL belongs to Him anyway. It's All His! If He has called you to adopt, He will provide the funds. Many times people ask me why adoption costs so much. I believe adoption is the proclamation of the truth of the Gospel. God has shown His lavish love for us by adopting us as His own children. And He showed that lavish love by sending His sinless and perfect son Jesus to die for our sins. My adoption cost God EVERYTHING. Now that is expensive!
There are so many ways you can help:
-Be an orphan sponsor
-Take a mission trip
-Mentor a foster care child
-Be a sender (Bucky and I have blessed by so many "senders", people who have given financially to our adoptions.)
-Adopt
God's word is clear, He commands us to care for orphans in their distress. So, what's stopping you?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Birthday Blues
We had the boys' birthday party at a fire station this year and our theme was "blue". Everything was blue: cake, ice cream, cups, plates, napkins, beverages, balloons, and goody bags. It was all blue! Our teeth were even blue after we ate the cake. The kids had a great time with the firemen and exploring the fire station.
Brennan was not too sure about the candle...
but he loved the cake!
Brennan was not too sure about the candle...
but he loved the cake!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Reflections
We celebrated both boys' birthdays a few weeks ago and I did some reflecting on the past few years.
Xan was born September 23, 2005. I attended a women's conference the evening of his birthday. Little did I know that hundreds of miles away a very young lady was giving birth to a little boy who would be my son. I can't imagine the pain she felt when she left the hospital empty handed. As I was running on the tread mill on September 23, 2009, I began to wonder (and cry) if she was thinking of her baby boy today. What was she imagining he was like on his 4th birthday? Did she know that he is beautiful? Did she know that he is loved by so many? I wish I could tell her all these things. I wish that I could tell her that by the end of this home school year, he should be able to read simple words, something she never had the privilege of doing. I wish I could tell her that he is inquisitive, kind hearted, loving, and reserved. I wish she knew that he loves Larry Boy, trains, swimming, and playing with his brother. Oh, all the things I wish I could tell her to put her mind at ease.
The same reflections occured on Brennan's birthday. The reflections for him were a little different simply because his situation was different. I have questions I want to ask his birth parents. Questions like: Did you expose him to drugs or alcohol while he was in the womb? Did you know you were pregnant when you consumed these things? Is that why you placed him for adoption? Did you bring him home from the hospital hoping nothing would be wrong and then discovered in the three weeks you had him that something was terribly wrong? But, along with these questions, I would want to say THANK YOU!!! Thank you for this blessing! There are things I would want them to know as well. Brennan is a fighter (and I don't mean physically) and God is the Great Physician. Brennan has fought through so many things: partial blindness (God completely restored his vision), multiple ear infections, two sets of tubes, severe increased muscle tone that prevented him from sitting up, crawling, and walking, significant tongue thrust that made feeding him a bottle very frustrating and slowed his speech development. Brennan has had to work and fight to do things that come naturally to most children. But he has done it! I wish that I could tell his birth parents that he is all boy: wild and crazy. He has no fear, he runs full speed any chance he gets, he goes off everything head first, he is tough as nails, sweet, beautiful, and has a smile that lights up a room.
I love these boys and I hope that their birth parents know that!
Xan was born September 23, 2005. I attended a women's conference the evening of his birthday. Little did I know that hundreds of miles away a very young lady was giving birth to a little boy who would be my son. I can't imagine the pain she felt when she left the hospital empty handed. As I was running on the tread mill on September 23, 2009, I began to wonder (and cry) if she was thinking of her baby boy today. What was she imagining he was like on his 4th birthday? Did she know that he is beautiful? Did she know that he is loved by so many? I wish I could tell her all these things. I wish that I could tell her that by the end of this home school year, he should be able to read simple words, something she never had the privilege of doing. I wish I could tell her that he is inquisitive, kind hearted, loving, and reserved. I wish she knew that he loves Larry Boy, trains, swimming, and playing with his brother. Oh, all the things I wish I could tell her to put her mind at ease.
The same reflections occured on Brennan's birthday. The reflections for him were a little different simply because his situation was different. I have questions I want to ask his birth parents. Questions like: Did you expose him to drugs or alcohol while he was in the womb? Did you know you were pregnant when you consumed these things? Is that why you placed him for adoption? Did you bring him home from the hospital hoping nothing would be wrong and then discovered in the three weeks you had him that something was terribly wrong? But, along with these questions, I would want to say THANK YOU!!! Thank you for this blessing! There are things I would want them to know as well. Brennan is a fighter (and I don't mean physically) and God is the Great Physician. Brennan has fought through so many things: partial blindness (God completely restored his vision), multiple ear infections, two sets of tubes, severe increased muscle tone that prevented him from sitting up, crawling, and walking, significant tongue thrust that made feeding him a bottle very frustrating and slowed his speech development. Brennan has had to work and fight to do things that come naturally to most children. But he has done it! I wish that I could tell his birth parents that he is all boy: wild and crazy. He has no fear, he runs full speed any chance he gets, he goes off everything head first, he is tough as nails, sweet, beautiful, and has a smile that lights up a room.
I love these boys and I hope that their birth parents know that!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Goodbye Summer!
We had an awesome summer! But I am looking forward to the cooler weather of Fall. I have not posted pictures in a while, so here are some from our fantastic summer. I had some really good pictures of Sasha, but I can't post pictures of him on our blog until the adoption is final.
We went to Greenville's Children Museum and Brennan loved this water exhibit.
Ahhh....a lazy day with daddy.
We normally wait until after Labor Day to visit the beach. But, this year we went early so Sasha could go with us. Brennan didn't cry when he heard the ocean this year but he did NOT want the ocean to touch any part of his body. He loved the sand though!
Xan really enjoyed the ocean this year.
We went to Greenville's Children Museum and Brennan loved this water exhibit.
Ahhh....a lazy day with daddy.
We normally wait until after Labor Day to visit the beach. But, this year we went early so Sasha could go with us. Brennan didn't cry when he heard the ocean this year but he did NOT want the ocean to touch any part of his body. He loved the sand though!
Xan really enjoyed the ocean this year.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Adoption Update
We found out yesterday that the Ukrainian government will not be accepting any more dossiers (adoption paperwork)this year. That is a little disheartening, however, our dossier would not be ready until November anyway, so it does not set us back too far. Our dossier will be one of the first (if not the first) to be presented on January 1, 2010. Also, our agency's in country facilitator said that he was pretty confident that we will have a travel date in January or February since we are adopting an older child.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Seperation Anxiety
Bucky and I had to have Sasha in Greenville at 3:00 this morning. We already miss him terribly and are having a hard time adjusting to this transition. It is so hard to send your child back to an orphanage where no one loves him and he is just one of hundreds of other orphans.
God is continuing to supply the funds we need to adopt Sasha. If you are reading this and you are a person who has given money for Sasha or have prayed for our family, THANK YOU!! We REALLY appreciate it.
God is continuing to supply the funds we need to adopt Sasha. If you are reading this and you are a person who has given money for Sasha or have prayed for our family, THANK YOU!! We REALLY appreciate it.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow...
To say that God is blessing our adoption plans for Sasha and confirming that this IS His plan for us is an understatement. Yesterday, we had a family come to our home and offer a $10,000 gift to our adoption. Then, just hours later, another $5,000 to $6,000 was offered after a family in our church sold their mini van, which had been on the market for about 6 weeks. God is good! Oh, my gosh, I can't believe we are about to start another international adoption.
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