June numbers

Our June number didn't see any movement this month. The slow down in Ethiopia seems to be taking effect. It's hard for me not to be disappointed sometimes. Our adoption agency is gearing us up for an 18month wait......so now we are looking at another year before a referral.



International adoption is known for long waiting periods and dealing with many unknowns. I'll be real honest and raw here......sometimes I struggle with what God has called our family to. This time of waiting is not easy, especially in the midst of so many slow downs. There are parts of me that wish I would have tried longer on getting pregnant, or looked more into domestic adoption. At the time, I was so done with hormones and treatments, and domestic infant adoption had a longer wait. Africa seemed to have a real pull on my heart.

We are a young family........it's hard to sit tight sometimes.

When I find myself struggling with this, I think back to all that has changed in my heart and life over the course of this year. I would probably do things differently knowing what I know now. But what I would do differently might surprise you.....I wouldn't pursue more fertility treatments or adopt domestically. I'm so grateful I have been given the chance to go down this road. It is a blessing. It is my honor.

What I would do differently is choose a waiting child.

Currently, there are no waiting children at our agency that are young enough (our agency requires adopted children to be 10 months younger for that "baby" experience).

While there are hundreds of families in line for healthy infants, these waiting children are skipped over because of medical issues or age. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be one of them.

Over the course of this year, God has wrecked my heart over these kids in Ethiopia. When I find myself struggling with the long wait, or the "what ifs" the bottom line is that I will wait. I will raise a ransom to bring my child home. I will fight to give my child shelter, health, value, worth, the love of a family, and the knowledge that they are a precious child of God.

Wouldn't you fight for your child if they needed you?

My child needs me.

There are 147 million orphans that need us.

Gods heart is for the orphan. It is written over and over in the Bible. How can I say no because it gets hard or difficult?

A staggering statistic is: if 7 percent of professing Christians adopted, there would be no more orphans. None, zero, anywhere! Think about how that would change our planet.......

It's back......mega sale!

We are having another blowout yard sale! My garage is piling high with donations already. So many people shopped our sale this time last summer, I was overwhelmed with the turnout! I dont think I sat down for three solid days.

Lately, I've been working on some furniture pieces and plan on selling 75 percent of my belongings....(at least that's what it feels like.) Believe me, it's an easy decision for me......furniture, or a cute little daughter? Well, cute daughter of course! Who needs a coffee table anyway?! I'd probably sell the food out of my pantry if people want to buy ;)

My family and friends are amazing! Thank you so much for contributing to the sale. I'm really hoping to get most donations by the end of this week so I can organize and price everything.






As many of you know, we still have an estimated 15k in referral, medical, transition house and travel fees. We are also in the process of changing our home study parameters. We want to extend our age range from the current 0-18 months to a new 0-2 years, or the oldest our agency allows. I know it doesn't seem like much, but our AGCI requires a one year age difference, and Oliver is almost 3.

Oliver has been asking about his baby sister from time to time. I think he will be an amazing big brother to her......as long as she likes Thomas the Tank Engine!

Yes, I promise this will be our last mega garage sale (I hope!)

Our sale is part of an entire community garage sale weekend so be ready for some bargains! I think nearly 200 homes are registered to participate.



Please come out June 17, 18, 19. Follow the adoption benefit signs from Sunnyside and 122nd. Hope to see you there!