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Showing posts from November, 2014

how to pay for an adoption: you can do it!

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Our family meets so many people who are would love to adopt but are fearful of the financial costs. I always respond that finances should never be a reason that you do not adopt and that there are so many ways to fund an adoption. For our adoption we were able to use a matching grant from Brittany's Hope Foundation. Our friends helped to plan and host a fundraising shopping event. Vendors from many home businesses offered to donate their proceeds, plus there was a silent auction on donated items. We also did online fundraising by selling donated items. I hope the list below will encourage those who are considering adoption but are wary of the costs. You can do it! Consider fostering to adopt. In most states this will require no cost to the adoptive parents along with health insurance and college tuition. Fundraising : *Host a Karaoke night.  Entrance fee and then people can pay to have someone else sing or you can pay $100 to be exempt from singing  *Tee Sh

she chose me

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I wrote a post about six months after Elie came home about the importance of separation anxiety.    If you go back and read that post it will help you to understand the significance of what I have written below. Today was a big day.  We have been celebrating so many  little milestones this past week.   But today is the day Elie went back to school.  A trial run for a few hours.  She was very excited to see her friends and her teachers.  She talked the entire way to school.  When we entered the office she went mute.  Many people came to say hello and she became shy and very quiet.  We went through specific instructions with the nurse and resource teachers and then headed to her classroom. Upon entering the room her emotions took over.  She began to get anxious and cry.  So many who love her gathered around her chair.  And that's when it happened.  She turned to ME.  It is worth repeating.  She turned to me.  She buried her head into my scarf much like London would do

when the little things become big

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A day or so after coming home from the hospital I washed the big girls' clothes.  The outfits that came out of the dryer were a stark constrast to our current reality.  It really had only been countable days but so much had changed.  I found myself weeping over a pair of little jeans. It seems silly in the grand scheme of everything happening.  I mean, really, out of everything that we had experienced the jeans are what broke me.  My little girl was not going to wear jeans that day or for the many days to come.  I allowed myself to be sad for a few minutes and then quickly packed up all the unwearable pants into storage under the bed.  Moving on, dresses and nightgowns were to be her current wardrobe.  Using the restroom in anything but that was just far too complicated and the incision sites still far too painful.  Sweatpants would be reserved for just when we had to have them to be around people other than family.  She has worn this stabilizer since she came out of surg

did Jesus have fun?

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During breakfast I try to read a passage of scripture or a short devotional to the kids before they head out into the world.  One book that we all really enjoy is "Step into the Bible" by Ruth Graham.  The wording is easy for everyone at the table to understand, gives questions to answer for comprehension and a verse to memorize.  During this season of life it seems to work for our crew.  I often find the stories challenge and encourage me as well. A few weeks ago we were reading about Jesus's  First Miracle.  I love how the first miracle, like so much about Jesus, is not what you would expect.  We find him at a wedding party and there is a problem.  The wine has run out.  Jesus answers by turning water into a perfect wine.  Actually from the response given by the drinkers it seems this wine is the best they have ever tasted.  There are many things we could talk about from this story of Jesus's first miracle, but I want to focus on a question that was asked at

adoption when you already have biological children

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When we started the paperwork to adopt Faith our boys were two and four years old. They were a part of the process from the very start.  I love that they remember when each of their sisters came home.  I love that knowing all the challenges of adoption they continue to ask us to find one more. This is for the family who is wondering if they should adopt because they already have biological children.... I know that sometimes when you bring in a child who comes from brokenness and trauma it can cause harm to your biological children.  And there are plenty of blog posts out there about all of that.  But I wanted to give a voice to a different side to adoption.   Adopting a sibling can be one of the greatest gifts you can give your biological child. And on the flip side it is a gift to give an adopted child brothers and sisters.  Not that it is always easy, because it isn't.  There have been moments when I questioned whether this was all going to work out.  However, when I watch

lessons of contentment from a rainbow loom kit

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The other day one of my children was happily creating jewelry with her rainbow loom bands.  Then a sibling came along with their kit and started on their creation.  However this sibling had a tool that was not in her kit.  She wanted the tool.  She didn't want to wait to share it.  She became upset that she didn't have that tool.  The want of the tool planted a seed in her spirit that produced the fruit of discontentment.  The design laying in front of her no longer held any pleasure.  She proclaimed she did not want to do this activity any more. As I started to use this oppotunity as a chance to teach contentment, thankfulness and joy to child, my own spirit fell under conviction.  How many times had I acted the same way?  I am perfectly happy with my activity, my relationships, my appearance, my belongings.  And then my eyes behold something new.  Something that challenges the worth of my current situation.  Nothing has changed in my circumstances other than the prec

the difference of being a daughter

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November is Adoption Awareness Month.  In past years I have spent the last weeks of October planning for Orphan Sunday and other events to raise awareness of the needs of orphans around the world. Time did not allow for those types of activities this year.  This year the last weeks of October were spent planning for my daughter's surgery.  Rearranging our house. Calling doctors and insurance companies.  Going to appointments. Arranging care for the other children. Cooking and filling our freezer with meals. Making sure everyone's love tanks were full for the coming months.  And just trying to prepare everyone for the days ahead.   We woke Elie in the early morning hours while darkness still covered everything outside.  She found excitement in being awake while all of her siblings slept in their beds.  Snuggled up under her new blanket in the back of Daddy's car she was all smiles.  We arrived at the hospital right on time and sat waiting for our daughter's