New Number for November :)

So....I get an "F" for keeping up with this blog lately. Too much has been going on and I just never sit down to write. We moved at the end of September into a fixer upper. (I will have to add pictures soon). But the lime green carpets will not be missed! So we have been fixing it up (SLOWLY). So many of our friends and family have helped us more than we could have ever asked them to. THANK YOU GUYS!!!! So, the house is coming along, yay!! And the adoption is also moving along! We are now #30 on the waiting list and hoping that that number quickly decreases. :) We are praying for the child God has for us and getting a little bit more anxious each day!!!! Every day is a day closer to when we get the call about our newest member of the family....

UPDATES!

There have been so many nights that I have wanted to sit down and update this blog, but of course, life got busy and other things (like sleep) took precedence.  So, now that I have a few minutes to spare, I will do some updating!! We are MOVING! We have thought about moving for years, but finally decided to do it now while we have 3 kids instead of waiting until next year when we have 4.  J   Maybe a little less stressful? Maybe not, ha! So our summer was filled with getting the house ready to sell, showing the house almost every day for 3 weeks, some headaches after inspection, finding a new house (with some headaches), and finally we are in the packing stage!! We have 2 weeks left in this house and it is very bittersweet. We love where we live, we love our neighbors, but we are also excited to start the next chapter.  Be praying for us over the next two weeks. The house we are moving to is an “updater” and we would love to fix it up before moving in. This would be a lot easier if we didn’t have 3 little “helpers” around. But I have to just remember that it will get done….but it might not be right away. AND THAT’s OK!! J  

On the adoption front, we have some updates too. First, I have to just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE our adoption agency. They truly care about our family and are praying for us often.  If you want to adopt, I highly recommend Lifeline Children’s Services. (ok, done with the plug).  I do love them though.  Anyway, at the beginning of every month we get our wait list number. Every month we move about one or two spots. This month we moved 6 spots! We are now number 34. Very exciting! We also got a call a couple of weeks ago from Lifesong for Orphans letting us know that they got our request for a matching grant / Both Hands project and they will be getting back to us soon. Another thing to be praying for!  They can also set up an account in our name that makes it possible for people to give tax deductible donations for the adoption.  Very cool.  The actual adoption is still far away, but with moving and updating the new house, I am sure that time is going to fly by.  I just can’t wait to meet this little one! 

March

One afternoon in March (I want to say the 28^th?), I was cleaning the kitchen for third (or hundredth) time that day and stopped dead in my tracks. I am not sure how to explain it, but I had this overwhelming feeling that something important just occurred in your life. Were you just conceived and forming in your birthmother’s belly? Or was it your birthday? Did you just lose your family to a disaster, poverty, or HIV? Were you abandoned on this day? There was no way of me knowing at that time, but I had to just stop and pray for you and whatever might be taking place.  A few days later, I was again in the kitchen when my mom called. She said that she just had to call because she had this feeling that our child was just born or conceived or that something big just happened. My heart stopped.  Could the last week of March 2012 be monumental in your little life? Whether it is or not, it was an eye opening time that reminded me to continue to pray for you and whatever you may be going through each day. Your brothers pray for you each night that “Jesus would bring you food if you are hungry,”  “hold you if you are crying,”  “and that Jesus would take care of your boo-boos.”  I couldn’t say it any better. We are anxiously waiting to know more about you and welcome you into this family. In the meantime, I am confident that Jesus is filling your belly, rocking you to sleep, and healing all of your wounds. We love you. 

We sold your JUNK!!

We have been blessed. Period. So many people that we knew and some that we didn't, took the time to clean out their houses and give us their "junk" to sell. Well, we sold your junk and in the end we have raised just over $2,500!!! (and I have lots of friends with cleaner houses now!) ;)  It's a win-win!!  It is so cool to think that we are that much closer to our goal and each day is a day closer to actually meeting the little one that God has hand picked for our family!

Here was the breakdown from our yard sale fundraising! (These are updated because some people bough things in between the sales! Yay!)

NJ Sale: $1,360
Mini PA Sale: $206
Craigslist Items Sold: $492
PA Sale: $460

If I did this again, I would try to have the yard sales for multiple days (give everything more of a chance to sell and less prep for "one day" sales). I would also do more with advertising. I have some ideas, but I can send those along to someone else if you are thinking about doing this. Because of unforseen circumstances, we did not have our bake sale at the PA yard sale, but in the end it all worked out. :)  I would totally suggest selling baked goods or other items at your sale. It brings in a little more money and is just FUN!  BUT I am very thankful for what we made and we couldn't have done this without so many people helping us!! Thank you!!

Here are some pictures from Saturday's yard sale. The weather was beautiful and it was a great time spend with family and friends. :)

 These girls were so nice. :)

 Just some shoppers.

 Thank you (again!)

 Two of my sister-in-laws. :)  Faith made it through the yard sale without going into labor!

 More shoppers. :)

 Some clothes!

 Wow, this couple loves Adoption Yard Sales! ;)

 We love the Tabers!

 Not sure she wanted her photo taken....

 Hannah, Caleb, and Grace. :)

It was a great day and I would totally do it again......but give me some time. ;)

Are you moving??

I think we heard that several times today during our "Totally Off the Cuff Yard Sale" this morning. We threw some items outside, hung out for a few hours, wrapped it up at lunch time so that Dan could sleep before his night shift, and made $206. :) I can summarize the day in one word, "relaxing." It really was nice and low key AND the best part was that we sold some of the cumbersome items we had. You know, like stools, baby swing, a bike...which was the point of our last minute sale. Dan and I knew that the BIG sale was next weekend at his sister's house and that meant that we would be packing it all in a truck and driving back and forth. So the less stuff to move, the better. :)
      Speaking of the BIG SALE, that is NEXT WEEK on MAY 19th starting at 8am!! That one will be out in Downingtown at my sister in law's development ("Williamsburg"). The whole development is having sales, so it is some great "One Stop" shopping! They will be handing out maps, so look for the house that says the proceeds go to our adoption! (Not going to post her address over the web). Message me, call me, or email me if you want to know how to get to the development. :) And tell your friends!!

We will have some great baby clothes (Baby Gap, Gymboree, Old Navy, Carters, etc), kids bikes, linens, costume jewelry, some furniture, some bookcases, books, kitchen items, decorative items, DVDs, toys, a white wooden bassinet. Some cool stuff!! :) Anyway, here are some pictures from today!

                                    Need a beautiful white wooden bassinet?? ;)

 We met new neighbors...pretty cool.

 Some of the nice clothing.

 Random picked over kitchen stuff.

 Thank You!!!!!!!!

 This crib is still for sale! It is a drop side BUT converts to a toddler bed. (too bad I didn't realize that when people were asking, ha...oops....next week. OR if you know someone who wants a solid cherry wood sleigh crib let me know. (With changing table and glider...but the changing table needs a piece od particle board to be replaced. Easy fix)

 Peyton relaxing on the glider. ;)

 the kids hanging out.

 See...relaxed. We don't even know these people! (well, we know Renee!)

Dora bike sold! Other bikes are still here.

 I love this!!

       Here is the crib put together! :)





Well, it was a great day and we had fun and made some cash. All good!! $206 closer!! :)

My New Favorite Number is...

Well, at least for the month of May, this is my new favorite number. Hopefully, next month, I will have a new favorite number and it will be even lower! This is our number on the "wait list" for our adoption!!! There are 47 families with Dossiers in Ethiopia (for Lifeline/West Sands adoption agencies.) We are all waiting for a referral of a child to welcome into our families. The number seems high, but not all of the families in front of us are requesting the same age and gender as us. So really, I am not sure that the number means all that much ;) But it is still nice to have one! 

So now, we wait....and wait...and wait. :) 

And the grand total is...

$1,204.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Today was our yard sale (in NJ) to raise money for our adoption and I can easily say that I am more tired than I was after birthing any of my 3 children. It was an exhausting day, but we were so blessed by so many people. We got to see friends from high school, growing up, and friends from PA! Everyone helped us out more than they probably know. The entire day was packed with laughing, wheeling and dealing, and moments where I just looked around and wanted to cry knowing that everyone was sacrificing their time to help support our adoption.

I am too tired to write more, but here are some pictures from the day. All in all we had a great time...so blessed. :)

                                    The house before the sale....just one room.

                                      Wheeling and dealing! (Ronnie's watches)

                                            A view of the clothes area.

                                        My dad....totally stressed.

                                                 Faith....the MVP.

 Derek. Supporting his wife and mother-in-law as they shopped using his money.

                                                      Tessa shopping!!

                                               Lori- Our supplier of goods.

                                                 Ha, love her face here.

                          Wow, this customer loves the item he is purchasing ;)

                                         Some baked goods made by Janice!

                                                     My Africa bags! :)

                                                                   Wow.

                                                           Exhausted.

                                         Jessica and Faith - 2 faithful friends!:)

                   

Kristen and Mark....traveled from PA to support (and HELP) us!

HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!!!!

Treasures for Sale!!! Saturday April 28th!

The day is almost here! Our first fundraiser for the adoption! We have been collecting, loading, unloading, cleaning, organizing, and pricing for a few weeks now. When I go into our basement, it looks like we have done none of the above. :) Oops, how is that possible, ha! On Friday we will be loading up as much as we can and driving to NJ where we will continue to organize, clean, and price the items that are taking over my parents' house. (what we can't fit will be used for the May 19th, PA Yard Sale).  I LOVE IT!! So many people have been so generous and have given us some pretty great stuff!!!
      Now that we have some great buys for Saturday we need some BUYERS!!! Right now the weather for Saturday is cool and sunny.....perfect yard Sale-ing weather. So tell your friends, family, co-workers, a stranger at Starbucks about the awesome yard sale taking place THIS Saturday (8am-2pm) on York Street in Old Bridge, NJ!!!!! (The whole block is having yard sales, so even better!!!)

Here are some of the things that we have collected. More items are at my parents' and at my in-law's houses.  (Oops, Josh's blue ball is not for sale. I need to make sure their toys don't get thrown in the pile that day or we will have tears!)

       Here are some more awesome things that we have been given. We had a great black dresser/changing table, but I put it up on craigslist and it sold that day!! WOOOHOO!!!


 If anyone wants to come out and help, that would be great too!! The more hands the better. :)  I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 28th- NJ Yard Sale!

Ok, New Jersey, here we come! My original plan was to have our Yard Sale fundraiser (for NJ) sometime in June. BUT the street that my parents live on is having a "Block Yard Sale" on APRIL 28th, so obviously it makes more sense to have the sale then! This also means less time to collect stuff from everyone!! If you live in PA and said that you have things to donate, I want to set up dates soon that I can get that from you. :) I will be taking anything that I can over to NJ first and then whatever is too big or doesn't sell in NJ we will try to sell again in PA (on May 19th). Feel free to email me if you want to get rid of it now. Otherwise, I will be sending out an email soon to anyone that told me they have stuff. NJ FRIENDS: if you have junk amazing items that you no longer need ;) LET ME KNOW! The less I have to transport from PA, the better. :) Please let me know through email or facebook if you have stuff. It doesn't have to be big....it could be clothes, baby clothes or baby items, toys, purses, decorations for your house that you don't use, throw pillows, comforter sets....all that stuff is great. :) I went through my house (for the 3rd time) and found more stuff...crazy how much I have collected along the way and just don't need. (Since I totally forgot it was there). If you don't have stuff to get rid of, I would still love to see you on April 28th!!! :) It will be fun!!

    Along with the Yard Sale, there will be delicious goodies at our BAKE SALE!!! When I started thinking about this yard sale, I told Dan that I pictured lots of items for sale, people having a good time, a bake sale going on, and BALLOONS....at that Dan did what he usually does...looks at me like I'm crazy and tells me that's great but to reel it in. :) As I thought about it more, I realized that I am not a great baker and realistically I wouldn't have time to be baking before the yard sale anyway. About a week or so after Dan and I had our little conversation, my mom's good friend Janice called me on my cell phone. She asked me if I would consider having a bake sale along side the yard sale AND that if I wanted this SHE would do all of the baking!!! I love how God cares about the little things that we care about!

All that to say....I am looking forward to April 28th in NJ and May 19th in PA. I think that we are going to have a lot of fun, raise some money together for our adoption, and get to share with others about God's love for ALL and how that love spills out of us so that we can therefore love others...even those that we do not know. So let me know if you want to help! :)

Ready, Set, Dossier!

I have been super busy lately and haven't sat down to update this blog. So as the boys are playing "Cars/Toy Story" in the living room, I decided to escape with my hot chocolate and update for a bit. (Sure to be interrupted in less than 5 minutes, so I will try to make this snappy!) Where did I leave off?? I believe at the Home Study visits!! We had two Home Study Visits in the beginning of March. They went VERY WELL!! We basically answered every question known to man about our families, our kids, and ourselves. I am never good in these situations. I need time to think over my answers or I sounds outright crazy. For example, the social worker was asking all about me....my upbringing, education, marriage, etc. Then, she asked a few simple questions, like, "What are your hobbies? What do you like? What do you dislike?" Well, the average person would answer that easily, but I had such a hard time with this. (remember, they are writing a report and probably judging every word that exits my mouth). So of course I began to over-think my answer. Hobbies and "likes" was not too hard, but "dislikes" was really difficult. I really sat there forever...."What exactly do you mean?" I asked. " Do you want to know that I dislike watching sports or that I dislike human trafficking?" See! It's hard!!! I think she thought I was crazy, but I really didn't have any little things that I dislike...it was more like huge things, that I don't think she cared about, ha. :) Oh well! So that was the Home Study . The report is now written and on its way with 30 other documents (our Dossier) to Utah, Washington D.C., and then to ETHIOPIA!!! All of our documents should be in Ethiopia around May 1st and then we will officially be on the waiting list!!! I cannot even tell you how excited that makes me. :) The wait time for a referral is about 9 months once we are on the waiting list. SOOOOO, if all goes according to schedule, we will have a referral (picture/info about our child) around March of 2013. When I write it like that, it sounds so far away, wow. After the referral, we then have to wait for a court date in Ethiopia to meet and adopt our child and then a second date to return and get our child!!! Lots of time waiting. So maybe next summer we will be going to Ethiopia. So in the meantime, we wait., and wait, and wait. 

Right now, I am excited to get things planned for our yard sales. Thank you for all of you that have said that you have items for the sale. I hear that clothes and baby/kid stuff sells fast, so if you have items like that that you want to get rid of just let me know. Thanks!!! 

Some day de Mayo!!

As I opened up my hallway closet this morning, three thermal bags fell on my head. Since I couldn't reach the shelf that they fell from, I thought that I would place them on the nice organizational rack screwed into the door...only to realize that the rack was jam packed with items that I have never used. Time to SPRING CLEAN and get rid of all of this junk! My plan is to take everything that I am not using (or have never used) and throw it in a box for our yard sale fundraiser. I am a huge fan of yard sales and could tell you every item in my house that was purchased at one, so this type of fundraiser just seemed natural.
      Dan and I have had 2 yard sales in the past, but we never really had much to sell. (Even if we did, we don't have a yard to sell it on or a garage for that matter!) Anyway, as I thought more about this fundraiser, I quickly realized that the items we would like to get rid of would not get us very far. Also, our location doesn't help either. So here is the plan! We are asking YOU for donations....give us your junk treasures that you don't need! As you spring clean, think of us. :) Maybe you have an old dresser or bike or tools...who knows? Maybe a microwave or stroller or printer. It is a win-win. You get to get rid of your stuff and we get to adopt a baby! WIN-WIN!
         The date and locations are "set." Ok, not really. The PA one will be in May (the 19th?) and I am not sure about the NJ one yet. I will let you know. But if you come across things you would like to donate and don't want to store them at your house, just let me know and I will come take them off your hands. :)
            I am really hoping to sell some "ticket items" at the garage sale because we will be sending out our dossier soon and with that are some large fees! I know that God will provide and I think that a fundraiser like this is an easy way for people to help, especially if they want to give, but don't have money. :) Email me if you have any questions or want to donate: Laurenvideon@gmail.com

Here is the flyer:

Spring Clean and Donate

To benefit our Ethiopian adoption!

HUGE YARD SALE FUNDRAISER!! J

We are collecting your unwanted treasures!

Items we are looking for:

·         Furniture

·         Appliances

·         Electronics

·         Art

·         Jewelry

·         Bikes

·         Tools

·         Baby gear

·         Household items

·         Kitchen items

·         Linens

·         Basically anything you want to get rid of!

Mark your calendars!!

Yard Sale for Adoption:  SATURDAY, (maybe)MAY 19th?   8:00am-2:00pm (PA sale)
(NJ sale- TBD)

To donate (or volunteer to help) contact Lauren at laurenvideon@gmail.com  

(All items remaining after the sales will be donated)

For more information on our adoption, check out our blog “Now You Know” at

http://knowledge-causing-action.blogspot.com/

Let me know if you want to donate or help out in any way!!! 

Coffee, GarageSales, and Airplanes

Adoption.  I think about so many aspects of it on a daily basis. I think about and pray for the birth mom of our baby a lot. Is she alive? What is her story? I think about the paperwork that we are swimming in, the health of our child, the changes for our biological children, choosing a name, and so many other important and not so important aspects of this new adventure.  But one thing I don’t feel like thinking about is money. Oh how I have a love- hate relationship with you.  We gave money a two second thought when having our other children, but that is not the case with adoption.  I now see why so many people think about adoption, but don’t actually follow through. It is just so expensive. However, these children are still waiting for families and there is no way that some green paper is going to stand in our way. 

There are ways. We can apply for grants. There are tax credits. We can sell stuff. We can sacrifice.  All things that we plan on doing. There is a part of me that just wants to sell my possessions and have a nice little quiet adoption. Not sure that will work though.  So for us, we are going to have a couple little avenues to raise some funds.  Here they are:

1.        Coffee!!!! Just Love Coffee’s mission is to help those in need! They help adopting families and non-profit organizations by donating a portion of their proceeds to those who need it, like us! AND their coffee is Fair trade! So basically, when people buy a bag of coffee from our “storefront” or little family page, Just Love Coffee will give us $5 for our adoption! So you can help by just being addicted to coffee. 

Click below to order some for you, a friend, your office, anyone you can think of! 

Videon Family Adoption Coffee Fundraiser

If you aren’t into coffee, you could get some other items. Here are the proceed amounts for those items.

13oz. Coffees (non-small lot): $5
(4) 6oz. Samplers: $7
Coffee Cupper's Sampler: $19
Ultimate Sampler (Santa's Helper): $19
Jamaica Blue Mountain (small lot): 4oz. ($3)  13oz. ($9)
5oz. Tin Colombian Cup of Excellence Lot #1: $5
6oz. Kenya AA (small lot): $3
T-Shirts: $5
Sale T-Shirts: $3
Sale Hoodie: $4
Beanie: $3
Hat: $3
Travel Mug: $3
Stoneware Mug: $1
Aeropress: $5
Coffee Scoop: $1

2.       A Garage Sale!!! How could I not do this one? It is in my blood! (For those who know my parents).  My plan is to have one this summer in NJ (at my parents’ house).  Right now, I am putting things aside that I think might bring in some money. If you want to help, but don’t want to buy our old junk feel free to donate items. Or just come by that day and say hi! It will be fun!!! (I don’t know a date yet, but I am thinking May or June right now).

3.       FFM!! AKA Frequent Flier Miles! Ok, this one I am not as confident about, but I am hopeful. I don’t know ANYTHING about frequent flier miles, but I have heard of people donating them for adoption/charity. Anyone know if this is even possible? We will be traveling to Ethiopia twice! So this one, if it works, would be a huge help!

4.       Mystery Fundraiser! That isn’t some clever title….I just haven’t thought of another one. I would like to apply for a matching grant and if we are approved we will need something for them to match!  So for now, I will just keep my eyes open for ideas that are fun and easy for all.

SO, if you feel led to help in any way , than that would be great! Any advice you have about this topic would be fantastic too. THANKS!!!!!

Home Study Visit #1

Ok, the date is set! THIS Sunday afternoon we are having our first home study visit. I don't have much to say in this post except PRAY! I don't really know what she will be looking for during this time, but I am just praying that in the short time that our social worker is here, she somehow understands who we are as a family and our love for this child that we have not met yet. Pray, pray, pray!!! If you have any advice, please share!

SO....Now you know.

When I started this blog 2 years ago, the purpose was to research for others and share the little bit I knew (and was learning) about the business of human trafficking. I was also exploring our role as Christians in this big mess. I knew that God didn’t want us to just hear the statistics, sigh and say, “Wow, that’s too bad.” The name of the blog, “Now You Know,” is intended to be a jumping off point. NOW. YOU.KNOW. So what will you DO now that you know? I never wanted this to be just about works.  BUT once you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ and you begin to understand His heart you WANT to DO. You WANT to LIVE OUT your faith.

So as my heart began to break for these girls (and boys) involved in human trafficking, it also began to break for the orphan.  These children are at such a high risk for human trafficking and have no one to advocate for them.

 The statistics are staggering.

143,000,000 ORPHANS:

“It is estimated that between 143,000,000 and 210,000,000 children are orphans. That’s at least 143 MILLION children in the world today. (Recent UNICEF report.)

To give you an idea of the enormity of this need, keep in mind that the approximate population of the US is 300,000,000; and the population of Russia is 141,800,000.)”  http://harvestministry.org/orphan-stats

Sometimes, reading numbers like that mean nothing. And for awhile, I heard the numbers, but still I just kept living my life as if they didn’t exist. I can’t say that there was ONE DAY that it hit me, but I do remember one day when I was holding Aaron and just kissing his chubby cheeks and hugging him telling him I loved him and all of a sudden my heart sank.  As he is giggling and drooling, feeling his mommy’s lips touch his cheeks, there are babies just like him longing for the same kind of love. The hardest part of that moment was realizing that most of these kids will never experience “being loved on” like Aaron, Caleb and Joshua experience daily. (Don’t let Caleb and Josh’s wiping of their cheek fool you, they love the LOVE).   ;)   They NEED it. All kids need it and too many aren’t receiving it.

So anyway, there are so many ways we can help with this problem. We can find a great organization that provides for the needs of orphans and donate to them. We can go on a short-term mission’s trip and visit these kiddos. We can get behind others we know that are adopting and help them throughout the process. Or we can actually adopt a child into our family forever. I am SURE there are thousands of other ways to help too.  For our family, we thought:

A child out there needs a family.  Our family needs one more child.  And so our journey begins!!! We are adopting!!!!

Some of you may think we are just plain crazy, some of you may think this is great, and others may just not know WHAT to think. All of the above are ok.  One thing I am learning while following God is that not everyone is going to agree with what you are doing, but amidst all of that, He gives an amazing peace when it is something He is calling you to.  Dan and I are both just so excited about taking our family on this journey and living out our faith by just “being a family.” 

Some people know that we have started the adoption process and this question always comes up:

“HAVE YOU GUYS WANTED TO ADOPT FOR A LONG TIME?”

Good question. Yes and No. Good answer? Probably not. J (I will answer for just me here) Ok, so I can trace back MY first thoughts to when I was 17-ish and on a mission’s trip to Russia with my youth group at church. (YEA! Breakaway!!!) I just remember my heart breaking for these kids that had no one to tuck them in at night or read them each their own story at bedtime. We were teenagers and these kids were calling us mom and dad. They were chasing after our van and crying when we left, after having lived in their orphanage for only 2 weeks. They were just longing to be loved. I vividly remember us driving away and thinking, “I wish I was older and could just take a couple of them home with me.”   I would have to say that was the first time I ever THOUGHT about adoption, but obviously it wasn’t anything I was about to  do at the time. After that, life went on and thoughts of adoption crept into my head here and there. Often, it was when I heard of friends adopting. Dan and I would casually say, “Maybe when our kids are older we will adopt.” What a “nice” idea, right?  I read somewhere (I think it was on Steven Curtis Chapman’s Website, Show Hope) that 98% of Christians think about adopting, but only 2% follow through. That hit me hard.  Why not? Why don’t they follow through? (Please don’t read into that. I don’t think that everyone needs to adopt, but I do think that all Christians do need to help the orphan in some way).

Anyway, so rewind about 2 years now.  I was researching more about human trafficking and throwing “Parties with a Purpose.”  The whole point of partying with a purpose was to raise awareness about human trafficking/ modern day slavery and to show others how to take the first “action steps” in advocating for these people that had no voice. I always said that I wished I could have traveled to these places and shared the love of Jesus with these people.  BUT as a mom, I also had a mission field here in my house.  My calling right now was to be a mom to my boys.  So, basically, having the parties was my “practical” way of being a justice advocate while still being a mom full time. J  As Dan and I began talking about adoption, I realized that in “just being a mom” I was able to help. How awesome!

So basically, over the last couple years, God was working on my heart as well as Dan’s  and we began to feel more recently that he was calling us to adoption. As we looked into it, read about it, talked about it, and prayed about it, God really gave us a strong desire to follow through on this. So cool!

Another question we are asked is:

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO ADOPT FROM?” 

When we first started thinking about this, we thought that we could just spin a globe with our eyes closed, stop the globe, and BAM that was where we would get our next child. We soon discovered that is not the case. J

The first decision in adoption is domestic vs. international. There is no right or wrong answer here. I think that it is just where the couple is feeling led.  There is definitely a need here in America as well as overseas. 

Dan and I have chosen International Adoption, but if someone from Chester County came knocking on our door with a baby in their arms we would love that too!

After deciding that we were going to pursue adopting internationally, we needed to choose a country. With so many different regulations (like number of years married, current ages of the couple,  income level, age of the children available, number of trips to the country, length of time you would stay in the country for the adoption process) we were quite limited.  

In short, we were “qualified” for adopting a special needs child from China or a child from Ethiopia.  Now, “special needs” might just be a cleft lip or palate or a simple heart condition that could easily be fixed here in America.  So now we had to decide. Which road would we travel down? It felt really hard to make this kind of decision, but we just kept praying, researching, and praying some more.  Again, I don’t think that there is a right or wrong decision here. We chose ETHIOPIA! (Which is funny because at the very beginning of this process I would always talk about China or Korea or Cambodia…notice a trend? And Dan would just say something like, “Lauren, what about Africa?”  Too funny ! J So now I am basically addicted to blogs about families adopting from Ethiopia, BUT I am trying not to get my heart too set on it because recently there has been a slow down of referrals coming from Ethiopia and I don’t know if that means that they will be shutting their doors to adoption at any time during this process. If that happens, I know that I will be crushed, but God totally knows the outcome and wherever we end up is where He wants us. (But I have to say that Africa has my heart already.)

Here are a few facts about Ethiopia that we have been learning: (Taken from one of many awesome blogs I read: http://www.pureandlasting.com/

*Life expectancy in Ethiopia 39 years for males and 42 years for females. The leading cause of death is communicable diseases such as malaria, typhoid, meningitis, cholera, AIDS, tuberculosis, yellow fever.

* One in ten children die before their first birthday.

* One in six children die before their fifth birthday.

* Woman have an average of 7 children and the maternal mortality rate is 1 in 14

* Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.

* Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population lives on less than a $1 a day. The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

* Ethiopia is home to 4-6 million orphans, or 12% of all children.

* That is the same number of children under age 18 who reside in Massachusetts, New York State, and Washington DC combined. If every parent in those places died tonight - that would be similar to Ethiopia's orphan crisis.  (CRAZY! Right?)

* More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.

* Only 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.

* Only 18 percent of children reach grade five. That means 82% of children don't.

*44% of the population is under 15 years old

*60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

I had to read these over and over to really grasp these statistics.  Just plain crazy.

But we could look at that and say, “Ok , that is really sad, but God, I have 3 kids already, a small house, small budget, and I am pretty comfortable right now.”  And let me tell you, when I am staying up until 11 pm to do paperwork and waking up at 5am to do some more, I am pretty much thinking that maybe it would just be easier to write a check. But as fast as that thought comes into my head, God just fills me with excitement about “caring for the orphans and the widows in their trouble.” (James 1:27) The process of adopting is daunting, but I think of it kind of like pregnancy. (Maybe because pregnancy isn’t “my thing.”)  It is hard work while you wait, but the end is such a miracle! This time around, it is my heart that is pregnant.

So for now, this blog will be where I can record thoughts and updates.  We are VERY VERY early in this process, but please just pray for us when you think about our family. While we fill out more forms and collect documents we are also brainstorming ways to fund this adoption. (Thoughts on this to come later, but in general I KNOW that God will provide and I rest in that).

I feel like there is so much more that I wanted to say (and I am sure that I will think of it in the middle of the night). I also feel like with all that I just wrote, it isn't even expressing how strongly I feel about this calling and how strongly I feel that we all are to be helping those who don't have a voice in this world. Each day, God is teaching me more about his heart and really WHY we are here. So as we start this journey, Dan and I are just praying that God will lead us. We hope that you will walk with us over the next 12-18 months (or longer!). J

This is a short little diddy that I read recently. I saved it, but I have no clue where it came from, so I may be arrested for plagiarism, sorry.

The Gospel of Adoption

The good news that orphan children need to hear is not only the fact that they will be adopted by a

loving family, but also the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross to make it possible for them to

become adopted children of God. Our adoption by God is the ultimate expression of His love, and was the

ultimate purpose of Jesus’ life on earth and death on the cross.