White Family Update

Happy Thursday! Time for an update on our family of the week! Guess What?!! We have donated $690 to help the Whites bring Alric home from China. Please keeping give $1 if you haven't already, and share on all your social media!

Click here to donate $1 or more via PayPal.

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway that includes 2 winners - one for a Noonday Collection bracelet and the other for some Rodan and Fields microdermabrasion cream.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosting & Adopting the Older Child {Guest Post by Erin}

I am so excited to share another guest post with you today! In June 2013, we featured the Johnson family on Give1Save1 Europe and raised $2,166 for them to adopt a sibling group of three boys from Ukraine. On November 14, 2013, D (age 11), N (age 9) and E (age 7) came home from Ukraine and joined their forever family. Erin has written an update for us about their adoption journey. I thought it would be encouraging to pre-adoptive and post-adoptive families and families considering orphan hosting!

We hosted our two oldest boys for a total of 3 times before adopting them all. I am a volunteer for our hosting organization and I can't say enough about how awesome older kids can be BUT also how I think hosting first is important if you have other younger kids in the house. Its not really an "interview process" for the kids, but a chance for you to get to know them and them to get to know you. The older kids in Ukraine have a choice if they want a family to adopt them. They have to write a letter saying they want to be adopted. We didn't go into hosting with the intent to adopt older boys. We just wanted to give an orphan a summer away from the orphanage. What ended up happening was we fell in love with them. We had three little kids already. Our two boys were 6 and 4 and our daughter was 5 when we hosted N for the first time in the summer of 2012. We decided to host D and N for Christmas mostly to prove to ourselves that what every said was true; you cannot adopt kids that much older than the ones you already have. Well, they were wrong. A few days before the boys had to go back to Ukraine, D asked us to adopt them all. We started the process a few days after they left. We hosted D again for the summer while waiting for our paperwork to be submitted to Ukraine. It was a great chance to bond more with just him, and for him to learn English. The first time we hosted D, he stayed zipped up in his jacket almost the entire time. He was so hurt and withdrawn. When he came back for summer, he was a different kid. He walked out with the host group up on his tip toes looking for me, asking where our other kids and the dogs were at!

We had to wait and wait and wait for our boys to come available for international adoption. When we FINALLY made it to Ukraine and walked into their orphanage it was like something out of a dream. The facilitator was telling us how the boys still had to agree to be adopted and he thought that they would probably say yes, but we had to ask them anyways. We sat down in the director's office and in came our boys. Every time we hosted, we met the boys with huge welcome signs at the airport that said, "Welcome to America!" They came in to meet us with welcome signs of their own that said, "Welcome to Ukraine Mother & Father." I cried. The director said, "So do you want them to adopt you?" "DA!!!"

We've been home for 3 months now and while we're all still adjusting, it has been amazingly smooth. With the two oldest having been here so much, it was like they just walked back into our house like they never left. They had beds, clothes, toys, and knew where everything was. The youngest boy (E) is the sweetest little guy and happily followed his brothers to America and a new life without ever looking back. We have had our share of the kids working through the new dynamic of additional siblings, and there have been fights, but nothing really mean spirited. Mostly we've had some frustration over our new kids feeling like they have to write their name on every.single.thing. that is theirs and wanting to start WWIII over someone else touching it or always always always wanting to be eating. These kinds of things are to be expected though and have been pretty easily addressed. Our boys started school within 3 weeks of being home and are doing really well. They were in school in Ukraine so it made for an easier transition to just enroll them here with our other kids as well.

The things I hear the most from people about hosting are, "I would host, but I don't think I could send them back. It seems cruel." Well, to them I like to present a question. If you died, and your kids were in an orphanage and someone had a chance to love them but only for a little while, would you rather they just left them and did nothing at all? Or would you rather they loved on them, got them dental care, bought them glasses, fed them, prayed over them, clothed them, taught them, and sent them back as they cried because they loved your child? Yes, its easier to do nothing, but I don't think our hearts do much good for God if they aren't breaking for what breaks His. An orphan's life is already cruel. Hosting offers hope.

The other thing I hear is, "I'd adopt, BUT I don't have the money." To them I say, neither did we! We started the process by sending a $200 check and a prayer with our application. The prayer was, "God if this is what we are supposed to do, You have to bring the money." Eight months and $40,000 later we were in Ukraine.

If you are interested in orphan hosting, please check out Children's Cultural Connection and New Horizon's for Children.

Thank you to Erin for sharing! Erin blogs at The Johnson Journals.

Welcome the White Family!

Alex and Mia White have dreamed of adopting for years. They are elated that their dreams are about to come true. In a few weeks, Alex and Mia, along with their daughters Audrey and Arwyn, will be traveling to China to adopt a son, Alric. Alric is 18 months old and has a corrected cleft lip and an uncorrected cleft palate. (He will need surgery when he arrives home.) Audrey and  Arwyn are excited to become big sisters. Follow their adoption story at their blog.

    

Let's rain blessing down on the Whites! Please give and share on all your social media!

 Click here to donate $1 or more via PayPal. 

Carly, a friend of the White family (and former Give1Save1 mom,) set up a Rafflecopter giveaway that includes 2 winners - one for a Noonday Collection bracelet and the other for some Rodan and Fields microdermabrasion cream. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peat Family Update!

Hi there! I hope you're having a great week!
The Peat family is at $2015!!!!  Whatt??!  That's ah-mazing, guys!  Keep up the giving and sharing on your social media.  We're excited to help the Peats bring home their 2 newest family members:)
                                           

AWWWW! How sweet! (seriously.)

Thanks, friends!

A Super FUNdraiser

Hey guys!
I have a super fun fundraising opportunity for you! I don't know how many of you have ever heard of Noonday Collection, but if you haven't you need to check it out!

Noonday Collection is a company that creates opportunities for sustainable income in countries where that always isn't available.  Noonday works with over 18 countries, and employs over 8,000 artisans! That's not all though, did you know that by hosting a Noonday Collection trunk show you can earn money for your adoption?! Yes! You can! You can host a show (or heck, have people host them for you too!) and Noonday will give 10% of the shows total to your adoption agency to help expenses! (*note: the show must reach a last $300 in sales, which is totally easy).

Their new Spring line launches this week! On February 20th! So head on over to the Noonday Collection page and find out if there is an ambassador close to you! Not only can you raise money for your adoption but you can help orphan prevention in other countries, it's a win win. Plus you get amazing jewelry, a triple win.

Style your friends. Change the world. from Noonday Collection on Vimeo.

Welcome the Peat Family!

Hello, everyone! I'm so glad you stopped by the blog.  We are having such a wonderful 2014.....so much love and support being shown to our families:)

This week, we are featuring the Peat Family.  Erin and Mike Peat have 4 (very cute!) children at home and are waiting to bring 2 (very cute!) children home from the Democratic Republic of Congo. They hope to travel very soon! They were made a family (legally) last year, now they're ready to be HOME together.

Let's watch their video.

From the Peats.....
"We started this process officially in August 2012 and signed with our agency in September of that same year. We originally were in the process to adopt twin girls but after several months their case fell through. I was completely heartbroken. We have one set of twins and I was overjoyed at the thought of having the privilege to parent another set. However, God had different plans. We saw a picture of this little boy in March & he tugged on my heart for weeks. I looked at his picture every day and prayed for him to find a family. When it was clear the case for the twins couldn't move forward we immediately said YES to this sweet boy. His name means 'Hope' in French and that has brought me comfort & re-assurance. We are continuing to hope he and his sister will be home soon.

In December we had the privilege to travel to the DRC and spend a week with them. This should have been a trip to bring them home but because of the state of DRC adoptions it was only for a visit. It was the most amazing thing to meet them and get to know them and we are now even more desperate to bring them home and have them join their siblings. Saying good-bye was gut wrenching but we are hopeful it won't be for long!"

You can read about their visit at their BLOG. (There's a donate button there, too!)

Are you ready to help the Peat family with last minute expenses? They are waiting for their call to go pick up their children. Let's bless them this week! You can give through Paypal right here:)

Thanks, friends! Have a great week!

If You Think My Hands are Full, You Should See My Heart {Guest Post by Crystal Sponseller}

Last March, we featured the Sponseller family on G1S1 Europe and raised $1,383 to help them family travel to Ukraine and adopt their son Daniel. Crystal wrote this update celebrating having Daniel home five months and was so gracious to share it with us!

Five months!

I think about it and I smile.

I smile because I can see how far we have come. I smile when I see our family's cogs slipping into place. I smile when I see my children dancing in the snow. I smile.

On a serious note, I have had the recurring thought of "How did I really expect this to go?" I honestly can't remember how I thought it would be. I know that I was scared and worried, but I totally underestimatedwhat the experience would be. I think many of us have scenarios like that. Scenarios that we find ourselves in the middle of that we wonder how we got there.

And, I mean, REALLY, who wants the hard? No one. Not even Christ. He prayed for the cup to pass. But somehow, when we submit our will to Him and decide to follow His plan for redemption, we plod through, with our heads down; through the adoption hiccups, through the surprises that aren't the good kind, through, through, through. And when we lift our eyes up we can see bits and pieces of the story that God is weaving using our willingness and our brokenness.

This was Данило five months ago (and about 12 pounds heavier due to unnecessary medications). He was terrified to ride in the car. He liked borscht, kielbasa, chupa chubs and any kind of fruit that he could forage from the fruit trees that grew around his orphanage. He would sweat profusely and shake inexplicably. His hair was thin and coarse. He was terrified. Of everything. The word that he said that most was "Buy-oos!" (Meaning: "I am scared!!!") Tantrums were an all day event. When he was bathed he would shriek like we were using acid to clean him. And the smell... ugh.

This is Daniel today. He loves all sorts of adventures. He likes hamburgers, french fries, chili, roast beef, hash browns, peanut butter... and the list goes on. He talks non-stop. He says he is scared if he is being silly. Tantrums may be once a week. Or not at all. And they last for ten minutes. He loves to be in the shower. He smells like a Sponseller. His hair has grown in thick and soft. He loves Superman and Batman. He loves to pray. And his prayers are always full of thanksgiving for his family and petition for Ukraine. He begs me every week to say the closing prayer at church.

So, are things perfect? Nope. But are they wonderful? Oh yeah!

I can honestly say that I am so happy with our decision to expand our family following God's leading. We have no regrets.

If I could encourage anyone on the journey, I would just say that I am happy. We are happy. The other children are happy. We have our bumps and they are different bumps than we would have had if we only had 2.5 children.

And our hands are full.

My hands are full.

But you should see my heart.

Originally Posted here: http://openheartsopenhands.blogspot.com/2014/01/if-you-think-my-hands-are-full-you.html?m=1

Say Hello to the Hull Family!

Meet the Hull Family! Ryan and Tracy have 4 beautiful children, Kai, Grace, David and Ji Ji. In the past five years, they have adopted three times (twice from Korea and once from China.) Ryan and Tracy thought their family was complete. Then last September, they learned about Thomas, an older boy with special needs in China who is waiting for a family.

Thomas

Time is running our for Thomas. He will age out of the adoption program in March, so the Hulls are working as quickly as possible to adopt him. Follow their adoption journey at their blog, Taking the Slow Boat to Thomas and their Facebook page.

After three adoptions, the Hulls have exhausted their financial resources. They will be traveling soon to bring Thomas home before he ages out in March. Let's help the Hulls raise the money to travel to China and adopt Thomas! Click here to give a tax-deductible donation at Pure Charity.  Or send a donation through PayPal to: tracyhull12@gmail.com.

Likes Family Update

At the midweek point, you have given $340 to the Likes family adoption fund.  Great job, thanks for all you have donated!!

 Did you know that they also have two other fundraisers going on?

Head to their blog here to get the details, www.bringingourbabieshome.blogspot.com, but here are some pictures!

Their ongoing fundraiser is a "Sweet Dreams" one.  They have amazing 1500 count sheet sets, for only $35.00 ($5 additional if you need them shipped).  You will sleep well every night tucked into these sheets, knowing that you helped bring two little ones home to their nice comfy beds too!

The other fundraiser they are doing for the month of February are these beautiful necklaces.

I know as an adoptive mother, this was a verse I held close to my heart, as we struggled through the up and downs of our adoption process.  I found comfort in knowing that this path was indeed the path for our family, no matter how difficult it may seem.

What a beautiful way to remind those we love that their path, no matter how daunting it may seem is indeed guided by Him.

Say Hello to the Likes family!

Meet the Likes family!  

They are currently in the process of adopting two more children from the DRC to add to their beautiful family.  They brought their daughter home from Ethiopia last April. While in Etheopia, they talked with many people about the children with HIV+ statuses.  Their hearts ached for these kids, because so often, their positive status kept people from seeing the child.  After much prayer, and direction from God, they decided to begin the adoption process for their next children from the DRC.  Though the adoption program is unstable due to the continuing war in the Congo, they know that their children are there, waiting for them. You can follow thier adoption journey through their blog here.

They have raised enough funds for their first referral, and are in the process of raising money for their second child's referral fee.

Get your dollars ready, and donate to this family this week, better yet, give TWO DOLLARS for their two children waiting for them!

You can donated to their adoption fund here through paypal, 

Share their video on ALL your social media pages

In this month dedicated to love, let's shower this family and their waiting children with LOVE (and dollars!)!!!