Adoption Update

 

I've given lots of pregnancy updates lately, but not so many adoption updates. Honestly, this is because there hasn't been much to update. I checked all the referral summaries last night and there has only been FOUR referrals for children UNDER FOUR since August. I had noticed things seemed slow on the referral side through the message board, but I didn't realize it was that slow. My heart hurts for the children that are ready to be part of families, but are stuck behind the legal tape. I am, however, glad that our agency does everything necessary to ensure ethically correct adoptions.  My prayer is that the governments will start moving at a miraculous speed and help bring these babies home! I also hurt for the families that are about to spend another holiday season without haivng or seeing their precious childrens faces. It will be a rough one for them I am sure, but they will hold fast to the promises of God and remember that He is good and has good plans for their families.

Bring Love In

You know how every now and then you will come across an organization, cause, or family that just pulls at your heart? You know immediately what they are doing is great work and you want to help them? That is how I felt about Bring Love In. I watched their video off of Give1Save1 and was instantly compelled to help this family. I sometimes get the urge to donate, but if they don't have Paypal I will just move on and not go get my credit card. However, this was deserving of walking into the other room and getting the moola!! Sooo...Watch this video. Check out their site. Invest in their call to look after the widows and orphans!

"We work with local churches to find widows and mothers who’ve been left to lead their households on their own. In a country like Ethiopia, where resources are scarce, these women often find themselves on the streets, with no way to provide for their families.

We will train and provide for these women, so they can support their own families and, in turn, open their homes to children who’ve been left as orphans.

We will provide a first class private education to each of the children living in the Bring Love In homes.

We will have a team of nurses and social workers on our staff who will visit each home on a regular basis, ensuring the level of care – both emotional and physical – remains high.

Our focus is on building future leaders, residing within their home countries – leaders who will bring vision and direction to their communities." - Bring Love In- The Project

Created for Care

This past weekend was a great weekend! I attended the Created For Care Retreat in Atlanta, GA. Me and one of my besties, Beth, that is adopting domestically had a great time together!

Ahh! Driving in Atlanta in this HUGE (haha) SUV!

I would say I had two three four highlights of the actual retreat. It was totally great, but these things realllly were the icing on the cake!

Yes we were only gone for the weekend...

Speaking of cake, lets talk about food! These ladies knew what women want. FOOD! They had great meals, but even better snacks! We had all the sodas and candy we could want for free all weekend. They even had one of those candy shelves that they have at candy stores filled with some healthy and some not so healthy treats! Every night they provided multiple types of cakes and desserts. At one point during the weekend, they even had free ice cream bars! Yes. The food alone would have been worth the trip!!

Although...it gets better!!  Not only was there great good but they had some awesome ministries represented. I was a little excessive the first night there and bought something from just about every booth. (Well maybe not, but I did buy a lot!). It was just as cool as I had imagined seeing and meeting some of the women behind these ministries!

 I was pretty pumped I met and talked to Kelly Putty from Ordinary Hero.

Here is a run down of the ministries we got to support!

Light Gives Heat 60 Feet Sole Hope 147 Million Orphans 

WIPHAN Ordinary Hero Visiting Orphans Mwana

My African goodies :)

Our new t-shirts!

On a more serious note the next highlight was the experience of worshipping with over 400 women who have a heart for adoption. Sometimes I would catch myself just staring around the room thinking these women all know what I am going through. All these women get it! Most of the worship songs were cleverly geared towards trusting God and his timing. It was so much more powerful to sing those songs with these women that clearly have had to trust in His great timing and release their plans to God.

Adoption Friends!!

The last highlight was the most personal one to me. If you have read anything about this retreat you have probably heard of the Date with God session. I was very apprehensive about this because I thought it was corny. However, we got into the room and the leader explained that we shouldn't talk to anyone else. It would be like being on a much anticipated date with  your hubz and  your chatty friend comes up and talks the whole meal. Something about that picture whipped my mind into the mindset that this was in fact a "date" with God. So for the first time (maybe ever) I just sat and released myself to God. I just really felt like God wanted me to talk about myself. He wanted to hear everything I was holding in, He wanted ME to talk, He wanted all the attention on ME.  I know that sounds weird and kind of not really the way God works, but it was something I needed. It was really cool and I am glad I went and had that experience on a Date with God.

 Overall. Great retreat!

147 Million....

147 MILLION. That is A LOT of orphans in the world. Let's make a difference!
Ryan and I are doing our first fundraiser and we are partnering with the organization 147 Million Orphans. They sell clothes, jewelry, and merchandise and we get a portion to go towards our adoption! Yahh win-win!

Here is how it works:
1. You pick out whatever you want to buy.
2.Place your order through me.
3. Email me with the style, size, and quantity of what you want to buy. arin19@aol.com
4. I have to place the order to get the credit, so you'll have to pay me for your purchase.
5. When I get an order of $100 I will send in the order. (I have $40 so far...)

You can check out all the fundraising merchandise here. They have lots of cool stuff that doesn't go towards the adoption but does go to other great charities! *If you order it online, that is awesome for the charaties, but we will not get an credit for your purchase. I have to do the order.

Here are some items that would go towards our adoption:

$19.95

"We are proud to donate to Amazima Ministries and the wonderful women of the Karamojong tribe.  The Karamojong women create these beautiful necklaces by hand and from re-cycled paper … Our goal is to help these women maintain sustainable income for their families … We will be purchasing these necklaces from them and also sending 50%+ of the profits back to a feeding program run by Katie Davis.  It is a beautiful full circle story of the body of Christ."

$19.95

"This super soft shirt delivers a clear message, and it is a great shirt for the summer and fall."

$34.95

 

                                                                        $34.95

This shirt says it all. Our signature baseball tee with kelly green sleeves is back! And this time has the purpose of helping fundraising families bring their children home. The bold scripture on the front, James 1:27, and the message on the back, "Helping One Home" easily explains our mission. By purchasing this shirt through our website, we will donate 50% of the profits to adoption grants.

$34.95

"'WILL BE YOUR "GO TO" BUTTERY SOFT TEE ... Vintage baseball burn-out / 50% ringspun cotton, 50% polyester; extensively weathered, sheer fabric for vintage look; one-of-a-kind pilling and striation; regular fit; side seamed; 3/4 raglan sleeves; fabric-dyed, enzyme/silicone finish; merrowed bottom hem; 1x1 burnout rib collar'"