Saturday, September 1, 2012
Announcement!
Some of you may already know this and some of you will be totally shocked: we've decided to adopt. Actually, we've always wanted to adopt, but God has really brought it front and center within the last year. I've contemplated this post and written it in my head a million times. This is nowhere near what I thought it would say. I wanted to be really pumped up and excited or sometimes I wanted to be totally defensive and rebuke the naysayers from the get go. Tonight, I just don't have the energy to do either one. So I'll keep it simple and stick to the facts. Here they are:
We want to adopt a young boy or girl from Ethiopia. (Aisley just chipped in and insists that I say she wants a baby sister and her name should be Broom)
We are completely and totally open to a waiting child. Also called a "special needs" child. I'll fill you in on that later. It's probably not what you think.
The adoption process usually takes several years.
You have to be financially secure to adopt and we are not. Yep, that's the truth. BUT we are working like crazy to pay off bad debt and will fundraise to help cover the cost of the adoption.
Ethiopian adoption costs $30,000-36,000.
So why are we doing this? Well, that is probably the simplest part of all of this. When I get overwhelmed and discouraged I remember that God put adoption on our hearts. And before He did that, He commanded that we (as in, all of His people) care for orphans:
Deuteronomy 24 (NIV)
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
Matthew 25
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Isaiah 1 (NIV)
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow
And of course:
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
There are others as well, but that was a long enough Bible lesson for today, huh?
By the way, Aisley is memorizing James 1:27. This is her version: Religion that God likes is to care for the "orphanizers" and "wittles" and don't act like the world. Close enough for now! :)
So there you have it. We're excited about adopting, but know it will be a long, hard journey. I hope to be able to apply by Christmas, but Carey isn't so sure that's a realistic goal. I've never been known for being realistic, so I'm going to stick with my optimistic goal. I'll keep you updated on our progress. I'm working on a donations website for those of you who want to help orphans without adopting. Donations are great, but prayers are even better. We'll need lots in the years to come!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Starting Fresh
Can we just start fresh? Pretend that I didn't disappear for a year? Thanks, that would be great. Now, where to begin....
It's our 1st research year of residency. Can you believe we finally made it? Me neither! And trust me, it has been everything we thought it would be. Carey didn't go to work until 11 this morning. 11:00!!! It's crazy to think that the alarm used to go off at 4:30. Yuck. Of course, not every day is this lazy. He's moonlighting tonight at Children's Hospital and won't be home until sometime tomorrow. So he'll have time to work on things for the lab if he needs to. Moonlighting is a term you've heard me say before. It's like a shift that he picked up for extra $$$. Yep, that's right. We can supplement our income now. Did I ever mention our crazy debt from his 4th year of medical school when he flew around the U.S. and interviewed at 14 different programs? 14 flights, 14 hotels, 40+ meals out...you get the picture. Did I ever mention the cost of moving across the country? I hope not. Back to the supplementing income part, I bet you can guess where it all goes. :)
Let's see, research is fewer hours, a chance to pay off some debt, and our opportunity to grow as a family. We're actually eating meals together again.
But don't let me fool you, research isn't a walk in the park. Carey is a highly motivated and competitive person. He takes his role in the lab very seriously and has every intention of getting published in as many journals and papers as possible over the next 2 years. It seems like he has the weight of hundreds of sick kids on his shoulders and is determinded to find a solution for their intestinal problems. He's currently growing intestinal stem cells in mice and something, something, something. Gosh, I really thought I was going to actually able to explain what he's doing. I guess I'm going to have to listen a little better. :)
Other than that, he's trying not to stress over the amount of hair that he lost during the last 2 years of residency and IS trying to correct the poor health gained over the last few years.
I think I'll have to ease in to this, if y'all don't mind. I'll try to be back tomorrow to update on Aisley and Hayes. No really, I will! :)
It's our 1st research year of residency. Can you believe we finally made it? Me neither! And trust me, it has been everything we thought it would be. Carey didn't go to work until 11 this morning. 11:00!!! It's crazy to think that the alarm used to go off at 4:30. Yuck. Of course, not every day is this lazy. He's moonlighting tonight at Children's Hospital and won't be home until sometime tomorrow. So he'll have time to work on things for the lab if he needs to. Moonlighting is a term you've heard me say before. It's like a shift that he picked up for extra $$$. Yep, that's right. We can supplement our income now. Did I ever mention our crazy debt from his 4th year of medical school when he flew around the U.S. and interviewed at 14 different programs? 14 flights, 14 hotels, 40+ meals out...you get the picture. Did I ever mention the cost of moving across the country? I hope not. Back to the supplementing income part, I bet you can guess where it all goes. :)
Let's see, research is fewer hours, a chance to pay off some debt, and our opportunity to grow as a family. We're actually eating meals together again.
But don't let me fool you, research isn't a walk in the park. Carey is a highly motivated and competitive person. He takes his role in the lab very seriously and has every intention of getting published in as many journals and papers as possible over the next 2 years. It seems like he has the weight of hundreds of sick kids on his shoulders and is determinded to find a solution for their intestinal problems. He's currently growing intestinal stem cells in mice and something, something, something. Gosh, I really thought I was going to actually able to explain what he's doing. I guess I'm going to have to listen a little better. :)
Other than that, he's trying not to stress over the amount of hair that he lost during the last 2 years of residency and IS trying to correct the poor health gained over the last few years.
I think I'll have to ease in to this, if y'all don't mind. I'll try to be back tomorrow to update on Aisley and Hayes. No really, I will! :)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Bring Love In Lemonade Stand
If you're here, it must be because you want to donate to a fabulous organization! (They actually prefere "community" instead of organization but I can't seem to make that jump.)Bring Love In is a "community" that pairs widows and orphans in Ethiopia (p.s.-there are about 5 MILLION orphans in Ethiopia)creating a Forever Family and allowing the kiddos to stay in their home country. They prepare widows from a local church to mother 6-8 orphaned children, provide a safe, clean home, food, medical needs, and ensure that the kids go to school. Pretty brilliant, huh?
Tomorrow I'm babysitting several kids from out life group and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for a service project. We're hoping to raise the $300 needed to fill a sponsor spot and support a Forever Family for an entire year. Who knows, maybe it'll be super hot tomorrow and lemonade will be in such demand that we can sponsor TWO families! :)So if you're local, please stop by. If you're not local, click the paypal link below to donate to our jar. You would be building families in Africa and creating a giving spirit our kids. We only need 12 people to donate $25 each to sponsor a family. Thanks in advance, friends!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
YES!!! I can finally update from my phone! Hopefully this will help keep me with you more often. I just spent the last 2 hours emailing individual pictures from my phone to the blog only to find that half of them didn't go through. I'll work on that tomorrow. I still haven't found my camera cord so you're stuck with iPhone snapshots for now. :)
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