2.2 seconds...

Somewhere in the world a child loses a parent every 2.2 Seconds. There are over 143 million orphaned children living in the world today and as many as 100 million more children abandoned on the streets world wide... 

Tysen whom is already in our home, is many times almost brought to tears when he sees children his own age and younger in magazines, commercials, photos, etc; that are hungry or homeless or without a family to call their own.  It is in moments like these that though the road ahead to Paxton may seem long, I press on.

 "Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their distress." 

don't cry over spilled water...

It is Sunday morning.  Our friend Ezra just left to go be with his wife who is already at the hospital admitting their little girl Amiah.  He dropped off Zu Zu again.  We love Zu Zu. 

I am in my room, working on some things and I hear an "appeal" that their is spilled water.  I went out to the kitchen to see that our water pitcher had been dumped out all over the floor and the rug.  So I cleaned it up.  It is in those moments you can cry or get excited about the fact that in the future, I will have 2 children to clean up after instead of one.  That makes me so happy!

I think as a parent if I am not careful, I can spend my child's entire life trying to worry about and shape what they will become in the future (a doctor, lawyer, teacher, athlete, etc); and we can completely miss out on who they are now!

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."  ~Stacia Tauscher

brother or superhero...

Our closest friends are going through a very difficult time right now.  Last night their middle aged daughter Zu Zu, stayed the night at our house.  She and Tysen crashed by 7:58 pm...but @ 6:30 this morning I heard Zu Zu say, "Ask your mommy if we can watch a movie?"  So much for sleep.  We got up and made the 2 little squirts pancakes and eggs.  We had to take Zu Zu home a few hours ago and Tysen was so heart broken.  We asked what was wrong and he said, "I miss playing brother & sister."  Back to being the only little one in the house.  It is time for big brother to have a little sibling to watch over. 

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero."  ~Marc Brown

the blessing of friends...

There is an old African proverb that says, "Go FAST, go alone;  Go FAR, go together..."  The older I get the truer this becomes.  The daily steps of pursuing Paxton continues.  Bank statements, questions, and finger print waivers sit on my desk.  We have to open up our souls and our lives daily, and it can be stressful @ times feeling like you have to answer every question perfectly or you will be rejected by the adoption agency.  But then I see the hands of so many friends getting "dirty" right along side us.  One friend passionalty looking for creative ways to help us raise funds; 5 sets of couples, taking hours of their life to fill out reference forms on our behalf; and still others, giving from their lives financially (I just recieved another $25 check yesterday).

I am excited for all of us on this journey together.  Thank you so very much for your daily encouragements.  We are passionate about going far together with you in this proces...

Steven Curtis Chapman - When Love Takes You In

update: deadlines & urgency...

Historically, Korea has a wonderful history of helping young "orphaned" children find a home. The first official adoption took place in 1953 (during hardships @ the end of the Korean War), and since then, over 150,000 adoptions have taken place.  However, according to our agent and public records, South Korea is aiming to close their adoption system to internationals in early 2012.  Only those adoptions that are already in process will be allowed to take place!  In addition, our agency is taking limited applicants.  Currently, we are one of those applicants.  However, that is only official as long as we have the money to complete this adoption!

So there is an urgent mandate upon us to get our funding raised and complete our adoption.  We believe God has asked us to partner with Him in this process and we will do everything humanly possible to do our part.  We now have a deadline set, to acquire 100% of the funding needed for this adoption.  Sunday, April 30, 2011 - is our target date.  Please pray with us in our process to see God's desire of adopting Paxton fulfilled.

the ellen show...

So the journey continues.  As I stated in my last post, a friend gave the first dollar towards the $30,000 needed to adopt Paxton.  Another friend gave us a $5 bill the other day and I received a facebook post that another $10 is on the way from the north.  It could be viewed as $16 total, or it could be seen as the foundation.  As one ancient proverb states: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."  So with that, the journey of 30,000 miles has taken its first steps....

God is sending creative ideas our way on how he may want to provide the funding.  We have a friend on the West coast who is using their talents and gifting to come with a creative way for people to give toward the adoption (more to come on that in the near future, and how you may be apart of it).  Another avenue of appeal we have taken is in a "desperate needs contest."  There is a TV program called "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (think Oprah, but funny).  She has a regular contest going on every week where you can write her stating your story and your financial need.  If she sees fit she may give toward some or all of your need.  So last week, we submitted the 1500 word essay required along with a family photo, and now the fate of that is in the hands of the producers.  Obviously, there are millions of people submitting things, but you never now in what ways God will choose to provide.  All we know is that God WILL provide, but he does expect us to do all we can to partner with him in the process.  Please continue to pray with us not just for creativity, but for the supernatural provision of God even above and beyond our efforts.

one dollar...

Quitting is not an option.  We will continue to walk out this adoption as it is close and passionate to your heart.  We will adopt this baby or die trying!  The Bible tells us in the book of James, "Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans..."  I love this idea that it says MUST.  Not it would be good if you have time OR here is a multiple choice selection, choose one of the following.  No, it says we must care for orphans; and in doing so, it is seen by God as a pure and lasting act of following Jesus...

Just the other day, my friend gave us the first dollar towards the adoption of Paxton.  She had given us a dollar to begin the adoption of Tysen as well.  The same amount given in the same office; standing under the same door.  The fruit of that dollar was Tysen.  And again we are trusting, that the fruit of this $1 will be our baby Paxton.

three days in...

So, here we are, three days into the adoption process for Paxton [for those who will be tracking we do not know if our baby will be a boy or girl...however, we have decided that Paxton will be their name either way].  I received an email today from our agent discussing various topics such as finger printing issues, etc.  At the end she notes, "by the way, Korea has changed their policy.  They want to know you can afford the adoption, so they want to see most, if not all of the money up front and in your bank account."  Since we adopted Tysen, South Korea has upped the total cost of adoption to $30,000.  So she is saying that basically in the next three months (tops) we need to have ALL this money!  During Tysen's adoption we were allowed to produce this money over and 18 month period through fund raisers, gifts, appeals, tax returns, etc.  Now, the playing field is different.  The strategy will be different.  The timing will be different.  Do we keep going OR do we quit?

the journey...

Five years ago, my husband and I adopted a little boy from South Korea.  Tysen has changed our life forever!  For those of you who followed us on that 18 month journey, you know that it was quite an adventure.  Ups and downs....tears and laughter; but never a dull moment. 

Two weeks ago, we received our acceptance package to start the adoption process for our second baby!  This time around we want to keep all of you in the details of all that is transpiring.  We will try to be real and open and honest about our highs and our lows.  Our joy our anger.  Let the journey begin...