She is Worth It

Quite honestly, the only thing that I hate about adoption is fundraising. I absolutely hate begging people for money. I hate it with a passion. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. And, sometimes, when I should be asking for help, I sit here quietly instead, worrying about what other people are going to think when I am constantly asking for money. And then, I received a letter from our daughter in China, and I realized that this isn't about me...it's about her. I knew right then that I needed to push my pride aside, and do what I needed to do to bring her home, even if that includes begging for money.  

       

Dear loving Baba and Mama, Hello!

Because I cannot write, my ayi at the orphanage is helping me to write this letter. I received the photo album and gift that you sent to me. I was very joyous. The red skirt is beautiful. I like it very much because my favorite color is red. I also like the necklace. Thank you baba and mama. I love you. 

I like to eat strawberries. Strawberries are also red. The sweet and sour taste is very good. I like to taste sweet and sour foods. I also like to eat lollipops. I liked eating the cookies that you sent. They tasted good.

I like the keyboard and piano, and I can play some simple songs. When I arrive in America I would like to play you a song, I hope you like it. I like singing, and I can sing lots of songs. I also like painting, building (with bricks/toys) and playing games with my friends. 

Baba and Mama, Didi (younger brothers), Meimei (younger sister), loving parents, grandparents, great grand parents, aunts and uncles, I miss you very much. I hope you can come to China soon to pick me up. I wish to have life with you. I look forward to being with you. I love you.

Love your "Her Name"

This is a plea from our daughter to please get to her...to please bring her home quickly so that she can have a life with us. She is now 13 years old, and what that means for her is that on the day she turns 14, she will age out of the orphanage system. She will no longer have a home. She will no longer have a chance to have a family. All hope of belonging will be lost for her forever. 

You see, this isn't about us needing more children. This isn't about us wanting to grow our family. This is about us answering a call. We, quite honestly, felt content with our children. We have five beautiful children, with four of them at home with us. Our days are filled with work, play, school, therapy, doctor's appointments, and a whole lot of laughter. There's always plenty to do, and we were content in just living our lives. BUT God....He started placing on our hearts the children who were still out there who desperately needed to know the love of a family. They needed to know the love of their Heavenly Father. They needed to know their worth. They needed to know how special they are. And the only way for them to know is for His people to be His hands and His feet. He places the lonely in families. And so, our hearts were broken once again. We knew that we needed to listen to His calling and open up our hearts again. And, that is when He filled our hearts with such an incredible love for Elliette. He gave us the desire to bring her into our family and make her our daughter forever, no matter the cost. 

But, to our human hearts, the cost is overwhelming. It feels like a mountain at times, standing between us and our daughter. We know that God called us to her. And we know that everything is possible with Him, but in our human minds, there are times when it seems impossible. Yes, we would love to have time to just save up for an adoption, but she doesn't have that time. The 147 million orphans around the world tonight don't have that kind of time. The children who are dying every day simply because they are orphans, and are denied adequate food and medical care, don't have that kind of time. So, then, what is the solution? I know that not everyone is called to adopt, but we can all do something. The solution is for us to all work together....those of us who can and who are being called to adopt, to open up our hearts to His children....and for those of us who aren't being called to adopt, to do what we can to help another family open up their hearts to one of His children.

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. James 1:27

So, where does that leave us? We are in desperate need of funds to answer God's call on our lives of bringing His daughter into our family. We will not get anything financially out of this. We do not qualify for Medicaid or SSI for any of our children. We do not qualify for any type of assistance, whatsoever. We have already incurred huge medical bills for one of our two boys that we brought home from Ukraine in October. He had open heart surgery in March, and he will need more in the future. We have paid countless co pays in the last year for our children, and we are willingly taking on the same with our daughter who has Cerebral Palsy. The adoption tax credit doesn't make any difference in our tax return. We have nothing to gain financially through adoption, but we have everything to gain by following God's call on our lives, and our daughter has everything to gain by finally having a place to belong. 

So far, we have personally written checks for several thousand dollars, but that is all that we personally have left. There are so many things that we could have spent that money on, but there is nothing of greater value than a child's life. I know that compared to the amount of funds that we need to bring our daughter home, several thousand dollars doesn't seem like much, but to us that is a huge amount of money.

So, now, I will push my pride aside, and shamelessly beg for money....not for me, but for our daughter who has waited so long for her chance for a family. If you can, would you please consider donating using the top right donate button on our blog? We need your help. We can't do it alone, but if we all work together, I know that we can make our daughter's dream of a family a reality. Every dollar is important!

I leave you with a video message to us from our daughter on her birthday...

Elliette's Birthday Message

It is a little hard to hear her, but this is what she said...

Daddy and Mommy, I love you!!

I love the gifts you mailed to me!

I hope you can pick me up as soon as possible!!

We love you with all of our hearts, too, and we are working as hard as we can to get to you as soon as possible, our sweet girl. At times, the journey to you may seem overwhelming, but we know that you are WORTH IT! You have always been worth it!