Author Archives: admin The ministry that our family is a part of {www.wiphan.org} ministers to 450 orphans and 100+ widows in Ndola, Zambia. These orphans will not be adopted–or at least not how we think of adoption. The closest thing they will ever know to having a family might even be their sponsored family back on this side […]  It’s a rare day when Rico and I get out…but we had a night out last night with Rico Suave’s side of the family as we celebrated cousin Emily’s SURPRISE 30th birthday (Kevin–you totally rocked it out of the park!). It was such fun hanging out with this crew (Can you find us in the […] You are crazy fun!!! Love it! Aww that sounds like a blast! You all will be sleeping away next week after all of that excitement! 😉 Our family will be praying your adoption papers go smoothly! How is Tetiana (sorry if I misspelled that :/)? I don’t do facebook so I haven’t heard from you about her! We pray for her to so glad she made it home!  First…our 2012 Halloween must be documented. Here’s the crew in their costumes (imagining what we’ll look like next year with baby Z with us–I can hardly stand it!)… As you can see–daddy was just daddy. Mommy, however, well…I was a boy-scout courtesy of Parker’s uniform… THEN…after lots of fun trick-or-treating…our Frankie baby turned 4 TODAY! […] As soon as I master (copy) one of your adorable craft ideas, you come up with another one! 🙂 My heart longs to adopt and maybe that’s why I already feel a bit like a fish out of water… I don’t know (or care) what’s trendy. I do know that I love my family and I love God’s plan for us… wherever that takes us! Thanks for the Thankful Tree idea! I like that much better than using actual sticks for the tree! Have a wonderful weekend! I DO know what you are feeling! I won’t go into details because it probably wouldn’t be holy thoughts, but I can relate and I just try and focus on God having ME in this situation right now whereas they might be working on other areas. We finally received our written referral for our two little guys after verbally accepting them a week and a half earlier! So glad to be on this roller coaster with you. Blessings We lost a referral a few weeks ago for twin boys. Even though our hearts were absolutley broken, we know that God is in control. But, I do so often feel like a fish out of water, because I but don’t relate to people some days. Thankful for the three kiddos that we have right now, but really longing to know who we have been waiting for all this time! Thanks for sharing your heart. Made me feel more “normal” today! 🙂 Just a little China update!!! Called the agency on October 1st to inquire about our son. (Although we had to wait for approval from our LOI to officially be matched…we wasted NO TIME…and stepped out in faith to start our home study AGAIN!) Approval came…so while we were riding Splash Mountain–we were officially matched on […] Gotta love logging trees and getting cuts ;). YEA!!!! More steps are done…..and can’t wait to see God work through the rest! HE IS ABLE and …..I still totally stink at the waiting part. ugh. Yay!!! So excited for you all!!! We just brought our youngest home from China this summer… Praying for all those abbreviations to be swift – I think we were around 10months with a VERY slow HS. Lots of prayers for this newest little one 🙂 How awesome! I know how you feel to be done with all the paperwork, it’s crazy. We are adopting from China, just sent off I800a today and should be traveling in May! That is Awesome!!! Today was one of those days. Seriously. One of those. We all slept in…accidentally–kind of…when Rico Suave is out of town–it seems to happen more often:). I jumped up at 8am–jumped in the shower…and I remembered Rich telling me on the phone the night before that the pest control guy would be here between 8am […] Thank you, Andrea, for this post (and for all of your other ones, really!)!! It spoke to my heart and was exactly what this first year homeschooling momma needed to hear today! Sometimes the days can be overwhelming and the enemy does whisper “you have no business doing this, look what a failure you are,” but in God’s sweet words He reminds me that He has given me these two precious littles to love and to guide, and that He chose ME for this. No one else. That just makes me smile and know that even in the messiness of life, there is beauty and purpose. Glory be to God!! Praying blessings over you and your family. You are exactly right a FOLLOWER of Jesus! I needed to hear that today, well every day really! I’ll be praying for you my sister! The devil is always trying to get us down, but Jesus will always lift us up! P.S. sorry I did chuckle at the poopy incident…I’m sure I’ll have one of those stories one day! Totally encouraged by this today. We are in our first year of homeschooling with a 3rd grader, 1st grader and 3 year old. And added a newborn October 5th! The days (and nights)are long right now, but filled with many small moments of joy, family and sacrifice. It’s easy to doubt our decisions when it’s hard, but prayer and God’s word confirms that we are right where we are supposed to be, different, crazy and blessed! And God has put adoption on our hearts as well, praying for the strength to continue to trust and obey. Thank you for your honesty and encouragement! Andrea, Thank you, thank you for this post! I laughed ’til I cried remembering similar days in my 20+ years as a blessed-but-sometimes-harried stay-at-home mom. What precious and humbling memories! I’m so grateful, too, for your finish to your post. I think I’ll probably print your words and tape them to the wall that STILL doesn’t have a bulletin board on it. I want more than anything to be a follower. That desire to do WHATEVER the Lord puts before us has put my husband and me in an odd position during the past few months. We already have 12 children (nine of them older adoptees from Russia), and yet the Lord has another sibling group of four for us. We’re so close to finishing this adoption that we’re praying for a court date back in in Russia again before Thanksgiving. The craziness in this situation isn’t JUST that we’ll be the parents of 16, but that I’ve had major health problems this year. We’ve returned to the Lord again and again thinking we must have misheard. However, He just keeps whispering, “Go…trust Me.” So, your post truly encouraged me by reminding me that following Him often looks completely crazy…sometimes even to other Christians. But He is God. He is good. And never once has he ever left us (love that same song you cherish)! (BTW, we’re friends of Russ and Heather Nordstrom.) Thanks again for this post! God bless you richly, Andrea! Thank you for your transparency, Andrea. As a blog reader, I read alot of blogs written by mothers. I have to admit, that many times I feel that I just will never be the perfect Mom like “they” are… thank you for keeping it real and not just sharing the good times but the times when things arent going the way you would choose for them to. I SO needed to hear this as I myself have been struggling with alot of doubt and fear lately in how will I ever manage four children, when I just can’t seem to get it all together with the three I have now? As well as worrying what others may be thinking when they see what a busy and full life we have now with our three boys (Do they think we are being “foolish” to take on another?) Thank you for reminding me that as followers of Christ, what he calls us to do is usually not going to be easy but He will provide where we are lacking. I love you, sweet friend! |
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by admin
Thank you for this beautiful reminder. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Can I ask … why will these children not be adopted? (I ask because my hubby and I are still trying to land on a country so we can move forward with an adoption.) Again, thank you.
Beautiful post. Thanks, Andrea. We are actively involved in Lifesong’s work in Ethiopia. Here is the link to our website, where you can read more and sponsor a child: http://www.adamituluproject.com/
One of my sweet friends started a non-profit sponsorship program to benefit two orphanages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after realizing the need during their own adoption process. As you said, many of these children will never be adopted, but their basic needs of things like food, education, and medical care are things we can so sacrifice small things for and change their lives. If God is speaking to anyone about the DRC, this is a great organization to help orphans there. They still have many who need to he sponsored and due to the war in DRC, there are new orphans being brought to the orphanages every day. You can learn more about Mercy’s Mission at http://www.mercysmission.org.
precious reminder of our precious Savior’s heart for His children! Living 1:27 is a ministry to the children and families involved in GA’s foster care system. There are 7500 kids just in Georgia’s system! Great first steps for those with a heart are prayer team, group home visits (boys & girls), respite care (watching kids for foster families for a night or wkend). Visit http://www.living127.com for more information.
Great post–and I actually chuckled when you mentioned coming up for air now your child is 3, because mine is about to turn 2 and I’m nowhere near air! 🙂 I identify with that because I’m looking forward to being “me” again, without trying to rush through these years. We’ve been called to focus in our hometown and state. So while technically most of these kids are not “orphans” in our typical understanding of the word, they often are in other senses of the word and often spirtually just as in need. We are excited to be a part of a state-wide church vision toward making every single foster child placed in a Christ-centered home, along with support in those families’ personal churches, so that not a single one remains in a group home or the hallways and offices of social workers. It is the job of the church body to provide for the widows and orphans in their distress–not the state. Check out my state’s website at http://nochildwaiting.org/. Find out if the churches in your states are doing the same thing–I know my state isn’t the only one. Our numbers are epidemic: pushing 13,000 in foster care this month. There’s so many ways to meet God’s commands in this area–perhaps this is also someone else’s calling too, so I wanted to share. I believe in the importance of ALL the different methods–overseas, local, emergency, long-term, short-term, etc–because just as God created us all differently, He created different ways to serve Him and glorify Him. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your heart for Africa–it has been wonderfully challenging and spiritually humbling for me! Sorry to ramble so!
Amanda,
Just wanted to reply to your question! There are OVER 2 million orphans in Zambia alone (19% of children under 18 are orphans!)–yet last year only 16 (yes–just SIXTEEN) were adopted out of the country. Orphanages in Zambia do not currently work with adoption agencies–so these 16 families who have adopted from there went there on their own, adopted independently and endured the unknown–as Zambia says you can adopt from them but there is a 3 month foster period where they require parents to live in country with their child. Although both parents are not required to live there for a 3 month period–it can be hard for any family to do this…and the 3 month period isn’t a promise by the government to be in and out…it could be much longer (and on the other hand it could be shorter). With over 2 million orphans–there are also not orphanages in Zambia to house them–so the majority of these kids live on the street. Unless organizations like Wiphan, Lifesong and others like them come along to educate, love and provide shelter for them–they are really on their own. This is the story of many countries in Africa–most will never know a family…and the majority will never even be blessed enough to have space in an orphanage to protect them either…
Hey! Love this post and love your heart….it echoes a lot of what I’ve been feeling and thinking. It’s hard to know what to do when you are in the trenches of motherhood, raising little ones.
I just wanted to share that my husband and I stepped out in faith to start an orphan sponsorship program for street kids in Kinshasa, Congo. We have teamed up with missionaries there who provide for the children’s shelter, food, clothing, care, etc and we have made a way possible for people here in the states to provide for these children to help meet their basic needs. We offer options to sponsor them on a monthly basis or to sponsor them to help pay for their education on a yearly basis. If anyone is interested in more info you can check it out at http://mercysreach.blogspot.com/ The ministry is called Mercy’s Reach.
Thanks for letting me share. We are passionate about providing for these kids!
hey! thanks for sharing. i work with orphans in Kenya and it sounds like we have similar adoption rules as Zambia… so few children are internationally adopted here. The Americans I know who have tried have been involved in the process for 2-3 years and are still living in Kenya, waiting. I work for Project 82 Kenya and we just opened a baby rescue center and pray pray pray for God to raise up Kenyans to care for their country’s orphans in their homes. The church is strong here, but there are still full-to-the-brim children’s homes all over the place… approx. 3 million orphans. our ministry keeps older orphans as well, but we try our best to keep the homes small and as family-like as possible. still, finding caregivers to commit their lives to orphans is a hard task. changing moms every year is heart-breaking for the kids. i wish so much for these kids to have families… believing that God wants the same and will provide it! thanks for loving orphans 🙂
http://www.project82kenya.com