Simple Faith

We use the word orphan all the time in our house all the time.  The other day Addilece asked what an orphan was.  I told her that an orphan is someone who doesn't have a mommy or a daddy.

My little girl pondered this for a few seconds and looked up at me and declared, "We have to take care of them mommy.  They need a mommy and daddy."

Faith.  It's so simple for a child.  They don't see dollar signs, birth order issues, room issues, or any of the other "inconveniences" that throw us adults into a tizzy when we think about the orphan crisis.  A child sees a need and declares we must fill it.

Jesus had a heart for the child.  He understood that a child's simple faith is what was need to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. 

 I pray that we as adults step back and have the simple faith of child.  The simple faith that says, "A child doesn't have a mommy and daddy. We are a mommy and daddy.  We can be a mommy and daddy to that child."  And let God do the rest.

Adoption Conference

The Connecting Hearts with the Forgotten Conference is just over a week away.  This is its sixth year and it has gotten better every year.  A conference run this well is not typically free.  However, the board feels it is important to offer this information to families and individuals  at no cost. 

There is still time to register.  If you live in Central Illinois you will not want to miss it.  We will have Pastor Daniel Bennett (Pastor and author of A Passion for the Fatherless), Desi Stephens (former orphan, she also spent some time working at Dori's Promise-an orphanage in Guatemala), and one of my personal heroes in the adoption world Carolyn Tweitmeyer (adoptive mother and founder of Project Hopeful). 

This conference is NOT just for those wanting to foster and adopt.  It is for anyone that is any age who has a desire to see why God calls the church to care for Orphans.  Come and be changed. 

Check it out:  http://www.connectingheartsconference.org/

Also their is a Connecting Hearts with the Forgotten Youth this year.  If you are a teen and want to learn about your part in the orphan conference, this is for you!

Type of Placement

In this post I answered what type of placement we were looking for in the sense of short term, long term, adoption, etc.  I want to answer another frequently asked questions about our placement choice:

How old do you want the child to be?  What sex?

Determining the answer to this question has been one of the hardest things we have had to do in this whole processes.  It has required us to look at our home, our own child, our lifestyles, everything...in a whole new way.  

The simplest answer is: Zero to Ten and we will accept sibling sets.

Age:

We chose 0 to 10 because while we would love to have a younger child, however, we know that many people want that age.  We feel that ten is a good max based on our age and Addilece's age.  Above ten is a deal breaker for us (for now).  We have no grandiose dreams that we will receive an infant or even a single child under 5 for that matter.

Many have thought we would only accept younger then Addilece.  However, Addilece is young enough that we feel its fine to bump her as first born.  I've said since she was little that she wasn't meant to be a first born, nor a last born.  She loves following kids older then her around but would also make a great big sis.  Also, accepting two or younger pretty much guarantees that we will NEVER get a placement.  (That is exageratting, but it would be very very hard.)

 Siblings:

Tony and I have a heart and passion for sib sets.  I hate to think of these kids being split because people don't want two (or three or four).  Will jumping our family from one to three (or four) be hard?  Yes, but we see it take place in the adoption world all the time.  It's possible. 

Tony believes we are going to take a sib set of three with two boys and a girl.  That is what God has layed on his heart.  We will see how God works things out. 


There are numerous other factors that we also have to consider.  I won't go over these at this point because at this time we've said, "no we can't accept that" doesn't mean we won't accept that child in the end.  Those issues may also come out after the child is in our home.  There are also things we can't accept due to our home.  A child in a wheel chair is an example of this.  We have too many stairs and no bedrooms on the lower level. 

Picture Perfect: Wagon Ride

On Tony's side of the family their are four girls between 2 1/2 and 4 1/2.  It means a LOT of personality, a LOT of fighting, but also a LOT of fun!!!  And yes, they did all ride around in the wagon together.

And just for fun....all seven of the grandkids together!

Picture Percect: Beautiful January

The last day in Jaunary was absolutely gorgous.  And I had just gotten a new camera (a birthday gift from my hubby).  The park is where we headed to enjoy the day.