Things that Move Me #1

Things That Move Me #1 
The Starving Child

Katie Davis....or Auntie Katie.  Have you heard of her?  I know some of you have.  But if you haven't, here is someone who is giving the hope of Jesus to some of the most poor, destitute and rejected children and adults in the world.

Katie is young - like 20 or 21 years old.  After graduating from high school, she felt God calling her to move to Uganda.  Leaving behind family and friends she traveled across the world in obedience.  She has been literally the hands and feet of Jesus to thousands.  Katie has adopted 14 daughters and runs an educational program for 400 children.  She also has a feeding program that feeds 1500 children.  I happened across Katie's blog last year.  Click here to visit.  Her organization that she started is called Amazima (which means 'truth') I have her badge/button on my sidebar.  Read some of Katie's stories here to get a taste of what I am talking about. 

I guess I was always aware of the poor and hungry in a vague sort of way.  This was the first time my eyes and heart were fully opened to the poor and hungry and it moved me.   

Homestudy Interview

We jumped through the first hoop today!!!

We had our homestudy interview today and it went very well.  Our social worker and her intern were very kind and easy to talk with.  Because we have 5 kids and we are adopting a child with special needs, there were extra items to discuss.  It lasted 5+ hours!!  At the end, she said that we are approved!!!  We are very thankful to God!  We appreciate your prayers. 

The First Hoop

Our home study interview is, Lord willing, this coming Monday.  This is part of the first big hoop that we need to jump through to adopt our little guy.  By the way, there are lots of hoops!

First we had a preliminary interview with an agency (to make sure we were a good fit).  Second, after deciding to continue with this agency we were given a large packet of information to fill out.  Third, we spent a couple of weeks filling out the paperwork.  They want to know about your family history, jobs, financial situation, relationships, strengths, weaknesses, kids, why you want to adopt..........everything:).

 

Basically, they are trying to prove or disprove that you are a decent family able to take in a child.  Writing all the papers felt like high school or college again.  We even had to write a short autobiography of ourselves:)  It'll make millions I'm sure...haha.  

So last week we turned in our paperwork and the social workers have read it.  Now it is time for the interview.  This is like a 4 hour interview - again going over your life with a fine tooth comb. 

We would love it if you would pray for us.  We are not necessarily nervous (at least not yet!), but just want the Lord's will to be done.  It would be wonderful to be able to complete this hoop quickly so we can get to our little guy as soon as possible. 

What would you do?

Please watch this video. 

Our Little Guy

Our Little Guy

His Name

We haven't given him an American name yet so for now I will call him "our little guy".  It's not going well, I mean the naming thing.......I think Todd and the kids have already decided on a name and my ideas are totally getting trounced.  Todd and I get along so well.  We truly enjoy each other's company and are best of friends.  We agree on so many things.  But if there is one thing in our marriage that we disagree on it's baby names.  Todd is very 'rule' oriented, for example a name should be easily spelled or it needs to be traditional.  I love a little bit of originality.  With our 5 biological kids, I have won some and lost some name battles.  After supper the other night, I shared my favorite name with the kids and everyone ended up cracking up like I was joking!  So it is not looking good.  I will keep you updated.

Some Facts

So here are some facts about our little guy:  He has lived in the same baby orphanage since birth.  He has a congential heart defect and needs glasses.  We found out recently that he is supposed to have heart surgery soon....over there in Eastern Europe.  My mother's heart is sad that he has to have surgery over there and will not have a mother or father to stay at his side and love on him.  I am praying for him that the nurses and doctors can be gentle and loving.  He is 4 1/2 and at 5 yrs is supposed to be transferred to older child orphanage or institution.  They are holding him at the baby orphanage for us.  We are really trying to work as fast as we can because we know they cannot hold him forever.  I think what I would want you to know is that these older child facilities are pretty horrible places.  I will have to post on them sometime.

So how did we find out about 'our little guy'?

We found our little guy through Reece's Rainbow: http://www.reecesrainbow.org/.  It is an International Down Syndrome Orphan Ministry.  You can find us under family sponsorships.  Hopefully, our little 'write up' will be posted there soon.  By the way they call our little guy 'Allen' but that isn't his real name.  Here's the link: http://www.reecesrainbow.org/familysponsorshipnew.html

Here is Reece's Rainbows New Ministry Video

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Without further ado.......

We would like to announce with great excitement that we are in the process of adopting a precious little boy with Down syndrome. He is from Eastern Europe.  We are working on our home study right now and are trying to plow through the paperwork as fast as possible.  This is new territory for us and I hope to share with you our adventure......

So without further ado.....here is the beautiful boy.........