Fund Raising

I'm really excited to anounce our first fund-raiser for our adoption. We're making doll beds for Madame Alexander, American Girl, Journey Girls, Gotz, and other 18" dolls. These are awesome farmhouse style beds that any girl will love in her room. It's not painted yet, because I will be doing custom orders. This one is for Miss Ella's birthday, and it will be a pretty, traditional white.

I've opened up an Etsy shop to sell these, although if you're a local friend, we'd obviously love to skip the shipping completely, as these babies are expensive to ship!

If you want to check it out, our Etsy store is http://www.etsy.com/shop/2ndchance4love where we will also be selling trendy bedding and outfits for 18" dolls. We're really hoping to bring in funding for our adoption, as we have several big checks due to our adoption agency coming up pretty quickly. I can't wait to get started on this project, and we look forward to hearing from you!

How I was conned into adopting

Hey everyone. This is Ryan with my first post. Actually, my first blog, so I can cross that off my bucket list of stuff that I didn't care one way or another if I ever did.

A few notes about my feelings in regards to our adoption:
-Scared
-Excited
-Sad for the fact that the are kids anywhere in the world that don't have parents who are there to love them and raise them, whether it be in orphanages in the Congo, or in bad homes here in Idaho
-Scared
-Enjoying learning about the Congo
-Did I mention that scared thing?

I had never really thought about becoming an adoptive parent until I met Jess. I understood the concept, but just never really felt that interested in it. Orphanages were merely settings for characters in novels and movies.

One of the things that opened my eyes was on my mission trip to Tonga in the summer of 2002. While there, my mission team visited a small school for disabled children. Most of them had both physical and mental illnesses that required more care than they were able to recieve from their birth parents. Much like all countries, Tonga wasn't entirely sure what to do with these outcasts and opted to move them to this school. The kids there were amazing and my world view began to change.

Throughout our marriage, Jess has enjoyed browsing websites that talk about adoption, show the kids that are up for adoption, anything at all to do with adoption. She would often show me pictures of orphans and talk about how hard it was that she couldn't just bring them all home and keep them safe. This desire to save the lost often meant that we would take in stray animals until we could either find their owners or find them a new home. The need to provide for these lost ones even if only for a little while helped pave the way in my heart for adoption.

Eventually we had our own children, who I couldn't love more, but the needs of the orphans still exists. The love I have for Robby and Ella overflows and I want to share it with these children. We aren't trying to "save" these children from the Congo, or anywhere else. Instead, we want to give them the love that they haven't been able to recieve whether because of war or disease or ambivalence.

The needs of orphans are not as simple as biological children that you hold and love from day one, but they stem from that human need to be connected and loved. We hope that this adoption will give that connection to two children that didn't have it before.

It may sometimes seem like I am being dragged into this adoption thing by my zealous wife, but the truth is that I want this as much as she does. Jess is the heart of this family, but the four of us all want to share the love we have with others who were not so fortunate.

Ryan

Down the Rabbit Hole

To our dearest friends and family, we'd like to make the (official) announcement that we are adopting! For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to adopt a child. It has been my passion, my calling, and I'm so grateful that I have a husband that feels the same way, albeit to a lesser degree. We are excited to be starting the process to bring our kids home from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) aka the Congo. A question we've heard several times recently is "Why the Congo?" And there are a few people who've laughed at me recently because of how many times our adoption country has changed over the years. And the answer to both of those things is very simple: I feel called to the greatest need as I see it.

The Congo has been decimated by war and poverty for years. Without going on a tangent, there is little stability left for the Congo people. Rape and genocide are still rampant in the DRC, and there isn't much being done to bring relief to the people. In a country that has the richest resources in the ENTIRE WORLD, it's people suffer the some of the most severe poverty of any nation. While it doesn't make the headlines in the US, rape is so commonplace as to be expected for the tiny girls through the elderly granmothers of the Congo. On January 1st of THIS YEAR, over a 150 women were raped by two armies, and the world simply refused to pay attention.

While an orphanage is NEVER a healthy place for a child to grow up, the children in them are considered the lucky ones in the Congo. Lucky to be fed once a day. Lucky to have a roof over their heads. Lucky to have the chance to be adopted by even the poorest Americans, who are rich by Congo standards. And that, to me, is beyond tragic.

So, with your prayers God's grace, our hopeful plan is to bring home two kids by the end of the year. The research I've done suggests that a family does best if they stick as close to birth order as possible. That means that our tentative requests are two children 3 or under. We'd love to bring home a brother and sister duo, but we'll be open to the kids God sends us.

Adoption is yes, absolutely expensive. I know that a lot of people don't understand where those costs come from, but the professionals working with us will make relatively little for the immense amount of help they will give. Both our Home Study agency (A New Beginning in Boise) and United States Citizenship and Immigration services (USCIS) will be working to make sure that we are fit to adopt. We will also be working with an agency that will assist us in being placed with a child, preparing our dossier (in country profile), working with DRC agencies and attornies and officals, and ensuring that our kids are cared for while still in the Congo. And, of course, travel fees to bring our kids home. While the cost is very high, there is no one profiting in any significant way from the unfortunate state of the children in the DRC.

We'd love to see your support as we go through this process. We understand that the economy is hurting a lot of families, and any small amount would be greatly appreciated for the sacrifice that it is. Thank you for your prayers and support. We couldn't do this without the love of the wonderful people in our life.