I try hard to answer all your questions and e-mails personally. But it’s impossible. There are just not enough hours in the day to do all the things I would love to do.
If you’ve written to me with a question and I have not responded, please forgive me for answering your questions here. I have picked a few of the things I get asked frequently, and this is the easiest way to answer them.
How is Haven doing?
Oh I get this question A LOT! I know that so many of you have journeyed with us since day one with Haven. You’ve read about our highs and lows. We are so blessed by the care and concern many of you have expressed for our daughter. We are so thankful.
Tomorrow is a big day for our sweet angel–so I promise to give a detailed update then.
What kind of church do we attend?
A bible preaching, non-compromising, Spirit-filled, people loving, contemporary worshiping church!
What missionary books do we read to our children?
We LOVE reading about heroes of the past to our children. This is by far the best series we have found. Easy to read and easy for young minds to understand. They are published by YWAM. It’s called the Cristian Heroes: Then and Now series. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a great read aloud for your family.
Do you think it is wrong to go into debt to adopt a child?
I so appreciate all the opinions you shared with me when I posted this. It seems that many agreed with me, and many disagreed. That’s okay. I value everyone’s opinion–whether we agree, or disagree. There are times when I have read someone’s comment and thought to myself, “Wow, they have a point here.”
Here is where I stand regarding adoption and paying the ridiculous ransom to bring a child home. The fees are crazy. Unfairly so. I know we all agree with that. The tragedy of it is that due to the financial requirements, thousands upon thousands of adoptable children wait for families. Few people are willing to step of the comfortable boat and brave the stormy sea that is adoption fund raising. Especially in a ‘bad economy’.
But, and there really is a very big BUT here for us. We truly do not look at the world’s economy. We only look to ONE Provider–the Almighty God. His economy is alive and well and more than able to take care of any need we have–including adoption. It is really that simple to us.
We believe with all our hearts that when God says GO, He enables us and equips us with everything we need to accomplish the mission. And that includes not going into debt to do it. Yes, I hear what many say about God providing the finances to pay off that debt, and that is totally fine. We each have our own road to walk in obedience. This is ours–not to go into debt of any kind. A conviction we will stand by until we see the Father face-to-face.
Now, I will say this. We cannot, and do not, expect God to just rain down money from heaven and provide every dollar we need to bring Hailee home. Yes, there are times when we receive unexpected checks or donations that we have literally not had to do a thing to get–those are a blessing, but are very few and far between. The bulk of the funds comes from hard work and effort! Fund raising is not an easy thing. It gets tiring, sometimes discouraging, and takes a whole lot of energy. We feel that God rewards our efforts. He cannot help Himself. He blesses the fruit of our labor, and in turn provides in amazing ways. But it takes us doing our part.
We partner with God in this–we work with Him to bring our children home. He has never disappointed us. Not once. I guess, for us, it is an issue of faith. I have such a long way to go when it comes to having the level of faith God would love me to have. But I am absolutely positive of this one thing in my life today–my God will provide every dollar we need to bring Hailee home.
This is just our journey.
Why Down Syndrome?
Why not Down Syndrome?
Am I nervous about parenting a Down Syndrome child?
Not at all. Actually–we are so very excited about it.
How loved and treasured she will be…and already is.
Do we only want to adopt girls?
Oh no. It was never our intention to only adopt girls. These three girls are the ones God intended for our family. If He ever had us adopt a boy, we would gladly go. We have three boys and adore them. We’d love another boy. We never set out to choose only girls.
How many children do we want?
We gave up the right to decide how big our family will be a long time ago. The decision is not ours to make. We gave it to the Lord, and we’ll leave it in His hands.
Whew–one less decision we have to make in our lives. I like it that way.
How do our biological children feel about us adopting children?
They are so fine with it. For them, it is just life as usual. We have always made a point to include them in our adoptions–from fund raising, to praying, to involving them as the process moves along. We give them ownership of it and make them feel like they are part of the miracle. It strengthens their faith when they see God provide in miraculous ways. Or when they see their new siblings learn and grow.
The miracle of adoption makes God so real to our children.
How do we handle criticism and negativity regarding Hailee’s adoption?
Oh boy, yes, we have had a fair amount of negativity since the day we agreed to bring this angel home. Of course it hurts…especially in the beginning.
But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–we stand before an audience of ONE someday. And pleasing Him, my dear friends, is all that really matters to us. Some cannot understand that. Some have no idea what it means to live your live in such a way that you are so desperately surrendered to God. We understand that not everyone will see things the way we do.
I have had to learn to toughen up a little more. I’ve had to learn to put a hedge of protection around my heart and my mind. The words, the comments, the notes–they don’t hurt so much anymore. We’re on a mission–to save Hailee, come what may.
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Okay, I’m going to stop there. The rest can wait until another day.
Oh, I have had so many of you ask about adopting Hepatitis B children. That deserves a post of it’s own. I’ll do it soon.
Love and hugs, dear friends.
