Happy New Year

       Trying to update this blog every week can be kind of a challenge. Last week that meant finding time to write a short update on Christmas Eve. This week it means updating it on New Year's Eve...no problem. But trying to write an update during an IU game? This might be a little difficult.
The start of the new year means the real start of our adoption process. Up until this point we've just done a few things here and there, but our goal was always to kick things into high gear in 2013.               
     We've started looking at agencies and very soon will be trying to schedule meetings with a few so we can find the one that works best for us. We've also scheduled our first fundraiser dinner for February 23 at Westview Christian Church in Campbellsburg. This will be a soup supper that will feature Brian Walton as our speaker, as well as some musical guests. We'll have more information on this in the next couple of weeks. Also on Friday, May 10 we will be having "Can My Yard Night" at our house where you can dump all your aluminum cans in our yard. So start saving those cans! We're looking forward to seeing how big of a mess you all can leave us....but not looking forward to the cleanup as much. We're also looking at a few more fundraisers to take place later in the summer and fall that we'll let you in on when the time comes.
      The biggest thing we're looking forward to though is bringing our child home. We know that this process sometimes can't get done in just one year, and that some adoptive parents have difficulties that force them to wait a lot longer. But bringing our child home isn't some sort of New Year's resolution that we've arbitrarily set. We ache for him daily to come home. We don't just want to get him home, we need to get him home and will do everything in our power to make that happen as soon as possible. It's our prayer that God guides us along this journey and keeps our focus on His will. And in our prayers we are also so grateful that each of you has chosen to take this journey with us. We hope that each of you has a wonderful new year.

Merry Christmas

      Like many of you, today has been a busy day for us, which is part of the reason why we didn't get on here until 10:30 on Christmas Eve. We started out this morning by going out for breakfast with mom, dad, Jenny, Tyler, Katie and Luke, all of whom lobbied for a mention in today's blog post. (There it was. That's all you get. Don't be greedy.) And after breakfast, and watching Katie stand up and sing "Jingle Bells" in the middle of Denny's, we came home to finish up Christmas preparations, watch Christmas movies and get ready for church this evening.
     But even while today was a little hectic at times, the day and this Christmas season as a whole has been amazing for us. It's our hope that by next Christmas our family will have grown, so this has been a season of hope for us. Each event and milestone has been marked by thoughts about how next year will be different. It's been an incredible joy. We've also been overwhelmed this year with the kindness and concern that so many of you have shown in this process. It seems like we're constantly asked about how this process is going or if there's anything we need. I've said it before, but you guys really are amazing.
     Hopefully by next Christmas this blog will be about our child's first Christmas at home. We look forward to sharing that with you. Until then though, we want to let each of you know how much we've enjoyed sharing this process with you so far. And from our family to yours, we want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas.

12/14/2012

If you've read this blog regularly, you've no doubt noticed that Ashley and I refer to our son as if he's already here with us. We have a picture in our heads of what our son will look like and who he will be. That mental picture helps us get through difficult times, makes us smile, and helps us to stay focused on our goal. This week was the first time that that mental picture scared me to death.

I saw the news on my phone of another school shooting last Friday in a town I've never heard of and, as disgusted as I was, tried to ignore it. I knew it was bad, but at the time there wasn't much news coming in and I figured I'd check it later. But when I saw the ages and pictures of the children on TV, my heart stopped. The images of these children was far too reminiscent of that mental picture that I see each day. I could see this idea of "our son" in the pictures of how a child smiled, or in another one's eyes, and it floored me. I've struggled the last few days with this and with the question of why God would send us on this journey to get our child, only to have us watch helplessly as we send him out into a world where things like this happen.

As we hear more and more about this terrible act, it's evident to me that, while we continue to mourn the 20 children who were killed last week, we must turn to that child whose birth we celebrate next week. I believe that these 20 children are, at this moment, safe in the arms of a loving creator. At the memorial service Sunday night, the President quoted Matthew 19:14 where Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." While we might never fully understand why this happened, we can rest in the knowledge that they are in the arms of the Lord today and that they are safe in their eternal home. While we celebrate next week the birth of our King, they will celebrate in His presence. And while we'll never be able to guarantee our child's safety, we can guarantee that he will always be loved and watched over by his Heavenly Father, even when his earthly parents have to let him go.

I pray that that little boy whose picture I see in my mind will know that. I pray that I will be a good enough parent to instill those values in him. But more than that I pray that, when my time comes and God sees fit to call me home, that my son will rest confident in the fact that I am with my Lord.

Fundraising News

    There’s a part of me that hesitates to get on this blog and say that things are happening. Somewhere in my mind I think that eventually this will become a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” situation. If you’re not familiar with that reference, then call your parents and demand to know why they never read to you as a child. After you’ve done that though, come back and finish reading this, because things really are happening!

      The biggest things happening this week are that we’ve set dates for 2 fundraisers. The first one will be a soup supper on February 23 at Westview Christian Church in Campbellsburg. While we’re still working out some of the details, here’s what I can tell you so far: there will be soup. Ok, I have a bit more information than that. This will be an “eat what you want, pay what you want” kind of thing, so if you have any rich friends, or people who just like to write huge checks for a bowl of soup, make sure you bring them with you. Brian Walton will also be speaking that night. If you don’t know Brian, he’s the senior pastor at Winchester, Kentucky’s Calvary Christian Church, Ashley’s step-brother (sort of….long story), and a generally awesome guy. You’ll like him. We’re still putting together times and getting a general feel on how things are going to go, so we’ll let you know more about this in the coming weeks.

       A soup supper is a normal, straightforward thing to do as a fundraising event. We hate normal. That’s why we’ve come up with our next fundraiser, “Can Our Yard Night.” How this works is pretty simple: you save aluminum cans up, wait until May 10, then come to our house and dump them in our yard. One of our friends called it, “vandalism with permission.” We’ll have an area in the side yard marked off (so we don’t get cans in the neighbor’s yard) and a spot for everyone to pull into the yard so nobody has to stop on the road, but other than that, you can toss the cans anywhere. We’ll have a lot more details on this one later, but we wanted to let everyone know so you can all start saving your cans. So start saving your cans and get prepared to trash our yard!

       So, in addition to getting ready for Christmas (only 15 more days!), this is what we’ve been working on this week. So go mark your calendars! We’re really looking forward to these events and hopefully you are too. They’re going to be a big step toward getting our child home, which is the most important thing, but it’s also going to be a great opportunity for us to get to spend time with all of you who have taken an interest in our adoption journey. We can’t wait to see all of you and thank you so much for all you’ve meant to us.

Locked Out

I can't fully explain the mood I was in Saturday except to say this, it wasn't good. I'm not sure what it was. It could have been that a stressful week at work was finally catching up to me, or maybe I just work up on the wrong side of the bed, but either way, by Saturday I was not feeling my best. Those of you who know me well will know that I generally have 2 settings; the times I think I'm the smartest person in the world, and the other times when I'm absolutely sure of it. By Saturday evening, I was absolutely sure I knew what I needed to get out of my bad mood. It was church. I knew that I could get to church on Sunday morning, God and I could have a little meeting, get me ready to start a new week, and do it all in less than an hour, (talk about efficient!) then have me home in time to watch the Colts. No problem.
Sunday morning I woke up early (like I always do), sat around the house for a few hours (like I always do), then got ready at the last minute (like I always do). We made it out the door with 2 minutes to spare which, at our house, is pretty impressive. As I shut the door behind me, I looked at the woman I live with who I'm related to by marriage and said, "So, you got the keys?" I was expecting an adoring look followed by, "Why of course, my darling, and here they are. Now let us drive away to our house of worship!" Instead I got a look that I could loosely translate as, "No, you dope! Why would I have the keys? Geez, I married an idiot!" Mercifully, she just said, "No." So there we were, on the porch with no keys to get into the house, no keys to drive the car and all doors and windows locked. Not how I pictured my day starting.
So for the next 30 minutes or so, through intermittent rain, I attempted to break in to my own house. With all my tools being locked inside the house, I was forced to improvise. I went to work with the head of an interchangeable screwdriver I found (no idea where the rest of it was), an extension cord that I used as a rope, and (the most technologically advanced tool of all) a stick. I should say though that I have a whole new appreciation for the security of our house, because not only was breaking in terribly difficult and time-consuming, our dogs freaked out at the thought of someone trying to get in.
After a half hour, much to my (and the dogs) relief, we were able to get inside. Instead of being stressed again though, the entire ordeal left me laughing all day. As much as I wanted to make it to church, I think that being locked out of the house is what I really needed to snap out of whatever bad mood was getting to me.
There are times that I try to compartmentalize God. To put a little spot on my schedule from 11-12 on Sunday mornings and make that His time. Yesterday was my reminder that all time is His time. Maybe you're not as bad as I am about this, but God needs to remind me sometimes that He is with me when I'm locked out of my house just as much as when I'm sitting in the pew at Syria Christian Church.
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that we're working on a lot of things with this adoption. And for every one of you who has picked us up with your help, kind words, and prayers (all of which are amazing, by the way), there have also been times where we are discouraged and feel like any progress we've made is nothing but a drop in the bucket. In times like these, it's been helpful for us to remember that God is in control, that He has our child and our child will come home to us in God's time, not ours. As always, we know our child exists and is with God awaiting his homecoming. Although on days like yesterday, it's hard not to imagine our child saying, "Lord, why is my dad trying to break into the house with a stick?"
Have a great week.

-Adam

Just a little something

It’s time for me to share with all of you a condition I’m suffering with. I have a Christmas problem. There’s no other way of saying it really. Just looking at the calendar and seeing that it’s 4 weeks away made my heart beat a little faster. I really love Christmas. As soon as Thanksgiving ends, my mind goes directly to Christmas. I spend a good 30% of most days thinking about Christmas stuff. Add that to the time I waste thinking about IU basketball, and it will be surprising if I get anything else done this month.

But our adoption process has had a big impact on how we view our Christmas this year. We’ve planned since the beginning of this process to start talking to agencies and making real progress after the first of the year, so by next Christmas we might have our child home. It’s odd to think that this could be the last Christmas with just the two of us, but the idea of our adoption process really kicking into high gear has us very excited. It’s like we have this amazing Christmas gift that isn’t under the tree and can’t be opened yet, but will arrive several months later and will change everything. And, although the wait can be excruciating at times, we couldn’t be happier about the gift that is on its way.

As we get ready for the excitement of Christmas and the excitement of our adoption process, we’re also working on other projects that are keeping us busy. We still have our “Jeremiah 1:5” bracelets available for $5 each, as well as our t-shirts for $20 (see picture below). If you’re interested in either, let us know either on here, facebook, or email (adambrown47108@gmail.com) and we’ll get it taken care of for you. We’ll be putting in another t-shirt order soon and they should take around a week to get finished, so make sure we get all of your contact info so we can get it to you. Thanks again to everyone who has been so supportive of our mission already. You guys are amazing.

There are also a few other fundraiser things we’re working on that we will (hopefully) have details on soon. We have some ideas that, if everything works out, could go a long way toward helping with our adoption costs. We’ll let all of you know what’s going on once we get our next fundraiser finalized, so just keep checking here and we’ll keep posting updates on Monday nights. Everyone have a great week and, as always, thanks for reading.

-Adam

 

And thank you Stacia for being our model :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week has been exciting for us. While we aren’t starting the actual adoption process until after the first of the year, we’ve been working on fundraiser projects and ideas for a little while now, and this week we were able to see some progress. One of the things we’re doing is selling bracelets. They’re blue with yellow writing of “Jeremiah 1:5” on them and we’re selling them for $5 each. We’ve been fortunate enough to sell several of them so far and in less than a week have already made a profit. We’re really amazed that so many of you have chosen to help in this way. If you don’t have a bracelet yet, just let either Ashley or myself know and we’ll make sure we get you one.

There’s another project we’ve been working on this week and, while it’s not necessarily a fundraiser, it’s something that is very exciting to both of us. When we first started we realized that we wanted to have a way to recognize all of you who have helped us along this journey. We were able to find a picture online of a tree and, thanks to Ashley’s talented sister Stacia, we were able to get it painted onto canvas (see attached picture). Our goal is to get the thumbprint of everyone who has helped us on the tree in different colors. Then each person will sign their “leaf” and, eventually, we’ll have a tree full of names and thumbprints. We want to keep this picture in our child’s room so he can see someday all of the people who helped bring him home.

The whole part of fundraising can be kind of difficult. It’s not an easy thing to ask your friends and family to buy something from you. You don’t want to guilt them into it, but you also don’t want to leave them out and make them feel like you don’t want them involved. It’s a delicate balance that I’m not sure we’ve figured out yet, or ever will. I also understand why people might not want to be involved. I can understand why people might say, “Hey, your adoption is your choice. If you can’t pay for it, don’t do it.” That’s a totally valid point. The only thing I can say to that is this; you aren’t buying us a kid, together we’re helping to save a child’s life. It’s estimated that there are between 143-210 million orphans in the world today. This is a huge problem on a global scale that can only be addressed by each of us taking part in whatever way we are able. There’s a John Wesley quote I like that says, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” The challenge to each of us is the same. What is the good that I can do? For us this means taking a child into our home. For you it might mean volunteering or donating to a charity that works with orphans or foster children. And, for some of you, it might even mean helping us along in this adoption process.  We can all do some good, somewhere, for someone. None of us can solve the problems of 210 million orphans, but we can make the difference in the life of one. And to the one you help, it will truly be a life-changing experience.

We hope that we don’t make you feel awkward if we ask you if you want a bracelet or a t-shirt (which should be done soon!), but if you do choose to buy one, we want you to know that we’re so thankful that this is the good you’ve chosen to do. In this week especially, as we consider all the things for which we are thankful, we put those of you who have helped in this process near the top of our list. Your guidance, advice, prayers, gifts, and friendship are things that we grow more and more thankful for by the day. From our family to all of yours, may you have a very happy Thanksgiving.