Thursday, November 30, 2006

WHY?

Some may ask why and that is understandable. We think the why of God birthing this in our hearts is sometimes something we don't even understand. However, when we saw this clip of a family bringing their baby home after a 2 year process it all clicked and we knew this was all God and His perfeect timing. All I would ask is for you to take a moment and watch this video and that should answer all your questions as to why. Also, if you can watch this without bawling like a baby then I would have to say you might want to check to see if you have a pulse!
P.S. Application and step by step packet is on it's way to us. A small first step but a start.





Want to see more? Go to RAGAMUFFIN

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

IN THE BEGINNING

Welcome to our website dedicated to realizing our dream of adopting a little girl from China. This all started for me 3 and a half years ago when I lost my mother, Nita after her 3 and a half year battle with cancer. My mother was my everything, she was my best friend, confidant and mentor. When I lost her I felt as though I lost a part of myself. I really began to search and seek God earnestly since it was the only thing I could do to relieve the insurmountable pain I was in. As I began to go deeper with God and pray about next steps in my life and the life of my family I really began to desire to have another baby. However, there was a little snag, since having a hysterectomy 4 years ago and Brian having undergone the BIG "V" and I am not talking about Venezuela, it was a physical impossibility. Anyway, my desire grew and grew and I began to consider adopting and immediately thought of China, mainly b/c my Grandfather has an adoption agency in St. Louis. (See sidebar) So, I called him and talked at length about what was involved. I have to admit, I was very overwhelmed and began to pray God's timing would be everything and if this was not His will my desire would diminish.

I missed my mother so desperately and longed to have that again. There is something so precious about a mother-daughter relationship and my mother and I had such a great one. Anyway, time passed and Brian and I just kind of stopped talking about it. It never really left me but I just believed God's timing was everything.

Since uprooting our lives 15 months ago and moving to another state there have been a number of exciting changes in our lives and now is the time. About 12 months ago my passion and desire to have another baby was once again heightened and this time I just knew it was right. Brian and I even sat down and talked to the boys (we have 3) about how they would feel if we had another baby. They were so excited about it and started talking about diapers and bottles and taking care of a little sister. It was so cute. We started to pray and researched adopting over seas and of course talked at length. About a month ago we decided it was the right thing to do and both of us have such passion about rescuing a child and giving her a life she wouldn't otherwise have.

We really wanted to name her b/c we had already been praying for her so long and we wanted to be able to pray for her by name. So one day I was sharing with my friend Alexis about how we had decided to pursue adopting a baby girl from China and how we were going to raise the money first by asking for donations via a website. Without hesitation she said "What about Grace? Saving Grace." I was just like oh my gosh, it's perfect. After talking to Brian and praying about it, it just made sense. Grace is so multi-faceted. I mean, look at what God's grace did for us and how His grace makes it possible for us to do things like this.

Won't you please join us on our journey to bring our daughter home. We don't, at this point have any information about her or if she is even born. Most of this process is simply having patience while we raise the money needed to fulfill this dream. There are several ways which you can support us. The first is to join us in praying for Grace. The second is to send us emails or leave comments of encouragement and support. The third, if you feel so led is financial. I can assure you the money is deposited into a secure interest bearing account for the sole purpose of this adoption and as money is raised we will publicly display how. We will be back regularly to update you on our progress and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining with us. God bless.