Our Christmas

What a WONDERFUL Christmas we have had!  We were able to travel home to MS to spend Christmas with our families.  We flew on military Space Available flights for free, praise GOD!  We flew on a C5 on the way there...and a C17 on the way back to Germany.  fun, fun. ;-)  If it's free, it's me!

Our families and friends were so understanding of our lack of money to be able to buy nice gifts this year.  I pretty much handmade every gift given, with the exception of gifts that big G bought at her Christmas store at her school.  All of those gifts were $1-$2/gift and they came from her sweet little heart.  I absolutely LOVE what she bought me this year...a beautiful snowman candle holder and an adjustable pink "diamond" ring.  Mercy, I love that little girl!









Little G had a blast visiting with her grandmothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  She is a little stinker and she could not have been more adorable or sweet.  She had them wrapped around her chubby little fingers!!

While we were home, my childhood friend, Craig, printed us some adoption t-shirts and he did such a great job!  They are selling so well!  We still have some left in medium, large, and x-large and plan to make another order soon so that we can get more smalls and XXL.  Let me know if you would like to purchase one!  You can find them on our fundraising page. 

It was so hard to leave our families and come back home to Germany.  Time flew by way too fast but we are grateful that we were able to make it home.  I'm just not ready for Christmas to be over.  I told my hubby that I am going to celebrate Christmas during January as well.  I'm want to leave my tree up for the entire month and I would leave it up through February too, if my hubby would let me.  Then I may as well leave it up for March and if I leave it up that long, I should probably just leave it up until, well, my little boy can see it.  I'm holding on to Christmas because I want him here so badly to be able to celebrate Christ's birth with us.  I want him to know that I am an orphan too, adopted into my heavenly Father's family.  I want him to know that if I could have one Christmas wish, it would be to have him here with us.  God, I pray to you, please see this adoption through.  Please God, please bring him home to us.  We are working so hard, saving everything we can, praying with all of our might, trying to stay as positive as we can, fighting Satan and his disapproval and attacks every single day.  Adoption is hard. Very hard.  But I know it's worth it.  Finn is worth it.

I can't wait to get his ornaments started on our tree!  Let me share my tree's history with you!  When Chris and I first got married, we tried so hard to have a beautiful tree but no matter how hard we tried, we failed!  It always looked so blah.  I started off with burgundy and white bulbs before we got married.  I wanted to add more color to it so I bought blue.  Then I realized I had a red, white, and blue Christmas tree.  I'm very proud of my country but I did not want a patriotic tree.  So I kept adding to it after we got married and it was just a disaster.  So we had an idea to try to make our tree as ugly as we possibly could!  It became our mission every year and now our tree is called "the ghetto tree".  Our original ghetto tree had to be replaced the year before last.  Now we have a white Christmas tree.  I LOVE it!  Every year, we buy the ugliest ornaments that we can find, if possible, to add to our tree.  My best friend, Shana, has the most beautiful tree in the world....And I'm trashing it with the ugliest ornaments I can find! hahaha.  I imagine that she has an ugly little tree in her garage for our ornaments and then moves them to her beautiful tree when we come for a visit. ;-)  No, she insists that she loves that I do this.   She sends me beautiful ornaments and it's totally changing the look of my tree, too.  It's not "ugly" enough anymore.  I'll see what I can do to fix that. 

Speaking of my friend, Shana, God has led her family to adopt a child with Down syndrome as well!  I am so excited for them and can't wait to hold her little one in my arms!  Our boys will be best buds!!  Please follow their journey here.  They can use all of the prayers and support they can get!

Anyway, I pray that all of you have had a very merry CHRISTmas!!  God bless you all and thank you for your prayers and support!  Love and Hugs!

Merry CHRISTmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Thank you, God, for your wonderful gift of Jesus Christ!  He IS the most wonderful gift of all.

To our Finn, this is your LAST Christmas spent in an orphanage.  We are coming for you, sweet boy!!

Now to get these excited little daughters of mine asleep so that Santa can come! :-)

Love to all!

Finn's Birthday

I have had a feeling today that something is happening or should be happening... I keep looking at the date and it seems so familiar.  December 8.  December 8...  And then it clicked.  I know that Finn has a birthday during the month of December.  I don't know the date.  All I know is Dec. 2008.  Could today be the day?  I wonder if it's possible that I can sense my son's birthday...I don't know. 

We are coming for you, sweet boy.  You will never have to spend another birthday in an orphanage ever again.  Whatever the date may be, I pray that you are hugged...that you have a toy to play with...that someone tucks you in warmly at the end of your big day... We love you!

The value of a dollar...

Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

Yep, DAILY. I really have to take up my cross daily and follow Him. I have to constantly remind myself of what is important in my life. The big picture.

This adoption journey has been a crazy one, for sure. It's also been difficult, at times. We have learned so much about ourselves and others during this process.

We have truly learned the value of a dollar. We know that it takes almost 27,000 of them to save the life of a little boy. Our little boy's life is valued at $27,000.

When it comes to money, this is what we have experienced.
1. Spending every dime we had on THINGS (before children).
2. Spending every dime on saving for the future.
3. Spending every dime on saving a little boy.

When I got out of college, I bought whatever I wanted! When Chris and I got married, we traveled, bought new vehicles, etc. We did save, but we didn't save as much money as we could have saved. When we bought our first home, thankfully we had saved enough for a good down payment...but our desires started changing and we definitely hit the saving mode. When I think back to this time last year, we were pinching pennies with no thoughts of adoption in our near future. What was so important that we were saving for? Retirement. Yes, I do want a comfortable retirement with my hubby but that is SO far away, yet so close... I would LOVE to see the world with him and have experiences that we can't have with children in tow. But what it all boils down to me right now is that if I can't be surrounded by my children, my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren when we retire, I doubt very seriously that I will enjoy retirement, no matter how "rich" we are. We will invest our money God's way, and teach our children that God provides for our needs... not necessarily our wants. It just so happens that God wants us to invest our money in a little boy who may not live to see his 6th birthday if he is not adopted before he is transfered to a mental institution. Getting him home is as good as gold to me.

Where are we now? Chris and I have taken up our crosses. We have decided to hand over everything that we thought we needed for a happy retirement and trust Him with this investment. Every single penny. Literally. I'm not going to lie, it makes me nervous...but I have faith that God has called us to this for a purpose and He will not let us down.

I have learned that money does not truly make me happy. This time last year, we were comfortable, yet we wanted more. The money we had back then just wasn't enough. I think it's that way with everyone; we all want the American dream. We have had a comfortable life and it's nice to know that we can have our bills paid and still take fun family vacations. It's nice to be able to see Europe while we are over here but this season in our lives has come to an end. And that's okay.

So what makes you happy? What are your treasures? I know that I find true happiness every time I get a hug from my sweet girls, when my oldest tells me that I smell like "cookies and perfume", when my youngest says her favorite word, "ungee" (hungry), and plays her favorite game of "uh oh" so that I have to pick up her sippy cup a million times, when I watch the girls play together (they are currently crawling around on the floor together as I write this), when my hubby tells me that he loves me and I can know for a fact that he means it and will mean it forever, when big G talks about God and I find her in bed reading her children's bible to herself, when we join friends for dinner... I find happiness in just having our basic needs met...And I will find so much happiness when we bust Finn out of that orphanage. I can HARDLY wait!

We have experienced giving at its best! Thank you so much for those of you who have given whatever you can give to us...Through words of encouragement, prayers, actions, donations, everything. You are truly a blessing to us! I don't think I could ever thank you enough.

**So here's an update on our process: We didn't make the winter cut-off for getting our Dossier completed and submitted to Finn's country. Very sad about this but we expected it. We got around 75 documents notarized only to have to start over on several of them the very next day due to changes that very night. But now we have until Feb. 1 to get it completed. We will continue saving our money and fundraising. Once Feb. 1 arrives, we will submit everything and wait for our travel dates! Hopefully we will meet him towards the end of Feb. or during March. Chris went to Frankfurt, Germany this morning and filled out an Application for Immigration to get pre-approval for Finn's US citizenship.  One step closer!

Where we are and what He's up to...

Hey everyone.  Maria decided that we needed to update y'all on the status of the adoption process, so here it is. We now have a completed Home Study!  We received our notarized copies today, which means the ones that were being notarized & apostilled (a stamp that is affixed to documents by a state or federal office that denotes to a foreign country that the document is a true, official document of the United States or state government) should arrive to our adoption agency any day.  The apostilles take a little extra time to get done... it is government agencies after all!

All of our state background checks came back good, like we knew they would, and now I need to get the FBI clearance ordered. The next step is to complete the US Customs & Immigration paperwork. Basically, this paperwork is the beginning steps to ensure "Finn" will be considered a US Citizen as soon as we bring him back to the US.

The next huge step is getting all of our dossier paperwork together to get sent to the country. Once they get all of these items, and it is a laundry list of notarized documents, they will issue us a travel date to go meet our boy. We can't wait!

Continue checking out the fundraisers, and if you know of a possible way we can raise money, let us know!

~ Chris

Okay, it's Maria now. :-) So everything is going great! It took forever to get our MS background checks which slowed our home study down a bit but hopefully we can get things back on track now.

I just want to thank everyone for all of the support, prayers, and encouragement along the way. We know that this is the path that God has chosen for us and it just means so much to have y'all behind us! A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I were sitting at our kitchen table after the girls were in bed and I wanted to get inside his brain a bit about the adoption...it went a little something like this:

"Chris?"

"Uh oh, you said my name, what did I do wrong?" as he is typing on his laptop.

"Nothing!   I just want to know how you feel about the adoption."

"okay......?"

"Well, how do you feel about it?"

".....ummm, good..."

"No, I mean how do you FEEL about it?"

"Good. I feel good about it." -not a good enough answer for me. ha.

"Chris, I mean, do you feel like it's right?"

"Yes."

"I mean, does it feel that this is what is meant to be?"

"Yes"

"Like there is no other choice? That this is all normal and that we are meant to have a child with Down syndrome and that we are to go to another country to get this child??"

"Yes"

"How does this feel so normal...it's so crazy?"

And he stops typing...and says, "It’s a God thing."

And I couldn't agree more.

I KNOW that God is in this. I KNOW that God has brought us to this. I KNOW that He will see this through. But when you are doing what you know God wants you to do, you become a target and the spiritual warfare begins. So it just helps to talk to Chris about the adoption, to get that little extra encouragement, to lift each other up. It helps to have our friends and family behind us.

Just the other day, Chris, the girls, and I were going to the base...I was under attack; spiritually...I was feeling that maybe I wouldn't be enough for this child. We stopped at a red light and as I prayed to God for peace, I looked out my window and there, stopped right beside us, was a van filled with individuals with special needs. Directly beside me was a woman with Down syndrome making eye contact with me through the glass and she began to wave and smile. I slapped Chris on the leg and he looked and waved back. Then he was like, "well, wave back, MARIA!" ha. I was so caught up in my "God moment" but I did wave and gave her a big smile. That precious woman warmed my heart and God used her to reassure me that this is His Will. This verse came to my mind in that moment, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13.

So please continue to pray for us...that God will continue to meet the needs of this adoption...that "Finn" will remain healthy...and please pray that he may "know" us when we arrive to meet him...that God will start planting us in his heart.

God bless you and thank you for joining us on this journey.

-Maria

The Least of These

Matthew 25:35-36,40   “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.   The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

That’s why.  The orphans of Eastern Europe pretty much fit into this scripture perfectly.

                In 2008, God began to whisper to my heart the needs of orphans with Down syndrome.  I remember looking up orphans in general and somehow I started searching the special needs children.  I was instantly drawn to children with Ds and my heart just ached for them.  Some of the most precious, sweetest people I’ve ever known have Ds.   During that time, Chris was in S. Korea and over the phone I shared with him that one day I would really like to pursue one of these orphans.  The timing wasn’t right and so I tucked that desire away.  Never in a million years would I ever believe that we would be going through with this…and yet, here we are.  I am so amazed at how God changed my husband’s heart for adopting one of these children.  Chris just did not feel the same calling as me.   Earlier this year, a couple that we know from church, the Colemans, started the process of adopting a child with Ds from Eastern Europe.  I was shocked that there was a couple that shared my same desire!   So, I followed their journey and was just so happy to watch God provide a loving home for a sweet little boy, very deserving of a life and a family.  So, once again, I sat down with Chris and told him my desire to adopt one of these children.  I asked that he pray for me and that I would also pray for him.  I needed him to pray that God would change my heart and remove the desire to adopt a child with Ds and that I would also pray for him, that God would give him the desire to adopt one of these children.  A few days later, Chris started searching the Reece’s Rainbow website and inquiring about a few of them.  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when God takes care of business! 

                So I thought I would answer some questions for ya!  If you have any questions, please email me and I will be more than happy to answer them!  Solomonadoption@hotmail.com

                So why did my hubby NOT want to adopt a child with Ds?  Not for the reasons you may think.  My husband is a very loving guy.  He loves his family like there is no tomorrow.  He is so protective and will do anything for us.  That applies to our son with Ds as well.  By adopting one of these children, Chris knows that he will witness some heartache, bullying, and cruelty from heartless people to our child and it’s really going to be difficult to remain calm and set a good Christian example to those who need it!  

                Why international adoption?  Chris and I have always felt that God has called us to adopt internationally.  Maybe one day we will do a domestic adoption as well because we truly do want a large family… but for right now, we are being obedient to God by adopting internationally.  We feel that God’s love knows no borders, that all orphans are equal and that they all deserve a chance, no matter their country.  These children with Ds are listed as “children with no promise” and that just breaks my heart.  They deserve a chance and a family to love them!  They are perfectly capable of living a great life. 

                Do we know that we could possibly be taking care of this child for the rest of our lives?  YUP!  Trust me, we have thought about this adoption from every possible angle.  It’s not something that we jumped into without thinking about the future.   Our heads are not in the clouds… However, we are very excited to get this little boy home!  We do know that there will be challenges as with any adopted child.  There will be an adjustment phase for everyone.  We will be hopeful, though, that everything will go smoothly, that he will fit into our family quickly, and we will do our best to give him a home that he deserves! 

                Why is international adoption so expensive (around $27,000)?  I wish it wasn’t.  I feel that many more families would adopt if money wasn’t a factor.   It’s very stressful seeing that huge figure but we feel confident that everything will come together!  Thank you so much for your donations!  I’m guessing that we have about 5 months or so to gather our ransom money for our little boy.   If you look under our fee breakdown tab, you can see how the fees are broken down.  Our last fundraiser for Papa Joe and the “Finn”-ishers brought in over $600 which is exactly what we need to pay for Finn’s passport!    Once we receive all of the pledges, we will update our thermometer to reflect that.

                More questions?  Email them to me!   We welcome them!

Families to pray for:

1.  The Colemans:  This is the family that just completed their adoption that I mentioned earlier..  Their little adopted son, Mikha, is having some serious heart problems requiring surgeries in the very near future.  Please pray for them!  www.colemanfamilyadoption.wordpress.com

2.  Bobby and Lura Jepson:  It has been wonderful getting to know this couple who are doing their very best to bring children into their home through adoption.  Doors open and then they close.  It’s very hard doing adoptions while living overseas so please pray for them.  They are going to be AWESOME parents!!!   http://bobbyandlura.blogspot.com/

Thank you again for your love and support.  Means so much to us!! 

“God Moments”

                I just love how God speaks to me.  He speaks to me in ways that are so obvious because sometimes I’m just so hard to reach.  This adoption has God all over it.  I am so thankful that He keeps giving me signs that He’s in this because we cannot do this on our own.  He has been faithful and because of this, we have the strength to keep moving forward.

                Our friends, Ashley and Shea Coleman, have been so supportive of our adoption process.  They have recently adopted a little boy with Down syndrome and God has used this family to reach us.  Ashley is a ballet instructor and she has asked if she could sell tutus for us in her studio so that she can donate the money to our adoption.  So we started brainstorming on colors and she wanted the basics…pink, hot pink, purple, black, and green…. So I started looking at tulle.  Turquoise kept standing out to me… so I put that on my list.  It was getting close to midnight so I finally turned in for the night.

                As I tried to fall asleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about tulle colors. Ha… my mind never shuts down… but I wanted to suggest turquoise blue and lime green tutus because that is one of my favorite color combinations.  And here is where it clicked:

The only picture that I have of Finn is of him sitting in a blue and green swing, in a blue and green outfit, on my blue and green blog page, with an RR name of Finn which is a name that is dear to our hearts.   WOW.  God really knows how to get my attention!  There has been so much more that He has revealed to me and I can’t wait to share that as well, when the timing is right!

                Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, donations, support, everything!!  Please keep praying for us!  Hugs to all!

(Still up next:  The Least of These…)