How Nine Cents Changed Our Lives

We wanted to share with you a big announcement! We feel God is stirring our hearts towards adoption and we are stepping out in faith to add to our family through adopting internationally.

After recently getting to visit an orphanage in Zambia through a partnership with my work, God made the cause of the orphan not just a far-off idea for our family, but something real and tangible. On a date night before I left for Zambia this past June, Dan and I were praying and talking about the possibility of adding to our family in this way. Here’s some backstory: for as long as I’ve known Dan, whenever he finds a penny on the ground, he calls it a “God Penny.” We give that penny in the offering plate that Sunday and joke that we must be on the right track if we find one. On that date night we were going for a walk near our downtown area and in the same moments we decided in unity that yes, adoption is something God was stirring in our hearts, we looked down and all the sudden found a penny, and then another penny, and then another, and then another, and then a nickel - nine cents in all. We felt it was God’s confirmation that, as we always said when we found change on the ground like that, we must be on the right track! It was such a special moment. We had always liked the name Penny, and think that it is a perfect name for her because of this story!

In some of our initial research on different agencies, we found a program that works with the Roma population in Central Europe, through Lifeline Children’s Services. In my previous work at a missions organization in Los Angeles, I served as the Central Europe Regional Director, and when Dan came to visit me there to propose when I was a missionary overseas, we saw Roma kids playing in the street and since then he and I have always had a heart for them. So the thought of going back there to and bring a Roma girl into our family really fits our family’s story in a unique way. We are so excited for God’s leading on this!

It is exciting to think that in a year or two, the girls will have a younger sister and that we will be a family of five! We are trusting God to work out all the big and small details.

We greatly appreciate your consideration of our application and your help in making it possible to help us make a difference in the life of one child, our future daughter, Penny. Of the $44,000 needed, that’s 4,400,000 pennies! Change on the ground is, to some, not enough to pick up. After all, how much is a penny really worth these days? Many people might consider an orphan like that - not worth the time or energy. What’s a penny worth these days? We know that God says that a little Penny, indeed every person, every orphan, is priceless, and we know you all agree.

"A Father to the fatherless...is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families." - Psalm 68:5-6a