As many of you reading this already know, we are in the process of adopting a little boy with special needs from China.  We are so excited (and pretty nervous at times, truth be told) to be moving forward in this calling that God has placed on our family.  God has truly spoken to us an open our eyes to the crisis of orphans in this world and we are grateful and humbled to be chosen to provide a home and a family for a child who has been left alone in the world. 

We are so appreciative of the love, support, and encouragement that we have received along the beginning of this process (which has been going on for about 5 or so months now).  The challenging process and excessive cost is an unfortunate reality in the world of adoption, both domestic and international.  All told, this adoption will cost somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000.  Yes, that IS a WHOLE LOT of money.  We are a pretty simple family.  We both work in schools and Mara works only 2 days a week in order to stay home with our two daughters.  We live on a pretty careful budget and try to be generous with what we have been given.  Therefore, the amount is beyond what we can afford, even if we cleared out our bank accounts.   But, we know, without any doubt, that it is what God wants for our family.  We know that there is no way to put a price on the life child!

We have been told time and time again by other adoptive parents that God will provide the funds to allow us to bring our son home.  We know, where there is a WILL, there is a way... 

We've started a fundraiser on Pure Charity to continue to raise the funding that we need to make our adoption a success. We were SO excited to find a way to allow our supporters to receive a tax deduction for the funds they donate - something that until now, we did not know was possible!  We have a donations goal of $20,000 that will go towards the cost of the adoption. At this point in the process, we have already paid for nearly 1/4 of the expenses and will continue to be making payments over the next 6-8 months. 

It is our hope that we will be traveling to China to meet and bring our son home by mid-summer! 

Every donation is important and SO, SO appreciated! Would you kindly consider praying about whether God is leading you to make a donation? Also, we would appreciate your willingness to share this with others who may want to participate.

We would also appreciate your prayers for a quick, smooth adoption process and we work through all of the paperwork and red tape and WAITING, WAITING, WAITING; and of course, prayers for our little boy, whoever he is - that is he being well cared for and that God is preparing him to join our family. 

Thank you so much for being a part of our lives and helping to be a part of making the orphan crisis 147 million - MINUS ONE!