Spring in Wisconsin

It has been a long week and a half with weather here - going from 40's, down to upper 20's and windy, to sleet, and even several inches of snow with nasty sideways wind, now up to 40's again, though gray and windy and generally yucky. Is winter over yet? To say that it has been disheartening would be an understatement. But, when it is sunny, oh, how we all glory in it!!!! Changes in mood, outlook, energy, it is just amazing how much the sunshine can revive us all. And as I was reminded by a retired priest the other day - "you cannot appreciate the sunshine without the cloudy days". Oh, how profound that can be in many ways!

I have so been debating about sharing some things with all of you (whoever you really are!). You all know that we are working to adopt two brothers from Ethiopia, and that A has a medical condition that really needs to be treated here - better and actually quite easily by us. Each day it isn't, he runs the risk of permanent damage to his body and life. All the unknown. I try to take a deep breath and not let fear take over. At this point, all I can do is rush the paperwork to the places it needs to go, and that is what I am doing. The other part of it is that we of course have huge fees to pay. There was a significant reduction in fees due to the ages of the boys, and the medical condition, but there is still a huge amount of money needed. To meet that need, we are taking every minute of extra work that we can (praise God for wonderful provision and that opportunity to work overtime/extra), using eBay and Amazon, cutting our spending as much as we can, and just really looking at every penny we can. Add to that the rush to get things completed to get A to medical care - the catch to that is that the funds are needed as things get completed. Ugh, deep breath. Shake off all the negatives and fears. Whew. OK.

I really struggled with sharing with anyone the need. Our last adoption was so blessed by our church family, by friends and family, and by people we had never met. It was a group endeavor as three families worked to bring home seven children and keep them connected. Well, it was very public and very intense - and hard. Asking people to give, to help us pay for it, was so painful and humbling.

I resolved that I didn't want to ask anyone for help. That I would work my fanny off, that we would all do whatever we had to, that we would do it ourselves. And we are making it, slowly. I don't know if we can make it before our deadlines. I hate to think that things could be held up because we don't have the money on hand.

So, I am going to share what was sent to us by our adoption agency (Christian World Adoptions - wonderful, wonderful so far!). Please do not do anything other than read it, unless God very clearly moves you. Or share it with someone that you feel needs to read it.

If you have friends or family who wish to contribute to your adoption fund, there are a couple of ways to do it. One way is to go to our website, www.cwa.org, and find the link to Christian World Foundation. There they can donate online. When they do so, please tell the donors to choose the general fund and make sure that your name is noted on the donation form. They will receive an automated receipt for the donation. The receipt will not show your name, as it must be received into the general fund of the Foundation. The second way to donate is by check. Please tell the donor to make the check out to Christian World Foundation, noting your name on the memo line so that we can credit it to your adoption. They will receive a donation receipt via US mail, again without your name.

Even though, by law, these funds are received as open donations, a request is made by our Asst. Executive Director to the Board of Directors for any monies marked for client donations. There has never been a time that the board has refused a request for these funds, so please assure your donors that these funds will be marked for your adoption expenses.

If, at the end of your adoption, there are funds remaining after your expenses have been paid, these funds will be marked as an overpayment and sent to you. Often times we will send the overpayment to the family right before they travel so that they can use the funds to help with their travel expenses.

I hope this explanation is clear but if you have any questions please call me.



CHRISTIAN WORLD ADOPTION
Patricia Mendock
Finance Manager
828-693-7007 ext 317


If someone felt so moved, the funds are tax deductible! I don't think we ever know anything about any contributions as far as who or how much, so feel free to let me know if you want. Last time, so many people donated, and I never really knew who did, so I had a hard time being able to thank everyone. I hope seeing Solly and Zeri growing and thriving is a visible thanks and blessing to them each and every time they see them! This is what folks did!

Also, if you could pray with us - we are considering adopting a third child - there are several special children who need homes and are unlikely to get them. As I review files, watch videos and look at pictures, I know that any choice I make says "no" to a particular child. It breaks my heart. Every child deserves a home. Each one of these kids. But I also know that there are some things that I can do, some I cannot, and some that would be difficult with our family constellation. There is a little girl with epilepsy that is so on my heart along with another, but this child is so close in age to one of our daughters - the one who would really struggle with that, that it just doesn't seem wise. But what a dumb reason to deny this. And I start over with the circular reasoning. How do you choose? There are so many unknowns! I just want to see them all safe and happy. How can you look at a face and say "no"? Some choices are very clear - given our life, our rural living, our animals, etc. Some children would be unsafe here in general, though it might not be as bad as portrayed, or we may be able to find a way to work with it, yes, I am sure we could find a way to work it out, and there goes the circular reasoning again. I am very clearly looking at faces and choosing children. This is just so intensely "wrong feeling"! I cannot choose. I truly believe that God has chosen, but there are so many kids, so much need! How can one be left behind?

So, anyway, please pray for this decision, for God to speak so very clearly. I would settle for a neon sign somewhere! I think I already know the answer, but it means saying no to another. And that just tears up my heart.

So, if you know anyone who would be interested in adopting a little girl with epilepsy (on medication) who is 10-11 years old, please let me know! Also, check out this link: http://www.cwa.org/1hope/home.htm (okay, dear hubby is gone getting his bloodwork done for the adoption and I cannot recall the code to get it embedded, so please copy that link into your browser). This child will be on this page shortly, and there are several children who we have looked at who are on this site. I would so love to know that this little girl has a loving home!

Thanks and please comment! I love it!