It is with humble and amazed hearts that we share that the goals for Davids’ adoptive family financially have been met. Project Hopeful and Lifesong have been in communication and with some last minute donations that are coming in, the family should have all the funds they need to complete Davids’ adoption!

I have been and continue to be simply blown away by the response to Davids’ plight and what God has done through this to bring Davids home! Of course, I shouldn’t be amazed at all though should I? Because we serve a MIGHTY God who LOVES us all and wants us to be safe and loved. Davids certainly has been shown that through all of this and if he had any doubt prior, I know that he doesn’t have to look far in his own story to see God’s mighty hand at work. I believe that Davids will be an amazing tool for God!

And if Davids’ story has touched you AT ALL, what I hope you come away with is that Davids is but ONE boy. ONE little soul longing for a family with no family to call his own. We saw through this that in some countries, children are not adoptable past the age of 16, but did you know that there are MANY countries where children past the age of 5, yes 5, are transferred to an institution and there they stay. FIVE. Most are tied up, left to themselves, fed little, cared for even less, and that is how they live out their life.

So I thank you, from the very bottom of my heart I thank you. For making a difference to ONE. For helping to bring Davids HOME. For SAVING HIM.

Many of you probably know the story of the starfish. Here is a version I found recently that is exactly what COULD happen to the orphans of the world… it’s up to each of us…


The Starfish Story
By City Year
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.

- adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley

I’ve often heard this expression… anyone around adoption I’d bet has. And while it has always had meaning for me and for my children’s beginnings, walking down this road of international adoption gives this phrase more meaning than I’d ever have imagined.

With foster care, you can get a call literally at any time asking if you will “take” a placement, a child. You often know very little about the situation, maybe a gender, an age (which is NOT always right anyway), sometimes a name, their race, and little else. And based on that information you have to make a decision that could and will completely alter your family dynamic, for either the good or sometimes the bad. (And that outcome has NOTHING to do with the age of the child as some would think, but that’s another post in itself). I WAS blessed in that I at least knew of the POSSIBILITY of Olivia and Braeden beforehand, but still had little information and no guarantee of anything, including permanence. Also, with foster care, there’s that guard, that wall, that is up when a child enters your home. As much as you may want to adopt, as much as you are looking for some permanence both for yourself and for this little soul, he/she is not YOUR child. They “belong” to the state and you become many times the lowly foster parent with no say for even a haircut. I got into foster care to foster, to help give children a consistent, stable environment while things with their birth family were figured out. And I was and am ok with that.

With foster care, by the time you are able to adopt the child if they are not able to go home, to call the child forever yours, to start breaking down the guard (though most of that went out the window long ago, only leaving a small string of a wall), you have parented this child for over a year, sometimes a few years. They’ve been in your home, you KNOW them, know their idiosyncrasies, their likes, dislikes, triggers, and so on.

The phrase “Born in the Heart” comes after many nights caring for them, attaching to them, getting to know THEM.

This new expedition we’ve wandered down called international adoption has shown me another form of a child being “Born in the Heart.”

We have now been working on our adoption for approximately 9 months since first feeling God’s call to step out in faith on this journey. 9 months. 9 months figuring out WHERE God was leading. Where our child was located. 9 months thinking of names and finally finding THE ONE (sorry, won’t share until we have a face to go with it!). 9 months of wondering about this child. A child we don’t know. A child we haven’t seen even a picture of. A child we have NO information of because we don’t have a referral. And yet I know she exists. I know she is “out there” somewhere. Possibly still with her birth mother. Hopefully being loved and looked after. Prayerfully getting to the day when we CAN know her and we can see that first picture of OUR family member. MY child.

And yet, we DO know that this WILL happen. It’s not a waiting game of WILL but rather WHEN and WHO. The kids and I talk about her by name. They make cupcakes on the iPad for her. Olivia puts aside toys she’s outgrown to give to her. They look forward to having another child to do things with and play with and help. Liam talks about feeding her. Braeden talks about protecting her. Olivia talks about helping her. She is already being born many times a day in our hearts. We already feel a connection. We just can’t wait to fill in the last little piece that is missing right now… her face.




We joyfully wait in anticipation of the day when we will know who this child is that God is leading us to.

So, I've decided to enable my comment moderation so that I have to approve all comments. I never wanted to do this and never really had the need. Once in a while I'd receive a spam type comment, but I'd delete and move on. But really, someone needs to comment that God made italics to show emphasis and I don't need to use all caps? Really? You've read my blog about orphans, about Davids, about prayer and family life and you need to suggest I use italics instead of caps? Hmmmm.... I think YOU have some soul searching to do! :) LOL Yep, the YOU is in all caps... It's the way I like to emphasize and it's much more convenient than using italics for ME. So, I guess show me your comments and now I'll just have to approve them prior to posting. Bummer, but what's a girl to do? :)