Think of the Happiest Things {Fundraiser}

We have another fundraiser that we have just launched!!! We are awaiting our referral call at any time so we knew we needed to get moving in order to raise the last $3500 we need in order to accept our referral and travel to hold our baby girl for 2 weeks.

The words, "think of the happiest things," are lyrics from Peter Pan. I haven't stopped singing the song since designing it! In our home, when we are stressed or scared, we always say to pray and think of happy things. Plus, we are a bit Disney obsessed in our home, so designing something that encompasses that love just made sense. We know our girl is going to be dealing with a lot of grief as she transitions into our home, so we love to think of ways to fill our home with reminders of JOY amidst the sadness. We hope you love the reminder to think of happy things!

So, in light of Christmas coming up...we thought it would be fun to design t-shirts that would make perfect gifts (or just buy for yourself...I won't tell). Our shirts are available for purchase from now until Monday, November 30th. Once it ends, shirts will arrive within 14 days which gives you the perfect amount of time to wrap them and place them under the tree. We have unisex, ladies, youth, long-sleeve, and hooded sweatshirts available! Every single purchase gets us so much closer to our baby girl. We would LOVE if you would also share about our fundraiser...the more we sell the closer we get to our goal! Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Our family is so grateful for all of the love and support we have received during this process!

FUNDRAISER: Garage Sale!

Our 3rd adoption fundraiser garage sale is happening this weekend! If you are local, come check it out and see what treasures you can find! 

FUNDRAISER: The Apparent Project

Hi all! Wanted to check in and let you know about our newest fundraiser. One we love VERY MUCH. Let me introduce you to the Apparent Project. Basically they take discarded materials and upcycle them into beautiful jewelry. The artisans who create the bracelets are able to earn money in order to care for their families. These bracelets bring so much HOPE.

So, where do we fit in? The Apparent Project has a double cause fundraiser option where you can sell their bracelets to raise funds for your cause and in turn you are also helping to pay the artisans. This is amazing!

Here's the thing. We know we were called to adopt. But, our biggest prayer is that adoption wouldn't even be necessary. We pray that parents will be empowered enough to be able to continue to care for their children instead of feeling that they must resort to adoption because it is their only adoption. Children belong in their families. There are times where this is not possible, and then, that is where adoption should be an option. This is why we love organizations like AP. We are so thankful we get to be a part of this!

THE BRACELETS

Each bracelet is beautifully handcrafted IN Haiti! Our child's birth country. I cannot even begin to tell you just how beautiful they are. I love every single one of them. Each bracelet is $10. Five dollars of that will go to our adoption, and the other five dollars will go back to the Apparent Project. If you need your bracelets shipped, we are charging a flat fee of $3, no matter how many bracelets you order.  If you are local to Salem, Oregon you can waive the shipping fee and just pick up your bracelet. Remember these make perfect gifts as well! Think of family members, friends, teachers...it's a gift that gives back!

Send payments via Paypal to: ourheartsinhaiti@gmail.com

*Please note if you use the option to send money to friends/family PayPal will not take a percentage of the money. In the notes section, please indicate how many bracelets you want. Feel free to mention if you are hoping for a certain color scheme (this cannot be guaranteed). Don't forget to include your mailing address!

We are about $2700 away from having enough money to send our dossier. This is the VERY LARGE stack of papers that will be sent to Haiti and is how they learn about our family and approve us and match us with our child. We are hopeful to be able to send it within the next couple weeks. But, we can't do it without the money. We need this to happen quickly so we will continue to raise every bit of money we can. Once we have our Home Study in our hands (we pray that this is early next week) we can begin to apply for grants. So much rides on this elusive Home Study!

So very excited that things are moving so quickly now! Believing that the Lord will provide the funds!

The Start Of Our Adoption Journey...

This post is all sorts of hurry up and wait. Such is life when it comes to adoption. However, you all need to know what's going on because things are sort of moving (sort of not) on the adoption front for our family. And you know how long I have been waiting and praying to say that. For those of you that don't know why adoption is such a part of our family, let me tell you...

I was four. Yes, four years old. Not old enough for school, but I was potty trained so there's that. I had seen the commercials on the tv talking about malnourished children in third world countries. I saw that commercial where they show children who have cleft lip/palate and I boldly announced, "Mom. I am going to adopt! Let's bring home a baby!" My mom did not quite share that sentiment. Literally, from that time I knew I would adopt. God obviously placed it on my heart...oh and you know...He commands us to look after orphans. It was a no brainer. Early on in my relationship with Josh (that's a joke guys...we met in August, started dating in October, and were engaged in December) I let him know that adoption was a non-negotiable for me. I truly believe that God wanted me to adopt and that it was so important that I believed the husband He designed for me would also have a heart for adoption. Thankfully Josh was more than on board.

Fast forward to 2010. We never knew we would get pregnant. We honestly never thought that I could. My body hates me...for reals...and yet, Eden came along anyway. And then Israel. Pregnancy was not something I had to have. In fact, honestly, while I was curious what it was like to be pregnant, I really just wanted children. It was hard for me to want to be pregnant when I knew there were MILLIONS of children without homes. Something I just can't personally handle (please note that this is just the way I felt and understand that others feel differently).



So, here we are. 2014. God THREW the doors open for our adoption. In a perfect world all of our student loans would be paid off (although I can happily announce that a few months ago we paid off all medical and credit card debt!!!!) and we would have tons in savings. While we do have money saved up for our adoption, it's not the full amount. And that is okay because we believe God has said we are to adopt now so we are trusting Him. We have been pre-approved with our agency, but we can't officially start our process until August 1 (128 days away if you were wondering).

Why August?

Well, I had planned on waiting until August to tell you WHERE we are adopting from, but since this is a huge piece in the puzzle, it's time to tell you now.

HAITI.

God literally threw it at us. Honestly, I didn't expect it. Africa has been on our hearts in a major way for so long that I had trouble understanding why ever single door to Africa closed and Haiti just kept popping up in the craziest of ways. I will share more about this once the adoption is officially underway...because there are still a few things I am working through in this.

For an adoption in Haiti, one parent must be 30 years old. This is a very new requirement and it is why Haiti was never even considered before because we didn't meet their previous requirements. I was told that we could begin the process when I am 29 years and 9 months old since our home study will not be completed until after I am 30 so we will then qualify. So for now, we wait. But you know we aren't just sitting around right? Because you know I don't know how to wait patiently.

Right now we are reading up on all things regarding international adoption. Preparing our hearts. Preparing our family. Getting our home ready. And...we have been working on opening up an online shop to begin fundraising. God knew we needed this time and although at first it was hard to think of waiting longer, it truly has been so wonderful for our family to have a date in mind, but to have this time to ready ourselves for the very exhausting journey ahead.

It is so hard to put everything that is on my heart into words. There is so much more to share. For now, let me end by saying this. While we are SO excited to grow our family, please know that there is also a really devastating part to adoption. Our future child will be ours because they lost their first family. This breaks our hearts. I have already shed so many tears on behalf of a baby I don't know yet and a family I may never meet. No matter what we will know of our child's story, their birth family will forever be a part of our family. We have been praying big prayers about how we can use our adoption to then help families to keep their children. Sadly, many families simply cannot afford to care for their babies. This is not okay. I will stop here because I can write about this forever, but please know that while we say just how excited we are to start our adoption, we also are pained for the heartbreak that had to happen as well.



How can you help? We will let you know about our shop soon. We will also have other ways you can help in the future. For now, we are having a FLASH SALE on adoption t-shirts that ends this Thursday night (March 27)!!!  My friend Sarah is letting us jump on board with their t-shirt fundraiser...I am so blessed by her friendship! Shirts are $24 (shipped). Adult sizes: S-XL (XXL-XXXL are $27) and Kids XS-XL. All orders are done through PayPal. Please send a "gift" payment to sarahlongrdh@yahoo.com -- in the notes section please include shirt size, shipping address, and that it is for the Crain's adoption. Please let me know if you have any questions!!

 

Thank you all for your love, support, and most importantly, your prayers! We will keep you updated as our journey unfolds!