The Golden Ticket

The record largest lottery drawing happened last night, everyone hoping they were the one with the "golden" ticket. 

I'm not against the lottery in theory, but I wish I heard more stories of people putting their winnings to good use, rather than squandering all the money on mansions, expensive cars, and who knows what else that puts their bank accounts back at ZERO.  I don't know if there's a winner, and I don't know how they'll spend their money.  What I do know is that I didn't buy a ticket.

What I've said I'd do with the money I won in the lottery has evolved over time.  When I bought my first lottery ticket at 18, I wanted the mansion, a personal chef, and to hire my hair stylist to fix my hair every day. (I have very thick hair, so I have a love/hate relationship with my blow dryer.)

I know what I would do with the money IF I won now.  As in, very specifically, I know where I would begin to sow in such a way that the money would continue to benefit many people, long after the initial money was spent.  And I do still dream of having my hair done every day.

But there were other places I needed to sow that money.  Take a look at any of the adoptive families on Reece's Rainbow and you'll see people who fundraise again and again, raising the ransom for their children who wait.  You'll see the Spitz family, whose story I just cannot do justice to in a quick blurb.  Please go read their beautiful story.  You'll meet the Rhodes family, a godly family so dear to us, especially since our stories have been woven together over these past several months.  You'll read about the Jenks family, who have been paper-chasing for so long, and are getting so close to their two children.  You'll find the Morton family, another local (to me) family finding themselves unexpectedly in the middle of an adoption of two boys, both 15 years old and near aging out of eligibility to be adopted.

Okay, I realize that it's just $5 for a ticket full of a potential $600 million.  But that's $5 that I know will benefit one of these families, versus $5 that was probably just eaten up in taxes off the top of someone's winnings.  Don't think that $1 or $5 is a big deal?  Yesterday morning, the lottery was at $540 million and by the time the numbers were announced, that number had jumped up another $100 million. 

If you'd like to put your $5 somewhere you can guarantee it's going to be well spent, follow any of those links above.  You'll even find some giveaways, where your odds will be a LOT better than 175 million to 1.  (Check back next week for a BIG giveaway here, to raise money for our foreign agency fees for Cullen!)

Two Times the Love Giveaway

These last two weeks of resting from fundraising have been very refreshing, and have given me a chance to focus on the needs of other adoptive families and the Playing Them Home event coming up in just a couple of weeks!

Now that we are sending commitment paperwork to our son's country, we'll have additional fees due upfront.  Which means that, even though we have a tax-deductible grant growing on Reece's Rainbow, we still need cash in hand now. {{{bangs head against table}}}

I'm working on a BIG giveaway, with LOTS AND LOTS of prizes!  There are 9 prizes right now, and I am so looking forward to sharing them with everyone!  (I've really been praying about a LARGE final prize, so my indecision means we're looking at early next week for the giveaway to start.)

Oh, and for those of you who are contributing to the tax-deductible grant, THANK YOU!!!  You won't be left out of a giveaway, either... I'll have one just for you!

There's This Boy...

Several weeks after committing to our daughter, Scott started looking through photolistings again.  Every few days, he'd email me a profile of an older boy, and every time I had to tell him he was looking in the wrong country.  He just couldn't stop thinking that we were bringing home a boy, too.

My friend, Mandy, her husband, Marty, and their two kids had come to our home for dinner one evening, and I mentioned that Scott was looking for our son.  The next night, I had a message from Mandy.  It read, "Here's his profile :) No pressure... bring Cullen home, please, please, please ;)".

I clicked on the link, and I saw such a familiar face staring back from the screen, so much like the face of our daughter waiting in EE.  And I knew.  I ran down to our family room with the netbook to show Scott the profile, and then I left him alone.

All along, I've given the responsibility of softening Scott's heart to our child(ren) up to God, because I don't want this to be a Chandres thing.  This is all about us following God's command, not Scott following his nagging wife's whines and pleas.

It has taken a lot of prayer, a lot of talking about whether we feel equipped to take on two more children, a lot of realizing that we're in for a BIG adjustment period.  But when we look at his photo, we see our son.  And that is enough to make us move forward.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't scary, stepping further into the unknown.  When you choose to adopt one child, everyone thinks you're doing something great; when you announce that you're adopting two, there is less happiness, and more worry in the responses.  And that's okay.  We're not adopting to earn praises, we're adopting in response to God's command for our family.

We are very, VERY excited that we are now adopting two children; in a sense, it's like finding out at the ultrasound that you're actually expecting twins!  Of course, the kids are thrilled, but they'd be okay with us bringing home every child in EE so, as long as they're not upset, we'll take that as a good sign.

We can't wait to announce who we're adding to our family, and we'll be on the New Commitments page on Reece's Rainbow, hopefully within the next few days!  In the meantime, this does add more agency fees, about $3500, and the foreign agency wants those ASAP.  So, while I still feel weary from fundraising around $8,000 (and paying over $11,000) in two months, it is onward we go...

(And this is for my dad.)

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, 
with the cross of Jesus going on before. 
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; 
forward into battle see his banners go! 

At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee; 
on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! 
Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise; 
brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Like a mighty army moves the church of God; 
brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. 
We are not divided, all one body we, 
one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, 
but the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail; 
we have Christ's own promise, and that cannot fail. 

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng, 
blend with ours your voices in the triumph song. 
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King, 
this through countless ages men and angels sing.

Monday Morning Update 3.26.12

Recap from last week:

We paid our homestudy fees, and now we're waiting to talk to the social worker to get our first of three visits done ASAP!

All of our Reece's Rainbow "Family Sponsorship Program" (FSP) paperwork ready to send in, just as soon as we get that first appointment scheduled.  This means tax-deductible donations!

The check for my passport cleared the bank, so I'm hoping this means my little book is coming in the mail soon!

We've paid $11,084 since January, and you can see where all of that money has gone, and where the money on the ticker is going next.  $837 is due soon, and we're almost there!

We're hanging on to a BIG announcement, so as soon as I can, I'll post the news!  Stay tuned!

The Real Hunger Games

I have to be honest, I haven't read the books, I have no desire to see the movie.   As a mom, something about watching children kill each other just doesn't appeal to me.  But this morning, I heard that "The Hunger Games" is expected to bring in $130,000,000, just this weekend.

People are paying $10 a ticket, plus the price of popcorn and a drink, to watch children fight to their deaths.  And yet, when people blog about REAL children who are fighting for their LIVES, others turn a blind eye, refuse to acknowledge the truth.

They refuse to see the children who weigh 10 lbs. at 9 years old, or even 14 lbs. at 14 years old.  Children who have been so poorly treated for so many years that their hopes of ever developing mentally beyond a young child are small. 

That there are 5 year olds who are swallowed up by 18 month clothes.

People think their $10 gifts don't matter, that it's not enough.  They apologize for giving such a "small" gift.  But if every person heading to the theater this weekend would drop another $10 in just one adoption fund, over 5,000 children could leave the life of the orphanage behind, come home to their forever families.

FIVE. THOUSAND.  Please, go choose a child.  Just $10.  And if you'd like to help the children in the most need, there's another blog raising money for the orphans in Pleven, Bulgaria, where 240 children are suffering just like those pictured above.  A doctor in Bulgaria has agreed to treat the children at no charge, but there are still supplies needed.  Please visit www.only1mom.com to learn more.  And you can see how gifts add up, as the fund has already raised $29,000.  But it's not enough.  There are already 30 children hospitalized, some needing multiple surgeries.  That's less than $1,000 per child, people.

So, when you head out to watch a movie about children fighting to their deaths, remember that there are REAL children fighting for their LIVES. 

Q&A #1

The number one question we're asked is "Why aren't you adopting domestically, when there are so many kids who need homes here?"

It is a very fair question, and I'll give you our honest answer, one that we spent a lot of time working through ourselves.  First, let me say that we didn't discuss our initial desires to adopt with many people, and the people we did discuss it with have gone through or are going through adoptions of their own, or people we could trust to help us work through our thoughts without trying to force theirs on us.  Even our families knew nothing about it (and I am very proud of my children for not saying anything, as they have been part of the discussion almost since Day 1).

We first looked at domestic waiting child adoption, and after speaking with several agencies, they did not feel our family would be ideal for the majority of the waiting children they were working to place.  Most of the waiting children are in therapeutic foster care, and some cannot be around other children or animals, for the safety of the children and animals.  This was the case for every specific child or sibling group we inquired about.

We then began looking into adoption through foster care, and attended orientation.  Scott and I were excited about the possibility of adding to our family this way, but it was bothering Elijah that the placements would most likely not be permanent, or would take a long time to make permanent.  We also discussed the challenges of homeschooling our biological kids and sending off to public school our foster kids. Simply trying to adopt a child that becomes available for adoption through the foster care system is very difficult, as 85% of foster children who become available for adoption are adopted by their foster parents.


We were asked why we didn't look into domestic special needs adoption, and I'm actually happy to say that there's a waiting list for the sweet babies with Down Syndrome whose mothers choose to give them life.  International adoption may seem expensive, once you factor in three agencies' fees and travel expenses, but domestic adoption can be just as, or more, expensive. 

So we found ourselves looking into international adoption, and here we are!

The First Gift

I am such a fan of Etsy, for several reasons.  First, I'm helping an individual when I purchase their items; second, handmade gifts are so much better than anything you can find on a store shelf; third, there are a lot of wonderful people there!

Charlie, a stay-at-home homeschooling mom (like me!), is doing something amazing in the Etsy world!  She and several friends of hers are making adorable bunnies, and allowing their buyers to choose a waiting child or adoptive family on Reece's Rainbow to receive 100% of the profit from the purchase!

I have been looking for the perfect first gift for our sweet girl, and this adorable button-eyed bunny is it!  Please check out Charlie's shop, To Catch Rainbows, to get your bunny!  They're selling fast, so scoop one up while you can!