One of the ways I'm raising funds is by selling things that I've made. Like these lovely bean bags! I spent the weekend making marble mazes and dolls. I haven't got the dolls finished yet but maybe that will happen tomorrow because it's a holiday!!!
For those of you who are reading this and don't know me here's some info.
I'm 32 yrs old. I run a daycare and have looked after children for 13 yrs. I've also worked with adults with mental disabilities for 12 yrs on the weekends. (Well, mostly on the weekends. In the last year I've picked up many more shifts in order to save up money.)
I love my jobs.
I knit and quilt and sew and craft. I'd rather make it than buy it.
I love the Lord Jesus.
I own my own house. The bank is going to get the boot in a few years when the mortgage is paid off. That makes me happy, happy, happy.
My car is old. So, so old. My car is so old, it's old enough to get it's driver's license. 16 yrs old! But it's a trusty (and slightly rusty) old thing and it hasn't let me down too many times.
I rarely get to bed on time.
I am STILL a student. I've been taking my Early Childhood Education courses by Distance Ed for years. The end is nearer than ever and I hope to be done before I bring my son home. I would love very much to be done reading text books.
Being a student in your 30's is hard. Being a student and doing an adoption is harder yet.
I have a pet tarantula. Her name is Rosie and I've had her for 15 years. She officially sets the record for the thing I've kept alive the longest. Including plants. I don't know how old she was when I got her so I have no idea how old she actually is. I've read that they can live up to 30 years.
Rosie eats meal worms.
I have a tarantula and a meal worm farm in my bedroom. People find that strange for some reason. I can't imagine why.
I also have a cat. She's slightly round and fairly good with children. Right now she's sleeping. Her main source of activity is moving from one sleeping spot to another. Not a big fitness buff that one.
So check out my etsy store if you'd like. Maybe you'll find something that needs to come home with you. 100% of the sales go directly to the adoption fees.
Marble mazes are super cool. Every child should have one.
Mrs. Dawson, my jr high English teacher, always said if you can't figure out what to write, just start writing and the words will come.
So here we go!
It's been over a year since God put adoption on my heart when I cried out to him to change my life. I spent all of 2012 asking God if this was really what he wanted and researching adoption. This was definitely a different path than I ever imagined I'd be on. It wasn't the handsome husband and perfect children I thought I "deserved". I had to let go of that dream and surrender to God's plan.
In the spring of last year I somehow stumbled upon Reece's Rainbow. I don't remember how I found them. It was probably on someone's blog.
Reece's Rainbow is an organization that advocates for special needs orphans and helps families raise money to adopt them. Until this time my only knowledge of orphanages was God's Littlest Angels in Haiti. This is a top notch, well run baby and toddler home. Volunteers are always there loving on the babies and playing with the children. If you are a child waiting for a forever family GLA is the place to be!
When I found Reece's Rainbow my eyes were opened to the horrible conditions that children with disabilities are existing in in Eastern Europe. Stories of 10 lb nine year olds with Down syndrome shocked me.
I have worked with adults with Ds, Autism, FAS and mental delays for nearly 12 years. I know how much these people are capable of. How fulfilling their lives are! These children in mental institutions have value! They were created by God just like you and I. I couldn't fathom how someone could just discard their own child like that. I understand a bit more now.
When a mother in Eastern Europe gives birth to a child with a disability she is told by the doctor that the child will be better off in an institution. There is no therapy or support available for the child and the mother knows no one else who has a baby like this. She has no one to tell her that her child can have a beautiful future. So she agrees and gives her baby to the doctor and he tells her to "go home and try to make a better one". It wasn't so long ago that mothers in this situation in North America were told the same thing.
The child is then shipped off to the baby orphanage. Sometimes these institutions are okay. Sometimes that precious little one is loved by the nannies. But even if he is loved he is still just one of so many that the nanny is in charge of. It would be impossible for her to spend even 10 minutes rocking him because there are other babies that need fed. Often there are not enough diapers for more than one change a day. Food is given in bottles with the nipples cut bigger. The food comes out so quickly the baby can barely keep up with the flow. They are fed and changed but no one says,
"You are special."
"You are loved."
When the child turns 4 or 5 they get a birthday present no one wants. A one way ticket to a mental institution! Here children that cause trouble are tied to their cribs or drugged. Sometimes causing trouble means self harming. In order to get some sort of stimulation they will hit or scratch themselves just so they can feel something. These children have given up on crying because they quickly learn as infants that crying does nothing. So they moan and rock and self sooth by banging their heads on their crib, day after empty day. Many, many of these special children do not last more than a few years before they are mercifully returned to God's arms.
You might think that I'm being over dramatic and making some of this up. We live in such a privileged country that it's hard for us to even imagine what this kind of existence would be like. I can show you many blogs of families who have been to these institutions and brought children home. I can show you before and after pictures of children that went from malnourished and self harming to children who have blossomed when they are in a loving family.
It is real.
So what does God want us to do about it?
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
then he will sit on his glorious throne.32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate
people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33And
he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.35For
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me,36I
was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and
you came to me.’37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?38And
when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?39And
when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40And
the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the
least of these my brothers,f you did it to me.’ Matt 25: 31-40
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world. James 1:27
It doesn't take a biblical scholar to see that God wants us to do something. Is every Christian called to adopt? Probably not, but everyone is called to do something. That might mean funding well managed orphanages, sponsoring a child or supporting families who are adopting. God has blessed me with enough income to do all those and now he's calling me to do more. I truly believe this is God's will for me even if it is a bit unusual to be doing this as a single person.
So, you ask, how is this going to work?
That's a good question blog reader.
So far I have paid my application fee to an adoption agency to start the process to adopt from a country in Eastern Europe. I will have my home study done in April. Once I pass that I gather a stack of documents a mile high and those are compiled into a dossier. The dossier is sent to the government and they decide if I'd be a good parent. Then it's sent to another agency in ON and translated and then sent to my child's country. After that I'll be matched with a child that fits my specifications. Once I accept the referral I'll travel to meet my son and do some more paperwork. After I come home a lawyer will represent me in court, in the child's country, and convince a judge that it is in the child's best interests to have me as his mother. Once I pass court I can travel to his country again, complete more paperwork, and then bring my son home. I'm told that this is a 18-24 month process.
How much is this going to cost, Corinna?
God has led me to one of the least costly countries to adopt from! The total fees, and lawyer bills and travel come in around $30,000. Depending on what time of the year I travel airplane tickets vary quite a bit so that's just an approximate number for now.
Do you have $30,000 Corinna?
Umm, no. No, I certainly do not. I started saving up a year ago and I have managed to accumulate $10,200. Get used to me being public on this blog about money. I've never understood this attitude we have where it's not "politically correct" to talk about money. If we talked about money I think we'd be more accountable and fewer of us would be in debt. Besides, I'm not talking about my money. It's God's money! All the glory for this adoption goes to Him!
So why not just take out a loan?
Ten years ago I probably would have. To me debt was something everyone had. You buy the thing and then pay for it later. I'm so thankful that God woke me up to how wrong that way of thinking is and I've been debt free (except the mortgage) for four years.
Imagine if I did take out a loan and then paid it back over time. Who would get the glory for this adoption? Me! I would be doing it under my own power. That's not what I want.
I want people to see the power God has and the power His people have through Him. I want to raise awareness for orphans and the situations they're in. I want other people out there to be moved by what God is doing in my life and I want them to wonder if maybe they should be advocating for the orphan too. And maybe, just maybe, someone else will decide to adopt a special needs orphan.
I am trusting that God will supply all the funds needed. Interesting fact, nowhere in the bible does God say, "Hey there, I want you to go do this really great thing in my name. You're on your own for the funding though. That's not my area!"
This a prayer or blessing that the author of Hebrews ends with, reminding the Hebrew Christians that God will give them everything they need to do what He wants us to do.
This seems like a good place to end. Turns out Mrs. Dawson was right. Once you start writing the words come. :o)
