stolen our hearts...

Disclaimer: this could be a looong post. :)

2nd disclaimer: I can't believe how God has moved our hearts from one place to another. He is so crazy-good to bring us where we are to be open to just the right child for us. But I say this because you may have noticed (as we have too) that we've been all over the map at times! We just thought we knew better what we needed when God's known best all along. I actually wonder if there have been times when He's just giggled at all our attempts to create this, when He knows He's the Creator. Including the Creator of families. Even this little family right here.

So here's the story of how this all unfolded...

As you probably remember, many weeks ago we learned that Ethiopia was putting the breaks on their adoption proceedings. We immediately started to re-evaluate the direction we were headed. All along, we were open to adopting a child whose deaf, however that wasn't our first priority (a sibling pair was) -- although deafness was in our home study. In our minds, we thought a great match for us would be a sibling pair, both children within the age range of infancy to 6 years old, preferably both girls (but a sister-brother pair would've been fine) and one or both of the children being deaf. This was starting to feel like a tall order, so we were fine with accepting a sibling pair without deafness involved. Then, when Ethiopia pulled back and we had to change course, we both felt led to pursue a child with special needs. A deaf child. It just felt like the natural progression. In a full-circle kind of way, it answered the question for us as to why I worked with the deaf for so many years; why I grew to love and appreciate this wonderful community of people; and why JD traveled alongside me during those years causing him to also be very comfortable deafness. So, off we went! China Special Needs, here we come!

So the last several weeks have been spent adjusting our home study from Ethiopia to China. In fact, at this very moment, our home study's not officially approved for China because we're waiting for background checks to come back from North Carolina and Tennessee. But once those come back -- hopefully they won't notice JD's extensive criminal record! :) -- we're ready to pounce!

Well, there is one other little thing we've been doing over these past couple of weeks...

...we've been gazing at the face of an adorable little boy on a webpage.

I stumbled upon his photo on an adoption advocacy website called Rainbow Kids. I registered with Rainbow Kids many months ago before we were even a client of Wide Horizons and probably around the time of us starting our home study. The great thing about Rainbow Kids is that in addition to providing support in the way of resources, articles and general advocacy, it brings adoption agencies together. Children assigned to many, many agencies are placed on Rainbow Kids' photolisting so these children have a greater chance of being 'found.'

I get regular (maybe once or twice a week) automated emails when a child is added to the Rainbow Kids' photolisting. One day, a month or more ago, I got an email about a little boy. His sweet little smile and sparkly eyes drew me in. This little guy isn't deaf and I had become pretty one-track-minded that we were to adopt a deaf child, so I didn't give it much thought. As has been the case at other times in this crazy, rollercoaster-of-a-process we've been pretty sure God was leading us one way (Ethiopia, siblings, girls, deafness) and then it turned out to be another...such a test of faith and trust!

I was asked not to mention his name on this blog, so again I bite my tongue, but one day I'll tell you his name and you'll chuckle. At least we did. It's kinda crazy...

Payton became enamored with him. She started asking for me to pull up the Rainbow Kids website each day to look at his picture. When she had her best bud spend the night a couple of Saturdays ago, she asked me if she could show his photo to her. She made comments here and there. Then one day, maybe ten days ago, I told JD that Payton's been talking about 'little guy' quite a bit and asked if we can adopt him. JD quietly confessed that he too has been thinking about this boy.

Oh, reeeally?

You have been drawn in?

Until this moment, he hasn't wanted to 'go there.' He hasn't wanted to look at children on-line. He hasn't wanted to discuss anything in regard to specific children until we're further along in the process. He just treads lightly. I love him for that. Ya wanna know why? Because when he steps or bites or buys in, I know it's big.

There was a situation a month or more ago when I found out that a little deaf boy who was on the Rainbow Kids' website was still on there by mistake and that he had actually been adopted (praise God for that!), but it taught me that perhaps there are occasions when kids could be posted by mistake. And around that same time, our social worker made the comment that Wide Horizons doesn't lock children's files as some other agencies do. Wide Horizon's position on this is that they want all the children registered with them to be available to as many families as possible to increase their chances of being adopted. None of this meant much to me at the time, but was about to...

I asked JD if he thought we should at least send an email and see if this little guy is actually available. He says with a small grin, 'Yeh, I think we should ask.'

I send the email to the social worker he's assigned to.

She replies back that he's available, but assigned to their agency and includes her agency's application, fee schedule, etc.

Gulp.

Does that mean she wants us to apply to that agency which means we'd have to start all over in order to adopt him? Not a wise option. That would be a deal breaker.

I felt heavy-hearted.

I forwarded her email to our social workers at Wide Horizons and asked them if they could locate him on the China Special Children registry meaning that he's available to all agencies.

And I replied to his social worker and explained that we're already on board with Wide Horizons and asked if that meant that we could not pursue him.

This was on Monday night the 11th.

I decided that night that regardless of whether this little boy was meant for us, we needed to be praying for him: praying for his family to find him, praying for peace in his little heart until then, praying that if we're the family God has for him that all barriers to him will be removed. I printed four photos of him -- one for JD, one for Payton, one for Avery, and one for me. (In hindsight, I probably should've included Brooks and Jackson too? hmm. I find myself still thinking they're too young for this and that, but they're not! Wow...our big boys!). I gave the photos out and explained to the girls to put hers somewhere where she'd see it regularly and each time she sees his little face to say a prayer for him.

Tuesday came. It was a busy day -- all the kids to school, errands to run. All morning as I ran around town, I wondered if the much-anticipated email from his social worker was waiting in my inbox. It would be a tipping point. Yes or No. You can pursue him or no, you can't. I just wanted to get home to know.

I got home around 2:00 that afternoon and...nothing from his social worker. But there was an email from ours in response to my question about whether he's on the shared registry:

Hi Heather,

Thanks for message. This little boy is adorable. I have just checked on the CCCWA website and he is not available there. It seems that another agency has locked his file as is possible with Special Focus children. It looks like there is a contact below to request additional info which I would recommend if you are interested in following-up.

I sink.

'Lord, bring him the family you have for him -- even if it's not us. But, Lord, I wish it were us.'

I talk to JD and he asks if I've heard anything. I fill him in and we talk about how we wish we could have access to him. We just felt like there was something about him. He said, "Honey, be patient. His social worker didn't reply to your email until late the other night so she must be on a different schedule than us." God building patience in me. Again. The story of this adoption journey's life.

Payton and Avery were asking if we're adopting him. I told them we have no idea, we've simply asked if he can be made available for us to try.

Waiting. Checking email. Waiting. Checking email. Waiting.

I fix dinner and feed the kids because I'm supposed to head out right when JD gets home to meet girlfriends from my former MOPS days for dinner. He walks in and the kids maul him. Love that. :) But before I leave I have to check my email just one more time.

And there it is.

This is what it reads:

Hi Heather,

He has been assigned to our agency, however I am so anxious to place this little guy and if you feel you are the family for him, we would consider releasing his file to your agency. Please have your agency contact me with regard to this if you are serious and in the meantime, I will go ahead and send you his file. Since he is specific to our agency you may take longer than 72 hours if necessary but I cannot place him on "hold" if another one of our families comes forward. Please keep this file confidential except to share with a doctor.

A surge goes through my body! I am relieved. I am elated.

'JD! We can have him! She says we can have him if we want him!'

'Huh?! What?!' he yells from the other room.

Right then, he turns the corner and we lock eyes. The look on his face matches mine. His eyes are smiling. He's smiling. We're in disbelief. We know this is it. The moment we've been waiting for.

And then there are five emails from his social worker. Bam. Bam. Bam. One after the other.

You guys, they're full of photos, a video and information on our little guy. And I cannot wait to share them with you!

The kids are feeding off our excitement and feel the joy! They start asking with anticipation, 'We can adopt him!? We're adopting him!?' I call everyone over to pile onto the couch so we can lay our eyes on him together -- all eyes, all hearts at the same time. I start opening the emails one by one.

He's awesome. He's precious. He's perfect. Just the way God made him.

He was abandoned. Found on the street. At four days old. Left.

John 14:18

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (NIV)

Good gracious.

I fired off an email to our social worker asking that she contact his social worker as soon as she can to request that his file be transferred to our agency and locked with us. Locked.

That's where we are now. His social worker has spoken to their contacts in China and explained that his file is being transferred to another agency and our agency will take it from there. Because it's not officially locked with us 'yet' we can't share his photos and name, etc. But he's been removed from Rainbow Kids' website and his file should be locked any day.

Guess what, guys? In our conversation with our social worker yesterday, she told us this rarely happens. Rarely are files unlocked and transferred to another agency, but his social worker clearly felt like a family had come for him. We have come for him. God is moving mountains for this little boy.

We will not leave you an orphan; we are coming for you, little guy.

Back to the couch...

We all look at the photos and video. I wipe a few tears. JD squeezes my shoulder. He's moved too. We all ooh and ahh. And I go down the line and ask the children, 'So do you guys think we should try to adopt this little guy?'

I point to each child.

'Jackson?'

'Yes!'

'Avery?'

'Yes!'

'Brooks?'

'Yes!'

'Payton?'

'Yes!'

'Daddy?'

'Yes!'

Then, Avery asks in the most sincere voice, 'Mommy, what about when he goes to school one day? What if the kids tease him?'

I say, 'That, honey, is why he needs a family. That's why he needs us to tell him we love him just the way he is. Someone to remind him that God made him just the way he is. And that's why he'll need us in life to stand up for him, to encourage him, to be there for him.'

She has an ah-ha moment. She gets it.

Then, Brooks cocks his head to JD and says, 'Daddy? Will we need to get him a crate?'

'Huh?'

'A crate, Daddy? Won't he need a crate?'

JD and I look at each other above the children's heads. Uhhh? And then it hits me!

'A crib, buddy? Do you mean a crib?'

He looks at me and says, 'Yeh, Momma, a crib! He'll need a crib!'

'You're right! He will need a crib! We'll get him a crib.'

'Can he sleep in our room?' Brooks and Jackson are already working out sleeping arrangements.

'Maybe. Maybe he can be on the bottom bunk with bed rails?' I suggest.

'Yeehhh. He can have the bottom bunk!'

This little guy will be two in August. It could be a year before we bring him home. But we're going to persevere like crazy through the paperwork we have to get done. We have a new motivation! We're doing all this for someone. Our someone. A little boy on the other side of the world!

(Thanks for hanging in there with this ridiculously long post).

I can't believe I'm writing this!

We believe we've found the one.

The child that was meant for our family.

Our little guy.

Our son.

Holy cow.

I can barely figure out what to say! And I'm so very sorry that my last post was about us just deciding to go the route of China Special Needs and this one is about, well, not a program or a country or a gender, but a child. A breathing, eating, sleeping, living, true person out there on the other side of the Earth. Omigosh. I can barely believe I'm writing these words!

I want to write so, so much more about him and tell you every knitty-gritty detail of how we were led to him, but I can only share so much right now because frankly there's so much red tape with this adoption stuff that it's downright ridiculous (the powers that be won't allow us to share much -- yet!). We're not 'officially matched' with him yet. That will likely happen in the very near future, but right now his file's being transferred from his agency to ours (by our request) so we can pursue him. This in and of itself is a huge triumph! (I'll explain, I'll explain!). Once we officially receive his file, we'll have a few days to have it reviewed by medical professionals. We're not overly concerned about having this done because he doesn't have a condition that depending on the report from the medical community would sway our decision to adopt him.

I know I'm rambling. I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts, but just wanted to let you know that we've found him and love him already. Every single one of us. The last two days have been awesome. I'll lay it out for you blow-by-blow as soon as I can -- maybe Friday.

We have a conference call with our social worker with Wide Horizons at 10 AM on Friday, so we'll know more after that. In fact, I'll ask her if I can post photos and the most adorable video of him! Omigosh! I just know you all are going to love him too! He's a honey. Pure and simple. And you will not believe his 'name.' C.r.a.z.y.

Gotta scoot! More soon, I promise!

finally, a decision...

I don't know if I'll ever be one of those bloggers who posts a couple times a week let alone every day, so sorry if you're looking for frequent updates. I just can't seem to get on here more than once a week. I dunno...perhaps when things are trucking along more and there's more to update you on, I'll be a little more 'on it.' Nonetheless...

The good news is that we've finally made a decision surrounding where we think God would like to take our adoption journey. We're headed to China! Specifically to adopt through the China Special Needs or China Special Focus program. Wow. Kinda crazy, but very exciting. Of course, this process is feeling a little blind to me, so who knows what course God will take us on truly. I will rule out nothing now that I know things can change on a dime. And the more stories I hear, the more I'm learning that this is adoption. Shift, twist, turn, change. Up, down and everywhere. We care less about the direction (specifically the country) we go in and more about staying in step with God and where the Holy Spirit is leading us. For me, easier said than done sometimes.

Little did we know that switching countries would be so involved. We're having to apply within our agency to the China Program. More paperwork. We're having to contact families who've adopted from China Special Needs to speak to them about their experience. We're having to do background checks in all the states that we've lived in since we were 18. Just different requirements by different countries (China vs. Ethiopia). However, we're very excited to be moving forward again after a two-month stalemate. Although, I've had much peace about being at a standstill. It was kind of refreshing to sit, gather, ponder, consider and re-evaluate.

We have a busy weekend ahead, but we're hoping to get some of this new paperwork filled out and submitted next week. Then we'll be officially working on our dossier and moving toward actually 'meeting' the little boy or girl who will join our family. By 'meeting' I mean just knowing who s/he is.

It also looks like because we're open to adopting a deaf child that s/he could be pretty young. As young as two when we would actually get him/her, but perhaps older. Yes, in some ways it seems crazy to go back to having little, little children again, but it also seems pretty easy imagining having just one little child versus two. One high-chair, one carseat, one sippy cup, one in diapers, one, one, one. Funny how God prepares us for what's ahead in life -- even when we're blind to what's ahead. Not to mention we truly have two serious little mamas on our hands now. When our boys were born, Payton and Avery were only four and two. There was no way they could help out with their little brothers -- they were just toddlers themselves! Now, they'd be a huge help. And you should see their faces when they imagine having a 'baby' brother or sister. In fact, at Avery's gymnastics gym there are two friends who have little toddlers -- a 2-year-old and a 14-month-old -- and Payton is awesome with them. She follows them around the gym keeping an eye on them as they toddle around. She reads to them; plays with them. They're drawn to her and frankly she's drawn to them. It's neat to imagine our kids loving all over a younger sibling. Pretty sweet.

God moved mountains for a family I heard about who was tragically short funds to travel to get the daughter they are adopting. They were leaving in two days and were short, get this, $8000. Some bloggers put out a plea and God's people sowed seeds and they raised all the money in 48 hours -- this is after months and months of fundraising and trying to figure out how to get the money together. They were convinced they weren't going to be able to travel to get their daughter. Well, I'm happy to report that they left on Saturday and are there. If you want to read about it and see a true example of how God moves in His people, click here. Very, very awesome to me. You might want to start with the March 25th post. Beyond incredible that they're in-country because God's people responded. Pure and simple.

Oh! There was one more really cool thing that happened this week that I should mention! Our church had an adoption interest meeting and the response was great. It's great to hear of people who are being called to respond to the orphan crisis whether it be through adopting themselves or through advocacy and support. We can't wait to see what God does with this group.

still here!

Just wanted to do a quick post to let you know we're still here! Just not rushing any decisions right now. Still considering the China Special Needs (aka China Special Focus) route, but trying to be sure. There are just so many things to consider.

We've been told that adopting from that registry of children can be swift which is fine and good, but can also cause us to have to deal with a third agency because the children on that registry come from many, many agencies so there are hoops to jump through to have a child transferred, if you will, from another agency to Wide Horizons (our agency). It's not uncommon, but sometimes there's a waiting period (like 3 months) during which the child has to remain with his/her original agency before they can be adopted by a family outside of that agency. I know -- we feel the same way -- more caveats. Nonetheless, we're taking our time to consider all the angles.

Then, yesterday, I was at Avery's gymnastics gym and the father of one of the gymnasts approached me. He's a pastor and when he and I were introduced a week or two ago by a mutual friend she told him of our plans to adopt. He told us he had traveled to Ethiopia many times and will likely be going back in a month or so. He remembered from our first meeting that our plans to adopt from Ethiopia were up in the air so he approached me to say that he knew of Japanese orphans and refugees who will be coming to the States due to the tsunami and he wanted to let me know in case we'd like to consider adopting them. Omigoodness. Seriously? I always marvel at what God could be doing. I realize this may not be the direction that He's taking us, but it did cause me to wonder for a second if there's any connection between our adoption being paused right now and this man approaching me with this possibility.

When the earthquake happened in Haiti we heard the same thing (that orphans and refugees were coming here and needed families to take them in). We tried to respond, but were told we couldn't take in children (even temporarily) without a completed home study. Adoption wasn't on our radar at that time, so we hadn't even begun the process. God is so cool -- it's awesome to think that we're actually in the position to respond this time.

Will keep you posted once we make a firm decision.

Oh, and if I may...any of you who feel drawn to the plight of orphans, some friends of ours are really advocating in an amazing way for some families who are truly in the throws of a mine field of obstacles -- financial and legal. If you would like to learn a little more and lift these families and the children they're trying to adopt in prayer, it's much, much, much needed. Wow, do these situations need prayer.

(Make sure to read back a couple of posts -- I believe the first one is a plea of some sort and then you'd want to read the most recent one. They're linked).

Click here to learn more.

humbled

This past week has been humbling. Sometimes when God moves, I just feel humbled that I ever wonder if He does.

We're humbled that people are enthusiastically responding to our church's first ever 'interest meeting' around adoption.

We're humbled that we just found out that the woman who works at Bethany Christian Services (I mentioned her several posts back because she spoke at an adoption prayer meeting I attended and I called and spoke to her the next day about the shortage of adoptive parents in the Richmond area) goes to our church. She's (understandably) hugely supportive of our church's desire to support adoption. Our church is growing fast and I didn't even know she's part of our very own worship community! These 'small world' experiences humble me that there are no coincidences with God.

But mostly, we're humbled this past week by the generosity of dear friends. Friends who (whether they know it or not) were powerfully used by the Lord many years ago to guide us to Him. Friends who have allowed us to peek into what a surrendered life looks like. Friends who, before we knew anyone else who did such a thing -- and did it when my heart couldn't even comprehend it (thankfully, it can now) -- downsized because they were convicted that they had more than they needed and would be living life more by God's design if they had less of what we all tend to strive for (worldly things). These dear friends have left us humbled because they, our peers in so many ways, have come forward to say they want to contribute toward our adoption expenses.

Instant tears.

When I saw the subject line 'want to help' in my inbox, it didn't even occur to me that they could possibly be offering what they offered. We know there are people who are called to adoption, but aren't called to adopt. We've heard the stories. People who are called by God to respond to the orphan crisis, but know God's not calling them to be adoptive parents. I heard a story recently of someone who covered the entire cost of one child's adoption for a family that they didn't even know because what they did know is that God was asking them to make that adoption happen. It's amazing really. Amazing that God can move in the hearts of those who love Him so those who love Him will be His hands and feet. We are His hands and feet, you know? And these friends are being just that.

We are just humbled by this whole process. Perhaps that's the reason behind all this. Perhaps this is the reason we weren't awarded funding by Abba Fund because these are opportunities God's creating to show Himself. I just believe it. Thank you, dear friends. You know who you are. :)

As an update to the changes that are happening in Ethiopia, it looks right now (and things can change, so don't fully hold me to this) that we may stay on the path of not adopting from there because things appear shaky. Our concern is that we could proceed with Ethiopia and get further along in the process -- perhaps having already accepted a referral meaning that we would have our children identified and be pursuing adopting them versus just adopting -- and then they will pull the plug entirely on adoptions there leaving hundreds of families waiting years and years and years for the children they've fallen in love with. This has been the experience for some friends of ours here in Richmond and they're still waiting three years later for their son (whom they've even met) because adoptions are on hold indefinitely in his country. It's a tragedy.

Having said all that, God has placed such peace in our hearts (when there was a time when there was not peace around this idea) that we're to adopt a deaf child from China. Yes, I said 'child' not 'children.' And, as crazy as it is for me to say this because we were so okay with adopting siblings, we feel great peace and joy at the idea of adopting just one child from China (they won't allow two with special needs -- nor will our agency) who is deaf. But we do still feel strongly about our family consisting of at least two adoptive children (yes, we have something with even numbers!) so it is very likely that we'll adopt again. But only God knows what's truly in store for us. And we'll take this one step (and perhaps one child) at a time.

Prayers have been raised to the heavens and we feel they're being heard and answered. We're very grateful. However, your prayers are still very much appreciated. We do covet them. We do ask mostly for discernment so that as each twist and turn comes, we'll know which path to take.

We have a call in to the woman in charge of the China Special Needs program with our agency and will know more about this program and how adopting a deaf child from China will work. I have seen so very many deaf children through various websites that send us automated emails of children waiting to be adopted. It was always an option to adopt a deaf child, even from Ethiopia (our home study stated that we are open to deafness), but it seemed like a long shot with Ethiopia and there are so very many in China. China Special Needs is an extensive program that needs so many adoptive parents to adopt these children. These little cuties will melt your heart.

Let me share this precious scripture that's warmed my heart of late:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

Omigosh, I could go on and on about each little bit of these verses and how they resonate with me, but it's probably pretty obvious.

Love to all!

Dagnabit, Ethiopia.

If you keep up with adoption stuff, you've heard (from various entities, articles and blogs) that Ethiopia's slowing things down a bit (more specifically, one estimate is that they're scaling back from processing 40 adoptions per day to just five per day). Sometimes countries do this to reevaluate their processes and regulations. Sometimes they do this because things are getting a little loosey-goosey and they need to reign things in a little or perhaps they've bitten off more than they can chew and they need to catch up. Sometimes they do this because there's political strife or unrest there. Whatever the reason, it's a mess to adoptions that are in process. So, lucky for us, ours is not in process.

We're very fortunate that we haven't started our dossier and even more fortunate (thank you, Lord) that we didn't hop right on filing the immigration paperwork. This is the perfect time to change course, if need be. JD and I aren't convinced that switching countries is necessary (yet) and neither is our social worker (we had a conference call with her today). But it is a good time to pause (ahhh...pauses, so many pauses), do some research, ask some questions and see if anything is resolved in Ethiopia while we do so.

The logical question is, "So what if Ethiopia remains stalled and doesn't pick back up?"

Well, we're considering other countries as a back-up plan. Colombia is one, but requires a several week stay in-country, so we had originally ruled that one out. Philippines were an option, but they have apparently slowed down a lot over the last many months. Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rawanda are others. We should know more in the next several days. For now, we'll just sit tight and count our blessings that we were not too far in to reassess the situation.

I'll keep you posted!

Oh! And thank you to those of you who've purchased t-shirts! You're awesome. :)

just 30 days!

Various conversations around why we didn't get funding from Abba Fund have led me to want to answer a couple of questions.

1. We knew instantly we didn't want to perseverate too much on the whys in regard to our not being funded by Abba. Rejection's the perfect place for Satan to take hold and we've been down that road, thank you very much. So we will not allow any opportunities for him to begin to stir doubt and confusion in our minds again. Having said that, we learned very quickly from talking to others who have adopted and who've sought funding that this is pretty common. The very woman with Abba Fund who notified us that they weren't going to be able to help us said that she and her husband were turned down multiple times when they were seeking help with their adoptions. Yet God clearly provided and they have two adoptive children. :)

2. There's the possibility that these funding sources are low on funds. Go figure with the economy being what it is. It stinks though to think that there are children out there without families whose adoptions will be delayed (or perhaps never happen!) simply because of lack of funds! What a ridiculous reason! Which leads to the question of why adoption is so darn expensive. JD and I have gone around and around about this and don't have a great answer except to say that much occurs between agencies and countries and frankly, this is a money making business. Poor countries (like Ethiopia) do make revenue on adoptions. Sad, but true. This is where corruption can occur. However, this is a separate issue to us than the fact that orphans need homes and families! And that, to us, is primary. In fact, we think the cost is a non-issue. We'll figure it out. We'll overcome it for the sake of changing a child's life -- and frankly changing ours. We think we're blessing them, but they will bless us! We just know it.

3. Another possibility is that other applicants for funding with Abba Fund could be seeking adoption because they cannot have biological children. Assuming these are great people, we, hands down, want the funding to go to them over us every time. It's a no brainer really.

Okay, I think I've covered all the angles on that. Now, moving on to this t-shirt fundraiser! And, by the way, God's so good! People are coming forward with more ideas for fundraising for us -- other companies and products, so there may be more to come! I just love this. Perhaps this will be a grass roots, piecemeal effort! It's takes a village, right? :)

Before I give you the ins and outs, I must say please, please pass on this blog address or post or send an email to anyone you think might be interested. And thank you so very much for any and all support -- even if you just click forward. :)

Welcome to Wild Olive Tees! THE SALE STARTS TODAY AND ONLY LASTS 30 DAYS! This ends on April 2, 2011! So check it out!

You can click on the button on the right. That will take you to the website. Once you choose the shirt(s) you want, don't forget to enter our code. You must enter the code or they won't know which family to direct the funds to. The Beam Team won't get the proceeds!

The code is: BEAM0305

If 1-49 shirts are sold, we get $7.50 per shirt.

If 50+ shirts are sold, we get $10 per shirt.

Not bad.

When the 30 days are up, they'll compile the number of shirts sold, calculate the total proceeds and send them directly to our adoption agency. They won't even touch our hands.

Ready, set, go! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, sadly -- I don't know how to do half the stuff I should know how to do (yet) with this blogging thing, so I can't figure out how to add a button on the right. I have an email into Wild Olive to have them help me, but for the time being, just go here if you want to purchase a shirt. But don't forget about the code! (BEAM0305) Thanks!