Blessed Beyond Measure

In some ways, it was such an easy decision to pursue JS's adoption. In other ways, it was really hard. Adding a sixth child to our family - a family that already has some big needs - is not something we undertook lightly. As any parent will tell you, time is precious. A family of 7 with two working parents? Time is downright scarce. Couple that in with financial considerations and ... wowza. Raising kids isn't cheap and international adoption sure isn't.

And yet, our hearts knew pretty certainly and pretty quickly that JS was our son and we had to make it happen. So we plowed ahead with the savings we had. 

For me to admit that we could not come up with the entirety of the funds... well, that was a hard thing to do. My pride is fierce and it has been a very humbling process to ask for help. And yet, for the most part, people have been ridiculously supportive. 

Very early on, my uncle and aunt approached me about wanting to help us with a fundraiser. I mentioned it briefly here, but the gist is that they will make dog/military/luggage tags with personalized engraving, giving us 1/2 the proceeds! 

Further, they own a great business installing in-ground pet fences called Hidden Boundaries. (They installed our fence and it's been fantastic).  If you live in the West MI area and are at all interested in a quote, give them a call and mention us!  They will give us $50 from the sale of each fence!  Isn't that awesome?You can learn more about them on Facebook as well. 

Then, a few days ago, an old friend reached out through Facebook. We were very close in high school, especially during some tough times, but grew apart after graduation.  Despite this, she reached out as a small business owner, and offered to donate 40% of her etsy shop proceeds to our adoption fund for 1 month! Isn't that incredibly selfless of her?!  She has adorable handmade gifts and decor. What a perfect opportunity to get some early Christmas gifts purchased?! Definitely check out Brown Joey Designs before October 17!

I'm just feeling so incredibly blessed. That friends and family would not only support us with words, but step forward with affirmative deeds. We know a lot of people don't understand adoption and why we've built our family this way. Yet, there are so many people in our corner - so many people that think our family is beautiful and worth standing up for. What an incredible feeling.