Main fundraiser photo

Our Adoption

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It seems fitting to post this today (November 15th). My mom would have turned 77 on this her birthday. She lived a full life: almost 52 years of marriage, five children, and 18 grandchildren. Her favorite season was autumn, when leaves turn jewel-toned and air becomes crisp, when snow powders the mountains and fireplaces glow with warmth, when loved ones come together to give thanks and to celebrate grace and love and life.


As for the photo: our kids are really not begging, just holding out some lovely flowers they picked. And more important than the flowers are the beautiful smiles--smiles that are connected to hearts for adoption. It is true! Alexa, Ashton, and Anica want to know when their new brother or sister (or both!) will officially come home.



A little explanation: In the summer of 2010, we heard a series of messages at our church that caused us to ask "How are we making a difference in the world?" We talked and talked, and talked some more, about ways we could practically apply the truths we were hearing. And ultimately, we came to adoption. Which, ironically, was never anywhere near our radar. Up to that point, we felt our family was complete--a nice little bundle of three children, not too many and not too few. We were content.


Until God starting stirring up our hearts. There was no denying it. We needed to adopt. We wanted to adopt. Our hearts were turned inside out and upside down and wrung out until adoption became our longing. We are now, each one of us, very eager to bring home that precious child who is meant to be part of our family. In fact, we feel strongly that we would like to adopt a sibling group. God has given us new desires!



As this brief timeline indicates, over two years have passed since we decided to adopt. After copious research and discussion and prayer, we are finally ready--with the exception of finances. Our hope is to have a good portion, if not all, of the funds before we dive into the official adoption process. The amount shown above is an accurate estimate of what it will cost us to adopt two children.



Putting forth this request has taken a while, because the thought of asking for help is daunting. Number one: asking for anything is hard, period. Number two: revealing our desire to adopt is scary. Exposing our hearts feels frighteningly vulnerable. Number three: asking for money is just plain touchy. We don't want you to feel any pressure from us.



But we are stepping out on this limb because we realize some of you may have a similar heart to ours--just not with the end result of adding more children to your family. So. If you decide to support us in this way, we will be incredibly grateful. We will be touched, thrilled, humbled.


We eagerly anticipate the day when we will hold in our arms the children our hearts are already holding! Thank you for walking this journey with us, whether by simply making it to the end of this post(!), by financially helping us, or by lifting us up before our faithful and gracious God as we trust Him for provision and wisdom each step of the way.

Organizer

Carolynne Ritschard Holmes
Organizer
Colorado Springs, CO

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