Everything you wanted to know about our -----, but were afraid to ask....

I recently read something that really ticked me off...Why do people adopt if they can't afford it?

Raise your hand if you're tired of seeing my name + the word "fundraiser" combined in the same status...ok, 1....2....3....alright already, that's what I thought!  Enough of you have gotten the picture that we've literally OVEREXPOSED the Facebook world to our attempts at raising money.  Now, the burning question for MANY of you (I'm just speculating here) is "how much money do they need anyway" and "geez...do they want us to pay for this kid?".  No, really, we get it.

See...here's the deal (and my fellow adoptive parents, back me up here).  There is NO SUCH THING as Adoption Insurance.  Example:  When I gave birth to Amelia, I had this nice little thing called an insurance card.  It paid for doctor's visits, ultrasounds, medicine, hospital stay, etc.  A teacher can take maternity leave on something called "disability leave" (sounds fancy, eh?).  Yeah, and get paid!  Bonus!  Enter.....adoption!  Someone else had your baby.  Your baby is 1/2 way around the world.  Your baby is getting medical care in a third world country.  There is NO insurance for that.  You will travel there....on an airplane...in a BAD economy...which is expensive.  You will pay for all attorney fees to process documents to make everything legal to make this baby legally your son/daughter.  You will provide for all of your baby's needs while in country.  Again, Humana doesn't cover this.  This is all out of your pocket.  The cost of this is unbelievable....seriously, like up to $65,000 in some countries (not us, but some folks I know).

When I have maternity leave this time around, there will be no disability leave that will nicely cover my back.  I will have $0 pay coming in while spending time with my baby.  Enter: RENDI.  Yup, this is why I started my new business last fall!  I knew this was coming up and needed something to supplement our family income.

Someone said to me recently that asking for money makes them "uncomfortable."  Heck yes!  I've never been a fan of hand outs!  This was a major leap of faith for my family to step out and depend on our family and friends to help us bring our son home.  Once we realized that NO, we're not asking anyone to ADOPT our son, FEED our son, CLOTHE our son, HOUSE our son, RAISE our son, just help bring him home....it was an easier pill to swallow.  Pride is vicious and can ruin personal ministry. How uncomfortable was Mary in the beginning explaining her son's birth father wasn't Joseph?  My baby will be surrounded by white faces and I will look down at beautiful brown eyes....I'm sure that asking for a little help to bring him home won't be the first time we'll feel uncomfortable in this journey.  God calls us to follow him....no matter the cost....period.

WE ARE OVER THE MOON THANKFUL to our friends who have carried us over 2,000 miles so far to our destination goal.  Some are friends that go way back to high school, church youth group, childhood.  Some are new friends, work pals, fellow teachers, BAFCO folks.  Some ran for Mukisa, bought stuff at our yard sale, played putt-putt or held Rendi shows!  WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Our time is getting close now.  We don't know when we'll travel just yet....we only know that each day brings us a day closer to our little boy, to Amelia's little brother, and to a lifetime of change.

For our son's complete story, click here.