thank you....to an 11 year old

I got a message from a friend today who is also adopting from Danny's country.  In fact they will be meeting their son just two weeks before we meet Danny!  How awesome is that? 

Before I tell you about my message I think you should know this: there is something I want to tell you about this adoption community.  We support each other.  It's amazing.  Many of the donations we have received have come from other families in our situation who truly and honestly probably need the cash themselves.  And yet, they give.  With cheerful hearts, they GIVE.  If you are considering adoption but think you can't afford it please remember that God prepares those He calls to this journey.  Both emotionally and finanically.

This is what the message said: "Jessica, our 11 year old daughter decided to donate to Danny today."  Here are some interesting facts about this family: they have 5 daughters ranging in age from 2 to 21, and they are adopting their first son.  Dad lives and works many hours away from home to provide for his family, after being unemployed for 18 months.  Mom works very hard schooling the girls, as well as taking care of their youngest who has Down Syndrome, as well as fundraising tirelessly for their adoption.  And their in between girls are amazing....and are choosing to give up their Christmas gifts this year because of the adoption.  Something else you should know....this 11 year old really and truly thought about and considered what she was doing when agreeing to forego gifts.  This mom's prayer is that her daughter's hearts will break for God and for all that breaks His heart.  {I think her prayer is working!!}

So....thank you sweet 11 year old!  I'm sure that there are many, many, things you could have had with the generous donation that came to Danny today.  But you already know that your gifts are to come.  Here, when your sweet brother comes home in the spring....and in Heaven when God has finished using your sweet heart here on earth.  Your maturity is to be admired.  Your heart is so wholesome and pure and I pray that it always stays that way.  Thank you so much for loving our son as much as I know you love your new brother!

Thank you.

**If you would like to follow the Lindquist family journey you can on their blog here: Obeying God's Call**

Sunday Prayers vol. 24

I was afraid I was going to miss today's post, as crazy as this afternoon has been!  It would be so much easier to skip writing after running around all day trying to get ready for this week.  However, I think that is just what Satan would want, and I'm not going to let him dictate my life! :)  Below are this week's prayer requests, thank you so much for praying with and for us.

1. Danny!!!!!  We will be meeting him in 5 weeks! Please pray for his heart and mind to be prepared to meet us.
2. Dexter....yes, we have met our fundraising goal of $1,000, but would love nothing more than doubling that to make his adoption easier on his forever family.  Please pray about donating to him, and remember that every dollar goes directly to his forever family, and is tax deductible for you! ($35 gets you a precious ornament for your tree too!)
3. Wes and Me....we have much to accomplish between now and leaving to meet Danny, including a full month of work!  Please pray for us to have a spirit of service to those we interact with on a daily basis, as well as the patience to get through it! (yes, I just asked you to pray for us to have patience....big risk here!)
4. Off Adoption Topic: Please keep my sister-in-law and brother in your prayers as well.  Their baby boy is due pretty much any day now and we are praying for a healthy and easy delivery for mom and baby!

I'm going to leave today's list a bit short.  We have so much to do, and greatly appreciate all that our families and friends have offered to help out with.  If we miss thanking you in person, thank you!

black friday

Black Friday is such an interesting thing to me....don't get me wrong, I love a good trip to the mall, and we will be giving Christmas gifts to family and friends this year so it's inevitable that I will do some (more?) shopping this weekend.  But why does this day fall immediately after the one day of the year that we should be most Thankful?


Will you please watch this video and tell me how black you think every day in the lives of these people are.  Here is some perspective for you: if Wes and I weren't on the path to adopt Danny this just might be his future.  No, he is not in Serbia, but he is in a country that makes similar decisions for it's children and adults who are mentally disabled.
 

Think you can't do anything to change this?  Let me be direct: you're wrong.

The most obvious thing you can do is to adopt.  But I know that not everyone is able to do that, whether financially, or otherwise.  Second, if you can't adopt, you can support someone who is adopting.  Don't know anyone who you want to support? How about you sponsor a child on Reece's Rainbow?  Not that either?  How about this: think about these different organizations: World Vision, where you can sponsor a child, or feed a family, or drill a well for a community.  Samaritan's Purse, where you can show the love of Christ to a child through a Christmas Box.  Living Water,  works to provide clean drinking water around the world.  Want something closer to home?  Where we live there are a number of places you can volunteer your time or your financial resources, just google it!

More than anything you can pray.  Here are some specific things to pray for:
1. for the hearts of the government officials in countries like Serbia to soften to the least of their society
2. for the people who work in these institutions to treat the people in their care like the human beings they are
3. for your heart to break for what breaks God's heart (I caution you on this one...He will bring you to your knees)
4. pray for families like ours who are choosing to adopt and save a life from the black-ness that is institution life
5. pray about donating!!!!  it doesn't have to be to one of the organizations I referenced.  Have one you love? Share it please!


Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this little rant of mine.  As we get closer to traveling my heart breaks just a little bit more because I know when we meet Danny we will meet many other children who we can't bring home with us.  I don't know how God expects me to do that, but I do know that He is doing a great work in me, and I'm thankful I get to see what is next!

travel news!

For most of you who follow on facebook you know I am completely incapable of keeping a secret....so the cat is out of the bag.  We have dates to meet Danny!!!!  We were originally offered to travel over Christmas, but after some discussion about our jobs, airfare, and the holiday, we requested to move back our date by one week. {Honestly, I really hope our in-country facilitator will use it as a week off with her family.  The break is much deserved by someone who works without ceasing for families like us.} So we will be leaving on New Year's Eve to travel to Eastern Europe to meet him.  We. Can. Not. Wait.

Other good news: our airfare is at least $600 less than what I was seeing online a few weeks ago.  Don't get me wrong, it's still over $2,000, but that's better than $2,600+!  Are you beginning to understand why so many families have to fundraise for adoptions?  I love the saying "God doesn't call the prepared, He prepares those He calls."  It's so true.  This year has been amazing for us, and we clearly see the relationship to our willingness to follow the path He has put us on, and are so thankful for all the support from our family and friends.

We will get to visit with Danny for four days.  Since our travel does fall over a holiday we are going to lose a small amount of time, but don't worry, we plan to soak up as much as we can with him while we are there. Had we chosen to travel on the original dates we could have celebrated his 4th birthday with him on the actual day, but I think we may just celebrate it when we get there anyway!

So that's it!  Our big news!  As impatient as I have been the past two weeks waiting to hear something I am incredibly thankful that we found out when Wes was at home.  It has made it so much easier to discuss what needed to be discussed and make decisions without misunderstanding each other.  God's timing is always perfect.

Thank you in advance for continuing to pray for us.  We have a lot of work, and two holidays to get through before we get to see him.  Pretty sure "I want to spend January in Eastern Europe" was something that never crossed my mind until now!  So....where is my giant suitcase? :)

Sunday Prayers vol. 23

I don't even know how to begin this post.  As you can imagine I was really hoping to have some new information about the adoption and our travel dates but I don't.  At this point in time there is nothing new to know.  But as soon as I do I promise to let you all know!  Below are this week's prayer requests, including some things we are very thankful for.

1. Danny.  Not only do we ask that you pray for him, but we ask that you thank God for him!  We are thankful every day to be on this journey, and are learning so much while we walk this road.

2. My wonderful husband will be home in a matter of hours!  Prayers of thanksgiving that he spent the past two and a half months away safely, and will soon be here!

3. Movement in our adoption.  This is pretty important since our dossier has been in country for a month now.  We would really like to meet Danny in January, but at this point we just don't know if that is God's plan for us.  Please pray that He shows us the way.

4. Cost of plane tickets!  So far the best deal I'm seeing is well over $2,000 which is significantly more than we have budgeted.  We know that it will all work out for the best, but as a frequent traveller I hate nothing more than paying so much for travel!

5. Dexter: this one is great news!  We have already exceeded the $1,000 mark in fundraising for him.  Thank You!  We really appreciated the help.  If you haven't already donated we are still going strong since the Angel Tree is through the end of December.  All donations to Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible!

Thank you for praying!

as the soccer announcers say: "goooooooooaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll"

We have exceed the goal $1,000 set by Reece's Rainbow for Angel Tree on Dexter's behalf!  And to think, we still have a month and a half to go!  I am always amazed at God's abundance and provision, and I know we can do even more to help Dexter's forever family out.

Will you please consider donating to Dexter?  You can donate to the chip in at the right.  Notice, our chip in doesn't show that our goal has been met because we had one very generous donor send a check directly to Reece's Rainbow.  Personally, I'd still like to see that chip in say $1,000!

I'm still offering yummy oatmeal, cranberry, white chocolate chip cookies for all $35 donations made in November. With that same donation you will receive an ornament for your tree with our cutie's picture on it.  I got mine earlier this week and now I'm trying to decide who else I want on my Christmas tree.  I can't wait to tell Danny all about fundraising for Dexter next year when we break out the Christmas decorations! (and I really hope part of that story includes Dexter being home in his family!)

No Greater Joy Dad!

Wow.  When Adeye asked for adoption stories to feature during November I never imagined that our story would be one of the ones featured!  What and incredible opportunity...and what horrible grammar I used writing that!  What can I say? So much of our lives are rushed right now!

For those of you who are new to our adoption story we welcome you!  Please feel free to read back over the past 8 months of our lives.  If you really want the nitty-gritty there are three posts that you should read.  They are called "life story."  Here is our most up to date picture of Danny:

We are also fundraising for Dexter, who's photo you see directly to the right.  He's the cute blondie!  Thank you so much for checking us out, and praying for us through this process.  We are hopeful we will have the dates when we will go meet our son later this week!

Thank you Adeye and Anthony!

Sunday Prayers vol. 22

I was really hoping to be here giving away our travel dates...even though that's a bit dangerous in this day and age what with break-ins and all.  But I don't have them yet!  I am as disappointed as you are, don't worry.  We are hoping to get them next Friday.  Here are this week's prayer requests

1. Danny.  Please begin to pray for his transition from institution life to family life
2. Dexter....have you considered donating or adoption?
3. Wes will be travelling home next weekend!
4. I have a big deal working that I should hear about this week.  While I would really love to get everything we proposed I think that's a long shot....so please pray God's will be done.

That's it!  Pretty short and sweet list this week.  We genuinely appreciate you praying with us for 22 looooonnnnnnggggg weeks.  :)

thankful

I am sooooo late to this bandwagon, and yet I've been so incredibly blessed this year that I can't avoid the topic any longer.  Here is a sampling of the things I (Jessica) am thankful for from 2011.

1. My husband.  He is amazing and I am more in love with him every day.
2. Our jobs.  God has blessed us in more ways than I ever imagined possible this year.  We are so blessed that every penny we have needed so far has been there, and we have been able to help others who are on this path as well which is such a gift.
3. Our family.  I can't say enough about how loving and supportive they have been as we have walked down this adoption road.
4. Our friends.  Ditto above.
5. Reece's Rainbow.  I had never heard of RR before March, and yet this adoption family has become so important to our little family.
6. Andrea Roberts. Reece's mother.  Without her we would never have found our son.
7. Our facilitators.  Have answered more questions, late night emails, read drafts of applications, probably been incredibly annoyed by me.  And yet not a single complaint!
8. Our home.  While I have moments that I dream of a larger house I know this is the home God intends us to bring Danny home to.
9. Mya.  The angel who has ultimately led us to Danny.
10. Angel Tree and the ability to advocate for Dexter.  (He's a cutie!  Are you his momma?)

So there you have it.  We are so incredibly blessed and thankful for His provision.  And once Wes gets home I'm going to try (no promises) to get him to write a "thankful" post as well.

no news!

And I'm tempted to not tell you any news that I get until we have at least $250 in Dexter's Christmas Warrior fund.  That would be mean, wouldn't it?  Except that we all know that I stink as a secret keeper.  The only way for me to keep a secret is for me to completely forget you told me.  Which does happen from time to time, but I doubt that I'm going to keep a secret our travel dates (once I get them) for long.  So let's do this instead....donate to Dexter!  Then I won't have to keep you in the dark.

"please help me find my mommy, I will smile so much then!"

{that chip-in at the top right of this blog post is the easiest way to donate to Dexter....and there's cookies in it for you!}

Sunday Prayers vol. 21

I want to give you a quick update on where we are, and what is happening next in this crazy adoption process before getting to this week's Sunday Prayers list.  Wes is still working in Connecticut.  He has officially been there in 4 different months since he left in August, worked all through September and October...and now it's November.  Crazy!  We don't know exactly when he will be home, but we do know for sure that he's going to come for Thanksgiving, the jury is out on whether or not he will have to go back.  Work has also been keeping me busy, which is the saving grace in all of this! God has abundantly blessed us to be able to add to our savings during the past few months, and we are eternally grateful that we have more than we need right now.

Next in the adoption process is submission of our Dossier to the Ministry of Justice in Danny's country.  That will happen TOMORROW!!!  It is our understanding that it is basically a formality of our adoption process, and we will receive a verbal referral and invitation to come meet our son for the first time.  I am barely able to contain my excitement, and you know I will be on pins and needles until we receive our travel dates.  We are hoping to have our travel dates by the end of this week so we can begin to shop for plane tickets.  Since I am a planner by nature I have searched already, and I'm a bit overwhelmed at what I'm seeing price-wise.  We expect to be traveling at some point in January. Thank you in advance for praying for us this week.

1. Danny....please begin to pray for his transition from orphanage life into family life.  We are praying that the assimilation is easy for him, and that he immediately feels at home with us.

2. Dexter...he is going to be #2 on my list now!  Please consider donating to his adoption fund.  Have you ever considered adoption?  He is a perfect age to bring into your family and fit right in!

3. Travel: dates and airfare.  Our prayer is for God's timing to continue to be perfect in all of this, and that the prices on airfare begin to come down.

4. Our Jobs: please pray for safety for Wes as he continues to be away.  Please also pray for me as the end of the year is a very busy and stressful time.

5. Our Eastern European facilitator: Toni works very hard for many families while dealing with many government agencies and folks who oppose her work.  She deserves to always be in our prayers.

update!

Got the best email ever this morning.  Our dossier is being submitted to the Ministry of Justice on MONDAY!!!!!!!!!  This means we should have our travel dates as soon as next week.  We are praying so much right now for expediency to the proceedings (which we understand to be a formality) and lower airfares than what I'm currently seeing online.

I will be back tomorrow with our Sunday Prayers.  I bet you can guess what #2 is going to be....since Danny is always #1!

I'm a little competitive

And disappointed.  I had really hoped that we would be over $100 for Dexter by now, three days into Angel Tree.  And we've had only 1 lonely deposit into his account.  I'm hoping it's because some of you have decided to send a check to Reece's Rainbow, but I'm guessing it's because I'm not being annoying enough!  Remember, I promised COOKIES!!!!

Please, as you are looking over your charitable giving for 2011, won't you consider helping to save a life?  Because that is exactly what you are doing when you donate to Dexter, or any of the children on Reece's Rainbow.  I'm not kidding.  When you donate to a child, no matter how big or small the donation, you are helping to ensure that someone comes to bring them home to a forever family.  How often can you say your $35 can make that big of an impact?  Not often at all.  And remember, as well, ALL donations to Reece's Rainbow are 100% tax deductible.  Don't let the tax man get you this year.  DONATE!!!!

Remember to use the Chip-In on the right to donate to Dexter so I know who to deliver cookies to.  Contact me directly if you have any questions about RR, donations, or adoption in general. After all it's also Adoption Awareness Month too!

are you my momma?

Edited: we've had 2 donations!  But still under $100.  Won't you please consider helping out?

we got new pictures!!!

Ok, not exactly, but I got the full length shots that the head shot photos were edited from for Reece's Rainbow.  Want to see them?  I've added optional captions for your entertainment.  The first one is his baby pic.  I find him to be quite cute!

1. Hi Mom!
2. It wasn't me!  I have not had any cookies.  Promise!
3. Aren't I the cutest kid ever?!?!?  

This next one is more recent.  We don't know exactly when it's from, but I'm assuming it's from early this year when his medical report was updated.  

1. Get this scary doll away from me
2. Ugh.  I know I'm cute, but stop taking my picture already!
3. Why am I wearing girl pants?!?!?

Final caption: Don't forget about Dexter on the Angel Tree!  $35 gets you an ornament for your tree and cookies from me.  First batch is going out tomorrow, and I would love to make it a double batch!

 

Happy Christmas Warrior day 1!

Happy November!  Only a few weeks until Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and then Christmas will be rapidly upon us.

November also means that it's time for Reece's Rainbow's Christmas Warrior project. I've already introduced you to Dexter, our cutie, but here he is again:

Here is how the Christmas Warrior project works: the 1st goal is to raise $1,000 for sweet Dexter between now and December 31st.  For every $35 donated you can get an ornament for your Christmas tree with his picture on it.  In the spirit of honesty I want to make sure you know that $5 of each donation will cover the ornament cost, but the other $30 goes directly to Dexter's adoption fund!  That means we only need 34 people to donate $35 in order to get him the $1,000! Totally do-able, right?  I think so!

As if the thought of putting that sweet face on your tree wasn't enough I'm going to sweeten the deal.  For everyone (local) who donates $35 to Dexter, during November, I will bring you this:

Oatmeal, Cranberry, White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is the easiest way to donate: see the "Chip In" at the top right of the blog?  The one that says "Dexter's Chip In"?  Yeah, that's it!  You can donate there using PayPal or a credit card.  This makes it easier for me too, because I will get a message saying who donated, and how much.  Then I can make you cookies!  Want to make a BIG donation ($100 or more?) please plan to MAIL a check to Reece's Rainbow.  This will save them significant PayPal fees.  (Send me a message telling me that you donated so I can make you cookies too!) You can mail your check to:

Reece's Rainbow

PO Box 4024

Gaithersburg, MD 20885

*in the memo line please put: "Dexter 26HA"

To those of you who are out of town....shipping is expensive!  Since we are in the process of adopting our sweet boy I'm hoping you will understand that footing the bill on sending cookies out of state just isn't feasible right now.  If you still want cookies...and are willing to pay for shipping to cover it (via a donation to Danny's account) then I will happily ship you cookies!  Have a question about how to donate to Danny?  Click the link with his picture on it, or send me a message.

What is the 2nd goal of the Christmas Warrior project?  Hopefully to find a forever family for Dexter!  Have you ever considered adoption?  Will you please pray about adoption for your family?  Will you please also pray that by December 31st Dexter has a family ready to come for him?  

With the average cost of adoption running $25,000 our goal of $1,000 might seem insignificant, however sometimes seeing that the fundraising process has already started is the last thing it takes for a family to make the decision to take this journey!  

In advance, I would like to thank you for donating to Dexter.  Who-ever his family is greatly appreciates it, I promise!  (Also remember, your donations to Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible!)