Things are moving forward with the adoption process!

Update! Things are moving forward with the adoption process! For those maybe reading for the first time, my husband and I are adopting a girl we hosted this summer from Poland! Even as I write this, it's surreal! Considering we are both in our 50's, this is not necessarily something we planned, but more something God orchestrated. For the past several years, we have hosted many orphans in our home and have experienced life from their perspective which is very different from ours. The importance of children living in a structured environment with a loving family who live by the Word of God can never be overstated. Their lives are different. They look at everything differently, and more often than not, their future is bleak. Through all of this, we have developed a big heart for these kids and have decided to not only adopt ourselves, but help others adopt as well.

Our daughter and her husband were in their 20's when they adopted Mac! (Janis)  His life was changed for the better forever! FOREVER! No, they didn't have the money to afford it! No, they really didn't have the time to take off work to fly to Latvia for a month either. (although they will tell you it was the most beautiful country ever and they had a blast)  Yes, it was a long process and mounds of paperwork involved, stress, fear, inconvenience, uncertainty and a host of other emotions. But you see, when the Holy Spirit nudges your heart, and you act on His behalf, He creates a way! You know those cool stories we hear of people who have grown up and been successful and we read their biographies or we listen to them give an account of his/her life and at the end of the story they tell....where it all began? Yea, that's going to be Mac's story! He's very bright and has adapted to life in America so well. He is truly the All American boy!

So with all of this being said, we realize we cannot bring all these orphans home, but we can help others, one by one! That is why we have started Fashion and Faith Ministries!  Our Mission Statement - RECOGNIZING THAT ALL CHILDREN WERE BORN WITH THE BASIC NEED TO LOVE AND BE LOVED,  FASHION AND FAITH MINISTRIES IS DEDICATED TO MAKING REAL AND LASTING CHANGES IN THE LIVES OF ORPHANS BY PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES WHO ARE ACTIVELY ADOPTING INTERNATIONALLY. 

Through the sales of Libby's Boutique, we are committed to providing financial grants to families wishing to adopt. We just created a Facebook page entitled Fashion and Faith Ministries. Please go check it out and "LIKE"! We will share daily, orphans who are in desperate need of a family.  We hope you will share the information because we never know when that special family will see "that" child and will have the desire to act on it. We also hope you will reach out to us for information. Through our experiences, we have made a lot of contacts with people and organizations who can help. Even we have a plethora of information we can share with you about hosting, adopting, finances, and help available in other places besides us. If we can't answer it, we know someone who can!  We are also in the process of a new website that will have loads of information you can access.

We realize the biggest hurdle for families called to adopt is finances. It's very costly and often a deterrent. That is why we have developed Fashion and Faith Ministries to help lighten the load just a bit. Oh, we have HUGE plans for this organization. We feel there is no limit to what  God can do through us.  And let me emphasize that again, this is nothing we could do in our own power, but with God on our side, we are able to move forward with confidence knowing He is faithful. We stand on Philippians 1:6...".And I am certain that God, who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day when Christ returns."

If you would have told me even last year I would be gaining another daughter, I might have questioned your sanity! LOL! I wish I could share more details about the adoption with you, but we are bound to not share information until it's complete. But what I can share with you is we are so excited to get this girl over to America! She is going to thrive! She is pleasant, friendly, lovable, adorable, appreciative, and has an intense desire to learn and be successful! My husband is a school teacher, my daughter, and I am a retired school teacher so we know how important it is for a child to "want to learn". That is one more reason the USA will be the perfect place for her!

Thank you for reading my blog! I will continue to update you on as much progress as I am allowed to share. Right now, we are filling out paperwork, getting our passports, getting fingerprinted, and starting our Home Study. It's a PROCESS, but worth it! Look forward to hearing from you!

PS. Just today when I was writing my blog, I had writer's block so I flipped over to Facebook to look around, and I shared my memory with you! This is Toms from Latvia. We had him several summers ago. We would have gladly adopted him, but he did have a foster family and was doing well, so we just enjoyed having him with us for a short time!  We still keep in contact with him!