Money Money Money

Some of you may be wondering
 (or maybe you're not, so feel free to click away now)
"What are all these "costs of adoption" they're raising money for? Isn't foster care adoption cheap/free?"

No.

And yes.

And no.

If you compare it to international adoption, it is SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive. Like, by a lot :)

And I guess "cheap" is all in the eye of the beholder. So here is a (sorta) breakdown of (some) of the costs:

Application fee: $100
Homestudy fee: $1200
Mandatory training: $150
Mandatory Background checks: $165
Basic physicals/checkups for whole family: $300
"Safety" supplies for home:
Gate for woodburning stove, firearms cabinet, outlet covers, cabinet locks: ~$200
New furniture: Beds, Mattresses, Desks, Dressers, Sheets, Comforters... ??? We are always scouring Craigslist looking for deals on these things :) Except for mattresses. Who wants a used mattress??? I am estimating it will be about $700 (for two of each!)\

We are also saving for travel costs (we have no idea if we will need them, but if we adopt out of state I anticipate having to travel!). Let's just guess around $1000.

So that's $3815... and I know there will be other incidental costs along the way that will make it more like a nice, round $4000. Its only about 10% of what people adopting internationally will pay, but still, it's a decent chunk of change, right?

We know that God will provide and we are SO thankful to all our wonderful friends who have already shown their support.

If you'd like to help out (every dollar helps) and get a prayer bracelet... click here!

As always, our love!!

Beka, Nik and Midgets!!

For I know the plans I have for you...

... declares the LORD. Plans for PEACE and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE.
--Jeremiah 29:11


This has always been one of my favorite bible verses. It is such a verse of inspiration and hope. For GOD knows the plans HE has for YOU. He is declaring this over your life--- that HIS plans for YOUR life are for PEACE... he has a future and a hope for you!

How amazing is that?

It has struck me time and again, as I (maybe slightly obsessively) look at pictures of all these kids that need a family, that could be *our* children, that they do not have this assurance. They are not growing up in an environment that assures them that yes, despite the bad things, despite problems, despite roadblocks, God has a plan FOR GOOD for you. They do not have a father or mother or family who can stand in as an earthly representation of our Father in Heaven to say "I will love you unconditionally. Nothing can separate you from my love."

I look at these kids and *know* God has an awesome plan for all of them, and I also *know* that His will on this earth cannot be done without us as His followers acting out our faith. If we sit by and do nothing, then the adversary wins.

The bible tells us this:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
-James 1:27

I know it is not possible for many people to adopt. It was not possible in our lives for quite a long season. But we are ALL commanded to care for the widows and orphans. It is against my nature to reach out and say "we need help," but we do. And, more than that, God has put it on our hearts to make sure we open up an opportunity for all our brothers and sisters in Christ to help in the ways that they can during this process and, most importantly, sew into the lives of these children, whoever they are :)

ALL that being said, we are excited to announce that we will be selling "Prayer Bands" (a rubber bracelet---made in the USA!) to raise money to go toward the funds of our home study. This is a necessary step in our adoption process without which we cannot apply to be considered as adoptive parents.

Nik picked out the "Batman" theme. Pretty awesome, right? You know you want one...

We are asking for a $5 donation per band. If you are able to give more--- yay! If you are able to give some, every penny counts!

You can give your donation on our Go Fund Me Page.

If you cannot give financially but would like to partner with us in prayer during this process, please let us know and we will be happy to send you a prayer band. We would love for you to wear them as a daily reminder to pray for our family and for the children we will be pursuing. 

If you are part of a church group, youth group, women's group, or any other kind of group (or just have a lot of friends!), or have a storefront or business where you can set up a donation jar with the bands, and would like us to send you more bands to offer to those you know, we would love to do so!

As always, we covet and are thankful for your continued prayers and support. We look forward to the day when we can share pictures of our new family members and tell them about all the prayer and love they have had poured into them before we even knew them :)


XOXO
Beka, Nik, and Kiddos

Big News Around Here!

We have some big (Big BIG) news in the Smith household!

No, we're not having another baby (although adding another wonderful *little* arrow to add to our quiver is always a welcome and real possibility around here!)

However, we are *hopefully* adding some... larger... arrows (*hopefully* soon!!)

Yes, our family has started on the exciting journey of adoption!

We have been praying for quite some time about how God would have us participate in caring for children who need a family (be it financial, prayer, helping another family, etc), and, now that we are settled in our new northern home, we really feel that God is calling us to adopt through the foster system.

Pretty exciting, eh?

Right now we are pursing a direct adoption from foster care--meaning we are going to apply for a specific set of children that are close to or already legally free and ready to be adopted-- and we are wanting to be approved for an older (pre-teen/teen) sibling set. We are going this route instead of going through foster care first because we really feel it will be easier on our children not to have *possible* siblings coming in and out of the home and not knowing who will stay and who will go. We want them to be able to start forming sibling relationships and embrace them as their family right away! It will also be a little easier (God willing) to have children placed with us through direct adoption than foster care because of our family size. It is important to us to continue our conviction of leaving our family size totally in God's hands and this is a more realistic possibility doing direct adoption.

As of right now we really feel God is asking us to open our home to a set of pre-teen or teen siblings. As most of your know, we do have a weakness for teenagers (Call us crazy, we do love 'em!)  We do not know who specifically that will be yet--although I personally have a preference for a set of teen sisters that I have been praying for :)  I have been warned that they will probably be adopted by the time our background checks and homestudy have cleared--- which I will be fine with, but still... I'm a little partial to them :)

Right now we are in the very beginning stages--- we are currently doing a required training course called "Because They Waited" and gathering all the things we will need to complete our homestudy.

I know this is going to be a spiritually trying and challenging journey but I feel such peace and excitement about the whole thing. I cannot wait to see which souls God is going to entrust to our family and bless us with!

As always, we appreciate your prayers!  I, personally, am praying that we will be able to bless everyone we come in contact with during this process and really "shine our lights," and that this process goes smoothly and QUICKLY! I am also praying that any pre-conceived notions and prejudices people might have about larger families with small children will be dispelled once they get to know us, as we have been warned that sometimes workers are hesitant to place children with families that already have "a lot" (4 is a lot??) of kids. I know our God is bigger than "the system" and that with His help things will go exactly as they are meant to!!

I'm sure we will be doing some sort of fundraising as there are extra things we are going to need to bring older children into our home--- beds, furniture, and a larger vehicle, to name a few! Keep an eye on this blog and my FB page for updates on how you can help, if you feel so led!!

In any case, I know God is guiding this process and my overwhelming emotion is excitement to get moving and meet whoever it is that God will bring into our lives!

Thanks for reading :)