Adoption Fundraiser

As noted below, a friend and I (Amy) have started a non-profit adoption ministry. Our purpose is two-fold. Our first purpose is to educate the Christian community about the orphan crisis in our world today and the need for adoptive families to help meet that need. Secondly, we want to raise funds to give grants to adoptive families in KY. This Saturday, we are having a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 7:30-9:30am at Applebee's on Harrodsburg Rd. in Lexington. Tickets are $5 and are available ahead of time through me or at the door. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity to help adoptive families. We are also looking for opportunities to speak to church groups, Sunday school classes, MOPS groups, etc. so let me know if you can help us out in this area. Thanks so much!

Martian Child

Amy here-we just got home from seeing the movie Martian Child. It's about a widower who adopts a child who thinks he is a martian because he doesn't fit in on the earth. I don't want to ruin the story, but let me just say I LOVED IT! I thought the movie showed the ups and downs of adoption very accurately, and for once the adoptive parent was portrayed as a real person who was just trying to love a hurting child. I did forget to take any Kleenexes into the theater with me, so Matt had fun laughing at me blubbering through the end of the movie. But he said he enjoyed it too, so it's not a total chick flick. Go See It!

Watch the trailer here:

News from Uganda

There was some very good news out of Uganda this week. Ten children (from the orphanage where we are adopting from) whose adoptions had been on hold since April had their rulings released by the judge, and their adopting families are traveling back to Uganda this weekend. We are praying that all the final details go smoothly, and they can come home with their kids.

So what does this mean for us? We don't really know for sure. We haven't been able to get a straight answer on how far down the list we are. However, what we are pretty sure of is that our adoption was not going anywhere while these families were on hold, and we have renewed hope for our process. Keep praying!

Hope for the Children is born

Amy here, I don't write often because I try not to write unless I have something important to say. Well, the Lord has finally given me something important to share with you all. A few years ago, I did a home study for Jason and Dawn Seamands. They adopted a wonderful little girl, Hannah, from China. Little did I know that God would bring Dawn back into my life less then a year ago. Dawn approached me a few months ago about an idea the Lord had given her to start an adoption ministry to challange other Christians to adopt and to raise money to give grants to those families in KY who are adopting. I thought it was a great idea so we began to meet and talk about what this ministry may look like. After months of planning, it's all come together in the last month or so. We've brought another mom on board, Katie Bodager who along with her husband Greg is in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Together, the Lord has given us the vision and a plan for Hope for the Children. We have come under the umbrella of New Hope International Ministries so we are now able to offer tax deductible receipts to those who wish to donate to the cause. Our main goal right now is to share about the need for Christians to be involved in adoption so we are open to speaking in Sunday School classes, at churches, to women's groups, etc. If you have an opportunity for us to share our stories, please e-mail adoptionhope "at" gmail.com. We have lots of ideas and I'll keep you all posted as things progress.

Fall Break

Today we took advantage of the beautiful weather and Asbury's Fall Break to go down to Red River Gorge with Amy's cousin, D.J. It was a gorgeous day - not too hot, not too cold, beautiful blue October sky. The trees were not as colorful as most years due to the severe drought we've been in, but it was still very nice.

Amy and D.J. in front of Nada Tunnel

Matt on the swinging bridge on Sheltowee Trace

Crescent Rock

Matt & Amy on top of Chimney Top Rock

A House Divided

Today Amy's Giants played Matt's 49ers...a little friendly rivalry. Giants won. (Matt says "booo.")

Congratulations, Kerry & Tim!

On Saturday we celebrated a wedding in Lexington with our friend Kerry and her new husband Tim. Kerry is a friend of ours from college who still lives in the area. Amy was a bridesmaid in the wedding, and Matt sang a couple of solos. Below is a picture of us from the reception on the 15th floor of the Chase Tower in downtown Lexington. We wish them all the happiness in the world.