As many of you may know, we have decided to embark on a crazy beautiful adventure that was truly designed by God. We have decided to adopt a 14 year old, Eastern European boy named Max.

Let me begin by telling you a little bit about Max. He lives in an orphanage with 200 or more other children. He has strabismus (lazy eye), and he walks with a limp. He is very small for his age, and we've been told he is often picked on by the bigger children. Max desperately wants a family. He wants to be loved. He wants to be sacrificed for. He wants to be redeemed.

Guy and I have felt led to adopt since before we were married. We knew there were kids out there hurting, and we knew that we could offer them a family. Not long after we were married (almost exactly 9 months) our first son was born. He was beautiful and perfect and we loved him with our whole hearts, but we knew there was more. There was a child still out there who needed us. Not long after our son was born we became licensed foster parents. Foster parenting was rewarding in so many ways, and we saw children joyfully reunited with their families. Our hearts swelled with the work God was doing, but we knew there was more. There was someone still out there who we were meant to love. Our second son was born two short years after our first and we didn't think we could love more than we already did, but our hearts grew and we loved him just as much as our first. We had two beautiful, healthy boys, but we still felt God whisper that there was more. There was still a child lost and alone who wanted a family. We prayed and trusted God to guide us, and on New Year's Day of 2013 I picked Jeremiah 29:11-13 as our verse of the year. Little did I know the comfort and reassurance this verse would bring us over the next few months as God unraveled our adoption story. 

It was an ordinary day in early January filled with the busyness that toddlers bring to a family when we got an email that would change our lives forever. It was an email passed through the grapevine advocating for an Eastern European orphan named Max. There he was in our inbox telling us he wanted a family. Telling us he wanted a home and that he couldn't explain why, but he knew there was more. We felt God fill our hearts and say "This is him. This is the child I have prepared for you". We looked at each other and agreed that this was it! We immediately hit the ground running and God has grown us and guided us through this crazy adventure. We have struggled, doubted, and fell to our knees in prayer, and some how God has used us. We are weeks away from traveling to go get Max, and we are still in need of funding. We have done fundraising and more fundraising, and then topped it off with more fundraising. We are now down to the wire, and will be leaving in just a few short weeks to bring our son home. To give Max the family he has been praying for.

We've started this fundraiser on Pure Charity to raise what we need to make our adoption a success. We have a donations goal of $3,000 that will go towards the cost of Max's adoption. It's been our dream to help give a child an opportunity like this and we hope that you will consider helping us make our dream a reality.

Every donation is important and will help make this adoption a success. Would you kindly consider making a donation? Also, we would appreciate your willingness to share this with others who may want to participate.

Thank you so much for being a part of our lives and helping accomplish something that's important to all of us!

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