Nine Sleeps! | Reece's Rainbow

On Thursday, April 21, I was sitting at lunch with my coworkers as usual. I was scrolling through Facebook on my phone and halfheartedly listening to the various conversations.

I got a notification for a new email, so I slid it down out of habit.

As soon as I read the subject line, I gasped and dropped my phone.

Travel dates!

I had my written referral and it was go time. I was in complete shock!

Adoption is hard. You work really hard to do paperwork and appointments as quickly as possible, then you w-a-i-t and w-a-i-t and w-a-i-t and then BAM! You go meet your son.

I AM MEETING MY SON NEXT WEEK.

Now is the whirlwind of preparations. Plane tickets. Hotel rooms. Packing lists. Toys, clothes. Sub plans.

And so, so much anticipation.

In just over a week, I get to introduce you to my boy. What pure joy.

With much love and excitement,
Elizabeth

Verbal Referral! | Reece's Rainbow

They said yes.

This morning (April 11) I woke up to an email saying the committee has accepted my dossier and I have verbal referral to adopt Little Dub!

In the next two to three weeks, the Minister will sign and I will have travel dates.

I am over the moon.

He is going to be mine and I get to touch him in just a few weeks.

Molehill | Reece's Rainbow

When I was a kid (and even now sometimes), my parents would warn me: "don't make a mountain out of a molehill."

When I began Wren's adoption, I challenged you and me and God to move mountains, specifically financially.

And friends, that mountain is now a molehill.

This is a $1,722.05 molehill.

That's all that's left.

I am in disbelief.

I have watched a mountain shrink and I really have no words, except thank you.

We are almost there. My little guy is so worth it.

Love,

Elizabeth

It's Giveaway Time!

Little by little, we are chipping away at the final $3,000 needed to get my boy home. In fact, as I write this, the number is under $2,000!

So let's do a GIVEAWAY!

Enter to win a brand new JBL Flip 2 portable wireless speaker!

This bad boy is perfect for portable dance parties, workout sessions, or picnics and can play from your phone using bluetooth.

Here's what to do:

1. Donate to my Reece's Rainbow FSP or GoFundMe.
2. Screenshot/forward me your receipt.
3. BOOM! You're entered!

Wanna enter for free?? Share on social media for free entries (up to five)!

Giveaway drawing will happen once I have 100 entries!

Let's do this!

Thank you in advance.

Love,
Elizabeth

Fernweh

A while back, I ran across a fascinating article about words in other languages that have no direct translation in English. As I scrolled though the words and meanings, I found "fernweh" and kind of fell in love with it.

Fernweh (German) - Feeling homesick for a place you have never been to.

My heart is full of fernweh.

I am homesick for Eastern Europe. I'm homesick for a town that holds an orphanage that holds a child, my child. I am homesick for little boy I know only though pictures.

And another week has come and gone and I feel no closer to my little boy.

The anticipation and frustration and longing is hard.

I hoped to update with travel dates and a count down and packing list. But here I wait; fernweh.

Soon.

Spread the Love: World Down Syndrome Day | Reece's Rainbow

Happy World Down Syndrome Day, my friends!

Down syndrome is what most people call Trisomy 21, which means that people with Down syndrome have an extra 21st chromosome.

Three of chromosome twenty one. 3-21.

So on March 21, we celebrate all people, young and old, rocking their something extra.

In the United States, we have many resources for kids and adults with Down syndrome. Early intervention programs, countless therapies, Special Olympics, job training programs, I could go on and on.

But in some parts of the world, children who are born with this special something extra don't have these same opportunities.

Most of the time in these countries, the mothers and families have so few options for their child that their best choice is to place them in an orphanage and pray they are adopted.

[I once thought of these parents rejecting their own children with anger, sadness. But now, I have come to realize it is the hardest decision they will ever make. Even if there is rejection and fear, there must be at least a bit of hope mixed in. Certainly some love.]

So because of this fear and the culture and the misunderstanding, thousands of children sit in orphanages around the world waiting for mama. All because they have a little something extra.

I want to introduce you to the sweetest little boy.

This is Joey*. Joey is six years old and lives in an orphanage in the same Wren and Dub's home country.

Joey has Down syndrome.

Joey is not less of a person.

Joey is not a statistic.

Joey is a precious little boy, a son waiting to be found.

Today, on World Down Syndrome Day, please see Joey. See him for the valuable, image-bearer that he is. He is capable of love, capable of great joy.

Could you be Joey's mama? Joey's papa? Joey's brother or sister or neighbor?

Joey is one of thousands of children who wait today.

What can you do for him?

If you have questions about Joey or other children waiting for their families, please let me know. I would love to chat with you.

Love,
Elizabeth


*Joey's name has been changed for his protection.

The Final Three Thousand | Reece's Rainbow

When I began this adoption journey a year ago, I was staring at a whopping $30,000 that I needed to come up with some how. I had faith that it would happen, but I had NO IDEA how.

Through the crazy path of changing countries, then losing Wren and finding Dub, the $30,000 total budget stayed fairly consistent.

But the amount I have needed to figure out has slowly, amazingly gone down.

The day I emailed my agency to ask about Wren, a generous donor gave $12,000 to help fund her adoption. When she died, I was given the option of putting that money toward the adoption of another child with Down syndrome - what a blessing.

When I saw the picture of my Dub for the first time, Reece's Rainbow was in the middle of their annual Angel Tree project - a wonderful fundraising drive for waiting children. My little guy's amazing warrior worked hard to raise $1,000 for his adoption - another huge blessing.

From surprise grad school refunds to an extra paycheck and salary increase, money has been provided in ways I never could have imagined a year ago - again, so many blessings.

I'm now down to about $3,000 to be fully funded.

This is so doable.

I am going to continue updating this post with every step towards that $3,000. I can't wait to see the blessings listed out here one by one. And if you look over to the right, there is a cute little thermometer that will go up, up, up as the money is raised!

Thank you for being a part of my journey.

Love, Elizabeth



P.S. Over the last few weeks, I have had several people ask me about fundraising. Why am I still fundraising? If I gave for Wren's adoption, what happened to that money? Is it all a big scam?

I get your questions. I promise. No hard feelings.

Here's what I want you to know.

If you donated money or bought something I was selling, the money was spent on adoption. Even though this process has been long, the paperwork from Uganda and Wren's adoption have carried over. I did not have to redo things. I (miraculously) did not lose money when Wren died.

It's just that adoption is expensive.

At no point in this process have I been fully funded.

That's where this last $3,000 comes into play. $3,000 to fully funded. (And no more fundraisers.)

And if you think this is a scam, I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to ask for money. But the truth is, I do. As much as I dislike it, I will do it for my son.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GOAL: $3,000

March Madness Bracket Fundraiser: $128
Donations: $525.22
5/5/5 for Families Grant: $847.73
3rd Place in Weight Loss Challenge: $47.06
Speaker Giveaway: $120 and counting...

Total: $1,670.01
(as of April 29)