Fundraising

So this whole adoption thing is so crazy and way bigger than us and way bigger than the child we will bring home. It's making us step out in faith and truly live the gospel unlike anything we have ever done before. For us right now this is our big YES to God. Fundraising is tricky because on one hand it can be so effective in alleviating a huge burden of this whole process which is the enormous cost but it can also be messy and uncomfortable.

People often ask me why it costs so much and when I lay it all out and explain where the money goes throughout the whole process it begins to make sense. (please feel free to ask me about it if you are curious and I will at some point post about this as well for those who are considering or interested in this whole adoption process)

I truly believe we are meant to share this story of adoption that we are living right now and part of that is allowing others who feel led to walk with us participate through fundraising options but at the same time I totally get and understand feeling like you just can't give. I Get It, you will not hurt my feelings, I have read, heard first hand and battled myself with the whole gamut on responses to fundraising and that is why we thought about it & feel we have found a good balance for us and what we are comfortable with.

We plan on doing a few fundraisers throughout this process but most importantly we will be pinching our pennies on this end and getting creative with what we already have. We have also started a list of places to apply for grants. Here is our plan at this point and one opportunity that was presented to us and we will be starting now (#4 below).

1- Garage Sale
2 - T-shirt fundraiser because who doesn't love a T-shirt!
3 - Noonday trunk show - mostly because I have been dying to have one and now I have a reason to :)
4- Chosen Marathon in Tampa FL

The Chosen Marathon is one that was brought to our attention because a friend of mine who is amazing and runs races on a normal basis is running this marathon in November in Tampa, FL. Yes, I live in Indiana but we have a good friend who lives in the area and I actually have quite a few other connections there as well so we decided to go ahead apply and sign up as an adoptive family team. The Chosen Marathon uses the ABBA Fund as their accountability partner and we have applied through them.

So if you are a runner (or not a runner) there is a 1/2 Marathon, Full Marathon, Kid Fun Run and Sleepwalker (for those who want to register as part of our team but won't be running) Prices go up for registration towards the end of June so check it out now. When you register online we are in the drop down options under TEAM...chose "Heinekamp Family Adopts" .... VISIT HERE to register.

Happy Rainy Wednesday and just because I didn't post on Mothers Day or share any photos yet, here is one of me and my little ones on Sunday. So grateful for the blessing they are in my life!! I mean seriously, Garrett's goldy locks and Lydia's smile...I just won the frickin kid lottery!!

Home Study...Check!

Well our home study meetings are complete!! We had 3 total, one long meeting in our home and two outside of the home. We really enjoy our time with our social worker and appreciate all the advice and thought provoking conversation she has created between Matt and I.

During the Home Study process we basically had to complete all items for our dossier as well, so we are almost done compiling those items, I have our family photo pages left and we still need to have our notary come over and notarize all of our personal documents but then that part is done. Now we just wait, which seems to be the story of the adoption process at this point in time for us. We will wait to have our home study written for review, we will then wait for USCIS to assign us a fingerprint appointment, then we will wait for them to send us our approval and then we will enter the long wait after our dossier is sent to Ethiopia.

Patience is not a well known trait in my family, it is something that I know the Lord will be refining in me through this process. I know he wants to work on this aspect of my life and he wants me to rely on him in all my weaknesses and this will be one of them. The one thing that helps is that we are aware of the wait time, we are aware it could continue to increase. I have been preparing my heart for this for 3 years but in the end I doubt it will truly matter.

I know God has a plan for us in this journey, one that is even bigger than what we see or imagine right now. 

Just Like That...She is 4

Lydia,

My crazy spunky beautiful and incredibly smart girl...how is it that I can remember every single second of our first days with you, lazy mornings snuggling, late nights pacing, first smiles/coos/laughter; you brought along the wonder, the insane love I never knew I had inside me, and the life changing moments that made me a mom. It brought one of the most faith building and hard moments in my life as well... It was worth every single second, you are worth every single second!

You are constantly asking about your surroundings and why things are the way they are. You are so smart and funny. You make us laugh constantly. You still have these beautiful dimples and bright blue eyes. You are still off the charts tall and have long dark beautiful hair (must be from your Aunt Laura).

You love to sing Let It Go at the top of your lungs, you still enjoy a good Luke Bryan jam session. You tell horrible knock knock jokes that we laugh at anyway, you love your school friends and your family so fiercely. Your favorite movies are Lion King, Frozen, 101 Dalmatians, Monster Inc., and Lady and the Tramp. Your favorite book is Digs Dog Dig, The Hiccupoptamus, Chimpansneeze and the Corduroy Halloween. We read devotionals every night and pray, you also ask for good dream ideas, so list off what you are loving these days and who you want to be in your dreams.

You took your first trip without mommy and daddy this year to Virginia with mamaw, papaw and Aunt Laura. You did so great and never got weepy or sad although we all missed you like crazy here I know you were such a gift to those you visited. You got to see the farm where mommy spent a lot of time as a kid and you got to see where papaw grew up and walked to his school.

You are so easy to forgive, you have taught me so much in this season about swallowing my pride and asking for forgiveness when I screw up because lets face it... I do it alot and you are so easy to forgive and tell me that I am such a great mom and you know what kid...you are such a great kid, I hope you always know that. I hope you always know how much your are loved, how proud of you we are and how much joy you bring us.

You are such a great big sister and have started to form such a great bond with  your brother, you two must have your own language because we have no idea what he is saying half the time but you guys just play and play like that is not an issue. I hope you always watch out for each other.

Thank you my sweet girl for this gift of being your mother, it is a joy beyond words!! I love you forever and ever Amen!

Love,
Mommy

Easter...Joyful...Beautiful

This Easter was pretty perfect. The weather was beautiful, blue skies, blooming flowers and green grass. It was warm enough to shed the church sweaters, put on shorts and run in the grass barefoot. My kiddos got bubbles, lots of candy and vacation themed bags from mamaw. We showed up to church on time in our Sunday best, hair done, put together and made it through the hour service with A+ report cards, full hearts and growling tummies. We ate breakfast at Bob Evans with a crowd that seems to get bigger every year...they are all onto our secret. My kiddos hunted for eggs, took a million wagon rides and came home sweaty dirty messes. Success.

Why?

In the midst of the chaos that is adoption paperwork, life goes on. We both still have jobs, we both still have commitments, we have two kiddos one in school two days a week and the other into and climbing everything. There are moments I feel totally inadequate, there is no way in this world that I can parent my two children let alone one through adoption, there is no way in this world that I can complete the mountains of paperwork, most of it being at the mercy of others and hoping they get it right the first time.

I ask myself a lot Why? why did God put this on my heart? Wasn't my life fine the way it was, why can't I be comfortable with the life that we were living, maybe just have another baby biologically? why complicate things? why add a child who has so much trauma and brokenness in their life into our home with  two children who have been raised in a loving home and won't be able to fathom or comprehend the type of life their brother or sister had leading up to becoming a part of this family.

My heart is broken and I have frustrations and I get angry at a world where this is even a "thing" adoption is even a thing because this world is broken but Jesus saved us and he adopted us into his family and for that reason I say YES. How can we not do this. I want a big family, I want children running through our house and causing messes and driving me totally bananas. I want that family so I say YES, because a child deserves a family who wants them and loves them and will care for their every need.

I want to live the gospel with my life and I want people to see Jesus in us, imperfect people and I want my kids to know what it means to live outside of ourselves and to live for the kingdom, to not put our stock in things of this world...to be the body of Christ, to literally be his hands and feet. To not talk a big game but to walk it and be humbled by the mountains of paperwork and the training and the money and the tears and brokenness. To love others in spite of their circumstances, story or previous life, to love them so much it hurts. To let it all break us so that he can build us up again making us stronger.

"...that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Timothy 3:17

Thank you Jesus for that because I feel totally unequipped 99% of the time.

Life with my little people

So life with my little ones has been pretty entertaining lately. It has been exhausting and trying too, it's funny how it all seems to ebb and flow on the daily. I don't want to forget a thing so this is my attempt to update you who are still around on the totally cute kids that I am lucky enough to call mine.

Lydia 

She had her first father daughter dance earlier this month and she had so much fun dressing up with her dad and eating candy, dancing in the dark with flashlights and those neon necklaces and bracelets. She had me put a braid in her hair and she was soooo wired when she came home to tell me all about it. Her favorite movies right now are Frozen (of course), Lion King and 101 Dalmations. She knows every word to ever song from Frozen, the other night I think her nap was too long during the day so I fell asleep at 10 p.m. to her singing "For the first time in forever...." from her bedroom. She got mad at me and Matt about something turned around dramatically and declared "Close the Gates!" 

She is feisty and sassy and can turn on the attitude like the flip of a switch but the other day after her 4 year doctor appointment (yes 4 years, how is this possible) I took her and Garrett to chick-fil-a, of course, and she was playing on the playset while I sat and observed, she took the time to go up to the boy that was in the tree for the 3 and unders, introduced her brother and asked if he could share with him. My heart almost exploded all over that playset. I also heard her introduce herself to a little girl, asked her what her name was and then asked if she was going to go down the slide or if she could go ahead. At times I doubt my parenting and other times I give myself a mental chest bump and declare VICTORY!

She asks for a piggy back ride every night, has memorized her favorite "Dig Dogs Dig" book and recites it to me, she has to have lotion on her feet with socks, her fan on, and she has to have me go through a list of sweet dreams for her before I can leave for the night.

She weighs 42.6 lbs and is 3ft. 5 inches tall....come on scholarships!! :) 

Garrett

He is pretty much the cutest thing ever with his curly hair, blue eyes and dimples. It's a good thing too because that boy challenges me like nothing else in my life. He still wakes sometimes in the middle of the night, he still doesn't talk too well so he gets frustrated a lot. He loves his big sissy though and she helps him accomplish things without mommy's help. He is pretty happy when there is food around and I am pretty sure we need to put a lock on our pantry or he will start climbing the shelves to get to his snacks.

Tonight he said "ball" in the bath tub and that was fun! I also asked if he wanted to read books and he pointed and said "elmo". There is now a distinct sound difference between mama (me) and mamaw (grandma) and he even says papaw (grandpa) he says "hey" and "bye" and "nigh nigh" (night night) he barks when he sees the Butler Bulldog on Matt's sweatshirts and roars like a Lion during Lion King. He adores our dog and lights up when they are around, he scoots real close to them so he can lay his head on their fur and they can lick his fingers. I know gross right...get over it, I did. His run is probably the cutest because he bounces and you can see his curls over the couch when he does :) When it comes to falling or bouncing off things he's pretty tough and gets right back up, his head is still large and we are getting used to the bumps and bruises that comes with a 19 month old.

cell phone selfie

Sole Hope: Shoe Cutting Party

If you have not heard of the organization Sole Hope, I recommend you go check them out right quick then come back here.... they are doing great things and making such an impact on the lives of those living with "jiggers" and foot related illness/disease in Uganda. 

What drew me to this organization is the fact that WE CAN DO SOMETHING from our living rooms. We don't have to travel (although I want to sooo badly), we don't just have to send a check (although they can use that too) but we can actually do something with our own two hands!!  

So last week I hosted a shoe cutting party. I had 11 ladies here from family, to coworkers to close friends all scattered throughout my house tracing, cutting, chatting, drinking and eating. We opened up the evening by watching a short video clip that shines a light on what Sole Hope does. It's not pretty, it's painful, it's real and dirty but these kids they rely on the help of Sole Hope to become educated and healed. 

How can you host a party? It's easy...go to Sole Hope Party and purchase a shoe cutting kit, it will come with all instructions needed to get started. Then you can purchase the supplies or have your guests bring them, I did a little bit of both. You send out invites via email or social media. I love playing hostess so I had some beverages and snacks but you don't necessarily have to do that. Set up a place to start the evening with a computer or tv where you can watch the video then let people scatter! 

It's fun to watch others eyes be open to what is going on around the world, it's fun to watch them get excited and want to help too, it's fun to watch people become inspired by doing something! By sharing what you know and what you are passionate about it's amazing what can come from it. I am actually extending this party into a MOPS group next week with one of the ladies who came to my party. She invited me to share the video and talk about what Sole Hope does and to help lead them in shoe cutting for Sole Hope. That pumps me up!! 

I can't wait to one day go on a trip to actually watch this all go down, it's on my bucket list but for the time being lets keep partying for Good :)