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When we began our first adoption, we said we were only open to a healthy referral  – there was no option in our minds for special needs children.  This time, wIth our second  adoption, both Joe and I felt that God might be laying it on our hearts to look into special needs children.  We began by looking at children with only very minor needs – those that weren’t outwardly apparent.  But, as God often works on us, He began to show us scriptures such...

Tonight I have an urge to veer off in a different direction on the Katelyn’s Fund blog, and I hope there are no objections to my detour.  I tend to over-explain most of the moves I make in life, and this is no exception.  This post comes with some trepidation because I fear isolating parents and families who cannot relate.  Instead of living in a spirit of fear, though, I’m looking at this as...

I must admit: I told a lie…to my pastor nonetheless. Maybe I could rephrase it as I convinced an individual to accept a reality that was not going to happen during the duration that they expected. It was July 28, 2004. I was sitting at my desk at work when the phone rang. I was slightly surprised that it was our social worker on the other end. She was asking how our trip to Las Vegas had gone. You see, my...

When people meet my dad, they generally notice his hands, particularly the girth of his fingers. They may also notice the freckles the dot the back of his hands, or the area that is devoid of freckles from the fire, or the heavy thick caluses that he wears like badges of honor. My eyes see the story that goes with those hands. I see the way that they hold my mother’s hands just perfectly. I see hand’s that, despite their physical...

 This past week my brother and I were in a custom motorcycle shop in Long Beach, California, surrounded by the sights and sounds of various people and machines producing mechanical works of art. As I looked around the facility at the workers and employees working on crafting these mechanical marvels, I noticed that most, if not all, of the workers had tattoos peaking out from underneath their clothing. While I doubt that I would ever get a tattoo (more than a...

I recently had the privilege of attending the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Dallas, Texas. It was an amazing, inspiring, and at times, overwhelming experience. At the beginning of each main session, they played the following video. I have watched it over and over since returning home. It keeps me grounded in my passion for the world’s orphans. It reminds me that it’s not about what I do. It’s about what God does...

Mother’s Day 2008 was highly emotional. Our family was so close – SO CLOSE – to having our son’s international adoption approved. Birthdays and Christmases had passed, but I held out hope of having him home for Mother’s Day. That was not God’s will for our son’s life. Instead he spent another Mother’s Day with his doting foster mom in his beautiful birth country. Tears swallowed my eyes as I looked down our church pew and noted, despite three shiny faces smiling back at me,...

One of the hobbies that I enjoy is mountain biking. In the glossary of terms there are two words that, when combined, are the epitome of the sport. Those two words are "epic" and "singletrack". Epic is a term used to describe something that is legendary while singletrack refers to a narrow path used to ascend or descend an incline. More oft than naught, singletrack is a trail used by animals as they move between feeding locations, the...

When we were in the early stages of the adoption process and meeting with our social worker for our homestudy, we expressed that we weren’t sure how to talk with our family about all of the questions that surround adoption.  We had obviously worked through some of the questions in order to come to our decision to adopt, but we felt ill-equipped to explain the process to our family.  So, we asked for advice. Our social worker recommended a book titled Adoption...