Head Above Water

One of Dzintars wishes for hosting was to learn to swim. Last summer was our first experience with swim lessons for our own kiddos. It was quite the undertaking. We tried group lessons at two different pools for Brennan and it just wasn't working. He was extremely fearful of putting his head in the water (which of course really limited his progress) and there just wasn't time in group lessons to address his issues so little to no progress was made. Then one day, thanks to a friend's Facebook post, I learned about Head Above Water's private swim lessons! The private lessons allowed all his needs to be addressed by an experienced swim instructor who took the time to get to know him and what motivated him! If you know Brennan you know he's obsessed with garbage trucks!! When his swim teacher Stephany began pulling out toys to use during his first lesson she had a little rubber garbage truck, don't you just love how God works little gifts like that into our lives? These lessons allowed him to grow by leaps and bounds, we were thrilled with his progress and look forward to both Brennan and Kaelyn's Head Above Water lessons this summer.
When I read that Dzintars wanted to learn to swim I immediately thought about Head Above Water and what a blessing private lessons would be for him so I decided to reach out and see if they'd be willing to donate some lessons on his behalf! Meredith, the owner, is the sweetest lady ever! Without hesitating she offered up a list of available lessons for the weeks Dzintars will be with us! I can't wait to see that boy in the pool!!

If  you still need to sign your kids up for swim lessons this summer I highly recommend Head Above Water! You won't find a better program, trust me, we tried several! They specialize in private lessons that they customize for each child! Brennan had a blast last summer, and gained so much confidence in the pool we can't wait to see what he'll learn this summer!

Thanks again Meredith! Your gift is beyond generous and something we never would have been able to provide for Dzintars on our own!!!

New Horizons for Children

Many of you have seen my posts on Facebook about an organization called New Horizons for Children (NHFC). New Horizons is an international orphan hosting program that brings orphans to America to live with Christian host families twice a year.

Their mission is to identify school age orphans in other countries who have an ability to integrate with and temporarily live in a functional family environment through a 4-6 week host program with American Christian families who share the love of Christ. Without intervention, upon leaving the orphanage (which typically happens at age 16 or 17) 60% of girls will be lured into prostitution , 70% of boys will be on the streets or in jail, and 15% will commit suicide within the first two years on their own. One person can revolutionize the life of an abandoned child. The people of God can step in and love the fatherless. We can be a turning point for them by making an effort to express the Father's love in simple ways that make an eternal difference.

For this reason our family has decided to host a 14 year old boy from Latvia named Dzintars this summer!

Dzintars (the "D" is silent) is described as respectful, playful and engaging. He loves to play games, sports, and spend time with friends. He is very friendly and outgoing and stole the hearts of the interview team as well as a missionary family who spent time with him last winter! He's a loving boy who eagerly awaits his forever family.

The Lord has provided abundantly for Dzintars hosting fees! The cost of hosting is roughly $3000. On the morning of the final day for Latvian children to be chosen for hosting he had about half his costs covered by scholarships but still had not been chosen. The thought that this amazing kid could possibly go unhosted this summer was breaking my heart and I prayed desperately that someone would step in and choose him!!! A few hours later I received a call from our coordinator who knew how interested I was in hosting Dzintars. She informed me that he now had a FULL scholarship generously donated by someone we've never met in the hopes that our family would step in and host him! We were blown away and after much prayer decided we had to step in and host this special boy! God has big plans for Dzintars and we are thrilled that He chose our family to have a small part in this child's life!  

Some might wonder why we are bringing a teenage boy into our home when we have two young children. First off, let me say that we sought the advice of the program founder and the interview team before selecting a child to host. We inquired about several younger children and were told they wouldn't be a good fit with our kids ages for one reason or another. In addition, children in Eastern European orphanages, are typically several sizes smaller than American children their same age, and emotionally and physically 2-3 years younger than their American counterparts. Dzintars comes highly recommended by ALL who have met him and we can't wait to add him to our family this summer!

If you'd like to help us bless Dzintars this summer we're in need of teenage boy gear! When he arrives he'll likely have nothing more than the clothes on his back! Part of our jobs as his host family is to provide him with clothes, shoes, swimming suits, etc while he's here!  Even though he's 14, we're told he's small for his age so if you have boy clothes that would fit a small teenager (think an average 12 or 13 year old) that you would like to donate to Dzintars we'd greatly appreciate it! When he leaves these items will be sent back with him and will bless other kids at his orphanage as well! We'd also love to provide him with a bike and or Rollerblades to use this summer, if you have extras that you wouldn't mind sharing for 5 weeks we're sure he'd be thrilled and we'll gladly return them to you when he heads back to Latvia in August!

We covet your prayers during this time! While New Horizons is not an adoption agency, 60% of kids who are hosted will be adopted either by their host families or by another family they meet while in America. This is our biggest prayer for Dzintars! We also pray that the transition will be smooth for him and for us as he will know little to no English when he arrives!

 

We thought a blog would be a great way to share pictures and stories of our time with Dzintars! We hope you enjoy following our adventures in hosting! He joins our family June 28th and will be with us until Augst 2nd, we can't wait for him to get here!