What Came First???

You've all heard the question: 

"What came first, the chicken or the egg?" 

Well today I'd like to propose a new question: 

"What came first, hosting or (Dzintars) adoption?" 

The truth of the matter in his case is that the one (adoption) would not have happened without the other (hosting)!! Hosting is the key to finding forever families for so many older kids like Dzintars. Most families who set out to add to their families via the miracle of adoption set out to adopt adorable newborns or sweet pudgy toddlers!!  Most do not choose to adopt full fledged teenagers with hurts, histories and (in the opinions of many) "baggage" from years of neglect, abuse and life in an institution. That is why hosting is so important, for many older kids like Dzintars hosting is the ONLY way they will ever experience life in a family, let alone have a chance at finding their "forever" families.

Today on my Facebook page I was able to share the joyous news so many have been waiting nearly 2 years to hear, today Dzintars officially became the son of Adam and Stacy and took on their last name!! That status has been "liked" over a hundred times today as so many had come to love Dzintars while he was being hosted by our family! And for that we are so thankful. But it does grieve my heart to know that when I share about specific kids I met in Latvia who are now looking for summer host families or about hosting in general I get few to no "likes" or comments and the ones I do get tend to be from previous or current host families! 

I found this quote on the internet today and edited it just a tad by inserting hosting for adoption...

Because I think it doesn't just speak to adoption, it speaks to hosting also because frankly hosting IS redemption!! When you host you are investing in a life and those types of investments are NEVER, EVER wasted! Regardless of if the end result is adoption or not, kids who are hosted know that they matter, that they were chosen, that they are loved. For kids who have known very little love in their life those things matter quite A LOT! 

I clearly remember watching Dzintars transformation, or redemption, if you will right before our very eyes as each new day passed. He came to us a stoic, straight faced teen who rarely smiled even for a photograph and within a week that tough outer shell had faded away and was replaced by the biggest smile EVER that reached all the way to his eyes! His joy was evident to all and it was part of the reason you all fell in love with him! That was the smile of a child who knew he was special. The smile of a child who knew after 13 long, lonely years in an orphanage what the love of a family was! 

So friends, who loved our sweet Dzintars enough to continue asking me about him nearly TWO LONG YEARS later, if you were moved by his redemption, by watching a boy come back to life, I challenge you to consider hosting this summer and taking part in a redemption story of your own! 

If you're even a tiny bit interested in this redemption thing, I challenge you to at least look at the kids we're offering for summer hosting. Most are down to just ONE WEEK to be chosen by families or they will not be able to come! So many beautiful children just waiting for someone to believe in them!! Can you imagine the heartbreak? The rejection they'll feel when they discover they were not chosen? You can sign up to view our online listing complete with photos and bios of the kids we met and interviewed here! At the very least consider choosing a child or two and commit to praying that a host family will come forward for them before it's too late!! 

Happy Easter!

The kids woke up at 6 am this morning and were using their vantage point from their 2nd story windows to spy the eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden in the front yard. By 7 am they were up, dressed and had their hair done and ready to hunt eggs. This NEVER happens!! In fact I can guarantee, come tomorrow morning when it's time to get dressed for school there will be crying and gnashing of teeth.

Thanks Easter Bunny!

The post egg hunt sibling pic. 

 These two have way too much fun together!

Cousins are the best!

 

Van Fundraiser

Oh friends with tax returns...my amazing friends Jaycee and Susan work as the hands and feet of Jesus every day in Latvia serving the kids who have stolen my heart!  They are absolutely AMAZING with these kids, I loved to just sit back and watch them interact. They are so amazing in fact that it was sometimes hard to tell if they'd just met a kid for the first time or known them for many years. They just connect so easily with kids of all ages and the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!

Their ministry needs to purchase a van 3 weeks from now to help reach more kids and have estimated their financial need to be approximately $10,000!!

Some info from their blog:

For the past eight years, all of our travel to and from orphanages has been in Jaycee’s 2-door 1994 Toyota Corolla Hatchback!!! It has been amazing how the Lord has blessed us with such a great car, which has driven 1,000’s of miles and packed many people and supplies. Even with such a miraculous car, we have reached a point where we NEED a van.

Having a van will enable us to expand our ministry! We travel to orphanages weekly, and a van will allow us to take kids outside of the orphanage for the day; to the movies, to Riga, or on another exciting adventure. Additionally, we often host kids on weekends and holidays, and a van will enable us to host more kids and do more things together.

Could you help? $10, $20... A lot of people giving a little goes a long way. And these ladies are beyond amazing!! Click here to donate or to learn more about their ministry! Let's help these ladies serve the kids God has called them to!

Some kiddos trying to teach Susan some Russian which she purposely said wrong just to make the kids laugh. 

 Jaycee playing with some of the kids,

 Me, Susan, Jaycee and my fellow NHFC volunteer Stephanie.