A change of heart.

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  
                                                                               James 1:27

Adoption has always been something I knew I wanted to do.  I loved the idea of traveling to a far away country and bringing home a child or children to raise as my own.  The key phrase here is "far away country."  I wanted to make sure there was an ocean between myself and the child's birth mother.

Even when we started down the road of adoption we looked into international adoption and domestic adoption was never an option.  I always told Ben, "I do not want to be on the same continent as our birth mother."  As I think about that now, I think, "how sad," Why would I want that?

I don't think it's bad if others have that same that, but WOW, has the Lord changed my heart.  When we felt the Lord calling us to do domestic adoption I still had a little fear about what our birth mother would be like.  Would she want to see him often, would she want to have more contact then we were comfortable, would she think she was going to help raise our son?

Then we met Miss J.  From the very beginning we knew she was special. 

Where do I start?

So...I think I started this blog while we were in the hospital with Lucas the day after he was born.  I thought to myself....Where do I start?  Obviously it's 6 weeks later and I never did figure out where to start.

I will start with....the birth. (because I've already typed this up for our friends in our Facebook adoption group)

We got to Florida a day and a half before our baby's due date. We knew we wanted to be apart of his birth and with some prayer and discernment and encouragement from others.  We decided to get there for his due date, we knew we would never regret leaving early if it meant we'd be there for his birth.   After all...the only thing that would be wasted would be money and vacation time....and we can make more of both of those things!

 

We had lunch with our birthmom (miss J) and her mom (nanna) the next day and it was amazing! We spent time talking about everything!  We ate great BBQ....I had the wings miss J had the salad bar (who's the pregnant one here?)  We got a great picture together of her showing off her belly and me pointing at it with a cheesy grin.

 

This visit was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect meeting.  I had about 5 months to get to know Miss J on the phone.  We talked or texted almost daily.  She is amazing!  She is a hero and we love her.  ( I plan to write more about this at some point)  It was just as important for us to love our birth mom as it was to love our son.   We did not hold back, we did not guard our hearts, we LOVED....and we loved hard!

 

Miss J went into labor the morning of his due date around 6:30am, but contractions were over 30 minutes apart.  We talked to Miss J around noon and contractions were still 30 minutes apart so she told us not to get to excited yet, but she wanted us to know how she was doing.  I appreciated this about our birth mom.  She always tried to put herself in our shoes and comfort us and keep us from having the doubt, "will she change her mind."  AMAZING!  She's a hero, and I will never stop saying that.  

 

Ben and I decided we would drive around Tallahassee and see what we could do.  If you've ever been correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not a very "happenin" town.  We decided to go check out the children's museum.  Since we were about to be parents we figured we better see what we were getting ourselves in to.  

 

That evening around 6pm we went down to the dinning room of our hotel, where they served a light dinner and beer and sat down to have a bite to eat.  We joked that we better not have any beer or we might have to ask Gigi...the manager of the hotel to drive us to the hospital if our baby decided to come tonight.

 

Gigi was very interested in our story as were the rest of the staff!  They became our little family away from home!

Just as we started to eat we got a call from Nanna.  They were at the hospital and contractions were 17 minutes apart.  EEK!  We left our plates sans beer and packed our bags and headed to the hospital.  We called people as we drove letting them know it was game time!  Thanks to all who prayed for us during this time.

 

When we got to the hospital we checked in with the staff and they allowed me to go back and see Miss J.  She was doing great.  They had her in triage and were waiting to check her to see if they would keep her or send her back home. (There was no way I was letting them send her home)

 

She was finally admitted to labor and delivery and we all settled into this huge comfy room where we talked and spent some great time as family waiting for the action. 

 

(Yes I said family....Miss J and Nanna and her boys are part of our family.  Many people ask if we have an open adoption.  Yes...it's open because we know each other, we've met, we know things about each other, and we love each other.  That does not mean that we both parent!  Our birthmom has always said from the beginning that she will be apart of our lives in the way we want.  At this time...we still text...I send pictures via e-mail and let her know how Lucas is doing.  We would love to spend time together again in the future but do not have plans as of late.  This relationship will evolve in a way that is best for Lucas and we have all agreed on that.) 

Miss J had told me from the time we were matched that she would like for me to be in the delivery room with her because she thought it was important for me to be able to bond with Lucas right away.  I agreed and let her know that if she changed her mind that was ok, she just needed to tell me.  Ben waited in the waiting room with Miss J's son and they played computer games together.

 

Miss J was amazing!  She refused any sort of pain meds or epidural.  Again..HERO!  I was very involved with the labor and tried to comfort her as the contractions came.  I'm thankful that she allowed me to be so involved.  I was able to pray over her, rub her back, and encourage her as she brought our son into this world.  The Doctor asked if I would like to cut the cord, I looked at Miss J and she nodded her head yes, so I took the scissors and cut the cord.  (This was a very emotional time, as it felt very symbolic to me.  I was cutting the very thing that kept our son alive while Miss J carried him for 9 months.)  In that moment he was our son! 

I was flooded with emotions as nanna went to get Ben as I held our son for the first time.  Ben came in and looked at Lucas as if he was the very thing that Ben's heart was beating for!  We were in love!  

I will leave you with this....I plan to write more about our hospital stay and our time with our birth mother but I think this deserves it's own blog post!

8 days........

Our baby boy is due in 8 days.....every time I say it I get a little freaked out and a burst of electricity runs through my body because I can hardly wait!

We've been on this journey for 4 years now.  A journey of heartache, sadness, grief, and most recently a journey that has taught Ben and I how to love better.  This journey has strengthened our marriage, has made us go deeper in friendships, and has made us rely on God more than ever.  He says he will give us the desires of our heart.  Sometimes it's just not the way we expect.

When we found out we have fertility issues we prayed.  We asked others to pray with us, for a miracle.  We asked that the Lord give us a child, a child that I would carry.  A biological child. 
I think back to that time.  A time where we cried, we pleaded with the Lord, and he answered.  We always new we would have a child, we heard the Lord tell us this.

We could never imagine that he would choose us for the most amazing journey of our lives.  He would choose us to get to love on an amazing woman who chose life.  A woman who made a selfless decision to carry our son.  To give us the greatest gift we could ever imagine.  Thank You Lord!

This is going to be the longest 8 days of our lives.  As we wait for our son to be born.  We are enjoying every last minute as just Ben and I, but we are also ready to become a family of 4. (can't leave out Molly)  We are ready to bring our son home and become parents.

We will be going to Florida to pick up our son and stay there until all of the legal papers are filed.  Please pray for our time in Florida, our time with our birth mother, and our time with our son as we become parents for the first time.

 It's a wild ride.....some times you just have put your arms in the air, laugh, and enjoy the roller coaster!

AND THE WINNER IS

Our Raffle ended yesterday and our friend Jonathan ( founds of Perception Funding) and his team did the drawing. You guys rock!!!

Here is the result http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km6hxxpHX9k


Thank You to everyone who participated! We were able to raise $2,000 to help with our legal fees! You all are such a blessing to us!

We still need $7,200 left to raise which is amazing since our fees were $40,000! GO GOD!

We are still taking donations ( they are tax deductible) and we still have lots of amazing Shirts!

http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html

We are beyond blessed! We cannot thank you all enough.

Kindle Fire giveaway!

Tomorrow is the drawing for the Kindle Fire......Ticket are 1/2 price...you can get 20 tickets for 20 bucks! All proceeds go towards bringing home baby Garber!

We also have T-shirts....we're hoping to sell 15 more today so we can get them ordered tomorrow and have them sent out next week. Spread the word, and help us reach our goals!

Our Legal fees are due 1 month from today....God is Big....we can do it!

Less Than a month!

In less than a month we have to have ALL of the money to finalize our adoption! We are almost there folks! We are about $5,000 short, which is chump change to God.

I know some people think, "if you can't afford adoption costs how will you afford a child?" This statement hurts a bit. Most of us do not go to a car dealership and pay cash and walk, or ride rather off the lot with a brand new BMW. We take out a loan, or trade in our old car.

Well...since we don't have a child to trade in, like we would do that anyway.....and we know the Lord has picked out this specific little boy for our family we are asking you for help! Help us bring home our boy. You can buy a bracelet, a t-shirt, raffle tickets, or donate to one of our matching grants!

We still have our fingers crossed that one of the HUGE grants we've applied for will come through.

We are praying and hoping that each of you will share our story with others and maybe they'd want to be a part of something life changing.

When are boy is home....this passion of ours will not stop! We want to help others bring home their child as well. If we raise more than enough money we are going to donate the funds to another family just like ours that is hoping, waiting, and praying for their baby to come home.


Check this out for way to give
http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html

My 2 cents

I've been thinking about this a lot lately....I thought I would share my thoughts.
We are called to adopt by our Father. We are called to father/mother the fatherless. Is it for the sake of the fatherless, or is it for us?

We are giving children a family and a home who might not otherwise have that. Sometimes people say, "that child is so lucky to have you."

Adoption has been a wild ride and I'm not sure we ever get to get off the ride. I'm not sure I would if I could at this point. Although it is hard, and I mean REALLY hard sometimes, it has changed me! It has made me a better person! I'm thankful that the Lord has chosen us to adopt!

We are lucky! I think everyone should try this at least once! Maybe I'm crazy...and I think you have to be sometimes....but adoption is a blessing to those who are adopting

We are not doing this because we have to....we're doing this because the Lord has told us we "get to" do this.

Simply Love!

Hey Friends and Family!

We are in the final months of waiting to bring home baby Garber. We could not be more excited for our journey as parents. It's been a long time coming!

We still have about $10,000 more to pay in legal fees, so we have come up with creative ways to raise that money.

1st- You can check out our raffle here http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html You can win a Kindle Fire for as little as $2!

2nd- We have created a t-shirt that says "Simply Love" The Lord has called us to say yes to orphans and to simply love! You have a choice of 2 different T-shirts. The shirts come in Juniors.....go a size up from the women's shirt you would wear....and we are offering unisex sizes, which are standard sizes. $27.95 per shirt. $20 of that goes towards are adopt fees!

3rd- A friend of ours has offered her craftiness in creating "Simply Love" bracelets! They are super cute, and have been seen at Anthropology, Stella & Dot, and on celebrities! All proceeds go to our adoption. Check our these awesome bracelets here.....

http://laballews.blogspot.com/2012/03/simply-love-braclets.html


Please let me know if you'd like a T-shirt or bracelet. You can order raffle tickets on the website.

We are so blessed to have so many people supporting us. My aunt and uncle have offered to donate $5 for each t-shirt and bracelet sold! WOWZA

Pleas consider supporting us, and helping us bring home our baby boy!

Blessings!

Who want's a cool T-shirt?

The Lord says.... "I will come to you, I will not leave you as orphans." John 14:18

Help us bring home our baby boy.

http://mycrazyadoption.org/images/2310.jpg

Check out the T-shirts we are selling...be a part of something huge!

Let us know if you'd like to pre-order a T-shirt! They are awesome!

It's a Boy!

We received ultrasound pictures in the mail a couple of weeks ago from our attorney. It's so amazing to see our little boy! We have been working hard at writing grants, fundraising, and getting our home ready for the addition 2 feet that will be added to our house in June.

Here is a sneak peak of our nursery....it's mostly done, other than some finishing touches on the walls, etc. As you can see, Molly has been helping!

Please continue to share our story with others!

http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html

This is all happening so fast..........

Of course we had to get a little something for our little JayHawk. Ben is thrilled that he is going to have a son to share his love of the Jayhawks with.

Our adoption is moving full speed ahead! Baby is due June 11th....not early May like we thought. Not sure how you can be a month off....but whatevs! He'll be worth the wait. We have put a down payment on our baby this week (it's not really called that, but I like to joke). Adoption is pretty damn expensive! We know that the Lord has called us to do this and he has chosen this little boy for us. HE will provide!

We are doing our part and fundraising, saving, cashing in our stocks, etc. We are now in crunch time!

You can help! We are giving you the opportunity to win a Kindle! Check out our raffle here!

http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html


We are so blessed with friends and family who are supporting us in this! Thank You all! We love you!

Bringing Home Baby Garber

Here we go!

Help us bring our baby boy home! We are very excited that we are being blessed with such a wonderful gift! However....it's expensive! So we are getting creative. We have set up an amazon account....see post below for details!

We have also partnered with one of our friends and founder of Perception Funding. Our friend Jon has a calling on his life for fundraising and does an amazing job at it. He does it at no cost to the people he is helping! He has set up a website for us to help tell our story.

Check it out at: http://www.perceptionfunding.org/Perceptionfunding/The_Garbers.html

We are raffling off a Kindle Fire and tickets are only $2! Help us bring home our baby and have a chance to win a Kindle!

We are thankful for all of your support!

We are scared, we are excited, we are blessed.

The Garber house is doing a little remodeling. We are expanding our home by 2 feet. Two little, adorable, long awaited feet....and hands, and eyes. We are having a baby. We are adding to our family. We will soon be a family of 4! Molly will not longer be our little baby...but she will be a close 2nd.

Ben and I have always wanted a family and have been on this journey for the last 3 years. We were told we would not be able to have children unless we used some form of infertility treatment. We talked, we prayed, we waited. The Lord's answer to us was not now, not this way. So we waited longer. We asked the Lord....is it time, he always answered, but not always the way we wanted.

We were ok with that because we wanted what the Lord wanted for us in his time. We heard from the Lord at the end of last year and knew it was time to move forward. We decided we would start working on our home study in January when we returned from Haiti.

That wasn't God's plan either....He put an urgency in us to get the home study done before we left for Haiti. We weren't sure why we felt that way, but we did. So we moved forward. We got our home study finished in record time. Our home study agency was amazing and worked hard to get it done quickly. It was almost finished when we left for Haiti. We returned, we got the final draft and our home study was officially finished.

We then hopped on the roller coaster of adoption. Getting calls telling us that birth mothers were looking at our profile, waiting to hear if they had chosen us and waiting to find out if we had a baby on the way.

Last Friday we got a call. A call tell us that a birth mom had chosen us! She wanted us to raise the baby that she was carrying. We are having a baby!

Then we panicked! How are we going to pay for this? Are we ready for this? YES! We said YES!

We are now trusting the Lord. Trusting him with our baby, our finances, and our lives. This is the hardest thing we've ever done. It's really hard! We have to wait and we have to figure out how to come up with a large amount of money to pay our adoption lawyer.

So here we are again....waiting, trusting, and praying. We would appreciate all the prayers you can offer. We know that the Lord doesn't put a plan into motion only to watch it fail. He WILL provide and we WILL bring our baby home.....in June!

Let the fundraising begin!


Here is a way to help. When you order anything on amazon use this link to do so.

http://www.amazon.com?_encoding=UTF8&tag=garberadoptio-20