Excellent Article Forwarded To Me From a Friend....

The Price of Adoption

Posted December 14th, 2009 @ 8:02 am by Amy Adair

“How much did she cost?” the cashier at the grocery store asked, pointing to my daughter.

I nervously shifted Evie, on my hip and swiped my credit card. My husband and I had just gotten home from Beijing, China, with our new daughter and I wasn’t prepared for prying questions from strangers.

“How much did you pay for your car?” I shot back.

She wrinkled her forehead, frowned, and was obviously offended by my question.

“I’d just heard that it was $100,000 to adopt from a China,” she hissed.

“It’s not $100,000,” I sighed. “She didn’t cost a penny. We did, however, pay a social worker and an agency to help facilitate the adoption.”

As I headed back to my car, I had a sinking feeling that more people would ask the same question. I was right. The first week Evie was home, my dentist, a neighbor, and a stranger at the park all wanted to know: How much?

It is true, adoption isn’t cheap. There are a lot of fees that add up quickly. We paid for a home study, visas, passports, immigration papers, plane tickets, and hotels. Quite honestly, it is a financial sacrifice. But so are other things that people don’t question, like sending your child to college. People find a way to do it. Much like financing a college education, there are grants, loans, and federal tax credits available to adoptive parents.

I wonder, though, what’s the cost of not adopting? It was never God’s intention for children to grow up in an orphanage without the love of a mother or father. Clearly God weeps for those who suffer, especially the fatherless. In fact, in Matthew 19:14, Jesus berates his disciples for turning children away from him. Jesus invites the children to stay and declares that the kingdom of Heaven belongs not to the grown-ups but to the kids. It is one of the many beautiful pictures in the Bible that illustrates God as our Abba or Father.

It is also a call to action. Just as Jesus welcomed the children, he asks us to reach out to the neediest to the least of these.

Imagine what would happen if every Christian world-wide cared for orphans? I know not every Christian is called to parent an orphaned child. But I do believe that Christ calls every Christian to care for and support the fatherless. That could be praying for an adoptive family, supporting an adoption cause, or sponsoring a waiting child.

Financing an adoption isn’t the price tag that should shock people. It’s the cost of standing by and doing nothing that should leave Christ-followers speechless.

...from ThinkChristian.net

Home Sweet Home!

Sorry for the delayed post. We've been busy playing.

We returned home at around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. After a long flight, all is well with the world and our family is complete. Dima decided that he didn't want to sleep on the 11 hour flight so that was nice. I think he wanted to test the stamina of his new parents. Actually it worked out good because he has adjusted to US time very well. He fell asleep just as we were hearing the pilot announce our decent into Atlanta. Oh well.

Once home, he was introduced to his two sisters and grandma (Teddi's mom). The girls were beside themselves. They could not believe it. They actually had a new baby brother!

After a good nights sleep, we all stayed home on Monday to get aquainted with each other. He is a very good baby. Sleeps good and just has a terrific demeanor. Even did fairly well with Albert (our Bulldog) sniffing his face.

We'll post more photos soon. Thank you all for your support throughout this process. Someday we'll be able to tell Dima about the literally hundreds of people that made this possible. From family, friends, co-workers, to the throngs of people who donated goods for our two massive garage sales last year, we have been blessed beyond belief during this long journey. It is really overwhelming to think about the support we have recieved.

Moscow Zoo

Today we ventured off to the Moscow Zoo. We thought about trying our hand at the subway, but I chickened out. Teddi was disappointed. But really, things were going so well, what good could come out of the two of us venturing off on a train with no english signs loaded with thousands of Russians with our baby who had just recovered from bronchitis? We chose to walk.

The weather was beautiful. Sunny and 70 degrees. We had a great time. The zoo was huge. Not quite up to American standards, but was very good none the less.

Tommorow is the day! We leave at around 1:00 p.m. Moscow time and arrive home at around 8:30 p.m. EST.

Now that's more like it

Good News. Not sure if it was the prune juice or the very long nap, but I feel better, which means Mommy and Daddy feel better too!

Here is a picture of me and Daddy at Red Square.

Slow down Mommy and Daddy

Hey everyone, it's me Dima. I think mommy and daddy need to slow it down with the solid foods that you Americans eat like McDonald's cheeseburgers, french fries, chicken, etc. etc. I was feeling fine until they fed me that garbage. Now my tummy is stopped up like a cork! I sent daddy out to the grocery store to get me some prune juice to loosen me up a little. We'll see how that goes (both he actually figuring out how to find prune juice in a Russian grocery store and whether it will actually help ease the pain in my tummy)! Is it too much for them to continue with my cereal and tea for goodness sake!

No more Pink for our SON!

Although Dima's passport photo was taken in his beautiful purple hand crocheted suit, we can now dress him in anything we like so there will be no more pink, at least until Grace and Tori get ahold of the poor little thing.

Here are some recent photos. He is still small relative to most 1 yr. old babies, but it shouldn't take long to fatten him up the way he has been eating. His progress has been amazing. When Teddi picked him up last week he couldn't sit up on his own. He now does so with little problem and has progressed to eating solid foods as well. He had his first McDonald's cheeseburger today for lunch!

The Russians are Coming!

We recieved his Visa and are officially done. Now we are U.S. tourists and Dima will be a U.S. citizen as soon as we land on U.S. soil!

Today we walked down to Red Square and did some sight seeing. May 9th is called Victory day and is the holiday that celebrates the Russian victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. They are preparing Red Square for the parade and festivities. Each night they have been practicing the parade route, which we were unaware of, but would have been valuable information to have had before heading off to bed last night...continue reading for comic relief.


Let me set up the story by explaining that our hotel room faces the main street in Moscow, which is the parade route. Being unware of the practicing, we awoke last night to loud sounds coming from the street below. So I go over to the window, peel back the curtains, and this is what we see (video below). Now you tell me, if you woke up in the former Soviet Union in the middle of the night and saw this outside your window, what would you do? I nearly wet myself.

Tomorrow is May Day so we are going to a big park in the city for a festival and concert of some kind.