Money, money, money...

So much of what we do is ruled by money. We make it, we spend it. It determines the type of home we live in, the kind of car we drive. Because we're not an agricultural society, it can even play a role in determining the food we eat.

Two years ago, before adoption was on our family's radar,  I was standing on a playground, talking with two other women while our children played. Somehow, the topic of adoption came up and shortly thereafter came questions about why adoption can (but doesn't have to be) so expensive. One of the other ladies shook her head and said, "I don't understand why someone would put their family in debt to adopt a child. I just can't see taking away from my other children."

I stood there for a moment, stunned. I had never thought about the costs of adoption, other than I knew it could be expensive, but it never occured to me that the costs wouldn't be worthwhile. After a moment, I couldn't help myself. I had to point out that for the cost of a car, a child could be spared from a life of poverty or possibly even a death from starvation. I should have known then that the seed was planted.

Adoption can be expensive. I won't lie. In fact, it is one of the most cited reasons why families feel that they can not adopt.

Here is where I am going to push aside my pride and be real. Bringing home Dalton is going to cost our family somewhere in the vicinity of $25,000. So, where does that much money go? Here's a brief breakdown:
- Approx. $4500 for our homestudy and agency fees
- $10,000 in program fees (Bulgarian agency fees, paper translation, court costs, services in Bulgaria)
- Around $1200 in immigration and visa fees
- +/- $8000 in travel costs for the two trips to Bulgaria
- The rest is miscellaneous expenses like passport, fingerprints, notarization, apostillation, and postage.

So, some of you who have visited the blog may have noticed the new button on the right sidebar with a picture of Dalton. It is a link to Reece's Rainbow's Family Sponsorship Program. Reece's Rainbow is an organization dedicated to advocating for orphans with special needs and helping their families raise the necessary funds to bring these children home. While our family has different options for paying for Dalton to come home, not every family has those options. These families are taking a total leap of faith, praying that the funds will somehow come together in order to keep their child out of an institution for the rest of their lives. This is where Reece's Rainbow comes in, helping them find matching grants, advertise their fundraisers, and raise awareness.

We're doing a few fundraisers to help stretch the money that we have already saved to bring Dalton home. I am currently selling sweet little bird charms, each hand-stamped with "fly away."

 I have this mental image of Dalton "flying away" from his current situation. 

They're available in nickle silver with "cool" color flowers (purples, blues, greens) or copper with "warm" color flowers (pinks, reds, oranges, or yellows). Each one is hand made and strung on a coordinating ribbon. You can also custom order a bird to have a name or initials instead of "fly away." Each one is $15 and all of the money will go towards bringing our son home. Just comment on this post to order or email me at lightsburninglate@gmail.com

We have a sweet friend doing another fundraiser for us very soon, so I'll have something about that on here. We're also holding a yard sale down at my parents' house. Craigslist has also been seeing some action from us as we sell things that are no longer needed and we make space in our home for another family member.

We're blessed to know that we can make this work, that the extra little bit we'd like to raise isn't going to stop us. There are families on Reece's Rainbow who are currently fundraising as hard as they can just to finance the next step. If you feel moved, please visit Reece's Rainbow to view the families that are in the process and read about what they are doing to bring kids out of an institution and into a family. (By the way, another family from our church, the Winglers, recently committed to a sibling pair and you can read all about it here.)

Thank you so much for your support of our family during this exciting time!