LifeSong Matching Grant

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you all doing very well. As some of you might know, we have decided to welcome another child into our family. We are currently in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia through a wonderful agency called All God’s Children International. The number of children worldwide without families to love and care for them is astounding… there are over 43.4 million orphans in Africa alone! We prayerfully considered several countries, and ultimately felt drawn to Ethiopia. It is a beautiful culture...with a rich Christian heritage, wonderful people, and deep traditions. But sadly, in such a beautiful country, there are many, many orphans...currently 4.5 million! These children have lost their families to disease, famine, and poverty. What an honor it is for us to welcome one of these children into our home and our family.

Our life is crazy, and we LOVE it that way! We are crazy for our family, and crazy for the 147 Million Orphans who don’t have a family to call their own. Our hearts are full and our laundry piles are high. Our house is filled with much love, and many laughs. God has shown us that there is always room in our hearts to love more, and that we can always find time to do more laundry. And so we are stepping out in faith to bring home our next blessing. And we could not feel more blessed to be on this crazy journey!

Our family, over the last 12 months, has been saving and preparing for this adoption. Kelly has been busy behind the sewing machine making dresses, capes, dolls and quilts. We have initiated a “sponsor a dress” fundraiser, where we make a dress to clothe a little girl in Ethiopia. Our plan is to hand out these dresses on our first trip to Ethiopia. To date, we have made over 50 dresses.

As you might know, adoption is expensive. We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, Ethiopian government fees, translation fees, travel, orphanage fees, medical, document fees, etc. to be $30,000. We have met all adoption expenses so far, around $13,000. We are grateful to Covenant Presbyterian Church and LifeSong for Orphans for providing us with a $2,500 matching grant to help us with the remaining adoption costs. Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org), a trusted organization administering the funds, will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

We would like to extend an invitation to you to joyfully partner with us to help bring home our Ethiopian son. While not everyone is called to adopt a child, we believe (and hope!) many will join us on the journey to make an eternal impact on this child’s life. We would truly appreciate your prayer support and if you would like to be part of financially helping us, you can send your donation directly to Lifesong between now and April 11, 2012 to the address below.

We thank you for reading this letter and considering our invitation to join our journey.

Blessings,
Troy, Kelly, Jack, Cole, Clare and Clark


Please make checks payable to: Lifesong
In the memo section please write:
“Preference Farrington #2562 Adoption”.

Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Att: Farrington #2562 adoption
PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744

*Your contribution is fully tax deductible. In following with IRS guidelines,
your donation is to the named non-profit organization.

Valentines

My little artist loved making these valentines. He is the most creative person I know. He fingerprinted all of the cards with red ink and then made it into a funny little character.

Live the Truth

I think I am missing out when I choose to live the way I feel that is acceptable or ordinary. So many times I feel like I have something to say and I feel so out of touch of what is acceptable and I shut down, completely. Sometimes I want to say, " I am an idiot", "I messed up BIG time", "My life is not a beautiful picture". Bad things happen all the time. These bad things are remarkably identifiable in our makeup. Do we put on a pretty face or do we bare it all? I struggle daily with vulnerability.

Daily, I am overwhelmed and exhausted and inspired.
My friends are the most generous, amazing, smart, caring, compassionate, creative people I know.
I am blessed to sit among them and share their stories. we laugh and we marvel at how tightly our hearts are knit together. These days, this relationship seems harder to build. I worry that I am not giving people my true self.

what is blogging about? relationship
facebook? relationship
MOPS? relationship
small groups and old and new friendships? relationship

woman's bible study? relationship
etc.
and guess what relationship requires?
that we are willing to make ourselves vulnerable.
period.

that we are willing to need someone else.
that we are willing to say so.
that we are willing to be hurt.
because the willingness to be vulnerable is where relationship lives.
the question is: are you willing?

Today's Quote

8 Fancy Dresses

These dresses are made for the awesome Hirschberg family where big things are happening in the realms of caring for the orphan. In the beginning of March this family is going to Africa to distribute dresses to orphanages in Kenya. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Keep sponsoring dresses! I've made some contacts for where to distribute dresses in Ethiopia and I am so looking forward to putting a dress in the hands of as many little girls as I can.

The Details

So I admit it...I don't pay attention to the details. I am a quick-get-it-done kind of person. I love checking things off the list. In fact, I often create the list after I knowingly finish the items on the list, just so I can cross them off! Details are not my thing. So when we got a call that another mishap on our Express mailed adoption package was noted because something was dated 2011, I , nor my husband, was surprised.  In fact, my husband actually made a comment, "Details really aren't your thing, are they, honey?". No, Dear, I JUST want to get all this nonsense done!!!! So in that frantic, "I need to do it all now" feeling, we notarized a new document that says 2012 and we are good to go. Hopefully, this week we will get our long awaited number. The number that finally gets us on the list to our son. I said to a friend tonight, "I feel like I am in a race and people are just passing me by, getting better numbers. She gently reminded me that nobody will be taking MY child. That is already planned perfectly. Thankfully, not everything falls under my control. This is something I remind myself with daily.

right now, I am ...

:: humbled by the fact that I have so much further to go.

:: marveling how this January is flying by in such a blur, embracing that, and riding the wave right on into February.

:: plotting our spring garden

:: savoring a wonderful trip to the city for a Famous Forth Street Deli birthday FEAST! 

:: finishing a dozen handmade dolls. 

:: anticipating the Created 4 Care Retreat in March!!

:: listening to the complete stillness and quietness that comes in the late hours of the night. 

:: feeling grateful for the the beauty of quietness that comes in February. 

:: loving all the heart-shaped crafty kid goodness that keeps coming my way.

:: hoping that everyone has a little bit of that kind of Good Love in their lives.

:: wanting to get out tomorrow for another long swim.

:: thinking it would be nice if spring came a bit early this year.

:: thankful for a husband who can get us anywhere, anytime. He is a navigational genius.

:: making spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner tomorrow night.

:: planning on a wonderful bible study tomorrow morning.

:: wishing you a lovely start to your week!  

And then he is 9

This week Cole turns nine. He's an amazingly creative, thoughtful, and fun person who stretches, challenges, and inspires me each and every day. I feel such a mix of being so excitedly curious to see how he grows and what he does and how he lives his life; while at the same time, longing for and hanging onto the early days when he was so little. I suppose that puts me right in the middle - where we are now - loving, learning, and enjoying each and every step of the way on this journey that I'm so blessed to share with him.