Bringing home baby McLaughlin
Donation protected
It's been nearly three years since Ryan and I sat in a guest room in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tears streaming down our faces as we both felt the undoubtable calling to one day bring home a baby. We had just spent the day holding hands with sweet babies, wandering the streets of Korah {the city dump - and home to over 135,000+ of the city's outcasts, the poorest of the poor... who live off of the garbage dumped there}. We had been told by our mission director that morning just how drastically our hearts would be changed that day... Not only were our eyes opened to deep hunger and poverty we'd never seen, but our hearts were opened to the idea that our family was not yet complete. God had a bigger plan for us as parents. Could it be? Really? We've been blessed with two beautiful, healthy, incredible little boys!... and God wants to bless us with more? {AWESOME!!!!} What a blessing - the thought of being able to offer a family and a home to a child who might otherwise grow up without a mommy or a daddy. Humbling. The remaining days we spent in Ethiopia were just as amazing, just as telling. (What a beautiful country, filled with beautiful, faithful people!) We went home with eyes wide open, transformed hearts and a renewed commitment to say YES to the callings on our hearts.
Fast forward a few years - years in which we repeatedly heard a faint "not just yet" - whether that whisper came in the form of health problems or financial plans gone array, or the decision to build a home in a healthier community.... we heard it just the same, "not just yet." Until now. The other day as we were doing some unpacking in our newly completed home, a friend asked Miles (4 years old) what he was most excited about in his new house. His reply came without hesitation and had nothing to do with superheroes or ninjas or play toys : "my new baby brother or sister." Ryan, Oliver (6), Miles and I are so so so very excited for our family to grow and we believe without a doubt, that our sweet blessing is waiting for us in Ethiopia. We will be working with a wonderful, local adoption agency and with an orphanage I've been blessed to visit again on subsequent trips back to Ethiopia (so lucky to have been invited three times to join University of Kentucky as a photographer for their humanitarian trips. GRATEFUL for those opportunities to visit my home away from home). The cost of international adoption is more than we could have imagined but we believe that He will provide for what we are meant to do. We have committed to growing our photography business and working overtime in an effort to put more money towards our process, but we could very much use YOUR help! $35,000+ is daunting but it is reachable! Every prayer and every penny counts. Ready, Set... grand adventure awaits. Help us set sail if you can.
xoxo.
Love,
the McLaughlins
Fast forward a few years - years in which we repeatedly heard a faint "not just yet" - whether that whisper came in the form of health problems or financial plans gone array, or the decision to build a home in a healthier community.... we heard it just the same, "not just yet." Until now. The other day as we were doing some unpacking in our newly completed home, a friend asked Miles (4 years old) what he was most excited about in his new house. His reply came without hesitation and had nothing to do with superheroes or ninjas or play toys : "my new baby brother or sister." Ryan, Oliver (6), Miles and I are so so so very excited for our family to grow and we believe without a doubt, that our sweet blessing is waiting for us in Ethiopia. We will be working with a wonderful, local adoption agency and with an orphanage I've been blessed to visit again on subsequent trips back to Ethiopia (so lucky to have been invited three times to join University of Kentucky as a photographer for their humanitarian trips. GRATEFUL for those opportunities to visit my home away from home). The cost of international adoption is more than we could have imagined but we believe that He will provide for what we are meant to do. We have committed to growing our photography business and working overtime in an effort to put more money towards our process, but we could very much use YOUR help! $35,000+ is daunting but it is reachable! Every prayer and every penny counts. Ready, Set... grand adventure awaits. Help us set sail if you can.
xoxo.
Love,
the McLaughlins
Organizer
Nikki Woodhouse McLaughlin
Organizer
Puyallup, WA