Thankful

The turkey is roasting in the kitchen. Potato casserole is in the fridge. Pies are in the oven. But this post isn't necessarily about Thanksgiving. This post is in honor of National Adoption Month, which is November. I've been meaning to post something on Facebook, but I just haven't had the words to say it in a limited amount of space. So, although I don't regularly post on this blog anymore, I have decided to share just a little bit about what adoption means to me as a big sister of two adopted children.

Me with my little "Santa." Sofia is obsessed with Santa,
and rarely leaves the house without a Santa hat. 

First off, being the big sister of two adopted children is hard. I used to think that adoption was almost like a fairytale. I believed in "instant-bonding" and that as soon as you adopted a child, there would be a "happily-ever-after" ending. However, soon after our first adoption was completed, I realized that the healing process for a traumatized child had just begun. The insecurities, trauma, and heartbreak that these children have endured still exists, and that often causes these children to have unusual behaviors. I also learned that (at least in my instance and most others that I have heard), instant bonding didn't happen. I have had to actually work to bond with my two adopted sisters, and it is hard. Sometimes it is really hard to look past their disturbing behaviors and see the child that they are created to be. But I am bonding, and because I have had to work for it, it has made my relationship with my two adopted sisters even more valuable.

This is Alison on her tenth birthday last spring. She has
 grown so much and I am so proud of her. 

Second, adoption is heartbreaking. I have witnessed the effects of heartache, confusion, and loss that comes with adopted children. Really, I had no idea. These children, even after they are adopted and given a sure future, still have doubts that this family is "forever." Just the thought of that is a tragedy. I can not imagine always questioning if this family, my family, will always mean "forever."

Third, adoption is redemption. When God adopted us, we were redeemed. We now have a hope. We now have a future. We now have a Father to cling to. The same thing happens when orphans are adopted. In most countries, if you are an orphan, you have a grim future. But when one is adopted into a family, they learn to trust their family, they learn about hope, and they discover what it means to have a family. And above it all, when adoption is done for God's glory, these children discover the love and faithfulness of their heavenly Father. I feel abundantly blessed that I have had the opportunity to witness a broken child slowly accept the love of both a family and their Father in heaven. Six months after Alison's adoption, she accepted Jesus as her Savior, and that was when the healing process really began.

Lastly, adoption is beautiful. Orphans becoming a treasured part of a family? That's beautiful. The healing process? That's beautiful. The hope? That's beautiful. Watching love fill in the broken pieces of their heart? That's beautiful. Knowing that someday, your sisters are going to proclaim victory over their loss? That. Is. Beautiful. Through the difficulties, the frustration, and the anger, I can still sit in awe of the beauty taking place in front of my eyes. Adoption can be so, so hard, but more than that, it is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

~Allie Broaddus

Easter Weekend

First and foremost, I'd like to point out that I finally got my own account on this blog. To clear confusion, I (Allie) have been updating this blog during Sofia's adoption (2013). My mom (Stephanie) blogged in 2011 during Alison's adoption.

Our Easter weekend was great. Weather up here in the North West has been surprisingly sunny and warm so we've spent a lot of time outdoors drawing with chalk, going on walks, climbing rocks, and jumping on the trampoline.

Aren't these three the most precious girls?

Jenna, Alison, and Sofia participated in an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Unfortunately, our camera died right before the hunt so we didn't get any pictures :(. Sofie was so funny - she would pick up the eggs and check if they were real or fake. If they were real, she would throw them somewhere else and only keep the fake ones. 

Sofia lost another tooth in the middle of the night. She seemed very ashamed to have lost her tooth and didn't want any of us to see it. We decided to congratulate her on losing her tooth, and now she is very proud to have the gap in her mouth. Even better, she now let's us wiggle her other front tooth. Just a couple of days ago she would not let us touch her mouth at all, but now she is proud to show us her wiggly teeth! 

Yes, this is a boot with a hat on it. Her name is Princess Carina and Sofia doesn't let her out of her sight. 

On Easter, I am reminded that we once were separated from our Father, but He promised us He wouldn't leave us. His dying on the cross and rising from the dead made it possible for us to be His children. We were once orphans, lost and without a Father, but now we're adopted children of the Lord.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." ~John 14:18 

I am so humbled to have the opportunity to be a part of the redemption process of two precious girls, girls that were once without a forever family but now have one, because of the faithfulness of my Father. They teach me so much everyday.

Would you like to be a part of a redemption process for a child? To start, you can donate to Miss A's fund. We have one week left for this raffle. Follow this link to read the rules and purchase a raffle ticket for only two dollars! Thank you so much for all who've donated and shared, let's keep it going!

Have $2? Let's Get Miss A Home!

Alright, here we go, our first fundraiser to help bring Miss A home! It's a raffle for a brand-new ESV study Bible - a fifty dollar value! I have the student version of the ESV Study Bible and I love it. The maps, background information, and side-notes helps one to clearly understand the circumstances of the Hebrews. It includes:

• 2,575 pages
• 20,000 notes
• 200 full-color maps
• 40,000 all-new illustrations
• 200 charts 
• Over 50 articles on theology, ethics, biblical teaching, and application
• Concordance
• 80,000 cross-references

"The scope and faithfulness of the ESV Study Bible is breathtaking." ~John Piper

"I can't imagine a greater gift to the body of Christ." ~C.J. Mahaney

"A new standard in excellence... As a pastor it's my goal to get one into the hands of every member of my church." ~Joshua Harris

"Outstanding! The ESV Study Bible is a treasure - a beautiful volume, filled with a wealth of resources!" ~Jerry Bridges

Every ticket is $2. Hear that? This "breathtaking" Bible could be yours for only $2! Or, you can get six entries for ten dollars... or twelve entries for twenty dollars... or eighteen entries for thirty dollars... on and on.  In addition, you can get a FREE entry when you share on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, whatever. BUT you need to buy at least one ticket for you to get this free entry.  To purchase a raffle ticket, you can use the PayPal button below (email me at a.broaddus@hotmail.com for alternative ways to donate if PayPal doesn't work for you). But please remember to comment on this blog saying how much money you donated and if you shared this blog post. 

The raffle will last from today (March 25th) until Monday, April 8. Let's help Miss A come home to her family soon! 

Also, please remember to visit Miss A's family's blog and remember to comment on their posts for encouragement! And one last thing - PRAY PRAY PRAY your hearts out that God will pave the way for Miss A and her family to be together soon! She has waited so long, I wish that she didn't have to wait another day! Thank you all!

Would you please help me get home? I am praying that my family will come for me!

Will you please help my friend come home to her forever family? She has been waiting so long. I know that she would be so grateful if you would!

Spokane Orphan Summit

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to speak about orphan care at any age at the Spokane Orphan Summit. I felt so humbled when I was asked to be on a panel to discuss how I've helped with orphan care. 

My mom and I had a great day spending time with other adoptive parents and even adoptees. We left with some very valuable information. Plus, we got some good books for little price!

We even received the ones below for free!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has adopted, is considering adopting, knows someone who has adopted, or just wants to figure out what God's will for their life is. It not only addresses the orphan and widow crisis, but a hundred other things applicable to all Christians today.

At lunch, we sat at the table for international adoptions with South America. We waited and waited, but there was no one else out of two hundred and fifty people that had adopted from South America (unless they were sitting at a different table for some reason). Finally some missionaries to China who also have one (almost two!) Chinese daughters came and sat with us. Just the fellowship with other adoptive families was so valuable. It reminds us that we're not alone!

There were many booths representing different agencies for international, open, and foster adoptions. I have a whole bag full of brochures. One of the most powerful brochure I got was from Lifeline Children's Services. From it I found out that less than 1/10 of 1% of orphans will ever be adopted. Did you know that every 2.2 seconds (38,000 every day) are released from orphanages with no place to go, no family to help them, little education, and with barely any money? And about 75% will be involved in prostitution and trafficking for money just to survive, imprisoned, or dead within two years after being released. Most of these girls and boys are age sixteen when released from state care - my age. I can not imagine what they have to go through.
What I realized most after the conference was that I need to be more involved in care for the orphaned, widowed, poor, and oppressed. Right now I'm praying for what the next step may be.

While I was gone, guess who lost a tooth! I was so sad to miss it - it was her first tooth she lost since being home! She didn't want to put it under her pillow - even if she received a surprise in the morning. I think she was terrified of the thought of a strange fairy coming in and crawling under her pillow at night - silly girl. 

Guess What!

Do you remember my post about Miss A? The one about a special little girl that I was pleading with you to pray for? The girl who herself prays for a family? Guess what! She has a family coming for her! I met one of Miss A's future big sisters while I was in Ecuador on one of the days I was volunteering at Sofia's former home. I had no idea that she was to be Miss A's big sister! I am so very happy for Miss A and her wonderful family. But can I ask something of all of you? Will you please PLEASE pray for this family and consider donating to their fund? They are stepping out in faith and would much appreciate it! You can follow their journey on their blog here. (If you can't access it through the link, go to www.godoftheimpossible.blogspot.com.) They also have a place to donate if God puts it on your heart to do so.

Last weekend, Jenna, Alison, and Jamie took a short trip to DisneyLand for 4 1/2 days. They had a lot of fun together. Jenna wore her Cat and the Hat costume in the airport (because they left on Dr. Seuss's day) and was quite thrilled with all the attention she got :)

Yesterday Sofia and I went outside and had a photo shoot. I took so many cute pictures of her! During the first month or so with her, she would never pose for photos and you had to take the picture quickly in order to catch her smiling. Look at her now! Posing, smiling, and waiting!

Don't you love her smile?

How is it possible to love someone this much?

Look at her pose! 

How is it possible to love someone so much after only being with them for three months? It feels like we've been together forever. It's definitely a God-given bond :)

Today (Saturday) Sofia, Jenna, and I went on a picnic in the woods while Alison was at her basketball game. We packed peanut-butter sandwiches (Sofia's favorite), applesauce, clementines, cheese-sticks, chips, and lemonade.

It was a really sunny-day here (nevertheless still only 39 degrees), so Jenna was persistent on wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. I tried to convince her to wear jeans and a jacket, but she assured me that she would be fine. So I just told her that she couldn't complain if she got cold. Later she admitted that she got a little cold :)

Jenna is such a good big sister :)

Keely wanted to join in on our picnic :) 

Update on Sofie's school... The first school we tried didn't work out :(. But they got her into the developmental preschool here two days a week for a couple hours. She starts her first day on Tuesday! She will also go to preschool at a wonderful school the other three days. This school is forty minutes from our house, so driving there three days a week will be a sacrifice, but they have all the services that are so important for Sofia. We are really excited about it! Her first day at that school is not this Monday but the next. Thank you for your prayers!

New Glasses and Hiking in the Snow

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated! I have a lot to catch up on. First off, Sofia got new glasses! They are so cute on her and fit her better than the goggle glasses.

She looks so much more sophisticated ;)

Yesterday (Friday) we didn't have school and me and Sofie got to spend the whole day playing with each other - just us. Alison and Jenna got to go skiing. 

Sofia and I played trains for a while in the morning. 

One thing that I've noticed since Sofia has been home is that she smiles and poses for pictures much more often now :)

And since we got a ton of new snow, me and Sofie went on a walk down to the river. She absolutely loves the snow and she was such a trooper on our long walk.

Before our walk, I told Sofia she had to wear snow pants. So she put them on but didn't like them, so she took them off and wanted to wear jeans. I told her that she had to wear her snow pants or else she couldn't go outside. So she put them back on, smiled, and shouted, "I LOVE them!" :)

 Sofia made her first snowman today! She named her Carolina and was very sad when we had to leave her behind to go home. But to make it a little more fun and not as sad to leave her, she kicked her and then laid on her... she still talks about how she destroyed Carolina :)

Sofia's first ever snowman!

Sofia was a cow and kept saying, "Moo!" 

I took this photo (below) yesterday on our walk. 

It reminds me of this picture I took just one year earlier with a different Latino princess.

Sofia and I both were very cold when we finally got home from our hike, so Sofie got in the bath while I made grilled cheese sandwiches and rice for lunch, which she loved! 

Then I helped her get ready for the day. This afternoon she had the opportunity to check out her new school classroom (where she'll start school on Tuesday). She dressed up really special and I french braided her hair around the back of her head into a side pony. She thinks that this outfit was her school uniform! :)

I can't stand this smile! So precious.

Sofie had fun checking out her new class. She especially loved the box of puppets and the play kitchen.

Sofie is consistently saying the English words hat, tie, dog, cat, fan, please, oh my gosh, I love you, stinky, splashing, fish, star, stop now, scarf, it's funny, 

and some more. She also learned the phrase, "I don't know what you're sayin'!" but I don't think that she really knows what she is saying when she says it. She isn't quite as scared of the dogs anymore and sometimes actually reaches down to touch them. 

We took Sofie to church for the first time for our Friday night service. I was going to stay back in children's ministry until she could settle in, but I ended up staying the whole time with her. She was the most hyper I have seen her in a long time! Oh well, she'll calm down as she gets use to yet another change. :)

Sofie and I continue to bond quicker and easier than I ever imagined. She is such a blessing to me.

Bonding with life saver rings :)

Here Alison is before her basketball game! Another precious Ecuadorian :)

Please continue to pray for Sofia as she starts school this upcoming week. And please pray for everyone in our family as we adjust to all the new changes. Thank you! :)