His First Outfit

So I was out shopping today to get some stocking stuffers at Target. Since we are now getting a boy and not a girl, this means that I do not have any clothes for him. Not knowing if we are going to have any more kids after him, and not knowing if we do, if we'll have another boy, I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes. He's a boy. So doesn't that mean his clothes won't last to be hand me downs anyways, right? At Target I was on a search for deep discounted clearances. I didn't want anything ugly though. I was hoping to get his first Michigan outfit. But no luck. Those were not on sale. Neither were the Pistons. Neither were the Red Wings. ONLY the Lions outfits were on sale. Go figure. So his first outfit is a Lions sweatsuit.

Detroit Orphanage

I was surprised to learn that Detroit has a modern day 'orphanage' Christ Child House. Two weeks ago the Detroit News did a special report on it. If you missed it, you can still find it on-line. They are in need of everything from volunteer hours to clothing for the boys. Michigan has 18,000 children in the foster care system. About 400 'age out' (turn 18) on a yearly basis. I could not even imagine being on my own at 18 years old. I was living at home getting ready for college and not having to worry about food or shelter.

Last night I attended a meeting with a group from our church that have started an organization Hope For Every Orphan. They hope to bring awareness and support to the orphans of the world, beginning with the foster children in our area. Oakland County, the county that we live in, is one of the wealthiest areas of the country but yet we have the greatest need for foster homes. Children in Macomb County neighboring us are having to go to foster homes hours north of us because there are not enough homes in this area for the children. With our pending adoption, I am looking forward to supporting this ministry. It feels like a good fit for our family right now.

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Donation Increase Official

We received an email from our adoption agency today. The rumors that have been floating around the last few months are now true. Effective January 1, 2009, the orphanage 'donation' will increase to $5,000. We knew it was likely to happen but we were still hoping it wouldn't go into effect until after we adopted. I understand that it is going to a very worthy cause, but still, it's another $2,000 we weren't originally anticipating. We have been toying with the idea of doing an adoption fundraiser and now we just might need to do that in addition to applying for a few grants.