Adoption Shower

Our family had the priviledge of attending our first  "Adoption Shower" last night.  As many of you already know, we have received a matching funds grant of $5000 dollars from Micah's Hope.  Many of Rod's co-workers from the Alabama Baptist Children's Home gave our family a shower and made donations toward our adoption!  It was such a blessing to share our adoption journey thus far with our friends and receive their encouragement and support.  I was humbled by their outpouring of love!  We enjoyed Ethiopian food and Rod was able to give our adoption testimony.  Thanks to everyone involved for making it such a special evening!

We appreciate your continued prayers as we wait for our referral.  If anyone is willing and able to help us out financially, you can double your donation by sending it to Lifesong for Orphans (the administrators of our matching grant from Micah's Hope).  Our goal is to try to raise as much of the $5,000 as possible by October 18th.  This is a tax deductible contribution.  Just click on the donation link on this blog page and you can make a donation electronically. 

If you would rather write a check, you can mail it to :

Lifesong for Orphans
P.O. Box 40
Gridley, IL 61744. 
*In the memo section please write: Preference: Campbell, Rod/2166 Adoption.

Prayer Requests

We've been asked a number of times lately for specific prayer requests concerning the adoption process.  we are so thankful to have friends and family who care enough to proactively ask and then to follow up with Prayer!  Here are the specific ways you can pray for us at this time:

1- Pray for our little boy. We do not have a referral yet. This means that we do not know his name, age, or anything else about him specifically. But we know he has needs. Because we will likely adopt a boy of around 3-4 years old, we know he is already born, is living somewhere in Ethiopia, possibly in an orphanage. Foreign orphanages vary widely in how they provide care to the children in their charge. Please pray that he will find favor in the eyes of his caregivers, and someone there will love him, smile at him, sing to him, hold him, and nurture his little heart.

2-  Pray for our family as we prepare our hearts and home for his arrival. There is no doubt that this will be a big adjustment for us all. We are so excited about how Ellen, Liv, and Cash have responded to the idea of adoption. We talk about it almost every day in some way. But the idea of adoption will eventually give way to the reality of adoption. Pray that our hearts will be prepared for the multitude of changes coming our way.

3- We thought the paperwork portion of the process was tough, but in many ways this current phase is tougher.  We are now  – WAITING! Ethiopia recently made drastic cuts in the number of adoptions it is processing each day. This means we may still yet be a year or more from having our little one at home with us. Pray that we would wait well; that we will trust God in the waiting.

I just can't say enough about the importance of the first prayer request.  I've spent the majority of the past year studying about attachment in children, receiving specialized training in working with children with attachment issues, and then putting that training into practice as a counselor.  The more I work with these wonderful, wounded children, the more it drives me to pray for my little boy.  Please join us in lifting him up before the Father.