The title pretty much says it all....so lets get to it.
And yes, it has been a year since I updated, but it would be impossible to cover everything thats happened, so I'm just going to forge ahead!
We've decided to adopt.
Hurrah!
I'm extremely excited, as I've seen this decision on the horizon for years, but the time is finally here and I couldn't be happier! Over and over we see God's heart for the orphan, and while I believe that every person of faith is called to care for orphans, there are many ways to do so. Not everyone is called to bring a child into their home, but I feel so blessed that we are able to welcome a child into our forever family.
Our friends
Liv and
Matt over at Furthermore Creative have designed a Christmas card for us as our first fundraiser. Please take a look and see if you might be able to use it this year! :)
http://www.furthermorecreative.com/2011/11/bolitho-adoption-fundraiser.html
I've also included our fundraising letter below, as a way to remember this day and this decision. How appropriate it comes in this season of Thanksgiving. :)
Hi! We're Ryan, Stacia, and Silas. Believing in Psalm 68:6 “God sets the solitary in families”, we have decided to add to our family through adoption!
Ryan and I met in San Diego while working for a non-profit called Invisible Children. We married in 2008, moved to small town Colorado and our son Silas was born in September of the following year. Ryan works in computer technology and I am a music & theatre teacher at a private school, where Silas attends pre-school 2 days a week. On his 2nd birthday this year, we began to pray about adding to our family. We know we are being led to adopt, and feel fortunate to be surrounded by a supportive community. While it is a humbling experience to ask for money, we believe in the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" so we are asking you, our village, to help us bring our son home.
This adoption will cost around $20,000. We are daunted by this sum, because we will need to have the money up front. However, we know that God is bigger than finances, so we are trusting that He will provide $1 at a time.
The first amount we are hoping to raise is $4,000, to cover the cost of our homestudy. We would be amiss if we didn’t ask for help from those in our extended community who may be willing to donate to get us one step closer to our son – and no amount is too small! Our plan is to apply for as many grants as possible and pray that doors will open for the money to come through.
Please consider helping us bring our son home. Above all, please pray for us during this season. If you are unable to give monetarily, we would greatly appreciate your help by spreading the word about our card through facebook or email.
Thank you,
Ryan, Stacia, and Silas
