Category Archives: Adoption

May 11, 2009 · 5:14 pm

We have been Chosen!

It has finally happened!

After 1 year, 7 months and 4 days of  “waiting”  we got a call this afternoon from a our very enthusiastic adoption counselor that we have been chosen to be the forever family to a baby girl who was born six weeks ago and is in need of a loving family and a place to call home.  I can’t tell you the joy that has filled all of our hearts and how our household has been turned into a frenzy of activity and commotion as we make plans and get ready to welcome a new baby into our lives.  We are all so excited!

There are many details to share and for sure I will be sharing soon….but for now let me just answer a few common questions for you.

“Wait, a girl! I thought you were trying to adopt a boy?”

When we started this amazing adoption journey, we thought we would be adopting a boy. In the midst of the process we realized that it really did not matter what the gender of our adopted baby would be (just as it never mattered the gender of our biological born children). Yes, we would like a brother or two for Daniel (and are still believing God for that to transpire someday soon) but we decided not to close our hearts to whatever God had for us.  Well, now we know that he has a precious baby sister to bless us all with and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

“You already have 7 children….Why are you adopting?”

  • Because you can never have too many blessings in your life!
  • Because children are a gift from God!
  • Because the Bible says – “Pure & lasting religion in the sight of God our father means we must care for widows & orphans in their distress”  James 1:27  I believe that we as followers of Christ all need to play a part in the plight of orphans around the world – whether it is by adopting them into our family, supporting those who adopt, helping out financially, or fostering and providing a “forever family”  the many waiting children in the system.  Will it be hard? Probably…but just because something is hard that doesn’t mean we are not suppose to do it. (especially if it is so clearly stated in the Word)  Can we afford it? – No, not really but we know that the Lord will provide our needs.  (He promises us that) Will the adoption road always be easy? Probably not – but it will be worth it!

When will you be bringing the sweet baby girl home?

It looks like we will be traveling to Tennessee this weekend and hopefully be back home by mid next week with our new baby girl.  We will be posting lots of photos and keeping you all updated. (and for those who are local I am sure wse will be having a BIG baby shower & welcome party)

How can we help?

  • Well thanks for asking!  We do need help and some of it we need pretty quickly.  As most of you know this entire adoption has been financed through fundraisers and donations.  We have aprox 2/3 of the money we need to finalize the adoption — but when we write that check for $7,500+ next week we will be short a couple thousand.  We also will have “post placement” fees here in California to the tune of about $1,200 in the upcoming month.  Then there is the air fares which as we are looking right now will run us about $350 each.  We know that the Lord has a plan & perhaps that includes you.  If you can do anything to help us out you can donate through paypal online here.  (Or you can send a check to – 313 W. Robinhood Dr  Stockton, CA 95207)  Please pass this request on to anyone know who has a heart to help others with adoption.
  • Pray for us! Pray for this transition to be smooth.  Pray for the girls & Daniel as they wait rather impatiently for their new sister to come home. Pray for the mouths of any  “naysayers” to be shut.  (yes people do say negative things)
  • We have passed on most all of our girl clothes to bless others – so if you like to go shopping for little girl clothes – go right ahead! 

And now what you have all been waiting for – a picture of our precious new little baby girl!

baby Christiana

If the above link does not work for donations – here is the URL – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5373935

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Filed under Adoption, Blessings

May 5, 2009 · 10:40 am

Life at the Lambdin’s Update

My last post indicated that I was in a bit “over my head” especially with our big annual dinner auction fundraiser at Jim Elliot Christian High School.  Since that post on April 15th…I literally worked ’round the clock on this spectacular event.  And it was fabulous! You can read about it and see photo’s here – Denim, Diamonds & Dreams.

 auction-109

As with all big events like this, the work does not end with the actual event. I continue to wrap things up with a post auction sale, recognition, appreciation, evaluations and follow up.  Then I get to move on to putting out a quarterly newsletter & planning a 10 year all school reunion picnic. No….it never ends….but is so worth it when I see the hundreds of young people positively impacting the world & loving the Lord.

So hopefully I’ll be getting  back to one of my “loves” – blogging – but here is a quick update on life at the Lambdin’s:

  • Daniel’s Birthday – We celebrated Daniel’s 2nd birthday on April 20th. He continues to be such a joy to all of our lives and his hugs and kisses truly bring life to my bones and refreshment to my spirit. I highly recommend everyone having a toddler in their life to love!  dsc_0312
  • The “Boys Bedroom” Makeover– Three of our former students (who I often still call “kids” – even though they are 35) – Carrie Elliot, Rachel Fichtner & Leah Kidger decided to come over one Saturday & do a makeover on Daniel’s (the “boys”) bedroom – painting the walls & dressers and adding cute accessories.  Idsc_0243t was so nice to spend the day with these lovely ladies and to be the recepient of their blessing.  (Now all we need is a few more boys for the boys bedroom!) 

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  • College Grads– My beautiful nieces – Kate & Beth Kirchner graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine University last Saturday and we were able to take a quick trip down to celebrate this milestone with them. We are so blessed to have “elder” cousins like these girls and Janessa & Chrisann Meier for our children to look up to.  They are wonderful role models and examples for those coming behind them to follow.  The graduation was beautiful as the campus overlooks the Pacific Ocean (my favorite place in the world!) and the commencement speaker had some great life lessons to share!pepperdine-grad1
  • Adoption Update– Whew!  I know I have been very quiet about our adoption pursuits as of late.  Mostly because there has been nothing to share.  Well here is the latest – the day of the auction (the busiest day of my life) we got a call from the adoption agency that they had a “special needs” baby they wanted us to consider adopting and even though they knew we “wanted” a boy, there was a little girl named Makayla who was born on Daniel’s 2nd birthday for us to consider.  Of course we said unequivocally and without hesitation – YES!(just as we would to any baby we were given by birth).  Well…..we were informed yesterday that Makayla’s Mommy picked another family to raise her.  However that exact day they received a call from the hospital from another transient mother who had decided to choose a family for her child to be raised by….a little girl born on May 2.  So once again we are praying for the Lords perfect plan for this new baby & hoping that we are the chosen ones.  And yes we are still believing for a brother for Daniel but just might have to raise $30,000+ and go to Africa to get a couple orphan boys to love. (10 children sounds like a really great number….of course then there is the thought that it is “cheaper by the dozen” – we are open to whatever God has for us!)
  • Trusting God – We have been given yet another opportunity to put our trust in God as our van had a bit of a mechanical problem that set us back by $700.  Since we don’t have an emergency fund for this type of thing – we spent 2/3 of our food and gas money for the month.  It will be awesome to see how the Lord provides for our needs and a great learning lesson on faith and trust  for our kids. 
  • Coming Up this Month–  We will be observing National Day of Prayer on Thursday with our local community, my National Scrapbook Day celebration is happening on Saturday, of course Mother’s Day is Sunday with my usual requests – a foot massage & clean house (both of which cost nothing!), a planned camping trip over Memorial Weekend (which has been put on hold pending finances), School ends for the high schoolers & Dan the man at the end of the month, Michelle is coming home for the summer after completing her freshman year at The King’s College (wooohooo, can’t wait to have her back home) and I am ending the month by speaking at a Ladies Retreat in Lake Tahoe for Valley Community Church. 

Life & the Lord are good!

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Filed under Adoption, Blessings, Jim Elliot Christian High School, Life at the Lambdins

January 27, 2009 · 6:42 pm

Talking the Talk….Walking the Walk

January is National Right to Life Month.

If you have read much of my blog or have known me for longer than 24 hours you most likely are well aware that one of my passions is LIFE!  I believe that all human life is a precious gift from God to be more highly valued than riches, possessions, personal pleasure or pursuits. I believe that every human being has the “right” to life – no matter their size, their level of development, their environment or their degree of dependency.

Do you believe that?

* Size – Are bigger people more human or more valuable than smaller people?  Is a baby born at full term weighing 7lb 11 oz more human than the one born in the room next door at 26 weeks gestation weighing 1lb 6oz? For my dear friend who delivered her baby at 15 weeks and held in the palm of her hand a tiny yet perfectly formed little baby boy and saw his perfect little hands, toes, eye brows and tiny little finger nails- she can tell you that her tiny baby was valuable and human.

Level of Development– Certainly we do not want to live in an elitist society that says only people with a certain level of development are human and valuable?  Are you at a higher development level  – physically, emotionally and mentally –  now than when you were 5 or 15 or  even 25 for that matter. I certainly am.  And as I age, I realize that in many ways my development will actually start deteriorating  (especially in the physical arena) – does that mean I am less valuable or human?  Level of Development does not make a life valuable.  No matter what our level of development, no matter what our disabilities, we have the right to life.

Environment – Does where we live determine our right to life or our value as a human being?  I have lived –

  • under my parents 14 “roofs” (in seven different cities, in four states)
  • in a dorm room at UOP
  • in two different apartments and a rental home
  • in my own home (well ok, really the banks home)

….and in my mothers womb! I have been a valuable human being with the right to life in each and everyone of those places. Why would anyone suggest that an 8 inch trip down the birth canal somehow makes you human?

Degree of Dependency – Dependency is irrelevant to value in human beings.  My 21 month old precious baby boy (I refuse to call him a toddler yet) is completely dependant on others to sustain his life.  My 19 year old amazing daughter is completely dependant on insulin to stay alive. Someday I just might be completely dependant on my children due to the loss of my health or ability to work t0 provide for my needs – will that make me not valuable or have the right to life? In many ways we are all dependant on someone or something to sustain our life. And for those of us who have others depending on us to sustain their lives….are we not morally and ethically responsible to provide that need?

Bottom Line – Why is it ok to end the life of  a baby before they are born?

My passion for life is not something I just talk about – it is something I have actively lived out by –

  • praying, praying & praying
  • sharing my passion for the unborn with young people for the past 25 years
  • teaching & training those same young people to defend the rights of the unborn
  • having the privilege of being able to “rescue” a teenager literally right from out of an abortionists hands (her beautiful daughter is now 20 years old & living a wonderful life!)
  • being arrested & going to jail for peaceful civil disobedience while protesting abortion (no signs, no words,no threats)
  • being personally open to every life the Lord wants to bless us with – at any age, under any circumstances, at any time
  • being willing to adopt any baby (no, not just a “perfect” baby) that a mother is unable to raise for whatever reason (really!  If you know of someone with a “unwanted” pregnancy we would love to raise their baby in our loving home)
  • having an “open home” policy for anyone in a crisis pregnancy (or any other crisis for that matter)
  • donating baby clothes, diapers and money to the Pregnancy Help Center in Stockton
  • participating in fund raisers for Pregnancy Crisis Centers
  • teaching, training, influencing and inspiring my own seven children to be actively pro-life
  • and this past Saturday our entire family participated for the first time (but not the last!) in the Walk for Life in San Francisco with over 30,000 others who are taking a stand for the right to life for the unborn. 

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These type of events help to solidify your and your children’s convictions in every way – from the inspirational speakers, the testimonies from women who regret their abortions, the warm, wonderful & diverse fellowship with fellow walkers and even listening to the angry protesters rhetoric ignites passion & purpose.

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My eldest daughter, Michelle,  participated in the March for Life in Washington DC two days prior to our event (and I have to say I am one proud Mommy – she has been passed the baton & is running with it!)

michelle-in-dc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She got to hear incredible “right on” speakers like Pastor Luke Robinson –

 

If you too believe in the right to life for the unborn,  I would ask you today….what are you doing to “talk the talk” AND “walk the walk”?  Together we can – stop the killing of innocent life.

 

 * The SLED acronym was learned from Scott Klusendorf one of the best defenders of life in our country!(www.prolifetraining.com)

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Filed under Adoption, Making a Difference, My "take", Pro-life

September 16, 2008 · 11:26 pm

Planning, Preparation & Provision

First let me say … yes I am still having problems with feedburner sending out empty posts or a boatload of archives. UGH!  It looks like if it happens one more time I will be temporarily discontinuing the email subscriptions until I can get this worked out. If you read this blog only through subscription, be sure to check back at www.bethlambdin.net for my latest posts.

It is time for a long overdue update on our adoption and “barn raising” (aka – expanding into the garage to move our makeshift family room out of the 3rd bedroom in order to create a “boys” bedroom)

Ok, the one sentence adoption update – We are waiting. 

We are waiting to be chosen by one of the mother’s who is giving birth this fall to possibly pick us to love, cherish and raise their precious baby.  Last year there were two different baby boys who were awaiting an approved family to be adopted by.  This year there are more families than babies. (and yes that is good news!)  The agency we are working with has told us that there are currently three mothers who will be choosing a family in October & November.  So the wait continues.

Come to find out, I am no good at waiting….at least not waiting patiently.  So what have I been doing for the past three months? – Busying myself with planning, preparations and securing provisions for this much desired precious baby.

Let me start by sharing with you some GREAT news!  The Lord continues to provide the resources we need for this adoption.  We got a letter last month from Shaohannah’s Hope that we will receive a grant of $3,000 to help us pay for a portion of this adoption! (Our domestic adoption expenses look to be running close to $15,000)  With this blessing from Steven Curtis Chapman’s organization, added to the monies we have already raised should come close to covering what we will need to pay the adoption agency when we get the baby.  We will still need to raise the post placement expenses that we have to pay in California (aprox $1,500)…but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

The other GREAT news – with the help of countless friends & family we have finished the majority of the addition in the garage! And it is AMAZING!

I think I left off in July showing you the framed, sheet rocked, taped & textured room. 

The painting was next (completed in large part by Dan’s brother Rick) followed by putting in the tile floor.  Before we tiled however one of my blog subscribers suggested that we write scriptures on the floor so that we would always be “standing on the Word”.  What a great idea!  We had everyone who helped with this project write out their favorite scripture on our floor before Ramsey & Mike Garza and Chris Greene lent us their expertise and hard work to help put in the tile.  The new windows were completed by our friend, Scott Gaston with Dan learning a new skill along the way. We took a little break for a couple weeks while we attended summer camp and went on vacation to Lake Tahoe.  It was perfect timing as Jerry Crutchfield custom made the cabinets to be put in the room to store all our homeschool curriculum, Creative Memories products and other supplies. (a family of nine can never have enough storage space!) The cabinets are spectacular and thankfully Dan was able to get Mike Sherman, Sal Martinez and Dan Smith to help him put these heavy duty cabinets up.  Then came the “little” things – ceiling fans, baseboards, closet shelving as well as the long counter that would serve as the girls school desks, computer center and my office (in addition it is cropping space for my weekend workshops). By September 1st (as my birthday present!) we were able to start moving in the furniture and getting everything off the back porch and out of the living room.  What an incredible adventure and leap of faith this project has been!

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful the additional living space is to our family.  We have been officially moved in for about two weeks and it is truly where we spend 80% of our time.  The girls each have a space to do their school work, I have my office and storage space, Daniel has lots of room to play and we have plenty of room for our family room area – the sectional couch and TV (that was formerly cramed into the 3rd bedroom).  Even as I type this we are all together in this room, each doing different things but enjoying just being together – it is even better than I could have ever hoped for.  The gratefulness that wells up in my heart for everyone who helped this dream to become a reality is immense.  Saying thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough.

Here are some photos of the completed* room.

* Ok, so as with every project there are a few things still left to be done before we can really say completed (ie: lighting under the cabinets so the girls can actually see their homework, a bit more electrical work and a final corner counter which will be my scrapbooking work area….well then there is the laundry room area on the other side of the wall — but we’ll save that for next summer!)

If you are new to this blog and want to see what it use to look like – you can check out photos here and here and here.

 This past week I spent time getting Daniel’s things moved into the new boys bedroom.

 The “boys” bedroom seems huge (and empty compared to the girls room).  Joy and Daniel are enjoying playing in the room and Daniel is taking naps in there…but we haven’t had him sleep the night in his room (except one night when Rebekah slept on an air mattress in the room with him).  To be honest it just seems so big and lonely for him to be in there by himself, after all the rest of the family gets to sleep with someone else in our room.  We will have to work through that one. 🙂

 

Here’s hoping that sometime this fall, this crib that sits in the corner of our bedroom will have our new son snuggled up in it.

And we will continue to wait (patiently)…to pray…and to hope.

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Filed under Adoption, Blessings, Life at the Lambdins

June 29, 2008 · 10:38 pm

Our Weekend Barn Raising Report

What a great weekend of working hard to enlarge a room to be used as a combo – office, school room, play room & family room- with the ultimate goal of creating (and filling!) a boys bedroom.

We were blessed this weekend to have many friends join in the effort and help us save time & money.  THANK YOU with all of our hearts to:

  • Deanne, Justin & Kaitlyn Barth – for their hard work, delicious food and always uplifting fellowship (Justin your expertise and excellence  was sooooooo appreciated and needed!)
  • Andrew Colton – who came over after a full days work to use his awesome building experience to help with this room
  • Tracy & Felipe Rodriguez for bringing over pizza on Saturday for the crew and for Felipe’s wise advice & input
  • Cindy Moore for the healthy & yummy snacks she brought over to keep us nourished
  • Jennae Lambdin for her tireless hard work & buying the door
  • Aunt Eilene for the yummy (as always!) food she sent over!
  • Rachel Fichtner – for providing a delicious and full dinner on Friday night
  • Sarah Vigil Jones for bringing by a basketful of snacks Saturday morning
  • Our dear “Grandma” Gloria Grupe for the financial help and for emptying her cupboards to bless us.
  • Brandi Gaston – for helping with Home Depot “hunting”, painting, sanding and encouraging.
  • Jeff Gilbert for working hard all day long on Saturday (we are ready to return the favor when you do your garage!)
  • Donna Nelson & her children for providing two fun filled days for Joy and Daniel (and one for Grace too!) – what a blessing.

The current project status:

The room is sheet rocked, taped & “mudded” (is that a word?), sanded & mudded again. (and again) The doors are hung.

Next up:

  • Monday – last check for more sanding & mudding needed; hopefully texture will be applied and perhaps painting will begin
  • Tuesday – walls, ceiling & trim painted
  • Wednesday – windows put in (depending on Scott’s schedule)  Floor tile begins???

Help Needed

  • Floor – we may be in need of help to tile the floor.  As we get a closer to that step – we just may be asking for help with this step in the process. 🙂
  • Counter & Cabinets – we are hoping to install a long (25 foot) counter with a space for each one of the girls to do school as well as a spot for my office.  We also will need cabinet storage for homeschool curriculum & supplies as well as my Creative Memories inventory and JECHS development office supplies.  We have a friend coming over this week to give us ideas on doing this inexpensively.  We have no idea what this part of the project will entail.

Our goal will be to have everything completed and moved into the room by the time Dan goes back to work on August 5th.  (oh and I would so love to have a new baby boy by then too – we are trusting the Lord for His perfect timing) We will keep everyone posted as things progress – both with the room & the adoption.

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 23, 2008 · 1:19 pm

Barn Raising Update

We have been working steadily for the past two weeks getting bits & pieces done on the new room.  We are so thankful to all of the people who have helped with their labor, their ideas, their wisdom and their expertise.  (THANK YOUFelipe, Scott, Chris, Rick, Kim, Jennae, Jason, Josiah, Justin, DJ – we cannot tell you enough how very, very much we appreciate each of you)

Here is a peek at the progress so far:

We are gearing up to put the crew to work who have volunteered to come out either this Friday or Saturday to help us “raise the barn” – aka – finish this room.

Dan will continue to sheet rock this week as well as getting the supplies ready for the weekend activities.  We hope to complete the following:

  • Any remaining sheet rock hung
  • Taped & Textured
  • Walls & doors painted
  • Hanging doors
  • Tile floor laid
  • Possibly put in the windows (if they arrive)

That will get us to the place where we can begin to move in furniture and then work on putting up our long counter work space and cabinets as time, money and expertise permits.

We have lots of people who have inquired about being involved but we have not heard for sure.  This is who we have a commitment from for some or part of the two days (if you told me you were coming and I don’t have you on this list – please tell me again!):

  • Scott & Brandi Gaston
  • Justin & Deanne Barth
  • Jeff Gilbert
  • Felipe Rodriguez
  • Donna Nelson – babysitting our wee ones
  • Cindy Moore, Rachel Fichtner, Tracy Rodriguez, Deanne Barth – bringing food to feed the workers

If you have been thinking about possibly coming to help or you can bring food or drinks to share – let us know by Tuesday so we can get a good schedule going of who will be doing what. (but ya know if you just show up we will put you to work!)

We are hoping that if Extreme Home Makeover can re-do an entire house in a week we can add on a small room in a few days.  Here is Dan working away right now as I type this!

I will post pictures of this event over the weekend.

PS – A cool breeze blew into Stockton today making our house very comfortable today – we are praising the Lord for the relief from the heat!

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 7, 2008 · 10:38 am

Can We Have An Old Fashioned Barn Raising?

A Barn raising is a one to two day event during which a community comes together to assemble a barn for one of its households, particularly in 18th- and 19th-century rural North America.

Ok, so we don’t have a barn to raise – but we do need a boys bedroom!  As we continue to wait for the Lord to bless us with a precious baby boy (or two!) we have decided to get going on a boys bedroom.  (If you are new to this blog and need a reminder of our current home space – click here to read and see photos)  After much thought we have decided that the best solution for our needs is to increase the size of our family room (which for us is known as the CM/School room) so that we can continue to use it for school, my home based business and also put the couch, games and TV in there as well. We currently use the third bedroom as our family room (with a large couch & TV in it).  By moving those things to the CM/School room we would have ourselves a “boys” bedroom (our “girls” bedroom currently sleeps all six of the girlies and both bedrooms are the same size so we could easily sleep three or more boys in there!) Right now Daniel sleeps in a portable crib in the corner of our bedroom – but when the new little one arrives (hopefully soon!) he will need to have a place to sleep – so……we decided to start moving in that direction now!

We have spent the past couple of weeks cleaning out the garage (which is where the extra space will be added since it sits right in front of the room we are wanting to expand), cleaning out my office and school room (what a chore!) and then moving everything out of both of those areas into the living room and back porch, leaving our house looking like a disaster area!

Yesterday we began the demolition!  Dan and the girls pulled down the garage cabinets, knocked down sheet rock, pulled up carpet and then tile that was under the carpet and hauled debris to a truck to take to the dump today.  Now that we have knocked out the wall between the CM/School room and the garage there is NO turning back!  We are committed.

So far this project has cost us nothing. (but hard work and lots of sweat)  Since you are all aware that we are saving every penny towards the adoption expenses, we are really wanting to do most of the work ourselves….or with the help of those with expertise in certain areas (like electrical and cabinetry) and friends who are willing to give up a few hours to help us tape and texture,  paint the walls, glaze the floor (yes it is cement and we are going to simply use one of those garage floor kits!) and I am sure other things we are not thinking of.  And that’s where a “barn raising” comes in!  We are seeking the help of our “community” of friends and family to help us meet this need for a boys bedroom. 

We have a former student and dear friend who owns a construction company and is going to send a crew out to quickly frame out and sheet rock the new walls.  Before that happens we first need to take care of some electrical infrastructure – like adding a few outlets and overhead lighting in the garage extension area.  We have no experience with this – anyone out there willing to volunteer their expertise and teach Dan how to do this?

Ways that someone can be a part of our community for a “barn raising”:

  • Give us advice, ideas, expertise, insights on this “do it yourself” project
  • Ideas for where to get supplies inexpensively or even free (you never know!) – wood, sheet rock, paint, glaze kit, tape, a door, double pain window, insulation, nails, cabinets, counter etc…
  • Come out for a few hours (or all day) on these two “barn raising days” – Friday June 27 and Saturday June 28 (I am sure these will be just the first of many more during the summer – or call Dan and I am sure he would take your help anytime!)
  • Help provide food on our barn raising days to feed the workers
  • The electrical needs
  • Putting in a new window (or two) – anyone done this?
  • We really would like to put up a long row cabinets to store all of our school supplies, my inventory and other storage needs – anybody out there with skills in cabinet making? (doesn’t need to be fancy)
  • Putting in a long counter top (24 – 32 feet long) that we can use for each of the girls study areas
  • Pray – for wisdom, guidance, good attitudes, safety and provision

Thanks Everyone!  We will keep you posted.

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 2, 2008 · 11:23 am

Hope deferred

We got an email from the adoption agency this morning saying that the birth mother had chosen another family for her sweet baby boy.  We rejoice that another baby has been placed in a loving Christian home.  We rejoice with that family who is celebrating today!

  • Are we disappointed?  Yes
  • Are we a little down today?  Yes
  • Are we discouraged?  No (well maybe a little but that won’t last long)
  • Do we know and believe that the Lord has a baby boy for our family to adopt, raise and love as our very own?  YES! YES! and YES!

One of the hardest things for us right now is the knowledge that there are many orphans around the world without a forever family who we could “easily” adopt now that our home study is completed, if we only had the finances.  We have not considered foreign adoption due to the huge expense involved.  Even though a domestic adoption is expensive (We estimate in the end we will spend close to $14,000) – a foreign adoption begins at $20,000 and often ends up costing much more.  So we will continue to pursue a domestic adoption unless the Lord gives us the resources to look abroad (We were sent a great website about adopting from Uganda – they have two boys right now we could go get if we had the means – frustrating, huh?)

What happens from here?

There are currently no more babies without families at the adoption agency in Tennessee.  They do have a few mothers who are delivering throughout the summer and have chosen to adopt.

So we wait…..and we hope. 

 

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Filed under Adoption

May 15, 2008 · 6:42 am

Got stuff?

We got an email from a friend at JECHS saying that their family would like to host a garage sale to help us with our adoption fund!  Wow!  What a blessing.

They  will be holding a yard sale on Sunday, May 25, 2008, with all proceeds going to our adoption fund. It will be at their house, 8957 Nassano Drive, Morada, CA. If you live locally and have any items to donate for the sale, you can drop them off at their house or call Tracy at (209) 931-3445.  I know some of you commented that you had wanted to get some things dropped off for our yard sale last weekend – but were not able to  – here is another opportunity to spring clean!

Thanks Rodriguez family!

Thanks also to those who have emailed friends and family members to help with this adoption.  Every little bit makes a BIG difference!

Adoption fund update:  We are in need of raising only $2,137 more to be able to pay the placement fee at the time of the adoption (which if we are chosen by the current birth mom could be in approximately three weeks). After the adoption we will have to pay $1,200 in post placement fees.

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May 14, 2008 · 11:25 am

Trusting the Lord

We just got the long awaited call from the adoption agency….

….and we were not chosen to be this baby’s family.  Of course there is disappointment and a twinge of sadness, however we are thrilled that this precious baby has a family to love and care for him.  We also have a complete trust in the Lord and His will for our lives.  While we are confident that adoption is a part of our future, we will trust the Lord for the right child for us, in the right time.  God’s ways are perfect.  We have been praying very specifically for the past two weeks that the Lord would use the birth mom to make the best decision.  So we trust that the Lord is closing this door.

Upon hearing the news my heart sank a bit but within minutes the counselor gave us some exciting and hopeful news as well!  Two weeks ago they received a call from the hospital – a pregnant teenager who was about to give birth to her baby and wanted information about adoption.  This baby boy was born on April 27 and is currently in one of the agency’s “cradle care”homes (temporary care).  The birth mom is officially relinquishing her rights late next week and they will show her profiles including ours at that time.  So we immediately have another sweet baby and his mother to pray for. (and a couple extra weeks to raise the last $2,500 needed)

Please pray along with us as we wait again and hope that this is the child meant just for our family!  We will keep you updated.

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May 11, 2008 · 11:59 pm

Our Adoption Yard Sale

Here is the report on our Adoption Yard Sale and Bake Sale we held on Saturday! It was fabulous. 

Our sincere and heartfelt thanks go out to the many who donated items and baked goodies for us to raise money for our upcoming adoption:

  • The Buyco family
  • The Fichtner family
  • Sherwood Manor Swim Team
  • The Meier family
  • The Barth family
  • The Hale family
  • Gloria Grupe
  • Sister Lillian
  • Ceci Sallee
  • The Ward family
  • Michelle Sallee
  • The Rodriguez family
  • The Reichard family
  • The Saucedo family
  • The Krahmer family
  • The Martinez family
  • The Sciarini family
  • Charlie & Lisa Fairchild
  • Mike & Lynn Krogstad

As you will see in the slide show following, we had an amazing amount of items donated.  We also are so grateful to our dear family members – Uncle Doug, Aunt Kass and Chrisann as well as our friends Monica & Ana Martinez who came over at the “crack of dawn” on Saturday to help us set up and then worked tirelessly for hours helping to sell things.  What a blessing! 

Total amount raised at this event:  $1,500

I also had a Creative Memories adoption sale for my clients of some discontinued and overstocked items where I made an additional $300.  Add to that a jar of change our dear life long friend “Grandma Gloria” brought by, a piggy bank full of change from our friends five year old daughter (who wanted to help us get this baby!) and a jar of change the girls have been collecting and the GRAND total for the weekend is almost $1,900.  We will go to the bank Monday and add this to our adoption fund which will bring us to over $4,200 in that account….leaving us just $2,800 needed to pay our adoption placement fees.  If you would like to partner with us and help us with the remaining amount needed  – you can donate Online here!(Paypal or credit card)  Every donation, regardless of size helps us get to the goal. We know that the Lord will provide.

Here is a slideshow of our glorious day!

P.S. – We should be hearing early this week (maybe even tomorrow – be still my heart!) if we have been chosen to be the “forever family” for this precious baby that was born on April 29.  I will post the moment we get word.

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May 8, 2008 · 6:54 pm

A few more days

 

We got this email today from the adoption agency.
 
Dear Dan and Beth,
 
Our birth mother has your profile and will take a few days to pray and ponder her choice. She was very pleased with both profiles presented to her. As you can imagine, it would be a hard decision. I will let you know as soon as I know. Just pray for God’s will.
 
We will be praying and we know that God has a perfect plan & just the right family for this baby.  It looks like we wait a few more days.

 

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May 7, 2008 · 9:16 pm

When Love Takes You In

A dear friend of mine sent me this beautiful music video about the incredible miraculous love in adoption. Needless to say it touched my heart in a deep way – I hope that it touches your heart too!

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May 6, 2008 · 4:36 pm

Waiting….

….yes we are still waiting to hear from the adoption agency.  It reminds me of each of my pregnancies as we waited (not always patiently) for that new baby to arrive.  We wait & watch the phone in hopes that the next call will be from Life Choices sharing that we have been chosen to be the family for this baby boy.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow we get the call! We will keep you posted.

Financial Update:  We have over $1,700 raised to date (25 adoption partners who have joined us – THANK YOU!!) – that leaves $5,300 left for our adoption placement fee. We need help and are believing God to bring in just what we need – if you feel the Lord leading, you can donate Online here.  Items are arriving daily for our yard & bake sale scheduled for this Saturday – if you live locally it’s not too late to pass on to us your “sellable” items or bake something for the bake sale.

We are so thankful to everyone who has been a part of this journey.

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May 2, 2008 · 1:26 pm

In just a matter of days

Yesterday as I was finishing up a backyard luncheon with my team of volunteers for the JECHS Spring Fling, trying to get Kristen out the door to her weekly cleaning job, getting the diaper bag packed & pulling out food “to go” as we were getting ready to head out the door for Amy’s last home soccer game and a evening watching the schools performance of Aladdin. (which was fabulous!)…..

….the girls blurted out – “Hey Mom!  The adoption agency called and they sounded excited!” After a quick look at the clock to see if they would still be open, I found the phone number and eagerly called Life Choices.  My heart was beating fast and I found myself pacing excitedly throughout he kitchen when the adoption coordinator said with her great southern drawl…”Beth, I have some exciting news for y’all”! She then went on to say that a precious baby boy had been born on Tuesday April 29 and that they would like to present our family album to the birth mother. 

So folks, by early this next week we should know if we are headed to Tennessee to adopt a baby brother! I can’t tell you the excitement and joy that is filling our home today.  This could be the moment we are waiting for!  We have complete peace that if this is the baby that God has for us – it will happen.

 So………PRAY!  Pray for this birth mom who has made a very hard & heroic decision, pray for this sweet 8lb baby boy and pray for us. 

There is the small little obstacle that we will have to write a check for $7,000 to the agency (plus additional post placement fees we will need – but for now we have to have $7,000).  We currently have $710 in our adoption fund. So in a matter of days I may find out that we have to raise over $6,000 in a very short amount of time.  We have applied for grants (but will not hear for 60-90 days – which we obviously can’t wait until then). We have a yard sale/bake sale scheduled for a week from Saturday (if you have items to donate or would like to bake some things for us – AWESOME!).  After we get a confirmation, we are going to see if our pastor would be willing to take an offering for us at church. And on our baby brother blog we have been working on a donor plan involving recruiting 300 “adoption partners” to help us cover the remaining expenses.  Here is the plan – perhaps you or someone you know would like to be one of our baby brother adoption partners.

 We are asking the Lord to give us 300 donors to help us raise the remaining monies needed for our adoption. We are calling this our adoption partners – We are in need of 100 to give $15, 100 to give $25 and 100 to give $50.  This page will keep you updated on our progress!  You can donate Online here!(Paypal or credit card)

12 donors to date – 288 to go

100 to give $15 (or even $10)

  1. Dionne Merriott of Lubbuck, Texas
  2. Terri Goode of Lakewood, Colorado

100 to give $25 or more

  1. Martha Burtenshaw of Centerville, Ohio
  2. Deanne Barth of Lodi, CA
  3. Charlotte Frye of Stockton, CA

100 to give $50 or more

  1. Dan & Krista Coyan, missionaries to Czechoslovakia
  2. Robin Dayneko of Ontario, CA
  3. Lisa Klaassen of Arkansas, Kansas
  4. Alan & Sue Ellen Hale of Grandview, Texas
  5. Anita Boling
  6. Gloria Grupe of Stockton, CA
  7. Becky Wegner of Memphis, Tennessee

 We are also checking with the agency to see if someone wanted to contribute a significant amount towards our adoption (say $500 or $1,000 or more) if they could give them a tax receipt. Please pass this on to anyone you know who may have a heart for adoption and would like to play a part in this miracle.

You better believe that I will be posting the moment we hear word next week if this is our baby boy! 

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