We need you

It looks like Angel Dance is wanting to work with us just as much as we are wanting to work with them!! I'm very excited and extremely freaked out to start this process!! For me it is simply a money thing.  $25,000 to $28,000 is a lot to take in...but I'm just going to focus on our first big check we need to send it which is $2,450. 

How you can help us:

I would love to clean or help organize your home. My husband is quite the handy guy and really enjoys creating organizational space in garages. He also has put in several wood floors. 

I am doing some creative things: hair bands, upcycled t-shirt dresses and baby onesies.

Our lovely and wonderful friends Mark and Becky Kyle have generously given us the rest of their reusable shopping bags (which are very cute by the way) and we will be selling those for $10.  Becky is an amazing photographer and is giving us a portion of her earning towards our adoption. We just love them and their sweet boy they just brought home from Ethiopia!!
The kids also want to have a part in this and will be making homemade blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies.

We are so thankful for the wonderful people God has placed in our lives and feel very blessed to have such a wonderful support system around us!! Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers!!

The Neely family

creating with a cause

Say hello to the Upcycled t-shirt dress.  I made 3 different versions in hopes of selling them in an upcoming craft fair. I'm also making the cute little hair bands and some sweet little baby onesies.  Jada was sweet enough to play model for me..pretty sure she loved it! All proceeds will be going into the adoption fund! :)

baby steps

Application complete and our first check of $200 written.  It honesty feels like such a relief to have made this first step... even though it is just a baby step in the whole aspect of the adoption process. Now we just wait and pray that this agency, which I really like, wants to work with us too!!

first things first

So...I don't know WHY I keep writing Dominican when it's Democratic!! sheesh, there is a difference!! That is just so me and what keeps my husband laughing at me for the past 12 years! So with that addressed I can move on to much more exciting things! We think we many have our home study agency! What a relief.  They are the only ones who called me immediately after I emailed them & they put me at ease right away! I need a lot of hand holding at this point! So without freaking out too much we are going to sign that $200 check and see where God provides the rest of the 25,000! I'm a tad scared!!

DRC

So the Dominican Republic of Congo it is! We feel really great about this decision. We also found a great adoption agency...One World Adoption. They've been SUPER helpful in my endless amount of questions. :) Not only do the requirements of the DRC fit with our family, it is a country in desperate need. War has devastated much of this country along with extreme poverty and illness. There are over 5 million orphans in Congo!! Its a little discouraging to think that we by adopting one child won't make even the tiniest drop in the bucket...but my greatest HOPE is that our adoption will inspire another family to start the process and that that adoption will lead to another and so on and so on.

decisions

I'm pretty bad at making decisions...don't like them. What if I make the wrong one? One thing we do know is Africa. The 3 places that have been most on our minds are Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Dominican Republic of Congo. So right now I'm just doing a lot of research and praying and hoping we end up at the right decision. But I think no matter the decision this quote best sums up why we MUST make one...


"Who was going to raise 12 million children? That was what I suddenly wanted to know...Who was teaching 12 million children to swim...Who will tell 12 million bedtime stories...Who will wake in the night in response to 12 million nightmares. Well, as it turns out, no one. Or very few. There aren't enough adults to go around."
-Melissa Fay Greene

here we are

Almost one year later and we are finally 100% in...

...running, ignoring, excuses, fear, selfishness,time,money...these are just a few of the reasons we did nothing in the last year. But after another life changing moment we realize we can- we are called- and we will.


So excited to start this journey mixed with a little bit of scared. But to know your purpose in life is a really peaceful thing. LOTS of prayers and LOTs of trust is going to go into this...and of course LOTS of support!
Luckily we are surrounded by amazing friends! Let the JOURNEY begin.