Helping Team Binkley Adopt

It is no secret that adoption is very dear to my heart. I was adopted and am forever thankful for the sweet blessing that has been in my life….it has truly been an incredible experience and such a neat thing to be part of. I have loved watching God work through my own adoption and am always inspired to read about other families who feel led to adopt. I am working on the post with my adoption story right now, but it is taking me a while…so check back in the next few days to read more about it.

Until then, I would love for you to check out the story of this sweet family & see if you can help in any way. I know all of us are not called to adopt…but I do know some of us can support in other ways...through prayer or giving. What a blessing to be a part of helping this family bring home two more little ones!

 

Meet the Binkley’s:

 

Hi, my name is Michelle and I am so grateful that Danielle has invited me to share a bit about my family’s adoption journey. It’s hard to know where to begin, so I’m just going to jump right in:

 

My husband, Sam, and me

There have been many times in my life that I’ve looked around and wondered, “How in the world can we ever fix this?” Some problems just seem too big. To be completely honest with you, that’s how I felt about the orphan crisis happening in our world today. The sheer number of orphans (160 million and counting) in our world caused me to simply look away. Not because I didn’t care, but because I had no idea how to even begin DOING something about it. It was easier and (dare I say) more comfortable to look away.  But I can’t do that anymore. You see, a few months ago, my husband and I chose to open our eyes to the orphan situation in our world. We chose to look past the statistics and see the faces of children all over the world simply longing for a forever family of their own.

 

So, that’s how we came to find ourselves on our own journey of adoption. My husband, our three kids and myself are in the process of adopting two children from Eastern Europe. You can read more about our story on our family blog: Pursuing Abundant Life

Team Binkley: Abby, Jack & Ben (excited about a new sister & brother!)

As most people know, adoption is pretty expensive. Our adoption costs will average about $35,000 to bring our two children home. YES, it seems completely overwhelming and impossible; but we serve The One with Whom NOTHING is impossible.  (Matthew 19:26)

In our efforts to fundraise, we were completely blessed to be invited to join Forty to Forever, a group dedicated to providing needed funds and awareness to adoptive families and children still waiting. Forty to Forever is a Lenten journey that will focus on a different child each of the 40 days of Lent with the ultimate goal of raising $400 for each child—for a total of $20,000!

 

This is huge for my family. Not necessarily the monetary amount (though every cent gets us that much closer)—this is huge to us because it’s a way to be a part of something much bigger than our own story. There are so many children in our world right now that haven’t known the security of having a dad tuck them in at night. They don’t know what it feels like to have a mom hold them and tell them how much they’re loved. They dream about a home where there’s always food on the table and love to be shared.

 

That’s where Forty to Forever comes in. Over the course of the 40 days of Lent (beginning on February 13th), we will focus on one child each day. We’ll look past the numbers and into the eyes of REAL children in our world who need our prayers, our donations and—most importantly—a forever family. If you’re interested in getting involved, please visit the Forty to Forever website and sign up to share in this journey of Lent. The need is real. It’s happening in our world right now, and we all can put our hands together and make a huge difference in the lives of these children. We can show them the love of Jesus. We can show them that their lives matter.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings. We’d love to have you visit us over at our family’s website and we’d be HONORED if you would also join hands with us through Forty to Forever.

 

Thank you for sharing, Michelle!! I know the blog community is truly incredible, so hopefully this will help your family in some way get closer to helping bring those little ones “home.”