Another Check

I've been meaning to do this for months but it has slowly made its way to the bottom of the pile of To Do lists I've been making. Today I happily mark this one "finished" as I have finally written my Congressman and Senators urging them to keep the Adoption Tax Credit alive. I would love for everyone reading this to do the same (sometime this year, it doesn't have to be today :-) hahaha) Even if you are not an adoptive parent would you consider taking a moment to voice your desire to see the credit remain? It truly is a huge help for adoptive families.

You can help raise awareness by adding the widget (see right side bar) to your blogs as well.

I always get really nervous about composing letters to elected officials and I prefer someone to have a sample to get me started so I am posting my letter for your reference, in case you're like me and you take comfort in that kind of thing. If you don't have letter writing anxiety feel free to go on with your bold self and write off the cuff.

Dear _____________

I am writing to urge that you not allow the Federal
Adoption Tax Credit to
expire in December of 2010. As a family with three
biological children
and one adopted child we relied on the tax credit to
help us adopt. Without the
benefit of the Tax Credit the fees associated
with our adoption would have made
the financial impediment much more
difficult for our family to hurdle.

We believe adoption is a blessed and
wonderful way to build a family and that it benefits our society. In our efforts
to raise awareness about
the many benefits of adoption we find that speaking
about the Tax Credit has always been a positive incentive for perspective
adoptive families first discovering their
options. We have had the
opportunity to meet many people who thought adoption
would be financially
out of reach for them only to find it was possible through
the aid of the
Adoption Tax Credit.

Please do whatever you can to ensure that the Tax
Credit permanently remains as a financial support for adoptive families. The
Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213 would keep the door open for
children to come in to their forever families.

Many Blessings,

_______________________

charity:water, Twestival

charity: water for Twestival from charity: water on Vimeo.

I mentioned I joined 300 voices which supports charity:water. Here's a video of what charity:water is doing and an opportunity for you to get involved.

Adding My Voice

I enjoy jody r landers' blog. She turns thirty today. I turn thirty this year too. I'm calling it a combined birthday gift for the both of us.

Water.

Read about her new project 300 voices.

Write a Letter

Daiquiri brought this to my attention. I wrote my letter.

Hope for the Hopeless Video

..... from our trip with Mark and Julie.

Brooke and Kim this is especially for you :-)

Thank you!

I want to thank everyone who gave via my Chip-In button for the kids at Hope for the Hopeless You all rock! We exceeded our goal thanks to your generosity. Some of you gave even while you're adopting yourselves and bringing donations to other orphanages. How can I say how much I adore you!? There are not enough words of thanks. Just know you're precious to me!

I can't wait to fill you in on how God uses that money to bless the kids.

I'd like to take a minute to thank you for all your comments of congratulations for our family. Dustin and I had a blast reading through them together. It was great to have so many sharing in our joy.

Red Letters Campaign- Chip In Widget

Hey friends! Our family is teaming up with the Gumm family to raise some more funds for the kids at Hope for the Hopeless (H4H). We plan to buy some items in country needed for the move to their new location, including warm clothes, jackets, blankets, food, medicines, etc. As of right now Dustin and I have to find a way to squeeze our clothes into half a large suitcase. All the rest of our baggage allotments have been filled with donations. Praise the Lord!! We may even need to pay extra bag fees for the items we are collecting if we run out of space (which would be a GREAT problem to have.) Julie has a great list if you'd prefer to send items with us instead of cash. However, If you'd like to contribute cash we've made it easier than ever. Simply click the Chip In button on my side bar or you can follow this link and contribute that way as well. EVERY PENNY given will go to H4H!

We are asking you to consider just $5 to help us reach our goal of $300. We sure wouldn't mind you spreading the word on your blogs about our efforts as well. Every bit helps.

You can check back here or on Julie's blog often to see updates about what your gifts are accomplishing as we use them to minister to the kids at Hope for the Hopeless in Jesus' name.

Thanks! and we wish you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.