"to be known"

i love adoption.
i love knowing that i was chosen, dearly loved, by the creator of the world. i'm His. 
i have an inheritance with Him, in Him.
a bit ago, many of you reached from your heart to help friends of mine
get their sweet baby boy home.
thank you!
Ammanuel is one of the cutest kids on the planet and i love watching matt and kathryn be parents. seriously, the boy's smile is infectious!


now, other friends of mine are beginning their journey into adoption.
i've known jen and ryan almost 7 years.*
jen and ryan transitioned into living in Boone, NC, as ryan has become one of the filmmakers for Samaritans purse. 
because everything is better with a photo, i decided to, uh....steal this one from jen's fb. photos make everything suddenly real. *huge smile*

the point is, they are in the long, painful, expensive, exciting, hopeful process of adopting a daughter from Ethiopia. 
adoption is very expensive. international adoptions are, in my opinion, outrageously so.
there's no way my family would be a family of 8 instead of 6 if a very generous family didn't "support" us for half the price. i guess thats why i long to help my friends with their adoptions so. 


i remember praying, waiting, hoping, longing for the day my brother and sister would walk off the plane from russia to my heart. and it would not have happened if someone didn't find it in their heart to bless our family with a lot of financial support. the body of Christ took over for us. michael and natalie came to our home because a lot of people were praying and believing and supporting our family in the process. i decided a long time ago that if i could help friends of mine, and strangers, do the same...i would. 
in the strangarity family, i guess you could say, we like to 'pay it forward..."
because to those much has been given, much is required. not that i want to guilt trip you if you're reading this, but just make you think and process what you do with your money and your heart and what you're doing to help the least among us.


i'm very passionate about seeing the orphans loved.
jen and ryan are amazing parents to little brooklyn. 
they will be amazing parents to this new baby girl, too.
would you take a minute to go to the link i attached above.
if you want, jen has designed and created these awesome pendents with the phase: "to be known" in Amharic (the language of Ethiopia), they are selling them to help with all the costs of adopting for only $12!

personally, there isn't anything better than unique jewelry. especially, jewelry that is literally helping save a child. i love this pendent! i just purchased mine, and though it'll be a bit till it gets to me here in SA, i'm so excited to share in their journey by praying and supporting in this way.


they chose: "to be known" because of the reminder we are chosen by God. that even now, before their daughter is even born, she is known by God. what a great reminder to wear around your neck, tucked close to your heart. YOU ARE KNOWN! right now...i love it. i love it. i'm so excited to have mine! ahhhhhhhhhhh *joy!*


if you don't have the desire to purchase a pendant for yourself, or lack the fiances at this moment, would you consider just popping over to their site and letting them know you are praying for them. believe me, from a siblings point of view, this is a very long journey they are on.


thanks for listening to be rant and rave on adoption and my friends. 
really, thank you.

*(i met jen and ryan when i first interned at Book of Hope, now OneHope. they were part of the team of filmers who did this video. they were always around to discuss and decipher what was going on in my heart whenever i was in the office between trips overseas. i came to find ryan hilarious and jen one of the nicest people i've ever met. in fact, it was a week long visit last december (08) with jen that God 

finally spoke to my heart and let me know i not only had every biblical right to sign the divorce papers, but that He'd still use me, still love me, and had good for me. i don't think it was because jen was some super human, but more so prayers from so many of my family and friends finally broke through on my behalf and she was willing to love me and be used by God. 

i guess what i'm saying is they are the real deal. and it'd be your privilege to join in the process of bringing their baby girl home)