You may have read the previous post about the atrocities in the Congo. Well, Erin has decided to do something about it! Erin and I have been friends since 1998 when her mother began mentoring me. Erin’s husband, Chris, is also my friend and classmate from the Naval Academy and he continues to serve our country as an officer in the United States Navy.
Here Erin shares her family’s story of living, loving, and providing hope to the hopeless:
Hi, I’m Erin. I am in love with the cutest and sweetest guy. He’s got the best quirks and puts up with mine. I follow him around wherever his job takes us. I currently have two adorable little ones. They’ve helped me to refocus on the daily beauty of small things, the significance of time and simple moments of sitting, playing, drawing and creating together. I truly believe there is an art of motherhood. I graduated from college as an art major, and have loved every form of art since I was young. For the past few years I’ve been freelancing as a graphic/web designer. Recently however, I’ve found much more delight and satisfaction in holding a pencil or carving tool. I love making wooden toys for the children and carving blocks.
I am a Christ follower. He is my bright light, peace and comfort. For quite a while, I have felt drawn to adopt. While my heart has been there in the past two years, Chris’ heart has been drawn towards adoption as well. Stephen Curtis Chapman’s website Show Hope shares all the statistics and identifies the tremendous need for adoption.
One statistic that really stood out to us is: “If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. We can each do something.”
At the beginning of this year Chris and I both read Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore. This book encouraged and reaffirmed our desire to adopt. While we felt called to adopt, we were unsure from where our family should pursue at first, since we believe that every child without a family is tragic.
While we continued looking into the details and requirements of different areas and searching the desires of our heart, we’ve been led to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Why the DRC? Please read Natasha’s post above and know that hundreds of thousands of children have been orphaned because of the civil war. The Congo is the second highest country in the world where sexual violence to women occurs and the death rate of Congolese children ages 0-5 is one of the highest on the planet. Our hearts are set on a baby girl as we hope to prevent the terrible possibilities of what can happen there even to one of them.
As you may be aware, the cost of the adoption is expensive, and though we have some savings, it isn’t enough for us to complete our adoption. Our desire is to raise the funds as soon as possible to cover the entire cost. Using my love of art, I have created a line of unique hand dyed, linoleum-cut and stamped t-shirts we call Dandelion Dream: http://dandeliondream.com.
Chris chose the name, and I think it perfectly fits our desire, hope, and dream of bringing a new little one into our family. We invite you to join in our Dandelion Dream! All sales go directly to our adoption fund. On my blog, http://tinytwistcreative.com, I have also listed other ways to get involved.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19 NIV).”
Do you have an adoption story to share?
Fundraising ideas and prayers are also welcome here. Of course, t-shirt orders are much appreciated.
Blessings, Natasha Robinson
© Natasha S. Robinson 2011
Please also prayerfully consider:
Missions Exist Because Worship Doesn’t (Help still needed)
The Heart of a Missionary (Hannah departs to start school in Spain this week)
A SISTA'S JOURNEY 