8.18.2010

red, yellow, black, white, LOVE

i feel like i have a special place in my heart for adoption fundraisers ever since, you know. but even if that hadn't happened, i would so be all over doing whatever i can to help this lil' family on their journey to expand their family beyond the atlantic ocean:



these are the dockerys. abby with charlotte (1) and pete with eden (3)

they are a gorgeous (in ways that count and the ones that don't so much) family that is sold out for jesus. they live in el paso and work for the ministry casas por cristo. this incredible organization provides safe and sturdy homes to families living in some pretty deplorable circumstances just over the border in juarez, MX (think houses made of chicken wire and cardboard). they do this by hosting mission teams from all over the world who provide the labor for the houses that are built in just a few days.

i met the papa, pete, about 5 days before i met jesus. i went on one of these trips in 2004. technically i was dragged on it. pete was my team's build leader. he was awesome and hilarious and so fun to be around. every night he would go up on the roof of the church we were staying in and talk on the phone to this girl who was back in GA. i was nosy and asked if that was his giiiiiiiiiirlfriend (in a super annoying 3rd grader teasing voice). he said something along the lines of sort of kind of and that he really wanted her to be and blah blah, he was so totally into her but i don't know if they were offish at that point yet. he showed me some of the letters she had sent and i was blown away by her creativity and artsy-ness. i was like, "she totally likes you if this is what she is mailing."

pete and i kept in touch a bit through good old yahoo chat. about 14 months later pete married that girl from the phonecalls in a big field.

fast forward another year and i decide that i am jealous of a bunch of my friends because they have this friend named natalie who is supposed to be just the cat's pajamas. me and natalie, with no prior interaction, decide to become good friends. it works out very well for me. (and my marriage, and for judah).

well, it turns out that natalie's best friend forever is abby. these two have the kind of friendship that people write books about that are then turned into movies that make all the ladies cry because it's so beautiful. i asked natalie to please make abby like me because everyone who knows her adores her. and then i finally get to meet her at nat's wedding in june of 2008. she is as wonderful as advertised.

abs, nat, k8.

even though i think we've only hung out that one time at the wedding, i feel like i am way tight with abby and her family thanks to natalie, facebook and blogs. so i have been following along gleefully for a while now as this great couple raise their firstborn, eden, to when they became a family of 4 last summer and on and on through their day to day adventures in salt and light. i love the way abby writes and parents and take pictures.

so i started bouncing in my chair when i read recently that the dockerys have started the process of international adoption. they are adopting from ethopia. i can't tell you how great i think this family is going to be at opening their hearts and home to a new family member from around the globe.


it was on a hot day, that wedding was (our bridesmaids dresses are dry clean only and mine is still waiting to go to the cleaners, over 2 years later. i sweat so much that day that i am kind of afraid to see what kind of ecosystem my pretty dress has become since then while balled up in the 'to be dry cleaned' bag)

so why i am telling you all this?

well, adoption takes love and grace #1

#2 adoption requirement is probably time. there is a lot of paperwork to be done, laws to follow, communiques between governments and such and so therefore there is no overnight delivery option for these sweet children and their new families. so we pray about these 2 things for the dockerys.

but #3 is something we can actually physically help with right now. because adoption takes money. i don't know how much, but it's a lot. to raise money for their adoption fund, the dockerys have put their creative skills to great use and made t-shirts to sell. these are ultra cool and come in grown up and kids sizes. they are selling them now through their blog. the travel expenses alone for the two required trips the dockerys will take to meet and then bring home their new child will run about $8000, so we can totally take a huge chunk out of that and get a cool t-shirt too that spreads the word and reminds us to pray for them!


if any of the following topics: adoption, the dockerys, ethiopia, orphans, love, africa, jesus, is something that moves you or inspires you, would you puh-lease consider buying some t-shirts from them to help build this family and give an orphan two wonderful parents? if you don't even want the shirt but just want to give straight up, there is also an option for that on their blog as well.


the kids' version...adorable miss charlie sold separately

and since they just can't stop giving...today through saturday the dockerys are doing a giveaway for one of these awesome shirts at their blog. so leave a comment, become a follower of their blog/journey and tell your friends about it and you could win a shirt for free!

if you do nothing else, please at least send up a prayer for the whole dockery family (members living in their home already and those still waiting to come home) as they follow jesus in this awesome adventure.

2 comments:

  1. thank you keight. we love you so.

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  2. This is awesome! I'm all for what we affectionately refer to as "rainbow" families. It was a great way to grow up!

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