Greetings all! It’s been a whirlwind, but such a blessing to hear all of the love and support from our tribe. It’s been a sweet time for us to share our news with you all and to see and feel the response. Humbled, grateful, thankful, and blessed are all words that come to mind when we think of you all.
A little over two and a half years, ago in February of 2019 we came to you all with the vision that “Love Knows No Distance”. We discussed the different meanings of love and how that related to our adoption and the lengths we were prepared to go to in order to reach our daughter. We had no idea how much this vision in our process would be tested, but it certainly proved to be true for us. The waiting was difficult, but in the waiting God worked in us.
Over the last two years since being dossier approved, we have wrestled with the story that God has been crafting with our lives in general, and specifically in our adoption. As the Master Storyteller, God has the creative license to do with our lives as He pleases. When standing on the mountain top, it is easy to be at peace with how He is working. But it is when the sun goes down…when we are in the valley, that our belief in His sovereignty and our trust in His goodness is most tested.
We’ve had many “valley” moments throughout our process. There were many days when we had doubts. There were days when we despaired. There were days when we didn’t even want to talk about adoption because it hurt so much. We often experienced anger and frustration. In futility, we grabbed for control of the process, because we didn’t FEEL like God was working for us.
It was so difficult and there were times we didn’t handle things well. But God was gracious to us and when we looked to Him and leaned back into the arms of Christ, He met us in our need. A kind word from a friend, a passage of scripture, a good cry, and words from the Lord in season all worked together to communicate one central message:
In Every Story, In Every Season, He Is Faithful.
We do not know where you are in your life. We don’t know the trials and tribulations you have endured. We do not know the questions that have no answers for you. But we do know this, God is at work and He will be faithful to complete His work in you. We simply have to let go of control and trust Him!
How You Can Partner With Us
We are grateful that many of you continue to walk with us on this journey and for your desire to lend your support in many ways, including in the way of finances. Let us first say that God has truly blessed us with our adoption related expenses. When this process started, the amount needed seemed so daunting, but God has graciously provided the means up to this point. A majority of our expenses have been covered through personal funds, grants, and the generosity of many of our family and friends. That said, we will be required to be in Colombia for up to a month finalizing our adoption. Below we have listed a couple of ways that you can support us as we work to cover our remaining adoption related expenses specifically as it relates to travel.
T-Shirt Fundraiser
The first way is our t-shirt fundraiser. We chose this message because it perfectly encapsulates all that we have been through and all that we have learned in this journey to our daughter. In the design on the shirt you will see the skyline of Bogota, Colombia. We chose this because Bogota is where we will meet our daughter. We know the message of this shirt is intensely personal to us, but we also feel it is a universal truth. God in His grace is constantly at work in the stories of many, through the many seasons and changes of life. If this message resonates with you, we invite you to purchase one of our shirts.
The shirts are $20 per shirt for sizes XS through XL (there is an additional cost of $2 for XXL up to 5XL). If you are interested in purchasing, please comment below on our Facebook or Instagram post or send us a DM with how many shirts you want to purchase, and your desired shirt size(s). If you need your shirt(s) shipped please add an additional $5 for shipping for the entire order and DM us your address. As a note we have chosen heather navy colored, soft-style shirt. It is recommended that if you are choosing between two sizes, that you choose the larger size. There are youth sizes available as well for $15 per shirt (YS, YM, YL, YXL). You can send payments to us through Venmo (@echolsadoption), or you can pay with cash or a check in person.
**Note** The above links are for sizing information only. The colors reflected are not what the actual shirt color will be. The photo above is the most accurate representation of the shirt color.
We will be taking pre-orders for the next two weeks with a plan to place our final order on November 26th. Please make plans to order by then as shipping timelines have been extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We hope to see many of you purchase our shirts. For those that do, we have some special ideas planned for how you can show our daughter some love with your shirt and we will share those with you in the near future!
Adopt-A-Tag
Back in November and December of 2018 we started our Adopt-A-Tag fundraiser. We still have several tags that have not been claimed. We thought it would be fun to bring this fundraiser back in the hopes of having all 150 tags claimed! As a reminder, the amount on the tag corresponds to a dollar amount that you are willing to contribute to our fundraising efforts. We have kept all of the previous claimed tags and will keep any tags claimed moving forward. We have written the names of those that have claimed a tag on the back of the tag. It has been so encouraging to look back and see the names of all those that have helped us make this adoption happen. We look forward to the day when we will show our daughter the names of all those who donated to help her become a part of our family. If you are like us and have a whole gaggle of t-shirts and would rather not buy another, grabbing a tag is a way you can still help us bring our daughter home!
If you are interested in claiming a tag, please comment below on our Facebook or Instagram post or send us a DM with the number that you wish to claim. You can send us your donation through Venmo (@echolsadoption), or you can donate through cash or check in person.
Final Thoughts
We know that ours is a singular story amongst many. There has been so much hurt and loss over the last couple of years since we’ve started this process. We recognize that you may not be in a position to lend your financial support, or frankly you may not want to support us in that way. We understand, and simply ask that you support us through prayer because we need all the prayer we can get!
If you do decide to lend us your financial support, please know in advance that we are so grateful for your belief in us. If you have any questions about where your money is going, you can visit our Financial Accountability page for a detailed description of how we have used the money people have very generously given to us to fund our adoption.
We are getting so close to bringing our daughter home. Thank you for helping this dream become our reality! We love you all!
Beautiful In Time 
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