the letter

Below is the support letter that Matt and I have sent to various friends and family. Asking for money is not something we take lightly or particularly enjoy doing. The saying may claim that it takes a village to raise a child, but in this case, it’s going to take a village to give our child a home. If you feel compelled to help support our adoption, feel free to email me at catherinesallison at gmail dot com and I can send you our address. We have also set up a paypal account that is linked to over on the right hand column of this blog. So without further ado, here you go…

Dear friend,

Just in cased you missed it… or have failed to stalk our blog… or sign on Facebook… or answer your phone… we just wanted to let you know that we are expecting Allison child number three! A few weeks ago, we officially began the process of adopting a baby boy from Rwanda, Africa!

For years, we have felt God calling us to adopt. As we prayed for God to break our hearts for what breaks His, we continued to be reminded again and again that His heart is broken for orphans. We could no longer ignore the fact that this is something that we needed to pay more than lip service to- we needed to act. And so we did. After much research and prayer, we recently took a huge leap of faith as we started the adoption process through The Gladney Center for Adoption. Gladney is a well respected, non-profit adoption agency that has been around for over 120 years- one of the oldest adoption agencies in the United States.

As we walk through the adoption process, it is our hope that you would walk alongside us. It is awesome to think that our son is likely already conceived, and as we prayed for Carson and Mary Grace before their births, we ask you to join us in praying for our little boy now.

We would also ask you to prayerfully consider supporting us financially, as it is an unfortunate truth that adoptions are very expensive. From immigration fees to homestudy fees, court costs to travel costs, the money adds up quickly. And here’s where it gets humbling for us- as much room as we have in our hearts for the son we have waiting in Rwanda for us, we simply do not have the money that is required (approximately $25,000) in our bank account. We are asking you, some of our closest friends and family, to partner with us in giving a little boy a home in which he will be forever loved and cherished.

We are overwhelmed and humbled that God would entrust us with such a huge responsibility, but we are completely confident that this is His next step for our family. We know full-well that this is not a conventional way to build a family, and we would love to entertain any questions as they arise. The most natural and common question has been, “Why would you guys want to adopt when we already have two great biological children?” This is a great question which boils down to this: There was a time when you and I and everyone you know was an orphan. We were fatherless, directionless, purposeless and hopeless. However, the good news is that we were not left that way! Through the extravagant love and infinite mercy of God, He adopted us into His family, giving us the opportunity to be called His sons and daughters. As He adopted us, we will also adopt!

We covet your prayers and support as we continue this amazing journey to welcoming a new Allison to the family. We also sincerely hope that through our story, someone else will feel compelled to call an orphaned child their own. We know this is going to be a long road, but we are so very grateful to have incredible friends and family walk through this with us. Lord willing, we will have our baby boy in our arms in the middle of 2011 and will bringing him home to North Carolina.

Love, Matt and Catherine