T-shirt inspiration

So while we were in Denver we meet up with Ryan and Sandy True. We hung out with them during our entire stay at the Vlad Inn during our second trip – April 2009. I wish I could explain to you how energizing it was to spend some quality time with them. It is a challenge for people to understand why we would adopt from Russia. It is even a bigger challenge for them to understand why we would adopt from Russia a second time! We don’t live in a large city and there isn’t a big group of people that have adopted internationally around us. We do live in a university town, and that helps bring some diversity, and we do have a couple of friends that can relate to the adoption process. But for the most part, people just don’t get it. We are so fortunate and grateful to be surrounded by friends and family that support us. They are excited for us because we are excited. But as sweet and caring as they are, there is a disconnect and not a full understanding of what would make us go through this trying process again. And to be perfectly honest, had we not felt God’s calling and gone through the process ourselves, we too would not have really understood why people do this. So that brings me back to Ryan and Sandy. They could completely relate to the process and reminisce about the days that we both said we were NEVER going back to Russia. They remember all of the hoop jumping and various other ‘things’ that happened that you just don’t blog about. But the most energizing and motivating thing they could say and remind us of was what a great NEED there is for adoptive parents in Russia. It is sometimes hard for people to see this. Because like all of us, people wonder if there is such a need, why is it so expensive, why is it so complicated? We can’t answer those questions or get into the politics or the cultural differences that make that a reality. But the fact still remains that there are children all over that need a family. It just so happens for us that we are being called across the world to meet that need one more time. I could keep going on and on, but Ryan and Sandy really helped reignite the passion that we need to persevere through these next several months.

So on to another exciting thing. Ryan and Sandy gave Justin and me these thoughtful t-shirts. They came across a lady that was selling them to raise money for a mission’s trip to a Russian orphanage (those don’t happen that often anymore from what I have heard). So we are thinking that once we know the exact baby home we will be going to, that we will do something similar to help raise money for them. We would sell them between trip one and two and take the money with us to purchase whatever we could with the funds we raised. So I am putting this on the long to-do list as well. What do you think?

This is the front of the shirt.  It says I believe...

This card was attached to the tag.  I don't think we would attach a picture of children to the tshirt, but we would share photos from our trip(s) to help people understand what they are supporting.

And this is the back of the shirt.  It is obviously the geographic outline of Russia. And running through the graphic is Psalms 68: 5-6 which reads: "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families." This is in both Russian and English.