our new member :)

{no you freaks! i am NOT preggo. hahaha HELLO, I need at least 5 days of straight-through-the-night sleep before we even entertain that idea! ha! apparently I need to be a little more honest about my wild woman?!?! :)}


However, we did just add this cutie to our family.

Meet Jusufu Paul. Isn't he adorable?  He's from Sierra Leone, Africa and he's 3 years old.  Let me tell you a little about his living conditions...

Sierra Leone
 Sierra Leone lies on Africa’s Atlantic coast between Guinea and Liberia. The landscape includes eastern mountains, an upland plateau, wooded hills, and coastal mangrove swamps. A rainy season runs from May to November and a dry season runs from December to April.

US Comparison to Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone United States

Population 5,696,000 307,000,000	Land Mass 27,699 3,794,083 sq miles	Life Expectancy 48 years 78 years	Infant Mortality 192/1000 7/1000

Literacy Rate 40% 97%	School Enrollment 69% 92%	Access to Safe Water 49% 100%	Average Annual Income $340 $41,400

This has been something that I've had on my heart for a while. When I mentioned it to Brian he was completely on board.  It's taken us a few months, but for now, we've found what we we're looking for.

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Let me tell you WHY we want to do this and why it's exciting for us:

In the society and the circle we seem to live in, we are by no means rich.  Actually, we are probably pretty low on the totem pole!  However, in all reality, we are completely-no mistakenly rich beyond measure. We know the love of God. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. We {I} buy things relatively that I want.  I, on average, buy my daughter something weekly whether it be {smocked} outfits or toys.  My husband and I definitely don't live in our dream home, but it's nice, comfy, and quaint.  So, yes, actually, we are rich. ha!  We tithe our biblical percent from each of our paychecks every 2 weeks.  We give extra when charity events come around and so on.  But, are we really giving?  Are we sacrificing? Not really. Of course, we could save the money we are tithing and use it on ourselves, so we could pretend that's sacrificing.  But even then, are we sacrificing anything? For us, no.  So OUR decision was to do something that means a lot to us and make it meaningful to our family.



We love children and there's just something about them we adore. Yet, I am so not trying to have a house full. :)  So, with Jusufu and the program {we researched a lot!} we are using, we actually get to interact with him and watch him grow.  We give a monthly amount and then have opportunities to give more {like buy a few extra goats for his family or community, buy school supplies, etc.}.  We are allowed to correspond through letters and use pictures.  Although at this time, we are unable to talk about Christ, we can pray for Christ to get to Jusufu.
And you know what the best part is??
Jusufu is going to be Harper's sort of *brother*.  Through him the possibilities are ENDLESS of what we can teach our girl.  Can you imagine?  We've prayed and seen in the future that we can show Harper that yes, there ARE people who do not live like you.  There are people who live better, and worse, and that it's not about monetary items.  Now, please do not get me wrong: I like nice things just as much as the next person: but this is just an entire different element to use as a teaching for Christ tool that is the right fit for OUR family.

Anyways, we are so excited about this and really look forward to the future and what is to come with our little guy!

Will you join us in praying for him?