This was sent to me from one of Samantha's teachers...
Samantha said, "My parents are thinking of adopting another child." I asked if it was going to be a boy or a girl. Samantha said, "Definitely a girl.A boy wouldn't really go with our 'theme'."
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Our Story
Who are we? What are we doing? and Why do we have a blog?
Hi, we are Doug and Katy Graber. We live in beautiful Minnesota. We have two biological daughers, ages 16 and 11 and one adopted daughter from China, age 8. We are your every day run of the mill suburban family. We are just a normal family, that is about to go on a crazy adventure; we are adopting from Ethiopia. We plan to adopt a girl between 5-8 years old and special needs is a definate possibility. We have been called to step up and step out in faith. There are millions of orphans in the world and they cannot wait! That is why we have this blog. We feel so strongly about moving forward with this adoption now.
We want this blog to be an inspiration to the thousands and thousands of people that have thought about adopting, but something is holding them back. Please take a few moments and read our stories below so you can understand where we are coming from.
We realize in these trying economic times that money is tight for so many people out there. Our requst is prayer. Prayer for our family as we prepare to bring a child into our home, prayer for our daughter that is waiting for her family to come and get her, and prayer for all the orphans to find their families.
We want to thank everyone who is reading this for taking a moment out of their time. Please feel free to pass this blog along. The more people praying for us, definately the better!
Doug and Katy Graber
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”
Katy's Story:
In October of 2005 we brought home from China our new daughter; taking our family of 4 to a family of 5. The year leading up to her homecoming and the year following, were some of the biggest, life changing years of my life. I went into adoption because we wanted to add to our family, but we came out of the process with a love for a country, a culture, a lifestyle, and a child I never knew could exist on this earth. My family was complete.
In September of 2008 I traveled with my very good friend, Shelby to China once again to adopt her son. The trip was long and hard, but the seed had been planted. My son was waiting for me in China. I secretly always wanted a son. Growing up with 4 older brothers I was more of a tom-boy than anything else. I thought it was ironic God blessed me with 3 girls. With my first pregnancy I prayed fervently for a boy, I was never a sister to a sister and never a girl in the true sense of the word. I preferred action flicks to romance, I would rather drive a truck than go shopping, I love, love, love to play sports, watch football, and only recently I discovered I had tear ducts. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my daughters and I am jealous of the relationship they do have and will have, one that I never will experience. I just thought I could relate to a boy better. ;-)
While on my China trip I knew I would have to pitch the adoption idea to my husband very carefully, as he doesn’t like change in the least. He loves our children and has a heart of gold, but he likes his world of consistency. However, I had a plan. Ha! Turns out that saying, “Wanna make God laugh? Tell him your plans”, was right on the money. Through the next couple of months, my plan to adopt was not dead, but pushed out a couple of years. Strangely, I had accepted that easier than I thought.
In late March of this year I started waking up each morning with two words in my head, girl and Africa. I didn’t give it much thought other than I would be getting ready in the mornings and trying to remember if I have ever in my life woken up like that. It’s the only thing in my head and clear as a bell. It would stick with me for at least an hour. It was nothing more than a cool conundrum. This went on for about a week. Every morning I would wake up with those two words and only that in my head… girl and Africa. At this point I still think it sort of neat to wake up with my mind that clear. Then it started to happen during the night; one time during the night, as well as the morning and then twice at night and so on. I would just pop open my eyes and those two words clear as a day… girl and Africa. Now it was starting to annoy me! I would go to work tired and come home crabby. I am definitely someone that needs her sleep. Finally, through utter exhaustion, one night I headed to bed quite early for me. I was bound and determined to get some rest. For the next 2 hours I woke up every 20 minutes from a sound sleep with those darn 2 words in my head... girl and Africa. I was so mad, tired, and frustrated I wanted to cry. But then for a brief moment my heart stopped, I caught my breath, stumbled out to the living room to where Doug was sitting on the couch and said, “I think we are suppose to go to Africa and adopt a girl...now maybe I can sleep.”
I walked back to my room, lay down and had the best night of sleep in probably my entire life.
Doug's Story:
Our story really starts way back in autumn, 1990. Katy and I had met just a few short months before, but we had already realized we were going to marry. Katy was talking about how she would like to adopt at some point. It was a nicely amorphous dream. I could agree that adopting, at some point, would be nice; but I didn’t really give the discussion serious consideration.
Fast forward fourteen years – autumn, 2004. We’re finally living in our own home with two children and a dog. Both Katy and I have good jobs and we’re bringing home some nice money. We’re comfortable. I like comfortable. Katy says she is ready to adopt. Woah! Where did that come from? September, October. Much discussion and prayer ensue; but I have my heels dug in – We’re Comfortable! Lord, please change my wife’s heart. This can’t possibly be what you want for us. A couple months and many, many prayers later the Lord finally softened my heart, and we proceeded to add a wonderful daughter to our family. Through every step of the way, the Lord demonstrated his hand in the process. This was definitely what he wanted for us. The year following the adoption was probably the most emotionally trying time I’ve ever experienced. I don’t like change very much, and we had change coming out our ears. Things finally settled down, and I can say that I have absolutely no regrets.
Fast forward another few years – autumn, 2008. We’re living in a different house with three children and a dog. I know Katy’s thinking about adoption again, but there’s no way I’m even going to consider it. The subject keeps coming up – “Let’s adopt a boy from China”. Well, I’m not going to consider adoption right now, but, of course we’ll adopt from China if we adopt again. Lord, this can’t possibly be what you want for us. If this is what you really want for us, please give me a sign (something big so I won’t miss it).
March 2009 – We’re still in the same house with three children, but we’ve added another dog. Adoption is way on the back burner, but is still part of my prayers. It’s late at night, and I’m still up watching TV. Katy’s been in bed for a couple hours already, so I’m surprised when she comes back down the hall. “Honey, I think we’re supposed to adopt a girl from Africa”, she says. I knew as soon as she said it that we had been called. “Girl” and “Africa” hadn’t been on either of our hearts or minds. As much as I was prepared to dig in my heels again, I couldn’t. I had my sign. I knew this was right. This is what the Lord wanted us to do.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
Hi, we are Doug and Katy Graber. We live in beautiful Minnesota. We have two biological daughers, ages 16 and 11 and one adopted daughter from China, age 8. We are your every day run of the mill suburban family. We are just a normal family, that is about to go on a crazy adventure; we are adopting from Ethiopia. We plan to adopt a girl between 5-8 years old and special needs is a definate possibility. We have been called to step up and step out in faith. There are millions of orphans in the world and they cannot wait! That is why we have this blog. We feel so strongly about moving forward with this adoption now.
We want this blog to be an inspiration to the thousands and thousands of people that have thought about adopting, but something is holding them back. Please take a few moments and read our stories below so you can understand where we are coming from.
We realize in these trying economic times that money is tight for so many people out there. Our requst is prayer. Prayer for our family as we prepare to bring a child into our home, prayer for our daughter that is waiting for her family to come and get her, and prayer for all the orphans to find their families.
We want to thank everyone who is reading this for taking a moment out of their time. Please feel free to pass this blog along. The more people praying for us, definately the better!
Doug and Katy Graber
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”
Katy's Story:
In October of 2005 we brought home from China our new daughter; taking our family of 4 to a family of 5. The year leading up to her homecoming and the year following, were some of the biggest, life changing years of my life. I went into adoption because we wanted to add to our family, but we came out of the process with a love for a country, a culture, a lifestyle, and a child I never knew could exist on this earth. My family was complete.
In September of 2008 I traveled with my very good friend, Shelby to China once again to adopt her son. The trip was long and hard, but the seed had been planted. My son was waiting for me in China. I secretly always wanted a son. Growing up with 4 older brothers I was more of a tom-boy than anything else. I thought it was ironic God blessed me with 3 girls. With my first pregnancy I prayed fervently for a boy, I was never a sister to a sister and never a girl in the true sense of the word. I preferred action flicks to romance, I would rather drive a truck than go shopping, I love, love, love to play sports, watch football, and only recently I discovered I had tear ducts. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my daughters and I am jealous of the relationship they do have and will have, one that I never will experience. I just thought I could relate to a boy better. ;-)
While on my China trip I knew I would have to pitch the adoption idea to my husband very carefully, as he doesn’t like change in the least. He loves our children and has a heart of gold, but he likes his world of consistency. However, I had a plan. Ha! Turns out that saying, “Wanna make God laugh? Tell him your plans”, was right on the money. Through the next couple of months, my plan to adopt was not dead, but pushed out a couple of years. Strangely, I had accepted that easier than I thought.
In late March of this year I started waking up each morning with two words in my head, girl and Africa. I didn’t give it much thought other than I would be getting ready in the mornings and trying to remember if I have ever in my life woken up like that. It’s the only thing in my head and clear as a bell. It would stick with me for at least an hour. It was nothing more than a cool conundrum. This went on for about a week. Every morning I would wake up with those two words and only that in my head… girl and Africa. At this point I still think it sort of neat to wake up with my mind that clear. Then it started to happen during the night; one time during the night, as well as the morning and then twice at night and so on. I would just pop open my eyes and those two words clear as a day… girl and Africa. Now it was starting to annoy me! I would go to work tired and come home crabby. I am definitely someone that needs her sleep. Finally, through utter exhaustion, one night I headed to bed quite early for me. I was bound and determined to get some rest. For the next 2 hours I woke up every 20 minutes from a sound sleep with those darn 2 words in my head... girl and Africa. I was so mad, tired, and frustrated I wanted to cry. But then for a brief moment my heart stopped, I caught my breath, stumbled out to the living room to where Doug was sitting on the couch and said, “I think we are suppose to go to Africa and adopt a girl...now maybe I can sleep.”
I walked back to my room, lay down and had the best night of sleep in probably my entire life.
Doug's Story:
Our story really starts way back in autumn, 1990. Katy and I had met just a few short months before, but we had already realized we were going to marry. Katy was talking about how she would like to adopt at some point. It was a nicely amorphous dream. I could agree that adopting, at some point, would be nice; but I didn’t really give the discussion serious consideration.
Fast forward fourteen years – autumn, 2004. We’re finally living in our own home with two children and a dog. Both Katy and I have good jobs and we’re bringing home some nice money. We’re comfortable. I like comfortable. Katy says she is ready to adopt. Woah! Where did that come from? September, October. Much discussion and prayer ensue; but I have my heels dug in – We’re Comfortable! Lord, please change my wife’s heart. This can’t possibly be what you want for us. A couple months and many, many prayers later the Lord finally softened my heart, and we proceeded to add a wonderful daughter to our family. Through every step of the way, the Lord demonstrated his hand in the process. This was definitely what he wanted for us. The year following the adoption was probably the most emotionally trying time I’ve ever experienced. I don’t like change very much, and we had change coming out our ears. Things finally settled down, and I can say that I have absolutely no regrets.
Fast forward another few years – autumn, 2008. We’re living in a different house with three children and a dog. I know Katy’s thinking about adoption again, but there’s no way I’m even going to consider it. The subject keeps coming up – “Let’s adopt a boy from China”. Well, I’m not going to consider adoption right now, but, of course we’ll adopt from China if we adopt again. Lord, this can’t possibly be what you want for us. If this is what you really want for us, please give me a sign (something big so I won’t miss it).
March 2009 – We’re still in the same house with three children, but we’ve added another dog. Adoption is way on the back burner, but is still part of my prayers. It’s late at night, and I’m still up watching TV. Katy’s been in bed for a couple hours already, so I’m surprised when she comes back down the hall. “Honey, I think we’re supposed to adopt a girl from Africa”, she says. I knew as soon as she said it that we had been called. “Girl” and “Africa” hadn’t been on either of our hearts or minds. As much as I was prepared to dig in my heels again, I couldn’t. I had my sign. I knew this was right. This is what the Lord wanted us to do.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
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