There is Always More Hope

My daughter, Faith said to me the other day as I was mid-breakdown, "There is always more hope, Mom." She was so right. She started her own fundraising campaign and I have been tagging along getting a good lesson in faith and God's miracles. I really didn't think much would come of her idea, but I wanted her to be able to be a part of helping and she wanted to do something so, so badly! This is her idea from start to finish. I only help where and when she asks, which truthfully is not very often. She's an independent little thing...

What God has been doing through this little organization of my kids which they call Fly Kids is nothing short of miraculous. I am in awe of them. It reminds me so much of the story of the two loaves and five fish in the Bible. In Mark 6:30-44 Jesus took these small loaves and fish and fed 5,000 people! I feel like I am watching the same miracle unfold as my kids take their small frisbees and are turning it into the largest fundraiser we have had. It's unbelievable. I watch their faith and am reminded of how God tells us to have faith like a child and I sit and I pray for that kind of faith. They are undaunted in their task. They walk until their little legs can't go any longer and they collect pennies and quarters and dollar bills. At the end of every night when we are adding it up I feel like those disciples must have felt. Where did this all come from?

In just about ten days these kids have collected a little over $500! $500. Should I repeat that, $500. I stand amazed at what God is doing. You can head over to the blog my daughter runs (forgive her small typos and spelling mistakes...she's only 7) and find out a little more about them. http://www.superflykids.blogspot.com/

The Asking

I'm no good at this part. Let's call it "the asking." It has been ingrained in me not to ask. When all my little friends were fundraising for sports or school my family opted not to get involved. We bought dozens of Girl Scout Cookies and gave to Save the Whales but we never asked for ourselves. It just wasn't done. It somehow became a matter of personal pride as if I didn't need to ask for help. I wouldn't ask for help. I have no problem giving to others, but to be completely, 100% honest it's not something I ever want to do.

I even cringe a little every time I go out with my daughter and her "Fly Kids" to let them ask for donations. On the one hand I am so, so proud of this little girl who cried every time she had to sing in a group at church, as she whispers her three short sentences at every door that opens. Tears form just thinking about what she has done for us already. On the other hand my own pride makes me want to huddle in the car and let her do it on her own. I don't want anyone to see my face, to know my desperate need, to know I can't do this alone. I can't.

But that is the truth, I can't do this alone. We can't do this alone. There is a little boy who will die if we fail in this. That responsibility weighs so heavily on our hearts. Perhaps someone else will come along and adopt him, perhaps not. Maybe he would find love in another mother's arms, maybe not. But this mom is fighting so that those chances won't ever have to occur. That if should no longer be a part of his life.

We need help. We are so close and God has given us so much already. We are cutting back and saving every dime we can. Pasta is currently the dinner choice for the next month! But we will never come close without the help of our friends and family. My pride is broken and we are asking, desperately asking for your help. Can you spare $10 or $20 for a little boy's life?

Our next step in payment is due in just a few short days. We need $1500 to cover that payment in full. Soon after that we will need another $2,000 and then we can finally, finally apply for those precious grants and loans. Craig and I have been blessed by so many friends. We have lived in three different states in our nine years together and have made so many friends throughout the years. I know, believe me I know that times are tough. They have been tough for us, but God has called us to this little one and I know He has a plan. We are looking for 200 friends to commit to sending $20 in the next few weeks. Maybe you can't do this but you know someone who can. Getting the word out is half the battle. It's a high goal, I know. I also know God can and has done far greater things than this. Would you consider being part of the community of people that it will take to do this? He deserves to be rescued and he has waited long enough. 200 people giving $20 that's all it would take. Can you help us?

The Why's

I was kindly reminded by my dearest friend today that I often explain things by starting at step ten instead of step one. Sounds a lot like something my husband says...often. Let me start off by saying that I am so sorry for my constant lack of organization in my explanations.

Why are we adopting?
We have a beautiful family with three precious kids. Please know that I feel deeply blessed by what God has given me. I am in awe of the love that surrounds me daily.
Long ago, when we were dating Craig and I decided that we would always remain open to adoption whenever and wherever that may take us. Our decision was based on God's command to care for the orphans and fatherless children. We felt a strong urgency that this meant we would welcome children into our home that did not share our genetic makeup. It's simply obedience to our Father. We prayed about it and gave it to our Lord. We talked about it for about five years and after the birth of our second child decided to go forward with adoption. Only God had other plans. He closed the door and let us know it was not His timing for us yet. So we waited. God blessed us with another son.

About a year after Cayden was born we began praying about adoption one more time. We decided to go ahead and take the classes all over again and slowly, very slowly walk the road of adoption. When we talked about where we would adopt we saw so much need here in our own country that we decided to adopt domestically through the foster system. We did not feel fostering was a good choice for our young family, but we decided to adopt kids that were waiting for a family here in the United States. We took our classes, had a home study done and began to wait and search for our child. I want to let you know that we were very, very open to what we would take into our home. As long as they were safe and would not harm our young children we would take ages up to 16 and many, many special needs.


Why International?
I spent nearly nine months searching, calling agencies, emailing social workers. I spent hours every single day looking and giving it 100%. We inquired on almost 100 kids. 100!! We were told the same thing again and again, we had a great home study, they would keep it on file, but their kids needed a home without other children. When we began to reach our one year mark my husband and I started talking about our options. We could remain in "the system" for years or we could consider going through an international adoption. If God had called us to adoption, but closed the door in our country until our kids were older should we not adopt at all?

Truthfully it was a difficult decision. I still have mixed emotions about adoption internationally. There are kids here in our country that are hurting and need homes. Please, don't think that I am advocating for not even trying to adopt them first. Try, please try. Please give it your best shot. I am saying that it is a broken system and nearly impossible to navigate. For us, with young kids, it was just a closed door. But we did try. Please believe me when I say I gave it everything I had. I cried for these kids. I prayed for every single face I saw, and I rejoiced when they found families.

We decided we would consider international adoption. We wanted to be open to adopting a waiting child that needed a family. I did not feel comfortable leaving them behind while I waited for years on a list for a perfect little bundle of health. The thought breaks my heart.


Why China? 
China, China, China. The very word invokes strong emotions for me. It always has. It is a country that I have prayed for since I was a young child. Honestly, I even had a map of the world with China circled on my dorm room wall in college! I spent hours on my knees for the people of this country.

When we began looking and gathering information on countries we decided to only go to Hague countries. We wanted to make sure our adoption was ethical. China has a long standing adoption program and it is one of the most stable international adoption programs.

What decided it completely was the child, the boy named Miles.

Why Miles?
I read a blog fairly often called www.cheaperbythehalfdozens.blogspot.com where there were listed kids that were in critical need of finding a family soon. I had seen a dozen kids on that site and this day, the very day we said we would consider international adoptions, one boy stuck in my mind. Well, we went on to research countries and I got a call from an agency one day about a different little girl. I had told this worker we would look over the file of the girl, but at the last minute I thought I might as well ask if she knew of a little boy in a striped shirt with thalassemia. I heard the insanity of my own question as I asked it knowing that there were thousands of kids in China and with many different agencies. What were the chances she knew of one little boy in a striped shirt???

The little boy in the striped shirt was sitting in a file on her computer and it was this worker's job to find him a family. She didn't even have to ask. I agreed to review his file.

We know what thalassemia is. We know what it means for our family. We know there is an unpredictable future. We know that heartache may come.

We also know that we serve a God of Love Who has loved Miles. He has loved Miles from the moment he was conceived, to the moment he breathed his first breath, to the moment his mommy and daddy left him after finding out his diagnosis. He has been whispering His love to this little boy every night with the evening breeze. He has spoken His love for this boy while opening our hearts to adoption. He shouted His love for Miles when He closed every door to us in our own country and He is singing His love over Miles while we rush to bring him home. He is singing my friends, singing. Can you hear His song of Love for this little boy? Can you hear the Savior's love song for my son?

Becoming a People of Prayer

Prayer is a way to communicate with our God. It is how we lay our burdens and anxiety at His feet and how we make our requests made known to Him. During this time Craig and I are desperate for God's leading and for Him to answer prayers. We are also very human and admittedly exhausted. The road to adoption is a very spiritual journey and we often find ourselves discouraged, confused and not knowing which way to go from here. 

There are moments when we are too tired to form any thoughts that make sense and while I know that God hears even our simple cries for help we would like to ask those of you surrounding us to lift us up in prayer. We are asking for ten people to commit to daily lifting us up to the Lord, to knock on heaven's door when we find ourselves too exhausted to keep our eyes open. 

We believe that prayer is a strong foundation. God does hear our prayers and the prayers of His children reach His heart and mind. Without prayer as part of our foundation we find ourselves weak and in confusion. God intended us to pray and to pray deeply. 

We are hoping that at least ten of our friends will commit to this project and diligently pray daily for our needs. If you would like to be part of this please comment below or email me at hookedonfaith05@gmail.com. We will keep this group of people updated weekly with our prayer requests and how we are doing in the middle of this journey. 

Busy, busy, busy

We are so busy these days working things out to bring Miles home!


Here are some of the things we are doing:



Faith's fundraising venture is really taking off over at www.superflykids.blogspot.com. (I don't know how to update her chipin bar to show what she has made outside of her blog) She has nearly $80 so far! Way to go Faith!

I am working my hands off making things to put up in my upcoming esty store. Stay tuned for some beautiful flower clips, headbands and more!

Craig and I are writing letters to different companies he works with in his business.


We are taking a ton of stuff to a Once Upon a Child to sell. If you have any old but very gently used children's toys that you want to get rid of you can drop them off over here and we'll add it to our pile.

I am busy gathering information on grants that we can apply for once we get a little farther ahead in the game.


I am heading over to my mother's dungeon aka "the basement" to gather things and list them on craigslist! She doesn't actually know this yet, but now she does. Ha!

Keep sending us your ideas! They have been great so far and are really helping us be creative in our adoption process. 

Letter to friends and family

Dear friends and family,

Many of you have prayed with us, waited with us and sometimes cried with us in our journey of adoption. We are so thrilled to tell you that our journey has hit a turning point. Through more small details than my mind can even comprehend our gracious Father is granting us the privilege of being the parents of one more SON. We are so, so excited.

Our son is waiting in China for parents to come find him and show him what it means to have a home, what it means to know love and what it means to know Who is Love. He is the most adorable little boy. Oh my stars, he is so cute! He is four years old and he has thalassemia.

Thalassemia is a very serious blood disorder. You can read up on it here, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thalassemia/DS00905. In China right now there is a massive blood shortage and without his monthly transfusions he will not survive. Our hearts our heavy with the responsibility of bringing him home and getting him the medical attention he so desperately needs.

Many of you know that international adoption is a very expensive road. Perhaps in truth that is why we did not go down this road first. The total will be a little over $30,000. To be honest our faith is so, so small and that seems like an insurmountable amount of money. But I trust in my heavenly Father who knows our needs. He does not want this little boy to die alone in an orphanage. He wants him in a home surrounded by love and learning of His Love. Right now we need to save/raise close to $6,000 to get our home study rewritten for an international adoption and for agency fees and applications costs as well as a fee for the Chinese government to lock him in for our family. After that point in the process we will be eligible to apply for grants to help with some of the remaining payments. We know so many of you have asked how you can help in the past. If you would like to give no amount is too small. You can email us at hookedonfaith05@gmail.com for our address or there is also a donation spot on our blog. I will be selling things in an etsy store, Faith has started her own venture which you can find over at www.superflykids.blogspot.com. Any ideas are very welcome. We have so many creative friends and I am sure there are ideas I have not thought of, so feel free to send ideas our way.

We covet your prayers for our family during this time. One thing we know, God hears and answers our prayers. Right now we need the strength of our Great God. We love and appreciate every single one of you,

Blessing in Christ,

Katie and Craig Hurst