Here is our Adoption Journey so far…
We started this process of adopting 2 little girls from Liberia in April of 2022.
After visiting Liberia for 5 months in 2024, we decided to additionally adopt a little boy. This little guy, already bonded to our Liberian daughters, also became very close to our entire family during our time in Liberia, and now, life without him with us is unimaginable.
We chose Liberia because we are impressed by Liberia’s resilience and progress as a war torn country that is healing from so much. Liberia works hard to allow adoptions when necessary and to reunite families whenever possible. We are grateful Liberia is allowing us to adopt our daughters, and hopeful as we watch Liberia grow as a country.
We started this journey in April of 2022.
In May of 2023, with the help of our friends and family, church, community, and organizations like Noonday Collection, Phill the Box, Funds2Orgs, and Adopt Together, we reached our fundraising goals to make our adoption possible. At that time, we anticipated our Liberian daughters would be joining our family in 3-6 months time.
We did not get any solid updates for months, until November of 2023, when adoptions for multiple agencies, including our agency, were suspended in Liberia, which prompted our visit to bond with our kids and explore all avenues in person in February of 2024. We returned home in July of 2024 after exhausting all resources to unite our family permanently.
There are multiple political conflicts that brought adoptions to a halt in November of 2023. Although these political conflicts put Liberian children at risk, the layers of the conflicts are multifaceted and complicated beyond the adoption process itself.
As we continue to wait, we are committed to intentional international parenting. We will continue to visit as much as we can and continue to pursue every avenue to unite our family on one continent. We appreciate any encouragement as we continue to walk this road.
GOODBYE SHOES!
We announced our intent to adopt by asking for old shoes.
The blessings from those old shoes continue to be more than we have room for in our house and in our hearts, and both overflow with shoes and gratitude, and more shoes, and more gratitude.
We finally know the truck from funds2orgs will be here this week. We are waiting for the specific loading time, as the truck is a bit south of us and picking up other shoes from other fundraisers and other adoptive families.
Since we began the "shoes in the news" project earlier this summer, our goal was to raise awareness on the adoption need, as well as give an assist to our peers, small business owners, selling shoes all over the world in developing countries, struggling, but succeeding, in protecting their children from becoming orphans, one pair of shoes sold, at a time.
The merchants are invisible. But, they exist in my mind and my heart, daily.
They buy the shoes for a fraction of what they sell the shoes for.
Our daughters, waiting in Liberia, are now visible (see profile pics) , and exist in your mind and your heart, today, as you read our update.
I hoped it would be possible to do something "free" to announce our intent to adopt from Africa, that would have a dual purpose in solving the orphanism pandemic, sweeping across our world.
It was not just possible. It was a record breaking success.
As we sweep behind that wave of despair of the increase of the orphanism pandemic, with our 4,231 pairs of shoes, and offer one meaningful and lasting solutions (like supply for shoes to sell) I am deeply grateful for all efforts to assist the shoe "merchants", who I consider my friends.
I appreciate each person that deviated from their routine, to get their shoes to us, and to help me with the pursuit of my 4th and 5th daughters, and to help the invisible merchants have a few more shoes to sell, to feed their families, and be leaders in their villages and communities, and pursue peace.
Shoes are a hassle to donate. I appreciate all of you tolerating the hassle, and pushing through.
Hunger leads to war.
War leads to violence.
Shoe sales provide safety at dinner time.
Safety leads to peace.
We don't know the final financial gain the shoes will bring yet. We have 25 pairs of shoes in each clear trash bag in the picture below. The bags we have weighed for fun have ranged from 22 pounds to 35 pounds.
We get $0.50/pound).
We chose to partner with funds2orgs for shoe donation drops early on in our adoption journey 138 days ago.
In that time, we have seen $15,615.67 cash find its way to the multiple adoption accounts set for our Liberian daughters, River (age 6) and Sadie (age 4).
In 138 days, our progress is $15,615.67 plus 4,231 pairs of shoes, plus an army of people helping with just these 2 little girls' adoption.
There are so many of you helping now, we are very worried we have not thanked everyone.
Thank you.
Thank you from me, thank you from Jeremy, thank you from Original, Middle, and Little, who sleep under my roof today. Thank you from River and Sadie, who sleep in Liberia, under the protection of Jimbo Savley with www.smallworldadoption.com at their children's home.
Thank you from the merchants who will sell your shoes, the nicest collection of shoes I think has ever existed in any adoptive family's garage and dining room.
Thank you from millions of orphans who still fight to survive, who see these adoptions happening more quickly, and have hope they may someday not just survive one more day close to starvation, but have a chance to thrive, as you and I do. If they don't find families, maybe they can grow up to sell shoes, too.
Thank you to funds2orgs.com and our coach, Cody, for providing this platform, that promotes peace and gets our adoption completed faster.
Charity lasts about a day. We love charity. We are charitable as much as we can be.
Capitalism conducted with integrity, has the ability to sustain multiple lives to thrive, for more than one lifetime.
Capitalism wins today, and every day we choose to work together to give a hand up, not a handout.
Thanks again for the shoes.
Keep.... ... Going.
See link below for an interview with our middle child “Middle”.
We need 799 more pairs of shoes to meet our goal!
We have paid $13,139.60 so far for our adoption expenses!
Thank you for your help.
Please give us one more round of shoes, if you can. The truck will be here in a few days.
(239) 220-6820 text for pickup
Adopt100more@gmail.com email for pickup
And ask us about or ink and toner cartridge fundraiser if you want to help in that way.
Thanks to Audrey Turner @ Audrey_turner_photography on instagram for editing this photo so we can share pics of our new daughters in such a beautiful way.
Day 133. Adopt from Liberia
So hard to blog today. But, if I don’t send the sad days with the happy days, it’s not honest.
Integrity matters. (I used to say this to my 3 year old foster son). I have not talked about him much. So today is as good a day as any to add him here. I’ve never given him a “stage name” like my other kids, because he was the only boy.
When he lived here, he was “my son for today” and the girls “brother for today”.
So he was my son.
I absolutely respect his birth mother and honor her here. In the this empty space. ….. and I hope if she ever finds my heart here or anywhere else as the mother she loved and hated and loved and hated more because I was his “mother for those days”.
Keep…. …. Going. Proud of you. Proud of me. Proud of your son.
Keep…. … going.
Foster son on this blog’s stage name is “James”.
James is not his name. (It’s the name of the kid he used to beat up at church. )
Changing his name to “James” here will be funny. I would never change a kids name. I would never publicly publish a kids story without their permission.
I will say this. James. I miss you. Every day I miss you. And I’m so glad I miss you. Because it means your mom is doing great. Every day that you aren’t here, she is doing what she was born to do. Be your mom. And even on her hardest days, she’s doing it. She’s coming up with ways to make it work. She’s calling out for help. She’s helping others. She’s creating safe dirt and chopping down dangers and standing between you and all that threatens that safe dirt.
I’m so grateful that I miss you.
It breaks my heart and cuts me in half on days like today.
Day 133. James. Thanks for doing well. Thanks for being here. Thanks for showing me I could love you and attach to you and be all in on all things emergency parenting involves, as if you would never leave. And as if you would always leave. Why would that matter on how much I would love you?
Son for today. Son for every day. Son that is not here now. Son that is always here.
James .
Thanks for healing. Thanks for working to heal. Thanks for teaching me we can do this. Thanks for all things you.
We mailed our I 600-A today.
We got updated pictures of our 2 new daughters, River and Sadie, yesterday.
I found myself frustrated with our agency’s bookkeeper because we have more donations coming in than their accountant can keep up with, because their accountant had COVID. And they have 20 families minimum in process in Liberia, and lots more countries and lots more adoptions going all over the world.
And I have sent 3 emails in 1 week asking for invoices.
Sorry.
Glad I was nice about it.
Someone is my daughters’ mother for today.
Like I was for 3 year old, James.
River and Sadie are assigned to me for the foreseeable future. I totally can parallel this to a case plan for a birth parent.
Maybe the circumstances are different. It should be easier for me. I’m a volunteer! I did not mess up and have them taken. That would be harder I guess. Maybe no cheerleading like people do for adoptive parents.
I cheered for James’ mom. I coached her honestly and imperfectly, but without reserve. His childhood was urgent to me. Her case plan was urgent to me because it was urgent to him. She could do this. She is now “doing this”. I was not “nice” when I told her “Get up. Keep going. He needs you now. I know it’s hard. But, he still needs you. Get up. Keep going. He’s ok today, but he needs you, more than he needs me. Forget my house and my job and my other kids and all of that. He needs you. James needs you. God assigned James to you. The clock is ticking. Get up. Keep… …. Going. His childhood won’t wait.”
And neither will River and Sadie’s.
Day 133. Keep going. School starts without River and Sadie tomorrow. But, their chairs are empty.
And I am persistently, professionally and imperfectly pursuing your little feet to be in my house and your little hands to be busy at that desk in that classroom I’m making sure they hold a seat for you. Both of you.
Keep going.
Thank you NFMAA for being so great to our daughters and for saving space for River Smith.
Thank you All Superstars Pre-K for being willing to make s spot for Sadie Smith.
It is more than optimistic on my part to think those chairs will have my daughters in them before this school year closes.
It is relentless.
I am relentless on most things.
Jeremy is their dad, and Jeremy is more relentless than me.
Our relentless pursuit continues.
Click here to help.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
No pics today, because I am sad.
Pics tomorrow of the 1st day of school.
Our Liberian daughters are so excited for us to get there!!
We only need $2900 in the next 10 days to stay on course to make it to Sadie’s birthday. On 12/1. In Africa. All of us.
I know it will take a lot. But we have you, our people. People are good, with good intentions. And with a minor change in one minor thing in your day, you can change the trajectory of my 5th daughters childhood.
$5 matters. One share matters. One click matters. They add up.
We all have lots of kids we love. They are all important. Birthdays matter. Most of us will almost always throw in something great on a stranger’s kid’s birthday.
I will YouTube video her birthday song when we stand in Africa and post us singing to Sadie here, on adopttogether. I won’t sing loud, because I’m sure my awkward mom tears will ruin that. But my daughters will sing. And Jeremy will sing, And they sing great! And every birthday Sadie breathes while I breathe will be as important as this one. The first birthday where she has me as her mom. And when I’m dead and she is still here with you as the youngest daughter of 5, even when she is old herself, she might roll her eyes at how many people still know her birthday. Because she got me as a mom. And mommy Rachel loses her mind a bit on birthday week. And I invited EVERYONE. Virtually. Literally. Monetarily. Persistently.
12/1. Keep … …. Going. Happy Birthday, Sadie!
Invitations are out!
Venue =Africa
Party Quote: $8,175.00 on 7/12/22.
Paid so far: $5275.00
Deposit still owed by 8/10: $2900.00
I am inviting more grown-up guards to protect the peace of my kids’ childhood just one less birthday without me. You can do this by just maintaining who we are today together, we are the guards. By supporting us here, with a dollar, you see acknowledging we protect our children together. We are Americans. We are parents. We give when we can, protect what we have, and share what we want to share. Not out of obligation or of duty or some weird guilt.
Nope. That’s not it. As my peers in this messy adult life, today, we still stand together for all kids birthdays.
Sadie is 4. She turns 5 on 12/1. She does not need me there to keep her safe on 12/1.
I want to be there. Because I want to start as we intend to finish.
Birthdays matter. You matter, Sadie Smith. Not just to me, but to everyone.
If you have already given, thank you so much! Rockstar givers have knocked down a number needed from $8,550 on July 12th to $2900 on August 4th.
By doing so, our children’s childhood friendships built in sand lay the foundation for little minds with little thought on HOW they will survive, instead replaced by thoughts of when they and their friends will actually thrive, as we do, with little memory of the war torn generations, except to learn from those mistakes, and hold those lessons in our hearts as we prepare our kids to go to school this month. 2022, big year for all of us.
We have 4,072 pairs of shoes packed. We think the truck is coming next week.
We are collecting ink and toner cartridges for and mailing them to fund factory for more free money.
We are lowering our amount on adopt together each time we get a private donation. (Thank you, all donors, thank you).
Keep…. ….. going.
I am not surprised we are moving this quick. Because people are good. You are good. Who else do you know who is as good as you?
Sadie turns 5 in 118 days.
We need to pay the last $2900 so the Liberian government can perform their investigation on our daughters’ history, to make sure there are no survivable options for them to stay in Liberia.
It usually takes 90 days.
Then, if they find no other option for their future there, we can go. :)
Can those of you getting this update find one friend of yours to donate $5 for Sadie’s birthday party?
Picture attached is of me, birthday week, when I turned 33.
2 babies. Both on my person, waiting for their daddy to come home and join the madness of “artificial twinning on accident” and babies 7 months apart.
Original is 9 months old in this pic, and not quite walking, but trying.
Middle is 2 months old, and always hungry, and very little, and neither wanted me to put them down most days.
So I didn’t. It was a great birthday week. 33.
This year, 43.
I hope my birthday week will be spent in Africa. With all 5 daughters and my husband, Jeremy, making me some type of Liberian style birthday cake. My birthday is on 12/15. And a YouTube video to share with you.
My birthday wishes are in Africa. River and Sadie. 6 and 4.
We went from 0 kids to 2 kids in 7 months once.
What if we can actually pull off 3 kids to 5 kids in 7 months, too?
Will you help?
I’m sure it will be funnier than this pic Jeremy took 9 years ago to watch us juggle 5 young daughters in Liberia for Christmas.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-godfreys
I know I should be focused on my daughters in Liberia, and I am.
Rejoice is 3.
I’m not adopting her.
But my friend, Selah, is.
As you support us and enjoy this story, Rejoice for Rejoice, too. She has a family waiting. A family ready. Plus, Selah was born in Liberia. And she thrives here with us, on US soil, and thrives in Liberia too, still.
What if Selah can go with us to get Rejoice? The same time we get River and Sadie?
I’d rather go to Africa with Selah with me.
I’d rather Selah bring Rejoice home when we come home.:)
