And they are off...

the "official" Snodgrass Adoption letter.

I have to give a huge shout out to my sweet, sweet friend, Penni Griffith, who put them together. She has a way with paper and I love it.

I also have to say that my heart is full at the moment. Many have already reached out via text, email, calls saying they received the letter & are praying for our family. It is beautiful. Strange choice of words? Perhaps, but in my eyes, it truly is beautiful. Seeing others hearts also touched through our story. Here is what we shared in the letter (part of our story from a previous blog):

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this letter finds all of you well.

Many of you might have heard through the grapevine what I am about to share, but we felt it necessary to send this letter out to all of you, who are so very important to us.

Predestination? Yes, I (Georgia) can honestly say God predestined me from the beginning. Ultimately, He predestined me & Scott---but both in very different ways and different times in our lives. You see, I cannot recall a time in my life that I didn’t have a heart for orphaned children. But Scott’s thoughts on adoption were based on real life circumstances, where he counseled many families. It wasn’t a ‘pretty’ scenario. It was hard, to be quite honest.  His heart wasn’t where mine was, but little did we know God was shaping him for what was to come.

We have two biological children (as you already know). Adeline, born April 10, 2009. And Graham, born June 23, 2011. That was the turning point for Scott. He didn’t know it then, neither one of us did, but Graham was definitely the turning point. Our precious baby boy was born with Down syndrome. In an instant, life as we knew it changed. Something that once was so foreign to us, was now so very close to our hearts. Was now, something that would forever be a part of us, our family. God reminded us that this life is a journey - one that we are NOT in total control of all the outcomes. But there is joy in knowing that He is. God is showing us how to live life being happy in the moment, to put our trust in Him at ALL times & in return, is increasing our faith. It was through Graham’s life, that Scott’s eyes were opened. Not only his eyes, but also his heart…..to adoption. He found the verse James 1:27 (shown above) and could NOT get it out of his mind. Upon reading that verse, he became aware of how little we do for the orphans. That we are failing in our current state. God is direct in this verse. There isn’t any grey here, we ARE called to look after the orphans! I thank Jesus for putting this verse, this desire on my husband’s heart. For it was through a trial that our family became stronger. While adoption to us is a great stretch of faith, we have grown and continue to grow in our conviction that God is asking us to make ourselves available to His call.

Only a small number of us may be called to adopt, but every single one of us is called to care for "the least of these!"

Why Ghana?

We have decided to adopt from Ghana. Because the need is great, but ultimately this is the area God has placed in our hearts. Many of the orphans in Ghana go without a home. What happens to the kids without homes?...We believe God is directing us to be a family to a child that doesn’t have one. To give them a

chance at a life that doesn’t force them into destitution, life on the streets, early death, or prostitution.

We have chosen Independent Adoption. Through a series of events, we found a wonderful Godly woman, Anita, who has a heart for the orphans, for family preservation. After many interviews with multiple agencies & a few hiccups along the way, we felt at peace about the extremely ethical procedures in place at The Ripley Foundation (where we will adopt from). They take every effort to ensure that the children who are available for adoptions are not otherwise able to stay with their parents. The orphans @ The Ripley Foundation are children who are in need and have no

other options. And the love the staff shows for the children is so evident!

Partner With Us!

Though we believe God is calling us to this, he has not put us in a position to afford all of the expenses. We think there’s a reason we can’t afford this – to give others an opportunity to invest in the call to care for the orphan. The adoption process is expensive. It costs around $30,000 to adopt from Ghana. These expenses include organization fees, travel expenses, government fees, orphanage fees, etc. We are asking you to partner with us. We have $10,000 of our own money to put toward bringing our child home, but that is only 1/3 of what we need. We need 80 contributions of $250. Please prayerfully consider how many of these contributions you can make. Maybe you can give part of a contribution or perhaps you are able to give several. We are asking you to pray with us and make a sacrifice to care for the orphans.