I have been flooded with emotions and people congratulating us on this amazing, and LONG AWAITED event. I am truly humbled and amazed by the sheer amount of people that have followed Sofi's story and have helped in some way.
I was thinking about Sofi, and some of the common things that have been said...that we are amazing....that she is so lucky....etc.
We are not amazing, we are just a mom and a dad that believe that no child should be an orphan.
She is not lucky...she's a survivor....and we are the lucky ones.
Because of her, our eyes have been opened to the heartbreak of the plight of orphans... all over the world.
Because of her, we have a daughter. An amazing, beautiful, resilient daughter.
Because of her, the boys have a sister. A princess in a house full of boys.
We are the lucky ones.
And because of you we got this far.
Because of people literally all over the world an orphan has a family. She will be an orphan no more. Because you shared your love, our story, your prayers, your shoes, your faith, your dollars....our Sofi will come home. She won't be left in an orphanage. She won't die.
Now we are planning our pickup trip.
Now we are planning a changed life; A changed family.
We are so excited. So grateful.
We are looking to travel to pick her up on February 14 (where we would actually get her on Monday, February 17). We would be home again all together as a family on February 27th. And her fifth birthday, ten days later will be celebrated with a family.
No longer alone.
This road was long. There were many roadblocks.
All of those that have helped us tear down those road blocks...thank you.
We currently have two weeks left to collect as much used clothing, and shoes as possible to raise the money for her airfare, and her exit medicals. We are begging all of you to help us in the final stretch. If you have cleaned your closets, and you are in Southern California, we will come and get your stuff. If you are out of state, but you still want to contribute to bring our girl home, you can go on our GoFundMe account. There is no small amount.
There are no words...thank you is so insignificant.
A child in another country is now our daughter.
A child that was left abandoned.
A child that has had no voice for four years now has a mommy, daddy, and five big brothers.
Dear Life, Monday is a very special day. Monday our family will grow. We will have a new little daughter. She is 4 and a half, with beautiful brown eyes and the most amazing, curly, brown hair. Her smile lights up the room, and her determination to live life despite the odds amazes me. She is a survivor. She was once lost. And she is now found. She will be coming home in January, to a daddy who will adore her and spoil her rotten (because he has been waiting for a little girl for 19 years), and five brothers who are over the moon excited for her to come home.
I think back over the year and a half we have been on this journey, and I am amazed and so very grateful. One family's desire to adopt an orphan, to give her a family and a chance at life, has become a journey for literally hundreds of people. Sofi's journey is a beautiful story of love. Not only love from our family, but love from that have supported our fundraisers, or have donated what you can to bring her home. It's amazing to think that soon, we will have this beautiful girl....who was born to someone on the other side of the world....and will be our daughter forever. We are fully funded as far as fees are concerned, but we still need to figure out our travel money. Now is the final push....to raise money to get her outta there!!!!! I know you all have stood by us...you have donated time and again. You have shared and shared and shared her story. We are here, humbly standing before you, thanking you for all of that. Because of you, Sofi is one less. One less tragic orphan. One less statistic. One less mouth for that orphanage to feed. One more person to add to the Jensen Ohana.
I wrote about Susanna awhile back. She needed a family so badly. (You can read about her HERE: Susanna's Story) Susanna had Spina Bifida that was never surgically repaired and untreated hydrocephalus. She was the same age as Kumaka. In her six years of life, she never, ever left the crib. She learned to scoot around her crib a little bit, and she became best friends with the little boy in the crib next to her. She would straighten his clothes and hold his hand. Finally, a family came forward. They were in the middle of the long, arduous process of paperwork that needs to be done when adopting internationally. They were so excited to bring her home and get her the very necessary medical care she needed and add her to their beautiful family. And then one day they received a phone call that no one wants to get. Sweet little Susanna passed away. Her family was working hard....but her untreated Spina Bifida got to her first.
Our Adoption family was devastated by the news. We all cried for this sweet little girl that never got to meet her mommy and daddy.
This picture of Susanna's crib broke my heart...as I imagined her living in this crib for six years...and now she's gone.
During this season of thankfulness, our family has really thought long and hard about all of you. You, our friends, family, and those we don't even know who have donated one dollar, five dollars, fifty dollars, or more. You, who have donated shoes, collected shoes, collected clothing, etc. You are the reason that Sofi will come home. That she has a chance for life. You are the reason that she will have a family, that she will not be alone. You are a part of her story. And her crib will be empty soon, and she will be here in our home and with our family. She will be able to have dreams, hopes, and love. She will have the best medical care we can provide for her. She will leave the orphanage. She will come home.
Thank you. We are so very close....court is coming up in a couple of weeks. And then we can show her face.....please consider giving our girl hopes and dreams for Christmas.
Dear Life, As Thanksgiving draws near, I have been thinking about my family. I have been thinking about my children. I have been thinking about how very grateful I am that we live in a free country, with the knowledge we have and the medical advances our medical teams have. I have been thinking how very grateful I am that we are allowed to make choices. The choice to keep a child that was born with extras. The choice to teach that child that he or she can do whatever they want to do in life. The choice to teach them to dream. I am thankful for all of those people who helped our little man last year. Those that supported him, visited him, read to him, walked with him, and loved him. By the end of the year last year, we felt so much support and love, and we knew that although he was not out of the woods with his hips and leg, he would be ok. We knew that somehow, we had to give back. We had to find a way to help another child. A child that needs a family. A child that had no hope. A child that had no dreams. I am thankful for Sofi. When we looked at her picture, looked in her eyes and into her soul, We knew that we could take care of this child. We knew that we could be her family. We knew that we could give her hope. We knew that we could show her how to dream. I am thankful for our caseworker. When we told her we wanted to adopt, she told us we could do it. When we told her we didn't know how we would fund it, she told us we could fundraise. So we did. We told Sofi's story. Over and over and over again. We have written, shared, cried, laughed and been amazed. We have collected shoes, clothing, had pizza nights, picture days, cupcake days, Ruby's days, jewelry fundraisers, you name it and we've done it. (Except garage sales. I hate garage sales) We have raised over $25,000. I am thankful for you. You have listened to us write about Sofi. You have cried with us. You have shared our words. You have participated in our fundraisers. You have loved this girl as we do. You have given. And given again. Because of you, I got to visit her in October. Because of you, she will be home in January. Because of you, there will be one less orphan. Because of you, she will have a family. Because of you she will have hope. Because of you she can dream. There will never be enough words to thank those that have been a part of this story. Sofi's story. She is almost here. We are so close. We are $750 away from being fully funded with our agency. Then we only need a few thousand more to fly over and bring her home. Our flights are paid for, we just need to pay for hers, for her medical clearances, the driver to pick her up (she is six hours from the capitol) and then she will be here. Consider helping us finish this. Consider giving one more time. Consider Sofi coming home in Januaray. Consider her safe. Consider her loved. Consider you....a part of her. Thank you.
Dear Life, Next week we are being featured. And it's going to be pretty fantastic! Where you ask?
What is it about? It's SOOOO simple. This fabulous organization features a different adoptive family, orphanage, or organization once a week on Monday. "We’re just going to rain down a crazy blessing on a family, organization, orphanage, or project and we’re going to do it every week. " What do they ask?
ONE DOLLAR!!!!! That's it. Of course if you so choose to donate more...well that's up to you! But everyone has ONE dollar! What are we saving? One dollars means saving one orphan. One dollar means one more bed can be opened up for another orphan. One dollar means the world to more than one person. So look out for Monday....to help with our Sofi girl...one less orphan!
