Merry Christmas!
We are having a wonderful Christmas thus far. At the same time, we are also feeling the stress!
The intensity has increased as we tie up loose ends around the house (my messy house) and as we attempt to travel tomorrow! I keep adding stuff and then deducting stuff...I think I have become very nervous. I got checked out by a doctor, because I just was not getting better, and I am glad I did because I do feel better with the antibiotics, but Please, I ask that you pray for our family. I am experiencing anxiety along with this cold. Please pray that it's a smooth process for our children and for Faith. Please pray all 6 of us get on the plane tomorrow, most importantly.
Many blessings to you this Christmas and in the New Year.
SHALOM xox
Here is an article by my brother Jack and he isn't biased;)
Bringing ‘Faith’ home for Christmas
The Robaina family seemed to have the perfect family; two loving parents, and three boys. But for this family, there seemed be an important element missing - a little girl.
“My story is that my wife really wanted a little girl and our third child was supposed to be a little girl, but it ended up being a little boy,” said Freddy. “So in order to get a little girl, we decided to adopt.”
After a long process of adopting a little girl by the name of Hope from Russia, approximately four years later, the Robaina family found themselves yet again adding another missing piece to their puzzle, a fifth child, but this time a little girl from China.
“We really considered our family complete with our four children - three perfect sons and a little princess who just blended right in,” said Jeannie. “We went on a missions trip to Nicaragua, and just fell in love with the children there whom of which lived in poverty. It reminded me of our daughter's beginning in a Russian orphanage.”
After encountering children in Nicaragua who slept on dirt floors, had no clothing, food or education, everything in their lives began to take a turn.
“Our hearts had changed, our thoughts had changed,” said Jeannie. “I started thinking about what we could do to make a difference. Again, I thought about our daughter and how she has blossomed and what her love did to our family.”
“I also started thinking about my life with my siblings, and how enriching it was to grow up with a sister and brothers - its made me who I am,” said Jeannie. “So I thought, why not do it again? We have the space in our home, we throw away food and clothes all the time.Why not adopt another child and give God our best efforts?”
During their first adoption, The Robainas found themselves in a tough financial situation, where they had to use their home equity loan to fund the adoption. They knew that there could be grave consequences; but they continued anyway.
“We just wanted a little girl,” said Jeannie. “After giving birth to three boys, I felt a biological daughter wasn't as important to us as just the privilege of having a daughter. I know this sounds strange to some people, but having a daughter was very important for me.”
After their first daughter’s adoption, everything seemed to unfold for the better and the Robainas family considered themselves to be very blessed.
“To say that we could afford another international adoption is an error,” said Jeannie. “But this time around, I have a focus that is more important than finances; its a ransom for a life.”
The Robainas tried to fundraise by selling items such as gold, jewelry and other household items. They also purchased items to fundraise with from different organizations.
“We bought items from an organization that helps to fight hunger around the world- http://thehungersite.greatergood.com,” said Jeannie. “We had garage sales, bake sales and spread awareness in the community about adoption.”
When the Robaina’s adopted their first daughter from Russia, they considered the experience to be a 'blind referral' process.
“It was scary, but we were greatly pleased by God's choice for our family, said Jeannie. “We are now adopting from China's special needs program; where they send you a portfolio of pictures and information on your child.”
Their child's documents stated that their child has Spina Bifida, which according to www.spinabifidaassociation.org, Spina Bifida means to have a split spine and which occurs when a baby is inside the womb and the spinal column does not close all the way.
Originally, the reason why they went with the adoption agency that they did was because of the fast process when it came to adopting children with special needs.
The Robaina family was only interested in adopting a child with minor special needs such as things that western medicine can treat like cleft palates and only checked maybe for Spina Bifida.
“We had no idea what that was and the more we looked into with our doctors, the scarier it was,” said Jeannie. “Until we saw her face and knew that we were staring into the eyes of our child.”
“With this program that we are in, this is the child that God put before us, despite the circumstances, said Freddy. “This is our child and that’s it.”
The agency gave them an option to turn the child down, but because of their faith, they knew that for some reason, this child that was put before them was a sealed deal.
“These children are much more than a special need, they are special and they need families to love and nurture them back to health,” said Jeannie.
Currently they are with CCAI China Adoption Program and they have been very pleased this time around with the professionalism and advocacy for the orphans.
“There are 147 million orphans worldwide and it won't get better until each of us take a stand and be a hero in a child's life. They are the future,” said Jeannie.
Their immediate family and closest friends and church family supported them through this adoption. Most of them giving them monetary gifts, or proceeds from their own fundraising efforts. Including being sponsored by www.lovecookieco.com, where the Robainas would get a certain amount of money from the sales earned.
“We've already been blessed by the Love Cookie by being their sponsor family this month,” said Jeannie. “It was nothing short of the grace of God. They heard about our story through a dear friend of ours who also has taken it upon herself, to help us fundraise for our daughter with her gorgeous, hand-made jewelry.”
But in the beginning their family members were not as supportive as they currently are in this time around. In the beginning, they thought that they were crazy to adopt.
“It’s an unconventional thing to do,” said Freddy. “You’re adding complications to something that is already complicated.”
“It’s not your child,” said Jeannie. “How can you love a child that’s not yours? Do you know what kind of problems that you are bringing to your home?”
Those were some of the responses that the Robaina family received from family and friends during their first adoption. But for the Robaina family, they always thought of adoption as being something magical.
Anna Maria Gatti, Jeannie’s mother, was thrilled when she first found out that her daughter was going to adopt a girl for the first time from Russia because her daughter only had boys.
“She could have tried for a girl but she decided to adopt instead,” said Gatti. “It makes me so proud to have a daughter like her.”
But when it came to her daughter adopting for the second time, her feelings went from being excited to confused.
“I don’t know why she decided to adopt again, but I guess God wants her to save another child or maybe because Jeannie needed to save this little girl, but it is in God’s hand.”
Whether she understands the reason that her daughter was adopting a second child, she none-the-less stands right beside her.
“God decides the time and place where we should be,” said Gatti. “I support Jeannie for every positive thing that she does.”
“ I think any good human been should adopt, not just for them but to save a child’s life,” said Gatti. “Personally I would love to adopt a child, but I am too old to do so.”
Jeannie regularly keeps up with a blog that she used for her first adoption as well for this current adoption process.
On her blog, http://hope-ourbabygirl.blogspot.com, she shares her personal feelings, experiences and events for people who are wanting to follow along in this experience.
I think that this is a great way to use social media,” said Kelsey Wasicsko a family member. “For something productive and meaningful in a way that gets the message out that they are adopting and looking for support.”
“I'm excited that they are adopting Faith. I think Hope can use a sister. I can imagine that it would be hard to be a girl in a house full of boys,” said Wasicsko. “Jeannie and Freddy are such loving parents as it is, and they instill great morals into the kids. I think Faith will be a very happy addition to the family.”
With plans to fly all four children with them to China to pick up their newest family member, the Robaina’s look forward to bringing their child home for this year’s Christmas.
“We've been very blessed that it has been a very smooth process for us,” said Jeannie. “We await any day now for travel approval to pick up our daughter. The whole family is embarking on this journey. We believe that what we are doing is the true spirit of Christmas miracles.”
Here is an article by my brother Jack and he isn't biased;)
Bringing ‘Faith’ home for Christmas
The Robaina family seemed to have the perfect family; two loving parents, and three boys. But for this family, there seemed be an important element missing - a little girl.
“My story is that my wife really wanted a little girl and our third child was supposed to be a little girl, but it ended up being a little boy,” said Freddy. “So in order to get a little girl, we decided to adopt.”
After a long process of adopting a little girl by the name of Hope from Russia, approximately four years later, the Robaina family found themselves yet again adding another missing piece to their puzzle, a fifth child, but this time a little girl from China.
“We really considered our family complete with our four children - three perfect sons and a little princess who just blended right in,” said Jeannie. “We went on a missions trip to Nicaragua, and just fell in love with the children there whom of which lived in poverty. It reminded me of our daughter's beginning in a Russian orphanage.”
After encountering children in Nicaragua who slept on dirt floors, had no clothing, food or education, everything in their lives began to take a turn.
“Our hearts had changed, our thoughts had changed,” said Jeannie. “I started thinking about what we could do to make a difference. Again, I thought about our daughter and how she has blossomed and what her love did to our family.”
“I also started thinking about my life with my siblings, and how enriching it was to grow up with a sister and brothers - its made me who I am,” said Jeannie. “So I thought, why not do it again? We have the space in our home, we throw away food and clothes all the time.Why not adopt another child and give God our best efforts?”
During their first adoption, The Robainas found themselves in a tough financial situation, where they had to use their home equity loan to fund the adoption. They knew that there could be grave consequences; but they continued anyway.
“We just wanted a little girl,” said Jeannie. “After giving birth to three boys, I felt a biological daughter wasn't as important to us as just the privilege of having a daughter. I know this sounds strange to some people, but having a daughter was very important for me.”
After their first daughter’s adoption, everything seemed to unfold for the better and the Robainas family considered themselves to be very blessed.
“To say that we could afford another international adoption is an error,” said Jeannie. “But this time around, I have a focus that is more important than finances; its a ransom for a life.”
The Robainas tried to fundraise by selling items such as gold, jewelry and other household items. They also purchased items to fundraise with from different organizations.
“We bought items from an organization that helps to fight hunger around the world- http://thehungersite.greatergood.com,” said Jeannie. “We had garage sales, bake sales and spread awareness in the community about adoption.”
When the Robaina’s adopted their first daughter from Russia, they considered the experience to be a 'blind referral' process.
“It was scary, but we were greatly pleased by God's choice for our family, said Jeannie. “We are now adopting from China's special needs program; where they send you a portfolio of pictures and information on your child.”
Their child's documents stated that their child has Spina Bifida, which according to www.spinabifidaassociation.org, Spina Bifida means to have a split spine and which occurs when a baby is inside the womb and the spinal column does not close all the way.
Originally, the reason why they went with the adoption agency that they did was because of the fast process when it came to adopting children with special needs.
The Robaina family was only interested in adopting a child with minor special needs such as things that western medicine can treat like cleft palates and only checked maybe for Spina Bifida.
“We had no idea what that was and the more we looked into with our doctors, the scarier it was,” said Jeannie. “Until we saw her face and knew that we were staring into the eyes of our child.”
“With this program that we are in, this is the child that God put before us, despite the circumstances, said Freddy. “This is our child and that’s it.”
The agency gave them an option to turn the child down, but because of their faith, they knew that for some reason, this child that was put before them was a sealed deal.
“These children are much more than a special need, they are special and they need families to love and nurture them back to health,” said Jeannie.
Currently they are with CCAI China Adoption Program and they have been very pleased this time around with the professionalism and advocacy for the orphans.
“There are 147 million orphans worldwide and it won't get better until each of us take a stand and be a hero in a child's life. They are the future,” said Jeannie.
Their immediate family and closest friends and church family supported them through this adoption. Most of them giving them monetary gifts, or proceeds from their own fundraising efforts. Including being sponsored by www.lovecookieco.com, where the Robainas would get a certain amount of money from the sales earned.
“We've already been blessed by the Love Cookie by being their sponsor family this month,” said Jeannie. “It was nothing short of the grace of God. They heard about our story through a dear friend of ours who also has taken it upon herself, to help us fundraise for our daughter with her gorgeous, hand-made jewelry.”
But in the beginning their family members were not as supportive as they currently are in this time around. In the beginning, they thought that they were crazy to adopt.
“It’s an unconventional thing to do,” said Freddy. “You’re adding complications to something that is already complicated.”
“It’s not your child,” said Jeannie. “How can you love a child that’s not yours? Do you know what kind of problems that you are bringing to your home?”
Those were some of the responses that the Robaina family received from family and friends during their first adoption. But for the Robaina family, they always thought of adoption as being something magical.
Anna Maria Gatti, Jeannie’s mother, was thrilled when she first found out that her daughter was going to adopt a girl for the first time from Russia because her daughter only had boys.
“She could have tried for a girl but she decided to adopt instead,” said Gatti. “It makes me so proud to have a daughter like her.”
But when it came to her daughter adopting for the second time, her feelings went from being excited to confused.
“I don’t know why she decided to adopt again, but I guess God wants her to save another child or maybe because Jeannie needed to save this little girl, but it is in God’s hand.”
Whether she understands the reason that her daughter was adopting a second child, she none-the-less stands right beside her.
“God decides the time and place where we should be,” said Gatti. “I support Jeannie for every positive thing that she does.”
“ I think any good human been should adopt, not just for them but to save a child’s life,” said Gatti. “Personally I would love to adopt a child, but I am too old to do so.”
Jeannie regularly keeps up with a blog that she used for her first adoption as well for this current adoption process.
On her blog, http://hope-ourbabygirl.blogspot.com, she shares her personal feelings, experiences and events for people who are wanting to follow along in this experience.
I think that this is a great way to use social media,” said Kelsey Wasicsko a family member. “For something productive and meaningful in a way that gets the message out that they are adopting and looking for support.”
“I'm excited that they are adopting Faith. I think Hope can use a sister. I can imagine that it would be hard to be a girl in a house full of boys,” said Wasicsko. “Jeannie and Freddy are such loving parents as it is, and they instill great morals into the kids. I think Faith will be a very happy addition to the family.”
With plans to fly all four children with them to China to pick up their newest family member, the Robaina’s look forward to bringing their child home for this year’s Christmas.
“We've been very blessed that it has been a very smooth process for us,” said Jeannie. “We await any day now for travel approval to pick up our daughter. The whole family is embarking on this journey. We believe that what we are doing is the true spirit of Christmas miracles.”
1 comment:
Merry Christmas!!! Safe travels!!! Hope everything goes smoothly!
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