Caroline's Promise News

Monday December 1st is Caroline's "Happy Adoption Day!" Five years ago we waited anxiously in the living room of the baby home at Hannah's Hope, Guatemala to meet our daughter for the very first time. She was gorgeous! It had been a long journey, but in that moment all the waiting seemed like nothing. It was worth it! In typical "Holbrook" fashion, we're celebrating the entire weekend. Some adoptive families call it "gotcha day" - some call it "adoption day". We usually choose to celebrate with our immediate family. This year we're struggling for balance as our middle child who is 8 keeps asking why everything is about Caroline. He hears "Caroline's Promise" daily - and I think it's getting on his nerves. Yesterday he said he wished he was adopted so he could have two special days. So this year we decided to make it more about family and not just about Caroline. She got to pick what we would do as a family and...

Caroline's Promise is excited to offer you the opportunity to honor someone special this Christmas. With your gift of $10 or more we'll send a special Christmas card, acknowledging your gift in their honor. What a great gift for teachers, pastors, coaches, friends and family! All donations will go toward our Adoptive Family Grants. Contact us at info@carolinespromise4u.org or by calling 336-669-7340. Donations can be made by check or debit/credit card - via phone or online at http://www.carolinespromise4u.org/donate.html

It hit me this morning while listening to our local Christian Radio Station, WBFJ. It was like God stopped me in my tracks and said , "Look at what I've done Lisa." The day before Thanksgiving, 5 years ago - I mailed the non-profit application to the IRS for Caroline's Promise. As usual, I was finishing it at the last moment. You see, I was on a deadline. The goal was to get that thing mailed before we boarded a plane the day after Thanksgiving. Where were we going? Guatemala! Why? To meet our daughter Caroline for the first time! It was the start of a dream that God had given to David and me. Dreams are funny. Sometimes you wonder if they're your crazy ideas and often times you have to let them go - give them to God and see if He gives it back to you. That's what happened the year before. It was November 2002 and we were ending a week of mission work in Guatemala. That last morning there God asked me to give up my dream of doing full time mission work in ...

Don't miss Focus on the Family's radio broadcast on November 20 and 21st. Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries will share her family's adoption story. http://listen.family.org/daily/A000001606.cfm Check your local Christian Radion Station for times: WBFJ - Triad http://www.wbfj.fm/ 5:00am and 9:00pm HIS Radio - Raleigh http://www.hisradio.com/common/contenthottop.asp?PAGE=361 2pm & 9pm Or listen online anytime at http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/broadcasts.aspx

Don't miss the adoption related programming on Focus on the Family and Family Life beginning November 17th. http://cryoftheorphan.org/display.asp?Page=41D676A9-2D83-4261-B514-474C2D489275

Do you ever feel like you give a gift at Christmas just to be giving it? I mean really, how many of us really need anything? Caroline's Promise wants to help you this Christmas season! When you make a donation of $10 or more you can honor someone special! We'll even send them a special Christmas card, notifying them of your gift. It's easy! Just contact us at info@carolinespromise4u.org or 336-669-7340. You can write a check or pay by debit/credit card. And your gift is 100% tax deductible! Your shopping will be done, the receipient will be blessed and hope will be reclaimed for orphans! If you're looking for tangible gifts to give, visit our website www.carolinespromise4u.org . We have plenty of inspiring books and t-shirts at great prices!

Erin & her husband Scott served at an orphanage in Uganda when they were first married. Little did they know that God would lead them to adopt two of the most precious kids - Mary Cameron & Jackson! Now that they're home and settling in, Erin's passion for Africa and orphans has not slowed. Although she'd probably love to live in Uganda - she's learning that God can use her here! Erin has helped many non profit ministries, including Caroline's Promise set up blogs, websites and facebook pages. In fact, Erin set up this blog and the google group for The Triad Network for Orphan Care & Adoption! Erin is a beautiful example of God using "ordinary" people to reclaim hope for orphans. How does God want to use your gifts?

So many people have told me - "I've always wanted to go on a mission trip." My question back to them is "What's stopping you?" There are plenty of things to keep us from answering God's call to short term missions. Finances, work, family, fears. If God seems to be tugging at your heart every time you hear about a short term mission trip, I encourage you to take the plunge! Visit the Caroline's Promise site for our list of 2009 trips. http://www.carolinespromise4u.org/index.htm This week is your last week to enter "Survivor Guatemala" and win a trip with Tami from WBFJ. http://www.wbfj.fm/ . Special thanks to Rob Mitchell, author of Castaway Kid for sponsoring this contest and WBFJ for their support or orphans!

Oh my friends are laughing! And I'm sure God is smiling. For years I've admired my friends who homeschool their children. I've seen the positive impact that it's made. But I've NEVER wanted to do it myself. In fact, I think the quote has always been "I'll NEVER homeschool unless God moves us to a third world country where there is no other choice. And then I think David would be much better at it than I." Never say never. Our kids attend a wonderful public, magnet school with a focus on Spanish Immersion. Although not a perfect school, it's been a great fit for our children. This year we had to make the difficult decision to take our middle child, Cameron out of the program. He was struggling with English and it just became evident that he was not going to excel at both languages. Of course, his solution to this problem was to move to a Spanish speaking country and forget all this need for English:) After months of prayer and checking into severa...

Bridgette and her husband adopted their 2 precious boys from Guatemala. Through that process they met a Guatemalan attorney, Marilu who is passionate about the needs of children in that country. When adoptions closed this year, Marilu knew she had to do more for these kids who had no place to go. So she opened a children's home - "Luces de Esperanza". Meanwhile Bridgette was asking God how she could help. Little by little the plan became clearer. Bridgette contacted her friends and began collecting items that Marilu would need. Before long God connected her with a shipping company that reduced their rate. Bridgette even had a yard sale and collected donations to cover the shipping costs. I believe we've only seen the beginning of what God is going to do through Bridgette. An "ordinary" mom - doing extraordinary things to reclaim hope for orphans!

We met so many great people at the Dixie Classic Fair. One of them was Denise. Her kids are Jr. Dragracers! How cool! Denise helped organize the Jr. Shootout at Farmington Dragway and was looking for a way to encourage the kids to think about others. She put some Caroline's Promise materials in each racer's bag and our family set up a booth at the event. We had so much fun! Thanks Denise and Jr. Dragsters. Keep up the good work!

Here's a great way to celebrate National Adoption Month. Adoptive Families Magazine has a document with a different way to celebrate every day of November. http://www.adoptivefamiliesmagazine.com/clip.php I recommend this magazine to any adoptive family. If you're waiting for your child to come home, this is a great time to subscribe. I learn something from every issue. If you subscribe or renew be sure to mention Caroline's Promise! We'll get a donation each time.

Our family went to Greenville, SC this weekend to participate in the Together for Adoption Conference. Saturday was a great day - hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. I'm always amazed at how creative God is. He opens people's eyes to the orphan crisis and then He gives them the most creative ways to meet needs. I love the Body of Christ! One of the speakers addressed the question that we've heard so many times...."Is it okay to adopt outside of your race/ethnic group?" We obviously think it's right - but I've never had a good answer beyond "that's what I think." The speaker made it so simple when he said, "God does it, so why shoudn't we?" God adopts us into His family - every tribe, race, ethnic group. The focus of the conference was on OUR adoption by God. It got me thinking......how many of you have ever heard a sermon on OUR adoption?