Today we remember our son, Noah Jacob, as he would be 15 years old.  I’m left as a mom wondering so many things:

What would you be interested in? Would you be playing a sport?

Would you be excited to learn how to drive?

Who would you look like, me? your dad? neither?

Would you trust Jesus with your life and want to live for Him?

Would you like school or dread doing homework?

Instead.. I’m left knowing and holding onto the fact that you are WITH your Heavenly Father. The pain of losing you almost 15 years ago is still so real.. But, I am FOREVER grateful for you. Because of your short life here on earth you- God has forever changed our family THROUGH you. It is because of losing you and understanding the real pain children in this world can endure, it made us want to love and care for children who don’t have a family. THANK YOU, dear Noah, because it is because of what God did through your little 7 pound body that made us now love orphans and have been given the blessing of 1 (Isaac Noah Orlando) and waiting to bring 2 more into our family forever. They will someday meet you and love you like we do!

Happy 15th Birthday my son! Until we meet again-

We just found out that the birth parent court date is May 24. What this means is that we will more than likely be traveling and going to court between June 7-30. This was a complete surprise to us! We were expecting (and planning) for July. But, once again, God reminds us that His plans are not always our plans. We continue to learn to rely on Him and trust Him in all things.

We would really appreciate your prayers. With this short notice of traveling in June we need to raise our last $11,000 much quicker. If you would like to donate to our adoption, you can click “donate” on the front of our blog and learn more. We really appreciate your prayers. We pray that God would provide for our remaining finances and to prepare us all for this amazing journey that follows!

We are happy to announce that we accepted a referral of 5 year old TWIN BOYS yesterday! To say we are shocked is an understatement. We are feeling VERY blessed and humbled that God is allowing us to be their parents.

We hope to go see them on our first trip the end of July or early August. Of course, we’re praying it’s sooner!

With the news of two children, we are in need of raising a bit more money. We are happy to report that we have matched our grant! We are completely humbled and blessed that we can mail that money in today for the boys. However, with the surprise of twins, we are in need of raising a bit more money. If you would like to donate to our adoption, please hit the “Donate” tab and you can follow those instructions. We are very blessed by all of the support and prayers. We look forward to bringing home our boys in the fall!

We were blown away this week by Abby’s 4th grade teacher and her class. They heard about our need to raise money to complete our adoption, so they all started brainstorming on ways to help us. The next day they brought me an envelope with notes and a dollar attached to each of them. What a blessing! I LOVE how they are learning to help others and are motivated to make a difference. What a humbling experience!

We were given a wonderful grant opportunity through Lifesong for Orphans. They are doubling every dollar up to $2,500!!! If you feel led to help us financially to bring our son home, please mail a check to:

Lifesong for Orphans: PO Box 40, 202 N Ford St, Gridley IL 61744

In the memo line of the check please put: Heglund #3488

Checks can be written out to: Lifesong for Orphans

Thank you for your tax deductible donation! We are anticipating a referral of our son in the next month! Watch for more details to come!  Every dollar helps!

Take a moment and watch our Adoption Story, plus hear what Steven Curtis Chapman has to say about adoption!

https://vimeo.com/63052741

There are many interesting facts about Ethiopia, here’s just some:

• Is almost twice the size of Texas
• It’s the official birthplace of coffee
• It has 63 airports, however only 17 with paved runways. Praying we land at the right one!
• There are 13 months in the Ethiopian Calendar. Every month has 30 days, except the last one which has 5 days. The New Years is on Carleigh’s birthday- September 11!

There are also some devastating facts about Ethiopia, here’s just some:

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population is under age 15.
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone

These are all interesting and devastating, but the real reason for “why Ethiopia” is because God called us. He broke our hearts for the people of Ethiopia. As Casting Crowns said in one of their songs, “break our hearts for what breaks His”. This is true for us. God has broken our hearts for the orphans and this also breaks God’s heart. We feel strongly that we have so much in this world and we need to help those that don’t. There are 140,000 million orphans in this world that are going to bed tonight with no family to tuck them in. We are blessed to have a warm home and lots of love to give to another child. As you know, this is a faith walk for us. We are trusting God that He will continue to provide the finances for this adoption. We are just walking His path and letting Him show us what needs to be done. It is a true act of worship- to be humbled and obedient in His will.

Do you feel led to help? If so, please email me or Facebook me and I can tell you how we need your help to get our child home to a safe place and have the love that he deserves.

“It is poverty to decide which child must die so that you may live as you wish” Mother Theresa

I have heard hundreds of adoptions stories. One would consider me an adoption junkie. I desire to see each child have a family that loves and cares for them. As we continue to go on our own adoption journey I find myself getting eager. We are at the stage where we are working on our dossier. This is where you would find my desk covered with notarized papers that need to get to Ethiopia. It can be overwhelming. But, if you know me, you know I like to check things off my list. So, this step is great in the fact that I’m making lots of checks on my list lately!

We have been so moved by the out pour of support, both financially and emotionally. We couldn’t do this without our Heavenly Father bringing people into our lives to walk alongside us and help support us. THANK YOU!  We ask that you continue to support us. We are getting closer to meeting the newest Heglund! We hope to complete this stage in the next 4+ weeks. Once that’s done, we should be getting our referral of our child. Things could move quickly and we could be traveling this summer if the Lord sees fit. So…. lots needs to be done, we need to finish our paperwork and continue to raise our funds.  But, He who calls us, will give us the desires of our heart….

Until then… please be praying for the children around the world that don’t have a family tonight and may God continue to move the hearts of His children to care for them.

We could use some prayers and support.  We might be going to a different agency due to the fact they are offering a significant grant for special needs adoptions from Ethiopia. The process could move very quick as they have already told us of a certain child that needs a home! There are some hurdles we need to jump, but  we are also asking for discernment if this is the path we follow.

We also found out we are able to have people donate on our behalf for our adoption through our church, Berean Baptist. This is a huge blessing to us. Friends and family can mail a check to Berean and ask that the money go towards our adoption. This would be tax deductible. Ideally, we have a letter that goes to the church from our donors, if you’re interested in learning more feel free to email me at aliheglund@gmail.com.

This journey has already led us down the road of humility, patience and trust. We are praying God would continue to guide us. Thanks for joining us on this journey!

Our desire to adopt a child began a few years after our ten day old son, Noah, passed away from a genetic disorder. Carleigh was already two at this point, but we didn’t know what the future would hold with having more children. We went on to have two more healthy girls, Alayna and Abby, despite each having a 25% chance of being born with the same genetic disorder that caused Noah’s death. Through those pregnancies we developed a deep faith in God that He would see us through uncertain times. He also raised in us a greater appreciation for children and a heart for kids who don’t have a family to call their own.  In 2006, we began the adoption process that brought Isaac Noah Orlando Heglund home from Guatemala.  Isaac has been such a blessing to our family and we feel God calling us to adopt another child.

We had the opportunity in May of 2011, to attend the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Louisville, KY.  I was looking forward to some time away with Justin.  However, while sitting in a workshop, conducted by Project Hopeful, God opened my heart and eyes to the ‘least of these’.  There are millions of orphans with special needs that are not being adopted.  This broke our hearts and God stirred in us a passion to help these children.  I came home and began volunteering with Project Hopeful (www.projecthopeful.org).  They serve to advocate and educate on behalf of special needs orphans.

Over the past two years, we have been wrestling with the idea to adopt, because like many today, our finances are extremely tight.  In September of 2012, after much prayer, we came to the point where we decided to move forward in faith and start the process. This is completely out of our hands as we financially cannot afford the adoption costs.  But, we are trusting God to meet our financial needs.  Thankfully, we were able to complete our home study costs due to a donation.  We are hoping to qualify for grants and raise support through fund raising.  We would be honored to have you follow our journey and pray with us as we see how God works to bring our child home.

We were blessed to have Project Hopeful help us with an account. If you’d like to donate to our adoption costs you may go to http://www.projecthopeful.org/waiting-kids/matched-children-and-families#Heglund, then click on our ‘donate’ button and you will be emailed a tax receipt.

Thank you for your support and sharing in our journey. More to come!!