Yet Another Amazing Story of Adoption

No subject melts me like adoption. I am blessed to be a dad through adoption, twice! If you are a Facebook friend you might have read about one of our cow share families, Brian and Mandy Harvey, and the incredible journey they are still on in welcoming one of the world's 147 million orphans into their family and into their home. Within a month or so, they will be flying to India to pick up Mia, their daughter, and bring her back to Indiana. If anyone is interested in following their story, they are chronicling their journey at: http://www.harveyadoption.blogspot.com/

If you are a cow share owner, you know that we have had supply problems the last few weeks as we have waited for several cows to give birth. The supply problems are hopefully a thing of the past, as we have now had 8 calves born to 6 cows, with another 5 or 6 to calve soon. The first cow this fall to calve was Baxter, an older cow that came to us from The Swiss Connection, the dairy that makes the wonderful cheese, butter, yogurt, and cottage cheese that we feature in the store. Baxter ended up giving birth to healthy twin girls on 9/11. Unfortunately, it was more than Baxter could handle at her age. Despite Brayden and I giving her calcium IV's, she died about a week after giving birth. It was heartbreaking to go check on her after milking and finding her dead, with her twins sadly snuggled up to her. I knew it would prove difficult to keep the twins alive after this, but when I got to the farm the following morning, I had one of the most pleasant surprises I have ever experienced on the farm. Penelope, another cow from The Swiss Connection, who had given birth to a male calf two days prior, had completely adopted Baxter's twin girls. Not only was she feeding them, she was getting upset with them whenever they would wander too far from her. I think it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen, Penelope wandering in the lush grass with triplets frolicking all around her wherever she would go. I truly felt that I was watching a true act of Providence.

For those like me who are truly moved by adoption, another family in our family of cow share owners, Ben and Stacy Houk, are once again organizing and hosting a golf outing and fundraiser for Show Hope, a foundation to assist families who wish to open their homes for adoption. Show Hope, or Shaohannah's Hope, was started by my friends Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, who have adopted three children from China. While in China, they saw the enormous need for families to welcome these children, and realized that all many families lack in order to open their homes are the finances. So this golf event on October 5th has the goal to provide 10 families with the necessary financial resources. I want to appeal to all of you to join me in sponsoring Ben in this endeavor. He and several other golfers are going to play 100 holes of golf in one day. What we can do is give $.25, $.50, $1.00, $2.00 or whatever per hole that Ben plays. The web site to sign up to sponsor Ben is: http://www.marathoneventmarketing.com/100-Holes-of-Hope-Ben-Houk_fd2d2.html

Thank you for considering this. Adoption is the theme of my life. Nothing else so well illustrates the hope I have within me. There are numerous religions, and there are numerous people with no religion, but in Christianity the whole foundation is adoption. We have a father who loves us, who has adopted us into his family, and has lovingly provided us with all we need. He not only provides for us as his children, but he even calls us friends. Just as Brian and Mandy are providing for little Mia, and even as Penelope cared for the helpless twins, we are lovingly provided for, even in, and especially in, our helplessness.