Bethany's Dinner- Fayetteville, AR AND Kansas City, MO

No, this in not the newest member of the Harrigan family. It could be. She could look like this. She could have darker skin, she could have lighter hair. Part of this adventure is recognizing that simple fact, we have no idea what she will look like. But we do know this much, we know that she belongs in this family. We know that she is designed, created, loved and formed that she would be a part of our family. We are anticipating the day when we will meet her. Here's the beginning of the story:

I had always thought about adoption, but was convinced it was for someone else– people who couldn’t have babies or who were kind of weird and wanted a whole bunch of children and had a lot of money. After we had Benjamin, the Lord spoke very clearly to my heart. “There are babies who don’t have mommies and daddies and you are a mommy and daddy.” I’m a black and white kind of girl, so this was one of the better words for my heart. As the years have passed, my heart has grown, not in an abstract way, but a very concrete, clear direction. Before we got pregnant with Samuel, the Lord gave us the name Bethany. We were convinced that Samuel was going to be a girl and her name would be Bethany. We were sure of the word of the Lord. Needless to say, without a doubt, the ultrasound tech said he was a boy, and the Lord knew he was to be called Samuel. Slightly disappointed, I asked the Lord about Bethany. Why had you given me this name when she wasn’t in me? He promptly answered me with my growing heart for adoption. “She is out there. I have and will form her for your family. She will come to you from me.” I was wowed by the awesome hand of the Lord, that he would do such a thing. That he would allow me to participate in this amazing thing called adoption. I am consistently awed by the concept– that we are adopted into the family of heaven, that we are grafted/adopted into the family of Israel. I don’t fully understand it, but I know there must be something there. The dynamic of adoption on the human heart is so powerful that I want to be a part of it. I want to know the heart of the Father from this angle, I want to see the other little ones that he has in store for our family.

Part 2: As we grow in our knowledge of adoption, what it means, what it costs, we begin to realize that we don't have all the resources necessary to do this on our own. We are now learning that it is a combined effort, by the church as a whole, to come together and take care of these little ones who need homes.
Before anyone can adopt, you must complete a home study. It is done by a licensed agency, costs $1000, take at least a month and up to six. It is an examination of all aspects of your life, from marital issues to parenting to financial stability. They are wanting to make sure you are stable enough to adopt. After the home study has been completed you get copies of it and fill out more applications to send to the Adoption Agencies around the nation where the birth mothers come. Once the applications have been received, your profile (a book of pics of your family) is given to birth mothers who fit with what you are looking for and you can get a call with a match. Once you are picked and agreed upon, the largest sum of money goes to the agency that is taking care of that mother. It can range anywhere from $8000 to $35,000. We are interested in the group of babies that most people don’t want to adopt.

We are wanting to have two fundraising dinners: One in Kansas City on July 12 and one in Fayetteville, AR on Sunday, August 2.

We will sell tickets for $50, $75, or $100 each and invite friends to a night out. John and I will speak briefly on adoption, what we have learned, and what we feel like the Lord is saying about it, and then let everyone have a great time enjoying some great food and each other. Here are the things we are praying for and asking:

1. You all have more connections than we could ever have on our own- would you consider hosting a table, inviting 8-10 of your friends for a night out?
2. Would you consider joining us for dinner?
3. Would you pray for this one, Bethany, wherever she is and however she is, that she would know she is created by the Father and loved by our family?
4. Would you consider donating to support this new addition to our family?

Please leave a comment if you can help or are interested in coming. Thanks so much-