Our familyis in the process of heading back to Uganda to adopt again,but we need some help fundraising first. A typical Ugandan adoption costs between $30,000-$40,000!This shirt is a loose translation ofEmerson's quote, our motto,to be brave andtake the world by the beard.
For Ladies tank tops, Click Here.
When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great
bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to
find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the
timid adventurers. -- Ralph WaldoEmerson
This quote has become our family motto, a motto that reminds
us to be brave, that life isn't as scary as it may seem.
When we made the first momentous decision to leave behind our
lives in Tennessee and survive sub arctic temps living in the Alaskan Bush,
Emerson's quote to grab life by the beard was with us.
In 2011, we moved to a small village of 40 people on the
Yukon River, where we lived for 2 years before our home was flooded with sewage
and we had to move to the big city of Fort Yukon, population 500. Fort Yukon is
only accessible by boat, plane, or snow machine, and is 8 miles above the
Arctic Circle. Temperatures in the winter get down to -60F degrees every year.
Life in the
Alaskan Bush is almost never easy, but it has been an adventure! Besides giving
us the opportunity to play in the snow 8 months a year and witness the Northern
Lights, living in the Alaskan Bush has opened up for us another opportunity:
international adoption.
Much like living in the Alaskan Bush, the process of
international adoption seems intimidating at first: you have to survive the
home study, federal forms with names like i600a's and I-171h's, USCIS
fingerprinting, visas, embassies, foreign courts of law... but, remembering our
motto, we stepped boldly out in faith and went for it.
We got our referral for
Jonas in November of 2012. In March 2013, we braved a
late winter drive down the ALCAN to Chicago, where we flew to Kampala, Uganda, to bring Jonas home. The process was not smooth, but after spending 89 days in
Africa, we arrived home with Jonas on July 5.
The plan has always been to adopt 2 children, but something
happened in Uganda that made our desire for one more even stronger. In country,
we began the process of adopting little T. from a remote orphanage. Sadly, the
adoption fell apart only a week from our court date. When we left Uganda in
July with Jonas, we left part of our hearts in Uganda with T. This left a very
real hole in our hearts and an empty place in our family.
Now we are braving the process again but we need your help.
Fundraising isn't something we normally enjoy, but we took our family's motto,
Emerson's quote, and combined it with our love of beards to come up with a
pretty awesome fundraising idea.
We call it, "Buy the Beard."This shirt reminds us (and you!) to be brave, step up to the world, and grab life by the beard!
Supporters
Sweet family and wonderful cause to help this little one get home to them!
It's the Waarviks, duh!
Deserving family!!