Adopt a Puzzle Piece!

We have been amazed by the support of all of our family and friends.  We’re so happy to have such a great support system as we sort through the details of this process because we simply can’t do it alone, so we’re humbly asking for your help.

First and foremost, please pray for us.  Pray for patience, pray for us to trust God and his timing, pray for our child(ren) and his or her biological family.

Second, we ask that you may consider supporting us financially.  While we aren’t necessarily comfortable asking for financial assistance, I can tell you that if we were left to our own talents and abilities to raise the funds necessary to adopt, you’d be reading this blog for many years to come!

We have a few fundraisers in the planning stages, including a garage sale, t-shirts, a possible auction, and our first fundraiser relating to the puzzle below. 

Here’s how it works:

We purchased this 1,000 piece puzzle of an African Safari that we plan to frame and hang in our nursery or playroom.  We are inviting you to sponsor two pieces of the puzzle for $10.  With each piece of the puzzle you sponsor, we'll write your name on the back and begin assembling the puzzle.

We will periodically post pictures of the progress of the puzzle. Once it is complete, we’ll frame it in double sided glass as a reminder of all those who helped bring our child home!

You can sponsor pieces a couple of ways:  by using the donate Paypal button on the right hand side of the blog or by sending it to our home address (please email curt.bolhuis@gmail.com for our address).  A special thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Peuler for sponsoring the first couple pieces of our puzzle!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.  May God bless all of you for being such a blessing to us!

Sharing the News!

Spreading the news has been so much fun!  Curt and I spent hours planning up ideas of how to tell our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and coworkers.  We wanted it to be meaningful, and we wanted them to share in our excitement for this anticipated child and God's provision in our lives.

The first people we told were my parents.  We invited them over for a casual dinner, and after we finished eating, we were sitting around chatting.  We handed this frame and a homemade card that said grandpa and grandma on it (see photo below). We wrote a short letter to them from their future grandchild(ren).  While it took them a few minutes to put all the pieces together, they cried tears of joy!  It came as a bit of a surprise... But definitely a great surprise!

The following day, we had Austin over for lunch.  Now, something you need to know about Austin... he has been NAGGING for nieces for nephews since the day Curt and I got married, so we knew this news would be just what he's been waiting for.  Austin is going to be an awesome uncle!  He has so much love to give, and our children sure will be blessed by him.  He was so excited... a little unsure about the two year wait, but it will be well worth it!

Then we headed over to my grandparents.  Curt was planning to plant some tomato plants there, so it was perfect timing. As we were sitting in their living room, we gave them a copy of our first blog post and a little magnet that says wait, hope, expect (see below).  They both read the letter, cried, and shared in our excitement!  They have been models of what it is like to live your life for Christ, and if it wasn't for the faith that they have passed down from generation to generation, I don't know if we would be following God's calling to adopt today.  We asked that they keep the magnet on their fridge as a reminder to pray for our child and us often on this journey.  Eventually that magnet will hold precious pictures of our little blessing or blessings from Ethiopia.

Then we headed over to Curt's parents.  We created a similar letter to Curt's parents from the perspective of their future grandchild(ren) from Africa.  Curt also read the first blogpost to them.  Curt even got choked up as reading it, and if you know Curt, he does not openly share his emotions.  Curt's parents also took a minute to put all the pieces together, but once they figured it out, they were so excited!

Then we stopped and Curt's grandmas house, as well as at his brother Nick's house.  We also gave them a magnet like the one above to keep on their fridge.  They also shared in our excitement as Curt read the first blog post to them about our calling from God to adopt this child.  We had to wait until the next day to tell Curt's brother, Dan, and his wife, Meghan.  They knew something was up after we tried to meet up with them a couple times in one day!  They were thrilled (and shocked) as well!  We have such supportive family, and we couldn't be more grateful!  This child (or children) is going to be so blessed by the Peuler and Bolhuis families!

Finally, this week, we shared the great news with our coworkers.  My friend Ashley helped me construct an awesome poster of Africa with the phrase, "I have prayed for this child" on it.  I also made cute purple and blue frosted cupcakes (because well... at school, you can't really announce something without a treat!). We are so blessed by the outpouring of love and support already in this journey.  We recognize that this journey will have its highs and its lows, and we are SO grateful to family and friends praying for us every step of the way.

We are coming for you sweet child! We are ready to work tirelessly to get you home in our arms forever!

A Call to Act...

Last Sunday, we were running late for Church, and not just a little late – very late.  We’ve been attending Ada Bible Church since before we were married, so each Sunday, we stumble out of bed around the same time we wake up during the week, have a couple cups of coffee, and hop in the car to make the trek from Byron Center to Ada. 

Since we couldn’t seem to get moving on this particular Sunday, we decided to attend the Kentwood campus of Ada Bible which is only about 5 minutes from our house.  If you’re not familiar with Ada Bible, the church has three campuses; in addition to the Ada and Kentwood Campuses, there is a North campus near Knapp and the East Beltline.  While the Ada Campus features a living, breathing Pastor at all three services (one on Saturday evening, two on Sunday morning), the other campuses feature a recording of a living, breathing Pastor on massive HD screens.  You see, the Saturday evening sermon in Ada is taped and played Sunday morning at the satellite campuses.

While the quality of the recording is stunning, we don’t feel as connected to the sermon or message as we do with the live version in Ada, thus the half hour ride to Church each Sunday morning.

As we walked into Church and found our seats, I felt out of place.  Disconnected.  As we began the worship portion of the service, my mind began to wander unlike it ever has on a Sunday morning in several years.  “What open issues do I have to tackle this week at work? Our house is a mess; I should really spend some time cleaning today…but when will I have time?  What’s for lunch?....”

Before I knew it, the A/V team hit “Play” and the sermon was rolling.  Pastor Jeff continued the series entitled “When God Moves.”  The series has focused on the Disciples’ interaction with the Post-Resurrection Jesus, the subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit, and the early Church.  This week’s sermon was about detours God often places in our lives, and how on the surface, the detours may seem burdensome; however, often times these detours lead to transformational spiritual growth.

Midway through the sermon, Pastor Jeff played a video clip of Dr. Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International.  Before you continue reading, please take a couple minutes to watch the video here (we watched the first three minutes during the sermon).  As Dr. Stafford shared how his childhood friends died from diseases which he was immune to due to vaccinations, I looked over to see tears streaming down Steph’s face.  For those of you who know Steph and the Peuler family, this is not an uncommon occurrence since Steph and her family are so compassionate and empathetic and they wear these emotions on their sleeves.  But I knew that these were not Steph’s ordinary tears.

As we were walking out of Church, I asked a question I already knew the answer to, “Steph, what were you thinking about during that video clip?”

“Our baby in Africa,” she replied, her voice still brimming with emotion.

This wasn't a surprise.  We have talked about and prayed about adopting since before we were married.  Steph has been steadfast in her commitment to adopt, but I've always struggled with how we'd pay for the adoption, so I was resigned to the fact that we would have a biological child first and consider adoption after that.  We talked at length about adopting the rest of the day.

Sunday came to a close, and we woke up Monday morning to a new work week. Steph and I felt the Holy Spirit drawing us to adopt, but I was still struggling with how we could ever pay for the adoption and I was worrying about all of the details of the process.  I prayed much of the day and argued with God.

God, I know you want us to adopt, but no matter how I slice it, I can't make the finances work. Make your plans clear to us!

Monday afternoon rolled around, and as I sat at my desk listening to Pandora, "Word of God Speak" by MercyMe began playing. I opened my Bible to a random page and began reading.  I started in 1 Thessalonians 3:7 and read my way to verse 11 where God made his plans clear:


Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.

Immediately, I was at peace.  I still had countless questions, but I didn’t need answers.  In that verse, God simply said, “Curt, I know you can’t make the finances work, but I can! I know you like to be in control, but trust Me!”

And so, here we are, taking a leap of faith and following a detour God has called us to take.  We have been approved for adoption through All God's Children International and we are partnering with AGCI to adopt our beautiful child or children from Ethiopia.

We're extremely excited and ready to work tirelessly to raise the funds necessary to adopt.  We don't have all of the answers, but God is Faithful and He is Good and we trust Him.

We’ll do our best to keep you updated on the process with this blog, so check back often!