You are invited to

Chad & Emily Urban’s

Home for their Adoption

Rummage Sale and Cookout!

Rummage Sale includes:
Clothes for all ages (tons of kids clothes!), belts & shoes, over 20 purses (many donated by Miss Sarah!), high-chairs, baby gyms, a couch, table, chairs, office chair, two bikes, kitchen appliances, scrapbooking items, flower vases, candles, gift-items (cups, books, etc.), kids cups & lunch boxes, and many kids toys (blocks, puzzles, books, dolls, stuffed animals) including large toys as well like a tool bench, writing center, lego table, doll cradle, basket ball hoops

… and much more!

The menu for the Cookout:
Brat: $2.00
Hot Dog: $1.00
Chips: $1.00
Soda: $1.00

Friday August 7th, 2009
8:00am – 6:00pm

Saturday August 8th, 2009
8:00am – 6:00pm

Sunday August 9th, 2009
Noon – 5:00pm

All proceeds from the Rummage Sale and Cookout

will go toward the Urban Family Adoption.

1446 Ridgeway Drive ~ Neenah 54956
Questions: Contact Emily at 205-7753 or eurban@newhopeconnect.org

Adoption Cookbooks for Sale!

LoriAnn Harmon, a member at New Hope and parent at NHCS has offered to help us in our fundraising efforts! A co-worker of LoriAnn’s, Sara Marquardt and her husband are adopting and put together a cookbook to raise funds for their adoption. However, they have sold all the cookbooks they can and have 150 copies left. LoriAnn contacted Sara and asked if she could sell them and if a portion of the proceeds could go toward our adoption. She agreed and will donate $7.00 per copy to our adoption!

The cookbook is 139 pages and has 350 recipes that were submitted by family and friends of the Marquardt’s. On each page they also included a fact or quote about adoption. The cookbook is $20.00 per copy and it looks wonderful! Like we mentioned, $7.00 will go toward our adoption and the rest of the proceeds go toward supporting another adoption! Checks can be made out to: Sara Marquardt. LoriAnn will be selling copies of the cookbook at church on Sunday. You can also e-mail or call Emily to pick up a copy throughout the week. (725-4354 ext. 306 or eurban@newhopeconnect.org) Please feel free to pass along the information about our cookbook sale to any neighbors, family, or friends that you think might be interested! Thank you for considering purchasing a cookbook to support our adoption and the adoption of another child as well!

The Voice of Adventure

Do you listen for God’s voice? Our prayer is that we are able to follow His leading more and more each day. As I reflect over that past year, I am in awe of how God spoke in my life and in Chad’s life.

This past winter, we had just gone through finding out for the first time that we indeed were not pregnant. I have a hard time describing the intense grief and sadness we experienced. Shortly after this time, I was having a conversation with a few parents at school and one of my former preschool parents, in passing, mentioned having gone through some of the same things I was now experiencing. After the conversation with everyone was complete, I went back to my office and e-mailed her. I was so thankful for the opportunity to talk with someone who has been where I was at that moment.

Later that week, we meet for a lovely dinner and spoke about what I was going through and her experiences. Our conversation then turned directions when she asked me how Chad and I felt about adoption. We have always been huge supporters of adoption, but had not seriously had a conversation about adoption for our family. My mom has been very involved in the adoption process with different families, a close friend of ours was adopted, and we walked through the adoption process with friends in our small group two separate times. So I felt very aware of adoption; but when she asked me that question at dinner (sharing of a possible adoption situation she knew of), something was different. God was moving in my heart and mind.

We finished our dinner, I went home and gave Chad a recap of our conversation and then tried to go to bed. But couldn’t sleep. My mind was reeling as I thought about adoption. Is this what God wants? Can I surrender my plan for our family? What is involved with adoption? Will we have to change so much of our life plans? Could we financially afford to adopt? Could we handle all the ‘what-ifs’ and heartache that often comes with adoption? And the questions went on and on. I did finally fall asleep. The next morning I opened up my devotion book to ponder the morning reading:

“Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them.” Luke 17:33

There is a rawness and a wonder to life. Pursue it. Hunt for it. Sell out to get it. Don’t listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second-rate life and want you to do the same so they won’t feel guilty. Your goal is not to live long; it’s to live.

Jesus says the options are clear. On one side there is a voice of safety. You can build a fire in the hearth, stay inside, and stay warm and dry and safe …

Or you can hear the voice of adventure – God’s adventure. Instead of building a fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow God’s impulses. Adopt the child. Move overseas. Teach the class. Change careers. Run for office. Make a difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?
He Still Moves Stones – Max Lucado

Poor Chad was in the bathroom getting ready for the day and I about broke the door down with tears in my eyes saying, ‘READ THIS!’. We both just stood there, speechless (which for me is quite the feat). I clung my devotional book close and reread and reread those words over and over all day long. God was calling me to give up my life’s plan for a much better plan, His plan.

Right now, that is exactly our goal; to be open to God’s leading, to seek Him and His will … to follow the Voice of Adventure.

Dear Family and Friends

Dear Family and Friends,

“Trust in the Lord

with all your heart

and lean not on your

own understanding;

In all ways

acknowledge Him

and He will direct

your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

We love children! That is probably not a huge surprise to you. We feel so blessed that we are able to devote our careers as teachers to serving God and His children. For the past two years, we have desired to begin our own family. After multiple appointments with doctors over the last year, we discovered that the chances of us having children on our own are very small.

Our journey has been filled with much disappointment and tears (mostly on Emily’s part – Chad’s not much of a crier); but God has been holding us close and has been so faithful. We know God is calling us to be parents, but in a different way than we originally planned. Through prayer, conversations with friends that have adopted children and friends who have been adopted into loving families, songs sung in church, and devotions, we feel that God is leading us to adopt.

Some of you are just learning of our situation and some of you have known and asked how you can help. We humbly ask you to consider supporting our adoption in any of the following ways:

• Summer Child Care: Emily works throughout the summer at New Hope caring for children with her sister Sarah. Perhaps plan on having your child attend once a week for a couple hours while you run your weekly errands. The program is completely flexible! Please consider using Summer Child Care as Emily will be saving the money she earns to apply toward our adoption.


• Garage Sale: Any old items? Please donate them to our Garage Sale! [dates yet to come] Perhaps no items, but would like to volunteer to help us run the sale at our home? Or maybe you would like to donate food to sell at the garage sale? Or sponsor an ad in the newspaper or be willing to hang up a poster in your yard to advertise.
• Odd Jobs: Do you have any odd jobs that you would like to have done around your home? Mowing the lawn, weeding, cleaning out the garage? If so, contact Chad!
• Pancake Breakfast: Watch for more details to come soon and please plan to join us for our pancake breakfast!

We greatly appreciate any help toward our adoption or any ideas you may have of what we can do to earn what is needed. Even more than that, we are so thankful for the amazing network of family, friends, church friends, and school friends to hold us in prayer and to also hold in prayer the children God has planned for our family. Thank you for walking with us through this journey.

Sincerely,
Chad & Emily Urban

Chad – 262.893.8592 &

curban@newhopeconnect.org

Emily – 920.205.7753 & eurban@newhopeconnect.org

Most of our communications will be via our blog. Please feel free to pass this blog onto anyone in your circle of family and friends. Our goal is to update our blog weekly to keep everyone informed on our adoption journey. Please consider subscribing to receive notification of updates. Our sincere thanks and appreciation for your prayers and support.