pictures from Ephraim

Top: we have ground! The grass is starting to grow again, yay! The fenced section at the back is the goat yard and goat house. Next to that is the chicken coop. The other fenced section is the garden. There are a lot of strawberry plants under that snow. Most of our land is under a foot of snow but, many places are two or more feet. It snows every couple days but, steadily the snow on the ground decreases. The girls are already going out barefoot.
The nice structure out back is the neighbors. The flatbed is how we transported our ton of alfalfa last year.
The trailer is the Croteau's. It has a wood floor, solar power and a wood stove.
These are the dogs. Our dog Loyal is the blond in front. The other dog is Bessy, The Croteau's dog. They come from the same mom dog.

More information on babies in need

Here is all the additional information that I know that is not on our previous blog:

Babies who are in need are: babies surviving abortion, drug or alcohol addicted babies, born to prisoners, drop babies, abandoned, severe medical needs, babies of prostitutes, etc.
Providing a family:
1. First, you will need to get a home study done by a christian adoption agency.
2. Contact a christian attorney in your state to be your attorney for a private adoption. Tell them that you want to be notified of any "drop babies"*, babies that are being left to die in hospitals, babies born to prisoners or any other babies that are in need of adoption. When you get a call, you call this attorney and tell him that you need an attorney in the baby's state. If there is a social worker involved, you don't need an attorney in the baby's state. You always need one in your own state. *A drop baby is a baby who's mother unexpectedly leaves her baby in the hospital.
3. Call hospitals in big cities and leave your contact information with the social worker.

When someone calls you, they will be able to tell you the mothers insurance status (usually state insurance), her medical condition and any obvious medical conditions in the baby. Usually no testing has been done on the baby. If the mother is on state insurance, it pays for the baby's medical bills.
you must decide very quickly if you are willing to take over legal and medical responsibility for the baby. If an abortion has begun, the mothers parental rights are already relinquished. Taking over legal and medical responsibility for the baby means that you will be making the decisions regarding the child's care. Some decisions that you may have to make are: surgeries, drugs , immunizations etc.

If only one parent can go to pick up the baby, the hospital and social worker usually want the mom to come.
The mom that I've been getting most of my information from has been able to be at 5 of the births. Two of these births were with the same birth mom, once when she was twelve and then three years later when she was fifteen.

Once you arrive at the hospital, you must stay with the baby, only leaving when required to in order to follow visiting hours policies. When you are allowed to take the baby out of the hospital, you must stay in the state until the ICPC officer contacts your attorney and your attorney calls to tell you that you may go. It usually takes 3-7 days from the time you reach the baby until you can take him/her home.

These are the known costs;
Home-study: approximately $1,000
Airline: ($600 or so depending on the destination)
Hotel: (My friend has only had to buy her own plane tickets once and rarely does she have to pay for a hotel. Some hospitals let her stay in a Ronald Mcdonald or other family housing, there may be someone who will let you stay with them)
Food
Attorney fees are around $600 for each state (some pro-life attorneys will donate this work, you don't need an attorney in the baby's state if a social worker is involved.)
If an adoption agency is involved there may be agency fees of a few thousand dollars.

Another option to be available is "Alternatives In Motion" They are located in Houston, TX
They charge $8,000. You do not pay attorney fees in the baby's state. You are not on your own, they will pick you up from the airport and help you get around while there.
They need families for "drop babies", drug or alcohol babies, babies of prostitutes, mixed race babies etc.
The director of this ministry is very supportive of large families. He himself has a very large family.

My friend has adopted 11 babies. One of them was an aborted girl who was found near a dumpster and weighed only two pounds. She lived and is a happy young lady who loves Jesus. She gets notified occasionally about babies she cannot take. She is willing to take your number and call you as soon as she is notified. However, she feels convicted to only contact christian families so she wants some kind of evidence of this before she agrees to call you. If she is familiar with the christian agency that you use for your home study than that's enough. Otherwise she may take a letter from your pastor. I'm not sure what else would be satisfactory. I could ask her if a letter of your testimony would be sufficient.

There is no formula. It's different every time. There are many unknowns. My friend never knows where she will stay or how she will get from place to place.
If the Lord gives you a heart and a desire to be open to whatever baby He wants for your home, He will provide.
God will provide the baby if you trust in the Lord and are willing to provide a home and love to the baby.

Some baby goat (kid) pictures

We went over to a friend's house and when we came back, we found this cute little newborn goat in our goat shed with it's mother.

Seeking The Heart Of God

While at the Above Rubies retreat, I met a woman who has adopted 11 babies. They were all domestic, private adoptions. They were all attempted abortions, addicted to illegal drugs, abandoned or born to women in prison.

She made us aware of a situation that is happening in hospitals across the country. The hospital will not be responsible for babies who are born after an attempted abortion and the mothers rights are already terminated because of the abortion. Other babies are born to mothers addicted to drugs or they are born with what seems to be severe health problems. The parents then sign a document denying food and water to the child.
The child is left alone to suffer and die. Not valued, not held or soothed.

She said that christian couples could have home studies done and get in touch with an attorney (CHASK can put you in contact with pro-life attorneys). Then they could call the hospitals and leave their contact information with the social worker, stating that they have their home study completed and are available to come as soon as a baby is in need. Once called, they would have to go to the baby right away, if they wanted to adopt the child. As soon as they arrived they would sign a form stating that they were willing to adopt this child. The new parent would have to stay in the state with the baby until their attorney completed the adoption forms. This usually takes from 3-7 days. Then they would be free to take the child home.
Of the children that this woman adopted, some of them have mild to moderate special needs. Some have no special needs. When she went to pick up one of her children, she was told that the child might not live. She was willing to love and protect this baby as long as she lived. She did live and is now a healthy, big girl.
I have been able to confirm the facts of the infants left to die with another friend of mine who has been running an adoption ministry for years and now runs a crisis pregnancy center.

and the stars...

Havilah's art-- the person in the sun is the Lord and He's coming back.

Asaph and zuriel

April 3, 2008

While mom and sister Pat and nephews Blake and Kaleb were visiting we enjoyed making music together in praise of our Lord. Zuriel (6) played the Xylophone. Papa played the guitar. Ephraim and the other boys played hand drums. We all attempted to sing and make a joyful noise. Grandma Goodenough holds a sleeping Naphtali, I hold a sleeping Nehemiah StandFast. Kaleb is holding our big tomcat, Keekee. You can see the blue sled in the foreground that was the source of much fun that day. The stroller was a gift from Grandma Goodenough (mom) and is used inside and outside everyday. Mom painted that background picture of the trees. Below that is the name and a rough draft of the logo for Asaph and Zuriel's new band. They will allow the others to be special guests in their music but, will remain in charge.
Under that is strong, sweet Havilah. The video is Leon working on the "cabin".
Ephraim does all the photo posting. Thank you for sharing our day with us. Love, the Goodenough's

Thanks

Thankfully mentioning:

Thank you Charissa Swanson, Marla Dimick, Annette Fordyce, Janelle and her sweet daughter, Janet and daughters, new friend Angie and daughter, Kristin and children. We had a lovely time at the Above Rubies retreat this last weekend.

Wonderfully blessed moms with beautiful, perfect babies:
Christi Simonatti was given Enoch as an inheritance from the Creator. Xea Westcott was given Iylan as a reward from the her Abba Father, My own sister in law Erin was given Cannon as an arrow from the Lord Of Hosts. Angie was given a daughter as a blessing from The Holy Father. Annette was given a baby yet to be born as a fruit from our great counselor, Mrs. Beal was given Benjamin as increase from the King Of Kings and Jennifer Renteria was given little lamb Seth from the Great Physician.

Thank you very much for loving us and our adoptive father God:
Tim Mcallister, Jennifer Renteria, Brigid, and Vaghn.

I am so thankful to you my Father for all these blessings.

Pictures

Nehemiah (10) months born. He is always this sweet and darling. Jennifer (me) shoveling the drive way. I kept in great shape during the winter and early spring. Havilah (11) and Asaph (4). You can see the buckets we use to store grain, sugar, lentils etc. We keep them 2 high and they double as bar stools when we have folks over for meals. Above that is the busy hand grinder. The last picture is of Leon and Zuriel. They are transforming an ugly ceiling with torn up sheetrock and falling down tiles to a beautiful wood ceiling. It was fairly inexpensive and easy. This room was the girls new room but, now we call it the cabin.