The Goodwins

We were recently on vacation in Florida and my mom commented on how cute the girl in the pink hat was… that girl is our daughter Ella. And she is very cute, even without her pink hat.

Ella is in hats a lot to protect her many scars from the sun, and she shines underneath them all. She is a beautiful little girl and even in her “I’m almost 4 and I can do it myself attitude” we find so much to love. She is the light of our life (along with little brother Justice) and we have learned so much from her.  But it isn’t her Down syndrome that is teaching us, it is Ella herself and her personality. I don’t know if taking away her Down Syndrome would change who she is or not, but as her mom I would never be willing to find out even if I could. I love her everyday just as she is.

Before Ella I loved. I loved her dad, I loved my family, I loved living a life full of travel and adventure, I loved chocolate, I loved my life… but I didn’t know how deep the love of a child would be. And I never thought about if I could ever love someone with Down syndrome – it simply never crossed my mind.  And then Ella was born and my heart was hers in an instant. The first year was a struggle of emotions and grief over the loss of what we thought our plans for her future would be, but we prevailed in love. The next several years were filled with struggles from surgeries and medical procedures but we prevailed in love. And now as all our known struggles are behind us and we watch in awe as Ella discovers a whole new world in school, we continue to prevail in love. Our hearts are overflowing!

But what I know, and what I want everyone to learn is that Ella is Ella. She is not a girl with Down syndrome who happens to be our daughter, or a teacher’s student, or a child’s friend.  I pray that Ella will be accepted into our world for just the person God has made her to be; that she will find her place in life and be happy and fulfilled. It’s the same prayer I imagine all parents have for all children. When I look into her future I am afraid for all of the unknowns that lay ahead but in truth, most days I forget that she has Down syndrome as it is so easy just to enjoy who she is.  She laughs and giggles and cries. She dances and runs and walks. She smiles and pouts and cheers. She is simply Ella, our amazing little girl.

Ahead I know there are more struggles waiting to find us and her, but today everything is perfect and just as it should be.  God has given us the gift of love in both our children and that will always be more than enough for us.

Our dear friends are in the process of adopting a beautiful little girl from eastern Europe. Her name is to be Evangeline. She is a child with Down syndrome, just as their youngest Polly.

As a parent of a child with Down syndrome we are blessed to have them as friends and are supporting them in their adoption quest both in prayer and financially.

Before Sergei began pastoring at the Christian Fellowship Free Church in Chicago, he and his family attended The Chapel in Saint Joseph, MI. Their former church family had a baby shower and this video was created for that shower.

For more information on their adoption process please go to http://expectingevangeline.blogspot.com/

If you ware interested in providing financial support please go to http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsormarchenko.htm

You may notice the new “logo” in the top right corner of our blog. It will be there for a while, but hopefully not TOO long. Let me tell you about it.

One of the first couples we met when moving to Saint Joseph, MI we met while we were in Iowa and they were in the Ukraine.

Four days before Ella was born, Sergei & Gillian Marchenko delivered their youngest daughter Polly in a hospital in the Ukraine. We both learned at their births that our daughters have Down syndrome. We “met” online through the Michiana Down Syndrome Support group. Having another family who had a new daughter with Down syndrome was such a great blessing to Bonnie and I when we moved, and we are so thankful for their support and friendship, and we discovered after moving that we were attending the same church!

Well, our amazing friends, who are now in Chicago where Sergi pastors a church in the Wrigleyville area, are adopting another little girl with Down syndrome from Eastern Europe. Their newest little angel will be named, upon adoption, Evangeline¹.

Evangeline turned two in October. She is living in an orphanage and we hear she has grown to be a healthy, sweet, social little girl. Her adoptive paternal grandmother recently visited little Evangeline and I hear is enamored with her.

Children with DS in her country typically transition from the orphanage to an institution when they are four years old. Devastatingly, a staggering number of children who are institutionalized in her country do not make it to adulthood².

Sergei and Gillian share that as soon as they saw Evangeline’s sweet face they knew she was meant to be their daughter. Their older daughters Elaina and Zoya are very excited about having another sister to love – even volunteering to do without Christmas presents to help bring Evangeline home to them!

International adoption is a huge financial obligation and the Marchenko’s have recently started a “fund raiser” asking those who can to donate $10 (or more) to Evangeline for Christmas.

I know money is tight and you all don’t know Sergei and Gillian personally, but this small gift will be the world to our friends, their family and little Evangeline. If you would like to help bring Evangeline home to her new family you can donate online here through Reece’s Rainbow. Reece’s Rainbow has received their 501(3)c tax deductible status, so these contributions are deductible³. See their website for more information. Alternatively, you can send a check⁴ to them at:

The Marchenko Family
c/o Reece’s Rainbow
PO Box 2055
Dacula, GA 30019

Whether you can or not donate, please keep this family and future newest member in your prayers! Follow their adoption process at Expecting Evangeline.

God Bless,
Kirk and Bonnie

1. Evangeline is Greek for “Angel” [↩]
2. Yes, I am intentionally being vague on the country to avoid potentially upsetting the country who’s controlling this adoption process [↩]
3. They qualify as a public charity under IRS code 170(b)(a)(A)(vi) [↩]
4. and save the Paypal fees [↩]

Kirk, Ella and I are getting ready to participate in our 2nd Buddy Walk on September 20th (supporting Down syndrome awareness) and we are hoping that many of you will be able to help us meet our fund raising goal of $3000.

The walk helps to raise funds for the Michiana Down Syndrome Family Support and Advocacy Group. This group welcomed our family when we moved to MI and their goal is to improve the lives of individuals with Down syndrome. They provide education, awareness, medical need assistance, and family support to families throughout Michiana and the surrounding areas.

Please take time to check out Ella’s donation website where you can donate with your credit cards, or Kirk and I are happy to accept cash and checks (made out to Michiana Buddy Walk).

We know that there a lot of charities out there asking for your money so please know that if all you can send us are your prayers that we thank you for those as well!

http://www.firstgiving.com/ellagoodwin

And of course, if you’d like to join us for the walk please do!

Here’s the schedule:

Event Schedule
We will walk rain or shine.
10:00 – 11:30 – Register and turn in your donations.
(T-shirt for each walker that raises $50- while supplies last)
10:00 – 11:30 Silent Auction Open
10:00 – 1:30 Vendor Tables Open
10:00 – 1:30 Fun & Activities with ND Athletes
12:00 Walk / Followed by Lunch
Entertainment
10:00 – 10:30 Dads Band
10:30 – 11:30 Leonardo
11:30 Speech / Slide Show
12:30 – 1:30 Leonardo

And here’s the directions to the Stepan Center (on Stepan Drive) on the Notre Dame Campus

Directions:

Go west on Douglas Road ½ block past roundabout turn South on Wilson Drive then west on Stepan Drive.  You can also find it through Google Maps. Or for those with a GPS the coordinates are 41.706270, -86.234349. A map can be found below.

View Larger Map

The Goodwins will be participating in the Michiana Down syndrome Buddywalk scheduled, rain or shine, Sat. Oct. 6th. at the Stepan Center, University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN.

The walk is for awareness, advocacy and raise funds to support activities and education for all those affected by Down syndrome in the Michiana community. Ella is a true blessing to our family and efforts like these will help the lives of not only those affected by Down syndrome, but to help lessen the impact and unjustified fear related to the birth of a child with Down syndrome.

While Down syndrome was certainly a little understood area for us at Ella’s birth, we hope that we can help shed light on the joy you can find in it as well.