Tuesday, August 19, 2014

New stuff

So its been awhile! A lot has happened since I last posted! We have been matched with a 5 year old girl from Burundi! Our original plan when we started this adoption process was to adopt a boy, 0-3 years, no special needs and from Ethiopia. God really likes to wreck OUR plans and show us what he has in mind instead. So though a series of events that I will have to write about at a later date, our world got messed up when God put a little 5 year old girl on our hearts and we said YES! We are so excited for the new route God has lead us down and even more excited that we let God be in control of this adoption!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Blah.....

I'm tired of fundraising, and really I don't even do a good job of it. I'm not a sales person, so I hate advertising our need for money. I need a fundraiser manager....I can dream right! But I also have to realize that God called us to this adoption and since we don't have $30,000 right now or anytime in the near future, fundraising is what we HAVE to do. No matter how uncomfortable and awkward it is. This is all part of the process. As my Pastor told me "whether you give birth a child or adopt you have to go through birthing pains", so for the sake of an orphan that is sitting in an orphanage with hundreds of other children, longing for a permanent family, a home, love and HOPE, I will continue to be be uncomfortable. I cant just sit back and merely hope that we will raise the money. I have no doubt that God will provide for our adoption but I have to meet him half way and be willing to be uncomfortable for his cause. onward march...

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Break our Hearts

I have been pretty blown away so far with how God is bringing everything together for our benefit dinner. So many people have been generous of their time, resources and money. I am so thankful for all the help and prayers.
The more I learn about the orphan situation around the world,  I am feeling more and more drawn to raise awareness on their behalf. I don't believe that God is calling me to only adopt, I truly feel like  he wants me to do more for orphans. So I will wait on his  timing to reveal the rest of the plan.
As we are making final plans and getting details worked out for our benefit dinner, please be praying that God will really speak to people. Our desire for this dinner is not to just raise money for OUR adoption but to raise awareness about orphans all around the world. I hope that people's hearts will be broken for them. Only God can do this so please pray that God will show up, pack the house and open people's hearts for his orphans.
Oh and don't forget to get your tickets, you are not going to want to miss out!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Out of Our Comfort Zone

Since it is a new year I always think of things I would like to change or do better. This year is different because I have really been asking God to take me and our family out of our comfort zone. I don't want to be a "casual christian"" I want to be his hands and feet, and this year I want Jesus to take me just a little further than he did last year. Which might be hard to beat cause he did call us to adopt a child from a foreign country! Even as I pray daily that God will please use me and please take me out of my comfort zone, I am very terrified for that time when he is going to do it. Will I have the passion to follow through with what I am asking God to do, or will I chicken out. I am excited for God to use me but I am scared to be uncomfortable. It feels nice to be comfortable and secure, but I also know that is right where Satan wants all Christian's to be, nice and warm in our homes where we cant really do much for Christ. I look for opportunities in my daily life where I can step out just a little further than I did last year, little ways I can show my kids what it means to be a "his hands and feet" I want this year to be filled with less of us and more of Jesus, and I am willing to do whatever it takes!
 As I am sitting here I am thinking about all the things I need to do to get ready for out benefit dinner, I need to get things for our silent auction. That means I have to call friends and strangers and ask them to give me stuff, which means I am having to go way out of my comfort zone so we can go through with our adoption. I really  hate this part of the process but I realize it must be done, and I will grow because of it.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Drum Roll.......

After much prayer and having a very mumbled jumbled brain for a couple weeks, I am happy to announce our next fundraiser will be a benefit dinner! I am thankful that I have already had a few people offer to help. This will be a huge undertaking, but I also hope it will help get us closer to the $4,000 we need to get our application moving! I am praying about a location and menu, please pray with us and if you have any suggestions and ideas feel free to chime in!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Just jump.....

We sang one of my ultimate favorite worship songs at church today! I LOVE this song and it speaks to me in a different way almost every time. What does it really mean? The Bible mentions faith like a child and faith that can move mountains and people that don't have faith. To me faith means we just do what ever God wants and just know that it will work out and be what is best for us. As parents we do what is best for our children and we expect them to trust us and God expects no less from us. When God called us to adopt I didn't take the time to ask him how? I just knew that he would work out the details, he just wanted our obedience and willingness.  When God calls us to do something I believe most of the time he wants us to just jump off the cliff and we aren't supposed to worry about where we will land. I find great comfort knowing that I can just have faith that he is God and  is always looking out for my best interest! What an amazing God we serve!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Moving Forward

Day 2 of the blog, yay for me!!!  Its not even officially public and I already have a 2nd post!

Our application has been sent in and I am happy to announce that we have officially been approved to move forward with an adoption from Ethiopia!!!!!!!! Now the next part is the reality of adoption, the cost and the money part. We need $4000 to get our application moving forward and to complete our home study. The bad part is we only get  6 months to pay the first initial program fee which is $2500 or we will have to re-apply and may not get approved again. After the application gets started then we can start our home study and  after our home study is started we will be able to apply for grants.  We are really praying that the grants will cover a good amount of the estimated $30,000 total for the adoption. I know that God already knows where every penny for this adoption will come from. I can trust him that he will be with us through every fundraiser and every grant we apply for. I am ready to get started and see God work in all the cool ways that he always does. I also know that his timing is not our timing so it can be easy to get discouraged when things aren't happening as quickly as I want them to. This will also be a great lesson in patience and trust for me as I learn to "trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understandings" Proverbs :3:5. Please share our donation link on Facebook and Twitter or email. We never know who God will choose too use to help it, and it could be that random person on your Facebook page!