Merry Christmas!

There's a Third Day song that sums up my emotions this time of year... So I give you the lyrics and a few tears as I type this. Praying for our Birth family today that they are blessed by time with people who love them today. Also praying that we can bring home our boy SOON so he doesn't have to be alone for any Christmases!

"There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn

Cryin' for momma's arms

At an orphanage just outside a little China town

Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang

The stockings by the fire

And dream about the day

When I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms

And tell you from my heart, I wish you a Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights

I'm warmed by the fire's glow

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white

And make angels in the snow

And half a world away you try

Your best to fight the tears

And hope that heaven's angels come

To carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms

And tell you from my heart, I wish you a Merry Christmas

And Christmas is a time to celebrate the Holy Child

And we celebrate His perfect gift of love

He came to us to give His life and prepare a place for us

So we could have a home with Him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home

Your family is here so you will never be alone

So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms

And tell you from my heart and I'll tell you from my heart

I wish you a Merry Christmas"

Merry Christmas!!!

Fun coming in January!!!

First let's talk money... Our next fee that is due when we complete our paperwork is $5,500. It is for translation of the documents and submitting fees. We are hoping to pay this MUCH sooner but the last possible day to pay it is April 16th. So we've put on our thinking caps and come up with a few more fundraisers! We are super excited for these! 

We've got some awesome stuff in January! We will start off the new year with a fundraising kit from Tukula! I grabbed the about from their website to give you a little info on who and what Tukula does (you can look for yourself Here): 

"Tukula (meaning "we grow") is an accessories line based in Jinja, Uganda. We hire young women who are trained as seamstresses but aren't able to find consistent work. Along with a fair wage these women receive medical care, an encouraging work environment, and access to savings programs. In addition to our full time employees, we provide paid interships for women who are on the verge of dropping out of sewing school so that they can continue with their studies and receive a job immediatly after graduating. By relieving the pressure of school fees, medical fees, and daily expenses, these ladies are able to walk with confidence and joy."

 We are really excited about this opportunity AND the bags are super cute!!! I am going to set up an online sale for the items through Facebook, we''ll also have the necklaces we have left in that sale. More details on how that will work soon! 

We are also working on a bowling tournament... Not sure if this will be in January or not, details are still being worked out. At the tournament we are hoping to have a small silent auction set up with some good stuff including a lap quilt raffle!

We are so close to getting completed in our paperwork stage I can just smell the wait! I've starting looking at books to read while we wait and have got quite the list made... If only we had the finances to purchase all of them! Been keeping my eyes peeled at half price books for them though!

I also want to thank everyone who participated in our Home Study by Christmas campaign! Knowing little Africa's are hanging on so many Christmas trees this year makes my heart so warm (we sold 18!!!)! You all are so amazing!

Surgery For Emebet!

Eyerusalem is a little girl we stand as Family in the Gap for through Project HOPEFUL Awassa! She is in Ehtiopia and lives with her mom and dad. Our $30 a month helps her stay with her family and go to school etc... 

Her mom has such a sweet personality, when Project HOPEFUL Awassa visited and brought gifts for all the FIG kids Emebet (Eyerusalem's mother) sat with a beautiful grace and enjoyed every single child's gift. She is in just about every picture of kids with their gifts. It's beautiful.

Her story is a tough one. Read a little bit about her and her family below. I encourage you to HELP! Her mom needs a surgery to better care for her child!

From Project HOPEFUL directors Greg and Charisa Knight, read more about them Here!

Remember Eyerusalem? 

Her parents were injured when Eyerusalem was just 18 months old.

Somehow her father's motorcycle fuel tank caught fire and quickly spread in to the home igniting a kerosene can and sparked an explosion that burned her father badly and crippled her mother. He has recovered and is back to work but has scars and some enduring problems.

She was bedridden for a year and is now confined to this chair. 

A mother despite her circumstances that is filled with such joy.

We need to raise funds asap for her. 
We have the funds for the beginning already in Ethiopia but the hospital needed us to sign a contract that we would cover the funds for the whole amount before they would begin. We told our friends in Ethiopia to go ahead and sign that contract IN FAITH that the funds will come for this sweet momma.
And now we need your help!
The cost of the surgery with the doctor, medicine and hospital is to be around $1,900.
The gift of her being to walk again and fully take care of her daughter is PRICELESS.
We have sent scriptures from you to Emebet and Zewdu went to share them with her and to offer encouragement and prayer.

Zewdu shared this:
I have told all the messages and encouragements by each name and she was crying as I telling about your commitment. Her daughter, Eyerusalem was also at home and enjoyed our visit. One word Emebet said at last is that" I thank my God for giving you around here and abroad to support me. If God doesn't brought you all in my life, I would be history leaving my child for hardship in life much worse than mine. Your visit, words of encouragement and prayers have a meaning for my existence and please keep doing it day and night. By all these I am seeing my God helping me and has a bright future for me to raise my beloved child, Eyerusalem to live a life better than mine. God Bless You all for helping us and keep in touch with me.


Would you like to help us bless this family?
All funds received will go straight to her care and surgery.
(paypal button below..if you’d like to make a donation by check message me at awassaph@gmail.com )
Your tax deductible donation will go straight to her medical needs. 
If you would like to comment (or email them to me awassaph@gmail.com)  with encouraging words and prayers for her—we will make sure that she gets them.
Thank you!!

December

December has big meaning in my life. This time last year I was preparing myself for our first fertility appointments, hoping that it was something simple. We were hoping to have a baby by this time. But God had other plans. Now here we are in this journey. The things that happen in a year are crazy! I know that the next year won't hold too many surprises... Unless we get our referral early... We'll be waiting for the news of a bundle of love waiting on us in Ethiopia!

I am just overwhelmed by the thought that with all the excitement of this past year (see: new dog, adoption journey, and deciding to settle down and buy a house) next year scares me. I dislike sitting around waiting, the unknown scares me.

On a bright note, we are so excited to be waiting though! YAY! While we wait we are going to do some "last ____________ without kids". Like little weekend trips to places we've never been to before. We'll also be doing lots of reading and praying about the adoption. So here's my challenge to you: be our prayer partners. Make it a new years resolution to pray with us, every day for our little boy and his birth family and for us to be patient!

If you are interested in partnering with us I am making up a prayer card for fridges or whatever that will remind you! You can email me (top left of the page) and let me know if you want to be a prayer partner and I will send you a card!

Looking like we will have this home study under wraps by Christmas thanks to YOU ALL! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

(That was an ADD post but glad you stuck around and read it all! LOL)

Fund Raiser Turned Fund Spender

It's happened to the best of us! You have this AMAZING idea for a fundraiser, you spend hours and hours planning and organizing. The day of the event is busy and stressful and you just about lose your mind. Then the time has come and.... no one shows up. Maybe it's an online event and no one purchases anything. It can be completely heart breaking. A "show stopper" of sorts. You think that no one is supporting you because of YOU. If there is one thing I learned in the last few months it is that: THIS. IS. NORMAL. So relax, regroup and find a different opportunity or idea to work on. We've had events that have been AMAZING (see: cornhole tournament) and some that have been so so (see: T-shirts) and some that have completely FLOPPED (see: Just Love Coffee). I am not saying these events won't work for you. I am just saying that sometimes things just don't work.

So what can you do if you can't support us financially? PRAY that someone will! It's a huge encouragement to us and it helps! Also, consider purchasing items from us that you already use (such as laundry soap or cloth diapers) so we can both benefit!

So let me say it again to all you adopting families out there. It's normal for fundraisers to fail. Don't get discouraged and ask for prayers! 

I couldn't help myself!!

We've been waiting til Spring time to get our adoption photo shoot done. I just couldn't make myself wait!!! So I snapped one of my own.... If you ignore the cobwebs in the door way it turned out pretty good :)

We are waiting and praying for YOU!

Fire Inspection!

Our fire inspection is done and... we passed! Just for future reference people, that was NOT BAD AT ALL! Just make sure your alarms work, you have a fire extinguisher, and you have clear paths in all the doorways! Your agency should give you a sample inspection form, just read through it and make sure you have everything it tells you to!

We have about 150 bucks left before we hit our goal of the Homestudy By Christmas! so hop on over to the store and buy some goodies OR you can donate via paypal at the top left of this blog! Thanks so much to all of you who have helped us out. You all have been such a blessing!

I want to write a special note to those who have partnered with us in prayer! You all have kept us moving on days when we've been discouraged. Your notes of encouragement have meant the world to us! Today it has been on my heart to pray for our birth mom. So I encourage you to add her to your prayers today!

Thanks so much!!!

Thankfulness

Howie and I were talking about things we are thankful for and I thought of something a little odd I am thankful for... Today, November 22, 2012 I am thankful for infertility. It has given me the opportunity to help heal a little heart that is breaking, it's given me the ability to encourage other women and couples in my situation, and it's given me hope for things that have seemed hopeless.

When you have been given hope you see hope in everything. I am so optimistic about our future I am just bursting with happiness! Some may say it's a "glow". But whatever it is the best part is I know God has it all in His hands. That right there is comforting. I am thankful he has given me and Howie our difficulties. We had become complacent and now we are ready to take life by the horns!

My words of wisdom to all you who are experiencing some form of infertility are: never let yourself hate the infertility, embrace it, it's who you are. God made you for a purpose, move forward in whatever way you feel you need to! Maybe you are meant to be foster parents to impact a young life that may go unnoticed/forgotten, possibly you are to go through fertility treatments or IVF to show the love of God to a doctor or nurse, maybe you are meant to do a domestic adoption that's open to impact your birth mom's life for Christ, maybe you are meant to adopt internationally, maybe you are meant to adopt older waiting children, or maybe you are meant to help others adopt. We were meant to be doing an Ethiopian adoption. We are so excited to finish out this journey and start many more! So pray about it! God will show you, sometimes it is more difficult to tell but BE OPEN! You never know what he may throw your way!

Thanks for reading our blog. It's been a great way for me to get my feelings and worries down in words. I hope in some way I have encouraged you or given you the urge to advocate for the orphan in this world. That's why I am here, to advocate for the fatherless, to try and tell every single orphan there is a hope for a future! Thank you for being awesome!

Looking for another fund raiser?

Found another great fund raiser! For more information about these necklaces go to: Rebekah Blocher's Website. She does fund raisers for adoptions and mission trips! These are really pretty necklaces and each one has a Bible verse engraved in the back! 

Be a FIG and change a life!

Hey there friends! Here's a post about an awesome organization through which we sponsor a little girl in Ethiopia. They do so much work in keeping kids with their families and also helping the community out (see:goats). So read this and pray about becoming a FIG yourself or perhaps you could buy a goat or two! Let me know if you have any questions and I would be more than willing to answer what I can and defer what I can't!!!

Why Project HOPEFUL Awassa?
In working with Project HOPEFUL’s FIG (Family in the Gap) program we have begun a sponsorship style program that provides the following for sponsored children- some of which live at Ajuuja while others live alone or with family in the community near Ajuuja:

• clothing and shoes two times a year
• medical checkup twice a year and medication in the case of sickness
• basic hygiene materials three times a year
• food support (formula/milk for children in the center and wheat for children in the community)
• all the necessary school supplies twice a year with school uniform and back bag once a year
• annual recreational trip around Awassa
• annual get together at Ajuuja Center
• sporting goods like balls, soccer shoe and jerseys
• regular prayer with men of God invited from different churches at Awassa
• Christmas and Easter celebrations with staff at Ajuuja and invited guests from the community

We are thankful for the work that Project HOPEFUL does and consider it a privilege to join the effort. We know that God loves the Awassa children more than we can even comprehend and pray that our efforts will bring glory to His name as we heed His call to bring help to widows and orphans.
In your role as FIG advocate you agree to:

• commit to praying regularly for “your” child or family
• financially support for $30 per month

There are many other ways to support our Awassa Initiative:

• You can give one time donations to our general fund to help fund special needs and things that sponsorship may not cover.
• You can be a monthly giver of any amount to help fund projects and children who do not have a FIG yet. Every single dollar helps.
• A goat or sheep can be provided for a family to provide meat or income from their offspring for $45 each.

We will also have income generating projects and skill training to help them achieve independence. You could help a family start their own business (tailored to what that family could realistically do in their area and ability.) Contact us if you would like to be a business backer for a family in the community.
To donate go here: http://www.projecthopeful.org/donate?view=donation
Make sure to select FIG Awassa Ethiopia Initiative in the campaign box!
Here are a few of the children that YOU could make part of your family!




To see a complete list of children that still need a FIG (family in the gap) please email us at  awassaph@gmail.com
You can also join us at facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ProjectHOPEFULAwassa/
Thank you for your love of the orphan!
Greg and Charisa Knight

Did he just say that?

We had our first experience of racial discrimination yesterday and I can't even describe the emotions it brought up inside of me.

A man who has known Howie's family for a really long time came to our door campaigning for... Well it doesn't matter who he was campaigning for. But he asked for donations for a yard sign and we declined saying we were adopting and have cut our frivolous spending. He proceeded to give us adoption advice. When they adopted (40 some years ago) they put all the prominent well known individuals in town as references so that they could get a "good Caucasian baby you know the whole works" (<that is exactly what he said and it will be engraved in my mind for the rest of my life).

Then the part I am kind of ashamed about, we told him we were adopting internationally and that it was different. We didn't say we would be adopting an adorable Ethiopian. We didn't bring up that we are going to be parents of an African child. My heart is heavy with shame that we did not stand up for our baby (who's probably not born yet).

So in the future I will stand up for him. Because he deserves a loving family who knows how special he is. How lucky we will be to be his family.

On another note, some people from our church bought us this crib and it is absolutely PERFECT! SO BLESSED!

  

Home Study by Christmas!

We are doing a small drive in fundraising for November/December in that we need $500 for things needed for our home study. So our challenge to you is to donate $10 or more to our Home Study by Christmas drive and we'll send you one of these:

Have you ever given or received a "gift in your honor" kind of gift where someone donated to a fund under your name as a gift to you? Well we are thinking this would make a perfect gift for that! There will be a tag on it explaining what the ornament is and how you got it etc... Also a HUGE thank you!

So here's how it works, you click the button below and donate more than $10 and I'll get you one of these in the mail! That simple! If you're local let me know you want one and I will get it to you personally, skip the paypal!

Thank you so much in advance for all your help and support over that last few months. We are making a dent in the paperwork pretty quickly and hope to have this finished ASAP so we can get on the waitlist!

Melkam Gena! (Merry Christmas in Amharic!)

Book Review and more!

I was recently given the opportunity to read "Adopt Without Debt" by Julie Gumm. What a read! It was super encouraging and gave me a "bright light at the end of the tunnel" feeling! It also gave me an idea, but I'll get to that in a minute.

"Adopt Without Debt" was the most complete compilation of adoption fundraising ideas I've seen yet. She also has a list of grants and other ways to cut your spending to save for your child! Overall a great book! Her story is encouraging and really gave me hope that we too can adopt debt free! It made me feel, actually, that anyone can adopt debt free. But my favorite part of this book was when she addressed the issue of people assuming because you can't afford the adoption that you can't afford the child after he's home. We've been getting alot of that recently as we've made some fundraisers public and it is a stigma that is completely unrealistic and is part of the reason there are 147 million orphans in this world.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is even just considering adoption. It is a great encouragement and gives a realistic yet optimistic look at funding an adoption. So, because of that I am giving it away! All you have to do is comment on this post with where you are at in the adoption process (contemplating, application, homestudy, referral wait, travel etc...)! Also if you want to leave encouragement for those of us in the process preceding you that would be awesome! So comment away (well once, only one entry per person)!!! I will pick the winner randomly on November 10th at 5pm Eastern!

Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Soap?

The kids like to bring me presents while I grate soap hence the shoe and dog toys.... LOL

I've been selling hand made laundry soap as a fundraiser for our adoption for a few months now. It's been a HUGE success and is really helping me get my frustrations out via grater. You have to grate the Fels Naptha soap before you can mix all the ingredients together. So today as I was grating away praying and thinking about my baby I did it. I lost control of the Fels Naptha and next thing I know my secret ingredient to any good soap (blood) was starting to show it's awful presence. So, I go over to the sink and start trying to wash the soap off (soap+scrape=OWWWWWWW) and the tears started streaming. Not because I was in pain. Not because the soap stung in my torn skin. But because this whole process is so overwhelming, from the very beginning "can we really do this" to the "we've got a homestudy scheduled?!?!!!!" moments. It finally all burst out in one big ball of bawling adult.

Then I thought about how our baby is going to have lots of emotional "Fels Naptha accidents." He'll have gone through lots of hurt in his little life and God has entrusted us with putting a band-aid of love over his scars. So, subsequently, I went from bawling like a baby to smiling at the thought of loving over the hurts that sweet baby is going to have.

Of course the daycare kids were looking at me like I had lost my mind completely finally. So that was interesting. The minute I stopped crying they both starting bawling, that meant ONE THING!!! NAP TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just thought I would share :)

Smile from ear to ear

I got a smile from ear to ear when I saw the UPS guy. Because he was holding these: 

That is all I had to share! Just had to share it!!!

Emotional emotions emoting

Should not be like this this early on in our journey. I feel like I have a cloud looming over me. We have our home study SCHEDULED and now I am freaking out. We don't have a bath tub (I KNOW) and I am pretty certain our windows are not up to fire code. If we need to remedy those two situations we will be spending THOUSANDS of dollars... Oh did I mention our neighbor tore down part of his fence that was around his pond, for no reason, and has no plans of putting it back up? That mean we'll need to put up a fence more than likely.

I think that my biggest fear is our social worker coming to our house and seeing the fence missing and looking at the pond and saying "oh, you'll need a fence." My heart will sink. We can't afford a fence, a bathroom renovation, and bigger windows!

I guess I was due a vent post and I feel much better now that my problems are put into words. I know God has his plans and maybe this will all work out. Maybe we'll meet a fencing guy who will do all the work and supplies for cheap/free, maybe we won't need a bathtub to pass the homestudy (I still think I am gonna want one when we bring home a toddler), perhaps our windows are just fine.

But it is all up in the air and I don't work well when things are up in the air. I am a list person. I am a consistency driven individual and am living in a journey where there is no consistency. So bear with me the next few years as we traverse this rocky road. Cause if the last few weeks are any indication I will be capital C CRAZY. (also keep Kevin in your prayers cause he has to live with me! LOL)

Here's a couple of the other reason I am worried about our homestudy:

Kimby who is the 80 pound lap dog/curious hound

Hank is still adjusting to life in a home with 2 brothers

Dingo is a licker. He especially likes baby mouths

I dunno, I spose we'll find out soon. In the mean time things might get interesting around here...

As always be praying for our child's birth family. Where they are may be safe and that they may be able to emotionally handle the gift they are about to give us!

<3

I guess this post needs a title... THANK YOU!!!!

So thankful to everyone who has helped us to reach our goal of $9,015! Unfortunately and fortunately we came short but have some savings we will use to cover the rest. We raised way more than I thought we would! Without God none of this would have been possible! It is so neat to see him working through all this.

We'll be scheduling our homestudy very soon and can't wait to write a post about our first waiting list number!!!!

If I could go back and do it all over again I would suggest you sit down and time out all of your fundraisers and set scheduled times of when you will be doing what fundraiser. It would have been so much easier if everything was planned out. As is, I am a flustered mess but we made it! Praise God! Our next financial goal is $5,500 and will be due when we submit our dossier paperwork. So continue praying for us and consider supporting us in our journey!

The work is never done, the fields are always ripe for harvest. So get out there and have a great day!

2nd Trimester of HOPE

                           So for today's blogpost you all get to see us start our "2nd Trimester"! 

Here's me writing down the address for AGCI

Here's me walking out the door

Here it is safe in my purse

The post office!!! (and Laurinaitis the Liberty)

The post office guy who gave me a hard time about taking pictures... 

There it is! All ready to go!

I cried on the way out to the car. So happy tears yet nervous tears too... We're all in now! No going back! So very excited to share these pics with you! Thanks to everyone who is following our journey! To make it easier you can follow our blog too! Just use one of the options off to the right!

Thanks!!!

So Tell Me, Why Did YOU Chose Adoption?

I was writing  this post when I realized that our vision has changed a little. This process will change anyone, but it has already worked on us. I felt I owed it to you all to share again why we chose adoption. Why we chose the kind of adoption we did, and what kind of adoption we want to do in the future!

I will start from the beginning I guess. Howie and I got married at 20 and started trying to have kids right away. We didn't tell a lot of people we were trying because I have Endometriosis and Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I have had multiple surgeries for these two things that have left my reproductive system in a scar tissued mangled mess. I was told it is possible to conceive but learned I have sporadic ovulation as well so it would be a shot at luck. So we faithfully tried to conceive for 3 years. Nothing happened. So we went to a fertility doctor to find out why it wasn't working. Well turns out the problems don't just rest in my reproductive system, but Howie's too. When we got that news we were devastated. We started researching adoption (my dad was adopted and I always wanted to adopt because of him so I had a small file of info already).

We looked at Embryo adoption first, but with all my problems being pregnant just didn't sing with me. I felt uncomfortable with that option based on instinct. Next was domestic infant adoption, but what birth parent would choose a 23 year old couple who were still in college? So we felt that wasn't right for us. Then I found the US adoptable children photolisting and spent many hours on that website waiting for "the right face" to pop up. That's when we decided to try foster care. We went through all the classes but one. We missed one of the last classes and when we sat down the Saturday after the last class we talked. Being foster parents is hard. Adoption is general is hard but if the bio-family stepped up and met their goals and the kids went back our house would be empty. I especially thought the idea of going from active family with kids to just the two of us on a regular basis would wear me so thin I may break. So we decided we needed to adopt first. The International aspect jumped out at me when a woman came to speak at our church about orphan care. She and her husband had adopted internationally multiple times and her testimony rattled my bones. I knew we needed to adopt internationally.

I got home that night and looked up online every single one of the long list of good agencies that she gave us. All God's Children International stuck out the most. They provide excellent services to adopting families and are a great agency for a "beginner" at international adoption. The two programs we qualified for were Bulgaria and Ethiopia. We have some family ties to Ethiopia (my second cousin was a missionary in Ethiopia where he was matyred) so we chose that country. Now that we have settled with this (we flip flopped a while with foster parenting more on that in a sec) I feel confident it is what God wanted from us all along! Our homestudy will be scheduled soon and we'll start putting our Dossier together then too! Can't wait (we send our contract in tomorrow and we'll schedule our homestudy and dossier run through probably Friday)!!!!!!!!!!!

So what are our plans after we bring our first child home? Well we want to adopt from Honduras and have a missionary contact there who can help with that (Adoptions Honduras). We also desperately feel the need to foster. The kids in the foster system get bounced around from one mediocre house to the next and we want to be one of the few good homes for these hurting kids to find healing and rest. I cry whenever I think about being taken away from all you know so often and we want to stop the cycle. It's a passion God's given us and hopefully we will see it through!

We also someday may try the Embryo adoption. My belief is that these "snowflake babies" are humans, they are living things that will just be discarded if no one adopts them and helps them experience the joys of life outside the amniotic fluid. Someday. Maybe.

I feel like God gave us this burden of infertility to steer us to the family he had in mind for us all along. We were just too blind to see it for 3 years! I can't imagine bringing another child into this world when there are so many hurting children waiting for a family now. So I encourage you to consider adoption or foster care. It will NOT be easy but will be so well worth it when you see the effect you have had on a child's life!

*steps off soapbox*

When Life Calls And Wants It's Ball Back

Fundraising. Is. Hard.

Bottom line. It is emotional, time consuming, and really not so fun. Sometimes it is hard to see the silver lining in it all and lose your vision of the goal. It is hard on a marriage, it is hard on friendships, it is hard on families. So is it even worth it? Um, YES!

I was feeling kinda gloom about our fundraising efforts (the fact that the whole Just Love Coffee fundraiser STUNK) and then my phone rang. A friend I am going to be visiting soon called and wanted to check in and make some arrangements for my travel and stay there. It was like she was God saying "calm down, all will be well, just trust in me, I got this." She may not know she was used like that. She may never know. But it was a prime example of how God can speak to us in modern day!

When I hung up the phone I realized worrying about how the money is going to come in is NOT fundraising at all. It's just worry. Fundraising (from a Christian standpoint) is trusting that God will provide and using the gifts he gave you to spread the word and bring in His blessings!

Maybe that's part of the trust, knowing he gave me a gift for creativity and using it. I think that's the line where people may think you're coo coo or a smart talented person. If you just blanket say "I trust that God will provide" and just sit there in your easy chair and wait, well I doubt God will bless that...  But instead I see the gifts He gave me and my husband as how He will (and has) provide. He gave us these gifts for such a time as this. You know I always think of Veggie Tales when I say that phrase, no joke. When I read it in the Bible I read it in my head as Pa Grape... Anways... In reality the story of Esther is a prime example of how God created someone to show that he will provide. He created Esther to have a unique beauty and character so that she would someday be queen and save her people. I think that when I am feeling blue about the process of adoption I need to look deep into myself and see what God has stashed secretly in me. What kind of talent or idea can I come up with to help with our goal?

So stay saavy my friends, just because one thing didn't work try try again! (not including actual scripture verses but including a clip from veggie tales? How old am I again??? LOL)

The Veggie Tales Esther clip I was talking about...

While I was writing this I am feeling like I need to rewrite a post about WHY we chose adoption... So I think I will end this here and start that one... 

Garage Sale 2.0

We are having another garage sale!!! We need to make some serious dents in our fee coming due October 16th. Our goal for this sale is $1,000. Trusting in God and knowing he has the money for us is our only option at this point. So again, we pick up the shovel and are digging our way through this mountain that is in our way. God is taking care of moving the big boulders for us.

Everytime I get discouraged I remember being in Jamaica in 2004. We were digging the foundation for a school building and there was this rock in my way. I say rock, I really mean huge glacier (I wish it was a glacier, it was HOT and DRY). I chipped away at that thing for three days straight. I broke one pick axe and just about speared my foot with it's replacement. The replacement was a axe head on a tree branch, yes a tree branch... Anyway, one day when I was convinced my section of foundation would never be clear I hit the magic spot and it just crumbled beneath my axe. God knew I needed something to hope for and he showed his power by turning my problem into dust. We have hope that he will turn this mountain into dust if we try hard enough to break it up. (Well figuratively, if he turned the money into dust we would have a problem...)

So continue to pray with us that this mountain looses some significant size in the next 20 days (how long we have before our due date). We have the faith that it will happen and need your support as well! All of you who have given us encouragement and support, we thank you from a depth of our hearts that we have never thanked anyone before! You all are a special blend of love and our child will be the most loved little boy in Ohio I am sure of it! (*tears streaming down my face as I type that because I know it's true!*)

If you want to donate the paypal link is at the top left of our page. If you are praying for us leave us a note of encouragement please! We could use all we can get! THANK YOU!!!

Hospital Survival Bag turned into Airplane Survival Bag

You know you've seen one given away at a baby shower... You know one of these. But I had a great idea pop in my head tonight! An airplane survival bag for new adoptive parents traveling to get their babies!!! Include things like trail mix, a diaper and single serve thing of wipes, a refillable water bottle, crystal light packets, gum, pictures of family (kids left at home, the baby they are traveling to get etc..), a couple of pacifiers, a book with crosswords or sudoku, and maybe a couple of kinds of candies. If you put it all in a small backpack with a changing pad too it could be their carry on too!!!

Things are EXPENSIVE at airports and most people are not going to think to pack some snacks or something to keep them busy on the LONG flight to get their child. It would be a really good thing to just prepare this for them. Have it all packed for them so that is one less thing they have to worry about!

I think it could be a really cool idea! You could cater it to the individual family too. Yup, if I know someone adopting they are totally getting one of these as a gift!!!

Meylah...

I encourage you all to go check out our Meylah store! It's more than just T-shirts (although there are some sweet ones)! Everyone who orders before September 29th will be entered in to a drawing for...... A free item from the store!!!! ANY ITEM! FREE! Can't beat that!! So do your thing and click on THIS LINK and find something you love!

Seriously, do it before the 29th! We still have a long ways to go before reaching our $9,000 goal and need your help, time is running out!!!!!! I will be posting some new products throughout the week so subscribe via email to the Meylah store for updates!!!

I am excited to give something away!!!!!!

Rejoice with those who rejoice

Most women who experience fertility problems know what I am talking about when I say pregnant women suck. It is hard to not feel anger towards them, even though it is not their fault you are where you are. I was reading my Bible today when I cam across this tidbit:

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." 

Romans 12:15

Mourning with those who mourn is an easy task, give them a shoulder to cry on, a tissue for their tears (or snot) and love them back to rejoicing. But the first part is tricky. That's right. Rejoice with those who rejoice. How am I supposed to rejoice with an unmarried woman who gets pregnant accidentally when I've been trying for years? How am I supposed to rejoice when the 16 year old down the street has twins? How am I supposed to rejoice when my friend who also experienced infertility finds out she's pregnant? Well, the only way I have found to get myself through this is to know that when I rejoice with these women now, I will be rejoicing with that much more vigor and that many more people when we are finally on our final trip to Ethiopia. Is it hard? Heck yes it is hard! I have found it getting easier but deep down there is still a squeamish feeling in my tummy when I see a young teen who is pregnant, or find out a friend of mine is. 

How do I get through the jealousy part? For me, I have been praying the minute I feel a jealous twinge that God help me through that rough patch. It is really hard to not be jealous when I see pictures of friends holding their newborns or visit them at the hospital. It's tempting to cut myself off from them completely. But not acting on that jealousy and just choosing to rejoice with them makes me a better person! 

So I encourage you to start rejoicing with these women! To love them and their precious gifts knowing someday somehow you will receive blessings ten times over because you obeyed and rejoiced!

Goosebumps take 1

I was fiddling around on the interwebs and stumbled across this blog here and felt the need to give, the story of this week's family there touched my heart. When it came down to putting in my donation amount I felt God tell me I needed to give more than just $1 if I expected more than just $1. So I did. One of my daycare families came to pick up today and she said "we want to do the Stay In Bed 5k" so I told them how much it would be and she said ok and then wrote a check. When she handed it to me it was for the $25 AND there was more, the EXACT amount I gave to a couple adopting through Give 1 Save 1. Needless to say I got goosebumps. But wait there's more! I had another family who also wanted to do the 5k. They also gave extra, it was ALSO the EXACT amount!!!

I had to sit down and when I told the second family all of what had happened that day they too were getting all goosebumpy. I was also at that point able to share how I trusted God to make a way and he not only made it, he doubled it. How powerful! Still on a spiritual mountain top at this point... Hoping I don't get kicked off of it too soon!!!

Temptation

Last night as we drove home from visiting a friend we went past one of those restaurants. You know, the kind you can smell before you can see? We've not been eating out unless it is in the budget and planned out (like birthday dinners, special night outs, etc.). But last night I almost caved. I was smelling that sweet aroma of steak and garlic all wrapped together and went into a haze, Howie had to snap me out of it. Then I got to thinking, all this sacrificing, all the unanswered pangs of my wants, will all be worth it when we hold our child for the first time. Then I will be longing for the smells of the Ethiopian Orphanage where he is instead of the smells of a steak house. Longing to go back and bring our baby home.

It is so hard to sacrifice in the financial world. There are all kinds of things I want now but cannot have. It's kind of like how all of the sinful stuff in life seems fun at the time but in the long run can lead to a horrible eternity. If we ignore all those temptations now to go out to eat, or get my hair done, or buy a cute outfit, we will be basking in our reward of a child to love much sooner and without regret. We will also become better stewards of all God has given us! What could be better? Obeying my God and getting the reward of a child to love. You can't beat that.

So again, I challenge you to partner with us! Stop frivolous spending and save some of that change to bring our orphan home!!! 

Why International Adoption?

We have been asked this question multiple times and I think I am ready to answer it on a more public level. Why did we chose international adoption for our first adoption? Why did we chose Ethiopia? Well, it can be broken down into one reason. Because we are feeling a pull in our hearts toward the orphans in Ethiopia. But, let me expand on that!

We feel that God knows the children he has for us. It is our jobs to be open and prayerful for an answer as to where we will adopt. Our agency approved us for two countries, Bulgaria and Ethiopia. We ruled out Bulgaria simply because they won't adopt out the children under age one and usually not until they are 2 and we really want to (and feel we should) start our parenting journey with an infant. So that left Ethiopia. My dad's cousin was a missionary in Ethiopia where he was martyred. His wife is still in contact with people in Ethiopia and has already helped us so much with translating words and names (thanks Jewell!). I know that that connection, the family tie, is a huge flag in my book of God saying "this is where your child is".

Now as for our plans for after Ethiopia? Honduras is looking promising. We also feel a call to foster here in the US one day when we have more parenting experience.

In summary, you can only know where you should adopt and what would be best for your family. For us it is Ethiopia, for you it may be China, for others it is private infant domestic adoption. Where ever you adopt and who ever you adopt it all boils down to loving a child who needs to know love and that is what we are in this for. I am sure my answers to this question will grow and change while we head through this process. This is where we are now. So partner with us on our journey and bring home baby Hoos!!! (check out our 5k too!)

Stay in bed 5k!

We are going to be doing an adoption fund raiser for us and a couple of awesome friends who are also adopting Read about them here! A stay in bed 5k is where you sign up like any other 5k, there's a fee for a t-shirt packet and you can get sponsors and everything, the only thing missing is the running! All you have to do is wear your shirt and number on the day specified and go on with your day. You can take pictures of yourself in your shirts and of course your race number during the day for entrance into a drawing for a prize!

So basically this is a neat way to include all of our friends, even those who if you see them running you had better start running too, in a great event!

Deadline for registration: September 22nd (so we can order shirts and other goodies for you!)
Day of the 5k: October 13th
Where: Anywhere you go on Oct 13th!!!
How much?: $30/ participant (includes shirt, race number, goodies and opportunity to win a prize!)
How?: Go to the paypal link at the top left of this page and submit 25 dollars add a note with your shirt size and address!
Goal: 75 participants

Help us meet our goal and have some fun finding creative places to sleep too! Now excuse me while I nap train for this awesome event!!!

Upload your race day pictures here on the facebook page!!!

Cornhole Tournament

Our cornhole tournament was a HUGE success! We have such an awesome group of friends and family who support us so much! Feeling very blessed! Also did some brainstorming of other fund raisers we can do in the near future. So hopeful and excited for things to come!!! Since I forgot to do a fact Friday and it is Sunday already I think I will just post a cute picture of one of our dogs doing my job for me on Friday while I wasn't posting a fact Friday!

Kimby cleans up after the daycare kids lunch!

You're gonna do what? Breast feeding my adopted child

I have been running this post through my mind over and over trying to figure out how I would write it. The subject is a little odd, I haven't seen too many blogs where adoptive parents from ET have breastfed (or at least that they wanted to talk about publicly). But, I am one that when I do something unique I shout it off the rooftops. I strive to instill courage in all my introvert brethren, at least that's what I tell myself. So here it is: we are going to give it a good try to breast feed our adopted child. (if our agency and social worker are kosher with it)

What the la leche league has to say about it!

I am going to just give you how we broke it down.

Pros: Promotes attachment/bonding, it's practically free of cost once you have a pump and storage system, it is what I would do for a biological child, it's best for the baby nutrition wise, and it's something that has been done for pretty well all of history (ever heard of a wet nurse?).

Cons: It is considered "weird" to some, it may be awkard at first and near the end, let's face it we're white and he is black (stereotypes and such), and there is always the "what if's" what if he doesn't latch etc..., just one more new thing for such a young person, and what if people view it as morally wrong.

As you can see the majority of the cons stem from how others view us. Obviously, we can't let that out weigh the pros that it is really what is best for the baby. The con about the stress of adding one more thing to change is a different story. We are going to do our best to tackle that when it comes. By taking things slow, doing it in the process that is recommended by either a doctor or a lactation expert.

Of course this is a huge under taking (as it is when breast feeding a biological baby) but I am willing to work at it and Howie is along for the ride and being very supportive. So be praying for us, that we are making the right choice for our family. I'll post more about this when we get farther into the process!

A quick update

Well there's the bottle! Almost 2/3 full of change and a ton of cash. We have managed to start a really expensive diet and still save all this change! So excited to keep pinched and sacrificing to bring home our baby! Want to join us? Let me know!

That book in the picture is a must read! So buy it, read it, and implement what you find!

Ok, there's my update! I just got excited to share our bottle and this amazing book!

WWJD? But I don't wanna!

Being a Christian is a huge part of who I am. I try to make every decision in my life in regards to what the Bible teaches. Recently I have been tested in this. There are days when I feel like nothing I do is going to matter. Days when the "what ifs" of international adoption get a hold of me. Those days when I wonder if this journey we are on will ever have an end point. Today was one of those days.

It was a worry day. I worried about the home study, attachment, breast feeding (post to come on that bombshell right there), money, money, and oh money. Then I remembered the sermon from church on Sunday. We finished up the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. He suggested we read those three chapters as often as possible and to live by them in turn. I did read those three chapters last night. I read the words Jesus spoke about not worrying. Yet here I am, worrying. After I had this realization I took some time to pray it out. I had a heart to heart with my maker and came out on the other side feeling motivated and encouraged that this would all come together. And together it came!

Last night I posted our coffee fund raiser on a Facebook page for our area "classifieds" where people post stuff for sale and advertise their businesses. Right when I got done praying I went to the computer and as a last resort hold on my independence checked our fund raising websites. There in the "orders" column were three names I did not recognize. Three complete strangers bought coffee in support of our adoption. I was blown away at how God can use an innocent by stander for His will. Those people who bought that coffee reminded me of how I just needed to trust God. Give ALL my decisions to Him and trust he will guide me in the correct direction.

So, I am telling you here and now. This crazy, messy, unorganized life will be guided by God. 

Free Coffee? Here's how!

We are giving away a free bag of coffee from our Just Love Coffee Store! All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is purchase something from our Meylah Storefront by Saturday September, 8th 2012 at 8:00am. I will do the drawing at 9:00am Saturday and notify you via this blog and my facebook of the winner! So get over to Our Meylah Store and order up! 

Fact Friday! Did you know?

Did you know that the median age in Ethiopia is 16.8 years old?
Did you know that only 42% of Ethiopians are literate?
Did you know Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world?
Did you know my child's birth family lives there? :)

Have a great Labor Day weekend people!

Something Not Related To Adoption :)

I made a super cool phone/money wallet! 

Of course I sewed a tiny Africa on it :)

It's made from an old tie. I folded it over hemmed where I needed to on the raw edge, and top stitched it to finish! (The handle is attached by the tie tag sewed in a loop when I top stitched)

So easy and cost maybe .75 to make!

No Second Hand Stores For You

I wish we wouldn't have decided on just boys from Ethiopia, because now allll I want to do is buy little boy clothes, toys, and stuff. I know we have 2 years (or more possibly) but every time I see an adorable onesie or a really cute diaper pattern I wanna snatch it up! It is so hard resisting myself and some times I just don't and buy whatever it is that I find adorable that day. I have banned myself from second hand stores because of outfits like this:

Second Hand Stores Are Dangerous!

Incredibly cute, yes, however I have no idea if this will even fit the child we get. But, I just couldn't help myself. Plus, it was only 6 bucks for all of it! I think that if we were on both the girl and boy waiting list that I would buy much less but I am probably wrong. I am now looking for tops that go well with this shirt for family pictures (I have a problem) for Howie and I. Hoping our little one is in 12 month clothes or smaller when he comes home! Cause that is what I have started doing, only collecting 12 month and up clothes. I am pretty safe (or so I tell myself) because we want to adopt a boy under 1 year.

I also have to watch myself on the internets, especially sites like this one and this one where I know I will be shopping like mad in a few years but for now I can only browse and dream.

That was my rant for the day. I am going to hang this outfit up in our boys bedroom so whenever I am working in there I can remember who will be rolling around on the carpet I am cleaning, or who will be sleeping in the crib I am setting up. My favorite is every night I go to bed thinking about how awesome that first time I see him will be. It helps me sleep, like a rock. AND have dreams about him having red hair (ridiculous I know but that is what I dreamt), and being so small he fits in my palm (again, I know, but thats how I dream! LOL). I do have some crazy dreams about our little guy! I also dreamt recently about going to Honduras to get our second child, that was a fun dream. It had all my Honduran friends in it and I woke up so hopeful that I will see all of them someday again :).

Anyways, just thought I would post a little something about this. We still have our homestudy to do. I think we have the slowest adoption ever. Most people apply and have their homestudy like a month later. We're on the longer track because of having to raise the money first. Oh well, it's been a crazy ride! Can't wait for some pit stops along the way!!!

Sew Many Opportunities!

I know, the title is really cheesy. But, it's the truth! There are  soooo many opportunities to help bring an orphan home to us that it's hard for me to keep track! SO, for confusion sake I am going to post all of the current opportunities right here! I encourage you to check out each thing and see if it is something you want to do!

I'll start with our Meylah store! We have T-shirts, Duct Tape Couture, bibs, and our latest edition CLOTH DIAPERS! Made all by yours truly (my mom is working on some things to be added soon!) each item has the continent of Africa on it so that everytime you use it you think about Africa and the millions of orphans going to bed without a mom and dad. You can find the Meylah store HERE!

Next would be our Just Love Coffee fund raiser! You get your morning joe, we get $5. It's a win win. You can find that HERE! 

Then we have our fill a bottle campaign. We are encouraging everyone we know, barely know, never met, to fill up a baby bottle with spare change and donate it to our adoption (rest assured we are not using the bottles to feed the baby!). So, get digging in the couch, or go cash only like we did and save all the change you get! Either way, go buy you a baby bottle and fill it up!

We are doing a cornhole tournament on September 8th. $10/person, half goes to a prize half to our adoption. It should be a great time for everyone! We will have food there for a suggested donation. Water bottles for a dollar and tap water is free! So if you are interested in this RSVP closes Sept 1st so message me or comment if you want to come!

That's it for now! We have another garage sale in the works for this fall so stay tuned for that! If something up there interests you get to it! Our deadline for $9,013 is October 16th!

How many orphans?

FACT FRIDAY!

I will start with the basics. These can be found  here on our agency's site. Of the 75 million people in Ethiopia 4.3 million are orphans. To give perspective, there are 311 million people in the US and only around 100,000 orphans here. Just to show you the need of adoption from Ethiopia. That is crazy to think about. I am sure the poverty of the country is felt the most by these orphans. One in 6 Ethiopian children die before their 5th birthday. My friend's little girl is having her 6th birthday in Sept. To think she could have never had this last year is heart wrenching to me. So pray for the orphans in Ethiopia (and around the world) and consider stepping up and supporting one. Or even going out on a limb and starting an adoption. I know of some great agencies if you are interested!

Ways to cut spending

Check out this site "How To Cut You Spending By $400 Bucks A Month" it has all kinds of great ways to cut your spending!

So what will yo do with that extra $400?

We're going to put it in a baby bottle!

We're already started on our Baby Bottle Campaign! Ask me how you can help!

Fact Fridays!

On Friday's I will be posting a little fact morsel about Ethiopia, adoption, or whatever it is I find interesting that day! So stay tuned on FRIDAY for some fun (or not so fun) facts!

On an unrelated note, be praying that I don't become a "ball of insane"... Emotions have been going CRAZY the last few days!

Cash vs. Card

We have been praying about ways we ourselves can save more and spend less for this adoption. We have decided to step out on faith and start a cash only form of budgeting. No more credit cards (except for getting a card that gives us Frequent Flyer Miles, a post to be written later) for everyday purchases, they will be saved for big things like bills and payed off immediately. We plan on saving all the coins we get for change for the adoption. So here is the reason I am posting about this:

1. We need accountability! We are going to have a debit card "icing" party! We would like everyone who can come to this to be here! I'll send out invites soon.
2. We want to challenge you to do the same (if you don't already). Even if it is just choosing one thing you usually pay for with a card and paying cash instead. Save that change and donate it to a good cause (like our adoption). 
3. We seriously want everyone to know how our journey takes place fully! This process is a lifestyle change and we want everyone to know how we are approaching it. Hopefully, out of this journey, you will be inspired to adopt. Domestically, internationally, the kids are all in need of home with a warm bed and good food! 

So, I ask you to pray for us (or send good vibes whatever you chose) on this journey! If you are interested in partnering with us we are going to buy the giant baby bottle coin banks for you to keep your change in! So let me know if you want one! We are also going to be starting a "Fill The Bottle" campaign SOON! "Fill The Bottle" is where we buy those super cheap bottles in bulk and hand them out to people. You fill them and then return them! So if you are interested in that, let me know!

Duct Tape Purse Deal # 2

Special deal for all you blog followers! If you are the first to nab this awesome purse you can get 5 dollars off any t-shirt! So get over to our store HERE and purchase it with a message attached on which shirt you would like a sizes. You'll have to pay the rest via the "Donate" button on the top left of this blog but you get 5 BUCKS OFF! Can't beat that. All while helping an orphan find a forever family! So do it, quick!