Big News with the Holidays on the Way!

It's truly amazing how God works. With all of the changes in our adoption lately, I have felt like the only thing that would hold us back would be raising funds... which is heart breaking.

Well...God is good and is using the most amazing people to help us!

Honestly, it is so humbling to be blessed by people that are SO selfless.

In the month of November, I have 5 different fundraisers that will be taking place. And... I only planned one of them. How amazing? God is so so good.

Do you LOVE the holidays as much as I do? The Thanksgiving food, the Christmas spirit, the lights, the smells, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... I just love it!

Well with the holidays coming up, these fundraisers couldn't come at a better time! AND they are some AWESOME fundraisers!!

Are you ready??? Drumroll please........

1. On November 3rd AND November 4th, I am having TWO different Noonday parties!!! Yay! I just LOVE Noonday! If you can come to one of the parties that would be awesome. If not, you can order by going HERE!!! Enter Powell Adoption as your trunk show name.

2. Laura Beth Lamb, who serves alongside her husband and 2 little boys, as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, will be donating her commission for a THIRTY-ONE party in November! Their personalized bags, duffles, suitcases, makeup bags, etc. are perfect Christmas gifts for anyone! The party will open up on the first!

I just can't tell you how thankful I am to have such God fearing people supporting this journey that truly are models for putting others before themselves to serve God. It's amazing all the ways I have seen God through this journey.

3. WHO WANTS TO BE FIT?!? Ever heard of HipHop Abs, Insanity, P90X, Shakeology, Brazil Butt Lift or Slim in 6?! For the month of November, 50% OF YOUR PURCHASE towards BEACHBODY products goes towards bringing our baby girl home!! I am SO SO excited about this fundraiser!

Get fit during the holidays instead of putting on extra pounds! Have your own BeachBody coach! Clair Jenkins has been beyond gracious to do this fundraiser for us! You can visit HERE FOR BEACHBODY or HERE FOR SHAKEOLOGY!This flyer gives a little bit more information about it:

4. Keep collecting your change at the end of the day in your little houses! We are praying for great things to happen with these little houses!

Can you see the way God is working to bring Matsy Grace home the way I can? It has truly been unbelievable. Every day last week I felt like I was having deja vu because I was calling my husband saying, "You aren't going to believe how blessed we are. Guess who volunteered to help us today?!  or Guess what money we received today?!"

God is good. God is gracious.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. -Psalm 145:8

Whirlwind of Changes

In my last post, I mentioned some changes in our adoption. I know that left some of you hanging, so I wanted to recap what the last month or so has meant for us bringing Matsy Grace home. I'll try to give the best description I can of our life for the past 2 months.

About 2 months ago, my heart began to hurt for the Congo. I have met a few people adopting from the Congo, but never really thought about adopting from their. I began researching the Congo, realizing the hurt and devastation going on in that nation. I began to pray for the Congolese people, those adopting from the Congo, and the kids there. Several weeks later, I came across fell in love with a little girl on the waiting child list from the Congo. I text my husband a picture and asked him to start praying about her. I really thought this could be our daughter. I contacted the agency she was with, got all of her information, and told them I was going to pray about it. Not knowing much about the agency, I started e-mailing anyone I could find that had used the agency. Unfortunately, I didn't hear great things. I kept praying. I'm still praying for that little girl. I couldn't get a peace about using that agency. My heart was broken. It's so hard to look at the face of a child, know their story, and not bring her home.

God had different plans.

Still praying for the Congo, I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do. I contacted a few agencies with programs in the Congo just to gather information. We have been married a little over 4 years, and the Congo program technically says you should be married 5 years to adopt from there. Many times, they will give you permission if you are close to the 5 year mark. However, with the agency we really liked, they said they would only accept couples that had been married 5 years. She asked if I was interested in their Ethiopia program. I said, "Not really, but you can tell me about it if you would like." Well......

In the meantime, the Congo closed exit permits. I feel sure that God knew that there would be people sitting in the Congo that needed my prayers. They are there to bring home their children- but they can't until the government their decides to issue exit permits again- which could be up to a year. Through learning about their conditions, I have learned to hurt with them. Isn't it amazing how we can talk to God and plead with him for help for people literally on the other side of the world!?!

We prayed more...

And we are switching agencies.

We are still adopting from Ethiopia. And that is where our Matsy Grace lives. We have a peace about that and are so thankful that God has made it evident the decisions we should make when we asked for His guidance.

The biggest change is the timeline. This process moves faster with our new agency. They are much smaller than our old agency.

This is the biggest part of the emotional rollercoaster that adoption can often bring.

Our family is about to GROW again! However, we thought we would have about 3 years to raise the necessary funds. Now it's looking like the whole process will take 12-15 months... to be HOME... and several fees are due along the way.

It's so sad to a mommy that money is the biggest obstacle to bringing a child home. I had a blog post in my head called The Fundraising Blues. That's how I feel these days. But, God always gives you comfort when you need it, and my adoption friend McCall couldn't have expressed it any better in her blog post Friday. I know that some people don't agree with adoption, and definitely don't agree with fundraising for adoption. And that is ok. It is hard for me to wrap my head around most days. But as for me and my family, we are going to serve the Lord. And the Lord has planted in us a love for a child that doesn't have parents to show her the love of Jesus. A child that lives in Africa. A child that lives in Ethiopia to be exact.

And we are going to bring her home.

So... please bear with me over the next several months as I drive you crazy with fundraisers on the blog. God is such a great provider, and I can't tell you how blessed we have already been financially in funding this adoption. He has provided every milestone we have needed to fund. It has seriously been nothing short of miraculous.

But there's more coming. BIG milestones. We are excited, humbled, and putting aside our pride.

Please join us. We need your prayers. We need you before we bring Matsy Grace home. We need you after we bring her home.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. -Psalm 32:8

A person's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way? -Proverbs 20:24

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. - John 16:13a

Do YOU Want a HOME?!?

"Father of orphans, champion of widows, is God in his holy house. God makes HOMES for the homeless..." Psalm 68:5-6 (MSG)

Ok, well I'm not sure where to start. I'll just say there will be posts to follow about some changes/updates in our adoption journey! We are beyond excited about these changes!

We are prayerful and optimistic that at this point, it looks like this journey will move along a good bit faster than we had anticipated! EXCITING, RIGHT?!?

The answer is YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With that brief info... here's where we need YOU!!

We would like to send you a HOME to help bring our baby girl HOME!

Here's how it will work... you give me your e-mail (you can leave a comment, Facebook me, email me at tiffanipowell7 at yahoo dot com, Instagram me, text me, whatever you want to do!). I will then e-mail you a printable of a HOME!

You then get your scissors, glue/tape, and get busy! (We hope you will get your kiddos involved too!!!) Build (aka cut out and piece together) your HOME! Cut a slit in the roof, and for the month of November, fill your HOME with your spare change at the end of the day!

All of the money from this fundraiser to bring Matsy Grace HOME is due DECEMBER 2!!!

If you send me your e-mail, you will get all of the details on how to get the money to us.

Please join us in praying that the Lord continues to bless us on our journey!

***We ask that if you are allowing your children to take part, that you explain to them that there are many children who don't have a HOME. Ask them to pray for those in your cities and across the world who don't have a mommy and daddy!***

Your home will look just like the one Noah just built...

So... start sending those e-mail addresses...... NOW!!

Short Sleeve, LONG Sleeve AND Tanks!!!

Ok... our LAST t-shirt order of the year is coming up!! We are really praying the Lord will bless our adoption financially through this order! We have been so blessed by our t-shirt fundraiser already!! (Mostly because of our awesome designer, Eric Abbott!!) It's been a crazy and exciting year in our house. We may try to squeeze in one more fundraiser before the end of the year, but this will definitely be our last t-shirt order this year!!

And.... This will be THE ONLY ORDER where we will have LONG SLEEVE TEES AND TANKS available!!!

The order deadline is NOVEMBER 1st!!! Don't miss it!

A few specifics:

Sizes:
Tanks: Adult Sizes Small- 2XL (No Kids Sizes)
Short Sleeve: Youth XS-XL and Adult Small-4XL
Long Sleeve: Youth XS-XL and Adult Small- 4XL

Price:
$15 Short Sleeve
$20 Tanks (FYI I had no clue tanks would cost more than short sleeve tees! Doesn't make since in my head either!)
$20 Long Sleeve Tees
***Add $1.50 for 2XL and Larger***

Shipping:
$3/shirt! 

Ordering Information:
1. You can give a check or cash to me
2. You can mail a check to 118 Appleridge Dr., Brandon, MS 39047
3. You can pay online by clicking the Donate button on the right of this blog! Make sure you put size and shipping if needed as a special instruction!

Thank you SO much for blessing our daughter through your donation to our t-shirt fundraiser!!

The Eunuch.

Scripture is so powerful. Seriously. What else can you read that is living and sharper than any 2 edged sword?? 

I'll save you some time.

NOTHING. 

I have jumped around in my reading some lately.. mainly because there are several Scriptures that have been really speaking to me, so I've been trying to read the context around them. I've been spending a lot of time in the Old Testament.

Today, I ended up in Acts. As we have been crazy busy with adoption paperwork lately, I have had Ethiopia on my heart a lot. Well.. today I have a new prayer. This is the Scripture I read today: 

26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:

As a sheep led to slaughter,

    and quiet as a lamb being sheared,He was silent, saying nothing.    He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.But who now can count his kin    since he’s been taken from the earth?

34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.

36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.

40 Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.

I have been praying for Matsy Grace to go through as little hurt as possible. I've been praying for her biological family, whether she has been born yet or not. I have been praying that the Lord will make this process as painless as possible for us all. I've been praying that an orphan can be given a family.

Today, my prayer is for myself. I am praying to be like Phillip. I am praying that our single goal is to share Jesus with an Ethiopian child. Not only to our Ethiopian child, but to all of our children. I am not praying today to give this child a roof over her head or food at every meal. I am praying that she meets Jesus through our family. 

Lord, let us have the heart to share you like Phillip. 

Life Lately.

Well.. sometimes blog updating is a fail on my part. Particularly lately.

Kudos to those super moms that are updating their blogs every couple of days of their fun adventures with their perfectly behaved kids. Around here... we're just trying to make it most days keeping everyone fed, free of injuries, and most days... bathed.

We have been so blessed by two happy, healthy boys. They bring SO much JOY to our life! But people would laugh most days if they saw the wreck that our house stays in (p.s. if you have figured out a way to keep a house with 2 little ones clean, I'm taking suggestions!) and the constant chaos!

Along with the blessings of our boys, we have been blessed beyond measure lately with financial donations for our adoption! Matsy Grace is one blessed little girl and our friends are seriously the best. In the form of all types of donations, even some anonymous (thank you whoever you are!!), the funds have been pouring in. As I had been secretly kind of down about having to really beef up on the fundraising to get our dossier off, God has moved so many to help fund our journey. We are so so so blessed. We are not worthy of these blessings.

Side note...We talked about the beatitudes this morning in Sunday school. The comment that stuck out to me most was when someone said that each of those that Jesus said were blessed were uncomfortable.. either mourning, hungering or thirsting, peacemaking (tried making peace in the world we live in today?! HARD WORK!). He didn't say blessed are those who have the best jobs, a secure retirement, the largest house on the street and a white picket fence. In Jesus' eyes, blessings come when we have the heart of humility and meekness.

Ok.. back to the post.. dossier almost ready to send. Boys are great. We are both back to work (yes, it gets harder to leave the boys every day that passes for this mommy.) We are in babysitter limbo, which makes things a little more complicated as we look for someone to keep the boys. On a brighter note, the hubby and I had our first night without any kids in a very very long time Friday night. Even it was just for a night, we had a great time! Our family has been beyond wonderful lately in helping keep our babies!

I know that was brief, but...life is good. we are blessed. and I have officially taken the time to update my blog. :)

 
 

T-SHIRTS AND NOONDAY!!!

I think... most days... we are getting into the swing of life with two kiddos! (Of course, we've spent LOTS of time with family! They have been AWESOME help!) Anyways, I am now back into full adoption paperwork mode. The break was welcomed, but it's time to get back to work! I had been hopeful that we would be DTE by the time Micah was born. But.... I must have forgotten how it felt to be 38 weeks pregnant. I'm no superwoman at that stage for sure.

So... here we go again to try and be on the DTE list as soon as possible! 

We are placing our THIRD t-shirt order JULY 31!! We have been so blessed by overwhelming support through this particular fundraiser! I can't tell you all thank you enough! Most blogs I read didn't have huge success fundraising with t-shirts, but I am so so thankful we chose to use t-shirts as a fundraiser! (And thankful for Eric Abbott for his super awesome design!)

Once again, to order:

1. Pay online on this blog by clicking the DONATE tab on the right side of the screen. Confirm your t-shirt size and if you need shipping, add your address. (Shipping is an additional $3/shirt)

2. Mail a check to 118 Appleridge Dr., Brandon, MS 39047

3. Cash or check to us in person

T-SHIRTS ARE $15 FOR YOUTH X-SMALL - ADULT X-LARGE! $16 FOR ADULT XX-LARGE AND LARGER! 

Also. My wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law are hosting a Noonday Collection party to support our adoption! If you haven't ever heard of Noonday, click on their link HERE to learn about their awesome company! They really are making a difference in lives all over the world-- INCLUDING ETHIOPIA :) Their artisans make jewelry, sandals, home items and precious scarves! The party is in Grenada on July 27 at 10a.m. or you can order online before this date. You can check the details HERE.

Sweet and Bittersweet News for our Family

I have purposely taken a break from blogging for several weeks to enjoy our newest blessing.

I am now the proud mommy of 2 beautiful boys! Here's our sweet Micah Grayson......

I know... He's handsome. :) I'm not partial at all.

He has been such a GREAT baby. After Noah was such a wonderful baby, I thought there is NO WAY that I could have 2 babies this great. He will for sure cry 20 hours of every day.

Nope! God must have known I couldn't handle it. I am beyond thankful for 2 happy, content babies!

So, what's the bittersweet news?

Well... a couple of weeks ago, we got an e-mail from our adoption agency regarding some changes with Ethiopian adoptions. We had originally been very hopeful that the changes would include reducing necessary trips to Ethiopia from 2 to 1. That did not happen :(  Without going through all the technicalities, there is basically a new process the USCIS is implementing called the PAIR process. This will most likely add several ADDITIONAL months to this process. There are some good things about the process, but it is still a hard pill to swallow.

As we sat on a conference call with our agency, tears streamed down my face. As I celebrate the beautiful life of my newest son, my heart hurts for our daughter, who will most likely have to spend additional time in institutionalized care.

So......... we continue to pray. And we continue to wait.


Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. -Isaiah 30:18

Updates

I'M ON SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

(Days like today make me beyond thankful to be a SLP in the school system!! I'll miss my speech/language babies, but a break is much needed!)

Whoooo Hooooooo! 

It's been a while since I gave an update! Life has been a bit hectic/crazy/busy to say the least. Matthew and I have had 3 nights at home together in over 4 weeks, so to say I'm ready for Micah to be here and force some down time would be an understatement! Between the loads of paperwork at the end of the school year, the loads of adoption paperwork, preparing for Micah's arrival, keeping up with the busiest 14 month old alive, church league softball, and Heart of Mississippi missions coming up NEXT week, we have been on the move (well.. I'm moving a little slower these days than the rest of the family)! I still have lots to do with our t-shirt order coming in early next week, catching up on thank you notes, some last minute nesting/cleaning that I don't necessarily want to do but needs to be done, and taking Noah to do some things I have been wanting to do with him before Micah gets here but I haven't had time while I have been working. Another trip to the Children's Museum, lots of park trips and swimming... here we come! I also intend on fitting a few naps in over the next few days :) 

I think we are finally prepared for Micah to be here! 10 days at the longest until he makes his grand arrival! We cannot wait!!! We had a sono on Monday and got to see that he already has a head full of hair :) Matthew keeps saying he doesn't know where our kids get all this hair from. (Not sure if he has looked at their mom lately or not by that comment!) He looks healthy and is already measuring (according to the sonogram on Monday) around 7 lbs! As hard as the last few weeks have been, I am reminding myself how thankful I am that God has blessed me with the ability to carry my babies full term! 

Speaking of healthy babies, our sweet Noah has been growing and learning SO much lately!! It seems he picks up on EVERYTHING we say and do! I feel like he learns a new word every day. It has been so fun watching him grow! I am attaching a few videos to share some of the joy we have been experiencing :) 

Heart of Mississippi missions is a mission week my husband is in charge of next week. Great timing, right? Teenagers are coming from all over the state to be the hands and feet of Jesus at different locations around metro Jackson. He has some great things planned! I know it will bring God glory! Just lots and LOTS and LOTS of planning involved!! 

On the adoption front, since the garage sale, things have been put on somewhat of a pause to take care of myself and the little one growing inside me! I'm excited to finish up our dossier paperwork and work toward finishing up our dossier payment fundraising goal! 

And I almost forgot... I haven't given the update on how the garage sale went!! God is SO SO SO good!! I'm not sure why I had the bright idea to have a massive garage sale at 36 weeks pregnant, but we did it! We could NOT have done it without my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, friends, and donors who were ALL seriously irreplaceable! A garage sale is WORK! But...God is faithful. Sometimes things just take work. It was worth it! With 60%-90% chance of rain in the forecast all week, we prayed HARD for no rain! Well..God blessed us with NO RAIN and the PERFECT weather!! He also blessed us by helping us raise almost...$2,500!!!! Can you believe that? From 6AM-2PM, we raised that! Just when we start to be doubtful, God shows us His blessings are greater than our disbelief. 

Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. --Deutoronomy 7:9

T-Shirt Orders SOON!!

For all of you that have asked about T-shirt orders, I just wanted to make sure you have all of the details. We will place our 2nd t-shirt order MAY 13--in 9 DAYS!! This will be the last order we place for a while due to Micah's arrival.

Details:
Youth XSmall - Youth XLarge: $15
Adult Small - Adult XLarge: $15
Adult XXLarge and larger: $16.50
SHIPPING: $3

How you can order:
1) Hand deliver cash or check to us
2) Click Donate on Right side of blog. Enter t-shirt order amount and specify t-shirt size (also specify address if needed)
3) Mail a check to 118 Appleridge Dr., Brandon, MS 39047.
4) Order at our yard sale next Saturday, May 11 @ 338 Lake Harbour church of Christ.

Busy Times!

The Powell house is crazily, insanely busy right now! The good news? We are getting LOTS accomplished! After not having a night at home in over 2 weeks, Matthew left leaving for California on Monday. I was hoping for a little down time before he left, but I'm excited he got to take a trip with Andy Miller, our preacher while we were in college, to lectureships in Malibu. I'm wondering who got the better end of this deal.... getting lots of spiritual fulfillment in Malibu for a week or being almost 35 weeks pregnant at home with a 14 month old?? Hmmm... (Thankful for moms who pitch in when I really need it! And of course, Noah loves being spoiled by grandparents way too much!) 

So what have we been up to?

The last 2 weekends have been filled with our Spring Youth Retreat and a sweet friends' wedding weekend. They were both a great success, and for that I am grateful! Noah officially has a bed and bedding to use when baby brother gets here. (Yay for being a slacker but getting it together at the last minute! So... anti-me.) The doctor says Micah looks great (he's measuring a good bit larger, so maybe we'll have 2 linebackers in the family?)! We have ALMOST gotten everything together to complete our homestudy. Our social worker has been awesome and much less intimidating than I was preparing for! We have been busy busy collecting documents for the rest of our dossier as well. (I didn't know there was so much paperwork out there about 2 people!? Oh and btw... somehow our marriage certificate wasn't on file! Hope we are actually married :) )We have passed all of our background checks/fingerprints/etc. so far. That's always a good thing, right? I have started my 10 hours of adoption education. I shipped all of the t-shirts yesterday that needed to be shipped from our first t-shirt order. I started our 2nd order TODAY! Donations have been pouring in for our yard sale. (My neighbors will soon think I am a hoarder by looking in my garage!) I could continue on with what has been going on in our lives, but you get the picture...

I'm counting on about 2 good weeks left before I'm too miserably large to function. (Micah, we are SOOOO ready to meet you!) So, what do the next 2 weeks consist of as pertaining to the adoption?

FUNDRAISING: YARD/BAKE SALE AND T-SHIRT SALES!

How can you help!? 

If you would like a t-shirt, you can give a check to one of us OR click the donate tab on this blog and specify size/s. T-shirts are $15 ($16.50 for 2XL & Larger). T-shirt sizes are Youth XSmall-Youth XLarge and Adult Small- Adult 3XLarge.

Share the news about our yard sale. Come to our yard sale. Bring a friend to our yard sale! It's in the front parking lot of the Lake Harbour church of Christ. (We will also be accepting donations for 1 more week!) Here is the flyer: 

We are really excited about the sale! It's a lot of work but our prayers is that God will be glorified and we can raise awareness about the orphan crisis! Come by and visit us NEXT Saturday! 10 more days!!! 

SeekingLovingWalking=ACTIONS

My heart hurts. My head is just spinning.

It's just amazing the way I hurt sometimes when I allow the Spirit to guide me to open my eyes. It's amazing the way I want to be so selfish sometimes in thinking life is waking up, going to work, coming home and playing with my awesome family. I so so so often think about how easy we have it as Americans. It's so easy to think we don't need God because of all of the things we can have and do for ourselves.

But what about the people who don't have everything? What about the people who don't have a voice? What about the people who never experience love? What about the people who are never experience the greatest love story on earth---the love Jesus shows us?

I have been keeping up recently with the Dr. Gosnell's murder trial. If you haven't been keeping up with it, READ ABOUT IT HERE. It makes me so sick to my stomach. How is this happening? The biggest ordeal right now about this issue is that the media has turned a blind eye. While, yes, that is disturbing, what's even more disturbing is what are we as Christians doing about this??

Last night, Matthew and I watched STUCK the documentary. Once again, sick to my stomach. (And no, I'm not constantly sick at my stomach because I'm almost 33 weeks prenant. That brings on enough emotions as it is.) This documentary, which you should BUY HERE, reveals the hard journey of adoption and why it is on the decline. (Yes, a lot of people think there has been an increase in adoptions, but there has been a 50% decrease over the last 10 years.) Heart breaking doesn't touch the surface of how it makes me feel to see all of these orphans. What are Christians doing about this??

Proverbs 24:12 says "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know and holds us responsible to ACT."

DO WE SERIOUSLY CARE ABOUT SEEKING JUSTICE, LOVING MERCY AND WALKING HUMBLY WITH GOD??

Yes, we are adopting a child. And yes, I KNOW that is exactly what the Lord wants us to do. But I can't sit still and think that He wants us to adopt one child one time in my life and think that is good enough.

There are MILLIONS of orphans that need love. There are MILLIONS of babies being aborted. PLEASE do SOMETHING. Not everyone has to adopt a child. But can you sponsor a child? Can you go to an orphanage and love on a child? Can you get together a group of Christians and start an orphanages so that so many of these babies don't have to live in overcrowded government institutions? Can you donate to an orphanage, an adoption or a children's home? Can you drive to an abortion clinic and sit in your car and pray for God to change those doctors' and mothers' hearts? Can you write a letter to the legislature?

WHAT CAN YOU DO? 

ADOPTION SALE PREPARATIONS!

On May 11-- ONE MONTH FROM TODAY-- We will be having an Adoption Sale!! I am so excited! We will be raising awareness about the orphan crisis in our world, as well as raising money for our adoption! We have asked our family for donations, and I know they are busy cleaning out all kinds of exciting things from their homes! Now, we are asking YOU to donate! If you would like to donate, we will be glad to pick up your items from you!! We already have started collecting and can't wait for our collection to GROW!

We will be having a bake sale, taking new t-shirt orders, and fellowshipping at the sale! Sounds like fun, right?? One of our bakers is Matthew's grandmother. If you know anything about Mimi's cooking, you'll want to stop by and participate in the bake sale if nothing else!!

As we prepare for this fundraiser, here are our specific prayer requests:
1) We will be able to spread and show the word of Jesus through this sale
2) People will open their hearts to following the command set out in James 1:27
3) This sale will bring us one step closer to bringing home Matsy Grace
4) No rain!!!

We are thankful that our church is allowing us to use their front parking lot! This location will be more of a central and visible location. So...please make your plans to attend the sale at the Lake Harbour church of Christ in Ridgeland on Lake Harbour Drive between Pear Orchard and Wheatley.

PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!!!

You can e-mail me at tiffanipowell7@yahoo.com if you have any donations you would like for us to pick up!! 

Update and Prayers Needed!

Before I get started with our update, I just wanted to remind everyone that I am turning in our 1st t-shirt order on WEDNESDAY!! Let me know if you have not ordered one and would like to! We will also be having an adoption yard sale on May 11 if you would like to make any donations to the sale or shop the yard sale! More details to come soon! 

Well, we got a call from our family coordinator yesterday. Phone calls make me both excited and nervous! While she talked me through our next several steps, I tried not to get too overwhelmed! I had in my head that they would put off a lot of our next steps until after Micah gets here. I figured it would take longer to get our dossier compiled and sent off. Well... that's not so! Our agency wants us on the ball! They want most of it done BEFORE he gets here! ---Yes! You read that correctly!!!

While I am excited to really get started on getting the million pieces of our dossier together, I haven't forgotten about our 2nd sweet baby! (Basically, he's growing growing growing and doesn't LET me forget him!) SO.. the next 8 weeks brings a large to-do list as well as a lot of excitement to the Powell household! The earlier we can get our DTE (dossier to Ethiopia), the sooner we can get on the official waitlist for our sweet little girl! I don't want to do anything to lengthen the time it takes to bring her home--so here we go!

Our prayer requests as of now:

1) God will provide us with the energy and brains for the next 8 weeks to prepare for the arrival of our sweet Micah AND Matsy Grace! If you know us personally, you know that we are quite the laid back parents. We don't stress about much with Noah. (Today, he wanted to eat his banana off of the grass instead of his plate while we were having a picnic outside. Well, a few bites of banana-grass-dirt pie later, I heard a big "MMMMM!!" Ok, my child likes dirt. For now, I'm not sweating the small stuff.) This also means that I haven't been that perfect OCD mom who has her life together and everything ready for her babies' arrival by the time she's 20 weeks pregnant. We still have a few things to get done for Micah. Please pray that God will give us strength to sustain these next 8 weeks and get everything done we need to do!

2) With the submission of our dossier to Ethiopia comes our dossier submission fee. This is the largest fee we will have to pay before we get our referral (the phone call saying we have been matched with our daughter!!) With our time frames being pushed up a little, this means less time to fundraise. Within this, we have several requests. Please pray that we have continue to have the faith to believe that the Lord will continue to provide! Please pray that God will send His people to us with open hearts to support this mission. Last, please pray that God grant us with the wisdom to fundraise for His glory!

3) Please pray that we always seek God's guidance and direction in raising our children. If you have kids, you know that it takes a village! I firmly believe it also takes the prayers of the village as well!!

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." 
Ephesians 6:17

^"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." 
Romans 8:26

Remember the GOOD Days.

This morning I woke up early so I could do several things. Of course, the Easter bunny needed to stop by for a visit (Yes I am a slacking bunny. This pregnant lady retired early last night.). I wanted to pick up the house a little. After being at my parents for 2 days and bringing in our bags, our house looked a bit like a tornado came through. Don't judge. As soon as it all gets picked up, a sweet little 13 month old will make it look that way again instantly, so what's the rush? I wanted to cook Easter lunch. Since I'm not accustomed to cooking on Sundays, this was going to take some time. Most of all, I wanted to read the great Resurrection!

On Friday, I was reading the story of Jesus' death. My heart began to hurt. It was a sad day. A bad day. An awful day. A day that has made my heart be filled with overwhelming guilt since Friday. A day that  Jesus Christ died. A day that he took on MY sins. To call it Good Friday is sometimes baffling to me. But...it was a GOOD day.

I purposely waited until this morning to read about the Resurrection. My hurting heart was filled with JOY as I was reminded that the same Jesus that died for me...ROSE. He defeated death. He made the impossible possible. It was a GOOD day.

My sweet husband has the best heart. I was so blessed to worship with him this morning as he preached his first Easter sermon! He sermon was entitled "The tomb is EMPTY...but do we believe it?" (You can listen Here. The first part is a Scripture reading but the sermon begins right after that.) It is a struggle every day to live like we believe we serve a risen Savior. I am thankful to be reminded of how blessed I am that he DID rise. Today is a GOOD day.

T-SHIRTS FOR SALE!

We have been so blessed by WONDERFUL graphic designers! Megan Slaughter designed the PERFECT fundraising postcards for us several weeks ago. Check her out on Facebook or her creative BLOG! She even wrote the kindest Blog Post helping us spread the adoption news! We can't thank you enough Megan!

Our other incredibly talented graphic designer friend, Eric Abbott, recently designed our t-shirts! If you ever hang around the great city of Starkville, MS, you may have seen Eric's BELL YEAH design around town. You can check his design website out HERE. We had an idea of what we wanted. We told him, not expecting it would be SO perfect! It is EXACTLY what we had hoped for! So... Here it is: 

These charcoal gray t-shirts are $15/shirt. 2X and larger are $16.50/shirt. They come in Youth (S-XL) and Adult sizes. Please add $3 if shipping is required.

We are taking preorders for our 1st order NOW! You can pay either Matthew or myself with cash OR check OR you can pay using PayPal here on our blog! 

If you order online using PayPal, please click Donate. Enter the amount of the total of your shirts. On the next screen, click the +SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS tab and type YOUR NAME, T-SHIRT SIZE/S, AND ADDRESS IF SHIPPING IS REQUIRED.

We will turn in the order on April 10. It should take a max of 2 weeks for printing (hopefully less, but at the latest, shirts will be in by April 24!)

MY Help COMES from the LORD!

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth! Psalm 121:2

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. Psalm 29:4

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens; your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in ALL He does. Psalm 33:4

We have prayed and prayed for our child, our journey to bring her home, and all of the other orphans that we, unfortunately, won't bring home. We have prayed and prayed that this journey will awaken a movement in other Christians to live out scriptures like James 1:27 and Micah 6:8- however that may look in their life. It will look different than how it looks in our life, but we pray that others who have never thought they were called to action will ACT! How easy is it to ignore verses that call us to action but follow so strictly those verses that explicitly tell us what NOT to do? 

Through all of our prayers, we haven't doubted that God is the pilot of this journey. But SERIOUSLY, this weekend and today, I have felt like God was speaking directly to me saying- HERE I AM! I AM POWERFUL. I AM YOUR HELPER. HERE I AM! SEE ME? 

I can truly say, through the work of His people, I HAVE SEEN HIM! 

We have been so blessed. We have received a few donations, some small and some larger, that make you just sit back and PRAISE GOD for the people He places in your life! We are truly blessed. We cannot thank you people enough! You ARE taking action! You ARE rescuing our sweet baby girl! 

Okay, so some MORE exciting news? A couple of weeks ago, I came across a woman's name- Megan Burns. She owns a business called She Does Justice. She is AMAZING (Not to mention the fact that she has 2 sons named Noah and Micah that are 16 months apart and has adopted a child from Africa!). Not only is her company awesome because they make some of the cutest products, but they GIVE BACK! Part of their proceeds go EVERY MONTH to a different Christian non-profit. This month, they are giving to SOLE HOPE, who teaches men and women of Uganda to sew shoes. So, they are not only giving shoes to those who TRULY NEED THEM, but they are teaching them a trade that will enable them to earn a living! Check them out. 

Back to Megan and She Does Justice. This is their About Us: She Does Justice is an advocate for those who need one. It is a space where organizations who are working for the good of others are recognized. It is a community of people who want to show love to the 'least of these'. A place where we strive to show those in need that they are known and loved.

I LOVE THAT! 

Anyways...She Does Justice partners with a certain number of affiliates to help with adoption costs. I e-mailed her not sure that I would be able to do this since there are only a certain number. But guess what, God heard my prayer and blessed us through Megan and this company! A percentage of each sale, when using our link, goes to our adoption account!! My personal favorites are the HEADBANDS and SCARVES. 

So...if you have a gift to buy or are just in the market to buy, check it out:

Also...T-shirts should be for sale within the next couple of days, so check back! Our awesome graphic designer friend, Eric Abbott, designed them! I am so thankful that God gives us all our separate talents- his is DEFINITELY design! I can't wait to share it with all of you! 

Now that I am way behind cooking desserts for our young adult Bible Study tonight, I am on to important things like brownies and cake :) 

Depraved Indifference

I watched this video a couple of months ago. This morning it was still lingering in my mind, so I thought I would share. It may take a couple of minutes to upload, so be patient!!

I need to be reminded of this so regularly!! America makes it so easy for us to go through life turning a blind eye to the world around us. Pray that I, that you, that we, have the desire to be the body of Christ and be the change!!! 

March Madness FUNdraiser!

There are so many aspects of this adoption journey that have taught us so much! One of the many includes FUNDRAISING! It is am proud of my husband for giving up his cable! If you know my husband, you know this = SACRIFICE!), but it's not going to raise ALL the funds required!  Fundraising is a completely essential part of our process. We have already learned that it causes us to do away with a lot of pride that may stand in the way of bringing our baby girl home. Although MOST adoptive families use fundraising as part of the means to fund their adoption, it is teaching us to be humble and have faith that God ALWAYS supplies ALL we need as we answer this call to adopt. 

You can click the FUNDRAISERS tab to see a few of the ways we have started! Because there are fees due at all different times during this journey, we are trying to face one hurdle at a time. With 2 big fees to pay coming up soon, we are trying to be innovative! 

I am thankful that my husband has taken on this fundraiser all on his own! I'm much more of a baseball and football fan, so I'll admit my knowledge of March Madness is VERY limited. However, Matthew has created a FaceBook Page that gives all the details of how this fundraiser will work! 

I know this much: Each entry is $10, and you can submit an unlimited number of entries. The winner will win a $50 Amazon gift card! So... LET MARCH MADNESS BEGIN!!!! You have until Thursday at 11:00 to complete your bracket!

the Beach

This week we are so blessed to be spending time with our sweet friends, J.D and Jennifer Byrd. J.D's parents' friends own a condo in FL, and they were so kind to let us use it for the week. Since Jennifer is due with their sweet baby girl, Conley, 13 days before I'm due to have Micah, it has been fun to have someone join me in being a beached whale :) We are so excited to have them join us in the crazy world of parenting! (After spending a week with Noah, I hope having a baby hasn't scared them to death!) 

I like love the beach. LOVE is the word. There's a reason God hasn't led us to live near a beach. I'd be a complete beach bum. There is no way you can sit in the sand and look as far across the ocean as the bare eye can see and not be so in love with the beauty God has created for us to enjoy! Ahhh... can you tell I LOVE the beach yet?

As I was looking across the ocean yesterday thanking God for all the ways he has blessed me, I couldn't get Matsy Grace's biological mother off my mind. At that very moment, I couldn't imagine what she was doing while I was enjoying some time off with my husband, son and friends. The adoption process brings so many unknowns. I know there is a lot we will not know about our daughter. We may not know her full family history or who she favors in her family. But I do know this... I know the love of a mother. I know how it feels to carry a child and fall completely in love and attached before the day the child is ever born. We have prayed for the day Matsy Grace is separated (for whatever reason it is) from this woman.We are so thankful for the love we know she will have for our daughter. 

So...we enjoyed a moment with Noah thinking about the special country we have fallen in love with...

 

And I'll share a couple of photos of how are week is going so far... 

Why Adopt??

Yesterday, I heard someone say these words... "Adoption is a fad." It wasn't the first and I'm sure it won't be the last comment I hear during this process that I don't agree with. I had a hard time gripping why someone would say this. I will love our daughter the same way I love our sons. I've never heard anyone saying having biological kids was a fad. The length, stresses and difficulty of adoption makes it quite hard for me to believe that people think this is a fun, faddish way of growing a family. However, if this is a trend for some, I pray that it is a trend that doesn't fade.

All of this made me start to think. Why should Christians care to adopt? Here are some thoughts...

• God adopted us---selfish sinners like us--- into his family. He made us His own children. In fact, he has made us heirs!! Salvation, deliverance and rescue are at the center of God's very being!!! Adoption is a way for us to portray the adoptive love of God right in our home. 

• "Father of the fatherless, defender of widows- this is GOD, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:5-6). God's heart is full of love and concern for the fatherless. HE is their Father! Maybe he sent us that we would be His means for caring for the fatherless.

• God has given us a desire for holiness. He tells us that caring for orphans is "religion that is pure and undefiled" (James 1:27). What better way to express our pure desires than to bring an orphan into our home? 

• Who is going to rescue, love, care for, and train up helpless children who have no parents? If not Christians, who will?

• Our desire to be like Jesus should drive our motivation.
• "And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." (Mark 9:36)
• "...Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' " (Matthew 25:37-40) 

I pray that you pray not only for our family on this journey, but for all Christians to start there own journey for the fatherless. Maybe your journey means you pray for these sweet children every day who don't enjoy the luxuries, wants and needs we enjoy. Maybe your journey means you go to a children's home and spend some time with a fatherless child that just needs someone to throw a baseball with. I pray that we all start a journey- not to follow a fad- to care about the things Jesus cares about. 

And So The Journey Begins..

Isaiah 1:17 says, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.”

James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” 

Psalm 68:5-6 says, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.” 

A while back, Matthew (Yes, my husband goes by Frank and Matthew. Because I call him Matthew, he will be Matthew on this blog) and I both had a feeling that we were being called to do something that would require action on our part. We had NO clue what this meant or the journey it would send us on. All we knew is that being a Christian is about much more than filling a pew on Sunday or participating in "church events." We wanted to care for the things that Jesus cared for the most.

We began praying for God to break our hearts for "the least of these." My oh my did God break our hearts for what we now know truly breaks His. When the word adoption came up, we knew it was something we were both interested in. HOWEVER (capitalized because it is a BIG however), it was always one of those "we'd like to one day" topics. With a 1 year old and a baby on the way, surely not NOW God...??? As we began just looking at our options, we both thought we would definitely adopt a child in the U.S. 

Well, there is a huge need for adoption in the states, but God would not take the rest of the world out of our hearts and off of our minds. The questions began. Are we prepared for a transracial family? Can we afford this? Are you sure WE are the ones to do this? Well, God truly has given us such a peace about this decision. He, the GREAT PROVIDER, will supply us with all we need. We have prayed and prayed and researched and researched and prepared and prepared. We can't wait to share Jesus with OUR child!  We know that it will be hard work, but we are prepared to fundraise. We truly believe that God always provides for His callings.

We narrowed it down to 2 countries - Taiwan and Ethiopia. Though every orphan from every country around the world deserves to be shown God's love, we couldn't get Africa from recurring in our prayers. This video pretty much sums it up. So...Why Ethiopia?

We are so excited to bring home our sweet baby girl home! Though the process is long, the day we bring that sweet baby home, it will all be worth it! We have already experienced some road blocks, but we know that God will guide us through this journey with the assistance of your prayers and support!!