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!!