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!!!