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