Yard Sale

We have now raised a little over 40% of the funds needed to bring our daughter home! Wow. I remember when we were praying and just trying to raise money for the first program installment.God has provided abundantly for this little girl to have a home. Although we still have a ways to go God continues to remind us that he has this...nothing is out of his control.

On that note...Jonathan and I continue to wait for a referral. Currently we are nearing the 2 month mark. I don't really have any expectations of a phone call any time soon which has eased my mind quite a bit however the wait is still hard. Thankfully though, the wait has been eclipsed by the fact that our schedule has been jam packed for a couple of weeks now. The first Saturday in October we held a ginormous yard sale. If I were to be completely honest I don't think I will ever organize a yard sale ever again...no seriously...I'm not kidding. The amount of work, time, energy and not to mention living room space that must be utilized for such an undertaking is just utterly exhausting.

This picture is just the tip of the iceberg. I am in no way the cleanest person alive but this amount of clutter almost pushed me over the edge. Shew. We woke up at 5am the day of the sale to organize all of the chaos. I wish I would have remembered that even the sun isn't crazy enough to be up at 5am. So we had to set up tables by the blinding light of Jon's headlights. We had so much stuff to organize that I don't think we even finished setting things up until an hour or more into the actual yard sale. The entire day was a steady flow of people and by the end of the sale it looked like we had hardly made a dent but...

all that work...

all the stress...

 

paid off.

We raised $942. In ONE day...at a yard sale! Woohoo. It's always so humbling to witness more of God's great provision. We have a few more fundraising ideas on the back burner but with the holidays coming we will probably save those for the New Year. As far as posts go I will continue to write as I feel led but until we get the long awaited phone call for a referral we probably won't have a lot of exciting stuff to share. Please continue to keep us in your prayers that we would wait well.

Pearl

Let me start this post by saying that I have been blessed with the world's greatest in-laws. I never really understood the in-law jokes you hear on tv and certainly have never joined in when friends speak of horror stories involving their spouse's parents. I am blessed. Not only was I welcomed into a family made up mostly of men (crazy red-heads to be exact) but my mother-in-law has welcomed me as her daughter. I do think she may have been a bit desperate for another female to keep her company.

Well, when Jon and I announced to our parents that we were adopting we knew they would be supportive but were surprised when Jon's mom, Laura, offered up a very sweet gift. Laura is a teacher and an author who loves the Lord. She recently published a book and has generously decided to give the entire proceeds to our adoption. There really are no words.

Here is a short description of the book Laura began to write years ago before Jon and I ever announced our plans.

This is a book about adoption...

and hope.

It's entitled Pearl.

The loss of a son...the memory of a daughter. A search for peace that spans two continents. Mei, a Chinese mother, loses her son in a tragic earthquake, awakening the memory of the daughter she relinquished to adoption years before. China’s One Child Policy robbed her of the infant she called Pearl, and Mei is haunted by loss. The couple learns to survive, finally emigrating to America where Mei sees little Chinese girls everywhere. Could that one be Pearl? Mei's search leads her to a peace she never knew existed. Will she find Pearl? And can she let her go?

Purchase a Copy of Pearl Here

 

God uses a Village...

Our God is a God that does really big things. And adoption is definitely one of those really big things.  For a young couple doing ministry in rural Kentucky to fly halfway around the world to pick up a little girl and bring her home into her new family is a nearly unthinkable reality.  When God moves like that, it's amazing to watch His power on glorious display.  It's also humbling to realize how little your effort can accomplish without Him.

If you're reading this blog, you're already invested in some way in our adoption.  Most likely you're already praying for us and following the tiny first steps of our journey with the same joy and anticipation that we are feeling.  And, you probably realize that this is something that can't be done alone.  The wonderful thing about God is that He uses us in His incredible, huge, amazing plan.  That's why I'm writing this post...how can God use you?

God has called us to this and we're ready to obey Him.  But despite His incredible blessings in our lives, we don't have the $35,000 or so that is required to complete this process.  Rather than an obstacle to God's plans and purposes, that's actually an opportunity.  If we had the money, we could fool ourselves into thinking that we could handle this ourselves.  But, since we don't, we're reminded once again that we have to rely on Him; it's an opportunity to trust Him and ultimately, give Him the glory.

This is an opportunity for you, too.  We need your help, to give out of all that God has given to you to help make God's plan and purpose through this adoption a reality.  We prayerfully ask you to consider supporting this adoption financially.  There's no obligation of course...that's not the point.  Instead, we're asking that you allow yourself to be used by God to demonstrate His faithfulness in our lives.  This is a beautiful picture of why God calls His people into community together...so that He can use us to demonstrate His love to one another.

We have set up an online fundraising site that is a convenient way both to give and to track the progress of the Lord's faithfulness. That link can be found below, and there is also a link to the site on the right side of this page as well.

Help Bring Our Little Girl Home

We are also in the midst of setting up an account with our agency which will allow people to send tax deductible donations directly to our agency. As soon as we have that in place I will post that information.

Please also consider spreading the word by posting the links to the fundraising page on your facebook or blog. We cannot do this alone, but nothing is to big for our great God. Every prayer prayed, every amount given, great or small, helps us take one step closer to fulfilling the plan God has set out for us.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

- Ephesians 3:16-21