Humbled

Today we had a great day at church with friends. Then, we headed down to Water Angels. It was a great service. It was awesome watching God work. I was talking to a lady that is so sweet. She has such an awesome testimony of being delivered from drugs , alcohol, and prostitution. She's working hard, but, getting paid minimum wage. God has really worked to restore so much in her life and things are getting better and better. As we talked she said that she felt like she was supposed to give us a tv to sell. She said she saved and saved for this flatscreen t.v. but realized that it's not important and she's never been so sure of anything as she was about giving it to us. So she walked us over to her house and loaded it up. It's so humbling and I pray God blesses her richly!

I wonder if I would have done the same....

It's been awesome looking through more pictures of our kids. A family from our church is in Africa now and they took the time to hold our little girl and read the letters we wrote to her. So sweet!!!

Humbled

Today we had a great day at church with friends. Then, we headed down to Water Angels. It was a great service. It was awesome watching God work. I was talking to a lady that is so sweet. She has such an awesome testimony of being delivered from drugs , alcohol, and prostitution. She's working hard, but, getting paid minimum wage. God has really worked to restore so much in her life and things are getting better and better. As we talked she said that she felt like she was supposed to give us a tv to sell. She said she saved and saved for this flatscreen t.v. but realized that it's not important and she's never been so sure of anything as she was about giving it to us.

I wonder if I would have done the same....

It's been awesome looking through more pictures of our kids. A family from our church is in Africa now and they took the time to hold our little girl and read the letters we wrote to her. So sweet!!!

Faithful!

God is so faithful! It seems I keep freaking out about money, start acting ugly, trying to figure it out on my own, realize I need to trust Him after I get to my lowest point, and then He provides!

WILL I EVER LEARN??? In my last post I shared how God was showing me He had this under control. Two precious boys and their parents showed up with a large donation. After that, we were so blessed on Thursday to get a call that there were some seats available at Hope in the Dark. It's an incredible fundraising event for Show Hope and Blood:Water Mission. We were so excited and blessed. On the way home I got a call that my mom had sold her motorcycle!!! I was so shocked. I had prepared myself that it probably wasn't going to sell and that we would get the money another way. I just couldn't quit crying. I don't deserve this! I don't deserve these two precious kids. But, He is still faithful! NOW.....we're on to raising the travel money. I'm going to cling to Him and trust that He's got this!

Mercies in Disguise

Last night I had a photo shoot with a family I've been taking pictures of for a couple of years. They are sweet family with two precious boys. I've loved watching these two boys grow up and it's been an honor to capture sweet moments in their lives.

Last night I was blown away. As the boys got out of the car, they were each holding a little bucket. One had a picture of our little girl on it and the other had a picture of our baby boy. The buckets were filled with money these little boys had worked hard for. The oldest little guy is four. He told me all of the reasons he felt it was important to save this money. It was touching that he had such a real view of the situation our kids are in.

A two-year old and a four-year old gave us over $75!!! This was such an inspiration to our boys...they couldn't believe it as we counted it! Then....when the family paid for their session, they overpaid by quite a bit! I was moved to tears by this family several times last night. When I got in the car and looked at their check I just started crying. A beautiful song came on the radio, and I know God was speaking to me.

Honestly, it's been a rough week or so for us. We've just had a lot going on....and, as usual, I haven't handled everything the way I should have. One thing was that we did a yard sale (for the 3rd time) and only made a little bit of money. It was really disappointing. But, I felt God speaking to me that He doesn't provide for everyone the same way. Also, that I CANNOT make it happen the way I want it to. No matter how much I try, I can't bring in the money for this adoption. It's hard because I don't want to just ask for handouts....I want to earn the money. Last night I felt like God showed me something. The money for this adoption is already provided. God's just giving it to us in His timing...not mine. He's already taken care of it all. I have to do my part and be willing to obey Him, but, I've got to learn to let go and let Him have His way.

I'm so thankful for God's people...they are so generous! He's so generous! My heart is so full and I just long to meet my kids so bad! I know He's growing me through this. I can't wait to see what He has in store.

***Online Auction***

I earned some free merchandise with the Thirty One Fundraiser that we did and I'm going to auction a couple of things off!

Just email me for an auction ID # and then you can enter your bid and ID# in the comments section. Bidding starts immediately and will end on Sunday night at 10pm.

If the item needs to be shipped, there will be a $5.00 shipping fee.

Bidding Starts at $5.00

First is the XXL Tote.

Interior hanging pocket. Exterior Patch Pocket. Made of durable canvas.

Approx. 16.75"Hx23.5"Wx11"D

$60 Value

(It's the large khaki bag in the picture)

Online Auction Item #2

Fitted Skirt Purse

Brown Purse with Floral Fanfare print. New skirts can be purchased to change the look.

Interior cell phone pocket, zipper pocket, magnetic snap closure.

$42 Value

Our First Spring

I've really been enjoying our first spring in this house. It's fun to see flowers pop up that you didn't know were there. We've had fun working on the property as a family. We've had a great time raising our first chicks and ducks. We're sad that we lost 5 chicks to a dog last week. It was really sad, but, we've learned some life lessons. We're loving our ducks....and they love US. Especially me. I think they think I'm their mama. They follow me around...waddling as fast as they can. It's so cute! I just love them. I'm nervous because there is a a hawk that stays around. We found a squirrel that he ate yesterday. Hopefully there are enough squirrels to keep him away from our ducks. I keep envisioning our two other children with us...I cannot wait to get them here! We are so ready for school to be over! It's been hard for us all to get motivated to get things done. I'm trying to make things more fun and take frequent bike rides and walks in the woods to break up the school day. We have great plans for the summer! But...first things first.

Luke was trying to catch the ducks and ended up knee deep in the mud.

These little inch worms are hanging from the trees everywhere. We end up with them all over us because we walk right into them.

My goal for the summer is not to use my dryer or air conditioner. Not using the dryer is the most likely to happen...but, I'm going to try my hardest!

The view from our back porch. :o)

A Great Opportunity

NOW is the time to order

Ordinary Hero gear. SALE

today through Sunday...

everything is 20% off -

PLUS- 40% of your purchase

goes toward my adoption

costs.

Simply choose my name

from the drop-down

affiliate box.

Sale prices applicable

through Sunday!Top seller

receives $500 grant from

OH! Can you please help

me?

They have GREAT items to

choose from..Take a look.

and Thank you!!! :)

Pledges Per Step!!!

The boys will be running their Road Mile Race on May 7th! They've already raised $76 and are so excited! A good friend called with her pledge this morning....she's sponsoring the boys each 1 cent "per step". I thought that was such a great idea and wanted to share it here. They are still taking pledges!

Let us know if you would like to make a pledge. All money goes to our adoption!

Tornadoes, Fingerprinting, and More

Luke made this little reindeer out of what was laying on my nightstand. Very cute!

Yesterday we went to Nashville for our fingerprinting. It feels so good to get that done!

Of course the boys had to do their "if you smell my shoe, I'll smell your's" thing.

We drove right into a really bad storm.

But, we finally made it.

We stopped to get something to eat and then tornado sirens started going off! Things looked really bad! We decided to start driving and turned on the radio. They said there were several tornadoes spotted and that the rain was so thick you couldn't see them until they were right one you. It was scary for a little while, but, we finally made it out. The storm pretty much chased us all the way home.

When we got home, Sweet Pea spent the rest of the night watching over her babies...the chicks. She just loves them....it's really sweet.

Now, we are gearing up for our yard sale! Hoping we raise a good amount of money needed.

Don't forget, the boys are taking pledges for their race!

Ethan's Heart

Today Ethan asked me if he could make another video on Photo Booth. I said yes and went about my business, hanging, folding, and putting away laundry. They usually make goofy videos with silly effects. However, I came back to find he had recorded this message and even typed up his own notes of what to say. I thought it was so cute, especially since he had the hiccups, and it's obvious he wants people to know about these children in need. So....here is what he has to say:

His actual notes:

"there are lots of kids who need your help in africa. sponsor a child.go to www.feedingtheorphans.com.sponsor!!!!!!!!!"

Check out Feeding the Orphans. There really are so many kids who need to be sponsored so they have food to eat!