We're still here!

We've had a crazy past few months....had a wonderful Christmas w/ family, got to meet my little great-nephew (who needs to move closer BTW!) and spent a lot of time together.  We spent a lot of time since January at various basketball games...when you have 3 boys playing in 3 different age groups....we had basically something basketball related every night of the week.  The older boys are now finishing up w/ track...YAY! We're all healthy and happy...just ready for summer.

In adoption news...we're finally in the "home study" phase.  Waiting for our agency to review our 2nd application and get the initial visit scheduled.  We've had a very encouraging week past week....several families bringing their children home and several more headed to Ethiopia over the next 3 weeks to meet their children and go to court.  To see the new families together....sigh....it's a beautiful thing!

This week we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus...the perfect sacrifice...who died so that we could live in freedom from our sin and be called children of God.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  Galatians 3:26

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! We're looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. John has the privilege  of baptizing our sweet E tomorrow on Christmas day.  God truly continues to bless us.

Great Christmas Ideas...

...and help adopting families at the same time!  Lora Lynn started Home for Christmas last year when she and her family were working on bringing their sweet Mira home from Uganda. This year Mira's home for her first Christmas with her forever family and Lora Lynn is once again helping other adoptive families raise money to help bring their children home by highlighting some great gift ideas.  Click on the Home for Christmas  icon on the side bar to see some great shopping opportunities...including my Etsy Shop that's listed under Glass Pendant Necklaces.

Shirts are in!

Just got the shirts in today. They look great! Will be getting them sent out by next week. Thank you so much to everyone who ordered one. I'm hoping to have a new design ready in January for Valentine's day.

Also, I'm now an Amazon affiliate...if you click through the link on the sidebar, we'll get a commission from whatever you purchase...doesn't cost you anything and all proceeds go to our adoption fund. Thanks!

It's T-shirt time!

We're taking orders for our adoption t-shirts to help raise money for our adoption expenses.  Click on the link http://growingfamilyfundraising.blogspot.com/ or the Simply Love button on the left sidebar to go to our fundraiser page.  We've been very blessed to find so many resources online and in the blog world to help us along the way... Kari has an adopted daughter from Ethiopia and has become a great resource for information and advocacy for adoption. Having her help with fundraising has been wonderful.

Please email me or leave me note in the comments if you have any questions!

Family

Today is my Dad's 80th birthday...we managed to pull off a big surprise by having 4 of my sisters from out of state (2 of us live nearby) show up for lunch today...he had no idea! We had a great lunch and talked about how having 6 of 8 kids (considering how spread out we all are) together for his birthday is quite an accomplishment. Then my brother was able to surprise the girls (Mom was the only one in on that one!) by coming up for dinner.  We aren't able to see each other often, so we really enjoy it when we do. Mom and Dad are enjoying having a houseful of people.  We're loud and crazy...but have a good time together!  We're proof that LOVE makes a family and for that I am very thankful!

Counting the Cost

One of the things people ask when they hear we’re adopting internationally is “Isn’t it expensive?” Short answer “Yes” Longer answer “Yes very!” According to our agency it will cost approximately $24000-29000 (this includes most fees, donations to the orphanage and travel expenses) to adopt 1 child from Ethiopia.  We’re hoping to adopt siblings…so at least 2… That will not double the cost as some expenses are a one time thing like home study (actually not calculated in the above estimate) and fingerprinting, but some things are like passports, visas and airline tickets per child. So our tab will end up being more than the estimate.  Like most people we don’t have that kind of money just sitting around. We’re not entirely sure where it’s all going to come from. What we do know is that our God has led us on this journey and that he will provide as he sees fit.  We also know that He has a heart for the orphan, that we are commanded to care for them and this is how we feel led to do so.  We have started saving on our own and cutting back here and there.  I’ve opened an Etsy shop and we’re selling Just Love coffee through our blog.  We’re planning on doing some fundraisers like selling shirts and once our home study is done we’ll be applying for grants through ShowHope and Lifesong.  I've added a paypal donation button to our blog so if you feel led to donate to our adoption fund it will be easy to do so.  It’s hard to ask for help….John and I have gone back and forth on that aspect of our adoption….it boils down to a pride issue. We know we can not do it on our own.  John met someone recently who had adopted siblings from Rwanda and he told him his biggest regret was not asking for/allowing people to help them financially.  As believers, we are all called to care for the orphan, for some that means adoption, for others that means orphan care and for others that means helping financially.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated!