Long Time, No Post

Well,
It's been over a month since I've last blogged and I thought I should update our "followers" on our progress. We are currently #6 on the waiting list for our child. We are slowly moving, maybe about a number a month or so but we are hopeful that will pick up soon as there are many children at our orphanage simply waiting for all their paperwork to be completed.

Although our adoption hasn't moved much, we have seen God work in miraculous ways in the past month in the adoptions of several of our friends. Justin and Bonnie brought their two precious children home on February 15 after she spent almost 3 months in Ethiopia while our entire church family and many more people prayed that the Lord would move mountains so they could come home. AND HE DID!! Then, our other friends, Keith and Julie, are leaving tomorrow to bring their 8 year old daughter home from Ethiopia. Our friends, Jon & Bethany, will hopefully be travelling in March/April to bring their 2 children home from the Congo. Our friends Adam & Ruth, accepted their referrals for 2 yr old and 4 yr old sisters. Also, two families at our church have recently been approved for foster-to-adopt and are simply waiting for "the call"!! So, we are thrilled to see how the Lord is working in the adoptions of our friends!!

It is time for us to get back on the fundraising wagon so I have scheduled 2 craft shows (one in March and one in May). We also still have many bows, blankets, cookbooks, etc. and we have ordered some African necklaces to sell as well. They are beautiful!

Please pray for us that we would not grow weary or discouraged as we wait and wait and wait and wait....Thanks for your support!!

Blog Design by Bethany

Some friends of ours, Jon & Bethany are currently in the process of adopting 2 children from the DRC. Check out their blog at wewillcometoyou.blogspot.com They have their referral for their little boy and are waiting for their little girl. In order to raise the remaining funds needed, Bethany has started her own blog design fundraiser. Her blog for this fundraiser is here www.blogdesignbybethany.blogspot.com 100% of the proceeds go to support adoption! They need to raise $6550 to complete their adoption. Once they have raised all the money needed for their adoption, they will continue this fundraiser to help other adopting families bring their children home.

She created the new header and signature for my blog and don't they look AWESOME??!! She can do headers, signatures, blog buttons, custom fonts, and a complete blog makeover! All of her prices are very reasonable and remember all the proceeds go to fund adoptions. You can check out her services/pricing here. She can match your header to your blog or in my case, I told her I would be changing my background soon (she has a link to free backgrounds) so she simply created a header that would go with just about anything.

This is an awesome, original way to fundraise...after all, how many people out there have blogs that looked like mine did? Just a plain header that came from the Blogger design because I don't have a clue how to make my own headers and things like that...So, if you have a blog and would like to spice it up or know someone whose blog needs a little TLC, pass this info on to them or send Bethany a message. You can help bring 2 children (eventually more than that) home and give your blog a makeover in the process.

Blessings,

Show Hope

Just a quick "fund" raising update...we are so thankful to announce that Show Hope has graciously given us a $5,000 grant for our adoption!!! This is not a matching grant, this is just straight up $5,000!! We are planning to use this for part of our referral fee as soon as we are matched. Praise the Lord!!!! And thank you, Show Hope!!

Just a few things...

So, I'm terrible with updating our blog!! Sorry to all our "followers!" I will try to do better! So, the latest news is that we are #8 on the list. However, I'm not getting as excited because our director said that the list is simply for her info to keep things straight and even if we are number 1, there could be 20 people in front of us...kinda confusing but okay...So, she said to expect it to be about 6 months before referral :( I guess it's all in the Lord's timing anyway so I'm learning to be patient and trust in Him. After all, He loves these orphans more than we do!!

We are still praying that all of our matching grant will be met..as of Tuesday, we have only received $1, 370 dollars so please pray with us that the rest of the $4,000 will come in by the 20th...We are grateful for all that is given and are hopeful that the entire amount will be met.

Also, we are selling cookbooks, blankets, bows, and headbands so if you need Christmas presents (as most people do), please check out our fundraiser tab. I'm going to add some bow pictures today and try to get the rest up in a couple of days...The cookbooks will especially make GREAT gifts and are only $10.

We are rejoicing with some friends who were able to adopt a son this week after waiting YEARS to bring him home! We are also praying for some other friends who are adopting from Ethiopia. She is planning to travel next week to plead with the government to let them bring their children home before Christmas. Please join us in praying that Asher and Hosanna will be home in the next couple of weeks!! Also, we have some other friends (yes, MANY of our friends are adopting) who have had a referral for a baby boy for several months and cannot travel to bring him home until they receive a referral for their little girl. Please pray that their referral will come SOON so they can bring their children home too.

I have more to share but will save it for another post (it deserves it's own post) :)

Top 10

We are already in the

As of yesterday, we'd only been on the list for 8 days and had moved 4 spaces!!! Wow! Praise Jesus!

Also, the Lord has been at work in some dear friends' adoption from Ethiopia! I have been overwhelmed this week by the trials that so many dear brothers' and sisters' have gone through as they wait and wait and wait to bring their children home. I KNOW that the Lord loves these orphans even more than we do and that He desires them to be placed in loving, Christian homes. This morning he moved mighty mountains and answered the prayers that we have been praying for months for our friends!!! I am overjoyed at this news but am hesitant to share more details because of the sensitivity of adoptions in Ethiopia right now. Just know that we are PRAISING Him today!!! Now we are praying that these precious children will be home by Christmas :)

On another note:

Tis the season to begin buying Christmas gifts for friends, family, acquaintances, teachers, coworkers, and everyone else. Please check out my fundraising tab to see NEW gift ideas including cookbooks and fleece blankets. What better way to spend money that you are already planning to spend than to help bring an orphan home at the same time?? Also, check out our friends' adoption fundraiser at leachfamilytree.blogspot.com. They are selling handmade Christmas wreaths and such. They are beautiful!!

We Have a Number!

It's official!! We are on the waiting list at #

Our agency only has one list for 0-18 mo (we had originally requested 0-2 but this is okay with us). Here are some pictures of the girls mailing our dossier...man, it was tough to get both of them to look and smile (?) at the camera...

Dossier Complete!!

We are thrilled to announce that thanks to some donations that have already been submitted for our Lifesong Grant (see "Letter" post for more info), we have more than enough to submit our dossier!! It is FINALLY going in the mail tomorrow and we will actually be on the waiting list for a child!!!! I have been dancing around the house all afternoon in excitement :) Thank you Jesus for providing the funds for us to be on the waiting list!!