CHANGE a life

When my sweet sister-in-love found out about our adoption, she began saving her change. She got her kids in on it and over the last few months have been saving any spare change they had in a container labeled "For our new cousin".  At Christmas my little niece and nephew gave me the container filled with all of the change. Along with the change was the cutest little headband for our baby girl...the first present we have received for her and the first bow to ever enter our house, haha! 

This gift was so emotional for me. I didnt care if the change they had collected amounted to five dollars. There was just something so sweet about all of those pennies, quarters, and dimes. To know that everytime they had put money in our container, they had thought of their new cousin. To know that every penny was put there purposefully for her. These are the things that make this journey so sweet. The thoughtfulness of our family and friends. 

As we sat at the kitchen table counting the change and putting them into money rolls, my sister-in-love told me that she wanted others to be a part of this and that she would like to send out letters to our friends and family asking them to start saving their change for the next few months. Along with the letter is a bag you can place somewhere for you to remember to drop your spare change in. Some of you have received the letter and bag in the past few days. If you have not, and would like to be a part of this, please let me know!

Like I said before, there is something so incredibly sweet to me about this. Even if your change amounts to a few dollars at the end of a few months, know that that few dollars means the world to us to know that you thought of our daughter each time you placed a penny in the bag. Those pennies will change her life!

"Now Watch This...."

When we started this month's Great Wolf Lodge Fundraiser, I had in my mind how much money I would like to make from it. Now please don't get me wrong....there is never any disappointment in the number of donations we receive. We rejoice over every dollar given! 

When it came time to close the giveaway, we were about $335 short of what I had in my mind. There was absolutely no reason or logic behind the amount I had picked....it was just a number.  After we had chosen a winner for the giveaway,  the very next evening we received a donation for ......yes, $335! 

There was no reason for the Lord to bless us in that way...afterall, it was just a number I had in my head. I cant help but wonder, if the Lord placed that number in my head just so he could show me, ONCE AGAIN, that he is in control of this journey. And that HE is the one that prompts peoples hearts to give......random amounts and all:)

It is in moments like this that I am convinced God likes to show off:) I can just picture Him up in heaven saying, "Now watch this!"

Gratefulness and The Great Wolf Lodge

The paperwork is done and now we wait....wait to be matched up with a baby girl, wait to go to Ethiopia to adopt her, then wait to bring her home. While we wait, we wait expectantly, as we watch the Lord answer prayer and grow us and stretch us in ways we have never known. 

Among the prayers we cover our baby girl in, are also prayers for the Lord to provide financially. It is no secret that the financial burden we bear is GREAT! But its not too big for our GOD! He has called us to this....asked us to go rescue one of his children from a life of poverty, starvation, and a life where she would probably never hear of His name. 

Because of YOU... all of our dear friends and family that have chosen to give and lift some of this financial burden from us.....this child has will never know what it is to beg for food or water, or see the spread of AIDS that plagues her country, or know the heartache of losing loved ones to starvation, sickness, and disease. 

For those of you who think your gift was "not much". Please KNOW that we rejoice and are humbled over every dollar that is given to our daughter. YOU are helping save her from a horrible life that she will thankfully never know. She will know HOPE and LOVE. 

Like when Jesus fed the 5,000 with just a few loaves of bread and fish, He is using your dollars to do GREAT THINGS! The Lord just asks that we have faith and give what we have. Thank you for being like the little boy who gave even when it didn't seem like much. When just a few dollars is given with a sacrificial heart, it is multiplied when others are giving sacrificially as well.....the Lord can do more than we ask or imagine. 

"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..." Ephesians 3:20

Christmas '11

Our time with family is always so sweet at Christmas, and this year was no exception. We celebrated Christmas early with my brother and his sweet family the weekend before Christmas, Brody and Levi love their little cousin Emmersyn and she is pretty smitten with them too:)

We were able to spend Christmas Eve in Cary with my grandparents, and then Christmas morning at our house with my parents. Each year is more exciting with Brody. This year he really knew what Christmas was all about.  And Levi loved ripping the wrapping paper off of his everyone else's presents.  I remember as a kid, not really loving when Christmas fell on a  Sunday because we had to leave all of our new presents at home to go to church. But as an adult, its different. Where else would i want to celebrate the birth of our Savior, than with my church family worshipping together. Our service was a sweet time with the whole family gathered for worship and story for the children. 

After church, we traveled to VA to spend time with Brians family. The 8 cousins, ages 11, 9, 5, 4, 3...and THREE one year olds!!, had a blast together:) 

Last year we had 3 newborns....all born within 100 days of each other.  This year we have 3 toddlers!