A photo of the kids at last! Plus info on upcoming and FINAL fundraisers!

Our trip to Uganda is quickly approaching!! I can't believe it's almost here already, and there is still so much to do! But praise the Lord, we are sooo ready to go and meet our children and BRING THEM HOME!! :-) Which reminds me, we are now able to release a photo of them...please meet Colin's brother and sister, our beloved Eli and Tabitha!

Seeing them just makes me smile every time! :-)  Last night, Thomas and I were imagining how it will be when we see them for the first time at the airport, and Thomas imagined going up to them, getting down on his knees and just hugging both their necks! He imagines it will be the same feeling as when we went to meet Colin the day he was born at the hospital.  And I definitely agree, except now, Colin will be there, too, with a great big hug and kiss for his brother and sister!

As we were talking, we came to the conclusion that we are also VERY ready to be done with the fundraising part of this journey.  We have decided we don't like fundraising very much, simply because we have had such a short time to raise the necessary funds and we've had to have one event after another and now we're tired and feeling others may be tiring of it too.  Plus, it seems every time we've had a fundraising event, like last night, we are meet with yet another unexpected expense at home (like me needing a crown on my tooth or having a leak in a main water line.) 

BUT... "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28), and there are lessons in this that He wants to teach us through this process. One thing is for certain, we have definitely been learning A LOT about depending on Him for our every need...and that's the BEST lesson of all! And we are reminded that it is all God's money, anyway, and He will use it as He sees fit, and He will bring those He wants to help. We are to be obedient to this call He has given us and to tell what HE has orchestrated and what HE is doing through this process...after all, it is HIS story we're telling others about and for the sake of HIS glory, not ours (and that is why we fundraise with a smile on our face, even when we're tired or discouraged).

So as we prepare to leave for Uganda at last, we have two FINAL (hooray!) fundraisers coming up that we would like to invite you to:

Due to the rain during part of our last yard sale, we still have a TON of donated items left to sell (and I would like to park my car in the garage again!).  So we have decided to have another 

YARD SALE on June 1 

from 8:00am-2:00pm

And for those who would like to get a head start, we will also have a 

PREVIEW SALE on May 31 

from 5:30-8:00pm 

But that's not all...we have saved the best for last!!! :-)

Summertime is a perfect time for music, and the perfect time for a benefit concert!  So we hope you'll come out, enjoy an evening of music, and CELEBRATE with us right before we leave!!  

Benefit Concert featuring...

ERIC PARKER

recording artist, vocalist, and producer

Friday, June 21 

7:00-8:30pm 

at Hixson Presbyterian Church

The suggested donation is $10 per person ($40 max per family).

Nursery will be provided for children 3 and under.

Eric's performance will include a mixture of revamped hymns, original songs, and a few cover songs by well known artists such as Fernando Ortega. 

Eric Parker is the founder and president of Music for Missions, an independent record label to produce independent artists who wanted to use their CD proceeds to support evangelical and mercy ministries, and he is also an artist on the label.  He is not only a recording artist, but he also leads music at his home church, First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga.  Eric's newest release titled Washed to the Sea features covers of Mark Heard, Julie Miller, Fernando Ortega, and Derek Webb as well as six of his own original songs.  Eric's 2008 release From the Shoulders of Giants is a collection of old hymns put to original modern music.

Also, for those who are interested, we have our t-shirts now for $20. We have a variety of adult and youth sizes available.

As always, thank you all for your continued prayers and support through this process!  We can't wait for you to meet Tabitha and Eli!

An answered prayer at warp speed!

Praise the Lord for answered prayer!  And, boy, was He ever fast!! :)

At last, we have received our "Notice of Favorable Determination" (i.e. I600A approval to proceed) from USCIS!!  The great mound of paperwork from the last two months has led us to this point, and never did I expect it to come so quickly.

When we first started the home study, we were all (even the social worker) working feverishly hard to get the home study completed by a certain date, so that we could apply to USCIS by a certain date, and then hopefully get our approval back in time for our anticipated travel date.  By our timeline, we were cutting it close (too close for my comfort). And that was if the application went through without any questions or delays. Our travel plans, and the rest of our process, hinged on this one piece of paper. So we prayed that their would be no delays in our application process, and that an approval would come quickly...and that we would not be anxious as we waited! Praise the Lord we were on His timeline, and not ours!

Ironically, our scheduled appointment time for fingerprinting was slated for tomorrow.  Through the adoption community grapevine, we heard you could go to the USCIS office early. So we decided to try, hoping and praying that they would let us in the door.  We went to Atlanta this past Friday, and they saw us early and did our fingerprinting without any problems. Let me just say that this process was thankfully nothing like what I expected! I had expected a very ominous building, with very stern workers eyeing us with suspicion. Instead, it was a very modest building, filled with very friendly workers, and the whole process was extremely efficient. 

Except for one thing...while we were there, we were told my husband's birthday was wrong in the system.  And my first thought, was "oh no, this will probably delay our application" (after all, we had heard the horror stories of this bureaucratic process).

So, as soon as we got back on the road to head home, I called the phone number they gave us, and was given another number directly to the adoption processing department.  A very nice man said their system was down (again, I'm thinking "oh no!"), and he would take the correct information and call me back when it was done.  An hour later, he did call back and told me that he recognized our names because he was the one working our case.  He proceeded to tell me he already had our fingerprints back, and saw no reason not to approve us, that we should receive a letter of approval within a week! My jaw dropped to the floor!  I was stunned.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to know anything that soon (and how nice of him to actually tell me, which he didn't have to do)...much less the SAME DAY on our way back home from the USCIS office!!

Again, though excited, a part of me was still thinking "I'll believe it when I see it." Lo and behold, not even a week later, our USCIS approval arrived in the mailbox TODAY! Woohoo!!!! Let the official countdown begin! :)

So why am I telling you all of this?  Because I had little faith in this process; despite God showing me over and over that His hands are at work in this process. Because God is way more efficient than I will ever be. And because it still AMAZES me that God, the Almighty One, the Creator of heaven and earth and everything in it, heard little me and my little plea for help and actually did something about it. Just weeks after beginning this journey, I was inspired and challenged by a sermon from our pastor to look for God's fingerprints in the mud (see the post What's In the Mud?).  Well, apparently our fingerprints weren't the only ones at USCIS (pun intended)!!

The take away here is this:  our problems or requests are never too great or too small to take to the Lord in prayer!  I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to be reminded of that.  All too often, I fall into self-sufficiency mode in my efforts to "get it done" or "be more efficient" (unfortunately, the get-it-done part of this process hasn't helped my inclination, I might add).

Yet, throughout this journey, the Lord has been bringing me back over and over to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24, a passage that my husband and I "just happened" to be memorizing (in preparation for a new bible study on the book) right before this journey began.  There are so many truths in this one passage that have spoken directly into our situation and my frame of mind; truths that have continually encouraged and challenged me (which I have underlined) throughout the last few months.  I greatly encourage you to memorize this passage, too, because His Word never returns void!

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.  And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil. 

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-24, ESV)

Looking to the Redeemer on Mother's Day

God has seen it fit to give me many reminders today, on Mother's Day, and these reminders have been so powerful to me that I feel I need to share them, so please bear with me.

Today is a mixed bag of emotions for me, and probably is for many other women too.

Today, I am reminded, among all the well wishes, that Mother's Day is not just about being pampered for a day, and it's not all roses and Hallmark greetings.

Today, I am thankful it is a beautiful day outside that God has made, a wonderful day to celebrate, but I am reminded that Mother's Day is really just a commercialized day that was created by man to remind us to do what we should do every day...and that is to love and honor and appreciate mothers of all generations, including our spiritual mothers.

Today, I am thankful for my own mother for her love and support through the years, even when it was sometimes hard being my mom; for my grandmother and her love; for my mother-in-law who raised a wonderful man that I call "husband"; for the mothers of our previous generations who are no longer with us; and for all the other godly women I know who inspire me with their examples of motherhood.

Today, I am also reminded that this day is painful for some, and my heart aches for women who are hurting.

Today, I am reminded that I used to be one of those women hurting on Mother's Day, feeling the pain of my own regrets and loss and feeling I was on the outside looking in.

Today, I am thankful that the Lord can heal that pain, no matter how deep, and that He draws us closer to Him in the midst of our suffering.

Today, I am reminded that our God is the Sovereign One, and nothing happens without first being filtered through His hands...even those things I do not understand.

Today, I am reminded of the strength and faith of women who have endured a great loss.

Today, I am reminded that Jesus feels joy when we feel joy, but that He also weeps when we weep.

Today, I am reminded that a little over three years ago, we experienced the anguish of waiting for assurance that this little boy would be our son, and how our situation could have turned out so differently. And I can't fathom why one person's experience is different than another's, but I know that God knows why.

Today, I am thankful for my son, and two children on the way, who call (or will call) me "Mom."

Today, I am reminded of how imperfect I am as a mother, that I so often fail miserably to parent with the kind of grace that my loving Father in Heaven shows me, and am reminded that I am forgiven and He is changing me into the likeness of Christ every day.

Today, I am thankful that God has given me a second chance, and now a third and fourth chance, to be a mother; that He is the One who can redeem a person and any situation.

Today, I am reminded that my children may one day have mixed emotions on this day as well, as they (hopefully) celebrate my love for them, but perhaps also feel the loss of the woman who gave them life.

Today, I am thankful for the women who gave each of my children life.

Today, I am reminded to cherish that life, because we are never promised tomorrow.

Today, I am reminded that motherhood is not about sharing the same genetic code, but has everything to do with the love in a woman's heart, the desire to nurture and care for another human being, often foresaking her own desire's for the well-being of this beloved child.

Today, I am thankful that the one bloodline that truly matters above all others is the bloodline of Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for my redemption so that I could be in right-standing with God and be adopted into His family.

Will you join me in praying for women who may be struggling or feeling mixed emotions today? Please pray for:

• young women who have questions or concerns about what it means to be a mother in today's society, and making wise decisions about whether or not they want to be mothers
• women who are currently facing difficult decisions related to an unplanned pregnancy and that they will choose life
• women who face the painful regret and loss of an aborted child
• women who face infertility or other reproductive issues
• women who have had previous miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies
• women who have experienced the loss of a child, whether stillborn or later in life
• women who are temporary guardians or foster mothers
• women who gave birth to a child and placed that child for adoption
• women who are waiting to be an adoptive mother
• women (and men, too) who have lost their own mothers

Please pray that these women will be reminded that He gives enough grace to get through today, and His grace will renew tomorrow; that He will give them comfort and peace and healing in the midst of their struggle or pain; that He will deliver these women and will redeem their affliction, whatever it is, for His will and His glory.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 says: "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced...For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again."

Let us look to the one true Redeemer, and set our hope on him! "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on him in truth." (Ps. 145:18) 

I pray His blessings for you on this Mother's Day!

Praises and prayer for help

We have a praise today!! We went to USCIS today for our fingerprinting appointment, and it went very well (for those who want to adopt internationally, it wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be!).  What a relief!!! And if all goes well, we should have our final approval in a few weeks. :-D  So please keep praying for that!

This leads me to our prayer request...

Friends and family, we need your help! As we near the end of our process, we are getting hit with a lot of HUGE expenses all at once, and are short of our fundraising goal.

Today, I purchased our one-way (cheaper than round-trip) flights to Uganda. $3390
Tomorrow, I am wiring the balance to Uganda. $7625
Next week, we get our immunization shots. $729

That's $11,744 in the span of a week.  We are so grateful that the funds are there to cover these expenses, and praise God for all that He has done!!  And we praise God that with our savings and the help of friends and family, we will have paid $26,372 of the nearly $37,000 total cost after next week.

At the same time, we must press on, knowing that these expenses will take the last of what we have set aside as well as the funds we have raised thus far.

Our current need is to now raise money to pay for our room and board in Uganda (approximately $3000) and purchase our flights home ($5650 at today's price). That's $8650, and we have less than two months to go!!! It's crunch time, as they say!

As far as fundraising goes, we do have one more dessert fundraiser and another yard sale (to sell the rest of the items from our last sale), as well as t-shirts and necklaces, but this will likely raise $1500-$2000 combined, so that leaves us with $6650.  That being said, we know without a doubt that God will show us the way to the finish line; we just don't know what that looks like yet. And we don't know who that involves, so we ask for your help. :)

We would like to ask:

• First and foremost, will you please pray that we come up with $8650?  One way or another, whether through our own funds or fundraising, we want to have this amount paid for so as not to start our expanded family with this debt. Since our situation is a bit out of the norm (much quicker!), we understand that we are not good candidates for grants and loans due to the amount of time to process and approve applications.
• Second, will you please consider helping us financially?  Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://adopttogether.org/ourfamilyknittogether/.
• Third, will you please share this with others?

Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers!  We are reminded every day of all the wonders God has done thus far on this journey, and we praise the Lord for everyone who has prayed for us and helped us in so many ways! :-)

All we can say is WOW!!! and THANK YOU!!!

Over the last month, we have been collecting donated items from our family and friends to sell to raise money for our adoption.  We sold part of it in consignment sales, on Craigslist, and last weekend we had a huge yard sale.

Last Friday, our garage was busting at the seams, with boxes stacked 6 feet high, and this is what the sale looked like!!  It was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!

So many people came by to shop, even on Saturday when it was pouring rain!

We have raised $3000 thus far from these donated items, and still have enough donations left to have another yard sale in June!! This was much more than we anticipated, and we praise God for His provisions!!!

THANK YOU to all who donated items, and those who prayed over it, worked it, and shopped the sale!! It was wildly successful!  Not to mention, we met several shoppers who were in the process of adopting and got to hear their stories, and we were able to tell so many others about our story and all that God has been doing!

And praise God for a few days of rest since then!  I haven't been this tired since our son was a newborn!! ;-)

Another praise and prayer...we also met with several (more like SEVEN!) families in the area last weekend who have recently adopted internationally or who want to or are in the process of adopting.  And of these, two more families have now decided to use the same orphanage we are using, which means even more children from this orphanage will be here in Chattanooga!!! In the beginning of all of this, my friend and I dreamed of all 17 children (that was the number in the orphanage at the time) being adopted, and it seems the Lord is answering that prayer one family at a time!!! Though I never dreamed of how He would orchestrate all of this, and I personally have been so blessed to see all of this unfold and to meet so many amazing people with a heart for children and adoption!  What an amazing and glorious God we serve!

Also, please keep us in your prayers this week as we travel to USCIS for our fingerprinting. :-)