When the Saints Go Marching In . . .

God is relentlessly pursuing me.  His desire has become my desire . . . that I would be a woman of the Word, relentlessly pursuing Him and letting His Word transform my life for His glory.  There is so much I want to say about what He is doing in my heart.  But not today.

Today I just want to share my new favorite song.  Maybe it's my anthem.  It is certainly my heart's cry! 

Hope you enjoy!

Our cup overflows!

Blown. Away.  We are absolutely in awe of God's provision, always really, but especially for this adoption.  The cost is always the hot topic when it comes to adoption.  How much?  HOW MUCH?  Holy moly . . . $30,000 is such a big number that most people, including me, can't even wrap their minds around where that money will come from.  This is how I felt when we started, but deep down I had a sense of peace.  Our God is Jehovah Jireh . . . He will provide and I will trust Him to do it.

We started this journey in June by asking a few family and friends to pray for us as we sought God's plan.  That same week we got our first donation to our adoption fund . . . a sacrificial gift from dear friends that God used to confirm and encourage our hearts that we were walking in His will.


So here we are.  5 months later.  And we're blown away with the generosity that has been shown from family, friends and even strangers new friends!  We have loved seeing our t-shirts worn all over New Orleans and the US!  Our yard sale and craft fair sales were so much more than we could have expected.  The raffles on the blog have been so fun . . . who doesn't love to give away fun prizes?!

And then there are the cards we receive with a check inside.  I can't tell you how humbling it is to open one of those.  Rest assured that we praise our Father for every gift received . . . to Him be the glory.

We opened one such letter today.  We don't know this family, but they gave generously and are praying for our sweet Easton. 

After thanking Jesus, I went to record the gift in my spreadsheet . . . cause you know I have a spreadsheet for everything!  I realized that this gift brought us to a huge milestone . . .

We have $15,000 for our adoption!!!

Again, to God alone be the glory!  This is the amount we needed for the first part of this process.  We've actually already had to spend half of that, with the other half due in the next few months.  Praise God for providing ALL we need right now.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed, given, sported our t-shirt, donated for a raffle, and loved us like the Church is designed to love!  Our cup overflows!

Sharing Jesus with my Dr. and Ethiopian food

This "paper chasing" part of adoption is definitely overwhelming . . . lots to do, lots of things that you need others to do for you, lots of things that you need the government to do.  You get the picture.  Some of it is tedious, some is time consuming, and some is completely out of your control.

Our case worker at AGCI has been awesome and started off giving me some really wise advice (like she's done this before or something!).  She told me to focus on one step at a time and not spend time worrying over all the other stuff that needs to be done.  Don't think about the 30 documents that I have to do, just the two I need to do today!  I've had to remind myself of this multiple times already!  I've just been focusing on what we need for our homestudy, which, by the way, is in 3 weeks! 

Chad and I both had to get physicals and TB tests done.  The doctors (we saw different doctors) have to sign a form that we are in good health, but here's the kicker . . . the doctor's signature has to be notarized.  Ochsner doesn't have a notary so we have to bring a notary with us to the doctor's office to get it done.  Thankfully we have a wonderful man in our church that is a lawyer and a notary and has graciously agreed to jump through all the hoops with us.  Just imagine how easy it is going to be for us to get a lawyer and two doctors together at one time! 

I had my appointment yesterday and prayed as I drove there that I would have the chance to share why we are adopting and about Jesus.  God answered!  My doctor is a nice woman from India and was very personable.  As we talked, she all of a sudden said, "You're so young.  Don't you want to try a little longer to have your own children before you adopt?"  I smiled as I told her about Ava and Grayson.  Her face showed that she didn't understand, so she just asked, "Then why are you adopting?"  Thank you Jesus for the open door!  I told her that we've been adopted by God through Jesus Christ and that reality is what leads us to adopt.  I also just explained the great need for orphan care . . . her eyes widened as I shared statistics.  The Gospel is so contrary to natural human desires.  We aren't adopting only to fill a need in our own lives, but to meet a need in a little one's life!  God didn't need more children, but we desperately needed a Savior!  I pray this seed of Truth bears fruit Dr. Bethi's life!

We also had a little culinary adventure this weekend.  Our adoption education workbook encourages us to try the food of our son's birth country.  So we found an Ethiopian restaurant and hoped for the best!  You eat community style, which I love!  It is just so intimate and cozy and fun!  We basically let our waitress (who was high as a kite) order for us since we had no clue.  We got spicy beef, chicken with onions and peppers, and an assortment of vegetables.  You don't use utensils, but scoop each bite with injera, which is like a cold crepe.

I liked most of the flavors, but the textures were a little tough for me to get used to.  Poor Chad . . . he immediately started having flashbacks of his time in Burkina Faso doing summer missions.  If you haven't heard Chad's stories about the food he ate and how incredibly sick he got, you're kind of missing out, but you should mostly just be thankful . . . yuck!  Needless to say, Chad wasn't into the food as much as he would have hoped.  We had a great time though and want to continue to learn more and more about Ethiopian culture!

GIVEAWAY Results!

And the winner is . . . 

Jenny Riddle!

Congrats to Jenny on winning the 50 custom Christmas cards from Creole Paperie!  If you didn't win, you can still order some fabulous Christmas cards from Tara!

I've got an amazing bundle of prizes to raffle on December 1st that will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit . . . a Christmas canvas, 2 Christmas throw pillows (which happen to be made by Jenny Riddle!), and some of the coolest Christmas ornaments I've ever seen!  

Thanks everyone for following my blog . . . I love how so many people are becoming a part of Easton's story!

GIVEAWAY!

Hooray for my first giveaway!  I've got a little something to get you in the Christmas spirit!  Yeah, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I'm so excited for Christmas music, decorating the tree, all the food that comes with the holidays and celebrating Jesus!

So I've mentioned before that I have the best friends.  Still true!  Remember Boyd, our friend that designed our adoption t-shirts?  (Speaking of, we still have t-shirts for sale and they would make a great Christmas prize!  Just sayin!)  Not only is he super talented and generous, but so is his wife!  Tara has her own etsy shop and has offered an amazing prize for this givaway!

The prize . . . 50 custom Christmas cards + envelopes from Creole Paperie.  

Here is a link to Tara's shop . . . Creole Paperie.  (I've also put some examples below.)  She has a big selection of cards to choose from and will do all the work for you!  I know this is about the time when you start thinking of making some cute Christmas card, but then life happens and instead of creating something cute, you are lucky if you get something in the mail by February!  If that's you (you know it is), then this giveaway is just what you need!

Details about the prize . . . The winner will get 50 custom Christmas cards + envelopes from Creole Paperie.  Choose from any card design shown in the shop.  Cards will be 5X7 and full color front and back.  The cards are a heavyweight card press-printed with brilliant archival ink.  I will work with the winner to make sure their greeting and photo(s) are exactly as they would like, and will proof the card for them before the final order is placed.  The card order must be sent to the lab for printing no later than December 10th to ensure delivery before Christmas.  Printing generally takes 2-3 business days then it is an additional 2-3 business days for shipping, so the winner needs to place their order with the knowledge of this time frame, depending on when they would like to send their cards out.  I will not remove any photographer's logo or watermark, so please make sure the winner has authorization or a release to reprint any copyrighted photos.

Tara has also said that if the winner happens to not need 50 Christmas cards, you can do 25 for Christmas and can save 25 to use for another occasion (birthday or shower invitation, etc.).  

How do I enter?   Glad you asked!  You can enter to win this giveaway in 2 easy steps . . .

1.  Follow my blog by email.  There is a box for your email with the heading "Follow by Email" at the top right corner of the blog.  

AND

2.  Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you are following me by email.

It's as easy as that!  Two steps and you could win 50 free and stylish Christmas cards!  I'd love it if you shared this post on your facebook or blog too, but it's not required! :)

I'll announce the winner on Monday morning (November 14th).  I have to have my physical for the adoption on Monday so I need something to look forward to that day!

Here are some samples of the cards Tara has in her shop.  You can even have a little New Orleans flair!