bullets.

I can think of no better way to get these random thoughts to mesh together into a somewhat cohesive-sounding post than to use…you guessed it, bullets.
Here goes.

• We sent off our fingerprints to the FBI to run our criminal history checks on January 11th because they told us it would take 12-14 weeks to get them back. We got them back January 24th. What is this insanity? Something that is actually happening smoothly and quickly?!
• Brandon is quickly transitioning between two jobs right now so that puts off our home study for just a few weeks. It's definitely for the best, so no biggie. What's a few weeks when you're looking at a 24-month-long "big picture?"
• Brylie is convinced that she is going to get a little sister named "Africa." It's so darn cute to hear her talk about it that I don't have the heart to tell her that we simply cannot name our child that.
• AGCI is changing up a few things so we've been assigned a new caseworker. I can already tell that I heart Soojin. She's going to be with us for the long haul, so how happy am I that she's awesome!?
• Still trudging along with the paperwork…it's madness, I tell you.
• Finished our online adoption education courses! There was lots of information about, well, a lot. Including common infectious skin diseases in orphanages. Like, a lot of information on this. Too much, perhaps. (Praying against that junk for our baby - and ALL babies). Sheesh.
• We should be getting closer to having a t-shirt design soon! I'm hoping we can get this done pretty quickly since we have to write the Ethiopian government a big, fat check in June. As soon as we get things set up we can start pre-orders! 

the ups and the downs.

I've been seriously fighting the urge to write a whiney post. Maybe that's why there's been 0 activity on here in two weeks - right now I am seriously overwhelmed and, well, whiney. Finally I remembered that we started this blog in order to document the ups and the downs so *sigh*…here goes. 

For the last few weeks we've been working like crazy people to get this home study paperwork done.  Order this, sign that, print this, go here, get that, notarize EVERYTHING. It seems never-ending. And this is supposed to be the easiest part of the whole deal?? Oh mylanta. 

And to top it all off, the only thing I seemed to be able to get done quickly and have almost complete control over is now royally out of control. I ordered 12 birth certificates total (3 for each of us) and, get this…

my NAME is misspelled. 

On every last one of 'em. 

Really. 

And for the life of me I cannot get anyone to answer the phone at Austin Vital Records so that they can print me up a few new ones. I've now spent 5+ hours on the phone trying to get through and calling a few other places (including the agency from whom I placed the order who assured me that they can do nothing and wonders, "Are you sure that that's not just how your name is spelled and you've been misspelling it for 26 years?").  I am resorting to the only thing I know to do now. Cry. And tomorrow, when I call all of those numbers again the first unlucky soul to answer the phone will be bombarded with the only thing I have left - a good, hard sob. 

Poor guy. Or girl. Preferably a guy…and we all know why.

On a brighter note, here's Brandon drawing a picture of what he thinks our baby will look like. 

We had to do this for one of our adoption education courses.

I would post the picture of the final product but it's really pretty comical. 

(think: football player shoulders on a baby girl.)

hmm, maybe I will post it. :)

Faustina.

Let me just say, God is good. He is everything good. He works on our hearts and convicts us of things in order to do His good. I'm so thankful for this, because left up to ourselves, nothing would happen. God has done quite an amazing thing in our lives over the last few weeks. He has squeezed past the craziness and the clutter of our lives and has given us an amazing gift that we want to share with you…Faustina.

:::backing up:::
A few weeks ago Brandon and I decided that we had had enough of "commercialized Christmas." We were tired of going to the store with cash in hand to find something (anything) to give someone              (everyone) for no reason other than, hey, it's Christmas, we're supposed to, right?

Someone posted this picture on Facebook and, quite honestly, it rocked my whole world.

I was convicted. And when I say, "convicted," I mean I threw up a little…not really, but I wanted to. Disgusting. I was ashamed to be a part of such a selfish culture. Then I realized that while our culture is often self-absorbed God has given us the precious gift of options. Those children on the left have no options - they hope to receive their basic needs but they have nothing to give anyone. The women on the right have their basic needs met and the option to decide what to do with the rest. We are blessed with the ability/means/resources to give!

Brandon and I discussed it and decided once and for all that Christmas was going to be different. Don't get me wrong, we're all for gift-giving. I love coming across that perfect gift for so-and-so and being so excited about it that I can't WAIT to give it to them…and I usually don't wait. What I have a problem with is excess. And getting stressed out about finding something to wrap up and give someone when, to be honest, I have no idea what they would like…or what they need, if anything. 

So, we decided that the best gift we could give anyone this year is not a trinket that will need to be dusted every other week or a toy that will be played with for 5 minutes and cast aside. The best thing we could do is give the gift of purpose. Of a relationship. Of caring for someone on the other side of the world who desperately needs it. 

This year, please accept our gift to you all - Faustina. She is 5 years old and lives in Ghana, West Africa. She lives in a one-room tin home with her brothers, sisters, and her mother who is sometimes employed in the local market. In the names of you, our family and our dear friends, Faustina will be provided with food, clothes, medical care, and better educational opportunities throughout the coming year and beyond. 

Please join us in praying for Faustina regularly - for her health, for her provision, for her family, and most of all that she would hear of the love that our Messiah, our Savior, the God of the universe has for her. 

The same God that loves you and me loves this precious little girl. She is His princess. 

May your holiday season be a time of peace and thankfulness!

us.

progress!

Here's a little of what's been going on lately:

* Over the last few weeks, we have received two financial gifts from two very generous, amazing families.
 (Funny story…I wasn't quite prepared for our home study to cost as much as it does. I was, of course, fretting a little over this newfound information. Within just a few days of speaking with our home study agency, we received these two gifts that covered the cost exactly. I'm not exactly sure why I was so stressed about it - we had just seen God work through others in an amazing way not even two weeks before. Someday I'll learn about this thing called faith…)


* Our adoption agency sent out an email saying, "In honor of National Adoption Month, we will waive our "program fee" of $1,000 if you get us your contract by December 31st." Yay! Needless to say, our contract is ready to go out first thing in the morning.

* A friend and I were talking about a month ago and she asked me if we were planning on designing t-shirts to sell for fundraising. I said that we were and that I had a few ideas, but that I hadn't decided on anything for sure. She said, "Well, my husband is a designer and he loves to do this kind of thing. He'll help you out!" One dinner/meeting at Freebirds later, he's designing our t-shirts and working on making our blog more awesome and a bit less "free template-y."

* We found out that there are other families right here in Midland that have adopted/are adopting from Ethiopia! Three of these families are friends of friends, and I can't wait to get together with them, hear about their experiences, and get a few tips and tricks.

Did I mention that my Lord is faithful?

um, whoa.

An anonymous donor knew that we were $3,500 short from being able 

to write our first check to the adoption agency.

(Don't worry. From my experience, your jaw dropping and your eyes watering are a normal reaction).

Father, I'm overwhelmed by your goodness and so thankful that you work through
good people to accomplish your good works. 

Thank you for allowing so many people to be a part of YOUR story of hope and redemption. 
It's so wonderful to be reminded often that this isn't some harebrained idea that we dreamt up but that this is actually your plan for this child and for our family. I love you immensely.

Fundraiser #1 - complete!

Our first fundraiser is officially behind us, and as you can see, 

it put us a lot closer to our first goal!

After it was all done and everything was counted, 

we had made just about $1,900 which made our total $4,442. 

Only $3,558 to go!

People started showing up an hour early - as soon as the sun came up!

We had a little of everything…including the kitchen sink.

Yard sales are incredibly annoying. 

They're stressful, tiring, and way more work than they're usually worth. 

But, this one was wonderful and was worth every single second of work that went into it. 

We're a little over half way to our first goal! 

(We are incredibly grateful to all of you that donated "treasures" 

and your time to make this happen. 

We could never thank you enough, and we love you all.)


The yard sale's "closing ceremonies."