New Sense of Purpose...

It's funny, the longer we wait, the more determined we are becoming in our quest to get those girls! Everyday that passes, my desire to be their mommy is stronger. I am sad that we couldn't commit to them on their birthday Saturday, but it's okay, that was MY plan, obviously not God's! I just pray that God gives them a sense of peace that they will be okay while they wait. They are wanted in the worst way, I just pray that He tells them they will have a mommy and daddy, and three big brothers waiting to spoil them! And a beautiful black lab named Maddie that will finally have her own little girls to love on!

I can tell that we have a couple of friends praying for us right now because I do have a sense of peace myself. I'm still not sure how everything is going to happen, but I do feel that God 'has our backs' ;)

So in the meantime, I am busying myself with adoption paper work, reading materials, fund-raising crafts and making plans for our presentation at church. Staying busy is the only way not to go stir-crazy for me! Thank you Father for busy work! :)

Have a blessed night!

Happy Birthday Girls...

Today is a difficult day for us. Today is Slavka and Sandra's 7th birthday and they still don't have a committed mommy and daddy. We still want to be, and some of our family is on board...but a simple $1000.00 stands in our way to begin that journey to bring them home. Just last night someone said they thought our gold party was today. :( We are still reminding ourselves that God is in control! So...we keep plugging along...

These are our steps:

I make prayer blankets for babies in Ashley's honor and I just received an order for one this morning and the profit will go toward the twins. I will be posting them on my Etsy.com store if you are interested. And if you are a RR family and wish to purchase one, let me know, there is a discounted price than what is posted on Etsy.

I am applying for full time job that pays a fair amount. I'm praying I hear from them soon so that we can start the process. I have also decided to go to some of these temp agencies and see if I can find temp work that pays a fair wage.

We are going to share what we are doing at our church on March 14th at our pastors request. Maybe that will place some solidity in people's minds that we are serious and perhaps convict some others to either step forward to help or maybe commit to giving to RR in the future.

We will keep on fundraising in any way that we can come up with. As I have said in past posts, God is still in control and if it is His Will, these girls will become ours on His schedule, not ours, although I like my time table better :) He knows we love them already and He also knows what is best...I guess I still have some learning in patience... That seems to be a NEVER ENDING lesson for me...

Pray for us, please, as we continue to try to commit to bringing these girls home...

God Is Still In Control...

Well, we had our GlitterBug Party yesterday. We had pink and white frosted cupcakes, and my son's girlfriend Virginia, her friend Courtney and I sang happy birthday to Slavka and Sandra! There was lots of food, and I had wonderful fellowship with the GlitterBug Rep that drove down from Maine to be here for the day.

The party was planned to be 11am-4pm as an open house so that while people were out and about, they could stop by for some refreshments and to sell their gold and walk away with money. Not sure at this point what God is up to, but time will tell. One of my best friends thought the party was at 7 pm so she didn't make it, but she is still going to sell her gold, she is thinking locally and just give us the total, which would be better than 10% of the sale. I also had a few that said they couldn't make it, but they'd be praying, and others that didn't have any gold to sell but they would give a donation. Out of 160 invitations sent out, a total of 12 people responded, and only 3 people came and we had a total of 3 sales...yes 3, one being my own gold. Our total was $204.00 toward our promise fee. Not alot, but something is totally better than nothing!

I would be a liar if I said I wasn't disappointed...I'm very disappointed at this point, but...I also have immense faith in my Father. I know that He has a plan, and it's better than mine :).

Even though we didn't make much, my parents are donating some of what they sold at the party yesterday, My BFF is donating what she can to the promise fee. The best part of yesterday was getting to know our Rep from GlitterBug. It was funny because the past few times we talked on the phone, she kept talking about what we would do during our down-time, but there were no awkward moments at all, the six hours flew by. We got along great, she was so sweet, we had alot in common and she was like a sponge about homeschooling and adoption. Because she did a party in Virginia a few weeks ago for someone on RR, and then she did my party, she is very interested in learning more about adopting through RR. That may be what God had planned all along. And if that is all He had planned, then that is all that mattered. It's up to us to keep praying and having faith that He will provide for this adoption in His own time and way.

To God Be The Glory...

First Fundraiser: GlitterBug Gold Party/7th Birthday Party!

We are excited at the prospect of having many family members and friends come to sell their unwanted gold/silver jewelry so they can make some cash and the twins will benefit by bringing us closer to committing to our beautiful daughters! I am praying that we will be able to do this sometime early next week so Slavka and Sandra will have the hope of a mama and daddy for their very own! What a wonderful birthday gift!

And as soon as they get home they will have a princess party like the one we will have for them this Saturday! I already have a princess table cloth and pink and white streamers... and we will be picking up balloons and cake for them. Pictures will be taken and added to their lifebook that will be scrap-booked.

Soooo excited to see what can be done for Slavka and Sandra... please pray for this weekend and for the twins that really need a mama and daddy! :)

Getting out of first gear

Well this is hubby/daddy writing tonight. The last few days have felt like we have kind of shifted gears a little bit. Still a long way from full throttle and racing to the finish line but progress nonetheless. I will be sharing with our church the second week of march. JoEllen can't do it because she is a big wimp when it comes to public speaking. That is okay though since she does a lot more than me anyway. I can't wait to let people how God wants to use His people to give these awesome kids a home. I hope I don't turn into a boring windbag. We are very excited to begin partnering with our wonderful church family. Unfortunately my current job keeps me from being there on Sunday mornings. We are praying that changes soon. My prayer and focus will be to inspire more men to take the lead when it comes to adoption. I'm tired of hearing story after story of women having to sell their husbands on the idea. Its time for us guys to get off the couch and into the game and start taking the lead in this. That is God's plan, not mine. If God is calling your family to bring a child home from another part of the world then it is the husband that leads the way into those far away places, not the wife. She is our helper but God has commissioned us to lead the way. Ladies, tell your husband to read the wonderful piece I have linked here tonight. I was convicted. I hope you guys will be too.

http://www.reformation21.org/articles/the-manliness-of-adoption-testosterone-and-pure-religion.php

What An AMAZING Day! My Head Is Still Spinning!!!

Okay, we started our day with a visit to our pastor, and he was totally encouraging of our plans to adopt! He prayed for the girls, us and our time with our parents this afternoon. That was step one...he also asked us to gather as much information that we can about Reece's Rainbow and make a dvd presentation on the children that are available for adoption so we can present this to our church family. Tony will be working on a sermon about adoption to present to the congregation... and we may begin an adoption ministry at our church! That was amazing in itself, but...

The most amazing thing of all was that we went to visit my parents this afternoon, we just stopped in, my grandmother was there with them to share in the news of our adoption plans, and we told them! It went over okay, which is what we had hoped. They had the few questions that we thought they would, and we were able to answer them, and they thought the girls were so cute. I'm sure that when we receive our information after paying the fee that they will be just as much in love with them as we already are! And my grandmother seemed happy that she would be a great grandmother (Bopche, she's polish) again! I feel blessed that God gave us peace enough to tell them and He helped things go very smooth...and we are sooo EXCITED!

We also have a Glitterbug Gold Party planned for February 20th. We are going to make it a Birthday Party for the twins! We are just praying for a larger venue for this event because we are hoping that A LOT of people will come, we are spreading it out as an all day event so everyone that wants to come can anytime they want.

Please be in prayer for us as we look for a large enough place to hold the party and for most, if not all, of the promise fee to be provided on that day so we can pay it on the twins birthdate, February 27th! Don't worry girls, mommy and daddy are working on it! :)