Hmmm...Blogging AND Making Money At The Same Time, Who Knew?

Okay, so I logged onto my blog this morning and found out that there is a new program for bloggers to raise money. Apparently I can blog about books that we are using/reading for our adoption and if we use Amazon and somehow connect our blog to their site, we can make a commission on the sale. Interesting concept, I think I'll look into it...hey, it's another way to get these girls on their way home quicker ;)

I haven't blogged about our twins in a few blogs, so here is an update...they are still ours! We are still looking for ways to raise money to bring them home. Recently a couple of people have come up with an interesting way to market their fundraising venture. I would love to incorporate it into our fundraising, but I'm just not sure how it will work in my circle.

Here is the deal...

We have to raise $12,000.00 to $13,000.00 for the travel expenses and other expenses while in country. That means that if 1000 people donate $13.00, that would cover all our expenses and we would be able to get it done!

Now, I am thinking that we would print up flyers and leave them in the doors in our neighborhood and perhaps ask our internet friends to pass the word around the net with the girls sponsorship page address.

I'm not sure how it will all work, but please feel free to leave me messages and let me know if you think it'll work or if you have better ideas. Always open to other ideas...

On an exciting note, I now know my paypal account works! I had a person donate to my puzzle fundraiser for our twins and her donation is sitting in my paypal account waiting to pay for our home study fee! We are so excited, and I would so love to get all this 'stuff' taken care of quickly. Please continue to pray for us, we love those girls so much, and I am beginning to dream of holding them and rocking them a lot more often, which means my heart is going to ache soon, so I just want them here... :) Thanks!

Hope you have a fantastic day!

More Of God's Blessings...

Like I said recently, God has a way of placing things in perspective for me. This has been a difficult month for us here, and it's not over, but that is okay, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm pretty sure it's not a train...trains don't really run around here anymore!

Today started with news about Chrissie, she was being weened off of the medication that she was on to keep her in a coma. Well, they didn't think she would respond to anything for about a week, and PRAISE GOD, she has been responding to her mothers, Lorraine, voice and her touch! It looks great that there is little to no brain damage and she can feel others. Her family has asked that people continue to pray for Chrissie as she isn't out of danger yet. They are still dealing with her heart and the possibility of infection and the list goes on...please continue to pray for little Chrissie. The fact that she is responding and is still living is a HUGE blessing from God!

Another blessing is that Shelley and her new son Kullen are almost home. It has been a very long trip and if we don't hear from them for a few days, we won't be too surprised! God is Awesome to have blessed them abundantly over in Bulgaria and Serbia with successful orphanage visits and such, but the bigger blessing is that they are finally home.

I'm still looking for a job, but in the down time, I have been able to come up with what I hope are successful ways to raise money for us to bring the girls home as well as bless Reece's Rainbow in the years to come.

And then there is the other stuff, like preparing our homestudy paperwork and planning Slavka and Sandra's new bedroom! I am turning their room into a 'garden party' bedroom! I am going to paint a field of wild flowers on the wall, perhaps a trellis with fake ivy climbing up in the doorway and I have the plans to their beds made complete with a picket fence headboard and footboard with bird houses on it... I also bought, on sale of course :) , a huge purple bunny, a medium white bunny and a little pink bunny for each of their beds. I can't believe I am actually going to be able to do this FINALLY! I saw a picture in a craft magazine years ago and I really wanted to do it, but my boys thought it was too sissy ;P, who would have guessed :D... and I can't even get Tony to wear a purple or pink shirt, so the garden theme wouldn't work in our room! We do have John Deere sheets and a John Deere quilt I made for Tony...maybe we can add some garden into that theme?

Anyway, I am really looking forward to what our Lord does this week in the lives of others...Hope your week is God Blessed!

God's Blessings...In Hindsight

Truly God has blessed many this week, in many ways. Here are just a few...

Chrissie, the little Serbian Sensation, as her mother Lorraine has penned, is still alive and fighting. We have been praying for her and her family since her open heart surgery began on Tuesday morning. It has been a roller coaster all week, she died twice and right now she is on life support, and she is alive. I have been humbled and brought to tears by the strength her mother and father, Lorraine and Matt, have shown through this ordeal. What amazing faith! Please go see their blog about their precious princess Chrissie.

http://allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/

Finally it's time for Shelley, Kullen and Leah to return home to the US after such a long time away from their families. Praise God!

Others, even if it doesn't feel like a blessing at the moment, have been blessed with an answer of no it's not time to adopt. Another received a date for them to travel to pick up their son! Dossier's have been sent out! There has been a successful adoption, and now we're just waiting for the GOTCHA DAY!

Tony and I have finally been able to meet a family from Reece's Rainbow that live in Massachusetts, and they live just an hour from us! :)

I guess you could say that once again I am being blessed with peace about not hearing from any of the jobs that I applied for last week. I really can only look at it as God hasn't prepared the perfect job for me yet.

This week I have watched satan try to bring christians down, but all he did was succeed in bringing them to their knees...in PRAYER and PRAISE to our heavenly Father, our Great Physician!

An aside, I believe I read on Lorraine's blog that they had over 13,000 hits on their blog...take that satan!!!

What A Week! Praise God...

At least it feels like it has been a week already...and it's just Tuesday.

Once again my troubles have paled in comparison to others problems. Yes, God has a way of doing that to me...not a bad thing really, but it sure is humbling.

I thought my car was a major frustration, then onto the way I felt when people ignored things.

Then I got home...

There was Shelley and her brand new son Kullen and her friend Leah. Blessed to go visit orphanages but when they needed to come home, they couldn't. To top it off, Kullen is sick. :(

Then there was Chrissie and her heart surgery yesterday and her mothers gut wrenching plea for prayer for Chrissie...she had died and now is in a medically induced coma and on life support.

Now there is the little 6 year old special needs boy they found dead in a park in Texas, with no identification.

It kind of placed my troubles on the back burner, so to speak and now I am able to concentrate on praying for others and their difficulties.

Yes, I am praising God for making me Aware of others. I'm glad He re-focuses me and shows me what is really important. Thank you Father for your correction! :)

Hope everyone has a great night...and please pray for Chrissie!

Please Pray For Our Friends!

r HisWe are asking for prayers for Shelley, our friend, her newly adopted son, Kullen, who happens to be sick, and Leah. They are in stuck in Bulgaria after adopting Kullen and they are waiting to fly home, but the volcano erupted while they were in another country visiting an orphanage.

We are all worried about them, Kullen especially because he sounds like he has a sinus infection. So please, pray for their safety, finances and ability to get back home. And pray for her husband and other members of her family while she is away.

We all know that God is still on His throne, but asking for His help is what we are supposed to do...Thank You! Have a blessed day! :)

You Know, God Is Really Amazing!

Okay, while I was steaming and sad this morning, I did leave out a positive detail...we are blessed with my oldest son who is a tow truck driver. He towed the car to Tony's work for free. And Tony works on cars for a living, so for about $30.00 he was able to replace the timing belt and it was done already! :)

God really has blessed us! Oh, and I freaked out too because I lost an envelope of money from our budget, and we found it in the car!

Praise God! He is Awesome the way He takes care of the details :)

Have a wonderful evening and enjoy your family!

Anger ends in GRRR...

You know, if I laughed as much as the time spent aggravated lately they would haul me away in an ambulance! :) Yes, I admit I am finding more to complain about lately, but sometimes I think I am righteously angry. Let me explain...

Today I dropped Tony off at work, on a Sunday AGAIN :( Righteously angry? Yes, in a perfect world, but not so much here. Once again satan wins. On my way home with the car, suddenly the car dies without so much as a sputter or cough. Righteously angry? You bet, I was going home to get ready to go to church to so I couldn't go. satan won. Still righteous? Not so much, it's a car and cars break. The timing belt broke again for the second time in 5 months! Righteously Angry? YES! Better quality components put in the cars would be helpful. But let's face it, it's a car and cars break! So not really righteous...

While I sat for an hour and 15 minutes on the side of the road waiting for assistance with my flashers going, not one person stopped or looked at me to see if I was okay or if I needed to call someone. Righteously angry? YES! I was pulled over at a stop light too...roll down your window and ask me if I need anything? You can't always assume that someone has a cell phone or that they are okay enough in that type of situation. What has happened to everyone? I understand that people are creeped out about stopping in these situations, but you can't stop, roll down your window and ask if I am okay or do I need them to call someone for me? And to top that off, I recognized 2 cars that drove by as members of my own church. Righteous anger? YES indeed.

I posted this on my fb status and one person mentioned that we all have crosses to bear and sometimes that means covering our eyes...not quite sure I knew what that meant, but I reminded her that I felt like the samaratin that was ignored by the priests and pharisees. Anyone remember that story?

Two things struck me this morning as I saw the apathy in God's people:

1. Any one stuck on the side of the road is some one... someone's mother/father, son/daughter, brother/sister, grandmother/grandfather, aunt/uncle. Turn the table and say the person was YOUR (fill in the blank) and no one stopped to help?

B. If I am invisible to God's people, then does that mean that we will ever receive help from my christian brothers and sisters to bring our twins home?

The cost of stopping this morning would have been 5 minutes and they may have been a few minutes late to church. If time, as precious as that is, can't even be spent on making sure someone is okay, then how can I believe that they will spend precious dollars on making sure that two of God's children have a forever family? Righteous Anger...GRRR...YES!

I don't make a habit of stopping for people that are with others or are visibly on the phone, but if there is one bit of doubt, I will turn around and make sure they are okay and have someone coming for them. I don't ever want to have to look Jesus in the face and give an account to Him that I was going to be late to church or dinner and I just didn't have time to stop. Righteous Anger...GRRR... YES!

GRRR...But Hopeful!

We gotta whole lotta GRRRin' goin' on!

With tax day in our rear view mirror, we are grrr'ing because the state we lived in before was just a bit greedy, so any hope of having a tax refund to put toward our adoption is out because we owe! We don't owe a lot, but enough to be a pain in the back side! That made us rather annoyed!!! GRRR...

But, on a happier note, I have just applied for 4 jobs, 3 receptionist positions and 1 retail within 15 miles (round trip) of our house! I left one of the places hopeful today, the office manager was not in today but is in on Monday so I should hear something from her on Monday! YAY!!!

So please, if you are a prayer, please pray for this job! I really liked the place as soon as I walked in. I'm not a psychic but I had a really good feeling about it. We'll see if this is where God wants me! And thank you for the prayers...He is the only way to get through all this!

So now I have to get rid of this sinus headache because I have so much to do, a room to clean, organize for a yard sale, get my daily chores completed...but right now, healing!

I sure hope you're have a fantastic day! Bless you!

I guess I don't understand companies anymore. I was really excited to see that Target was hiring, then when I went on line to apply, the Target in our town isn't hiring, one about 18-20 miles away is. So why did they advertise there then? Aldi did the same thing last fall, when I inquired with them and was told it was for a store about 18 miles away from my house. Aldi may pay alright, but I am not going to travel 20 miles to go work in a retail store that isn't going to pay me more than minimum wage, especially with gas prices on the rise again :( So it looks like we are still waiting...

On a brighter note, I have started digging out the room that will be the girls bedroom! I am moving things and re-arranging to fit everything where it needs to be! :) Just trying to keep busy while I wait for a job! I just can't contain my excitement!!! :)

Soon girls...mama and daddy will be there as soon as we can! :)

The Waiting Game...

Well, I put in applications today, and I will again tomorrow. If we can do it before our homestudy is complete, we are also going to apply in the next week or so to the Both Hands Ministry through LifeSong Ministry. Both Hands is a project to help a widow and at the same time you are earning funds toward your adoption. You can earn up to 10,000.00 in funds. What a huge chunk of money just for spending a day volunteering to help a widow! Wow, what a blessing...

http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/bothHands.html

Please check it out. What a way to help widows and orphans :)

Getting Ready To Go Out...

Looking for a job AGAIN!!! Something has to give soon. And I am noticing other job opportunities as we are out and about, soooo....

I am going to Target. I figure if I get a job there, that money will go toward our immediate adoption expenses, and maybe there will be a discount? I saw a beautiful comforter/sheet set that we want for their room! And some furnishings for their room, too. Not to mention all the pretty clothing for girls there :)

Also, Babies/Toys R Us is hiring. Either place will work for the same thing, adoption expenses and discount for future purchases. Just praying that something comes available soon! God is Great and He will provide what we need! :)

Have a great day!

Happy 28th Birthday Christopher!!

You know, I woke up today with a thought...my oldest son Chris is 28 years old today! WHAT...where did the time go??? Boy did I feel old, but then I remembered that Chris is my oldest! I felt so much better because my youngest son, Cale is just 20! WHEW! :D

28 years ago today was Easter Sunday and Christopher was born! I went into labor with him on Good Friday, was in labor for 36 hours and the dr. finally gave up and did a c-section. I was young and he was my first! God gave me my son and He changed my life. My sister and I are totally the opposite, like night and day! My sister was always the babysitter for all the cousins and neighborhood children, and I wasn't and I loved that! That is until that fateful day, April 11, 1982 when I became a mom! I absolutely fell in love with Chris and have LOVED each of my children and have been in love with children ever since! I have taught preschool Sunday school, high school Sunday school. Children are the future...we really need to invest in their lives in a big way! Investment starts with love...

We came back in town last year right on his birthday, so celebrating happened a few weeks later, but this year we are going to celebrate ON his b'day and are having his favorite...grilled barbecue chicken, potato salad and Coke! We missed doing this while we were in Kentucky.

We loved our boys and really did have a time of it trying to raise each of them, in different ways, and sometimes had to question whether we'd make it through every stage...but we are happy to say that Chris is exactly how we raised him to be. He is loving and caring, would give the shirt off his back to help someone (even in the cold) and he is a great kid!

He is looking forward to the twins getting here, and I think they will really LOVE their big brother Chris!

Happy Birthday Chris...we're glad we're home again to celebrate your day! We love you! :)

Here Is Our BUTTON!!

Grab This Button

Here is the blog button that Lu made for us! Thank you sooo much Lu! If anyone knows me, that button is perfect for what I am about! We are so excited to share our button with anyone who wants to share it with others to help us bring them home sooner! :)

About 3 weeks ago the MOJ of the twins country gave us the okay to file papers for the twins to be ours... That, to us, is HUGE! We are so excited for the day we fly to pick them up!!! They are so special to us.

So now I'm in 'super get busy' mode. We figure if we need to stay here a little longer, then we will bloom where we are planted. God provides, we just need to be patient and wait for Him. I won't lie, being patient isn't easy for me, and this seems to be an underlying thread of learning for me, but at least I can see that now, and with His help, we will be fine.

So, today I am in the pantry and the kitchen. I am clearing things out to sell in our yard (tag sale here in New England...just a little cultural lesson :) sale, organizing for our eventual move and getting ready for our homestudy to begin.

Then to switch wardrobes from winter to summer so we can get rid of all these storage tubs out of the twins bedroom.

I am also going to put in an application for a job. They are not hiring or interviewing until 4/15th, so if I get that job, at least I will have had a jump start on cleaning and getting ready for our homestudy! Yay!

So please pray for this job opportunity...it could easily help us to bring Slavka and Sandra home to us! :D And that will make me one happy mama!

Can You Tell?...

Can you tell how excited we are to have them with us next Easter? This is the pic of a couple of things we bought for them...cute felt Easter baskets, some bunny necklaces and rings, some stickers and grape flavored lip balm and a bible matching game...I can't wait to go get them, we'll be bringing these things with us when we go... :) I just thought I'd share!

Keep us in prayer as we do our fundraising...so we can go pick them up soon! :)

Happy Easter! He has Risen!

We had a very nice Easter Holiday with our family. We enjoyed spending time with my parents and our boys! Even more, we had a glorious day remembering that this is the last time we will be alone on Easter morning...next year we will have two beautiful little girls, Slavka and Sandra, to have an Easter morning Egg hunt, and then dress in frilly dresses for church! And I will once again be able to color Easter eggs and all of the other fun things we did on Easter morning...until the boys grew up!

I have to admit, I did buy Easter hats (pictured above, for some reason I can't get this blog to put pics where I want them) and little Easter baskets with little trinkets...I just couldn't help myself this year :)

I am beginning to count down the holidays we have without the girls... Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, first day of fall and hopefully they will be here before Thanksgiving! What a wonderful Thanksgiving that will be! We are so excited to have a full house again! God is so Great! :)

Have a great night!