For the past three months the ladies in our Sunday School class have had secret sisters.  I’ve never participated n secret sisters before and it was so much fun.  My secret sister showered me with sweet, personal gifts like a monogrammed travel cup, dark chocolate, Starbucks gift cards, a precious picture frame that says, “My Boys”, and socks at Christmas that say, “Santa’s Favorite Blonde”.  I was looking so forward to reveal day when I could finally give her a big hug and thank her face-to-face for her kindness and generosity.

Yesterday our entire class had lunch together, where we not only drew new names for the next quarter of secret sisters, but we also revealed ourselves to our former secret sisters.  I was completely surprised with who my secret sister was.  She did such a great job being sneaky.  At the reveal she gave me one last gift bag.  In the bag was a hanging name plate that read:

Zoe’s Room

and also a sweet card of encouragement for our journey to Africa and a check for $100 for Zoe’s adoption!  Once again I am completely overwhelmed with God’s goodness and the generosity of His saints.  What a blessing she is to me and my family.

By the time I got home from church and lunch, I had over $200 to add to Zoe’s adoption fund.  Once again the boys were so excited to help me count the money and fill out another deposit slip for Zoe’s account.  Through this adoption, my boys will see God’s never-failing hand of provision in our lives and I pray that it will affect them for a lifetime, always knowing that He will meet their every need according to His riches and glory.

Happy Monday!

~audrey

After only one week, thirty people have already pledged to pray for Zoe, our family, and our journey to Africa by “purchasing” puzzle pieces.  Have you seen the fundraiser thermometer?!  God is just blowing us away every single day.

Yesterday, a man that we don’t even know made a donation with a memo that read:

“God bless you and your family.”

We had dinner with a couple last night who have adopted three children and it was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and a chance for Josh to ask some questions.  God has given me such incredible peace about everything; I can hardly explain it.  When Josh had asked all of his questions last night he looked at me and said, “What are some of your concerns?” I couldn’t think of any; not one.  I literally have no concerns right now.  I’m trusting the Lord to direct us one step at a time and that is where I’m trying to keep my focus.

As long as there are still puzzle pieces without names on the back, I will continue the puzzle fundraiser along with weekly updates.  Thank you for all of you who have already become a piece of the puzzle and are praying for us and helping us share our story.

If you’d like to be a piece of the puzzle, you can find more information here.

~audrey

Over a year ago we were presented with the opportunity to adopt two little girls out of foster care.  We said YES right away and began preparing for when they would be moved to our home.  One of the things I looked forward to with girls was hair bows.  I learned how to make them, bought lots and lots of ribbon and got to work.  I remember one Saturday in particular I made over 30 bows.  I had burns and hot glue all over my fingers, but I was so excited and proud of my little masterpieces.  Unfortunately, for the safety of those two little girls, they were never able to be moved to Augusta (something to do with dangerous/violent family members living in our area) and the whole thing fell through.

I never got rid of those bows and just recently ordered everything I needed to finish them (hardware) and make new ones as well.  I should be able to sell them for cheaper than anyone else (because I don’t care about being reimbursed for my time and effort!) and still make a profit to put toward Zoe’s adoption.

My plan, rather than doing an Etsy page and stressing over orders, payment, shipping and all the details that go into that, is to simply sell them through friends.  Ideally, I’d love for friends and family to have a get-together at their house or church where I can come, share our story, and put all of my hair accessories on display for immediate purchase.  If I run out of something, I can make it within a few days and get it to whoever wanted it.

My hope is that I have enough friends with girls and their friends have friends with girls (and so on…) that people would choose to buy my bows because they’re of comparable quality and price and 100% of each bow sold goes directly into our adoption fund.  As soon as I get the rest of my supplies in, I’ll post some finished products and hopefully start booking bow parties.

I will have different clip options; small alligator clips and medium alligator clips, ribbon-lined or unlined, tiny snap clips (for newborns and infants, particularly with very little hair), and medium size snap clips.  Here are some of the appliques I will be using:

And here are some of the bows I have made so far:

Your feedback is more than welcome.  When I post more finished products, with the hardware and everything, I’ll price all of the finished pieces.

~audrey

My worship leader asked me to prepare something to share with our ladies’ Bible study last night regarding Christie and George and all that God is doing in and through them in Uganda.  She said she thought it would be a good idea to explain how God first led me to Christie’s blog, put an incredible burden on my heart for the orphans in Africa, and ultimately led us to pursue adoption in Ethiopia.  It was a long story so I typed it all out on two and a half pages and read it to the ladies with trembling voice and hands.  At one point I couldn’t even read the words through my tears.  I never intended to get so emotional, but reading God’s story out loud to all of those women for the first time just helped me retrace God’s hand in Zoe’s story and I was completely overwhelmed.

After I finished reading, they prayed for us and then I had to run back to the nursery to relieve my sister-in-law so she could help with worship.  When church was over, I was informed that the ladies took up an offering to help bring Zoe home.  Our church secretary text me this morning:

I have a check for you for a little over $300.  I’ll give it to you on Sunday.

God Story #3!

One of things I love most about this journey of raising money and fully depending on God to provide this impossible amount, is the faith it is building in my boys.  Watching their faces light up in awe of their heavenly Father and his provision for their little sister is priceless.  I hope I don’t forget a single detail of this journey.  May it be written on my heart that God might use Zoe’s story to forever encourage adopting couples to step out in faith and trust Him.

~audrey

Meet our sweet girls:

We made kale chips in the dehydrator last weekend.  Owen and I were the only ones who like the particular recipe I used.  I’ll change some things up next time, but it was nice to have such a healthy snack on hand all week.

~audrey

Yesterday, I received all of our paperwork from AGCI.  It was very exciting to look through everything and I hope to watch the DVD that came with our packet tonight after church (if I can hold my eyes open long enough!).  I read about how the Ethiopian government has changed their rules in the last year and all adopting families are now required to make not one, but two trips to Ethiopia before taking your child home.  Two trips to Africa within two months of each other.  As I began the paperwork and saw the time frames and dollar signs on paper, I could feel a weight come over me.

There’s no way you can do this.

It’s going to be such a long road.

You won’t raise enough money.

But God spoke to me through someone’s status on Facebook.

Out of the mouth of an eight year old little girl:

“God makes things that are impossible, unimpossible.”

So many times I can look back on a situation and think, I guess if that had been easier, then it wouldn’t have been such an amazing God Story. You know what kind of stories I’m talking about.  The stories where nothing is falling into place, everything is falling apart, there’s no hope, there’s no money, there’s no help, whatever the lack may be; and then God steps in, shakes things up, and all of the pieces fall into place in a way that leaves everyone’s jaws on the floor, giving glory to our big, big, God!

In the midst of being overwhelmed, the phone rang.  It was a sweet lady from our church whose husband goes to Tanzania, Africa several times a year to bring tools to the locals and help them build homes and buildings.  She said she’d been reading about our journey for Zoe and wanted to encourage me and let me know how excited she was for us.  She also said that she and her husband will be helping support us financially on our journey.  Instantly, God blew wind back into my puny sails through that sweet lady.  I stood up tall as I hung up the phone and remembered all of the amazing stories I’ve read from other adopting families, knowing that one day we will have a handful of our own.

Of course it doesn’t end there!  I got on the computer and realized I’d received an email from my aunt in Maine.  She was telling me how excited she was that we were adopting.  She went on to say that she would talk to my uncle and see about donating to Zoe’s adoption.  I checked my paypal account a few minutes later and there it was, a large, generous donation from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Terry.  The donation that launched us past the one thousand dollar mark.  Unbelievable.  In that moment it was as if God whispered to me:

one down, twenty-four to go.

God Story #2!

All I need to know for sure is that God has never let me down.  He has never called me to something that He did not equip me to conquer.  Each day I learn something new about trusting the Lord and surrendering everything to him.  Thank you, for those of you who have already begun to pray and encourage us in this journey.  Your words are like water to my soul and the Lord continually brings them to remembrance when I get discouraged.  Will you continue to share our story in hopes that there are many more just like you out there who will allow God to take their $10 to Africa where there will soon be one less orphan?

Blessings,

audrey

As we continue on in the journey to bring our little girl home from Ethiopia, we are trusting the Lord to meet our every need.  I found this idea on another adopting family’s website.  What an incredibly tangible way for Zoe to see all of the people God used to bring her home to her forever family.  If you haven’t read our adoption story, you can find it here.

Will you be a piece of the puzzle?

We have purchased a 500 piece puzzle for Zoe.  (the frame is actually part of the puzzle)  I literally gasped when I saw this beautiful picture.  It couldn’t be more perfect for our precious Zoe!

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  John 14:18

When you donate $10 to Zoe’s adoption fund, we will write your name on the back of one puzzle piece.  This will also serve as a reminder to our family of the many, many people praying us through this journey.  When the puzzle is complete we’ll frame it and hang it in Zoe’s room as a constant reminder of God’s grace and provision.  Since the names will be on the back of the pieces, I’m also printing out several blank puzzle pages (to the sum of 500 pieces) that I can add to her scrap book.  

As soon as your name is written on the back of a real puzzle piece, I will also put your name on a blank, paper puzzle piece that will go in her scrap book.  Zoe will forever have the names of 500 people who prayed for her from the time she was born until she made it safely into our arms.  Will you help us spread the word through your blog or Facebook, and allow the Lord to get the glory as His people support one another in bringing home another orphan?

Will you be a piece of the puzzle?

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these souls of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:40

~audrey

I feel like I’ve kind of been on cloud nine lately and all the world is seen through my rose-colored glasses. However, it is so easy for me to get frustrated with the boys during the day. Particularly the days when they are asking for things every five minutes:

“May I have a glass of water?”

“Can you please cut up my apple?”

“Is it time for lunch yet?”

“What are we having for dinner?” (this is especially aggravating if they ask WHILE they’re eating lunch.)

Of course much of this is simply part of being a mother, but don’t you have those days when it feels like it’s their mission to see how many times they can interrupt Mom?

However, I realized that one of the reasons they ask SO many questions ALL day long is because I rarely do what they ask right when they ask it. I had the opportunity to clean the house really well last weekend and I also finished all of the laundry. Here it is Thursday and I’ve had such a great week because I’ve taken the time each day to maintain my clean house. I’ve done a load of laundry each day and taken about twenty minutes each night, after the kids are in bed, to put the dishes away, start the dishwasher, throw another load of clothes in the washing machine and wipe everything down.

As a result, I haven’t felt the usual “to-do” list hanging over my head all week long. Yesterday I made a very conscious effort to get up and meet the needs of my children right when they asked. As ridiculous as this sounds, I realized it really only takes me about ONE minute to complete what they’re usually asking of me and at the same time they’re able to see that Mommy cares more about them than the task I was working on.

Beth Moore challenged her siestas last week to pick a day and vow to not complain or be critical ALL day. The complaining wasn’t so difficult as much as the critical part. It hurt me to see how critical I can be toward everyday, nonsensical things pertaining to my children. Yesterday I worked hard to keep a smile on my face and speak softly ALL day with ALL of the children. The response from my children was unbelievable. We had more fun together, we sat and talked together, they were more willing to help me when I needed it; it was incredible. I have friends whom I’ve never heard raise their voice at their children or even get flustered, but unfortunately, that has not always been me. I’m working hard on that transformation.

I know I’ve spoken of the book, “Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit” before, but wow, the power of being meek and quiet in your home and with your children is immeasurable. I will be working on this daily in my home.

~audrey

As you can see, Josh gave me a makeover!!  It is still a work in progress, but we’re heading in the right direction and I LOVE IT!  If you’d like to share our story, you can link to the Adoption page at the top.  We should have a button for “Our Journey to Africa” very soon.

It is fun to see Josh sharing in my excitement to get everything started.  Little Joshua saw our fundraiser thermometer and said, “TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!?! HOW WILL WE EVER BRING ZOE HOME IF IT COSTS THAT MUCH?”  I just smiled and reassured him that God equips his saints for that which He has called them.

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

Right now I have a bin of clothes I’ll be selling at a children’s consignment sale next month.  I have two large stacks of books to bring to 2nd and Charles where they’ll give cash for used books.  There are several pieces of furniture that I’m going to put on Craig’s List, and our first yard sale is in the works.  Once our home study updates are complete, we’ll be able to begin applying for adoption grants and the big fundraisers will begin.  We will stand on God’s word and walk in obedience as we take this giant leap of faith.

Let the journey begin!

~audrey

God has been working in our (mine and Josh’s) hearts for the past few weeks.  My heart has been completely torn up for Africa since God directed me to the blogs of Christie and Katie.

Let me retrace our steps…

We settled on an adoption attorney in South Carolina for various reasons and anxiously awaited all of our paperwork.  Two weeks have passed and we have yet to receive anything from the attorney’s office.  Our foster agency was going to go ahead and send our home study to the attorney’s office, but the girl who was going to put it in the mail was out for a few days last week because her children were sick….

ENTER:  GOD….

On our way to pick up the boys from my parent’s house on Sunday, Josh began asking me questions about the whole adoption process and whether or not I was sure about the road we were taking (domestic adoption).  I told him I was still praying for every step of the journey and that if he had any reservations he needed to speak up.

He began telling me how he felt about domestic adoption after all that we’ve learned in the past month.  Domestic adoption has long lines of couples without children, waiting to get the call that there’s a baby for them at the hospital.  Basically saying that all of these babies will have a home and a family.

This is where he shocked me.  He went on to say that he feels a family like ours (already having three biological children and wanting who-knows-how-many more) should be rescuing babies from orphanages in third world countries where there really is no promise of a home or family.

That’s when I hit him with the question that was just DYING to come out of my mouth:

Do you mean we can go to Africa!?

This is where my heart was thumping out of my chest and God just confirmed every ounce of anguish I’d been feeling inside for all of those beautiful African faces that I see each time I close my eyes.

Oh Lord, did you really change his heart THAT fast!?

Indeed He did.

We spent hours on the computer with the boys that night watching videos of African adoptions, learning about the different villages where God has sent missionaries, and researching agencies who work with Africa.  We found All God’s Children International and completed the pre-application to see if we meet their requirements.

Today at 2:37, I got a call from AGCI to let us know we’re approved for their Ethiopia program!  We’re going to have to wait a few months before submitting our official application because approximately $9,000 will be due within 90 days of applying.  We’re working hard to continue paying off debt and will begin to sell everything that’s not nailed down in order to raise the first $9,000 and get the process going!  I have complete peace for the road ahead and I’m overjoyed and excited to watch God move in our journey to Africa. We will begin our fundraising right away in the form of yard sales, Parents’ Night Out events, and selling hair bows that I began making back when we were trying to adopt our two little girls out of foster care.

Please continue to pray for us in the months ahead.

We give God all the glory and continue to seek His wisdom and direction every step of the way.

~audrey