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

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

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

God has been doing some pretty radical stuff in our (mine and Josh’s) hearts in the last week or so. I’m so excited to share with you the changes happening in our adoption process but I need to wait on one particularly important phone call before I divulge. We should receive the phone call today or tomorrow. 🙂

Fourth verse for the year with Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memory Team is one that has been heavy on my heart:

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27

~audrey

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We’re taking the boys to my parents’ on Friday.  We’ll head to Greenwood, eat dinner with my parents, and leave the boys there for the weekend.

We haven’t had dinner guests or play dates at our house in quite a while, so it’s been months since I’ve really, really cleaned well.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a whole, entire Saturday in my house without children.  I have so many projects on my weekend to-do list and I can’t wait to get started.  I’m trying hard to get most of the “picking-up” done today and tomorrow so I don’t have to actually put things away on Saturday and can right to the nitty-gritty.  I need to mop my kitchen (like twice), re-organize the bookshelves in the office and school closet, change everyone’s sheets, clean out the boys’ drawers, paint my bathroom, and one of my biggest projects is going to be consolidating our 21 rubbermaid bins!  I will be going through each bin individually, getting rid of all boy clothes that Owen has grown out of, setting aside clothes for the spring consignment sale (all money I make from the sale will go toward Zoe’s adoption), and making a pile for friends with younger boys.  I will also be getting rid of entire bins full of clothes that Josh and I haven’t fit in for years.  I have no idea why we hold onto that stuff.  I guess we hope we’ll be able to fit in them again one day and therefore wouldn’t have to buy new clothes, but for goodness sake, someone else can be using them now! I’m trying so hard to be mindful and not wasteful.  Efficient and not extravagant.  We simply don’t need so much STUFF.

We will have a yard sale soon and I will also be listing some larger things like televisions and furniture on Craig’s List; all to go toward Zoe’s adoption.  I’m really looking forward to getting rid of our excess.

Well, time to get working, schooling, and showering.  I’m having our taxes done after lunch.

~audrey

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I stumbled upon a blog yesterday.  You  know how that goes?  You’re reading one of your regulars and she links to someone who had a post that linked to someone else….and suddenly I’m transported to Uganda where a simple girl from Alabama, who obeyed God’s call on her life, is ministering to the people in the village of Bombo.

I must have sat at the computer for over an hour while dinner was in the oven.  I wept, I laughed, and I rejoiced as I read her story and all of the amazing things God is doing through her in Africa.  Christie lives on $3/day.  Her faith can move mountains and her heart beats with the Father’s heart.  She sleeps on three inches of foam and sometimes goes more than a month without a real shower.  Her toilet is a hole in the ground with tin walls on three sides.  One of the things that impacted me the most is how efficient the people are in her village.  If offered a new, shiny soccer ball, the children will politely refuse because their muddy, scuffed up soccer ball still works just fine and they want to “use it up” before accepting a new one.  God has already spoken to one family’s heart here in the states and they gave a whopping $7500 (their entire savings) to dig a borehole in Bombo so the village can have an endless supply of fresh, clean water.  What a gift!  However, their faith list still contains quite a few needs that have yet to be met.  If 1500 people donate just $36, they can purchase and complete EVERY.SINGLE.ITEM on their list.

I haven’t been able to get Christie out of my mind since stumbling upon her blog.  We may not all be called to sell everything we have and move to Africa, but we are all called to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth and make disciples of all nations.  Will you let God take your $36 to Africa to forever change a little village called Bombo?  I can testify to Luke 6:38:

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

I know how many people read my blog every day/week/month.  Will you post this story or link back to this post?  Will you let God take your $36 to Africa?  Will you help me spread the word?  How amazing will it be for Christie to testify to the faith and generosity of God’s people here in her home country?  We can do this!

I’m donating my $36 dollars right now.  Lord, multiply my donation by 1500!  Bless your people as they give to further your kingdom!

~audrey

As a home educator, I feel like I’m constantly revising my game plan.  The overall plan and goals stay the same, but the course of travel seems to be constantly changing.  My latest challenges have been reading and writing.  My boys do not enjoy reading right now and Jesse (my six year old) takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to write anything!  This is very frustrating to me because I LOVE to read and write in my spare time.

SOooo, for reading right now, we open to the book of Psalms and the boys each read 15-20 minutes with me.  Later in the day I allow them to choose for themselves what they’d like to read for pleasure/practice.  This helps them with their reading and we’re getting extra time in God’s word as well.  It’s amazing to me how fast they pick up on words like “righteousness” and no longer need help when they come to those familiar words.

For the writing aspect, I decided to let them write creatively for one week.  Everyday this week I’m giving them a list of words to use and they have the freedom to create a story in twenty minutes.  Today’s words were:  chicken, farm, eggs, coop, and garden.  I told them to simply guess at the spelling of words they were unfamiliar with and we would correct themlater.  They did fantastic!  They loved the freedom of writing creatively and both of them were able to complete the task in twenty minutes.  Jesse wrote more in those twenty minutes than he ever does with Bible verses in the same amount of time.  We won’t do this regularly because I don’t want to reinforce incorrect spelling, but if it helps Jesse refine his fine motor skills and handwriting technique, it’s worth it.

~audrey