As soon as our homestudy was approved, we started applying for matching grants in order to fundraise for our adoption.
Though we have already paid a good chunk of the fees, there are more still to come, especially upon accepting the referral of our child.
This past week we found out we were approved for a $3,500 matching grant from the Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.!!!
So what does that mean?
Hand in Hand will match the donations we raise up to $3,500 total. And it's tax-deductible!
If you donate $50 to our fund, consider it $100 toward our adoption. AHHHHHmazing.
If you would like to donate to our fund I would not stop you.
In fact, I'd hug you.
If you lived near me.
Or I'd bake you chocolate chip cookies. Homemade.
If you'd like to find out more about donating to our Hand in Hand fund, head over here.
If you are unable to donate, but you really love chicken, join us for our Chick-fil-a fundraiser this Tuesday night!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Waitlisted.
It's a word I don't usually like to be associated with...
Normally, it means you haven't met the standard or expectation in order to be accepted or approved.
But when it comes to adoption, the Waitlist means you've dotted your "i's," crossed your "t's," been background checked 14 times, and provided twelve certified birth certificates.
It means you're in, you're on your way, and you're one step closer to your child.
We have received our i600a approval to adopt and submitted our dossier to our agency.
We are now officially on the Waitlist for Baby Word (or Words) !!!!
The fundraising now begins....
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
What Do Chicken and Sweet Tea Have to Do with Our Adoption?
If you live in the Montgomery area, the simple act of eating at Chick-fil-a on June 28th will help bring an orphan into a forever family....
OURS!
We are having our first adoption fundraiser at the Chick-Fil-A at Eastchase, from 5:30-8:30pm on June 28th.
If you come and eat between 5:30 and 8:30pm AND bring this flyer OR mention that you are there for the "Spirt Night" or "Word Family Adoption Night," Chick-fil-a will donate a portion of your proceeds to our adoption fund.
We would LOVE to see you there!
Please tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers....this is an easy way to spend a night out with your family while helping us grow our family through adoption!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Deep Thoughts about Weeds
When I start feeling really bad about the state of my yard I just have to go to our neighbor's yard and take a peek.
Yup. Not photoshopped. Legit four foot weeds have overtaken their yard.
It got me thinking.
I've worked exceptionally hard to keep our landscaping and my newly planted wildflowers alive, (I'm referring to them now as "wildflowers," humor me please.) I water daily, (well... mostly), and I watch the weather forecast diligently, hoping something will fall from the sky. It hasn't.
I pull out weeds that keep finding some way to survive despite the large amount of round-up I have sprayed on them.
I'm barely keeping our plants and shrubs alive, yet they are being painstakingly cared for and maintained.
Our neighbor's backyard, on the other hand, has been ignored. No watering or pruning. Yet, the weeds have flourished and thrived. They are ugly, prickly, and full of bugs, rodents, and other animals I'd rather not think about.
How true is that in our lives?
How quickly things can grow in our lives that are unhealthy and provide no beauty or worth.
It doesn't take much for gossip to seep into our conversations and our friendships and choke out any authentic and true relationships we may have. We let it become a part of our normal interactions and before we know it, gossip becomes a part of who we are. We can't communicate without it. It is pervasive and sly and brings no value or beauty to our female relationships.
I believe we were made and designed as women to thrive in relationships. Authentic, honest friendships bring us life and keep us going. They make us better wives, better mothers, better women.
Gossip is a weed that chokes out the beautiful landscape God intended friendship to be.
Bitterness and envy are other weeds that can choke out our joy in our lives. The comparison game quickly steals our contentment. It doesn't take much on our part, just a couple "what-ifs" in our mind and we are far down the path of wishing we were skinnier, richer, smarter, more creative....
Finding the beauty and contentment in our lives, the way God designed us to be, takes work.
We have to choose to be content with our circumstances and where God has us. We have to choose to work at friendships, to share the honest, raw parts of ourselves that leave us vulnerable and open.
It takes effort and it's hard.
But when we do the work, when we let others know who we really are and we're content with who God created us to be, beauty abounds.
It's a lot easier for us to live with the weeds. Honestly, many of the women around us are choking in them.
Let's get to pruning and watering, ladies. Our lives and our friendships were intended for so much more.
Yup. Not photoshopped. Legit four foot weeds have overtaken their yard.
It got me thinking.
I've worked exceptionally hard to keep our landscaping and my newly planted wildflowers alive, (I'm referring to them now as "wildflowers," humor me please.) I water daily, (well... mostly), and I watch the weather forecast diligently, hoping something will fall from the sky. It hasn't.
I pull out weeds that keep finding some way to survive despite the large amount of round-up I have sprayed on them.
I'm barely keeping our plants and shrubs alive, yet they are being painstakingly cared for and maintained.
Our neighbor's backyard, on the other hand, has been ignored. No watering or pruning. Yet, the weeds have flourished and thrived. They are ugly, prickly, and full of bugs, rodents, and other animals I'd rather not think about.
How true is that in our lives?
How quickly things can grow in our lives that are unhealthy and provide no beauty or worth.
It doesn't take much for gossip to seep into our conversations and our friendships and choke out any authentic and true relationships we may have. We let it become a part of our normal interactions and before we know it, gossip becomes a part of who we are. We can't communicate without it. It is pervasive and sly and brings no value or beauty to our female relationships.
I believe we were made and designed as women to thrive in relationships. Authentic, honest friendships bring us life and keep us going. They make us better wives, better mothers, better women.
Gossip is a weed that chokes out the beautiful landscape God intended friendship to be.
Bitterness and envy are other weeds that can choke out our joy in our lives. The comparison game quickly steals our contentment. It doesn't take much on our part, just a couple "what-ifs" in our mind and we are far down the path of wishing we were skinnier, richer, smarter, more creative....
Finding the beauty and contentment in our lives, the way God designed us to be, takes work.
We have to choose to be content with our circumstances and where God has us. We have to choose to work at friendships, to share the honest, raw parts of ourselves that leave us vulnerable and open.
It takes effort and it's hard.
But when we do the work, when we let others know who we really are and we're content with who God created us to be, beauty abounds.
It's a lot easier for us to live with the weeds. Honestly, many of the women around us are choking in them.
Let's get to pruning and watering, ladies. Our lives and our friendships were intended for so much more.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Planting weeds
No updates on our adoption....so today's blog topic is "Things I really stink at and therefore do not enjoy."
I have very few talents.
Gardening is not one of them.
Now that I'm a homeowner, and on a budget, I've tried to take the yard into my own hands.
Which is unfortunate for our yard.
It's not like it was looking awesome to begin with, as the former owner of our home must have been sick or hospitalized often.
How do I know, you ask? Well, based on what our yard looked like when Brian moved in, I think the former owner had been given many plants and floral arrangements and then subsequently and randomly planted them around the yard. It really was atrocious. And yes, it took us four years to do something about it.
We finally decided to overhaul the yard and we did most of the work ourselves, removing all of the shrubs and flowers and putting in brand-new landscaping.
We were pretty proud of ourselves. By this spring only about 10 of the 35 plants had died.
While that may not seem like a good success rate for some of you, the Word's consider that survival percentage a major victory.
We set our expectations low.
Once we put in the new landscaping I really wanted the yard to just fend for itself. Not so much. Who knew so much watering would be involved?
I now get excited about the potential of rain in the forecast so I don't have to water our plants.
Being lazy is one of my talents.
BUT, I got real crazy this week and decided to do something with the two planters that had been sitting, half-full of dead weeds, in our backyard for over four years. Don't judge me.
I repainted them and then headed to one of those big box stores to ask somebody what the heck I'm supposed to put in them.
The sweet lady at the store patiently explained all things green to me. I thought she was brilliant and, of course, bought everything she suggested. She even showed me how to arrange them in the planter in order to create a beautiful arrangement.
I did just what she told me.
They didn't turn out the way I thought they would.
In fact, it looks like I just planted some weeds and stuck them on our front step.
Awesome.
I should probably just stick to watering the plants.
I have very few talents.
Gardening is not one of them.
Now that I'm a homeowner, and on a budget, I've tried to take the yard into my own hands.
Which is unfortunate for our yard.
It's not like it was looking awesome to begin with, as the former owner of our home must have been sick or hospitalized often.
How do I know, you ask? Well, based on what our yard looked like when Brian moved in, I think the former owner had been given many plants and floral arrangements and then subsequently and randomly planted them around the yard. It really was atrocious. And yes, it took us four years to do something about it.
We finally decided to overhaul the yard and we did most of the work ourselves, removing all of the shrubs and flowers and putting in brand-new landscaping.
We were pretty proud of ourselves. By this spring only about 10 of the 35 plants had died.
While that may not seem like a good success rate for some of you, the Word's consider that survival percentage a major victory.
We set our expectations low.
Once we put in the new landscaping I really wanted the yard to just fend for itself. Not so much. Who knew so much watering would be involved?
I now get excited about the potential of rain in the forecast so I don't have to water our plants.
Being lazy is one of my talents.
BUT, I got real crazy this week and decided to do something with the two planters that had been sitting, half-full of dead weeds, in our backyard for over four years. Don't judge me.
I repainted them and then headed to one of those big box stores to ask somebody what the heck I'm supposed to put in them.
The sweet lady at the store patiently explained all things green to me. I thought she was brilliant and, of course, bought everything she suggested. She even showed me how to arrange them in the planter in order to create a beautiful arrangement.
I did just what she told me.
They didn't turn out the way I thought they would.
In fact, it looks like I just planted some weeds and stuck them on our front step.
Awesome.
I should probably just stick to watering the plants.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The world needs to know.
I read this today and I need to share it with you.
It's not a feel-good story. At all.
However, this is reality for most of central Africa, and the world needs to know about it.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been wreaking havoc and devastation in Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic and Sudan for decades. The focus of the LRA is ultimate annihilation through astoundingly evil acts.
What they are doing is happening NOW. They've been in the DRC recently and they have attacked in Southern Sudan as recently as the past week.
Please read this post. Know that it won't be an easy read.
But please read it. And share it.
The world needs to know.
It's not a feel-good story. At all.
However, this is reality for most of central Africa, and the world needs to know about it.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been wreaking havoc and devastation in Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic and Sudan for decades. The focus of the LRA is ultimate annihilation through astoundingly evil acts.
What they are doing is happening NOW. They've been in the DRC recently and they have attacked in Southern Sudan as recently as the past week.
Please read this post. Know that it won't be an easy read.
But please read it. And share it.
The world needs to know.
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