Answered Prayer

by Steve

The first meeting with the birth mom (I'll call her J) went well overall. It was you would expect with complete strangers meeting over such a intimate subject -a little awkward, but at the same time laid back. There was nothing earth shattering. Though we did talk about a couple things like "What are your expectations for this open adoption," mostly it was get-to-know-you stuff. Her favorite color is red, she likes mushrooms, and she has the same birthday as Scott.

J is a very sweet, but she has had a hard life. Right now she is in a hard living situation too. She really needs our prayers.

J did mention that she really wants to keep in touch with us as the child grows. This will be good.

As we get the adoption agency involved, the details will get ironed out. For now, today was a good first step on a journey that will last the rest of our lives. Thank you for your prayer support! We appreciate it!

Prayers Appreciated

by Evie

Well, today is the day that we'll be meeting with Birth-Mom!! I am filled with so many different emotions. Please be in prayer for her and us. That the Lord would help us as we meet. That we would each be at ease as we meet and get to know each other over lunch. And for the boys that they would be calm as they sit through this all. Thank you!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

 plans that are for your good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Jeremiah 29:11 paraphrased. 

God Blesses us through Others

by Evie

Last Friday, we received a card in the Mail from a Special Couple, stating that since the total of our Garage Sale was so close to $1,000 that they had to help push it over the top! 

We had planned on going to Chicago for the day to go to Steve's brother's 8th grade graduation last Sunday. Then, we realized that the garage sale his parents were going to have would be the same weekend. So, Steve got off from work a couple hours early last Friday and we headed to Chicago. We were there Friday evening through Sunday evening. We enjoyed our time with the family and lil' brother's grad.

It was neat being there. There was a woman who saw the signs (which said; "Adoption Fundraising Garage Sale"). So, she came. She talked with my mother in-law and me and shared her story. She too was adopted! It was neat to talk to her and hear her story. She was so excited for us and the child God has for us. She was very encouraging and supportive. She said she didn't really "do" yard sales, but the sign caught her eye and she just needed to stop by and see what it was all about. She asked if she could hug me as she was about to leave. I'm very tactile, so I obliged. Then she pressed some $ into my hand, turned and left with a teary eyes and smile on her face.

There were a couple of others with similar stories that stopped by before we arrived.

Mom and Dad's Garage sale was all day Friday and Saturday. And they gave the proceeds to us! The Total was: $135!
No. After coming home and doing laundry I found $5 in my pocket from that Saturday + a check that we forgot to count! GRAND TOTAL: $145!!! NEAT! God sure does provide!

Another blessing...

At their church prayer meeting, Steve's mom asked for prayer for their garage sale. The ladies of the church said they thought they should have one too.

I thought that was a nice thought... Then, while attending their service Sunday morning, I read it in their bulletin. Like, they're serious! I was blown away and felt incredibly blessed! They really are going to have one to donate towards our Adoption!! Isn't that wonderfully crazy!?

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,..." Ps.103:1-2

Plans -Call to Prayer

Proverbs 16:9  The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

When we were led to pursue adoption we were immediately confronted with  many questions that needed to be answered. We needed to make some choices before we could take another step. We chose more from a necessity to make a choice than from deep conviction.

Open or Closed adoption? Closed! ...open adoption sounds a little scary.
Domestic or International adoption? International.
What country? Ethiopia is the most straight forward for the price at this time.
Baby? boy ages 0-2. Seemed more practical with already having two boys and living in a two bedroom home.

But we have been given an opportunity that is quite different than the plans we made. We have been made aware of a local young lady who wants to give up her baby when he is born late this year. After much prayer, we have decided to put Ethiopia on hold and pursue this local adoption.

We will give more details in future posts, but we really want to call on all of you to pray for this young lady and child. We do want to bring this child into a loving home and change his life forever! But we also want to be a light to the birth mother. She desperately needs the hope of the gospel. We will be meeting her at the end of this month. Please pray for all of us in these exciting, life changing circumstance that the Lord has placed each of us in. Pray that the Lord will provide the finances for the adoption. The cost is less than an international adoption, but the time to come up with the money is much less.
Thank you!

Steve & Evie

Garage Sale Total!

The amazing total of this weekend's garage sale was $996.85! God is so amazing!

Thank you all who donated stuff, time, and for all your prayers!

Showers of Blessings

by Steve

God's has blessed us so much during this garage sale! We are still tallying up the total money that was raised, but I do want to praise God for all the grace He has poured out on us...

First we were amazed by all the donations people gave us! They started piling up as soon as we let everyone know about the garage sale. By the day of the sale, our garage was bursting with quality merchandise. Almost 20 families donated items for the sale before we had to stop taking donations and start organizing the store. Thank you all for your things. God blessed us greatly through them.

God blessed us with lots of help to bring this to pass. Some people loaned us vehicles, others helped price items. From setup to clean up, people helped with getting small bills to make change and baking cookies to sell. This was our first time doing a garage sale, and all of your help made it much easier.

Speaking of people, we want to publicly praise God for the Bala family! God's grace to them is evident and we where blessed by His grace flowing through them. They didn't simply allow us to use their home for the sale, they trained us in the art of doing a garage-sale! I cannot list all the ways they helped us. More than all of it, we deeply appreciated the genuine fellowship around Christ and His grace.  Praise God! and thank you, Colin and Dana, from the bottom of our hearts.

We were blown away by all the sales! On Friday the weather was drizzly, chilly, and damp, but God brought people who wanted our stuff! We sold quite a bit that first day.
Saturday, opening time (8:00) found us at the breakfast table relaxing around our coffee. A punctual customer rang the doorbell and asked when we were going to start! The people came steadily the rest of the morning.
We did not sell every single item, but all the big things did sell so that we did not have too much to clean up at the end of the day. God showed his blessings again, bringing the right people at the right time to sell the right item for the right price. He is at peace who serves a sovereign God who is his Father.

It was a blessing to see the familiar faces that came to visit. We thank God for the support of our church family, and we thank each of you that came to show your support.

We were also blessed to meet several new families that were very supportive of our adoption. There were some 8 strangers who shared their personal adoption story. Finally, at the end of today, a friend of the Bala's stopped by who have just finished adopting. Eager to help us, we exchanged contact information and will be building a relationship with some new friends. I was not expecting this level of support from the community, and God blessed us by bringing the greater Body of Christ around us at this time.

So, the money we raised, while it was our main purpose, it was only the beginning of all the blessings God showered on us.  We are exhausted from the work, but we have been built up and greatly encouraged! God used many different means to funnel His grace into our lives, and our hearts are full of praise and gratitude.

Garage Sale Day 1

by Evie

God is good! And I am so grateful for all He is doing!! He hasn't taken the drizzle or light rain away, but He has been bringing LOTS of People! What a blessing!!

And it's been chilly! So that Coffee sure is hitting the spot and warming our hands when they're not busy making change. And the cookies taste great!

May God be glorified today!