Second Interview

Tomorrow is our second interview with the social worker.  Pray for us please.  I get so nervous.  We are so grateful for how God keeps providing through Mary Kay money and through Michele Maloney and Julie Jones and their hard work in photo shoots.  We have also received a few gifts as of recent.  It is so fun to watch God be faithful.  

I recently just returned from a trip to see my family in Idaho.  Something fun that I was able to see God orchestrate is that my mom who is a preschool teacher now has an Ethiopian student in her class.  I feel like God put this young girl in her class to give my mother some familiarity.  My mom is enjoying getting to know her and looking forward to meeting her own granddaughter.  I am loving what God will do in every corner of your life.  Abby and I also enjoyed getting to know her as well.  I would have never imagined when growing up in Coeurd'Alene, Idaho that I would know more internationally adopted children in Coeurd'Alene than here in Detroit.  Crazy how my home has changed.  One day I was visiting my mother at work.  She had her children in music class.  I started crying as I saw a classroom of 4-5 year old children singing their hearts out to Jesus.  Two of them from Ethiopia, two of them from Guatemala, two from Asia and the rest Caucasian.  Truly Gorgeous!

Homestudy follow up!

We had our first interview yesturday.  Its so intimidating having someone with a stern face asking all kinds of questions about you but we survived.  It was a positive meeting for us because we feel like we have an advocate for us after the adoption.  Christian Family Services is doing our homestudy and they offer frequent seminars for adoptive parents.  Our social worker also was able to refer some books to us.  Kevin was relieved to have them for our future.  Our next interview is scheduled for the 11th of November and will be an interview seperately.  Please continue to pray for us! 

Other news in the Prescott family this week is that we are now around 21 weeks and we are having another girl :)

New date for our homestudy!

We are so excited that we are finally scheduled again for our homestudy.  Our new date is October 20th!  Here I go with my nerves again, but also so excited to finally get this stuff going.  Please keep us in your prayers as the process will take approximatly 6 weeks.  We have two or three interviews in our social workers office and one or two in our home.  We love and appreciate all the support and prayers from all of you. 

Winners are in!

First of all we want to thank all of you for all the hard work putting baskets together, for all the great donations, for all of you that sold tickets and for those of you that bought tickets.  The baskets raised $641 .  That is so awesome and it pushes us over our second goal. 

The winners of the baskets are....

Basket #1  Jennifer Delozier
Basket #2  Lisa Lutes
Basket #3  Margaret Deross
Basket #4 Abby and Tofer Heim
Basket #5 Melissa Martinez
Basket #6 Rob Osborne
Basket #7 Ralph Stierle

Congratulations Everyone and once again Thank you!

Mary Kay Winner

Thank you to everyone that posted on their facebook wall about our baskets.  Your awesome!   The month is over and names will be drawn for the baskets on Sunday.  I will post our winners and how the baskets did on Sunday Night!  However for those of you that posted to your facebook, as I promised I entered your name into a basket for a Mary Kay drawing.  The winner was Kelly Harrison! Once again thank you for participating.

Don't miss out on the great baskets!

We are half way through September and you don't want to miss out on the basket giveaway!  You have till September 27th to get your ticket request to me by mail.  See last posting for basket details.  Also you can still post my blog to your facebook and you will have your name put in a drawing for $150 dollars of Mary Kay! 

Basket Giveaway

Re- post this to your facebook and message me that you did it and I will put your name in the basket to receive $150 of Mary Kay. 

One of the life groups from my church are doing a great fundraiser for our adoption.  They have made 7 baskets with all kinds of great stuff.  They will have a drawing for each basket at the end of September.  All the baskets are different.   Each ticket for a basket is a $2 donation or 3 tickets for a $5 donation.  You can get as many tickets as you like for one basket or put them in different baskets.  

 Below is a list of contents for each basket.  If you would like tickets you can send your donation to 1677 Fort Park Blvd. Lincoln Park, MI 48146.  Make sure to list which baskets you want your tickets to go into as well as your name, number and address.   If you want several tickets to sell to co-workers or church family you may contact me as well.   Please mail requests before September 28th as we will be closing down the Giveaway at the end of the month. 

Basket #1  (Health and Beauty) 

(estimated $250)

"Contains Local business certificates that do not work out of town" 

Fighting Fit (1 Free Month Membership)

En Gedi Henna (One Henna tattoo)

Lord and Lady Salon (Gift certificate for one hair cut by Toni Merta)

Mary Kay   (Timewise trial miracle set, Lash Lengthening Mascara, Lip stick "rick fig", Liquid lip color "malted", Cream blush "cranberry", and creamed eye color "iced cocoa"

Scentsy (Warmer and Wax "scent watermelon patch")

Thirty One (Compact, Manicure set, Jewelry Role)

Basket #2 (Bath and Body Works)

(estimated value $100)

Tranquility Fountain

Candles: Carmel Apple and Sweet Cinnamon pumpkin

Cologne spray:  Japanese Cherry Blossom

Shower Gel:  Japanese Cherry Blossom

Body Cream:  Japanese Cherry Blossom

Body Mist:  Dark Kiss

Body Lotion:  Dark Kiss

Foam Body Wash: Mango Mandarin

Soap:  Sea Island Cotton

Basket #3  (Tupperware)

(Estimated $103.50)

     

42 Thatsa Bowl and Seal

Hour glass salt and pepper shakers

1 gallon floresta picture

Modular mate 3 with popcorn

Two 16 oz tumblers

Basket #4  (Tupperware)

(Estimated $68)

Disney Tumblers

Microwavable Plates

Basket #5  (Coffee Lovers)

(estimated value $145)

Gevalia 12 Cup programmable coffee Maker

Gavalia Flavored Coffees "1/2 Ib each"

Rasberry Danish

Mbeya Reserve

Papau New Guinea

Toraja

Harrar

Pecan Torte

Two coffee mugs

Stainless Steel coffee scoop

Coffee Grinder

1 box cone coffee filters

Basket #6 (Red Wings Memorabilia)

Signed Pictures:  Jimmy Howard

                             Kirk Maltby

2001 Stanley Cup Champion Cups (4)

Steve Yzerman, Sergei Federov

Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull

Manny Legace, Dominik Hasek

Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios

2002 Stanley Cup Champion Cups (4)

Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman

Luc Robitaille, Brendan Shanahan

Darren McCarty, Dominik Hasek

Nicklas Lidstom, Scotty Bowman

Basket #7 ( Tigers Memorabilia)

(estimated value $50)

Signed pictures:       Brandon Inge

                               Rick Porcello

1984 World Series Champions Cups (4)

Aurelio Lopez, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris

Dave Rozma, Alan Trammell, Howard Johnson

Willie Hernandez, Chet Lemon, Milt Wilcox

Lou Whitaker, Dan Petry, Lance Parrish

Closing in our second goal

Thanks to all Michelle's and Julie's hard work at photography we have been given another $240 which pushes us into the 9000's.  Woohoo we are so close to our second goal being met :)

God Amazing News!

Man I wasn't kidding that God's timing is so amazing and perfect.  I received a return email today from our adoption agency.  They said that since the Ethiopia program is taking longer now that we can stay in the program.  The only exception is that if we come up for referral before our child is 6 months they will have to put another family in front of us.  My child will have to be one year before our adoptive child comes home to us.  I am so excited I can hardly contain myself.

Update!

Tonight I finally emailed the adoption agency to let them know we are expecting.  So many mixed feelings.  I am so sad because I know we are now a year from being able to move forward.  God's timing is perfect however, and we know His best is in store for us. 

"A Must Read"

I just wanted to encourage you to read Mary Beth Chapman's Book, "Choosing to See."  It will walk you through belly hurting laughter and heart breaking pain all in one.  The book is a raw and honest look at life and I am sure you will identify on some level and be spurred on to choose to see God where you think He isn't.  For those of you who have a heart for orphans it may even inspire something else.

Good and Bad News!

Ok, time to fill every one in on my long pause from our process of adoption.  We were scheduled about a month ago to start our home study.  Much to God's orchestration our Social worker had to cancel with us due to her throwing her back out.  We had just learned the night before this appointment that I am pregnant again.  We often loose our babies by the 6th or 7th week so we quietly waited thinking we would reschedule the appointment after we saw where things were going.  Well I am now in my 9th week and the baby is looking happy and healthy.  I am still experiencing some complications so we are not in the clear but because many of you are finding out anyway I thought I better catch you up to speed myself.  The great news is that I am carrying this baby after a long journey of 8 losses.  God's timing is interesting in the least.  The bad news is that we are on hold and cannot continue with the adoption till after the baby is born.  We are so appreciative of all your support and your excitement and we are sorry that it is even further delayed.  By no means does this change our mind about the adoption.  We wait with eager expectation for the day we can continue on our journey.  Until then we keep praying for our child or children that God lead us to the exact one.  We are still fundraising, knowing that my pregnancy is always so fragile and at any moment we join the process again, but we are praying for the delivery of a healthy baby as well. 

The Interview

Received a call last night from the social worker.  She threw her back out and we will have to reschedule our interview.  I'll update you later when we have a new date. 

Let the games begin!

Ok friends, our first interview for our home study is on Wednesday morning.  We will be meeting with the social worker in her office for the first two sessions.  Pray for us!  We are so excited and I am so anxious.  Those of you that know Kevin know that he is not anxious.  He is the normal non-jolted fellow he always is, thank goodness. 

Also a friend sent us another $500 dollar check and Michelle raised us another $150 this last weekend.  YEAH!!!!!  Closing in on our second goal!  WooHoo

Home Study

Let me tell you that the one thing that I thought would be the most difficult for adopting a child was getting the $30,000.  Now that we are well on our way and the process is starting, I am rethinking that notion.  We chose an organization to do our home study today and called about making our appointment.  So nervous about everything.  Will they think our house is good enough, do we discipline the right way, is our marriage good enough, do they think we have enough to offer????????  It is crazy the way I feel.  I am not that insecure of a person but this is so nerve wracking.  Meanwhile we are filling out our first pile of paper work.  This is quite a process my friends.  Exciting but by no means a walk in the park.  I am so encouraged however that we have done so well financially.  Our friends and family have been amazing and I am not really apprehensive at all about the finances.  That is such a miracle to me.  We are getting so excited!  Abby and I pray every night at bed time for our future little girl or siblings.  Now we are actually thinking she could be in her mothers belly.  That brings so much more to prayer.  I am loving who this is making Abby become and what she is learning from this process.  Keep praying for us!

Photography for Orphans

Thank you to Michelle Maloney and Julie Jones for all their hard work lately doing photo shoots to raise money for us.  With the help of those who booked you for photos and their great donations we have now crossed over into $8000!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Adoption Agency

I am so excited to announce we finally are signed with an adoption agency.   We got our acceptance call today. Our agency is America World Adoption.  We will be setting up our home study soon so please be in prayer for us.  Also we have some big decisions to make about going with one adoption or with two so please pray for us.  Thank you for everyone and all the support!

Final Garage Sale of the Year

God so blessed us this weekend.  NO RAIN!  We had sunshine all day for the last garage sale.  Although we mostly had small things we made $540.  We want to thank the Monroe/Harrison life group for all their hard work.   A sweet family from our church had their kids selling Lemon aid out front and you wouldn't believe how successful they were.  We received another $500 dollar gift as well this weekend and our friend Michelle has been earning quite a bit on pictures.  We are excited to announce we are at $7890.

By the way....

By the way my Church lifegroup held another garage sale and made over $800.  There was rain, cold, wind, and I had emergency surgury but still God did amazingly more then we could imagine!  Thanks to everyone who donated and those who worked so hard.  We love you and pray blessings are returned to you!  We are now to $6700.

A Sudanese Girl

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted."  Matt.  5:4

 Some of you know that I spent two years of my life living in The Sudan.  Many of you know I Love Sudan!  It is forever burned on my heart.   Just for fun here are a few memories of mine! 

 I went to Sudan to do great things but really great things happened to me while I was there.  One thing that happened is that God taught me something about suffering.  There was so much suffering  around me that you could not help but feel overwhelmed at times.  Hungry people, displaced people,  and mostly people so blinded from the truth.

 One day in church God taught me a life long lesson.  The girl that sang in the worship team was skin and bones because I am sure she had very little food.  She wore the same dress to church every Sunday and I remember because it was a classic African garb with a full body picture of Mary the Mother of Jesus :)  So funny but that is another story.  Anyhow I loved watching her worship because I could see her passion and love for Jesus.  I was praying for her in church one Sunday and asking the Lord what I could do for her.  Maybe visit her and take her some food.  The Lord spoke to me and told me she was more satisfied than I could ever be because she was eating something I could not eat.  I knew exactly what God was getting at.  In her hunger she was being filled with Jesus.  I could not understand that satisfaction because I have never hungered. 

Matthew 5 is the sermon on the mount.  Some of us call it the beatitudes.  My daughter calls it the "Big Attitudes"  which I feel is very appropriate.  Jesus lays out a series of blessings,  like those who are merciful will be shown mercy.  But a few of the blessings are given not for actions we take but things that happen to us.  For instance, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. "  I want to talk about the verse 4 that says "blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." 

Now I know we have in the body of Christ those who don't believe God wants us to suffer.  I heard a sermon on Christian radio just the other day that said we need to pray and believe God to heal us because sickness was counter productive to God's work.  After all,  how can we share about God's love to mankind when we are sick in a bed.  Well, I say this!  I guess if that were true you would never have been sick in the first place.  Sickness, pain and suffering could at times just be a result of a fallen world and we may have to suffer just because we live in a fallen world.  Now I know that God does at times heal and he does at times remove pain.  I would guess so that people know His power.  But, often he does not.  And I might be so bold to say it is for His glory and our Good.  Lets not assume that God is about waisting His time.  If we are down, sick or broken and it seems were unable to do much good around us perhaps it is God's time to make of us something that is more productive later.  After all,  "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."  1 Peter 4:12  "suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."  Romans 5:4-5

I shared awhile back that Kevin and I had lost 7  babies and now we have lost 8.  Each time I asked God to save my babies because of coarse I am not asking for more pain, but he didn't save them.  But I can promise you He did something else for me.  "HE SPOKE"  Every time He has spoke to me and comforted me.  I have experienced God in a way that only those of us who suffer get to experience.  I want to share this because I want to encourage others not to pretend not to hurt, not to try to expect others not to hurt but sometimes to embrace it and let God do to you what he wants to through the pain.  I'm not promoting at all putting a fake smile on your face and walking around saying "Praise Jesus."   I'm not promoting "positive thinking yourself into a better place.  I simply mean let God heal you!  This doesn't mean we don't get angry, or we don't cry or even that we might go temporarily insane: )  ( I was joking with Kevin tonight that he needed to sneak one of his shots off the phych floor tonight in case I go into a crazy fit like his patients. Then he could give me a shot in the butt and tell me to stay in bed or else.  )  Anyhow it is just possible that the time spent sick in bed was not a waste of time at all.  We might rise up out of bed and God's spirit be so real in us that He can do something through us that we could not handle before the brokenness. 

"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."  1 Peter 4:19

Next time I will share with you something else God has done through my pain.

Big Gift!

Great news!  We were given a $1000 gift this last Sunday by a very sweet couple from our Church.  God is so good and I would have never imagined us being this far.  We are so grateful to a wonderful Church and friends that have been so amazing to jump on board and be part of this process.  Kevin and I were talking about how exciting it is to have so many people invested in our children.  I am almost glad we don't have that kind of cash up front.  We know where people put their money their heart is too, and since so many people have invested in our children we know that they will be part of our children's lives.   God couldn't have planned it any better. 

We also have another garage sale coming up this weekend.  Our Life Group from Church has worked so hard to help us with what is now a second garage sale.  Pray for us !  We are now at nearly $6000. 

A New Topic!

This is what I am going to call a "hay picker upper!"  I have no idea what the real word is because I am so NOT a farmer!  I cant even keep one plant alive.  Anyhow this as Kevin and I learned in Alabama a few months ago, is a device that rolls back and forces these large bales of hay onto this trailer so that it can be moved to where cattle can eat it.  As you can imagine that hay is too much of a burden for men to carry.   This is why we are so thankful for such inventions.   I am going to be adding another tab to my blog to deal with a burden I have been carrying for the past 8 years.  I think by me writing about it it will lighten my load and maybe some other women's as well. 

Blogs .... the invention of sharing ones heart as a way to unwind :)  By the way I fully know how cheesy my illustrations are!  No need to tell me. 

Kevin and I decided a while back we wanted to adopt whether or not we could carry another child.  However, because I am approaching 40 at light speed we have wanted to try just one more time to carry one more child before adopting.  A couple months ago I found I was pregnant and we really believed this child was going to make it.  The doctors have learned so much about what has been going on with me.  I felt so great and just knew this time was going to be different.  However, we learned a couple weeks ago I had another ectopic pregnancy and we have now lost another child.  I know this is some what of an awkward subject for many woman but I wanted to start sharing about our journey through multiple pregnancy loss.  I am going to start a new page if you would like to join me in my thoughts.  I hope that it will be an encouragement to other woman dealing with pain. 

On another note I am continuing to blog about our awesome progress we are making toward our adoption and tonight I have some of the best news.  We are about ready to apply and actually start this process :)  We have almost enough to get our home study and paper work done so we are ready to dive in.  Things will start getting exciting around here.  We covet your prayers as I am slightly nervous about making a final decision on our agency and nervous about someone interviewing our family.  YIKES!!!!  However, I am so excited to finally get moving.

One other piece of great news is that my great friend Michele Maloney as I mentioned on an earlier blog is doing photos for our adoption.  Check out her website and see how you can be part of helping our process.     http://michelemaloneyphotography.com/
We also have another garage sale coming up next weekend so if you live close by and have junk to donate give me a call.  Our last garage sale was awesome and we raised over $600 dollars.

Oh by the way we are to $5000!!!!! WOOOHOOO

Need your family or children's photos done!

My friend Michele Maloney has become quite the photographer and she is so generously offered to take pictures for people as donations toward our adoption.  This is just a few shots she took of Abby at the garage sale.  Abby is not in her finest but the shots are beautiful.  If you want to see one of her latest shoots you can check out another friend of mine, Pamala Wrights blog underthejunipertree.com  The pictures of her beautiful baby girl Lydia are posted throughout her blog.  If you are interested in Michele taking pictures for you watch my blog for directions on how to contact her.

Bearing the Cold, Wind and Rain

We had quite a weekend at our garage sale.  We had a cold front come through and give us freezing wind on Friday, and cold pouring rain on Saturday.  We knew rain was coming Saturday so we planned on putting up a tent.  Here are our hard working friends Pam, Bob, Chandra, Aaron, and Kevin at 7 am putting it up in the rain.  Kevin being from Texas called it a sprinkle....They are amazing and we love them!!!!!!

Brain and Aaron are grilling hot dogs and selling drinks.  It was a great idea and we did pretty well with it.  It also provided a great meal for workers.  I think we will continue this tradition at the future garage sales! 

In addition to rain and wind a tree limb fell on top of our friends van while they were helping run the garage sale.  We are grateful it didn't hit the three ladies that just walked under it the minute before.

We had lots of donations and our friends all worked so hard and we are so blessed to have them.  We earned $675!  We also received a gift from some friends of ours for $400 so we are now to $4745!  Guess what we have made our first goal.  Praise the Lord.  Thank you everyone for your hard work.  Now on to the next goal!

Junk for treasures!

So tomorrow starts a crazy weekend garage sale where friends have been able to clean junk out of their homes and even better raise money to bring home an orphan to us.  An Ethiopian treasure!  It is amazing the junk we collect over the years.  I personally love the feeling of giving up things.  It makes me feel lighter, more mobile and free.  That is why I love garage sales.  And this is why I love Jesus!
About 18 years ago God ripped open my heart and asked me to turn over my junk so that he could give me His amazing treasure.  I think about the 19 year old girl that was exhausted from the same old routine of chasing things in this world to try to satisfy me and always ending up so empty.  I remember so vividly a cool day in San Fransisco, when some new acquaintances of mine took me to the board walk to eat clam chowder in sour doe bread bowls.  Oh how I would kill for one of those tonight!  While we were walking a homeless man asked for money.  The girls I was with went and bought him a hot dog and drink and began to share about this God of theirs.  What happened was that I felt the power of God in them as they shared and he spoke to my heart that he had a treasure for me if I would just lay down my junk.  That night in my hotel I talked with God and gave him my sorrow, my dreams, my fears, my attitudes and ultimately my life.  He gave me a relationship with HIMSELF, This almighty God who spoke heavens into place.  He has given me an amazing ride for the past 18 years.  ( ok I gave up my age) 

If you haven't traided in your junk for Jesus do it now, you will not regret it!!

Giving the Best

Kevin, Abby and I just returned from visiting family in Alabama and Texas.  While we were in Alabama Abby was able to visit with a cousin of hers.  She had such a fun time.  Her cousin gave Abigail a bag of dress up clothes to take home  with her.  When Abigail saw the clothes she thought her cousin was so sweet and she said, "I have something for you too."  She then started searching through her things to find something she could part with to give to her cousin.  She proceeded to pull out her very special princess coloring book/sticker book that I bought her for the trip.  Out of my amazement Abigail gave it to her. 

This is how I feel about many of my dear friends this week and their amazing sacrificail gifts to help us bring home an orphan. 

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.  In the midst of a very severe trail, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.  Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people and they exceeded our expectations; They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. "  2 Corinthians 8:1-5


This last week we have been so blessed by our church and by friends from our home churches.  I am so excited to see how God has been working in the lives of people to not only give out of their comfort but out of pain as well.  This has been an economically challanging time for so many and for the life of our church as well, and still there have been so many give until it was painful for them. 

When we started going to informational meetings about adoption we thought to ourselves that this was a rediculous amount of money.  We have spent most of our adult life in ministry and having to live so tightly. But Kevin said Jesus paid the ultimate price to give us our heavenly father.  What is this chunk of money to us?    People go to a car lot and make a descision to take home a car for that amount of money. 

I was joking with a friend tonight that there are people with stock in our child.  I hope that is true.  I hope that those who give know that there is a child that is one day going to know just how deep the love of God is through His people and that there was an entire group of his beleivers that worked so hard to rescue them from an orphaned life. 

We have now raised $2900!  Half way to our first goal!  God is good. 

A Marathon

This is my brother Wayne. Which by the way I do not have permission to post a picture of. I thought it better to ask forgiveness than permission! In high school they called him "Captain Billy Boogie." Why you ask? Because he was such a fast runner. He was a legend. I don't know how many of you grew up with an older sibling being a legend, but it is tough. Somehow you are always looked at with hope that just maybe you could be a legend like them too.
So my first day of Algebra my freshman year I had the Football and Track couch as a teacher. He is calling role and he gets to my name. He calls out Dawnell Hall.....pause....."not Captain Billy Boogie Hall?" I reply with, "who is captain billy boogie?" He asks me if I was Wayne Hall's sister as he was approaching my desk. He asks me to stand up as he gives me a look over and then asks me if I run? I tell him I don't think I am capable of becoming much on a track but he insists I come on out to run for him.

Fast forward...WHY I showed up for track practice is beyond me. All the coaches are there with their time watches to see what "captain Billy boogie Jr's sister could do" I have to say I was quite a let down. I was not horrible but definitely not a first placer! However, I found myself a place as a sprinter and a shot and disk thrower. One thing I never became was a distance runner. If the run went beyond a mile I was throwing up.
　
Much of what God calls us to takes some sort of running. Sometimes it is a sprint and others it is a marathon. We see in 1 Cor. 9: 24-27 that Paul refers to our Christian life as a run for the final prize. I have learned however that life can be broke up into segments of that race. It seems early in my walk with God he gave me sprints and as I mature in my relationship with Him the runs gets longer and longer.

I Corinthians 9:24-27 says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

It has been hard to write for awhile because quite honestly my heart is heavy and my head is swimming. There have been so many things lately that have cast so much doubt to weather or not this is ever going to be a reality. If the raising of $30,000 dollars were not enough, we have been hearing rumors about a major slow down in Ethiopian adoptions. We have heard that what was a 9-12 month process could become substantially longer. Although we are happy that Ethiopia wants to make adoption in their country protected we mourn thinking that so many orphans may have to live in orphanages for so long of their life. We also feel so nervous not knowing what the process will look like for us. As for now it looks like I have to run as if I am in a sprint but train as if I am in a marathon. I am running hard to work toward the financial goal and yet preparing my heart for a long wait. I am asking God to give me endurance of faith and hope so that I have the attitude he wants me too for the long haul. We have so many friends we want to thank for running with us.

Thank you Michelle Mills Hernandez

I just wanted to say thank you to Michelle Hernandez and all your friends for the awsome Mary Kay party you did.  Your awsome..awsome...awsome!  I also want to encourage any friends out there that are wanting to help but have been nervous about the book parties.   All of the book parties have gone well without too much trouble and you would be suprised who would love to have an excuse to pamper themselves with makeup.  Some friends just took a couple books to work and let co-workers look through them.  Some friends just had family order.  Just email me at juneh7@hotmail.com and let me know if you would like to try a party and I will send you everything you need. 

Possible!

Have you ever seen the Tetons? These are them! They are stunning! Have you ever been before an amazing mountain and wondered how you were going to make it up? Kevin, his brother and I once thought we would go on a mountain bike ride up a trail in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. We weren't 10 minutes on our journey until I regreted my decision. Tears fell and mean words were given before accomplishing that ride. It didn't help that Kevin was quoting scripture at me for encouragment. The only thing it encouraged me to do was get mad! It was Kevin's brother that rode up the mountain and came back to tell us that we were not far from the top that gave encouragent. I needed a scout to tell me I could make it.

For years I thought of adoption but thought it was an impossible task. How could we ever come up with that kind of money? I know my God has compassion on orphans and if I had my Fathers heart I would too, but I didn't know my part in his plan. Psalm 10:17-18 says, "You hear oh Lord the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listed to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."

I know it is asked of us to care for the orphans of the world.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep onself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

What I needed was a scout. I have found that in many blogs. I have read many families who had nothing but who have brought orphans home to live with them. They trusted God with this task and I can too. What I needed to be reminded of was that when it is God's task, He is responsible to provide for it. He has provided Kevin with a job that is flexible for overtime. He has provided friends that are walking along side us in our fundraising and my Father in heaven has truely encouraged me. "For every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10 This is possible!

Im so encouraged by some great friends and their hard work to help us get our feet off the ground. Our first Mary Kay Book party was given by our friend Brian Maloney. Yes, men can sell makeup! He did awesome and we are so thankful for him. Also big thank you to Kim Heim for her party with her family. We have had friends sending gifts and buying our bracelets as well. We have now reached $1100. We are 1/4 of the way to our first goal. Praise God!

"A traffic ticket a blessing?"

Every year during December my husband and I have the opportunity to give to our International Missions Agency through a special offering. We have lived extreamly tight for the years we have lived in Michigan but feel this is important for us to do. This year although focusing on paying off student loans and saving for our adoption we committed for the month of December to not spend anything extra so that we could give that money to our Missions Board. We committed to not eat out at all!!!! Not even fast food. My husband decided to break our committement one night in a weak moment on his way home from work at 12:00 pm. He thought he would buy a $1.50 taco. Unfortunatly he turned left out of the parking lot when it was a forced right turn. Seconds later he recieved a 100+ ticket. So much for savings :) In addition our state offers driving courses to avoid insurance penalties. All that tattling to say last weekend Kevin was attending his class when he met a man at lunch. Out of the blue the man shared his excitement over his daughters recent adoption of two children from Ethiopia. Kevin had been wrestling with fear that our child will feel out of place with us with such different cultures. He has been wanting to find other families in the area who have adopted from Ethiopia. The man in his class eagerly gave Kevin his daughter's phone number, and Kevin was so encouraged by this encounter. It is so good to know our God has every angle covered! "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

Our First Miracle

This is our first miracle Abigail. She was given to us in 2006 after we had lost two other babies. My pregnancy was scary with her, but a beautiful church in Birmingham Alabama prayed every day that I would carry her until she was born. The following four miscarriages showed Kevin and I just how much of a miracle Abigail is. She is delightful and has an incredible heart for our God. Since Abigail could talk she would speak truth over us.

She has reminded me time and time again to share with the world about Jesus. For her it is simple we have so many bibles in our house and we just need to give them to people so they can know how great our God is! I do believe she has this correct. Abigail has longed for a sister for many years. She has waited patiently while her friends had siblings. She often curles up in my lap and says, "you wanted more babies, but your thankful for the one you got right?" I love it! Abigail spent an entire year asking the Lord for a baby sister. Kevin and I had been on our own journey that led us to adoption. We decided to start going to meetings and God began to give us a dream too. We have a hope to build our family through adoption. We do not beleive this is an alternative to having our own family. We believe this is a true blessing for our family. I think that my Father in heaven has crafted this awesome plan to answer the hope in not only my husband and I's heart, my daughter's heart, but in the heart of a girl on the other side of the world. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 12:13