Tres

Today marks 3 months since we have been on the official waiting list!!!  Some days time is flying by...others it is cr e e p ing.  They still estimate 5 -9 months for a referral so we are getting there!!!  Continue to pray for our Lucy...we don't know if she is born yet or not...but we would love all the prayers we can get :)

Happy Late Birthday Baby Will!!

My brother turned 25 on Friday!!  He is my baby brother but at 6'3" he is more like my big brother! I am so proud of him.....and so proud to call him my brother.

 He has overcome many obstacles in his life but they have truly helped shape him into an amazing person.  I cannot wait to see him and Lucy together one day.  He wants her to either call him Uncle Big Will or Crunkle Will (which stands for crunk uncle :) )

There are two things for sure though..he will make sure she owns camouflage and knows how to hunt...two things that I will just have to get used to :)....I guess.

Happy Birthday Will!!!! We love you so much!!

Will and his dog (aka child) Duke

Russ and Will showing off their "guns"

Random Fact Friday

Russ and I went to eat at the Rendezvous in Memphis.  As we were walking out of the front door...I was looking down (as usual)....not paying attention (as usual) and pretty much in a meat coma from all of the sausage and bbq I had eaten.  I looked up right as I was face to chest with a man.  The face that I saw took me by surprise.... it was Dr. Carter.  That's right...I almost plowed down Noah Wyle. 

He smiled ....I looked mortified...we are now best friends.

That same night we also saw 

Matt Dillon

Kate Beckinsale

We are still trying to figure out if they were there filming a movie or what???  No answer yet :)

BBQ Fundraiser

We are so excited about our BBQ fundraiser for Lucy!!!  Praise the Lord we have paid everything we owe to our agency so we are now in the process of raising money for our travel and stay while in Ethiopia.  This amount has increased since we will now have to travel to Ethiopia twice...within about 6 weeks of each other!! We completely trust that God will provide a way to complete this adoption!!

Our friends The Ward's are helping us do a fundraiser.  Here are the details....we would love for you all to come (if you live in or around the Tupelo area).  There will be a drive-thru or dine-in area.

Where: BBQ by Jim's (203 Commerce Street Tupelo)

When: Monday, April 26, 2010

Time: 4:30 - 7:30

What: Pulled BBQ, Slaw, Baked Beans, Roll, Dessert, Water or Tea

Price: $8.50

Tickets can be purchased in advanced at BBQ by Jim's or The Cotton Bolt (1727 McCullough Blvd.) OR from us (and some of our wonderful friends) :) 

Tickets can also be purchased at door.

Please spread the word.....we are so excited about this!!! Leave a comment or email  if you need more info :)

Random Fact Friday

Well, since it is 12:30 am I guess it is technically Saturday :)

My husband caught a small snake in our yard tonight.  I yelled for him to get the scissors and slice it to death .....to which he just laughed and kept playing with it.  Seeing that snake brought me back to my middle school days.

In 7th grade I was in Ms. Saul's science class.  I was the do-gooder, nerdy, but still socialable type.  That particular day we had a man bring his pet python to our class. She asked for volunteers to hold the snake but the class was silent.  I then saw my opportunity to show off a bit.  There was this really cute boy and I just knew this would make him fall in love with me.  I mean, seriously, what makes a boy fall in love with you faster than him seeing you hold a pet python??!!!  Ah, middle school logic.

The man draped the snake around my neck.  I remember letting out that sigh of relief....this was okay....I could do this.  About that time I felt something wet going down my shirt.  I then heard the man say "don't tense up or make any sudden movements.  The snake is urinating right now and I don't want him to constrict."

What????  Yep, the snake peed on me.  What are the odds that it would go RIGHT when I put it around my neck.  The gentleman then picked up the snake and held it out the window...you know...to give it privacy to finish doing its business.

I smelled horrible and got made fun of the rest of the day.  Didn't you just love being in middle school??

Upcoming Ways to Help

Just a heads up.... there will be a few ways to help with our adoption coming up!!!  We are so excited to have paid off our agency.  We are now saving money for travel (plane tickets, stay while we are there, shots, visa, etc.)  We will need to save money for not one trip but two....estimated at around $10,000.  But, I am confident that God, who started His good work in this will bring it to completion.

1.  BBQ to-go plates for sale.  Tickets will be available at certain businesses in town. You can buy tickets early or at the door.  Monday, April 26th 4:30 - 7:30 at BBQ by Jim's in Tupelo.  More info to come later!!!

2.  My wonderful cousin donated an amazing basket of perfumes (over $400 worth!!!).  We will be selling raffle tickets for the basket.  This would be an amazing gift for Mother's Day!!!!!  More info to come!!!

3.  We will be having a garage sale this summer.  Begin saving your "junk" for us.  We will begin accepting this in the next couple of weeks. More info to come!!

4.  Buy coffee for Lucy.  Click HERE to buy coffee.  We get a percentage of every bag purchased!!

Thanks for the support!!!

Random Fact Friday

I am random.  My life is random. AND random things happen to me :)

So, I thought I needed to share.  AND I will. Each Friday.

I just had to get braces.  At 27.  They discovered I had a cross-bite which was causing my front teeth on the top and bottom to chip.  SO, now I am a metal-mouth.

Last week I had a revelation.  After cleaning my teeth and braces (those with braces know how GROSS this is) I put on my anti-aging eye cream. Then I put on my acne cream (apparently acne doesn't end at 15).  I giggled to myself as I realized I am caught somewhere in between being a 13 year old and an 80 year old. Nice.

Disappointed and Still Encouraged

Anna and I have been plugging along with life. It's strange to have the everydayness of what you've known for five years, but also have the expectation that monumental change is about to take place in your routine. We have been planning and saving and putting everything together for us to bring our little girl home. And so far, everything has been going along as planned. I would say it's been eerie how well everything has worked out so far, but that would be discounting the obvious presence of God throughout this process.

A few weeks ago, we found out that due to a change in Ethiopian governmental policy, we will be going to Ethiopia twice now instead of once. This of course, makes the saver in me freak out beyond belief. Honestly, I was disappointed when I first received the news. My heart dropped a little, and I started to doubt how we would be able to make two trips to Addis Ababa in a six week period. That news, coupled with the news that the wait times are a little longer, has been tougher to bear that I thought. I'm definitely more impatient than I thought I was. To be honest I'm just ready for my daughter to be with us.

The farther removed I am from the news, I feel a greater calm come over me about the wait, about the cost of four round trip and a one way ticket from Tupelo to Ethiopia. I still don't know how or when it's all going to work out, but God has been so good and so evident from the start. It's difficult NOT to trust that he's going to make it all work. In fact, I don't have any doubt that he will. As a pastor, I get tired of hearing the cliche' "God's going to work everything out." Throughout this adoption, I've seen why that statement is cliche'. It's just true.

numero dos

That's right...on Friday, March 19th...we celebrated 2 months of being on the official adoption waitlist!!!  They are still estimating 5-9 months to wait for a referral (picture of our actual child).  So, we probably still have some waiting to do but at least we are getting closer!!

I've Been Thinking About Something

*****This post was intended for Friday, February 19th.

Today two very important events took place.  One being my grandfather's funeral and the other us being on the official waitlist for one month.  I must confess...my heart is devastated by my grandfather's passing.  But, it is amazing how God can create good and peace in any situation.  He certainly has done that for us.
       Granddaddy came out of surgery on Thursday, February 11th.  They removed over half his liver (including the cancerous part) and was doing great!!  I went into his ICU room that night and spent an hour or so.  I held his hand listening to him sing God's praises.  He told of the peace God had given him the night before the surgery.  That night he went to bed knowing that the next day he would stare death in the face yet never had a negative thought, fear or anxiety...just peace. 
    My aunt told of how the night before, my grandparents, both being in their individual twin beds in the hospital room, spent the night rotating from one bed to the next just to snuggle together.  Oh, how I pray Russ and I will be like this after 56 years of marriage. My grandmother told me how he sang to her that morning..just as he always did.
       On Friday I spent the entire day with him.  A day I will never forget.  We talked of how excited we were that he would be there when Lucy came home.  He then said those five words that he said so often "I've been thinking about something."  He proceded to tell me his thoughts on Lucy.  I knew he supported us but we had not really talked too specifically about it.  He had sent us an article on Ethiopian religion...which talked of how some worshipped God along with a long list of other gods.
     He then proceded to tell me that God wants all people to know him and that God was using Russ and me.  He described us as tools that God was using so that Lucy could know and hear about Him.  How maybe Lucy would never have known God if we were not being obedient...how God's plan is so much bigger than ours and how he loves us all so much.  He then grabbed my chin...pulled me down to his face and told me how much he loved me.
     That was my last conversation with him.  I arrived on Tuesday, February 16th right before he went to be with Jesus.  My heart broke but God gave us so much peace.  The image in my head of my granddaddy seeing Jesus for the first time was almost too much.  Oh, how he loved Jesus.  But then my heart sank.  He wouldn't be there to meet Lucy.....

At that moment God whispered in my ear...."You have an amazing story and legacy to share with her."  My last conversation with him was about her!!  How he loved her and how he wanted her to know God's love!!!  Thank you Jesus for that conversation.  What an amazing conversation I will have with her one day. My heart still grieves over them not getting to meet but I am so thankful for God's tenderness and compassion he had by allowing us to have that conversation.