Ait Haddidou girl with tattoo and make up
This photo is 3.5 feet by 4.5 feet and is on stretched canvas.
Alan sells this piece for $1,200. Our starting bid will be $350.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Alan Keohane at Still Images
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Thrice Gracious
What a difference a day makes! So, many amazing things are happening.
First of all, about 15 minutes after my soul-bearing post yesterday we got a call from someone near and dear to us asking if they could give us a $10,000 loan until after our scheduled August 12 fundraiser. Shocking. The stress of the day melted away. Getting this money ASAP means that my babies won't have to spend an extra day or an extra three weeks in an orphanage. What a load off. This one is the most amazing of the three and the best evidence that God is working to bring these babies here.
Second exciting thing is that several people that our adopting from Honduras are placing orders for our leftover Honduras Adoption t shirts...that we had just bought! We probably have close to 200 left, so if you are interested, let us know. We are selling them at a reduced price and will pay the shipping. $15 a shirt and feel free to buy as many as you want. Someone said that they were going to give them as Christmas gifts! And if you want to buy the rest of what we have, we will sell them to you at an even more reduced price ($8 per shirt). It makes a great fundraiser. You can sell for $20 each which means you profit $12 per shirt. And you are promoting adoption!
The third, and the most feel good thing that has happened is that we just got our babies birthdays and names!!! The little girl actually only has a birth month documented so far. Maybe after some digging, the orphanage will be able to give us a day but as of now we know she was born in August 2010. And the little boy was born July 19, 2011. And before I spill the names, I'll give you a tiny bit of background just so I can drag this out a little smidge longer. :) From the beginning of the adoption process Jonathan and I were very open to keeping the kids' given names as long as they weren't really hard to pronounce. And we were always committed to keeping part of their names as a first or middle name. And after hearing their names we are going to keep both first names!!!! And we will figure out their middle names later. Our new little girl's name is Elsie!!!! Precious. It means Consecrated to God. And our youngest kid's name is Hezekiah. :) Which means God Gives Strength. We love them both. We aren't sure yet, but we are naturally name shorteners and we think we might call our son Ki (long i sound). So, we have Emma, Johnny, Annie, Anderson, Elsie, and Ki. Yeah!
So, we still need to keep praying for these babes. We want them to be safe and well fed and loved on often. Don't stop.
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| Men's and Kid's shirts |
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| Women's fitted shirts |
Second exciting thing is that several people that our adopting from Honduras are placing orders for our leftover Honduras Adoption t shirts...that we had just bought! We probably have close to 200 left, so if you are interested, let us know. We are selling them at a reduced price and will pay the shipping. $15 a shirt and feel free to buy as many as you want. Someone said that they were going to give them as Christmas gifts! And if you want to buy the rest of what we have, we will sell them to you at an even more reduced price ($8 per shirt). It makes a great fundraiser. You can sell for $20 each which means you profit $12 per shirt. And you are promoting adoption!
The third, and the most feel good thing that has happened is that we just got our babies birthdays and names!!! The little girl actually only has a birth month documented so far. Maybe after some digging, the orphanage will be able to give us a day but as of now we know she was born in August 2010. And the little boy was born July 19, 2011. And before I spill the names, I'll give you a tiny bit of background just so I can drag this out a little smidge longer. :) From the beginning of the adoption process Jonathan and I were very open to keeping the kids' given names as long as they weren't really hard to pronounce. And we were always committed to keeping part of their names as a first or middle name. And after hearing their names we are going to keep both first names!!!! And we will figure out their middle names later. Our new little girl's name is Elsie!!!! Precious. It means Consecrated to God. And our youngest kid's name is Hezekiah. :) Which means God Gives Strength. We love them both. We aren't sure yet, but we are naturally name shorteners and we think we might call our son Ki (long i sound). So, we have Emma, Johnny, Annie, Anderson, Elsie, and Ki. Yeah!
So, we still need to keep praying for these babes. We want them to be safe and well fed and loved on often. Don't stop.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Entry Shock?
I have a tendency to NOT believe people when they say something is going to be hard. (Close friends and family: no snickering.) For example: when I was pregnant with my first child I heard how hard labor and delivery where going to be. And I thought, "They are wimps. I've got this." Whoa, was I ever wrong. And you'd think I'd learn that lesson by having Emma, but when I was pregnant with Johnny, I convinced myself that since he was my second that it would be a breeze birthing him. OMG. Kill me now. I thought it was never going to end. (You will be happy to know, I did adjust my expectations while pregnant with my third and fourth babies though.)
And then when we moved away from family and friends people told me it would be a tough adjustment. And I thought that I'd be gaining my freedom. It ended up being one of the hardest things I've ever done and the toughest adjustment I've had to make. The move made be realize how much of an extrovert I am and how much I need people and want people in my life.
And now with this whole adoption thing. Everyone says that waiting is so hard and gut wrenching and I secretly have thought, "Hmm, God is good and His timing is perfect. Just trust in that peeps and all will be well." At least I have never vocalized that. But now, 4 days in from accepting these Ugandan babies....I AM A MESS!!!!!!!!! And saying "God is good and His timing is perfect so trust in Him," to myself....REALLY ISN'T HELPING.
I'm so glad that in each of these phases in my life the people around me and my Father in heaven have been gracious and kind. What a prideful boob I can be! And apparently one that doesn't learn lessons the easy way. Ever. But God keeps whispering, "Be still, honey, I've got this" and He reminds me that He has plans for not only me, but for my U kids and my hubby and my NM kids and my extended family and my friends and.....He's got this. He's got this.
Lord, I need your peace. I am not a naturally anxious person. I can usually face situations with my head on straight. But this morning when I talked with one of my friends, I was completely unhelpful and tearing up at all of her questions. You might be wondering what kind of tough questions she was asking. They were simple questions that needed simple answers like "what time should we get together?" and "where are we meeting?" and "is there going to be food?" These are my kind of questions. She knew I was the person to talk to to make these decisions. If you know me on any level, you know that I am perfectly fine with making decisions and telling other people what to do. Well, not any more. I'm wondering how long this is going to last. Is it entry shock or is this going to be my state until the babies are home?
Lord, bring them home quickly. Not only to bless me, but to save all people within an arms reach of me and my decisions.
Forgive me if you have ever birthed a child and thought it was hard, and I thought you were a wimp.
Forgive me if you knew moving away from home would be hard, and I blew you off and thought you were clingy.
Forgive me if you were honest and told me that the waiting after seeing their little faces was going to be hard, and I preached to you in my mind.
I promise God is whittling away at my sin. And my sin is ugly. Thank you Lord that you are in the business of turning ugly into beautiful...or at least for some of us hard-headed people turning us from ugly to not-so-ugly.
And then when we moved away from family and friends people told me it would be a tough adjustment. And I thought that I'd be gaining my freedom. It ended up being one of the hardest things I've ever done and the toughest adjustment I've had to make. The move made be realize how much of an extrovert I am and how much I need people and want people in my life.
And now with this whole adoption thing. Everyone says that waiting is so hard and gut wrenching and I secretly have thought, "Hmm, God is good and His timing is perfect. Just trust in that peeps and all will be well." At least I have never vocalized that. But now, 4 days in from accepting these Ugandan babies....I AM A MESS!!!!!!!!! And saying "God is good and His timing is perfect so trust in Him," to myself....REALLY ISN'T HELPING.
I'm so glad that in each of these phases in my life the people around me and my Father in heaven have been gracious and kind. What a prideful boob I can be! And apparently one that doesn't learn lessons the easy way. Ever. But God keeps whispering, "Be still, honey, I've got this" and He reminds me that He has plans for not only me, but for my U kids and my hubby and my NM kids and my extended family and my friends and.....He's got this. He's got this.
Lord, I need your peace. I am not a naturally anxious person. I can usually face situations with my head on straight. But this morning when I talked with one of my friends, I was completely unhelpful and tearing up at all of her questions. You might be wondering what kind of tough questions she was asking. They were simple questions that needed simple answers like "what time should we get together?" and "where are we meeting?" and "is there going to be food?" These are my kind of questions. She knew I was the person to talk to to make these decisions. If you know me on any level, you know that I am perfectly fine with making decisions and telling other people what to do. Well, not any more. I'm wondering how long this is going to last. Is it entry shock or is this going to be my state until the babies are home?
Lord, bring them home quickly. Not only to bless me, but to save all people within an arms reach of me and my decisions.
Forgive me if you have ever birthed a child and thought it was hard, and I thought you were a wimp.
Forgive me if you knew moving away from home would be hard, and I blew you off and thought you were clingy.
Forgive me if you were honest and told me that the waiting after seeing their little faces was going to be hard, and I preached to you in my mind.
I promise God is whittling away at my sin. And my sin is ugly. Thank you Lord that you are in the business of turning ugly into beautiful...or at least for some of us hard-headed people turning us from ugly to not-so-ugly.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Change of Plans
We have babies!!! We received information last Thursday about 2 little babies that need a family and we have been praying and seeking wise counsel since then. And two days ago, Thursday, July 19 at 10:30pm we decided to take them! So, here comes the change of plans part...they are Ugandan babies, not Honduran babies. They are siblings. The little girl is 22 months old and the little boy is 11 months old. And they need a mommy and daddy (and four older siblings!!)
We never thought we would veer off the Honduran path, but our ways aren't always the same as God's ways. We believe He got us to the crossroads just how He wanted to, so that we would be ready when this information surfaced. After praying and seeking God for a week, we feel at peace with this new path and are thrilled!
We don't know all the details of the change yet, but we have an estimated travel month: December. I am hoping and praying that our trip to Africa will come sooner, though.
But this news definitely brings a new urgency to life. We have rooms to prepare, cultures to learn about, and money to raise. In order to get the ball rolling on Monday we need to write our new agency (Adoptions Plus in Albuquerque) a check for $11,250. Will you prayfully consider making a donation so we can accomplish this goal? I don't want these beauties to stay in the orphanage a day longer than they have to. And if we can send our agency a check on Monday, then the workers in Uganda can start on our paperwork this week! Help us bring our babies home.
We never thought we would veer off the Honduran path, but our ways aren't always the same as God's ways. We believe He got us to the crossroads just how He wanted to, so that we would be ready when this information surfaced. After praying and seeking God for a week, we feel at peace with this new path and are thrilled!
We don't know all the details of the change yet, but we have an estimated travel month: December. I am hoping and praying that our trip to Africa will come sooner, though.
But this news definitely brings a new urgency to life. We have rooms to prepare, cultures to learn about, and money to raise. In order to get the ball rolling on Monday we need to write our new agency (Adoptions Plus in Albuquerque) a check for $11,250. Will you prayfully consider making a donation so we can accomplish this goal? I don't want these beauties to stay in the orphanage a day longer than they have to. And if we can send our agency a check on Monday, then the workers in Uganda can start on our paperwork this week! Help us bring our babies home.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Monday, July 16, 2012
Fundraising Dinner/Silent Auction
I have wanted to write a blog post at least every other day for several weeks but life is flying by.
I have no news from our agency or Honduras. But our family coordinator has said that no news is usually good news. So, let the wait continue.
We have been working hard on the fundraiser we are having. And I realized recently that I haven't blogged about the event and that I need to so that we can get more prayer coverage.
We are having a Honduran Dinner/Silent Auction on Sunday, August 12 at 6pm at our church. We have a local chef that is donating his time to prepare the meal. We have a gal that is working on getting all the food donated. We have musicians that are working on songs for the evening. We have great friends that have volunteered to be the auction manager. And we have an amazing list of donations for the silent auction. All the money we receive for these items goes to our adoption. Here is a sneak peak! (If you are interested in making a bid on any of the items or want more information about them, leave a comment or email me.)
I have no news from our agency or Honduras. But our family coordinator has said that no news is usually good news. So, let the wait continue.
We have been working hard on the fundraiser we are having. And I realized recently that I haven't blogged about the event and that I need to so that we can get more prayer coverage.
We are having a Honduran Dinner/Silent Auction on Sunday, August 12 at 6pm at our church. We have a local chef that is donating his time to prepare the meal. We have a gal that is working on getting all the food donated. We have musicians that are working on songs for the evening. We have great friends that have volunteered to be the auction manager. And we have an amazing list of donations for the silent auction. All the money we receive for these items goes to our adoption. Here is a sneak peak! (If you are interested in making a bid on any of the items or want more information about them, leave a comment or email me.)
- Dallas Cowboys tickets (vs. Saints) on Dec. 23 which comes with 2 nights of hotel accommodations and 1 restaurant gift certificate
- $1,000 gift certificate to Santa Fe Web Programming for website development or redesign
- Angel Fire vacation accommodations for 3 nights from Kokopelli
- Paintings by Glen Strock, George Stumpf, Laura Herndon, and Jim Gensheer
- Jewelry by Roark Griffin
- Moroccan furniture
- Homemade crochet blanket, jewelry, pottery, and soap
- Scarves
- Bird feeding basket from The Feed Bin
- Personal tax return
- Cookbooks by Pam Anderson
- Fashion items
- MapCap fresh roasted coffee kit
- $200 Santa Fe Baby gift certificate
- Pink Ugg Boots (size 7)
- Photo by Joe Fammartino
- Southern Living at Home decor
- Black Ferragamo Purse
- and more!
So, we have a big task in front of us. And we would love for you to pray for the food prep, the donations to come in, that all the details would come together, and that people would come!
We are doing this dinner/silent auction for two reasons. First, because we lack about $27,000 to be able to pay for this adoption and we need our community's help. And second, because we believe in adoption deeply and want to share that vision with those around us. Pray that both of these will happen.
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