The Called

Well hello there!  Before you ask, I will tell you...nothing much to report!  Still plugging away at doctor's visits, blood work, referrals, financial information, pictures of the house and ourselves, reading books and writing reports, and education hours.  WOW!  This adoption stuff is involved!!  Yesterday when I was cleaning the house to take pictures of every room for the home study, I found myself a little annoyed.  But, quickly, my heart changed.  And I was excited.  When I completed that task, I was one step closer to bringing our child home.  And, that, my friends, is how I am choosing to look at this process.  I feel like I can't get to him fast enough....even though we don't even know who "he" is yet!  I love how God is preparing us daily for this adventure.  Clay's devotional was so fitting last night.  And, next week I start a weekly Bible study at church that will stay in line with what we are doing.  We truly do feel the calling to change our lives.  And you know it's funny.  We have had some people question us.  And I completely respect that.  But, you guys have to understand something here.   We did not choose this.  We are not qualified to do this.  GOD chose this for us.  And we are just listening to HIS request.  Believe me, the easy life of having only 2 children and everything mapped out, is way tempting.  But, we cannot go that road when we KNOW GOD has chosen this road for us.  I heard something very interesting last week and again today.  "God does not call the qualified.  He qualifies the called."   WOW!  That is right, we are not qualified to do this.  But we do know that we are called.  And the amount of change we have seen in our lives since November when we answered the call, has been amazing.  We see GOD like we never have before.  He is working miracles in our life and we are so blessed by HIS grace.   I think Clay and I lived so many years as "luke-warm" Christians, that is just became our norm.  But, oh my.  Were we missing out!!  If you are floating through your life not making GOD your priority, then I challenge you to change that.  Now, I am not saying you need to go out and adopt a kid.  Or fly to Africa and become a missionary.  But, spend time with GOD, and he will reveal HIS purpose for you.  Clay and I have found our purpose.  And my heart jumps with joy at the thought of living out that purpose to glorify GOD. 

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my friend Shannon for the photography fundraiser.  Also, thank you to all of you who signed up!  We will be contacting you soon!!   I am as always amazed by people and their support.  We are in the works of planning LOTS of fundraisers!!!  Clay is hoping to put together a golf tournament in April.  We also plan to do a dinner/auction sometime early summer.  We want to sell tshirts and are designing those as we speak!  And we also plan to do a HUGE garage sale in April....so if you have things you want to get rid of, bring them our way!!!  We will gladly sell your junk!!!!  ;) 

So, we are hoping to have the homestudy completely done by March.  We still have not found out who our kiddo is, but (for this week!) we are looking at Bulgaria and Lithuania.  Both countries have fairly easy travel and are cheaper (compared to others!).  Both countries usually take 12 months or less.  It is crazy to sit here and think our little guy could be here a year from now!!  But, the crazier part is knowing that he is out there, an ocean away, all alone without a mommy and daddy.  And we already love him.  And I just cannot wait to see what he looks like!  But, GOD will reveal that to us in HIS timing.  So, until next time.......

Fundraiser and news.

So, what's new with us?!  Alot, actually!!  We finally received our packets from our local agency and are in the process of collecting all the documents to get our home study  in full swing!  Very exciting!!!  And, a tad over whelming!  ;)  I am sure most of you heard about the whole ban on Russian adoptions.  That came as a big disappointment to us.  Just a week before we heard of the ban, Clay and I had actually, finally agreed on the cutest, sweetest little boy in Russia.  We still can't stop thinking about him!  So, you can pray that if this child is meant to be ours, God will open some doors to make that happen.  At this point, we are starting the home study process (which will take a few months), and if at the end of this process nothing has changed in Russia, we have decided to go with the Ukraine.  God knows where our child is and he will reveal that to us in His time!

So, what else??!!   It's FUNDRAISING TIME!!! 

I am beyond excited to announce our first fundraiser for our adoption.  I want to start with a huge thank you to God for blessing us with the most amazing friends.  I always knew I loved this friend, but today, when I got her email offering us 100% profits from this fundraiser, I was in complete tears.  At her love, encouragement, and just complete willingness to do this for our family and future child.  So, are you ready?  This is not some lame fundraiser!  This is pure awesome.  Drumroll please.......

On Saturday, March 2nd, at a location to be determined in the San Antonio area, the talented and awesome photographer, Shannon Lafayette, of Shannon Lafayette Photography, will be offering her services for 45 minute mini photo sessions.  She will offer times every hour from 9am until 4pm.  The cost will be $150 and you will receive a full resolution, completely edited CD of 10 of your favorite poses.  This is a great deal guys!!!  If you want to check out her website to see how talented she is, go for it!!  And then email me or respond below and let us know what time you would like.
www.shannonlafayettephotography.com  So, if you have been wanting some cute family shots, or maybe that special shot of the kids, this is your chance.  A great deal for a great cause!!