Another special girl

When we asked for donations for our adoption fundraiser garage sale, people were so generous! We made over $2,000 in one Saturday! I am attaching a couple of pictures from our garage sale, so you can both laugh, AND rejoice with us for God's blessings. We also had a couple of people, including neighbors, who gave us monetary donations, even though we had said all along we would trust God for the finances WITHOUT asking our friends for money! And, out of the blue one day we received an email from some people we did not know, nor had we even heard of them before. They had heard about our plans to adopt a child with special needs even though we had none of our own. This couple felt led to bless a christian family who was taking a step of faith in the area of adoption, and donated $4,000 towards our adoption!!! Talk about answers to our prayers. We really had thought we would have to sell a vehicle, or downsize our house, or have John pick up some extra hours, but none of those were the case. We were so blown away!

I said all of that to say this....I have heard several people comment that they have considered adoption, but "couldn't afford it". We have witnessed firsthand that when you do take that step of faith, even though you have NO idea where the money is going to come from, but you take the first step, KNOWING God will provide....HE WILL. Every day since we have said 'yes' to this wild adventure He offered us, called adoption, we have sensed His goodness, His pleasure, His guidance, His peace, and His provision...and we have never been more fulfilled. We truly believe with all our hearts that He wants His followers to care for His sheep (Remember, Jesus repeated Himself three times to Peter?), and I believe orphans are a large majority of those sheep. If you can't adopt or don't feel "called" to adopt, at least consider helping another family who is. Adoption can be messy, and expensive and frankly downright hard, and what better way to cheer someone on than to support them with your finances.

To the upper right there is a "button" with a little white and grey monkey on it. Another family in the adoption realm that I have gotten acquainted with (via world-wide-web) is in the process of adopting a little girl from the same country where we are adopting from. The Cornishes are a beautiful little family with two children, the younger of whom has Down Syndrome. They are in the process of adding their third child through adoption. Her name is Aleksa, she is 5, and she has Down Syndrome as well. (If you scroll way down to the bottom of their site you can see her). If you spend any time on their blog, their love for Jesus is evident, and their joy in being obedient to Him. Please take a look and purchase one of these adorable monkeys.

Maybe I shouldn't mention that I have entered a contest to win one of these darling little monkeys for Ava (of course she'll want the cute little pink one to go with her pink headbands). I don't know how Meredith is picking her winner (Pick me! Pick me!), but help the Cornishes, and help Ava's chances...by buying one!!