An Exhausting, But Profitable and Fun Weekend!

Friday began with decorating for our Ladies Bunko Night Out!! It was so much fun to be hanging out in the gym with my friends and seeing all their creativities come to life!! We then had an AWESOME night with such great ladies who came out to support our adoption! Thank you to all my friends who helped and thank you to all who came out for a great night!!! Here's some fun pictures of the evening:

 Here's my friends working hard setting everything up! Thank you to: Kari, Alicia, Rebecca, Renee, Malee, and Lynette who came to help set up!

Here's the Final Set-up... Looking forward to a great night!!!

A fun night with friends!

All the great Bunko gifts graciously donated by my Bunko group!! Thanks ladies!!

The BEAUTIFUL dessert table decorated by Renee and Malee!!

Fun "Take-Home" gifts...

And then...

We then decided to have a garage sale bright and early Saturday morning :-)... Although it was crazy, busy, hot, and "Phatty" (thanks to your donations of stuff), it was extremely profitable!!! It was a mind-boggling experience though to be talked down from $0.50 to $0.25 for items...even though we reminded them that 100% of the sales were going towards our adoption! I guess people just want a "steal" no matter what!! :-)

Tim also had the brilliant idea of setting up cones in front of our house so people could drive by and see what we had...It also cut down on the traffic in front of our house!!

And then there is Peyton...

This is Peyton :-)

Peyton decided to "Join the Journey" at the very beginning of our adoption process!! He is the son of one of my dear friends, Melissa. Ever since he found out we were adopting, he has always been thinking of fun, creative ways to "Join the Journey." He and his family have given of their time, talents, and treasures to help in great ways these past many months.

This past week Peyton turned "9!" On Saturday afternoon he had a pool party for his birthday! Many friends and family were invited for a great celebration. Something that Peyton's family has done for many years is to ask friends and family to give a donation to a particular cause (of the kids choosing) in leiu of birthday gifts! What a great way to think of others!! This year, Peyton was so excited to share with us that he chose " bringing Jeremy and Drew's baby sister home" to be what he wanted his birthday money to go towards!  

We had a great time at the party that afternoon, and we are so blessed by Peyton thinking of our baby girl!! Thank you Peyton for continuing to be on this great "journey" with us!! Jeremy and Drew's little sister will hear and know of this great story someday!!

And so...

An exhausting, but profitable weekend!!! We are so blessed by your continued prayers and support!! We love each and every one of you!!   

Girls Night Out...This Friday!!!!

Alright ladies!!! It's time to get ready for a fun night out!!! This Friday night (the 24th at 7:00) in the FBC gym, we will have a ton of fun hanging out and playing Bunko together... and let me tell you, the prizes are going to be amazing!!!

Invite as many friends as you know!!! We would love to fill the gym! Don't worry if you don't know how to play, we'll teach you!! :-)

We hope to see you there!!

Kid's Can Change the World!!!

From left to right... Talia, Katie, Abby, and Mia

It all began at the "Join the Journey" adoption night... I found Katie and Abby at a table writing down a bunch of notes. I asked what they were doing, and they shared that they were coming up with ways that they could "Join the Journey!" They were so excited to do whatever they could for the orphans!

Here is the fruit of their labors... They decided to have a garage sale and quickly set out to get items donated from friends and family! They even got a write up about them in the newspaper!! On Friday, they were busy pricing everything out, making posters, and just having fun! When I came by to bring by some "Join the Journey" bracelets, t-shirts, etc., they escorted me to "base camp,"  as they called it :-)!!

We arrived this morning at 7 AM to find an already busy and extremely well organized garage sale... there was even a map where you could find everything! The girls were eager to share with others that they were doing this garage sale to raise money for the families adopting from China!!!

As a result, the girls raised over $600 for the China families!!! Way to go girls! What a blessing you are to all of us! Thank you for serving in such an awesome way!!! You HAVE changed the world!!

July 4th at the Lake



The kids dressed up as "Juice it Up!" Smoothies





Here's the boys...Who could resist buying a smoothie from them?





Kevin Liu and Jeremy in front of our "Juice it Up!" Booth



The Eby's, Lui's, and us headed out to Lodi Lake for a fun day of selling smoothie's for our adoption! It was fun to be together as families serving for a great purpose!! We had a blast, and thanks to 100+ degrees that day, the smoothie's were a hit!! We completed our day with the beautiful fireworks over the lake!! What fun!

The Heart of a Child

"Let the little children come unto me, and do not forbid them. For such is the kingdom of heaven." These are the very words spoken by Jesus to His disciples long ago!! This verse has had a profound impact on my life recently!

It all started when Jeremy found a penny. His immediate response was, "Mommy, look, this will help bring baby sister home!!"
Of course, my adult mind told myself, "Yeah, right... a penny is like '1/1 millioth' of what it will take to bring her home!" But of course as a mother I praised him for thinking of his sister and doing whatever he could to help out!
Later it was some friend's kids that started brainstorming about creative ways they could help "Join the Journey." One (Peyton) had been making friendship bracelets he wanted to sell, and the other (Cooper) decided he was going to sell some jokes... "People will pay me money, and I will tell them a joke" :-)!
At the "Join the Journey" night, I happened to see some girls writing stuff down on a paper. I asked them what they were doing, and they excitedly said, "we're coming up with some ways we can help!" Abby (going into 6th grade) had a whole list of things she was going to do/make in order to raise awareness and raise money!!
It was then through my dear friend's daughter Annika (5 1/2 years old) that I finally got it!!! When she heard we were in the process of bringing an orphan home from China, she immediately told her mom that she wanted to give all her piggy bank money for "Jeremy's sister" to come home.
When we handed out our "Join the Journey Chinese Food Boxes" to collect change, she went home and dumped her piggy bank money into it. It filled the entire box! I took it to the coin collector at our bank and it totalled over $45!!!
It was not the fact that a 5 1/2 year old was able to give $45 that struck me (although how cool is that!!!)... it was the fact that she gave it with no reservation! She realized that there was a need, and she could be a part of filling that need!!
I am utterly amazed at the fact that so many kids have decided to "Join the Journey" with no reservation! They want to do whatever they can!! Kids get "God's heart!!" They see people in need, and they want to help! They want to love, and they want to do something!!!
May I never stand in the way of these children!! Let them come!!  

Why International Adoption?

Many people have asked the question "why did you chose to adopt internationally?" That question often comes as a result of people sharing their heart about the Foster care system, domestic adoption, and/or the huge cost of International adoption.
I love and welcome this question because any time it's asked, it gives me an opportunity to share God's heart in regards to the orphans and adoption!!!
First and foremost, let me start out by sharing that God's heart is for ALL the orphans!!! He sees the hurting, He sees the need and He calls on His people to action!
James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and fautless is to looks after orphans and widows in their distress."
When I read this verse, and especially given the context of the book of James, I realize that this verse is truly a call to DO something. It is our faith lived out through action!
While this verse and many others call us to action, I also acknowledge that this verse doesn't mean we all need to adopt! (As a side note: we need to also ask ourselves what we can do to help the widows in their distress). There is so much we can do to support those who are adopting (not just financially). This is the very reason we have invited anyone who desires to "Join the Journey!!"
So back to the question, "Why adopt internationally?" To make it simple... We asked God to break our hearts for what He wanted for our family, and He broke our heart for China! Our daughter is in China, and we will work as hard as we can to bring her home!!
I also want to let you know that our hearts break for all the hurting and all those in the world that need a family!! There is much work to be done and so many children that need homes where the love of Christ is modeled so that they can come to know their Savior personally!! May we never settle until God's work is accomplished!
With that being said, I thought I would share some things that God has taught us so far during this process! First of all, in China, the gospel is not allowed to be shared without a great cost!! The chances of an orphan hearing the great message about the love of God is pretty slim! Second, in most countries, if a child is not adopted by the age of 16, they usually leave the orphange and are left to fend for themselves! What then ends up happening is that they turn to usually the only thing that can make fast money... drugs and prostitution... that breaks our heart!!
When God took ahold of our hearts for us to adopt, and broke our hearts for China, we asked Him to close the doors quickly if he had another place in mind that would be a better fit for our family. After starting the process, we thought the doors were going to close for us in China due to the strict regulations they place on adoptive families, but God miraculously kept them open! We also had no clue about the cost of international adoption when we started the process!!! We prayed and sought counsel and everyone we talked with shared that we shouldn't let money be the thing that stops us from adopting internationally, so we haven't! We continue to trust God to provide financially, and He has so far! We have a long way to go, but we know that we serve a faithful, loving God who is truly in control!
So, for a quick summary... Why internationally?.. God broke OUR heart for China, miraculously opened the doors (given the strict qualifications), and we are seeking to serve and follow Him in every aspect of our lives... so here we are on the journey!

Thank you to those who have "Joined the Journey!!"

What a blessing last night was to us!!! It was so neat to see so many come out to "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless!!" What an encouragement to our family!
We cannot and do not want to be in this journey on our own! Thank you to those of you who have joined our journey whether it is through prayer, financial support, offering your services, helping raise awareness, fill a "chinese food box" with coins to "change an orphan's life, bought/sold lollipops... whatever you have done and will continue to do, it is needed and so very much appreciated!
I think what I love the most is just seeing so many young kids do what they can to help!!! One boy shared that they were wanting to run a lemonade stand... a group of girls were putting together a list of things they wanted to make and sell... others wanted to help sell lollipops and bracelets! I love seeing children get the heart of Jesus!! It is no wonder that He said, "Let the little children come..."
Thank you again! We are encouraged by everyone on the journey with us!!