Woo hoo!!!! We submitted our dossier! Many times, I've felt like we were the 'turtle' in this journey in comparison to other families. As other families who started this journey 'after' us turned in their dossiers 'before' us, sometimes it was discouraging but I'd quit my little pity party after remembering that God's timing for us was perfect. This is why it's so important to NOT compare yourselves to others. You can miss smelling the roses in your own journey because you're so busy sniffin' your neighbors. Okay...sorry...I digressed. The point being that the joy I experienced from submitting our dossier today made me put on the backburner those feelings of discouragement. Yesterday was amazing! Take the journey with us as we traveled up to America World's suite to turn in our documents!
So what's next...as I shared in the video, our agency will take it to the State Department and then it will be translated into Amharic and THEN it will be sent via FedEx to Ethiopia! Once it's received, we will begin the wait for our daughter! More to come so be sure to continue in the journey with us!
Monday, I'll be heading to our adoption agency to drop off our dossier. We first began the journey Can somebody say SWEET! Life is definitely getting a bit sweeter! Can't wait to announce the day that our dossier is sent to Ethiopia...in the adoption world that's known as your DTE date.
These documents and the payments have been in the works for a full year and finally we're at this point....ahhhhhhhh....crazy! I think we'll celebrate when we have a DTE date with dinner at one of our favorite Ethiopian restaurants. It would be cool if I could get some family and friends to join us....now that would be a big step so we'll see!
Check out Selah's Christmas Tree and how crazy the decorating party has been! We have already reached 64% of our adoption fees/travel...our dossier is headed out the door as soon as LifeSong for Orphans clears the recent checks! I can hardly stand it! Take a look...
I used to despise the words 'rescue' in talking and thinking about our daughter but the more and more I consider how beautiful God's rescue of me was/is, I embrace it more and more. No, I don't have a 'God complex' but I do want my heart to look more and more like His. After watching this video that appeared on Jenn Verme and then Meg Miller's blog, I was done. I saw it on Jenn's blog but didn't get a chance, okay I didn't watch it. Then this morning before an amazing phone call I had with Meg, I saw it on her blog. God challenged me, stretched me and continues to make me say Empty me of this selfishness inside.... This is a rescue mission. Like the man in this video, I'm running full force after my daughter and anything else that God puts my hands to. There's no pity on her just absolute love like what God has for me.
Take a look....I bet it will challenge you.....or will you 'choose' to not click the link because of depraved indifference?
This is so sad that I'm letting technology spank my butt! I've been bummed that for whatever reason my Flip camera software has decided to stop working and my little camera well, let's just say it's had it's day, I think! I'm all ready to share another video and flicks of Selah's tree but no deal. The stinky technology doesn't want to work. But............that won't stop me from sharing the good news about our ornament progress.
We are up to 129 ornaments on Selah's tree and I can't wait to share the photos. Thank you so much for your donations. This is just so cool!
Remember the awesome Both Hands project we worked on last month? Well, here is a very small sampling of what our amazing crew did. After 2 dumpsters, 15 volunteers, and some big bowls of chili (courtesy of my mother-in-law), the end result was awesome! Tony and I ended up pulling out about $500 that we had personally set aside for our adoption to take care of a lot of supplies. (Generally, donations are provided for the materials but we were at the last hour and wanted Mrs. Holt to have an amazing end result.) But you know what? It was totally worth it. God calls us to take care of the widow and the orphan (James 1:27) and so we're banking on Him to help make-up what we invested and beyond. Trust me when I say the pictures I took don't do justice to the unbelievable work by our team of volunteers and contractors. Thanks so much everybody! It was everything I hoped it would be. (Oh yeah....forgive my drowsy eyes in the pic! One day I'll learn to take a photo without blinking!!!)
What if YOU were the orphan? What would YOU want someone to do on your behalf? Here's our adoption story and why we need you to consider partnering with us.
We desperately need your donations to partner with us to bring hope to the life of one little girl.
.....and GUESS WHAT? We now have 2 amazing friends who together will match your donation dollar for dollar up to $5,000 when you donate via check or credit/debit card through our fundraising site.... www.lifeabitsweeter.com
Please don't delay. There's a little girl counting on all of us to be her voice of redemption. Please don't forget to share our video link with your family and friends! We'll keep you updated via our blog as our partner, Lifesong for Orphans, sends us our donation totals throughout the week.
Selah's room will be my former office space....yes, my coveted office space. (smile) It was the place where I hibernate to get work done or when mama needs a little 'time out'. As I shared before, giving up this space was a big deal for me but one that with God's help, I don't mind sacrificing at all.
Since the yard sales, I was able to let go of a LOT of 'things' that I've been holding on to for years. You know those...'one day I might need that' things. Yet, with each goodbye of an article in that office space, I said 'hello' to making room for baby girl.
Here's the result....a blank new canvas to create a feel of home for a little girl without one. It warms my heart every time I walk past her 'space' with anticipation that one day a heartbeat, laughter, kisses, and hugs will fill this space and a family will be forever changed.
Last Thursday night, a few of the Ethiopia adopting mamas and I went out for dinner and dessert. This is the same crew that Tony and I went out to dinner with in the Summer. The venue this time....dinner at Clyde's of Georgetown and dessert at the now world-famous Georgetown Cupcake! Yum, yum and yum!
This was a super treat because it's rare that I get a chance to get out for some 'girl time' with all of the fundraising, being a mom, working-full-time, and trying to keep it grown and sexy in our marriage....ha ha ha....did I really just say that???? Yep, I did! LOL. All that to say, balancing it all leaves little free time so hanging with Susan, Stacy, Monica, and Jenn is a big deal! So here's a little photo flashback of our night out. I think the next trip is going to an Ethiopian church service together with the husbands and kids. Should be fun!
Yard Sale number 2 happened yesterday. We still had some things left over and friends/family members donated some additional items. My goal was simple...$500 for the day. Although we made much more from yard sale #1, I figured $500 was adequate as I knew I wouldn't be able to put as much time into marketing/advertising and many of our family members/friends had already been to sale #1. Now the two things I did do was place it on Craigslist and hire the same young man to hold our sign on the main street for a few hours.
So our total funds raised for the day.....$1081.36!!!! God truly blew me away! As I came back from a quick errand during the yard sale, I asked God....I know I had a smaller goal of $500 but if You would help us hit the $1,000 mark, that would be truly awesome! Simply appreciative of His awesomeness!
Thanks so much for your continued prayers and words of encouragement! Your girl is pooped but it's 6:45am and I've got to get to work this morning! The first service starts at 8:30am. I'm looking forward to an awesome time of worship with our church family. See ya and thanks for stopping by!
Numero Dos. Yep, we're heading for Yard Sale #2 in an effort to getting steps closer to bringing Selah home! To get things moving, prices will be extra low and I can't wait. We're not putting as much into marketing it as we did before. Our goal for this one is to make $500.
I hope to post some preview pics for our early shoppers. Here we go!!!!!
So...what's happening over here in adoption land??? Lots! We are busy little bees lately as we enter fundraising central. Who ever thought fundraising was such hard work and time-consuming? Well it is but it is so worth it! I'll say that time and time again because I believe it.
Sometimes I get a bit weary because there are lots of long nights and early mornings. We are coming down to the wire with our Both Hands project. This project is founded on the principle in James 1:27 where God challenges believers to take care of the widow and the orphan. It's really amazing! We select a widow within the community and just have an opportunity to shower her with blessings in the form of home repairs. As we hit the home stretch, we'll be focusing hard on getting the necessary supplies to repair a widow's home. We are busy looking for businesses who will donate things like paint, bathroom fixtures, a vanity, and a host of other supplies. In total, we'd love to make around $3,000 - $4,000 in repairs to her home. We have a crew of A++ contractors lined up who have generously agreed to donate their time. It's a big feat but we're excited about what God will do. Stay tuned to see what God does....this is all really so unbelievable!
Here's a quick view of the Valdez family working on a widow's home. I love these stories. There will be more to come and guess what....in the coming weeks, you'll be able to see ours!
Yesterday was simply amazing to say the least! In total, we raised a little over $2600 and are waiting for confirmation of a possible ATV 4-wheeler sale! God totally showed us much favor and grace throughout the day. There were so many times that we saw the hand of God. Despite the fact that the signs were removed from the road that led to our main street, the people still miraculously showed up. Simply amazing! Then, what about the gracious woman who while walking her dog asked if she could bring back some donations for us. In the midst of receiving our donations, she left us with a truly AWESOME financial blessing. Then, what about the young person from our church, Devaughn, that agreed for a few hours to wear a Mr. Incredible costume to attract traffic from the main street to our side streets. His sign read 'Incredible Yard Sale'.
We had so many things left, so much more to put out, and more people that would like to donate and volunteer their time. Because of this, we will have part 2 of this Yard Sale event. A friend reminded me that this was truly like the show Clean House....in fact, we raised what some of those families average in sale. The only thing we missed was Niecy Nash's matching amount of $2000! Any takers???? smile. If so, here's the link on how to donate! *smile* http://lifeabitsweeter.blogspot.com/p/donate_21.html
In the meantime, check out an overview of our great day as well as our awesome volunteers and shoppers!
If you'd like to purchase one of the necklaces or soft, comfy unisex t-shirts featured in the video, simply click here to shop! Necklaces are handmade by me and t-shirts are sold through us for fundraising courtesy of an amazing organization called Mocha Club.
If you liked the designs of our face painter, Mikal, you can get more information about her services by contacting her at belovedrhf@gmail.com or 202.437.4567.
Thanks for your prayers, words of encouragement, and donations. What is happening in our lives is truly beyond anything we could ever ask or think! (Ephesian 3:20)
This past weekend, I had an amazing opportunity to have a vendor table at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden's Women's Conference. AMAZING! My cousin, Shelly and her husband, Rodney truly knocked my socks off when they offered to sponsor a table for us. Okay,WOW! What a generous offer!
I decided that I wanted to create something special for the conference in an effort to raise funds for our adoption. For the entire year, the church's theme is "Beyond, Beyond" based on Ephesians 3:20. In keeping with our theme of glass tile necklaces, here's the final product:
We also focused on our upcoming Both Hands project for those who may want to receive a tax deduction for their contribution. This time around, no takers for contributions for the Both Hands project BUT we were definitely blessed with straight out contributions. WOW! Take a look at the videos below, sharing Day 1 and Day 2 of the conference!
....and this wouldn't be complete without saying BIG, BIG THANKS to Shelly and my Zion co-worker and friend, Cynde. These ladies worked their butts off for Selah - sharing the vision and asking for purchases and donations. Thanks also to my FBCG friends who walked through the conference sharing what we were doing. You all are amazing!
In case you were wondering, our grand total sales and donations from the conference was $842.47!!!! Guess what? We also have a few additional sales and donations expected in the next few days or so! So...our fundraising thermometer on the left side of our blog just did some major movement!
If you missed us at the conference and would like to order a necklace, pop on over to our Etsy store and pick one or more up! These necklaces are also perfect for gifts and evangelistic opportunities. Someone is bound to compliment you on it which opens the door for you to explain what it means. Gotta love that! If they no longer appear on the site, shoot me an e-mail (michelle365@me.com) as they may be sold out and I just have to upload more for purchase.
BEYOND! BEYOND! Only you God! Nobody greater! Thank you Lord for such an amazing gift and creative fundraising to bring your jewel, Selah home to her forever family!
(Note: The videos shown at our table can be viewed at the author's Vimeo site. Ordinary Hero: A Day in the Trash Dump (http://vimeo.com/13948413) and Tim/Carrie's Both Hands project (http://vimeo.com/7278767)
I can't believe I'm saying this.....The Paper Pregnancy Is Complete!!!! The photos at the end of the video share what a paper pregnancy looks like.....3 sets of documents and this is still not all of the paperwork! There was still a LOT of paperwork that we had to submit during/before the home study process also. We still have a bit of work to do but check us out........
Yep, so God definitely has a sense of humor but more importantly, His love for me is so EXTRAVAGANT! Believe it or not, after learning yesterday's lesson of praising and magnifying God over my problem, something amazingly wonderful happened. Out of the blue today, my phone rang at 12:10pm with UNKNOWN listed in the caller id. I grabbed and lo and behold, it was the officer from USCIS who was reviewing our case! She sweetly informed me that she had approved our I-171H!!! She said she tried to send me a return email but it kept coming back to her as undeliverable. huh? Go figure! I'm believing that God needed me to get yesterday's lesson. Thank you God for helping to grow me up in my faith towards you!
So....she said the I-171H is in the mail. Can't wait to see that baby in my mailbox! woo hoo!
Next up on the list....waiting patiently for the passports to arrive for me and Tony. We're getting close!!!
....but wait, this blog post wouldn't be complete without saying big thanks to my friend Rochelle who pushed me yesterday and made me do something that I was scared to do related to the adoption. In fact, we both believed that unless I stepped out of my comfort zone and completed that task, God wouldn't move this mountain. Guess what? I stepped out of my comfort zone, completed the task, and the mountain was moved.
Thanks to YOU too for continuing to follow us in this journey and encouraging us along the way. You're simply the best!
I think God is in heaven scratching His head and wondering, when will this child of mine ever get the lesson??? Well.....maybe He's not actually scratching His head but He sure ought to!
No matter how many times I discover that our adoption process is not the same as anyone else, I seem to falter because I keep hitting that same rock. So...here's the deal. We went for fingerprinting appointments on September 3rd. Many couples whose blog or facebook status I have read or have talked to in the DC area, have received their clearance in about 9, 10, or 11 days of their appointment. So of course, I was banking that by September 13th or 14th, we'd surely have our clearance, right????? Wrong! We're at day 17. In fact, the postman just left our mailbox with the bills but no government notices. (laughing at myself)
In the past week, I've called the Immigration Office several times and sent a couple of e-mails as I was instructed. All to receive no follow-up 'within 2 business days' as the initial operator told me. Not even a routine thank you for your e-mail. We are processing your application. This has frustrated me. It has angered me. It has caused me to worry that something is wrong with our clearance. Yep, I'll even admit it, this morning I cried as I wondered why does every step of our journey seem to be so much more difficult than other families. After I brushed myself off and dried the tears, I was able to gain better perspective in reading these words from the blog of We Are Grafted In as she shared the lesson she gleaned in waiting after observing the growth of the rose bushes in her home garden:
This past weekend the Husband and I worked for hours in our garden: pruning, weeding, even widening one of our flower beds. I spent quite some time puttering with my roses. We have several rose bushes, but the ones most people notice are the two largest. The first sits in the front yard, along the walkway leading to our front door. It blooms with gorgeous, fragrant red roses. The bush in our backyard next to the herb garden blooms with smaller, pale peach and less fragrant roses.
While I worked with these two plants, I remembered something my friend Lizard once called to my attention. If you look closely, you’ll see there exist less obvious differences between our two rose bushes. And, if you grab hold of a stem from each plant, you will learn of their differences painfully.
Our red rose bush sports the most wicked thorns I’ve ever personally handled. Our peach rose bush? It hardly contains any thorns at all. I can cut this bush back without even bothering to wear gardening gloves.
Lizard, a former florist, once told me that you can predict how large the blooms will be by looking at the thorns . . . the larger the thorns, the larger the roses.
The larger the thorns, the larger the roses.
The larger the bumps in the road, the larger the blessings.
Wow, Selah. I must believe that your life story and ours is going to be one beautiful rose bush when God is finished with us!
As for me: God, I trust you. I have seen how you have delivered every single paper in this process. I have seen your faithfulness throughout my life. I believe You are for me, my family, and Selah. I believe that Your Will will come to pass. I believe that you have called me worthy to walk in this process. I believe that You are in control and that you have set everything in order and in Your timing. I believe that You can move mountains. I believe that You are building our testimony as You have written so many beautiful chapters in our life story already. I believe that this entire thing is more about You than it is about me so please decrease my will so that Your Will will be magnified and accepted in my heart.
You would think since I'm a native Washingtonian that I would have seen all of the sights, right???? WRONG! Yet again, this adoption process has exposed me to so much rich United States all in my backyard. The other week, I shared photos of Tony and I hanging out in Baltimore to get our fingerprinting processed through the FBI (biometrics). Well yesterday, I had tons of fun all by myself hanging out at the State House in Annapolis, MD. It was a bit of a pass through to getting to the Secretary of State's office but it was really neat! I took a few pictures and took in the beauty of this amazing building. As I have now learned, the State House in Annapolis is the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use and is the only state house to have ever served as the nation's capitol. Check out me and George....
Once I arrived at the Secretary of State's office, my paperwork was processed pretty quickly and it was a wrap! Well...almost a wrap! Historic Annapolis is so beautiful that I took a little time taking in the sites and because Annapolis is about 20 minutes from my house, I'm very familiar with the shopping! smile. I ventured over to my favorite clothing store (Paradigm) but you'd be proud. I didn't buy a thing....but it was hard!
So all that to say.....we're two steps closer to wrapping up the paperchase! The Secretary of State's office certified our Power of Attorney and Dossier Cover Sheet forms! woo hoo! Now, we're waiting for our passports and I-171H form. After that, it's all saving and fundraising to get to our $7700 to submit our dossier. Gotta love progress!
I am trying to stay on top of the kid's homework since school has started and am working hard to finish up the last of our documents. I'll be back real soon so don't desert me! Lots of good things happening!!!
I really get the fact that God doesn't bless us for His Glory until we are ready and prepared to receive it. Think about it...as much as you want to give great gifts to your children, would you trust a treasured family heirloom to your child until he/she was prepared to handle it and take care of it? I think this is so as we prepare to bring Selah home. She is one of God's treasures. He values her life so much that He wants to make sure we are ready and equipped before He blesses us with bringing her home . While He is moving mountains and opening doors on our behalf in this adoption journey, I believe we have some work to do to make things a little easier around here so that whatever comes our way, we're in a better position to handle it.
In this series of blog posts entitled "Simplifying for Selah", I'll share how I'm working to make things 'simpler' so that when she arrives, we can deal with whatever challenges come with expanding our family. One of the things that is crucial before Selah comes home with us is for me to simplify things quite a bit between home and work (the two places where I spend the bulk of my time). I'm an organizer and time-manager by trade but even I need to call in the "Big Dogs" as I get ready to prepare our home for her. With that said, I've registered for Aby Garvey's "It's About Time Workshop". I'd love for you to join me in this online class if time management would be helpful for you. I've taken one of Aby's other courses online before (Paper Clutter) and she is FANTASTIC! Guess, what? I took advantage of the early bird deal so the class is $60 but that early bird special ends today. I've attached the syllabus below so check it out and let me know if you're thinking about being one of my classmates. (Click here to check out Aby's company called Simplify 101 for other great organizing tidbits.)
If Time Management is not an area where you need improvement, tell us......what breakthrough are you waiting for by faith and what are you doing to posture yourself so that you are ready to receive the blessing? Can't wait to hear!
Today was a fabulous day in Baltimore! Tony and I proudly headed over to the Immigration office to submit our fingerprints to the FBI for review. The process was pretty quick....our appointments were at 11am and 12pm but they took both of us at 11am. We were out the door in less than 25 minutes! Since we finished so early, we decided to hang out at the Inner Harbor, enjoy the sights and a beautiful lighthouse. Of course we capped it with a little lunch. I slept all the way back home and am now sitting sharing my experience with you. Maybe, just maybe, our passports and our I-171H will arrive at the same time. A girl can wish, right? Have a wonderful Friday!
Today, I had the opportunity to meet with our AMAZING fundraising crew! For now, I'll call them "Team Selah"! Team Selah consists of a group of my friends who have agreed to give of their time to help us focus on our big rocks in raising the funds necessary to bring Selah home. We have great chemistry in feeding off one another and they are a group where we can be brutally honest one another BUT it is always wrapped in lots of love and laughter. They really are like family to me. As I began typing this, I thought....awww man....wish I had taken a picture....but then....guess I'll leave them as a mystery for now but trust me when I say they're amazing!
So today, we put together a great batch of fundraiser events and earmarked some dates too make that happen. First on the list....the YARD SALE! To get that going, I just sent out our first Facebook flyer to request donations....let's see how that goes!
I tell you! The McKinney Family is movin' and shakin'! (smile) As I shared on Monday, I got myself together and we knocked out a substantial amount of items. Yippee!!! Here's what we did:
Applied for passports
Received 2 remaining reference letters
Finished our application letter that goes to Ethiopia introducing our family
Created our family photo pages (total of 8 photos)
Notarized documents
So here's what's left:
Amend our application letter...I made a slight error on it.
Go to biometrics (fingerprinting) appointment this Friday
Wait for our passports to arrive
Once passports arrive, have our power of attorney and dossier cover sheets notarized on the county level and then on the state level
Wait for the I-171H to arrive approving us to bring an orphan to the USA
Fundraisers! Fundraisers! Fundraisers! Raise $7700 to send our dossier to Ethiopia!
Hey, hey baby girl! Mommy and Daddy are getting closer!
Yesterday, I was able to do just a bit of a 'sharing' of my being stuck in the adoption process and feeling overwhelmed! Glory to God that His mercies are new EVERY morning. After re-focusing, your prayers, and some practical guidance from a friend named Pat who is a fellow adopting mom, I was able to get together a list of "Things to Do" and I feel like I'm back on track! Praise God!
Now that I have a plan of action, I can see my way clear and tomorrow will be a full day of checking some things off the list. So excited that the adoption train is leaving the station! Final destination....Ethiopia!!!!
Here's a little victory song for overcoming yesterday's hurdles....
I am a self-proclaimed supermom, superwoman, and perfectionist (well as close to humanly possible as you can get to trying to make something perfect.) I've always been like this....I love it but it can sometimes also be my downfall.
In my latest supermom/superwoman adventures, I find myself in a bit of a pickle with this adoption. So....it's been a week since I blogged....so not cool! I really enjoy writing and it's a great outlet for me. I think lately I've just been simply overwhelmed by all that must be done. There's still paperwork to be notarized and turned in that has me totally confused.....so I ignore it which is not good at all! Then, there's the attention needed to get some major fundraisers done. It's so much that it can really feel like a full-time job. The huge blessing from thisweek is that I met with a group of friends who are helping out with the planning of the fundraisers. This is huge because I'm not one to ask others for help. I never want to be a burden to others so generally, my rule has been that I try to do as much by myself and then I'll ask for help. The least little moment that I feel like I might slightly be a burden, I turn away and take my superwoman cloak back. I know...it's terrible but God is growing me in this area. It's taken some time bu that character flaw runs deep into my childhood after my mom passed away.
My honey is not so much the adopting dad who is right there filling out forms, chatting it up on the adoption yahoo groups, or in the know about adoption lingo like DTE (dossier to Ethiopia). Be sure to not misunderstand this as him not being excited about his daughter coming home. He's thrilled about Selah and can't wait to hold her in his arms. But perhaps your marriage looks something like ours....or maybe not so much. (smile). In our marriage, my husband is more of the 'cheerleader' type...he's not a paperwork guy and for as long as we've been married, he steers clear of forms. When we go to the doctor's office with the kids....yep, I get handed the clipboard. When the kids start school and the mountains of paperwork come home such as contact sheets, classroom policies, and supply list....yep, the kids come straight to mom. They don't go to dad because they know giving it to dad means that he'll say, 'Show it to your mother.' When it was time for us to purchase our first home, I kept the binder with all of the important docs so I'm not totally surprised that adoption paperwork is any different. Me on the other hand, I'm not so innocent. There are certain things that I steer clear of that are totally all his such as all yard work, taking the trash outdoors, bringing the trash cans back in from the curb, dealing with the kid's major boo boos, taking the lead on what sports activities the kids will play each season and getting them to those practices....yep, that's all his to take the lead. I guess we've just created an unwritten 'understanding' in our marriage about certain tasks. But now that this mama is overwhelmed, I really need to ask him for help because I really am stuck to say the least. Yet, I know that asking him to help with it will mean me having to release the time in which it is done and how it is done...remember I said I was a perfectionist about things....forms are no different. Or....maybe I just need to ask one of my girlfriends to walk me through this tough piece....but then I get stuck with who to ask. We are so close to handing our dossier in but feeling also so very far away.
So, right now....there are docs to process. We received a notice in the mail last week that freaked me out. USCIS told us that our home study needed to be amended because a piece of our home study wasn't written as they would have liked. I spoke to our agency's home study coordinator about it and she's trying to work it out with USCIS without having to amend the entire home study. We'll see. I guess to put fire under our feet, the paper informed us that if it were not completed accurately by a certain date in October, our I-600A would not be approved. *sigh* I know it will get done, it's just the frustration of it, that carries a cloud in my head of yet another unfinished task.
Sorry for this mind dump, but I needed it. Sometimes everything isn't peaches and cream in the adoption journey and because I am such a transparent person, I think it's important to document the highs and the lows. As I think about it, I think mommy really just needs a good time out....a day with no one but me, a hotel bed, room service, spa treatment, and no iPhone so that I'm not tempted to plug back into the world as I decompress. A girl can dream, right? (If you made it all the way to the end of this post.....thanks for letting me bend your ear....love ya much!) As Nicole puts it, you're just one of those good girlfriends....thank you!
Today at church, my heart was arrested by a song that concluded our worship experience. It was John Mark McMillian's "Oh How He Loves Us'. I've heard this song several times and each time, I have loved it...but today was a little different. Today, my heart was arrested because as I listened to the passion rendered through the lyrics about God's love for us, I began to think about Selah.
Take a listen to Kim Walker singing this amazing song:
Wow, God! As I thought about my daughter, Selah, I was just blown away to know that You love her so much that You would choose to stir the heart of a woman (me) on the other side of the world to fight relentlessly for her -- a child that I have never seen but the potential of her future grows stronger day by day in my heart. You love Selah so much that You would choose to use a family --one of the most unlikely (us)-- to be a part of something so miraculous. The world says that she is just one in a growing number of millions of orphans who should be left to her 'own people' to take care of and figure it out --in other words whether they know it or not, they are saying let her suffer or even worse, let her die. God loves Selah so much that I can't pretend that I don't feel the call in my heart to pay a 'ransom' for her.....why not? God did it for me and I can never repay Him for that act of grace and unselfishness. So God, if you love Selah that much and she is your child, I'll love her like only a mother can because you have loved me too, like only a Father can. In the words of my pastor, you have been gracious and firm with me. You have been extravagant in your love with me and you have been firm when you are calling me to do something out of the ordinary that is not popular ---like adopting Selah. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be a part of this beautiful story of love and redemption. You have proved your love for me over and over and I can't wait for Selah to learn that you have done the same for her.
I'm pursuing her the same way that You pursue me....unashamed and relentless. I am forever changed by Your love.
This past Tuesday, 5 couples from our adoption agency went to dinner together. Susan, one of the adopting mommies, coordinated everything which was awesome! All we had to do was show up!
The venue was Meskerem, which is right in the heart of Adams Morgan in Washington, DC. Adams Morgan is a very culturally diverse neighborhood that offers lots to do and see. We went during the week but if you pop over to Adams Morgan on the weekend, it's all the way live!
Tony and I were the third couple to arrive so we followed suit of what accidentally happened....girls on the left.....boys on the right...."just like school," one of our dinner companions joked! LOL. From the back to the front, the couples included Susan and Ed, Jennifer and Chris, me and Tony, Stacey and Evan, Monica and Fred. We ate good and laughed hard. We were snug as a bug in our corners but it was FANTASTIC because I felt like I was with old friends. I think one of the greatest things that I appreciated was that it was a night for me and Tony with no kids, adult conversation, and all couples. I don't think we've ever been out to dinner with just couples which was a welcome change for us. Tony and I have a mix of friends who are married and single and I've always wanted to have friends in common who were couples. So this was a huge blessing!
I feasted on Zilzil Tibbs which are strips of lean beef, sauteed in butter, onion and herbs. (My food portion is the first photo above and Tony's shrimp was to the right of my beef.) Of course, I used my injera to sandwich it together since Ethiopian food is eaten with hands only, no utensils! I loved the injera even more this time around compared to the other Ethiopian restaurant Tony and I visited on our anniversary. As Susan pointed out, the batch we had was less fermented. (Either way, Selah, mommy is getting used to it! Yay!) Tony ordered Watt Shrimp which is sauteed in Meskerem's unique, hot and spicy berbere sauce. I don't know what he was thinking about when he ordered it. The poor thing couldn't enjoy it because his stomach was bothering him so the spicy food wasn't a match. Despite his stomach not feeling so well, he hung in there all the way to the end of dinner. Love that man! smile
If you've never eaten at an Ethiopian restaurant, you should know that the food was served on a common platter with injera (spongy bread) underneath the food. Because there were 10 of us, there were two of these platters. The large platters rest on a colorful straw woven table called a mesob.
After about a couple hours together and lots of laughter and shared stories, we said our good-byes and vowed to do this again. Even Tony who who wasn't feeling well that night said that we needed a repeat of the night. We're already scouting out which restaurant is next.
As of Tuesday's dinner, all of us were still in the paperchasing or waiting stage but our friends, Monica and Fred, received their referral on Thursday! Congrats Monica and Fred! Next up for a referral from our dinner group...Susan and Ed!
We're at a place in our adoption where we feel that it is important to name our daughter. This choice is not because we feel that it's just something 'cute' to do or because we're bored.....goodness gracious....we've got LOTS to keep us busy these days! We feel it's important because as we fight, save, and raise funds to bring our daughter into her forever family, we need to remind others and ourselves that she is not just another statistic. She is a child with a heart beat, future, and something amazing to bring to the kingdom of God. Every single child within the 147 million orphans worldwide has a face and potential. I remember at one point back in 1979 when my birth mother died, I became a part of the orphan count but because I had a name and a face, my birth father's family took me into their home and claimed me forever as their own daughter. I need to do the same thing for my daughter.
So without further ado, here's introducing our daughter's name....
How do you pronounce it?
SAY-LAH
I'm continuing to do the research to make sure this is correct in its original translation so if you have any great resources, please point me that way
Why Selah?
Biblically speaking, Selah is often translated to mean in the Psalms as 'to pause'. It's also been considered to indicate an instruction to the reader to stop and consider carefully what has been said. In effect, it's a reinforcer: reflect on the above, because it's important.
This is so important for the way that Selah has come into our lives. As I've shared before, we were living a pretty comfortable life with our 2 boys who are old enough to take care of a lot of their own needs. Besides helping out our friends and family when they were in a pinch, we in many ways lived in our own little middle-class bubble. Don't get me wrong, we loved people but served people in the way that Jesus speaks of......I'm not so sure. Not that helping people locally isn't significant and necessary, but it was almost as if God needed us to pause and reflect on our comfortable life to see that there is a world beyond the one that we knew that is in dire need of hope. It was like a STOP MICHELLE JUST FOR A MINUTE! Come see what I see. See what breaks my heart and let me break yours for what breaks mine.
I look forward to people asking me and Selah how she got her name because it's an invited opportunity to share about God's radical love for each one of us.
So, yep! That's my baby girl. (In case you were wondering, her middle name will more than likely be one of her given names provided by whomever in Ethiopia named her.)
Have you ever been so full and overwhelmed in a good way by so many great things happening in your life? This past week has been one of those WHOA God, hold on let me catch my breath kind of weeks. I'm so full with his blessings that I've had a difficult time blogging because I couldn't figure out where to start. So, I think the best way is for me to just dive in to what's been happening this week:
We were approved by Lifesong for Orphans' Both Hands project!!!! This is HUGE, COLOSSAL because it means that when someone decides to make a donation, they have the option of going through Lifesong for a period of time so that they can receive a tax-deductible donation. Bigger than that though is the fact that we'll be working on/repairing the house of a widow in the months to come. I am super excited about this project. Check out our initial post about our Lifesong Application here: http://lifeabitsweeter.blogspot.com/2010/07/lifesong-for-orphans-helping-widow.html
Received the sampler pack of fair trade coffee we are selling through Just Love Coffee! Oh my goodness! It came in a priority mail envelope and the envelope in the mailbox smelled yummy! I requested ground coffee and they only grind each bag upon each order. I can't wait to brew my first cup but first I need to grab a good friend to drink it up with me! See our fair trade coffee site here: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/lifeabitsweeter
Celebrated with one of my bestie (yes, I said bestie) adoption girlfriends on the announcement of her referral! I adore Melissa and wish we lived closer so that we could share a cup of coffee and cry tears of joy together about the referral of her daughter. Check out my buddy Melissa over here: http://thelemanskis.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-news.html
Started working with a great group of friends who are helping with a fantastic fundraiser! This is monumental for me because I'm not good...okay comfortable, asking people to help me. The problem with this character flaw is that there's no way I can get through this adoption with just me and Tony operating alone. In the words of one of girlfriends....yes, Naneka again....I have to do whatever necessary to fight for my daughter and bring her home. As my pastor reminds me, this adoption journey is so not about me so some things as scary as they are to me, I'm going to have to do them scared!
Received our appointment for our biometrics fingerprinting with the US Government! Woo hoo! This is so huge because this approval would give us the approval of our I171-H form which allows us to move forward with sending our dossier to Ethiopia and ultimately going on the wait list. (Now of course, there's that little matter of the $7700 that needs to accompany the dossier but I'm believing God is going to partner with us or us with Him to do something amazing for us to get closer to the $7700 and bring His daughter home.)
We've selected and agreed upon a name for our daughter! This is fantastic because although we don't know who she is yet, she's had a growing place in our heart. We have been going back and forth about what to name her. We've come to an agreement and I am happy, happy, happy because I'm ready to refer to her by name. So.....you'll have to wait til next week when I'll announce her name. (Those who know Tony....no tricking him into telling you! As older people say....he can't hold ice water!)
Thanks for sharing in our joy this week! Love y'all for caring enough to check in on us via our blog.
(BTW: The cute little "I Am Blessed" necklace above is available at this cute little Etsy shop: click here)
This past Saturday, I made a run to Annapolis to get my first pair of TOMS. If you've never heard of TOMS before, well let me tell you, they are THE MOST comfortable shoes I've ever owned in my life! I decided to give them a run for their money (so to speak) by wearing them to work. If you didn't know, I work at my church, Zion Church, full-time and of course, Sunday is our busiest day. During the week, I am the Pastor's assistant and on Sundays, I'm also responsible for quality control at our 4 services. This basically means making sure everything is running well inside the sanctuary and if not, make sure it gets fixed quickly! I often get pulled from all directions inside the sanctuary, outside the sanctuary, upstairs and downstairs because of my roles. If you could only imagine, I run A LOT! In fact, quite a few people call me a road runner because sometimes my pace is fast and furious to get from one thing to the next. That means for me, stylish shoes and comfort go hand and hand. I need to be discrete so wearing high heels is not the tool of choice BUT I need to be cute too! (smile) So this Sunday, I was totally amped about wearing my TOMS and asked one of my favorite people at Zion, Deacon Bramble, if he'd grab a few staged shots of me to post on the blog BUT because I kept talking about my TOMS all day long (and yes, taking them off so people could actually see and sometimes feel how cool they were), there was no need for staged shots, he just caught me in motion!
I've been wanting to invest in a pair of TOMS for a while now but just didn't get around to it. But this past weekend after attending the Willow Creek Summit and hearing Chief Shoe Giver Blake Mycoskie speak, I knew I had to go snag me a pair immediately! I am now absolutely sold on TOMS and their mission! Basically, they have what's called a One for One business model. That means for every pair of shoes you buy, they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need! Say what...shut your mouth!!! LOL! Yes, it's absolutely true! In fact, this September, TOMS is on schedule to deliver their ONE MILLIONTH pair of donated shoes. That is ONE MILLION CHILDREN in the United States and developing countries who are in need. Now that is corporate responsibility at an entirely different level! There's so much about TOMS that I could share with you because I love what they are doing. In fact, I love what they are doing so much, that I am seriously considering purchasing only TOMS shoes. No other shoe in my closet can do what this shoes does.....offer hope to a child and their family. When you ask founder Blake Mycoskie what's so important about shoes, he'll tell you:
Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:
A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.
Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.
Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.
So, if you believe in great deals and buys, where else can you find a deal like this???
TWO PAIRS OF SHOES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
One pair for you and the other pair for a child in need.
But in the words of my grandmother, "I can show you better than I can tell you!" With that said take a look at the video footage here to see how TOMS is making a difference and why they do what they do:
So in 2011, here's one of my stretch goals.....One Day Without Shoes. I wonder if my church family might participate with me? What do you think? What about you?
Every penny counts and yes, I mean that literally! Do you know those people who walk past pennies on the streets? Oops....sorry...are you one of them? LOL! Well, this mama sure isn't one of them. I'll pick them if they're heads or tails, wet or dry, dirty or sparkly clean? Why? Because every penny counts in bringing my little girl home!
....and if you're asking...yep, I'll take that change in your sofa, under the sofa, in your car seats, under the car seats, in your car beverage holder, on the floor in your room, under your bed, and the one that you use to do the magic trick to pull out of a child's ear! Yep, because SHE'S WORTH EVERY PENNY!
my latest penny find...near a parking meter by my tire....i guess the person before me didn't want to pick them up after looking for their quarters to insert into the meter. I'll simply say......THANK YOU!
Back on July 26th, I published the blog post entitled "I Dare You". Well after posting that a wonderful reader left this amazing comment that I completely understood the place that her heart stands. It just really touched my heart....and I thank her for sharing hers....praying for you guys Sandi.
I'm posting this because my hope is that although I don't know Sandi or how to get in touch with her, that you guys would partner with me in praying for Sandi and her husband. Let's pray together that whatever God has for them, that they would stand peacefully together in God's perfect Will. ("For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." ~Psalm 84:11)
Now here are Sandi's words....
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Below is what I wrote to my husband today. He fears the cost & the fact that he will be 45 by the time an adoption would be finalized. I am so broken over this because he is not ready & I am. So I wait & I pray...
LONGING FOR THE DAUGHTER OF MY HEART
by Sandi "Spark"
I feel as if God is preparing my heart for our daughter.
My heart is filling with love for a child who I have yet to see
in a way that is nearly impossible to explain.
Those around me don’t understand the longing and the ache that is in my heart.
This longing will not go away until I can hold my daughter.
I long for her. I lose sleep thinking about the journey she will face
before God allows me to come for her.
So I wait and I pray for this child of ours,
this child who we will not be able to hold in our arms for years to come.
She has not yet been born but I know that God, in his infinite wisdom,
will bring her into this world at exactly the right moment.
She will be formed in a delicate womb across the seas.
She will have beautiful almond shaped eyes
and a smile that will light from within.
My eyes search crowds and find a moment’s respite when they rest upon a child with my daughter’s eyes.
The tears well up only for a moment
as my heart feels the pain of not having her with me.
For my time has not yet come.
I prayed for the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His.
My heart is broken for the orphans...all of them.
My heart breaks for my daughter.
She will be left in the care of strangers with the mere hope that one day she will have a better life.
She will.
In my heart I see rooms lined with cribs filled with sons and daughters
waiting, waiting...
They have no value in a land of breathtaking beauty.
My daughter will be there in one of those cribs waiting, waiting...
but not for long...
I want to be there for my daughter.
I want her to know that even though her birth mother had to make a heartbreaking choice
that God has formed her to be ours.
I want the arms that hold her until we can meet to hold her with love.
I want those around her to be filled with compassion and caring.
I will pray for them to receive many blessings
in return for loving and caring for her until we meet.
Though we will have different features, in our hearts we are the same.
In my soul I am connected to this little angel
as closely as I am connected to the sons who came from me.
In God’s perfect timing she will be ours. She will be treasured. She will be loved.
Until then I go on longing for the daughter of my heart...
Hey gang! We're shaking up the map! Since last week's update, guess what? My hometown heard the call and responded! Maryland is on the map!!! Yay, Maryland!
That means we moved up to number 191 out of 5000!!!! That is great news. I love seeing that thermometer on the left over there moving up.
But ya know the love doesn't stop there right? Since our last aerial map update, our 5000 for 5 donations have come in from the great adoption loving states of Kansas, and South Dakota! My little girl is going to know that she has friends far and wide!!! I can't wait to show her how much she's loved.
So that got me to thinking....ya know those wonderful ads that ask people 'GOT MILK?' Well, I wanna know if you GOT FRIENDS? Who do you know? We have some states left on our map that really wanna show some love I'm sure but I just need you to tell them about us. So let's do a small roll call to see who we'd love to see represented on the map! Anybody know someone who may want to consider donating from......
Washington, DC....oh wait, let me call up Barak really quick....hold on.....(smile) Arizona Hawaii Georgia Alabama New York Maine
What other states do you have family and friends? See here's the thing I learned this week. You never know what people are willing to do until you ask! People are willing to give in small and large ways to great causes and forgive my bias but I think this is a GREAT cause. So can you do our little girl a favor and just ask your friends to consider donating? Tell them about this sweet family over here (smile) that is getting their home ready to bring in an abandoned child that has the potential of a bright future. Send them on over to our donation website and let's see what happens friends!
Love ya'll and thanks for the support! (...and yes English majors I know that ya'll is not correct but in my own southern way, sometimes I just love it so bear with me...smile)
So there's been some great movement in our adoption process in continuing to save the money for our adoption. Since our last update, we've begun saving towards our passports and dossier! I just love the fact that we can start putting the word dossier in our vocabulary!!!! Makes me wanna say it loud.....D-O-S-S-I-E-R!!! Dossier!
Well in moving towards that goal, I have what my friend Naneka calls a RED HOT TESTIMONY! On October 1 and 2, First Baptist Church of Glenarden (my church home prior to moving to Zion) is hosting their annual women's conference. This conference tends to get quite a bit of foot traffic and offers an opportunity for vendors to display their products and services. Yours truly had a deep desire to sell some of her fundraising goodies to help bring baby girl home....and I mean I want her home soon so I am working overtime to pull out all the stops! Well, the conference vendor space is a bit pricey and out of my reach but I thought I would maybe ask about 10 of my girlfriends to sponsor me. Well, I was on the phone with a relative who has been really supportive throughout this journey. I like to bounce ideas off her to see what she thinks. In that conversation, I shared with her my desire and plan to ask my girlfriends to donate towards the vendor table. She thought it was a great opportunity and told me I should move forward. Well not even 30 minutes later, she sent me a text to call her as soon as possible. Long story short, she and her fabulous husband decided that they would sponsor the table for me to sell our t-shirts, necklaces, and fair trade coffee! WOW GOD! There you go again!!!! So we're all set now, the check has been submitted thanks to my special family members and we'll sell our items at the women's conference and are praying for lots and lots of sales!
Thank you God and thank you to all of your angels here on Earth that are answering the call to partner with us to bring our daughter home. I know that you all can't see her face yet and I have no idea about whether she's even born yet or not.....what I do know is that she is growing stronger in my heart day by day.
By the way, did you catch what I said above about us selling fair trade coffee? Yup, the Life A Bit Sweeter Cafe is now open for business!!! LOL. Through the generosity of the visionaries at Just Love Coffee, we now have a coffee store open that carries fair trade coffee. In the days to come, I'll explain exactly what fair trade coffee is because quite frankly, before this adoption process, I had no clue! Just being honest. Now that I know, I believe there is absolutely no other way to buy coffee and you should consider the same. So hop on over to our coffee store, peek and around and buy some coffee to get your morning started! Our familly earns --can you guess--- yup, FIVE DOLLARS for every bag of coffee you purchase. Come on over and check out the goodness! http://www.justlovecoffee.com/lifeabitsweeter
We thank you for your kindness, prayers, and generosity! Keep it coming because she needs her mommy and daddy!
I absolutely love it when kids 'get it'! What is the "IT" that I'm talking about here? I'm talking about when an 11-year old girl named Sami pushes times into her day to make necklaces so that kids in a far away nation can have a basic need met--shoes! I mean think about it.....She could be making necklaces to save to buy a ticket to the Justin Bieber concert, an iPod, or new clothes but NO, this GIRL GETS IT! She gets that the world's needs are so much greater than her own material desires. She gets the importance of living a life of servanthood. Why does she get IT? I'm convinced that she gets IT because her parents GET IT and they're teaching their children by their example. (See their family's adoption blog by clicking here.)
As soon as her mom announced that her 11-year old would be blogging now and that she would be selling necklaces to benefit the kids of Children's Hope Chest, like many other families, we were celebrating and of course buying. So in my buying, I purchased one necklace with the plan to give it away BUT when I received it, it was soooo cute that now I can't part with it BUT THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!
SO HERE'S THE GIVEAWAY: Today, you have the opportunity to win one of Sami's beautiful bottlecap necklaces. All you have to do is drop by her blog and leave her a comment stating why what she is doing matters or makes a huge difference, especially starting at such a young age. That's it! (Your comment must be dated August 5th and can appear in any of her blog posts.)
Even if you don't want to win the necklace, please go leave her a comment. I want us to send her such an outpouring of love for what she is doing that the enemy doesn't have a chance to make her think that her act of sacrifice and giving doesn't matter. She's starting early so let's encourage her.
Once you leave a message on Sami's blog, just come back here and tell me which blog post heading you left your comment! I'll draw a name late Thursday night and will announce the winner at the end of this blog post. The winner will be able to pick any one necklace of their choice currently on Sami's blog and I'll have Sami ship it to the winner.
I recently asked Sami to answer a few questions for me, take a look at her responses.....
Why do you think it's important for your family to adopt?
I think it is important for my family to adopt because every child deserves a family and we have more love to share.
Why do you think it's important for your family to adopt?
My mom has a blog and I thought it would be a great way to spread the word about my necklaces. I love writing and technology.
What made you decide to give 100% of your proceeds to Children's Hopechest?
I am giving 100% of the proceeds to Hopechest because I don't need things and others do.
Peace, Love, Do Good,
Sami
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Don't you just adore her?
Our Winners!!!
ReSoNate
Meliski
Cateyesmd
I am sooooo proud of the work that Sami is doing with the bottlecap necklaces and it touches my heart to know that the purchase of one necklace will go towards putting shoes on the foot of a child. With that said, I had no choice but to award all 3 of our entrants with the bottlecap necklace. Congratulations! Please be sure to contact me at michelle365@me.com to let me know which necklace design you'd like and where to ship your necklace.
So who's in our household right now...well, there's my husband (Tony), CJ, and MJ...and we can't forget our little bundle in waiting! We are currently pursuing adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. In this blog, we'll chronicle our process and our 'waiting room' experience. So hang out in the waiting room with us. We'd love the company!
