Baby Bottle Tally

OUR POT OF GOLD!!!

OK guys-we have counted up (OK actually the bank did) and totaled the coins from our Baby Bottle Coin Drive and the grand total is: $530. We were completely blown away! Our great friend, Steffanie at MAPS who has done so much for us with all of our notarizing and paperwork that we needed when we started this adoption did it for us. They know us so well down there that most of the gals that work there have our account number memorized-now that's scary! :) Here are some pictures of the fun. This just goes to show that when each person gives a little,
a lot can be accomplished!

THE VERSE WE ARE LIVING BY LATELY!

Look at all these packages we have gotten full of auction donations!!!!! We are not even done yet!!

IT IS HARD TO WAIT!!!! Can I say that with anymore loudness?? 100 times over-waiting stinks! We waited to get pregnant forever it seemed 4 out of 5 of the kids-so you would think we have this waiting down pat (for those of you that don't know 4 out of 5 of our kidos were fertility meds and lots of struggling, heartach and growth to get to the end result of our children) and this too feels like that waiting back then did-in some ways, but this time, we are almost guarenteed that we will have a result-that is the difference this time. (you can all laugh at my bolded and capitalized words below-but to get a feel for how I would say it, I exagerated the words!) :)

The waitlist at All God's Children is just moving slower than molasses, but it IS moving. It is so easy to get caught up in the "WHEN will we get our referral-to know who our baby is, what she looks like, her age and everything!

We know that God's timing is PERFECT and that HE has ordained each small detail to fall into place and each person to be at the right time and place, each piece of paper we filled out that are now in Ethiopia-at the hands of their government-(who by the way are on a very much slower pace than us Americans move at-they don't rush through life, they have a different thought of what time means, from what I have heard and embrace life, instead of us who rush most of the time), each delay we have had, each distraction, process, the conception of our daughter and even each thing that has sped up the process-ALL things that have happened, have been to get us to OUR daughter on the other side of the world, and EACH has happened at the hand of God Himself so that we can have the girl that was SOLEY meant for OUR family.

WOW that thought alone is bringing tears to my eyes as I contimplate just what that means. We are not just getting ANY baby, but one soley picked for OUR family by the Lord Himself-that is what a true miracle is about!

So yes, the waiting is hard and yes we don't want to go through this -we want the answer now-we want to see her now, but we can't and we know that we can't because if we got our way, we wouldn't get that little girl that will be our gift from Him above-the one that will be perfect for our family.....wo, we WAIT and trust in the ONE that does know-that sees the big picture and is ordaining it all to fall perfectly into place!

OK-enough said-but I had to say something about this wait! :) SO, without further todo, here is the verse that we are focusing on-given to us by another waiting mom on our listserve-who so greatly reminded us that this waiting is how it has to be to get to our goal-thank you Michelle! :)

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

PS-on another note-we are being completely blown away by the generosity of people and the auction items we are bringing it-God is Good!!!! Thank you! We are gonna have a great auction!

WE ARE IN OUR TEENS!!!!

Ok folks-we have made it to the teens! We got our February number today and yes, we are #18. We thought the list would move faster in Jan., but maybe this month it will pick up! We know that about 50 kids have been picked up in the last couple months from Hannah's Hope, the orphanage-and that the orphaage has tons of babies according to the last travel group that just got home, so we hopefully will see movement soon.

A couple reminders....we are starting to collect and organize things for our Silent Auction-we are really trying to get serisouly anything you can think of-we have gotten many things already and we feel so blessed by this! People have been very generous. PLEASE CONTACT US IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DONATE FOR OUR AUCTION! :) We are looking for anything from gift certificates for a service, dining, etc...something that someone made, a business that might want to donate their services, tickets to something, a product, a themed basket, or really anything at all. We haven't been able to find anyone with 2 tickets to a sporting event-Blazers, Ducks or Beavers-so if you know of anyone that would want to donate a game that they are not going to go to, please let us know. We are also looking for someone that might own a beach house, cabin, etc. anywhere that would donate a night, weekend or even week would be awesome. These are some ideas that we have for "big ticket items" please let us know if you have anymore! awitha@veriozn.net

So, SAVE THIS DATE FOR OUR AUTION: THURSDAY-APRIL 22ND

FROM 6-8 PM AT EMMANUEL BIBLE CHURCH IN PRATUM OREGON!!