Order T Shirts Now..Closing Orders Soon

We need to sell about 175 more shirts to meet our goal.
Please consider ordering a shirt with your child(ren)'s name(s).  They make awesome Christmas gifts.

This logo pictured will be on the front of the shirt, but we would like to list names of your adopted kiddos on the back as a testimony to the many one mores that are thriving in a loving family.  
(It will look something like this with your children's names listed.)

We featured more than one hundred names on our last t-shirt and it was such a testimony! 

The shirts are ready to preorder in gray, red, royal, or pink right now and make great gifts for Christmas.  We will take orders below for about two more weeks.  It will take two weeks to print and ship them, and they will arrive in time to give for Christmas gifts in the beginning of December.

Order them through Paypal below.
Shirts are $20 shipped.
They are a unisex fit in a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton.  They can be ordered in youth and adult sizes with the drop down menu.  When you push add to cart, you will be directed to paypal to pay through our account.
(You don't need a paypal account to order.) 

 

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!  

We closed our shirt orders.

Today Is Her Birthday

I have written this post four times.  Four times now, my children have turned two without me by their side..in 2011, 2013, 2015, and now in 2016.  While I ache deeply at missing this day with our Ellie Grace, I know that soon she will not remember what it is like to have a birthday apart from a loving momma and daddy.  I hold to that today, and every day while I wait to bring her home.  There will be more tears today than on most as I long for her here, but I trust that God's timing is perfect.  More than that, I know that God has never left my treasure, and that He loves her more than I do.

In other news, our paperwork has moved on, and so have our payments.   We are so very grateful to have had our paperwork accepted at immigration this week as it means we are one piece of paper closer to getting our dossier to China.  It also means that our bank account is at zero, and we have more bills coming due when those papers are issued to us.  I am hoping this will be about 4-6 weeks from now.  Pray that God will provide through our fundraisers or some other means that I just can't see from this perspective.  It seems each time I organize a fundraiser, I am sure God will use it.  He certainly has always provided, but generally it is not at all the way I had planned.  I love that about this adventure as relying on God is our only choice.

Writing as one who is missing my baby girl today, and longing to hold her even more than most days.  Happy 2nd birthday my treasure.   This is the last birthday you will ever have without a momma!

Calling All Adoptive Families..Add Names..Order Shirts

ADOPTIVE FAMILIES .. 

As with our past adoptions, we are in need of names of adopted children that can be listed on the back of our current fundraising shirt.  We have designed a front logo that says adopt one more loved with 1 john 4:19 referenced on the back.  

This logo pictured will be on the front of the shirt, but we would like to list names of your adopted kiddos on the back as a testimony to the many one mores that are thriving in a loving family.  
(It will look something like this with your children's names listed.)

We featured more than one hundred names on our last t-shirt and it was such a testimony!  PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT,slmaster16@gmail.com, WITH YOUR CHILD(REN)'S FIRST AND MIDDLE NAME so that it can be included on our t-shirt list!  

The shirts are ready to preorder in gray, red, royal, or pink right now and make great gifts for Christmas.  We will take orders below for about three weeks.  It will take two weeks to print and ship them, and they will arrive in time to give for Christmas gifts in the beginning of December.

Order them through Paypal below.
Shirts are $20 shipped.
They are a unisex fit in a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton.  They can be ordered in youth and adult sizes with the drop down menu.  When you push add to cart, you will be directed to paypal to pay through our account.
(You don't need a paypal account to order.) 

 

 

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!  

Orders are closed.

OUR HOME STUDY IS IN MY HANDS

I was just handed a completed copy of our home study!  Now we can move on to the immigration step.  I am thrilled to be moving on!  I can't wait to get to our baby girl!

Precious, Precious

Pulling into the driveway just now, my precious Anna Mei says, "Momma, I just want Ellie Grace to be home right now.  Momma I will give you all the money I have to get her home."  To which I say, "I know baby having her in China so far away is so hard.  You are such a precious, precious hearted girl.  Momma loves that you love your baby sister so much already."  I may have shed a tear or two as well. Waiting is hard, but I got an email today that our homestudy might be done next week!  If it is done, we can start the immigration process which just means we can file a few more papers and wait for them to process.  Only about one million more papers to go until we hold her...Counting the days until then!

Ellie Grace Update Video

Our paperwork is at a stand still.   It isn't even crawling, and, while I know this place well, it never gets any easier waiting while a piece of your heart is a half a world away.  

We did receive an update about our girl this week though. 

Our girl is dangerously small for a two year old.

 

 She isn't sitting up, crawling, talking, or eating much.  She desperately needs a family, possibly amplification to gain access to sound, and a slew of therapies.  I know that there is much that the Lord desires to teach me during this time as I wait to hold this sweet babe, but it doesn't make it any easier to be without her.

Just look at this sweet smile.

I sat here at my computer last night, long after bedtime, staring into her eyes.  I imagined having her here with us, and while her special needs are so unknown, I have such immense JOY and peace when I think about adding her to our family.  I know the tremendous blessings that mothering an exceptional child brings, and that God would allow me one more precious girl in my quiver makes my heart fill with gratitude to Him for bestowing such a blessing again.

If you feel so lead, please pray for our Ellie.  

Pray that she would be stimulated, held, loved, and fed until we can get to her.  

Pray that our paperwork would move.

Pray that we would have the $7,000 we need to move on to the next step when our paperwork is completed.

Pray for patience while we await God's perfect timing to bring this precious treasure into our family.

He Just Wants Our Yes For Today

Recently, I had the privilege of walking alongside a very good friend as she left this Earth and went to be with Jesus.  It was extremely unexpected.  I never dreamed that the turkey and mayonnaise sandwich that I brought her on that Monday afternoon would be the last meal we conversed over on this Earth.  She was a friend of the best kind.  She loved deeply, gave unselfishly, and was present whenever I needed her.  When Sean had his accident last winter, she stayed at the hospital all night with me while he had his surgery.  She loved my babies as she was an avid Steven Curtis Chapman fan, and a special education teacher.  It was a match made by heaven our friendship.  God brought her into my life when I so desperately needed her, and He took her home way too soon.  She was 44 years old, and the first close friend I have ever stood beside as they left this world.

 Death does something to your heart.  It reminds you of how temporal all of this is that surrounds you everyday, and causes you to long to use these short breaths for eternity even more.  I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of young moms last week about what God is doing in my heart over the last month because of my dear friends passing.  While this last month has carried some hard, hard places, and deep aching at loosing such a dear one, it has been filled with many, many lessons that I can already see God is using for good.

After the funeral, I was battling some serious fear about bringing home another baby.  I am 40 myself, and it is crazy to be saying yes to being a momma of a two year old.  Let alone a two year old whose special needs are so incredibly great.  My mind was spiraling.  What if I died myself at 44 leaving this baby behind?  The attack in my thoughts went on and on and on.  Questions, doubt, and grief overcame my morning that day.  Y'all none of this comes from the Lord.  As I was folding laundry that morning, the Lord reminded my heart that He merely wants my yes for today.  I might not make it to tomorrow, but I can trust that God knows each and every day that He has laid out for my life.  He has a plan, which may or may not include my seeing this new babe grow up, and if He takes me home..He can handle her future.  He has her days laid out too.  He is calling us to this babe.  He just wants our yes for today, and each day that He gives us on this Earth.  We don't have to have everything figured out.  He is already there.

I will not let fear of the future paralyze me.  I will boldly follow the Lord into each new day trusting that He has a plan to use it!  

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Even in her death, my dear Janele has lovingly ministered to me.