Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Fear

In our Women's Study at church we have been doing a study on Fear. I have heard quoted that the bible speaks on fear over 300 times. I don't know if that is accurate or not since I haven't counted personally but I do know it is a common theme. For me I often mask my fear using other terms to describe how I am feeling.. worried, stressed, concerned, anxious, overwhelmed,... but really it's all the same. I am fearing something or someone. This study is perfect for the season I am in right now because it is VERY easy for me to be feeling fear on a    daily basis. Some of my top fears are in some way revolved around our adoption and plans associated with it. 
I fear leaving my daughters and husband for 6-8 weeks.

I fear being in a foreign country alone without my husband.

I fear not being able to handle all the responsibility of handling money, legal stuff, court stuff, paying our driver, and traveling home on my own. 

I fear something happening out of "my control" and everything falling apart. 

I fear Levi getting sicker or something happening to him before we get him home. 

and then I even fear ridiculous things like packing for Levi and everything I bring being too small or too big or him not liking the formula I bring, or the bottles, or the baby food, or snacks. Or not getting every little thing done around the house I *think* I need to. 


Some of these things are legitimate concerns on some level but lets just get down to it... I can not control any of it and me worrying about it just shows my lack of faith. I know in my head that the Lord already has each step laid before me.  The word is clear I can REST knowing He guides me BUT how often do my actions and motives fail to reflect that?  


Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. Psalm 27:3

Lately I have felt like an Army has been rising against us. So many things feel crazy right now. We have some big trials that have been added to the regular old adoption stuff and it just feels like the "odds" are against us. BUT...


I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

OK so I can't say I am totally there yet (freed from all my fears) but I can rest knowing God is my stronghold, He knows the future and is working in my heart and life to sanctify me and move me closer to that place. 


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Monday, August 13, 2012

Auction Results!

WOW!  What a whirlwind this Online Silent Auction has been! God totally blessed it and made it SO much bigger than I expected. We had over 100 items from donors all over the country. Many items from friends and family but many more from people I don't even know personally.We are so thankful for so many who came along side and helped make this auction successful! We had an AWESOME spread, with so many amazing items. On my end it was fun watching some of the bidding get a little heated and bids go back and forth between people who really wanted something. :)

THANK YOU to all who donated items and even shipped it to the winners! You gave some awesome stuff and if it wasn't my auction I would have bid on it all!  Your generosity made this possible and we are so very thankful. 

THANK YOU to all who bid on items, whether you won or not we wouldn't be anywhere without you. We hope you had fun and we are so thankful for your support. 

THANK YOU to all who shared about the auction through your Facebook Page, Pinterest, Blog, email, or word of mouth! It made a HUGE impact and reached SO many people! 

and a VERY Special THANKS to my amazing friend Taryn! When I asked her if she wanted to help she immediately said YES and totally ran with it. It was because of her we got the majority of our auction donations. I stand in awe of how God has orchestrated this story. I met Taryn when we both went to Uganda last September on a mission trip with SixtyFeet. It was on that trip that Josh and I made some amazing friends that have been huge sources of encouragement and support to us this past year despite being hundreds of miles away. It was through Taryn that God brought us to adopting Levi and she has prayed for and supported us so much. It's crazy we almost let our fear get in the way of us going! God is definitely in the details... I totally see that even more clearly recently. So thankful! 


SO now to the results! The final bids ended with
$1,830.00 
and that total keeps going up as winners have been giving above what their bids were! We are almost there and preparing ourselves to be ready to go when we get that long awaited court date! {Pray for Sept}
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Now a little housekeeping. If you bid on any items in the Auction please check HERE if you won. You *should* have received an email from me but a few have said they haven't so here's what you need to do... 


What we need from you is to send your winning amount thru our Paypal button on the righthand side of the Auction blog as soon as possible. (Would you also consider donating a couple extra dollars to help cover paypal costs?)

After you have made payment please e-mail me at {fortnerfamily03 at gmail.com} with the item(s) you won and a good mailing address. If the item you have won requires that you have contact with the donor for personalization/etc please also send a good e-mail address that we can forward on to the donor.

 After I receive your payment and information I will THEN contact the donor to send your item to your mailing address or contact you via email if your item needed to be customized. 

Thank You for doing this a quickly as possible so I can wrap it up and you can get your items asap. 

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Silent Auction Is Now OPEN!

We have SO many amazing items that you do not want to miss out! There is definitely something for everyone! Shop for yourself or a gift and then PLEASE share with your friends. That seriously makes all the difference! 
If I could go shopping a few of my favorites would be...{click pic}

$25.00 Wild Olive Gift Certificate
 Hand-made Vintage Modern zipper case
Hand-Made Ugandan Bead Hoops
Custom Child's Pillowcase
James 1:27 Cross
Marvelously Made Photography Session 


I could go on and on... so check it out! 






Saturday, August 4, 2012

Silent Auction Sneak Peek!

We have gotten some amazing items and services donated for our Big Silent Auction and I just couldn't wait to share until Wednesday so we are having a sneak peek of the items we have so far. Check them out and get ready to start bidding on Wednesday August 8th at 12:01AM Mountain Time bidding is open until 12:00PM Saturday August 11th


Click on button above to see items