Giving this Christmastime

OK So blogging has not been my strong suit the past few weeks...Okay, months... Things have been pretty quiet on here because my life right now is completely opposite....CRAAZAY..... I wish I could tell ya all exactly all the craziness right now but let's just say we can't complain about things being slow or boring..... Levi is doing amazing. He is growing like a weed, learning to communicate
and even how to fight like the rest of the kids lol.... I will update and back date post soon... I hope....

SO ANYWAYS.... I had to take a moment before Christmas and blog about something important to me.... The past few years we have been really trying to refocus and turn upward in our Christmas season as a family. We so want to focus on  Christ and the true meaning of Christmas and how we want our kids to experience it. When we first got married Christmas was all about presents and buying lots of them for each other as well as family and friends. We knew it was about Jesus but other than going to Christmas service we didn't really reflect that in our time or giving.... then little Evelyn came along and it made us start to think...we talked about what we wanted to teach her and how we could make it not about presents and Santa..... well I can just say 4 years later we are still a work in progress... we have tried different things and I am sure will continue to talk about and find new ways to focus our families attention towards Christ during this season.... the one thing I wanted to share about is that we are trying to focus on GIVING.... well that seems pretty easy since that's what so many do focus on... giving
gifts to each other, making Want lists, etc... but I am talking about giving to Christ... it is HIS birthday now isn't it? But how can we give to Christ?
Well when we look at His word He talks about giving to the least of these... to those who are poor, outcast and truly needy... SO at Chrsitmas time we look for ways that we can specifically do that... we try to give and give more in those ways than giving fun and
extravagant gifts to each other.... we have birthdays and other special times we can spoil our kids or each other and we don't want Christmas to be that time...

SO I wanted to share about 3 Ministries that are dear to our hearts. These are ministries in Uganda that we have visited while we were there,  shared meals with the board members/staff,and believe are most definitely doing the Lords work to minister to the least of these.

#1 Sixty Feet- God put sixty feet in our path about 2 years ago. He honestly shook our little world upside down when He opened our eyes and hearts to the Children that this
ministry is working with. They have been and are doing AMAZING things in Uganda and we were blessed to go and serve in 2011 with their fist missions team. We now call the board members
good friends and continue to see God moving mountains for these children through this ministry. Children and prisons should not be used in the same sentence... read about this kids HERE.

#2 Ekubo Ministries- I somehow met Christie online and we chatted back and forth for a few months. When I was in Uganda this past Oct for our adoption I knew I wanted to go out and see the work Christie and her husband George were involved with in their village. This was one of the best days I had in Uganda. It was wonderful spending  time out in the village and getting to talk with Christie. She is very real and straightforward and we got along very easily ;) She invited me into their home and also gave me a tour of their land where they have a couple small classrooms, a small church, and an unfinished clinic and babies home. They have opened their home to more than a dozen children at a time and many call them mom and dad now as they raise funds to legally adopt them. They always have open doors even when their 2 bedroom house is full beyond full. They are the real deal and Gods doing awesome work through their family. Right now through Christmas they have a matching grant up to 10k to help so they can finish their babies home where they will be able to take in more children while they seek to reunite them with family. Read about Ekubo HERE.

#3 Ekisa is amazing.... this was definitely the one of the highlights of our time in Uganda this past Sept. These girls and their staff are the straight up the hands and feet of Jesus. Started by Emily and Emily :) Ekisa is a ministry in Uganda whose main purpose is providing a home to children with various special needs. These children are amazing and truly are living a full life at Ekisa. They are happy and full of joy and SO well loved. On top of this Ekisa also puts efforts towards educating families and the community about special needs and on top of that their entire staff are Ugandans who either have some kind of special need or their child has a special need. They are doing some amazing things and God is doing some awesome work through this ministry. Go HERE and read about Ekisa and how you can help with their 25k in 25 days fundraiser!

I encourage you to pray and consider how you can give a gift this Christmas that can make a difference in the lives of others whom Jesus called us to love and care for, a gift worthy to be given to the King of Kings.

Cupcake Kids

{This is from a guest post I wrote HERE on the CK Kids blog}

Just over a year ago God used one seemingly random mouse click to completely turn our family’s world upside down (or maybe right side up!).

Shortly before stumbling upon the Sixty Feet website I had been praying that God would break my heart for what breaks His and He didn’t pull any punches. The words imprisoned and children do not belong in the same sentence and after reading The Story I was immediately broken. We no longer could say we didn’t know, close our eyes and pretend these kinds of things weren’t happening.

This past September my husband and I were blessed with the opportunity to travel to Uganda to serve along side Sixty Feet. We visited these prisons and we saw that the pain, suffering, and difficulties these children face are real but more than that we saw hope. God is there in these prisons and these beautiful children are not forgotten. The gospel is being preached, He is changing hearts, and redeeming lives. Many of these young men and women have such a strong faith and vibrant love for Jesus that it was amazing to see. With what appeared as having all the odds against them and facing unimaginable hardships everyday they had an incomprehensible joy that you could see spread across their face. Worshiping with these brothers and sisters inside a hot and dirty prison was truly one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had.

We are now blessed to call the Sixty Feet board and team on the ground friends. The love, transparency, and sacrifice we have seen displayed is incredibly encouraging. God is using this ministry and He is doing amazing work and one beautiful way is through the simplicity of cupcakes.

Last year, we had the opportunity to hold our own Cupcake Kids Sale in our area and get our friends, family, and even complete strangers involved. We were already holding a big garage sale to raise funds to start our families personal adoption from Uganda and thought this was a great opportunity for the kids set up a tent and tables in the grass. We spread the word ahead of time and many friends baked us cupcakes to sell. We had friends and family come and buy cupcakes but also were able to share with many strangers who stopped by to see what was going on. God blessed our efforts and our little sale raised almost $600.00!

What I love about this idea is that it’s such a tangible way to get our children serving. My daughter knows about Uganda, loves to look at pictures and we pray for the children half a world away but to have something she can help with makes it very real for her. We are planning and looking forward to our big sale this year, and what is so exciting is to know that kids across the country and even across the world, will be doing the same thing. Will you join us?

Christmas With A Purpose

There are 25 days until Christmas.

How does that make you feel?
 Rushed? Excited? Overwhelmed? Busy?

 I get such a range of emotions when I think about this special holiday. I love Christmas and look forward to it every year. I love the cold weather, twinkling lights, nativity scenes, hot cocoa, and carols. I love baking gifts in the kitchen, making homemade ornaments with my girls, and reading the Christmas story as a family.

 BUT at the same time I get a knot in my stomach when I think about the American version of  Christmas.  A time of materialism, overspending, busyness, traffic jams, to do lists, expectations, selfishness and  stress. The statistics themselves are mind boggling.

Every year Americans spend atleast $450 billion dollars on Christmas.

Let that just sink in for a minute...

$450,000,000,000.00

WOW that is a lot of zeros spent on a day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

If that doesn't register how about the fact that to provide clean, available drinking water to every person on the planet it would only cost about $10 billion. 
The first time I read that it really put into perspective how crazy ridiculous our culture is about ourselves and STUFF.

2 Years ago I first saw this video and it has totally changed my outlook on Christmas, not at all saying I am perfect or don't get distracted so easily to the twinkling allure of stuff... thinking presents and activities will make me and my kids happy. That if I am generous to just give stuff to my family and friends then thats the meaning of Christmas, right?


Join with me in having purpose in your gift giving this year. Take some (or even most) of your holiday funds and GIVE. Instead of buying more gifts and things we really don't need, give something to someone that will change their life forever. Then take all that free time you have not rushing around shopping and spend it together as a family. For us SixtyFeet is what God has put on our hearts and we are partnering with them on something awesome so read below and see what God's doing.
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Dare to Dream

What if the youngest, most vulnerable, most desperate children at M1 and the other facilities didn’t have to be there? What if they could live in a place filled with hope, where they could grow to know and love God, where they would be deeply cared for, where they could receive an education and have a future? What if…

Since SixtyFeet first began, we’ve dreamed of purchasing land and building a home so we can remove the most vulnerable children who live in the M facilities. We can all agree, these children shouldn’t be in these conditions.

Late last year, we had a matching donation to raise funds so we could acquire land. The land was to be used as the site for a home where the youngest and most vulnerable children at M1 could live in a loving, nurturing family-like environment. Some of you may be wondering what happened to that.

Well, we were blown away by your generosity, as usual, and you sailed past the $10,000 match raising a total of $30,000. That money, unfortunately is still sitting in the bank – set aside and earmarked for the home we so very much want to build.

Various obstacles prevented us from moving forward with our original plans (we’re learning that sometimes we just need to be still and wait on the Lord). So that’s what we’ve been doing. But we never gave up hope. Ever since then, we have been praying that we would be able to raise the remaining funds to start this home.

Recently, several incredible donors have stepped forward to offer a whopping $60,000 as a matching gift in order to make this dream a reality. Yes, that was not a typo and you read it correctly. Every dollar we are able to raise between today and December 31, 2011 – up to $60,000 – will be matched, dollar for dollar. 

So what does this mean for SixtyFeet and the children? With the $30,000 that was raised last year, we are hoping and praying that by January we will have $150,000 in order to purchase land, build a home and have a place where we can nurture these precious children. But we’re not just thinking land and a home. We’re thinking bigger… way bigger – as in community. We want to build something sustainable.

Given the size of this gift, we also pray we can use a portion of the funds to expedite our plans to remove and house many of the older children at the M facilities. We hope to establish multiple homes for boys and girls 10 and older where they can live with up to 20 other children and be mentored by young adults, who themselves have been in similar situations but who now have a heart to give back and serve.

So as we enter this holiday season, please dare to dream with us. Dare to dream of the eternal impact this will have in the Kingdom and in the lives of the children of M. Dream of the children who may arise from these homes. The leaders, the doctors, the pastors, the educators. All of whom may ultimately come from M and go on to serve and do amazing things in the name of Christ. Just imagine it.

To donate to this amazing cause, to have your donation matched dollar for dollar, and to make a big difference this Christmas, click HERE. 

Day 1 Part 2 (Written By Josh)

This post is a mess, I know. I gotta get it out somehow... 

The bus pulled up to M1. There weren't many children around. Most of them were lining up for breakfast. A nice mixture of corn meal and excessive water. It was a late breakfast, but that's because a couple of the children have to cook it themselves for the rest. I'd have to guess that there were 200 kids there, anywhere between the ages of 5 and 18. Most were probably about 11 or so. We all kind of meandered off the bus looking around, not sure what to do or where to start. Some of the children who happened to be near the front building saw that we were there and slowly came around. We met some of the social workers and the gentleman who runs M1 and everyone was kind and cordial. After our greetings we ventured further out to meet the children. 

[It's amazing how I could be walking around in a place, compared to American standards, that's filthy, with children who haven't bathed in who knows how long and I can feel like I'm the dirty one. It was so apparent that I came from a life where I had plenty to eat. But that's not the problem. The problem is that I have so many options that I "struggle" with frustration because I can't decide what to eat. It was also apparent that I had plenty to wear; the four outfits I brought on the trip were more than any of the kids had, yet I continue to "struggle" with buying more and overspending if they fade or I just get tired of them. Like how I look is somehow a part of my identity and I'm newer when my clothes are newer, forgetting that I have been made a new creation in Christ, clothed in His righteousness. My affluence was apparent and I felt like the kids were staring at it, disgusted by it, or maybe just I was. Now, I understand how when you come across this way of thinking it is where a lot of people start to make excuses and even pawn off their overindulgence on being "thankful" for God's blessings. We easily forget who our model is. Who our Lord is. Jesus never lived in luxury. He even challenged those who would follow Him to consider the cost before doing so(Luke 14) because it is so great. He reminded His disciples that He had no place to rest His head, informing them that as a servant is no better than his master, so we are no better than Him. If it happened to Him, it will happen to us. Paul recounts in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 the generosity of the Corinthian church.  He reminds them that it is written in Psalm 112:9, "They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever." This is what we are called to and I was feeling God's discipline in me for my years of disobedience. I am so thankful that I have a Father who loves me enough to discipline me back into His righteous ways (Hebrews 12).] 


Once the children were done eating, we all squeezed into their worship room and began worshiping God in song. This was one of the most fun and most thrilling experiences of my life. The children were loud and enthusiastic. Most of the songs were in Lugandan, but some were in English. Thanks to God's convicting, I moved in amongst the crowd of kids and began worshiping with them. I don't want to give the impression that all of the children were born again believers in Jesus. Just like anywhere, there was a mix of both believers and non-believers, yet the majority of the children were joyfully engaging in this spectacular, worshipful interlude, where hope overcame all of the world's oppression, sickness and faithlessness, and we were communing together with our loving, reliable, freedom giving Father in Heaven. We weren't standing with our hands in our pockets, looking at our watches and trying to sing as quietly as we could so no one else might hear. Even if we didn't know all of the words, for the sake of joy, encouragement and praising Jesus, we were singing loudly, yelling even, making joyful, victorious shots to the Lord, dancing, hugging, bowing our heads and lifting up our prayers in a swarm of supernaturally unified voices that transcended race, age, and class! It is truly an experience that I will never forget and that I yearn to experience again. Not just there, but here in America as well. Oh how I wish the people of God would be freed from the bondage of debt, materialism, consumerism and concern for our image and worship in an undignified way! And not just in song! I pray we will be freed to: love even if we are trampled on, strive for the justification of others and not ourselves even if that leads to imprisonment and give our material blessing to others in need until God is all we rely on and rejoice in! Oh how I wish we would love like Jesus did and be obedient to the Father even unto death on a cross! He was accursed, made into sin though He knew no sin so that we could be redeemed, restored, renewed, remade, vibrant, victorious, joyful, jubilant, Jesus-like, healed, healing, helpful, hopeful, holy, saved!
-Josh

and if you didn't see this video in the previous post. 

Day 1 - Part 1 (Written By Josh)

After approximately 22 hours of travel, we finally landed in Entebbe, Uganda at 12:30pm local time. We were joyfully greeted by the Uganda ground team and Earnest & Catherine. It was very kind of them to wait up so late to greet us. We also got to meet our bus driver Abus. Yes, Abus drove a bus. We learned that he is a Muslim, and an awesome bus driver, so please keep him in your prayers. We spent a lot of time with him and are praying that God will use that time and future opportunities to reveal himself to Abus. 

LOVE Pastor Ernest and Mama Catherine, here with Joy

About an hour on the road and we had reached our living quarters. It was an 8 bedroom house and we all paired up for rooms. After getting settled it was about 3am before Christen and I finally got to bed. I think it may have been a combination of the jet lag and excitement, but 6:30am rolled around and I was up taking photos of the sunrise! I knew that running on 3 hours of sleep for what was coming next would be rough. We had breakfast, a morning

devotional, piled in the bus and we were off.   

Views from the porch

Pretty intense gate! 

What I first saw on the streets was on of the greatest cultural shocks of the trip. Traffic was mad. People were driving and walking all over the road. There were multiple times where I flinched because I was sure a passing car was going to fillet us. A lot of the roads had no lines and industrial sized pot holes. Thankfully though, Christen, who gets super car sick, was fine the entire time. 

As we drove to M1, there was a lot to look at. Many of the streets were lined with tin and wood shacks or run down concrete shops. Almost all of them were selling anything from mobile phone service to meat on a stick. We even saw a fish market and several meat markets. None if it was on ice, and none of it was stamped with expirations dates. You had no clue how long anything had been there or where it came from. I guess the locals are just experts at eyeing bad food, which would be a useful skill to have. 

We finally made it out of the city and into the beautiful green, rolling countryside. The smell went from a thick diesel exhaust to the smell of an overgrown marsh (there was a lot of swamp land). We drove and drove in anticipation of seeing the place and the children that we had long been praying for. We passed through one more row of shacks selling bongos and then we saw the infamous sign......

Normally I would leave you hanging there, and it makes a lot of sense to do so because it is very suspenseful, but we had a group of very unique men who were well balanced in serious work and...goofiness. 

We had to stop the bus to wait for the rest of the ground team and we happened to stop right next to a group of young men who were boda boda drivers. Now if you don't know what a boda boda is, you should look it up in the dictionary...although I'm sure that wouldn't help you either. It's a flimsy motorcycle taxi. We're not talking about a Harley Davidson here; more like a moped (mo-ped). The drivers were entertaining (and I think they were pretty entertained by us as well). They even let Judd drive a boda boda! He did pretty well and apparently had practice from back home. Then came Jonathan. Jonathan's turn went something like this: [Excitedly jump on the bike!!!] [Kick start!!!]...FAIL. [Kick start again!!]...FAIL. [Kick start again.]...FAIL. [The driver kick started it for me!!!] [Off I go!!!]...[bike dies]...FAIL. [The driver started it for me again.] [Off I go.]...bike dies...FAIL. [Driver jumps on the back of the bike and tries to drive it for him..]...[ok, I guess]...eventually he realized that he was popping the clutch and then he got the hang of it, but to watch him enthusiastically try over and over again was hilarious! He is such a good sport and his church is very blessed to have him. 

Strike a pose

 

There he goes!

This was even funnier in person

We had a fun time waiting and took some pictures. The girls even took a potty break in the bush with the cobras (well, they didn't see one but Abus said they could be out there). As soon as the Uganda team arrived, we were off; being led by the Holy Spirit down a dirt road to a destitute place that would serve as the setting for some of the most memorable and spiritually impactful times of my life. 

Brave Girls

A Beautiful Mess {guest blog post}

I had the priveledge of guest posting over at Good To Be Crazy while here in Uganda, here's what I wrote from my experience visiting M4 for the first time.

"As I sit listening to the rain pounding on the metal roof, she lays against my chest, sound asleep. It took a few minutes for her to warm up to me enough to let me hold her. My eyes burn with tears and my heart breaks for this beautiful little girl. She's naked and I hold her close to myself, afraid of her becoming too cold. The temperature quickly dropped as the rain came down and I wish I just had a blanket to help shield her.

I pray over her, hoping the spirit will speak through me because my words fail. If I was to guess, this little girl is about two but I am starting to realize that the effects of malnutrition make it very hard to tell. I gaze into her sad eyes and wonder how long she has been here, how she was brought here, and where her mommy and daddy are.

It's clear that the caregivers in this facility love the children dearly and are very protective of them. They care for them the best that they can with the limited resources they have available. But it's not a substitute for a loving family with a Mommy and a Daddy.

It was beautiful and yet heart wrenching to watch the older children step up and care tenderly for the younger ones. When it was time to leave it was painful to hand that little girl back into the arms of a young girl who is still just a child herself.

　

The pain I have seen here in the last couple days has felt like more than I can bear at times. But I have also seen such genuine joy and love for Jesus that it is almost just as overwhelming. I have seen things that I pray I will never forget. I plead with my Jesus to change my heart forever."

We Are Finally Here!

After 26 hours of travel we have arrived! It's hard to believe we are actually here and laying in a bed covered with a mosquito net and listening to the sounds of a generator hum.

Let's just be honest, it was a long couple of days! Flying this long and the 10 hour time difference from Phoenix is crazy! The flights went great and there was pretty good food on the planes. We are thankul to have not had any baggage lost and everything went smoothly.

It's kind of unreal to be here with people I have never met in real life but through the world of blogs ad Facebook I feel like I already know. The teams really meshing well together and I cant wait to serve this week with them.

We landed here and had a wonderful welcome party, including the famous Ernest and Catherine and Boaz, the SixtyFeet new interns Kelsey and Kirby, and wonderful Moses. Tomorrow we visit "M 1" the biggest of the remand centers SixtyFeet works with.

Having a hard time load pictures on blogger but you can view my Facebook album here.

Leaving On A Jet Plane .... or 4

Technically, we have already left Phoenix on one jet plane and three more await us tomorrow. The first leg of our trip we have traveled from Phoenix, AZ to Atlanta, GA. A three hour plane ride where we gained three hours, so needless to say that even thought it's technically 11:30 pm as I type here in Georgia, it just feels weird to go to bed when it's only 8:30pm at home.  So I write...

We have been blessed to stay with sweet friends whom we met back in April when they traveled to Phoenix and hosted a Sixty Feet "Bereaved" video night. That's when we first felt God leading us towards this trip. We sat at the famous Joe's Farm Grill eating BBQ chicken pizza and beet salad (ha ha Laura) while Gary told us about his first trip to Uganda that he had just arrived home from.  I was already so excited about the work God was doing though SixtyFeet and hearing it from his point a view, I just knew I wanted to be a part of it first hand.

The Hill's 

So here we are, our first time leaving the country, and we are traveling all the way accross the world to Uganda. We leave tomorrow with a group of people that other than Laura, I have never met in person. I am excited and nervous. It's hard to believe this day is actually here. I miss my girls, saying bye to them this morning was hard but, I know God is blessing this trip and this is where He wants me.

So, first we fly to Chicago, have a 2 hour layover and then off to Amsterdam with another 2 hour layover, then to Rwanda and finally landing in Uganda at around 11:00pm Sunday night (UG time). I still don't even know how to wrap my mind around being in an airplane that long!


In the airport, waiting to board.


So now to bed. Loving Atlanta, wish we had more time to see it all! It's so green and love laying in the quiet listening to the crickets chirp. (I think the scorpions at our house ate all ours)

1 Week

Did I really just type that! 1 week before we leave.

My life right now includes...sorting donations, attempting to fit all my stuff in 1 carry on suitcase, and making lists upon lists for our family taking care of our girls while we are gone

{which include the names and detailed descriptions of all my eldest daughters favorite stuffed animals that MUST be in her bed at night.}

Think I need to get some space bags.

The 4 big ones are donations & then we each have a backpack & a small suitcase for our stuff. 

Starting to get everything done on my list but next week will be a little nuts busy. My goal is to try and get everything I can done before Thursday so we can have a fun family day before we leave Friday morning. I really want to enjoy time with the girls before we leave and not just feel rushed. 10 days is 9 days longer than I have ever been away from them and I am starting to feel the weight of that. I know we are doing what God has called us to do and I know that He will care for them while we are gone but right now I am trying to truly believe it and live it. I don't want to waste any time we are gone fearing or worrying. I want to give it all to Him who knows all and trust that fully. 

Today I was looking at pictures with Evelyn that another group visiting "M" took and she asked if she could go too. She was specifically interested in pictures of one little girl and little boy. She picked out toys from the donation bag and said she wanted to go and take these to them. Her heart right then was so sweet and we stopped and prayed for them and the other children throughout Uganda who were in need. I also prayed that God would nurture that heart in her and that He would do mighty things through her someday for His kingdom. 

I know it will be hard on my girls and I know it will be hard on us to fly halfway across the world and be away from them for 10 days but we are called to GO. We are called to care for the orphaned and to visit them in their distress and I will not use the children God has entrusted to me here to be an excuse to why I can not go and love His children a world away. My girls will be cared for, they will have clean water and good food, they will sleep in comfortable beds and they will be loved while we are gone. The children we are visiting have none of these things, many of them have been abandoned or orphaned and the home that is their reality is a prison that honestly is in worse condition than where we send true criminals in our country. I want to be ready, I want to go and I will not let any lie this world throws at me to discourage me otherwise. 

How will you respond?

A Month

A month from today we will be boarding a plane in Atlanta, GA and flying halfway across the world. To a place that I have grown to love already, though I have never even stepped  foot on that infamous red dirt I hear so much about. I have wept in response to the endless stories of pain and loss and at the same time I have praised God for the work that is being done in places most will never know about. My heart longs to experience first hand the genuine joy that I have heard about that is so foreign in this culture I have always known. I desire to be Jesus' hands and feet while I am there, pouring myself out in the name of the gospel but I am most ready to be poured into by the very ones I long to serve. 



Prayer requests right now: 
-Our hearts will be soft and ready to serve
-The details of family caring for our girls while we are away
-Our hearts as we leave our girls for the first time and that we trust in the Lord to take care of them 
-All the "stuff" I need to get ready 


Beyond excited... doesn't seem real... 

Adoption Update

I haven't posted about our adoption in a while....

Here's an update of what we have done so far...

1. We sent in our fingerprint cards and CPS Clearance form to the state at the end of April. 
2. We completed our home study meetings at the end of April.
3. We applied for our passports in the beginning of May. 

Here's where we are at as of today....

1. We are still waiting on our clearances from the state, apparently, the court sends them in batches and ours was part of a large batch, sent out on May 6, so it’s taking longer to come in. 
2. Our social worker is almost finished writing our Home Study and will be ready to send in when the above clearances comes through.
3. We got our passports!!!

We are waiting and it feels like things are going S L O W ... but that's OK because God is in control of this crazy ride and His timing is best... We are praying that our clearances come in soon and that there are no problems that may hold them up... like the chick at the finger print place saying my fingerprints are "worn down" and I may have to do it again! Well I don't know how that is possible but praying they will go through fine anyways.

We do have an exciting announcement (that some may already know)....

 *God willing* both Josh and I are going to Uganda in September!  (WOW,That's like 3 months away!)

We are going on SixtyFeet's first ever Mission Trip! We are so excited to go and serve! We desire for God to use us in the name of the gospel and to be poured into by others we will meet who love Jesus. During this trip we want to love and minister to the children that SixtyFeet serves in the multiple remand homes (best described as prisons) throughout the country. We want to learn more about and experience the beautiful country that our future children are from and hope to build relationships that God may use to bring us to them in the future.   

God has provided through friends, family, strangers, and even my husband wrecking his car a couple months ago.... what could have been seen as a total set back in our finances proved to be a blessing. We received a settlement and instead of purchasing a replacement car at this time we are making due with having one car and using those funds to help pay for a portion of our trip. 

   

So... We are still working on trusting on the Lord and His provision. He has provided for us each step so far and we know He will continue. I have plans to open an Etsy store soon with items for sale to help us with our adoption expenses. I am hoping for any crafty friends and family to come along side and help make items to sell... wink, wink...

Also, I hope to type up our adoption costs so far and post it here in hopes it may help others who feel God's tugging to adopt get an idea of what to expect.

The Results!!!

Today was our BIG garage sale fundraiser and we also had a Cupcake Kid's stand! 

Our Family (so far)

Yes it was like this all morning, crazy!

There was a ton more in the garage and on the side!

We received so many donations from family, friends, and even people we never met. It was amazing to watch it continue to come in. We opened the doors and started pulling stuff out at 5:30am, had the signs out at 6:00am and then we had a steady stream of customers until we packed it up at 1:00pm. We have a lot leftover still and plan to have more sales in the future and sell bigger items on Craig's List. 

Our little Cupcake Kids set up a stand and made some of the cutest treats to raise money for SixtyFeet. {Sixty Feet is an action-based organization created to bring hope and restoration to the imprisoned children of Africa in Jesus' name} This ministry has become dear to our hearts and God is doing big things through it. Praying about God using us along side them this fall {more on this to come soon}

THE GRAND TOTALS!

Garage Sale for our Adoption: $2,595.66

 The Cupcake Kids Stand $590.63

We are very thankful for all that God did to make this happen and for what He has provided! Praise God, this is only the beginning of what He will do. 

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -- Phil 1:6.