.morris family reminder.

click to learn more about the Morris family

This is just a friendly reminder that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY to help this family through our partnership program.  If you want to support the amazing Morris family you have until tonight at midnight to purchase an item from Hannah James.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are adopting I am currently lining up families for our partnership program.  
Contact me and I will add you to our waiting list! 

.celebrating in fast forward.

image source

.celebrating in fast forward.  Right now our life is going crazy fast.  Our adoption is moving so quickly it is a little overwhelming to think about.  There are documents to be collected, fingerprints to be taken, and grants to be applied for.  

image source

Also, my sister is getting married this upcoming weekend.    There are shoes to find for the little ones, big pom pom decorations to be made, and a speech to be written.   

image source

Then life itself needs to continue and there are play dates and new babies to celebrate - congrats again Nate & Heidi (and family).  And, almost forgot, a baseball game for a special little one year old - I can't believe our baby is almost one.  Lots to do in little time - this week is CAPITAL CRAZY - and I love it!  .celebrating in fast forward. 

Is your life going fast right now too?

I hope you are celebrating what God is doing!

.our referral.

image source

.our referral.  As many of you know we have been anxiously waiting since August 1st for our adoption agency to make a decision on a little guy.  Yesterday afternoon they finally made a decision and we are excited to say that they placed him in our family!!!  

can't wait for this day - image source

It is amazing to both of us how God orchestrated everything.  We had no idea that we would move so quickly through this process.  We also had no idea that God was going to ask us to open our home to someone older.  We are in awe of how he is using us in His great plan and how he continues to surprise us.  Right now we are over the moon excited!  

...and thinking this will be a picture of husband and son sometime soon makes my heart leap and soar! - image source

We are asking for more prayers as we wait to go and get him, it will be a long time before that happens.  We are expecting that he will be home sometime between 9-12 months from now.  Thank you so much for the prayers already sent out for our family, including him.  .our referral. 

.thank you.

image source

.thank you.  I am really behind on my thank you notes.  Really, really behind.  I still have a pile of thank yous from when Asher was baptized.  Which happened in October, yes almost a year ago.  Maybe these pictures will give me some inspiration to get going.  .thank you. 

image source

image source

image source

image source

How about you, are you good at keeping up with thank yous?  

.a sunday stroll.

.a sunday stroll.  A couple of weeks ago Elise made this video that has been on replay in my head ever since.  What magic in making a video of everyday moments - setting it to music just gives it a wonderful glow.  Love it.  This past weekend we went down town and I captures some of our everyday.  I love how this video turned out and if I can figure out an easier way to make them more will be in the future.  .a sunday stroll.

The entire video was shot on my point & shot Nikon camera.  The video was made in Adobe Premiere Elements, transferred to Video Pad, Video Editor and set to music.  Music is by the lovely Sophie Madeline. 

.practicing patience.

image source

.practicing patience.  Practicing patience is hard to do.  When your waiting for a call that has the potential to change your life.  Although this is hard I know God's timing is best and he is growing me along the way.  Pray with me that we hear soon & do not need to wait too much longer.  . practicing patience. 

image source

image source

image source

image source

.opening the box.

image source

.opening the box.  When we started the adoption process we knew we would grow spiritually.  We knew God would be working our hearts over.  We just didn't know how much.  

In adoption there are waiting lists.  Children who do not typically fit parents wants get put there.  They might have Down Syndrome, they might have a heart defect, they might have a Birthmark, their parents might have had something that could (ever so slightly) affect the way they grow, their birth mother could have drank (a little or a lot).  There are a number of reasons.  Some big and some so small they are hardly noticeable.  Those children wait.  They wait for families to choose them.

  

image source 

I pray for these children daily.  I pray they all find homes.  I pray for the homes that welcome them in.  And I pray for those children that age out of the adoption process.  The ones who have to "make it" on their own.  

About a month and a half ago I saw a picture.  I saw a face that has changed me.  When I first saw the picture I started to pray for the little one in it.  I prayed that this little one would find a home.  I prayed that a family would come soon.  As the days went by I intensified my prayers.  One night I started to cry because I was asking God to find another family for the little one.  I realized then that I wanted this little one in our home.  I could feel God asking me, "Why not yours?  Could you, perhaps, open the box you have put me in?  You can trust me on this."

image source

My husband and I prayed over the little one.  We prayed, "Lord, if this child is not meant to be ours then close the doors."  We prayed for God to give us a clear direction on what to do.  And then we said yes to God.  We told him that we would parent this little one if He wanted us to.  

The child is not in the age range that we originally selected, this was a box we were trying to squeeze God into.  We were saying that is all we can do.  However, God came to Earth and died for us - for me.  Surely, I can make the box bigger.  We opened the box we had been shoving God in from the beginning of this process.  We are fully trusting in the Lord.  

image source

Two weeks ago we asked our agency to consider us as parents, so did another family.  We have been waiting to hear the agencies decision.  We know that whatever decision is made that it is the right one.  Even if that means the little one is not ours.  We are finally at peace about it all.  This doesn't mean it will be easy if we are not chosen, it just means we understand that God is in control of it all.  He knows who will parent this little one and He knows who we will welcome into our family - there is such peace in that!  

I am writing this because this little one is part of our adoption story.  This little one has changed how we feel about the process.  We were forced to ask ourselves why we are adopting.  We were forced to talk about things that are hard.  We were asked by God to open our hearts a little more then we thought we could.  This little one is special to us.  And will always be.  

image source

We are also asking for prayers.  Please pray for our patience as we wait.  I will not lie - last week was rough.  I had a hard time waiting.  I was not patient.  AT. ALL.  Every time the phone rang my heart & stomach did some sort of roller coaster maneuver that I didn't even know could happen.  Please pray that we are patient and continue being at peace with everything that is happening.  We would also like to ask for prayers for the other family that is seeking to adopt this little one.  If they feel the same way we do, this decision will be really hard on one family and it is difficult to pray for.  Prayers also for the little one and all waiting children as they wait to come home. .opening the box.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." Psalm 143:8

Is there a box you keep putting God in?

Is he asking you to make it bigger at all?

Can you fully trust Him with it?

.bedroom inspire.

image source

.bedroom inspire.  Ugh, our bedroom has become a dumping ground for everything.  I feel like anything we don't want the kids to touch or get into is in our room.  It is gross. The piles need to go.  It is in total need of some TLC.  These pictures are inspiring me to clean our room and make it livable again.  They inspire me to make our bedroom a place we can relax in, instead of stress out over.  Today I am getting my clean on.  .bedroom inspire.  

image source

image source

image source

image source

image source

.question time & a giveaway.

image source

.question time & a giveaway.  Alright, y'all - I need some help (and suddenly I am sounding like Angela).  We are on our third month of the partnership program here at Hannah James and I am looking for some feedback.  

Do you like the way the program works?  

Do you think partnering with one family at a time is good?  

Would you like to see more?  

If you were a partnering family (or will be) would you like it to be more then a month?  

Any and all feedback is appreciated.  I just want to get a feel for where everyone is at.  Thanks.  

Oh, and since your helping me out I am going to throw in a free three month sponsorship to one lucky person who comments on anything related to the partnership program.  *this giveaway will be open until sometime next week.  .question time & a giveaway.

.just a reminder to myself.

image source

.just a reminder to myself.  I need to remind myself of this today, as we have recently re-asked a couple people to redo documents for our dossier.  Yesterday I was thinking getting the dossier done would be impossible.  Especially since a couple of places did not follow my rules - AT ALL.  I just need to remind myself it will all get done in due time.  Until then I need patience.  Pray that I can be patient this week.  Thank you friends.  .just a reminder to myself. 

.what a weekend.

 electronics, tools, shoes, and sporting equipment

baby clothes

.what a weekend.  This past weekend we had our huge garage sale adoption fundraiser!  It was amazing.  We had over 15 families donate items for the sale and there was a lot for people to choose from.  Instead of pricing out everything, we had all items be name your own price.  Everyone who came knew where the donations were going and having customers name their own price worked out well for us.  Many people overpaid for their items and some underpaid.  All in all I think we came out even. 

my parents yard & garage - full of items!

On Saturday I prayed, "Lord, let me see you work today".  And he did, in an unexpected way!  Later in the afternoon a woman came and started asking the prices of items.  She spoke Spanish and I was doing a really poor job of communicating the "name your own price" line.  I finally gave her a bag and said, "fill the bag for $1.00 or $2.00".  She lit up and started shopping!  She was so grateful for the low prices and exclaimed, "only $1.00!"  I loved watching her be able to get items she needed and felt joy in being able to.  It was a blessing.  

Aaron - managing the donations

Thank You!!!

After the sale ended we were able to donate three truck loads of items to a couple different places.  One truck load went to a church down the street for their annual sale later this month and two trucks went to goodwill.  It was amazing to see how many items were donated and we truly felt blessed by the entire experience.  Thank you if you donated, helped out, or prayed for the garage sale!  We are grateful to have such wonderful friends in our lives.  .what a weekend. 

.overwhlemed.

image source

.overwhelmed.  Right now I am overwhelmed by what the Lord is doing in our lives.  All I can say is he is changing me and my heart is breaking for what breaks his.  Although it is overwhelming we know the Lord is with us leading us to where he wants us to go.  .overwhelmed.

.meet the morris family.

The Morris family is our August partner in the Hannah James program.  I am so happy to help them out and partner with them.  Lindsay is awesome at encouraging others and helping us adopting mama's in any way. Her family is adorable and they all have huge hearts as well.  Please take the time to get to know this family even more.  And take the time to support them by purchasing some lovely goods at Hannah James! 

We just want others to know that even though adoption can be hard and uncertain and we have yet to have our daughter come home, we already feel completely blessed by this journey.  We've felt and seen God's presence and power like never before.  We feel so honored that He placed adoption on our hearts. While there have been painful, worry-filled days God has been faithful to us.  He can't grow your faith if you don't give him the opportunity! - Lindsay

When did your family start the adoption process?  December, 2010

Where are you adopting from?  The Democratic Republic of Congo

Why did you choose to adopt from that country?

Originally, we were adopting from Ethiopia.  God strongly placed Congo on my heart one night.  My husband and I both prayed and researched the country all night and the next day.  We weren't sure why we were feeling pulled toward Congo, especially since the day after we began feeling this way we made the Ethiopian wait list.  We trusted God's leading, stopped our Dossier from leaving the U.S. and began the process of switching countries in May, 2011.

We felt so strongly about adopting from the DRC because of the country's violent past and even present.  Children are brainwashed, put in militias and taught to kill.  Young girls are raped or forced into prostitution just to survive.  It's scary opening up your heart to such a violent, poor country, but it's given us even more of an opportunity to lean on God. Just a couple of weeks ago we were referred a beautiful little Congolese baby girl and are thrilled for the day we bring her home to join our family forever!

What are some of your families favorite activities?

Our boys are still little (3 years and 16 months) so some of our favorite things to do together are just playing at home, the park or taking walks around the neighborhood.  We also love going to the zoo, the science museum and visiting our family.  We lived in Kansas for a while away from all of our family, but got the opportunity to come back home to Oklahoma.  We appreciate that our family all lives so close to us so we soak up as much time with them as we can!  *My husband, Brian would like to add that we are avid sports fans so as the boys get older they will be attending lots of sporting events, especially K-State football games.


Why do you blog?
I love blogging because it's allowed me to be a part of a wonderfully caring and supportive community that I wouldn't otherwise know.  My blog has served many roles and allowed me to share our adoption story first and foremost, but also given me a way to advocate for other adoptive families who need prayer or need help spreading the word about a fundraiser.  I've had readers even reach out to me when they need support or have questions.  I have so many friends in the blogging world that I've never met in person yet are still so special to me.  

Favorite color?  Lindsay - turquoise, Brian - Kansas State purple, Bennett - today it's yellow, Caleb - unknown :)

Favorite candy/food?  Brian's grilled hamburgers, frozen custard and my mom's amazing, home-cooked German food.

What are some other fundraisers you have done?

I contribute all the funds from my Etsy shop, LindsayLouCreations.etsy.com to our adoption and we've participated as affiliates with an Ordinary Hero sales contest, sold our own t-shirts and bracelets, had a garage sale, and have done a couple auctions on our blog.

Where do you live?  Edmond, Oklahoma

How many children do you have, if any?  Bennett - 3 yrs and Caleb - 16 mos. 

Favorite quote?  "Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles." - Maltbie D. Babcock

Favorite place to visit?  We love the beautiful gulf coast.  Destin, Florida to be exact!

To help them get closer to bringing their little girl home shop at Hannah James!