Yard Sale!

We're having a yard sale!! I've got a spare room full of donated items and next Saturday we're going to get rid of them.  It has been so awesome to see the generosity of people around us, some of whom we don't even know personally, but have heard our story and given us some great things to sell.  It's probably going to take me the majority of the week to get everything priced, but it's so going to be worth it.  We've already been bathing next weekend in prayer and would love for you to pray with us.  Pray for good weather, lots of visitors, and that all who come would experience the gospel.  We've advertised on various websites, we just put an ad in the local paper, and we're hoping to have lots of help spreading the word.  So if you're in the Wake Forest area, or know someone who is let them know about our yard sale. Here's the details
December 4 7:00-1:00
Highgate Park Neighborhood in Wake Forest (very close to downtown)

We can't wait to see what God is going to do through this sale to bring our baby home!  I've also got an awesome story for you that I'll get to in a day or two to update you on how things are going.  There's only one week left to enter the cabin giveaway, so make sure you get those entries in!!

Update

So far, after one week, we've had a pretty good response to our $20 Difference Giveaway.....with this and a few previous donations, we're close to being half way to our goal of raising $4000 in less than 90 days.  But there's still 2 weeks left to enter, so don't forget!  It's been awesome to see people get behind us and spread the word about our blog, donate, email their friends, and even post our giveaway on their blog, some of these people we don't even know! God is so good, and He is constantly reminding us(me especially) day by day that He's the one who's going to provide for this baby.  Everything is going to happen in His timing, not ours, and this is so evident in how He keeps us going by allowing a small increase in our donations each day.  Each day we end with more money in the fund than we began with is a blessing and another reason to be thankful this season. Ultimately we want people to see the gospel through this process, and I pray that for every person who comes across this blog.

Today I'm resting in Romans 8:28-And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. (ESV)
Even when we have bad days or days of discouragement, we know that we are called to this and the Lord will work it out according to His purpose. Each day we are one step closer to our child.

Thank you all for your generosity and prayers, keep those entries coming!!

Win a trip to the mountains! (Update to $20 Difference)

Want to win a trip to the Tennessee mountains?

Want to support our adoption?

Here's what we're doing: as an update to the $20 Difference Project someone has graciously donated a weekend(3 nights) in a beautiful cabin in the Tennessee mountains for one lucky winner!!
*Dates to be worked out with winner based on availability between Jan-April

How to enter:
* $20 = 1 entry
* $50 = 3 entries
* $100+ = 6 entries
You have until Sunday December 5 to enter, and we'll draw a winner at 6:00pm.

Here's where you'll be staying

* 4 bedrooms
* 3.5 baths
* Sleeps 18
Complete with hot tub, fireplace, and game room
For more pictures click here

Everything you need for a relaxing weekend!

Bring on the entries!!

Thank you for helping us bring our baby home!

$20 Dollar Difference

Ok folks, here it is, our first big fundraiser!!  We're hoping to start this fundraising out with a bang!

Here's the deal, we need to raise about $4,000(hopefully more!) in order to be able to send in our first big chunk of paperwork to really get the ball rolling.  And we need to do it in less than 90 days.  This first part of the paperwork needs to be turned in before we can begin working on our dossier(which is even more paperwork that has to be completed in order for us to get on the waitlist for a baby!)  So, here's where we're aksing you guys to help us out.  We're asking everyone we know to donate $20(or more if you'd like) to our adoption fund so we can bring our baby home!  $20, that's it!  That's giving up one trip to the movies this month, or a couple of Starbucks drinks, or whatever it is you normally spend your $20 on, and its for an awesome cause.

Your $20 will make an incredible difference in the life of a child who may not otherwise know or experience the love of Christ.  Your $20 will give a home to the fatherless.  It's as simple as clicking the donate button on the left side of the blog, or if you'd like you can email me at scoalson104(at)gmail(dot)com to get our mailing address and you can send cash or check.  If we get enough people to join us, this can be huge! So please tell everyone you know, we need your help spreading the word. Blog it, tweet it, Facebook it, email it, whatever you can think of! Thank you for supporting our adoption. Let's see God do something extraordinary out of the ordinary!

Bows, Bows, Bows

So after the Craft Fair this past Saturday I have lots of bows left over.  I thought I'd put them up on the blog and sell them here, bows to bring home our baby!  You know you want some!  These are some samples of what I have left but I can definitely make more if there is enough interest.  I can also customize the bow holders that are pictured with whatever letter/color/ribbon you like.  Email me at scoalson104(at)gmail(dot)com if you'd like to order.  Thanks in advance for helping bring home our baby!

These are the $4 bows, the bow holders are $5

$3

Tiny bows, perfect for babies, $1.50


















Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for another fundraiser that we're starting soon!

Orphan Sunday

   Today is Orphan Sunday.  Wow, I just wrote that and realized that this is the first Orphan Sunday I've really paid attention to.  Sure, I've recognized it before, but this year it means so much more.  I think it's God's good timing that this just happened to come along a few days after our approval.  I've been thinking about our baby all morning, and I couldn't help but get a little emotional as we were singing Come thou fount during worship this morning: "I was lost in utter darkness til your love came and set me free!" God is good and gracious, and because of His love there will be one less orphan to feel like they're lost in the darkness, forgotten.   

    I want to challenge each of you reading this to think on the gospel today, and God's command that we care for the orphans.  Our Father says that pure religion is taking care of the orphan's and widows in their distress(James 1:27).  Pray about what this means for your family, there are 147 million orphans in this world with no family to love them, what are we going to do about it? It's so awesome to see an adoption community forming around us here, I can't wait for all these beautiful babies to be home! I'm going to leave you with one of the videos that inspired us to start seriously considering adoption NOW and not later down the road.  Get your tissues and your heart ready, you might be the next ones to sign up :)

Approved!!

We have been waiting anxiously all weekend for the beginning of the week to arrive so that we could hopefully get our official approval.  Monday we hit one more little speed bump so we knew that today could be the day.  I tried hard all day not to stare at my phone while I was teaching the kiddos.  Finally,on my way home from school, just as I was about to pull in the driveway, my phone rang and it was the call!! We have officially been accepted and can finally get this show on the road! Yay!! We are beyond excited and so relieved that we can finally tell people.  I've been calling friends and family all afternoon and have gotten a great response.  It's so awesome to see so many people already give us their support with this announcement.  We've ordered our adoption announcements and hope to get those in the mail soon to help us get the word out.  One of our first fund-raising opportunities will happen this weekend at the SEBTS Craft and Bake Sale.  I was originally just doing this for fun, but now the proceeds will be going towards our adoption.  I will be at a table with several others adoptive moms and we're all raising money to bring our babies home, it's so exciting!! So if you're in the RDU area come out Saturday and see us from 9-3 in the SEBTS gym!