It's the MOST wonderful time of the year....

December is a VERY busy month for us! We celebrate our anniversary (5 years and we still haven't killed each other!), Houston's birthday, Hannah's birthday, and of course Christmas. (So not only are we busy, but come January we are totally broke! Ha!) Ohhhh... but what fun December is! We had our joint birthday bash for Houston (1 yr) and Hannah (3 yr) this past weekend. You have never seen so many presents and chaos. And it's a birthday, not even Christmas! I can't even imagine what Chrismas morning is going to be like. (And thinking about where we are going to put all of these toys just about sets me over the edge.) Our joke is that Macy will probably have been born in December, just for God to show us His sense of humor! We are enjoying lots of fun Christmas activities. Our favorites are driving around searching for the best Christmas lights, drinking hot chocolate out of sippy cups, and watching The Polar Express about 14 times a day. And of course Houston's favorite Christmas activity is removing my ornaments from the tree.

Update on the kiddos: Aidan is very into the Christmas spirit. He is quick to remind you that the season is all about Jesus' birthday, but also has a list of about 450 presents he expects Santa to bring. He's too smart for his own good, and has learned how to "pursuade" Hannah to do stuff for him. That kid is a total "Botts", and I refer to him as my "mini me". He is going to be a senator or some kind of politician when he grows up, you just wait and see! Now when Hannah is asked what she wants for Christmas, all she says is "a baby doll". Seriously, how many baby dolls does one kid need? She is drowning in them up there! She is a total "Humphrey". As in she is dramatic and freakishly athletic. And she has started calling Aidan by his full name when she is angry with him, which is quite funny. And then there is my sweet, precious, perfect Houston. (I think I refer to him as perfect because he can't talk yet. Once he does, it will all be over.) We are still shocked that he is already a year old. He is trying to walk, so I try to push him down when he does. (Not a hard push, just a little shove.) He is my third kid - I have totally figured out that once they start walking, it's a whole different ballgame! (Okay, I am totally kidding about pushing him down. Stop freaking out.) His favorite thing in the world is me. (Which I don't mind one bit.) Followed by food, then his brother and sister. Jason is somewhere down that line. And now for the Macy update....drumroll please.....nothing. NOPE! We still don't have our I-171 immigration form, so we just wait. I make a mad dash to the mailbox everyday, usually barefoot and once in my bathrobe, but it still hasn't come. I am expecting it this week or next week. Just a reminder, once we get that form we are immediately on "the list". God's timing is always perfect, so I know we will get it when the time is right.

We appreciate all of your continued prayers and support. We have felt Satan attack this week in some very unexpected and cruel ways. We knew that when we chose to follow God's Will for our family by adopting a child, that Satan would try to beat us down. But he has failed. And Jason and I are stronger than ever. Praise be to God for His neverending faithfulness!

Check out the pictures....they are from the kiddos bday party, and from our visit to Santa. My intention was to use the Santa picture as our Christmas card and put the caption as "Even Santa needs some PEACE this holiday season!" but ended up going with a different picture that didn't picture us as such a crazy family. Heck, who are we foolin'?!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season. I'll let you know as soon as something changes with the adoption!

GOODBYE, PAPERWORK!!!!

The 2 pounds of paperwork has been shipped! The kids helped me send it off, and in Aidan's one-sided conversation with the UPS man, he said, "Those papers are going to go to Africa to tell them I need one of their kids to be my sister." Now we just wait for our I-171 immigration form to come in the mail. Once that comes, then we are officially "on the list" for a baby girl between the ages of 9 months and three years. Our case worker told us yesterday that the list right now for ages birth to 4 years is 50 families long. But she said in that 50 families, some are requesting only a newborn, and some (although few) are requesting a boy. (For some reason there is a higher "demand" for girls. I found that interesting.) Once we get our immigration form and are officially on the list, then we will find out exactly WHERE we are on that list. So, I am currently stalking my mailman for that form.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have so much to be thankful for this year. Our precious Houston will be a year old next week. Jason and I are reminded daily how lucky we are that we "beat the odds" with my pregnancy, and that he is a healthy, beautiful addition to our family. Aidan and Hannah suprise me on a daily basis. Aidan is our little genius, and Hannah is our drama queen. They both have such sweet hearts, and pray many times a day for Macy to be safe while she is in Africa. We are also so thankful for our extended family and friends. We have had an outpouring of support with our decision to adopt. Their love is what gets us past the "nay-sayers". Thank you to you all! We hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The paperwork is DONE!!!

This morning I made the very scary trip to downtown Nashville to have all of our papers verified by the Secretary of State. I say that it's scary, because I don't do well driving to Nashville on my own. My knuckles were white and my heart was pounding as I stopped before each turn to make sure I wasn't turning on a one-way road. So despite Mapquest's plans to get me eternally lost, I finally found the building. And, of course, the only parking at the building was "private parking". It was like an ENTIRE garage for private parking. I mean, SERIOUSLY! So I ask the security guy (the one who informed me I could not park there) where I was supposed to park. He directed me three blocks down the road to a lot with about 2 million cars in it, all double parked. After searching through two other lots, I finally squeezed my sweet little mini-van into a tiny slot. Of course, I have never had to use one of those parking machine things that take your money and give you a ticket. I am sure I looked like a total moron reading all the directions on what buttons to push. And then I started walking...no, hiking....the four blocks to the ginormous building. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was FREEZING and I was wearing a shirt with sleeves to the elbows. And no coat. So, once I get to the building, the security guard took my picture with this machine. Kinda weird. But from there - it was smooth sailing. And all of that to say, that our paperwork is now all filled out, notarized, certified by our County Clerk, and verified by the Secretary of State. I smiled the entire walk back to the car and on the way home. Except when I hit the curb that sounded like it took off the front end of my car. (I have actually done that - taken of the front end of my car with a curb.) But after some inspection, I found that the sweet little mini-van was just fine, and started smiling again. Having our paperwork done is such a HUGE weight off of me. I can send this gigantic packet of paperwork, also known as our dossier, to our adoption agency in Seattle tomorrow. All we need now is a certain form known as our I-171 from the government. I am currently stalking our mailman until it arrives.
So YEAH FOR US!!!! We are that much closer to bringing a little girl home! And now I think I will go join the kids for a nap. I am mentally exhausted.

A Different Kind of Overwhelmed!

I am sitting here at my computer completely overwhelmed. But, for a change, it's not overwhelmed in a "bad" way. It's overwhelmed as in a "I am so happy I am about to bust out of my seams" way. It is 2:26 in the afternoon, and I have had NINE emails and phone calls TODAY about setting up photo sessions. The majority of these people I have never even met - they have just heard about me and our mission to bring home a little girl from Africa. I mean - I can't BELIEVE I have had this great of a response! All along Jason and I have said that God will provide the finances to bring this baby girl into our family. But it is SOOOO incredibly awesome to SEE Him do it. I mean - the weather this weekend - could it have been any more perfect for the six photo sessions that I had? And I have sessions booked for the next four weekends! (Lots of times are still available though - if you need a session!) Wow! Praise be to God for being such a faithful provider! This past week was filled with ups and downs with finances - with work, with Christmas coming, with TWO kids birthdays in the month of December (I won't even mention our 5 year annivarsary in December - those presents aren't even going to exist this year!). But we know we are going to make it all "happen", and to see God's provision with money going straight into our adoption account - whoa! Okay....enough gushing for now. I gotta get back to work on editing some photos! Another huge THANK YOU to all of you who are referring your friends and family to me! Keep 'um coming! (P.S. Oh yeah...and check out the pics from this weekend of my own beautiful children. I really must be the most blessed Momma alive!)

Ethiopia grows GREAT coffee and SWEET babies!

We have an awesome fundraising opportunity, and I hope some of you are interested! After recently adopting his own child from Africa, a local man has just opened an online coffee store to help other families in the adoption process. I went onto his website, set up my own "coffee shop" for free, and when anyone visits the site and purchases coffee from my "shop", $5.00 of each bag sold is sent directly into our adoption fund! Pretty cool, huh? And this isn't any ole' Folgers coffee...this is authentic African coffee! It would be great to serve while entertaining for the holidays, or better yet, a wonderful gift for a teacher, boss, secretary, etc... or awesome in a themed gift basket. So buy some coffee and help us out! The site to our "store" is www.justlovecoffee.com/TheHumphreyFamily
Things are still moving right along with the adoption. We were notified today that the adoption agency has received our homestudy from the social worker, and is reviewing it to see if we need to make any revisions. My goal is still to have all my paperwork on the way to Ethiopia by the end of the year. I have high hopes that goal will be accomplished!
I am staying very busy with photo shoots. So far this has raised $460 toward our adoption, and I am booking more appointments everyday. The leaves right now are SOOOO gorgeous - so let me know if you need my services!
Have a great week!

Halloween and Homestudy

Hey everyone! I wanted to share some of our Halloween pictures and give you our latest adoption update. Above you will see Captain Hook (Aidan, age 4), Tinkerbell (Hannah, age 2) and our precious Peter Pan (Houston, age 10 months). We had such a fun Halloween. The kids really got into dressing up this year. (Well, Aidan and Hannah did...Houston is pretty much just along for the ride!) I am such a "theme-y" person - I just loved dressing them as a trio! (And trust me, I am already thinking about what foursome they can go as next year if Macy is home!)

And speaking of Macy.....things are moving along quickly! Our homestudy report came through this week (it said we are "more than qualified to adopt" - whew!), which means we can now finish up the last few things on our end. I have to get about 5 million papers notarized, then verified by the county, then verified by the state, then authenticated by the Ethiopian consulate- SERIOUSLY! At this same time I will start stalking our mailman for a form that I must have to complete our dossier (prounounced "doss-ee-ay" ; fancy term for paperwork that is sent to represent us to the Ethiopian government). As soon as this is done, we are officially "on the list". We have been told that once we are on the list, then it will take zero to ten months to get our referral (information) for a specific child. Since we are not asking for a newborn, we may be on the sooner end of that spectrum. EXCITING!!!!

I am getting TONS of feedback about photo shoots! THANK YOU to all of you who have contacted me or sent my name to friends. I LOVE photography, and am having so much fun photographing other families. If you are interested - shoot me and email or give me a call to set up something! (amanda_humphrey@comcast.net or 615-264-8330) The fall leaves are GORGEOUS right now. And start thinking ahead about Christmas cards and gifts!

Be sure to check back on my blog this coming week. I am going to have some awesome fundraising starting up! My sister Sandi Hester (www.paintingtheword.com) is going to be donating her talents to help me raise money for our adoption. I am excited about what she is going to offer. I will be finalizing the details this week, and will let you in on the news soon!

Have a great week!

FUN Fundraising!!!

I have been amazed at how many emails I have gotten requesting photo shoots! This is something I LOVE to do, and am so glad it is coming in handy for our adoption! I wanted to share a few of the portraits I have taken so far. A HUGE thank you to the Stacy, Cornett, and Brown families for letting me photograph your sweet families. And if YOU would like some portraits done of your family, PLEASE let me know! I have some wonderful outdoor locations around town that I frequent. And the leaves are finally changing! Think fall portraits and even Christmas cards! For an $80 donation you will get the images on cds and all rights to them. Which means you can have them enlarged, cards printed, etc. ALL of your donation goes straight to our adoption fund. Give me a call at 615-264-8330!
Quick update: We pretty much have our paperwork done! Now we are just waiting on other people - our homestudy agency (for our report), the government for certain forms, etc. In our recent "down time" we have been thinking about a name. This is something that Jason and I always do pretty easily - we actually enjoy going through lists and lists of names! And we have decided what to name our sweet baby girl....drumroll please.....MACY! (Yes, like the department store. But that is not why we like the name!) We will most probably keep her given, Ethiopian name as her middle name. (If we can pronounce it, Jason says!) Now that we can refer to our next child by her name, it makes it even more real! I can't wait to eventually get our referral picture and see the sweet face that we have been praying for every night. Aidan and Hannah are already talking about her. Hannah, in her funny little voice, says, "Me wuv Macy". This Momma is so happy!

God calls us all...

God calls us ALL to help orphans. He does not call us all to adopt; but he DOES command us all to care for the orphans in the world.
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice."Proverbs 31:8-9
"Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows." Isaiah 1:17
We would be thrilled if you felt led to support our cause financially. After emptying Jason's retirement account, having a very successful yard sale, and receiving just four donations, we still have approximately $10,000 to $15,000 to come up with to bring Baby Girl Humphrey home.
SO - I am going to make it worth your while! I am still scheduling photo shoots for Oct., Nov, and December. This would be great for a fall family portrait, Christmas card photo, whatever you want! For a donation of $80 I will do a sitting for you and your family. I will burn the images to a cd for you to own all the rights to. Schedule now!
My sweet sister is also donating some of her awesome stuff for me to raffle off with all proceeds going to our adoption. More details on that coming soon - stay tuned! You can check out her gorgeous paintings at www.paintingtheword.com
Okay....last thing is an update on our process. We had our last meeting with our social worker for the homestudy this week. It went really well, and now we just wait a week or two for her official report. Our TBI and FBI fingerprinting will be done next week. Once all these things are done, we can start sending off our paperwork to all the places it has to go. My goal is to get the paperwork to Ethiopia by the end of the year. With as smooth as things are going now, it is possible!!!
Thank you for all of your kind emails and prayers. We really appreciate them all!

Why we are doing what we are doing....

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Click on the above video. Be sure your volume is on.

So, we continue to get lots of questions about WHY we are adopting, and HOW we came to this decision. Our "motto" for our decision is the verse ""Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12
It's that simple. God opened our eyes. From there, the decision was actually rather easy. A no-brainer, really. We would have NEVER thought we would adopt a child from Africa. But God opened our eyes, and we just aren't going to question His plans.

We are so excited. It's like when I was pregnant - wondering "what will she look like?", "what will she be like?". We love her and dream about her already. I love looking at that clock on this blog and seeing what time it is where she is, and wondering, "is she asleep right now?". We pray for her everyday. We are praying for her safety and her health. That God gets us to her at just the right time. Not a moment too soon...not a moment too late....HIS timing is always perfect.

The Yard Sale totals are in!

First of all, let me thank EVERY SINGLE PERSON who donated items, cooked yummy baked goods, donated tables or came and shopped. I truly could not have done it without you. And I REALLY could not have done it without the help of my precious Mom, Dad, father-in-law Larry, family friend Skip, and gal pal Tasha. They all just about broke their backs helping me move tables and unpack (and repack) boxes. And thank you to our awesome friends Jeremy and Sarah for letting us "co-own" their truck for the past few weeks to haul donations. How lucky I am to have all of their support! The yard sale was a HUGE success!!! We had people lined up IN THE RAIN an hour early on Friday morning. Friday we made $947!!! I was amazed. We did great on Saturday as well! And then we received two HUGE donations from family members in our donation jar....so the grand total for the Yard Sale Weekend.....over $3,600!!! Yea...you read that right! We feel SO very blessed! This takes a nice dent out of our adoption expenses. So much so, that we are going to have another sale in the Spring. (Surely I will have recovered by then!) So if you start finding things around your house that you need to get rid of, give us a holler! We will take it off your hands!
The paperwork is moving right along. This week Jason and I are going to work on our 10 hours of training that we have to complete in order to adopt a child. And, of course, more paperwork. And we are getting so excited! In just the past week I have spoken with so many random people (at the dr. office, in the store, at the yard sale) that have encouraged me with their own adoption stories. We know that this is God's will for our family, and we are so blessed to have the love and support of so many people.
Thanks again for all of those who helped in any way with the yard sale! We appreciate every single one of you!

YARD SALE!!!!!

Less than one week until our HUGE yard sale!!! I started pricing the stuff today, and we can't believe some of the great things people have donated! Seriously! I have furniture, electronics, golf clubs, multiple bikes, highchairs, carseats, strollers, toys, building equipment, two (working!) weedeaters, a TON of Disney movies, books, dishes, housewares, fishing supplies, home decor . light fixtures, ceiling fans, a Lazy Boy recliner, clothes - LOTS OF STUFF!!!!! And I still have a bunch of people dropping off items next week. I also have several people making homemade baked goods to sell. Yum yum! So, YOU NEED TO COME SHOP!!!! Here are the details:

ADOPTION YARD SALE / BAKE SALE

Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2nd and 3rd

8am til Noon

at my Mom's house

110 Strathmore Court; Hendersonville

(in Riverchase Subdivision

near Jack Anderson Elementary)

All proceeds benefit our adoption!

On another note, we had our homestudy visit this week! I was kinda nervous about someone coming into my house to see if I was a suitable parent, but it all went well (WHEW!). The lady was very kind and helpful, which put us at ease. We have MORE paper work to do, then another visit with her, and then EVEN MORE paperwork. Our goal is to have the paperwork done and sent in by the holidays. I am a pretty determined person, so I know I can get it done! Once the paperwork is in, then it will take 0 to 10 months to be matched with a child. We have decided that we are going to ask to be matched with a little GIRL (!) age 9 months to 3 years. We are excited to have made this decision - we need to even up the playing field! (There's just too many stinkin' boys in this house! Ha ha!) So now Jason and I are tossing around girl names that we like. Fun!

Anyways, thank for your support! PLEASE SHARE OUR YARD SALE INFO WITH YOUR FRIENDS! And come out Friday and Saturday to SHOP!!!

Movin' right along!!!

Hey everyone!!!! So, my panic attack about the paperwork is over. WHEW! I still have about 3 kazillion papers to fill out, but it seems managable now. The big news is that I found out today that our Homestudy with the social worker is THIS FRIDAY!!!! I wasn't planning on it moving quite this fast, but thrilled! And nervous! This woman is coming into my home to see if we are suitable parents. AGHH!!! (What if she says "no"? I guess Aidan, Hannah and Houston are just up a creek then! Ha ha!) So say a little prayer for us around 9:30 on Friday morning!

Other news...we got our adoption agency's newsletter today and it said that the wait time for Ethiopian adoption right now is 0 to 10 months once our paperwork (also knows as our dossier) arrives in Ethiopia. That was quicker than any of the other countries - China's wait was over 3 years! Anyway, that means that we will HOPEFULLY have our child home by next Christmas. Woo hoo!

I am chugging right along getting ready for our yard sale. I have had some AWESOME stuff donated for us to sell! Furniture, dishes, toys - and more stuff is rolling in everyday. If you have anything you need to get rid of, PLEASE let me come get it from you. I am also going to do a BAKE SALE at the YARD SALE. If you can bake us something (we promise we will sell it - not eat it!) we would reallllly appreciate it. The dates for the sale are NEXT FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 8am to Noon. I don't have the room in our garage to house all the stuff, so I am going to have it at my mom's house - 110 Strathmore Court, Hendersonville. That is in Riverchase subdivision near Jack Anderson Elementary. Come out and buy lots and lots of treasures!!!

Lastly, Jason and I are so encouraged by some friends that just came home with their PRECIOUS baby boy from Ethiopia. How amazing it has been to watch their journey! And now, seeing the pictures they took while in Ethiopia last week to pick him up - it just takes my breath away. (Check out Clay and Tracy's blog at www.OurStoryForHisGlory.blogspot.com ) Jason and I are SO excited to give one of these precious children a home!!!

oooooooooohhhhh my aching brain

You absolutely, positively would not believe how much paperwork is involved when adopting a child. Seriously. I mean, I knew it would be a lot, but I had NOOOO idea what was really involved. For all of you out there that have adopted - kudos to you for surviving this "paper pregnancy". Today I actually found myself thinking "you know, I could totally go for a day of bed rest right now". (For those of you who don' t know, I had a complicated pregnancy with my precious Houston, and this time last year I was on bedrest for almost 3 months.) Tonight I gave Jason his teeny tiny "to do" list for information he needs to get and forms to fill out, and he said "Geez, this is a lot". Let me just tell you, if looks could kill....let's just say that I quickly pointed out that I am doing 5 kazillion times more paperwork than he is doing. But then he says, "It will all be worth it when we have that kid in our arms". And he is so right. And we feel so wonderful with our decision to adopt. There is a kind of peace in knowing that you are being obedient to God, and doing what He wants you to do. Yes, we have received some "not so supportive" remarks about our decision. But Jason and I just brush those off and move on. For every one negative remark, we receive a hundred "Wow, that's wonderful" or "I am so proud of you guys for taking such a brave step". We aren't in it for the praise - but it sure feels good when someone "gets" why we are dong this. Just thinking of getting a picture of the child we are going to bring home gives me chills. Ohhhh...I can't wait. And suddenly, the paperwork doesn't seem so bad.

Let the fundraising begin!

So now that the "reality" is setting in with everyone about our plans to adopt, it is time to start raising some money! We will need $20,000 to $30,000 to bring our child home from Africa. So I am wracking my brain trying to come up with ways to make some money. Here is what I have come up with:

1. We are going to have a HUGE yard sale with all $$$ going toward the adoption. But we need LOTS of stuff to sell! So, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take some of your "junk" (other people's treasures!) off your hands! If you have a stack of stuff for Goodwill, I want it! (Sorry, Goodwill!) Look around your house and see what you need to get rid of before the Christmas holidays come (and all the new toys that come with them!). We would be more than happy to come pick your stuff up. Even furniture - we have access to a truck, and I have a strong man to load it up!

2. Photography! Lots of you know that in my "former life" (pre-kids) I did photography. I have done senior pictures, weddings, babies, families - you name it, I have photographed it. (Well, just about!) In the past several years I have had lots of people tell me they wished I still did photography. Well - I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack. For an $80 donation, I will meet with your family and do a photoshoot. (Think fall pictures or Christmas cards!) I will then burn the images onto a cd and give it to you, with all copyrights waived (this means that you can take the cd to Walgreens, Walmart, Wolf Camera, etc. and get them printed and not pay me to do it for you!). I know some great places around town that provide beautiful backgrounds for outside photos. I'd love to photograph your family, let's set something up! And again, all $$$ goes toward our adoption fund.

3. T-shirts - I am working on getting these designed and printed.

4. Donations can also be made here on our blog (see link to the right) or at any Green Bank, where our adoption fund is set up.

Every little bit helps!!! And a little is a lot when God is in it!

You may want to sit down for this!

We are adopting a child from Africa! Yes, it's crazy. We realize this is something totally out of the "norm" for us to do. But we are taking a huge step of faith, and it feels AMAZING to know that we are being obedient to God in doing this. We are doing this CRAZY thing because God has laid it on our hearts. A year ago Jason and I would have laughed at the idea of adopting at all, especially internationally. Six months ago, we said "ohhh...maybe someday". And then a few weeks ago our wonderfully faithful God broke both of our hearts for the astounding number of orphans in the world. (Over 140 million...yes, MILLION!) And on August 31st Jason came home from church and said, "Let's do this. And let's do it now." I was floored, but who am I to question what God is telling my husband? So I jumped on board.


Here is the "game plan" with the details. The first step is to choose an adoption agency and the country we want to adopt from. We have picked an agency. And picking a country was kind of easy because it was narrowed down for us. Some countries have specific restrictions such as our ages, the number of children you already have in the home and their ages, the length of time we have been married, etc. Jason and I also wanted to find the part of the world with the greatest need. So we decided on Ethiopia. (See link to the right to see why.) We have started our application. From there we will have our homestudy, then several months of paperwork, and then wait for our referral (info about a child). We are requesting a child under four years old, and are not specifying a gender. We know God is going to pick out the perfect child for us. We were told by the agency that the "long end" of the wait would be 12 to 18 months. We are hoping to have him or her home for Christmas next year.



WHAT WE NEED:

1: Prayer: We need prayers for our family: Jason and myself - for wisdom, strength and patience during this process; for Aidan (who is SOOO excited!), Hannah and Houston as they prepare to welcome another child into our home; and our new child waiting to come home. Since we aren't strictly requesting a newborn, there is a very good chance that our next child is already born and waiting for us in Africa. We can only imagine what kind of conditions he or she is living in right at this very moment.

2: Money: Children aren't cheap...even orphans. And it is going to take a lot of it to get our child home to us. (See cost breakdown to the right.) And we have nada....zero...zilch of it. We are going to start doing some major saving and lots of fundraising. (More about that to come!) If you feel led to make a donation, I PROMISE it will be very, very, very appreciated!

So, now that this has been probably the longest blog post in history (and did I mention that I am brand new to this whole blog thing? bear with me...I'm learning!) - we hope that you are as excited as we are about this whole new adventure in our lives! Yes, we are crazy. We get that. But we are doing this crazy thing completely for the glory of God.

"...once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12