So today I thought that I would give our agency a little shout out in my blog post. We are now working with Catholic Charities in Pensacola. I had heard of them before we went with our first agency, but I just thought that you had to be Catholic to adopt from them. This is not true. They are open to anyone. The one thing that attracted us to them was how cheap their adoption fees were! I know that you can adopt from them if you live in a different state ... but I'm not sure about international adoptions through them yet. Anyways ... if you are looking for an agency I recommend them. So far everything has been great with working with them. Here is a look at the adoption fees that you will come across when working with them. Just wanted to post about it in case there is someone reading this post that is looking for an agency to use.
Application fee (includes all background checks for 2 people & education class) - $500
Domestic Homestudy (within 8 wks) - $1,000
Domestic Homestudy (within 6 wks) - $1,300
International Homestudy - $1,500 (I'm guessing this means that you can adopt internationally through them??)
International Homestudy Expedited - $1,800
Agency Placement fees - $13,600 (total)
Due at Placement $4,000
Due at Termination of Parental Rights $4,800
Due 4 weeks prior to finalization hearing - $4,800 (finalization usually takes 3-6 months to happen)
(this is the part that we like the best about our agency. none of these fees are due until your baby is born ... and it's spread out a bit to help with the costs - love it!)
Post Placement Visitations - $125/session
So that's it! Hope this helps someone. Still just praying for our FBI checks to come in fast so we can apply for our grants. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
The Room
We had our homestudy update done this morning. It didn't last very long at all since we just had all of this done in Feb. of this year ... but for some reason foster care homestudy's and private adoption agency homestudy's are some how not the same. It just seems funny to me that it's okay for me to adopt a child through the system on a foster care homestudy but not okay for me to adopt from a private agency. Weird, but it's just one more hoop for us to jump through to get one step closer to bringing home our baby. We're willing to do just about anything to make that happen. We still have a few more documents that she gave us to get filled out before she can finish writing it up. I had to go get a physical done today and a TB test. Hopefully Alya can get off work early next week to go get his done. We have yet another criminal record check to do (because the county and FBI checks aren't enough, so let's just throw in a state one too while we're at it.) We have to have our employers sign off that we actually work there and mail in a copy of our 2009 tax statement. She said that it should only take about a week for her to write this up ... but that we have to wait for our FBI checks to come in. I just mailed them off this past Tuesday. She said that they have been averaging about 13 weeks so we are praying that it comes back sooner than that! We are so close to being able to send out for our grants ... we just need that piece of paper!
Since we have been cleaning like mad trying to get our house together I thought that I would post pictures of what our nursery looks like. We have had it set up for awhile now since this was Hope's room. We've changed a few things around since then and can't wait for our little baby girl to start sleeping in it.
Here's a before the room became a nursery picture. When we first built our house we knew that we wanted to start having kids right away. So Alya worked really hard putting up the bead board and getting it ready to transform into a nursery. :0)
Here's what it looks like now ...
We bought the crib off of craigslist for like $30. It was only a year old and looked brand new. It used to be a really light wood color so we just painted it black to go with the color theme we wanted.
I got the bedding at Target
We bought this changing table at a garage sale for $10 and painted it to match the crib.
The storage area is also from Target. I had always wanted to get paint and hang letters of my child's name on their wall. But as foster parents I never thought that I would get the chance to do that. So I came up with the idea to do it for every foster child we had in our home. This was Hope's ... we added a picture of her with her name. I love it, and it's a constant reminder of how much she changed our lives for the better. I haven't gotten the boys letters yet, but plan on doing some for them as well.
You have to have pretty pink curtains in a girls room. :0) We also hung green, pink, yellow and white paper lanterns all over the room. I love it!
We used these handy closet organizers to store blankets, towels, bibs, etc., etc.
As foster parents we never knew when we would get a phone call asking us to take in a child. We didn't have time to plan and get the things we would need for each particular sex and age. So, I came up with the idea to help us ORGANIZE! I love love love containers and labeling lol. I'm a freak about it actually.... hey at least I can admit it! :0) What I did was I put three storage containers on each side of the nursery closet. One side for the boys and one side for the girls. Then I labeled the bins with 0-3mo, 3-6mo, and 6-up months so that when ever we got "the call" we could be prepared with some clothes. I loved this system and it came in handy! I plan on continuing on using this system when we have our forever kids too.
This is a rocking chair I got at a garage sale. It was a light wood color as well ... nothing a good coat of pain can't fix! It had also been recovered in a mother goose type of fabric that was just not my cup of tea. So I decided to recover it myself ... now I had to hand sew it because I don't have a sewing machine. Let's just say ... it looked like crap lol. So this week one of my friends brought over her sewing machine to help me really recover it.
Here is a before picture of the nasty mis-matched cushions ...
Here's a picture of it now.
I think it turned out a lot better, don't you?
When we went to the foster parent conference this past weekend I won a precious little baby quilt that I LOVE! I hope it becomes our babies favorite blankie lol.
And last but not least here is another AMAZING craigslist buy! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color orange ... and when I saw this little baby I couldn't resist!
It makes me SOOOOOOO happy lol
So there it is friends ... the nursery! Now all we need is a sweet little baby and we'll be all set!
Since we have been cleaning like mad trying to get our house together I thought that I would post pictures of what our nursery looks like. We have had it set up for awhile now since this was Hope's room. We've changed a few things around since then and can't wait for our little baby girl to start sleeping in it.
Here's a before the room became a nursery picture. When we first built our house we knew that we wanted to start having kids right away. So Alya worked really hard putting up the bead board and getting it ready to transform into a nursery. :0)
Here's what it looks like now ...
We bought the crib off of craigslist for like $30. It was only a year old and looked brand new. It used to be a really light wood color so we just painted it black to go with the color theme we wanted.
I got the bedding at Target
We bought this changing table at a garage sale for $10 and painted it to match the crib.
The storage area is also from Target. I had always wanted to get paint and hang letters of my child's name on their wall. But as foster parents I never thought that I would get the chance to do that. So I came up with the idea to do it for every foster child we had in our home. This was Hope's ... we added a picture of her with her name. I love it, and it's a constant reminder of how much she changed our lives for the better. I haven't gotten the boys letters yet, but plan on doing some for them as well.
You have to have pretty pink curtains in a girls room. :0) We also hung green, pink, yellow and white paper lanterns all over the room. I love it!
We used these handy closet organizers to store blankets, towels, bibs, etc., etc.
As foster parents we never knew when we would get a phone call asking us to take in a child. We didn't have time to plan and get the things we would need for each particular sex and age. So, I came up with the idea to help us ORGANIZE! I love love love containers and labeling lol. I'm a freak about it actually.... hey at least I can admit it! :0) What I did was I put three storage containers on each side of the nursery closet. One side for the boys and one side for the girls. Then I labeled the bins with 0-3mo, 3-6mo, and 6-up months so that when ever we got "the call" we could be prepared with some clothes. I loved this system and it came in handy! I plan on continuing on using this system when we have our forever kids too.
This is a rocking chair I got at a garage sale. It was a light wood color as well ... nothing a good coat of pain can't fix! It had also been recovered in a mother goose type of fabric that was just not my cup of tea. So I decided to recover it myself ... now I had to hand sew it because I don't have a sewing machine. Let's just say ... it looked like crap lol. So this week one of my friends brought over her sewing machine to help me really recover it.
Here is a before picture of the nasty mis-matched cushions ...
Here's a picture of it now.
I think it turned out a lot better, don't you?
When we went to the foster parent conference this past weekend I won a precious little baby quilt that I LOVE! I hope it becomes our babies favorite blankie lol.
And last but not least here is another AMAZING craigslist buy! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color orange ... and when I saw this little baby I couldn't resist!
It makes me SOOOOOOO happy lol
So there it is friends ... the nursery! Now all we need is a sweet little baby and we'll be all set!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Sometimes ...
Sometimes it's hard. Okay, that's a lie. To be honest, a lot of times it's hard to just wait. It can be sooooo lonely at times. It's hard during that wait to see other friends getting pregnant and enjoying their growing little belly. It's hard to see friends lovin on their babies and cuddling them tight. It's sometimes even hard to read of other bloggie friends *finally* getting the call that they have waited what seems their whole lives for. To see good friends finally get to adopt the little girl we said "no" to. It's hard to listen to other momma's relieve the frustration of their children off their chest (even though I know they love their babies.) And altough I LOVE my friends so much, and am so happy for the blessings they get to love on, I will admit that I am a million percent jealous of every second of their "mommy-ness" ... the screaming, the crying, the over loaded dipers ... ALL OF IT. I guess it's just hard when you are in that moment of waiting ... the moment of uncertainty ... the moment of insanity at times when you feel like you would go to the ends of the earth ... do ANYTHING it took just to become a mommy. It's hard to just wait patiently in faith knowing that God's got it all in His hands.
I think that I might just be emotionally sensitive right now. I found out last week that our Hope went back into the foster care system ... and WE weren't told. We weren't called. We weren't asked. NOTHING. And I don't even know what kind of word could even capture to the slightest degree what I am feeling. I almost want to say I feel betrayed, but that seems kind of funny knowing the system we are working with. I don't feel mad ... just more hurt. Sad. Frustrated. I guess a little pissed lol. I don't know if this was done because they didn't want us to get hurt again since she was only going to be in care for a few weeks. Or if we weren't told because we gave the boys back. I don't know. I want to say I don't care ... but that would be so far from the truth it wouldn't even be funny. I do care. And I do hurt ... really bad. I cry more for Hope because I knew that this situation was going to happen again. I knew that she would be back. Friends kept telling me to let it go and move on ... but I KNEW in my heart she would be back. I just thought it would be with us. Now she is living with a non-relative caregiver who we know is someone the mom was working for AND living with. I don't understand it. I don't know if we will be contacted if she goes up for adoption or not. If so, we now have competition with another foster family who also fell in love with her. I guess I don't even know what to do. Just let it go, or fight like hell?
Sometimes I just wish that I could go back in time when I was a little girl and I could just curl up in my mom's lap and she would just make what ever was wrong, right again. I wish someone else could just fix it and make things feel better. I wish someone could put a band-aid on my heart and make the hurt go away. Oh, how I wish it could be that simple. Sometimes I just wish for something to happen where I didn't have to fight so damn hard. But I guess that's just not for us. So ... I wipe the tears threatening to overflow, pull my big girl pants up and continue to wait and cling tight knowing that God DOES have it all together even when I haven't the slightest clue what He's about to do.
Sometimes the waiting is hard .... but the end result will be that much more worth it. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. And I'm just praying with everything I have within me that it happens soon.
Our homestudy update is this Friday at 8am. Praying we can get whatever it is we need for it to be updated quickly so we can get our grant applications in the mail.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
While I'm Waiting ...
I've been waiting for Alya to get home from work all afternoon. We're supposed to be going down to Tampa for a foster parent convention with some friends for the weekend. The most amazing part is that it's F.R.E.E.! I'm super stoked about that. I'll post more on our trip once we get back. So, since we were supposed to leave by 5:00pm and it's currently 6:34pm and my husband isn't even close to being done with his job I figured I would do a quick post about our anniversary dinner last night.
Since it was a work day for Alya and we are trying to save up our money for our adoption it wasn't a super eventful day. I did however wake up to find these ...
my very favorite color is ORANGE. I love everything orange ... seriously, everything! :0) So Alya scored major points by the orange flowers AND an orange vase. He also wrote a very sweet not in his card that made me cry. *He came home to tell me that he made the bouquet himself as well ... lol had to add that one in there, he seemed pretty proud of himself.*
Then once he got home from work we went to Joe's Crab Shack right on the beach. It was a nice evening together.
The restaurant was super fun ... in honor of our anniversary they made Alya get down on one knee ...
and sing "You Are My Sunshine" to me. :0)
Then we walked outside and took a little walk on the beach.
It was such a beautiful night! I love love love taking walks on the beach. We used to live an hour away from each other when we were dating ... and we never went one day without seeing each other. :0) So many of our dates consisted of walking on the beach. Of course we also got married on the beach ... so I guess the beach has been a big part of our relationship. :0)
After we left the beach we drove over to Babies*R*Us just for a quick little peek :0) It was fun to walk around and think of things that we would want to register for when we finally get picked as adoptive parents. We would love to be able to share our 4 year anniversary with our little miracle. Now, I'm just ready for this weekend to spend some more time with Alya and get away for a little bit.
Since it was a work day for Alya and we are trying to save up our money for our adoption it wasn't a super eventful day. I did however wake up to find these ...
my very favorite color is ORANGE. I love everything orange ... seriously, everything! :0) So Alya scored major points by the orange flowers AND an orange vase. He also wrote a very sweet not in his card that made me cry. *He came home to tell me that he made the bouquet himself as well ... lol had to add that one in there, he seemed pretty proud of himself.*
Then once he got home from work we went to Joe's Crab Shack right on the beach. It was a nice evening together.
The restaurant was super fun ... in honor of our anniversary they made Alya get down on one knee ...
and sing "You Are My Sunshine" to me. :0)
Then we walked outside and took a little walk on the beach.
It was such a beautiful night! I love love love taking walks on the beach. We used to live an hour away from each other when we were dating ... and we never went one day without seeing each other. :0) So many of our dates consisted of walking on the beach. Of course we also got married on the beach ... so I guess the beach has been a big part of our relationship. :0)
After we left the beach we drove over to Babies*R*Us just for a quick little peek :0) It was fun to walk around and think of things that we would want to register for when we finally get picked as adoptive parents. We would love to be able to share our 4 year anniversary with our little miracle. Now, I'm just ready for this weekend to spend some more time with Alya and get away for a little bit.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Three Years
Man I can't believe that it's been a whole week since I last posted. I'm such a slacker! :0) It's not that I haven't had anything to post ... I just haven't. School was out on Friday. YIPEEE!!! This weekend I had a 31 party to go to for my friend Mindy. Then a bridal shower. Alya had to do sound for church this Sunday and since we only have one car I was stuck on that side of town. He had to be at practice at 7:30am (yuck to this not morning person!) So I decided to take a little walk on the beach where we got married to pass away some time. OH MY! As I was walking down the walk way I saw like 15 dolphins (no joke!) swimming after a shrimp boat. It was so AMAZING! I've never seen them like that except at Sea Wor*d lol. It was a perfect morning just to be by myself, walking around one of my very favorite places to be, having some reflection time. It was perfect. And although I got totally soaked by a wave that snuck up on me I managed to dry out and make it to church. :0)
Monday and Tuesday of this week so far have been spent by me sleeping in until 10 or 11 each day. Ahhhh summer break is so amazing. I LOVE to sleep in! Then I would spend the whole rest of the day hanging out in my pj's cleaning up the house and checking out Faceb*ok or reading people's blogs. I was able to make our nursery look not like a storage room anymore, so that was at least one productive thing I accomplished this week. :0) When we had our foster boys Hope's room became the new storage room ... and since we are getting our homestudy update done by a new agency NEXT FRIDAY I thought that I needed to do some organizing. :0) I am planning on re-covering a rocking chair next week, so after that is done I will post pictures of the finished product. Jana at our agency received our profile book this week. *yipee* She said that it was great and that I did a great job! It's so nice hearing that lol.
So on to today ... and what this post is really about. Three years ago on June 16, 2007 I married my best friend. Wow, I really can't believe that it's been three years already. Seriously, so crazy! I totally don't deserve him. I'm such a nag at times and he is so very patient with me. I have been SO SO SO lucky to have him in my life. I have especially been even that much more greatful for him on this adoption journey. It feels like we have been to hell and back on this journey to become parents, and he has been by my side 100% of the time. He went to fertility treatments with me, he became a foster parent, he applied to an adoption agency, and then to another never once saying no Lindsay I don't want to do this. I know that a lot of men are worried about hurting their pride especially when it's their issues of why they can't start a family. And I know that a lot of men would have quit a long time ago. But he never says no. He's always willing to do whatever crazy path I decide for us to try next. I'm so thankful to have been able to have him be by my side throughout this whole journey. I'm not going to lie these past three year have had a lot of pain, a lot of tears, a lot of questioning God. And he has just held me tight and loved me through every single moment of pain. But there have been a lot of fun moments for us too. I am so ready to see Alya become a daddy. My heart was so happy to watch him play and love on our Hope. He's going to be an amazing father, and I just can't wait for that day. I'm praying that when we celebrate our 4 year anniversary next year we can do it with our little miracle baby as well.
Here are some pictures of our perfect day.
These are two of my favorites.
My parents and us
Our fun wedding party
I told him if he didn't smash cake in my face I was going to divorce him lol. Smashing cake in each others faces on my wedding day has always been one of my biggest dreams as a girl. haha We did a good job!
My Ohio family that was able to come down for the wedding.
My dad and I walking down the aisle. I love my face ... this is the first glimpse of Alya. :0)
My amazing orange flowers. (I made them myself!)
So in love!
Monday and Tuesday of this week so far have been spent by me sleeping in until 10 or 11 each day. Ahhhh summer break is so amazing. I LOVE to sleep in! Then I would spend the whole rest of the day hanging out in my pj's cleaning up the house and checking out Faceb*ok or reading people's blogs. I was able to make our nursery look not like a storage room anymore, so that was at least one productive thing I accomplished this week. :0) When we had our foster boys Hope's room became the new storage room ... and since we are getting our homestudy update done by a new agency NEXT FRIDAY I thought that I needed to do some organizing. :0) I am planning on re-covering a rocking chair next week, so after that is done I will post pictures of the finished product. Jana at our agency received our profile book this week. *yipee* She said that it was great and that I did a great job! It's so nice hearing that lol.
So on to today ... and what this post is really about. Three years ago on June 16, 2007 I married my best friend. Wow, I really can't believe that it's been three years already. Seriously, so crazy! I totally don't deserve him. I'm such a nag at times and he is so very patient with me. I have been SO SO SO lucky to have him in my life. I have especially been even that much more greatful for him on this adoption journey. It feels like we have been to hell and back on this journey to become parents, and he has been by my side 100% of the time. He went to fertility treatments with me, he became a foster parent, he applied to an adoption agency, and then to another never once saying no Lindsay I don't want to do this. I know that a lot of men are worried about hurting their pride especially when it's their issues of why they can't start a family. And I know that a lot of men would have quit a long time ago. But he never says no. He's always willing to do whatever crazy path I decide for us to try next. I'm so thankful to have been able to have him be by my side throughout this whole journey. I'm not going to lie these past three year have had a lot of pain, a lot of tears, a lot of questioning God. And he has just held me tight and loved me through every single moment of pain. But there have been a lot of fun moments for us too. I am so ready to see Alya become a daddy. My heart was so happy to watch him play and love on our Hope. He's going to be an amazing father, and I just can't wait for that day. I'm praying that when we celebrate our 4 year anniversary next year we can do it with our little miracle baby as well.
Here are some pictures of our perfect day.
These are two of my favorites.
My parents and us
Our fun wedding party
I told him if he didn't smash cake in my face I was going to divorce him lol. Smashing cake in each others faces on my wedding day has always been one of my biggest dreams as a girl. haha We did a good job!
My Ohio family that was able to come down for the wedding.
My dad and I walking down the aisle. I love my face ... this is the first glimpse of Alya. :0)
My amazing orange flowers. (I made them myself!)
So in love!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
One Step
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
That's what the ring I got to symbolize this adoption says. I know that I posted about it before ... but this quote has really gotten me through the past week or so. You see that first step for us is faith. When we first decided to go the private adoption route we knew that it wasn't going to be easy. We knew that our faith was going to be tested in a new way ... and we wanted to be ready for that. We wanted to take a giant leap with that first step in knowing and believing that GOD had this whole journey already taken care of. I've prayed it seems almost every single second of each day that my faith wouldn't waiver. I just don't want to go back to the same person I was when we lost Hope. In fact I refuse to do that ... so even though some of the hoops we've had to go through seem more like brick walls than an open hoop ... we continue to jump and hold onto God the whole way through.
Adoption fees are so hard to understand sometimes. The insane cost of trying to rescue an orphan is just hard to wrap your brain around sometimes. But as much as I wish the cost wasn't so great ... I'm kind of glad for it. I don't think that we would rely nearly (if at all) as much on God if adopting was only as little as $1,000. Because we don't have a nice little money tree growing in our backyard, we've had to one million percent rely on God for EVERYTHING. And I am so thankful to be given the heart for adoption because I have never felt closer to my Father in all my life.
The last day of school was today. *jumping up and down!* I am getting ready to take on another adventure of teaching pre-k this summer. Oh, how I would love to enjoy my summer off like all my other teacher buddies ... but I am so so so so thankful for the opportunity to have this job. I kind of have mixed emotions about it because the reason why I applied for it again was so that we could save up more money for our adoption. However, we have realized that we have to use that money for other reasons at the moment. And even though it does make me sad knowing we can't be that much closer to bringing home our baby ... I am so thankful that the Lord provides for our every need. He is providing for a different need other than our adoption right now, and so we will continue to walk in faith through our adoption journey knowing and trusting HE's got it all taken care of.
I talked to Janna at our agency this week. We've been playing phone tag for the last 2 weeks so it was nice to actually get to talk to her. I am sending in our profile book hopefully tomorrow. She told me that there are two women who are currently pregnant with bi-racial babies, both wanting a mixed couple to adopt their baby ... and guess what?!? Alya and I are the ONLY mixed couple that the agency has. Ha. One of them is due in October and is defiantly having a boy and the other one is due in Dec./Jan. and isn't sure what she is having yet. So just keep us lifted up in your prayers. We still have SO much fundraising to do ... but I am NOT stressing about it. I'm just praying for OPEN windows and a peaceful heart to know what to do.
We didn't end up winning the $5,000 from this amazing blog. However, we did get $147. And we also got a check in the mail yesterday for another $100. :0) So our little fundraiser thermometer is rising towards our goal. I can't wait for that day.
Believer in Miracles,
That's what the ring I got to symbolize this adoption says. I know that I posted about it before ... but this quote has really gotten me through the past week or so. You see that first step for us is faith. When we first decided to go the private adoption route we knew that it wasn't going to be easy. We knew that our faith was going to be tested in a new way ... and we wanted to be ready for that. We wanted to take a giant leap with that first step in knowing and believing that GOD had this whole journey already taken care of. I've prayed it seems almost every single second of each day that my faith wouldn't waiver. I just don't want to go back to the same person I was when we lost Hope. In fact I refuse to do that ... so even though some of the hoops we've had to go through seem more like brick walls than an open hoop ... we continue to jump and hold onto God the whole way through.
Adoption fees are so hard to understand sometimes. The insane cost of trying to rescue an orphan is just hard to wrap your brain around sometimes. But as much as I wish the cost wasn't so great ... I'm kind of glad for it. I don't think that we would rely nearly (if at all) as much on God if adopting was only as little as $1,000. Because we don't have a nice little money tree growing in our backyard, we've had to one million percent rely on God for EVERYTHING. And I am so thankful to be given the heart for adoption because I have never felt closer to my Father in all my life.
The last day of school was today. *jumping up and down!* I am getting ready to take on another adventure of teaching pre-k this summer. Oh, how I would love to enjoy my summer off like all my other teacher buddies ... but I am so so so so thankful for the opportunity to have this job. I kind of have mixed emotions about it because the reason why I applied for it again was so that we could save up more money for our adoption. However, we have realized that we have to use that money for other reasons at the moment. And even though it does make me sad knowing we can't be that much closer to bringing home our baby ... I am so thankful that the Lord provides for our every need. He is providing for a different need other than our adoption right now, and so we will continue to walk in faith through our adoption journey knowing and trusting HE's got it all taken care of.
I talked to Janna at our agency this week. We've been playing phone tag for the last 2 weeks so it was nice to actually get to talk to her. I am sending in our profile book hopefully tomorrow. She told me that there are two women who are currently pregnant with bi-racial babies, both wanting a mixed couple to adopt their baby ... and guess what?!? Alya and I are the ONLY mixed couple that the agency has. Ha. One of them is due in October and is defiantly having a boy and the other one is due in Dec./Jan. and isn't sure what she is having yet. So just keep us lifted up in your prayers. We still have SO much fundraising to do ... but I am NOT stressing about it. I'm just praying for OPEN windows and a peaceful heart to know what to do.
We didn't end up winning the $5,000 from this amazing blog. However, we did get $147. And we also got a check in the mail yesterday for another $100. :0) So our little fundraiser thermometer is rising towards our goal. I can't wait for that day.
Believer in Miracles,
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Is The Church Racist??
What do you think??? Do you think the church is racist??
Our church, The Journey Church , has been doing an amazing series over these past three weeks. The series is called FAQ otherwise known as Frequently AVOIDED Questions. I have to tell you that I have been anxiously awaiting this last sermon in this series! It was called Is the Church Racist? Being a mixed couple Alya and I have definitely had our fair share of racial remarks about our relationship. I was really really excited about this message because I just felt that FINALLY someone had enough guts to talk about this topic in the church. I STRONGLY encourage you to check out this link and watch this sermon online. Our pastor is a really amazing speaker and I promise you won't regret the time it took to watch it.
Go HERE and just click on the previous series button to the right of the screen. Find the series that says "FAQ" and click on the week three series towards the bottom of the screen called "Is The Church Racist?". Leave some comments down at the bottom and share what you thought about it.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
From God to Ghana Give Away!!!!
This post is dedicated to one of my new blog buddies Kristie!
Please click on over to her blog and check out her awesome t-shirts her and her family are selling. They are doing a give away and two people, yes that means YOU have a chance to win a FREE super awesome t-shirt that will help this beautiful family bring home their two precious babies from one of my very favorite places in the world, Ghana! To win a shirt is super easy so click on over to her blog and find out the details!
She also has one of the most passionate, sweetest, tender hearted little girls I have ever "met". You HAVE TO go read her blog and learn about her heart for the orphaned. She is doing an amazing fundraiser that I know you would love to be apart of. So while your checking out her mommy's blog to win a FREE T-SHIRT, go on over to her sweet little girl's blog and help bring these orphans home!
Please click on over to her blog and check out her awesome t-shirts her and her family are selling. They are doing a give away and two people, yes that means YOU have a chance to win a FREE super awesome t-shirt that will help this beautiful family bring home their two precious babies from one of my very favorite places in the world, Ghana! To win a shirt is super easy so click on over to her blog and find out the details!
She also has one of the most passionate, sweetest, tender hearted little girls I have ever "met". You HAVE TO go read her blog and learn about her heart for the orphaned. She is doing an amazing fundraiser that I know you would love to be apart of. So while your checking out her mommy's blog to win a FREE T-SHIRT, go on over to her sweet little girl's blog and help bring these orphans home!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
What To Do?
I feel so confused today.
I just wish that I felt like I knew what direction we were supposed to go in.
Things finally started to look promising ... and then BAM! we were slammed in the face with yet another obstacle to over come.
Do we quit?
Do we wait awhile?
It sucks really bad not knowing what to do. It sucks feeling this way.
Wishing it would all go away, and we could get on that clear path again.
sigh ...
I just wish that I felt like I knew what direction we were supposed to go in.
Things finally started to look promising ... and then BAM! we were slammed in the face with yet another obstacle to over come.
Do we quit?
Do we wait awhile?
It sucks really bad not knowing what to do. It sucks feeling this way.
Wishing it would all go away, and we could get on that clear path again.
sigh ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)