Faith and Grace Quilts are FINISHED!!!

Pam ~ You may remember way back in November 2010 when I told you about a new fundraiser that my friend Karen had started for us.  Karen started asking people to sponsor a quilt block and she would put together two quilts made up of the sponsored blocks with the money going towards our adoption expenses.  I was so excited about the idea and posted about it on this blog and on Facebook.

A few blocks were sponsored fairly quickly, but then it seemed to "stagnate" some.  Karen started a blog page devoted to this fundraiser and I posted about it on Facebook a few times, but it was still slow.

Then, this past February, Karen told me that a SIXTEEN blocks had been sponsored and I discovered that a friend in Colorado (Nikki) had felt burdened to share our quilt fundraiser with her church (which also happens to be my husband's home church and the church that my in-laws still attend) and many people had decided to "pitch in" and sponsor a quilt block :-)

I cried.

And then I cried some more.

It was super special to have someone do something like that for us!!!

And so my friend Karen has been faithfully posting pictures on the quilt blog and keeping everyone updated as to the progress of the quilts.

Guess what????

They are DONE!!!!!!!

And Karen, who lives several states away, and who I have only seen a couple times in the past probably eight years, is coming to visit this week!!!!!!  She is actually coming to attend the Seminary graduation of her brother (whose family are close friends of ours), but she is bringing the quilts and I'm looking forward to giving her a GINORMOUS hug!!!!!!

They look pretty great in the pictures, but I CAN'T WAIT to see them in person!!!!!!

New/LAST Goal ~ Trip #2

Pam ~ We have just one more financial goal to achieve on this crazy adoption journey we have been on.  It has been pretty amazing to see how God has provided for each of our financial "goals".  And now we are eager to see how He will provide again :-).

I want to again mention that we are estimating how much money we will need for each of these trips.  The cost will vary depending on what time of year we travel, if we are bringing home one or two children, how long we stay in Ethiopia, etc.  I have taken the estimates that our agency has given us and estimated on the high side in each area.  I would rather have a little money left over at the end to put toward buying donations for the orphanages in Ethiopia :-), than to not have the money we need to purchase our tickets.

Here is the estimated break-down of costs for Trip #2.

Airfare (2 adults) ~ varies ~ $4,000
In-Country Travel Package (2 adults) ~ varies ~ $2,000 estimate (as with our first trip, this amount will cover our housing, transportation, food, etc. for the time we are in Ethiopia)
Visas (2 adults) ~ $40
Airfare (2 children) ~ varies ~ $2,000
Visas/Embassy Fee (2 children) ~ $808

This brings the our new financial goal to a total of $8,848.

God has already provided over $30,000 towards our adoption via donations from friends/family, fundraisers, overtime pay, and a lot of scrimping and saving on our part :-), and we are confident in His ability to provide this last amount!!!!!!

We honestly never thought that we would still be waiting for our referral.  We officially started this journey via the "paper-chasing" part of the adoption 1 year, 10 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days ago.  That's a long time!!!  We have been on the official waiting list for 1 year, 4 months, and 4 days.  That's a long time to be waiting for a special phone call.

Thank you for all of your prayers and encouraging words!!!!  They are what is getting us through this waiting!!!!!

Trip #1 SAVED!!!!

Pam ~ After Nathan updated the budget tonight, I decided to see where our adoption savings was at because I was pretty sure that we were very close to having saved the amount we have estimated that we will need for our first trip, and, are you ready for this?????  We have $3 more than what we have estimated that we will need!!!!!!

Our Thermometer is FULL!!!!!!!!

We are praising the Lord for His faithfulness and provision!!!!!!!

Our next goal will be for our second trip to Ethiopia.  I want to "re-figure" the estimated amount (because it's been a year since I last figured the amounts) and then I will post our new and FINAL adoption financial goal!!!

16 Months DTE

DTE = Dossier To Ethiopia

wait

to remain stationary in readiness or expectation

to look forward expectantly

to be ready and available 

That is what and who we are.  Waiting.

Siblings 0-5 years

Child 4-years and older

Boy 19-47 months

Girl 19-47 months

Siblings 0-4 years 

(These are our current numbers on the "unofficial" waiting list.)

Investing In Our Future

Nate ~ You know.......I have been thinking today about investing in our futures.  Usually, you think "financial investment", and that does count.  In fact, that is an important way of investing in our future.  I was, however, also thinking of the other investments.  You know.......How did I invest in my future with Pam today?  (Did I remember to tell her I love her this morning or thank her for working on XYZ?)  How did I invest in the future of my children today?  (Did I remember to pray for them?)  How did I invest in the future of my career today?  How did I invest in the future of my (God's) ministries today?


Then it struck me.  The habits we have and the things that we do every day are either investing or making withdrawals on our future.  We are either putting things away, saving them for the future, or we are removing from our "future bank".  An example.  When I spend time on a computer game, I am not in any way investing in my future.  On the contrary, I not only lose the time I could have been investing, but I also am establishing habits for the future that may (if unchecked) take away even more from my future by not allowing me to focus on what IS important to me.  So, do I mean that if I play a game today I will neglect my wife and children tomorrow?  No.  Do I mean that if I play a game today, and tomorrow, and every other day without any checks or balances that I will neglect my wife and children in the future?  Yes.  That means that my actions that are not investing in my future, are taking an active role in withdrawing from the bank of my future.

I don't know about you, but that is both humbling and humiliating.  It shames me to see the sin that is in my life that is actively withdrawing from the futures of my wife and children for a short moment today.  How did we become so selfish that our own personal choices become more important than another person and our relationship with them?

I need to close this off, but I want to add one more thing.  If you are not sure what you "investments" are, here is a working definition from a dictionary.

An Investment: a thing that is worth buying because it will be profitable or useful in the future.

What are the things that will be important to you in 5 years, 10 years, etc?  Those are things that we cannot neglect today, or we risk emptying our account and we will not have the means to purchase them when the time comes.  Will I have that important relationship with my kids in 10 years, or will they not care what I have to say because of XYZ that seems so important today?

One Day Without Shoes

Pam ~ Tuesday, April 10th, was "One Day Without Shoes".

I had heard about this special day last year, but didn't hear about it until the DAY OF so I didn't participate.  And then it crept up on my again this year and I didn't remember until the day before!!!!  So I quickly did some research, "checked in" with my school administrator for permission, printed up info to post on the front door of the school, "talked it up" with my associate teacher, and set out on my own personal adventure of a "Day Without Shoes."

(If you want more specific info about this special day, click HERE to go to the "official" webpage.  My purpose in this post is to share MY day with you.)

The commitment that I made was to spend one day without wearing any shoes (or socks).  I was not going to "veer" from my regular schedule, but I wanted to have the opportunity to share with my co-workers, students and students' parents about the need there is world-wide for shoes.  There are people all over the world who are unable to go to school or work jobs, and who often contract one or more of the many diseases which are "caused" by bare feet.

Our weather has been unseasonably warm for most of the winter and Spring came early.  However, Tuesday morning was a cool 30* when I left home.  The quick walk to my carpool friend parked on my driveway was easy.  The drive to school left my feet cold (draft from the car door).  The walk over the gravel and COLD cement sidewalk was a little rough.  And so my day began.

I had forewarned my students' parents via e-mail that I was going to be shoe-less on Tuesday, so a few of my students came into class knowing that Mrs. Maxwell was going to be barefoot, but for the students who didn't know, it was something of a shock.

We had a very good discussion about WHY Mrs. Maxwell (and Mrs. Kaldenberg, my associate) were not wearing any shoes.  Four and five-year-olds often "get it" more quickly than many grown-ups that I know.  I shared with them that there are many boys and girls around the world who are living without ANY shoes and how we need to be praying for them and be THANKFUL for the many pairs of shoes that God has allowed us to have.  We need to be thinking of things we can do to help boys and girls around us who do not have as much as we do, and we need to NOT COMPLAIN about what we don't have.

I have shared bits and pieces about the fact that Mr. Maxwell and I are going to be adopting one or two children to come be OUR kids and that we will be their mommy and daddy to love them forever.  I shared with them that my child/ren might have lived for a while without any shoes, and I saw tears in some of my students' eyes.  They "get it".  And when one of my students was praying for snack, he prayed "God, take care of Mrs. Maxwell's kids, and help them not be cold or scared until she can go get them."  Bring on the tears!!!!!!!

So, bringing awareness to others was one reason that I chose to not wear any shoes.

The second reason, and really the biggest reason for me, that I chose to not wear shoes was to give me a physical reminder to be in prayer for MY child/ren.  Every time I took a step that hurt, or my feet were cold, or a child stepped on my foot, or my ankles ached from no support, I remembered to pray for my child/ren.  It was an incredible day :-).

I posted on Facebook and had a few friends who took the journey with me.

Tonya

Gretchen

Kristi

Karen

Heidi, Greg, Esther, Jenna, and Chloe

Grandma