New sites...

Not much to update on the personal life, but I did find some new sites!!

Freeset- "Freeset is a fair trade business offering employment to women trapped in Kolkata's sex trade. We make quality jute bags and organic cotton t-shirts, but our business is freedom!"
Green Heart-"Greenheart Shop is Chicago’s only nonprofit eco friendly, fair trade store. Greenheart is fair to producers and good to the earth through its support of local, social enterprises and global fair trade partnerships. Please visit our store in Chicago or shop online!"

SERRV-"For more than 60 years, SERRV has worked to eradicate poverty through our direct connections with low-income artisans and farmers. We market their crafts and foods, find joint solutions to their challenges, and help them grow and embrace the future. One of the first alternative trade organizations in the world, SERRV is a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT) and a founding member of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF)."

This will probably be the last shop with purpose post for awhile...just wanted to give a good assortment for Cyber Monday!!

Shopping with a Purpose…

One of my favorite blogs Rage Against the Minivan, already did some research and found more great sites! Check out more in-depth reviews on her site, but here are the organizations she recommended:
Ever/After Clothing – Super cute simple/modern clothes for kids. (Some adult selects)
Slow Color- Soft scarves
Krochet Kids- Really cute beanies! (Adult and kids)
31 Bits- Great jewelry
Not for Sale- Journals, bags, scarves, and clothes!
Haitian Creations- Purses, bags, and jewelry
Punjammies- Cute lounge wear and PJs!
Seriously, I know pictures would help a lot, but this stuff is so cute. Head over to Rage Against the Minivan, OR just click directly on the link!!
Now here are some of my personal favorites:
Hello-Somebody- Great Bundle Package available for this weekend!!
Noonday Collection- Wayyy cute stuff
Toms- The gift that started it all…
147 Million Orphans- This gives back to Ryan and I and people around the world!

Cyber Mondayyyy!

 

Last year I started shopping with a purpose for Christmas. I did pretty good, but this year I am sure I can do better.

Here is a list of organizations I recommended last year.

Leslie Allison Designs*

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Global Good Partners

MD Anderson Cancer Center

FEED*

fashion ABLE

Jedidiah

Invisible Children

 

The *ONLY* downfall to shopping with a purpose is almost everything has to be bought online. I really love to actually go shopping for Christmas presents, but I guess I will just make do!

Now here is the cool thing. Cyber Monday is going to offer LOTS of goodies I am sure. So you might want to check out these sites this weekend and go ahead and pick out what your going to buy. You never know when you might score some free shipping!!! I have already found one of the sites that is offer 15% off and free shipping on Monday!

I will try to list more sites available before Monday…

 

Disclaimer: I haven’t actually bought from all of these sites, but they all have super cute stuff! I don’t know if they will offer any deals on Cyber Monday, but they might! If the links don’t work for some reason, just google the name and the website will surely come up!

*I have actually bought something from this organization.

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!



Healthy Girl

Today I am thankful for my health. I am so grateful to live in a country that allows me to have access to the best medical care. I am also grateful that at the moment, I don't need the best medical care. I recently talked to a women who was just floating along going to school and interning to be a teacher. Then BAM she had a stroke. Now she is getting food delivered to her, and is just totally living a new normal. When briefly talking to her, I could just see myself in her. I am so glad that I have been giving this life to live.

My organization today is a pretty common one, but a great one none the less!
Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

"On any given day, more than 27,000 committed individuals representing dozens of nationalities can be found providing assistance to people caught in crises around the world. They are doctors, nurses, logistics experts, administrators, epidemiologists, laboratory technicians, mental health professionals, and others who work together in accordance with MSF's guiding principles of humanitarian action and medical ethics."-http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/aboutus/?ref=main-menu

Time to Share

I have felt like I need to blog about this for the past two days, but just haven't really wanted to do it. Ryan shared his testimony on facebook bible study thing, and I guess that is what sparked this in me. It might be time to share my testimony. Every time I am asked to share my testimony I usually whine about it, or skip the question for last if I am filling something out. I don't think it is a bad story, I just think it is long and usually changes every time I tell it. Its not some clear cut story. So here goes. (Yes- I just let out a ughhhhh)

My story starts with Ryans...
In the summer of 2010 Ryan and I got to go to our first youth camp together as sponsors. We went to Super Summer. I was probably way more excited because I had been a sponsor before, but really missed Ryan.I was really excited for him to be with me. However, this camp we got split up and really never saw much of each other. On the first day all the Team Leaders were talking about the reason they came back to the camp was because it changed their lives. I came just because it seemed like a fun camp. Throughout the week I could tell Ryan was having a BLAST. He was the happiest and most outgoing I had ever seen him in public. I, on the other hand, was a bit jealous and annoyed and ready to go home.

Upon returning home Ryan was a totally different person. I knew something had changed, but I wasn't really sure what that meant. As the days and maybe even weeks went by he wasn't going back to his old self, and I was kind of getting annoyed. Things were just floating along, and Ryan laid off the Jesus talk and happy go lucky stuff because he knew I wasn't feeling it.

That is also the first summer I found the wonderful world of blogs. I became obsessed with home improvement and DIY craft blogs. I guess I must have stumbled across some adoption blogs because I remember starting to watch "Gotcha Day" videos on youtube.

This is when it becomes my story...
On October 15th, I took a half day from work because we were closing on our house! We were going to officially become home owners that afternoon. I came home from school and took a shower so my hair would be cute for pictures and then got on the Internet. I started watching some more Gotcha Day videos and I just knew that this was something I wanted to do. I wanted to adopt a baby.

Ryan came home and I realized I had forgot my Beth Moore bible study book at the church, and Ryan had to talk to our associate pastor. On our way to the church, I told Ryan I really wanted to adopt a baby. He made me tell him my reasons and they were not very good reasons (I can't even remember them now). Anyway he wasn't really on board at the time. Then we went and talked to our A.P. and told him that I wanted to adopt. He told us that we should maybe try living overseas before settling down and adopting. I am sure he was just meaning like it would be a good idea. You don't actually need to do it, but none the less the seed was planted.

We left and went to sign for the house. After we signed the house I specifically remember telling Ryan, "I feel so free". I couldn't figure out WHY I felt so relieved and just at peace and free. (Now I do).

After the signing, we went to Walmart and Ryan said wouldn't it be crazy if we became international missionary. I was like YAHH! That would be awesome (Not the answer he expected I am sure). Then the rest of the trip we just talked about "Wouldn't it be crazy...." things.

The next morning Ryan was making me breakfast and he told me he had googled Engineering Mission groups. He found one called eMi. I thought it was so awesome and ready to sell everything and go. We told our parents that we both felt called to become missionaries a few days later. This was intense. It was wild, and it was all God.

We eventually realized that we were not going to be full-time missionaries and weren't quitting our jobs, but we did apply for a Volunteer position with eMi.

Anyway...that was when it started. Around that time we were reading Crazy/Love and Radical. Our lives were shifting and God was moving. Looking back I now see that the day we signed for our house was whe God opened my eyes to a whole world of possibilities. He freed me from the life of living the average American Dream. He showed me that my dreams were bigger than the American Dream.  From then on he has been ruining my life for Him.

I became the changed one and Ryan and I were forever changed as a couple. We are so blessed that we both had our hearts changed within a short time frame from each other. Our marriage has just gotten better and better, and our lives have so much more meaning. We are truly better people because of Jesus and the grace he has given us. He chose us to follow his word and spread his name. We are both so honored to have this together.

See what I mean about ughhhhhhh. Its a great story, but long. Everytime I think about it I see something new that happened, that God did.
I heard a song on the radio the other day that said something along the lines of "break my heart to make my feet move". I know that is isn't the exact line, but something like that. I realize that is exactly what God did. He broke my heart for orphans and moved my heart to action. Through that move He stepped in and took over my life.

Official Home Owners....and so much more....

We. Are.

FINISHED.

We had our LAST Home Study tonight! Ahhhh. I am sooo relieved. This last week all I have been thinking about is cleaning the house, getting it ready, and actually being interviewed!!! I am so glad it is over, and it was very painless! The house inspection part was way better than I anticipated. The interview was harder than the first one, but overall I think it went okay!

We have a few forms we need to get notarized, finish making our Family Photo Page for our Dossier, get two passport sized pictures taken, and we are donnnnnne. With our part of the process. That is just so exciting.

God really pulled through on some of my big prayer requests about this visit, and I am so grateful! (One being Jovie's behavior. She stayed outside and was good!)

Guess what??

Today I am super thankful for our adoption! I am just filled with joy to be apart of something so wonderful. Today we had a family from our church legally grow to a family of 5 because of National Adoption Day. I am so happy for them and loved seeing this process from the very beginning. If you are even interested in adoption, I urge you to start stalking following some of the adoption blogs I have listed on the right of my blog. It will move your heart and push you in the direction you need to go. I believe God totally opened my eyes and heart to adoption through blogs. Silly as that sounds it is true! So start reading and listening to your heart, just see what God sparks in you. Also, please feel free to message me if you ever have any questions!!!

Oh by the way. 147 Million Orphans has created a new partnership program that allows you all to buy shirts directly from their site, and we will get some of the proceeds!! Yahh!! All you have to do is order directly from this link: http://www.147millionorphans.com/?AffId=15

Another great thing about this new program is that ALL the merchandise helps our adoption!! So anything you buy will help us out, as long as you start off from the link above!!

Thanks for everyone who has already bought and shirt, and for anyone who might in the future! I get so excited to see people wearing them. I don't care so much about the money (although it is a WONDERFUL perk), I really care about the advocacy you all do when wearing the t-shirts. We are opening the eyes of our community to adoption! Thank you!!!!!

Jesus Christ

Today I am thankful for Jesus Christ. I am hesitant to even say this, but I know this can sound kind of cheesy. However, I don’t feel like it is at all. I am so thankful for Him. I am grateful that God took the LOWEST form as a human being and lived and served among us. He knows every feeling and emotion we are going through because He also lived it. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”- Hebrews 4:15 Jesus was a real person. Historians can prove it. He was here walking and talking and healing, and just hanging out. Here is an awesome blog about how the Bible proves Jesus was just like us (except without sin)- human. http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/jesus-is-fully-human

So what could my organization be that supports Jesus? Well I am so thankful that I am an American citizen and have the ability to read the Bible in multiple translations and freely. Some of our fellow humans are not so lucky. They have government restrictions. OR they honestly do not have a single person that knows Jesus to tell them about the Good News!

 Have you ever heard of the 10:40 window? Well, “The 10/40 Window is an area of the world that contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world. The area extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees North of the equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China.”- http://1040window.org/what_is.htm

Read more about the 10-40 window here: http://www.joshuaproject.net/10-40-window.php

Again, what is the organization for supporting Jesus? It is the Joshua Project.
“Joshua Project gathers, integrates, and shares people group information to encourage pioneer church-planting movements among every ethnic group and to facilitate effective coordination of mission agency efforts.”- http://www.joshuaproject.net/joshua-project.php

Why is this important??

“Joshua Project is a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the fewest followers of Christ. Accurate, regularly updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding and completing the Great Commission. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Jesus directly links His return to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. While no one knows the date or time of His return, we do know that this gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the nations first. Revelation 5:9 and 7:9-10 show that there will be some from every tribe, tongue, nation and people before the Throne.”- http://www.joshuaproject.net/joshua-project.php

So jump on over to www.Joshuaproject.net !

Picture Perfect

Today I am thankful for pictures. For as long as I can remember I have loved looking at pictures. My memory is not very good, so pictures are very special to me :)

My organization today is super cool. It is called Help Portrait.
"HELP-PORTRAIT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS USING THEIR TIME, GEAR AND EXPERTISE TO GIVE BACK TO THOSE IN NEED."- help-portrait.com

Seriously this might be my favorite organization I have covered. Just watch this video or check out their website. http://www.help-portrait.com/

Tunes in the Cellar!

Here are some of the recent songs we have used during worship at the Cellar...

All Sons and Daughters- All the Poor and Powerless
All Sons and Daughters- Alive
J.J. Heller- Kingdom Come
City Harmonic- Mountain Top
Mercy Me- Free
John Mark McMillian- Death in His Grave
Run Kid Run- Freedom
John Foreman- Your Love is Strong
Matt Maher- Christ is Risen
Gungor- Beautiful Things

What’s next??

Soooo after our home studys are finished what is next??  I am actually kind of nervous about this part because it is all out of my control. My first taste of waiting! After our last interviews, our social worker will write up a report. Then she has to send it to our AWAA Social worker, then to our Family Coordinator, then back to our local social worker to make and revisions. Then the report comes to us and we have to approve it. I’m not exactly sure where it ends up, but when all those people sign off on in then it is complete! The timeline for this to all be complete is around 6-8 weeks. I hope with the holidays being thrown in there it won’t take much longer!

Once our H.S. report is complete then we can submit the 1-600A application to USCIS.
A set of forms used to officially request permission from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to classify a child in a foreign country, who fits the definition of an "orphan," as an immediate relative of its intended adoptive parents, so that there can be an expedited processing and issuance of a visa to that child, allowing it to be brought into the United States, either after having been adopted abroad, or in order for it to be adopted in the United States.- Adoption.com

After we apply to USCIS we will get an appointment to get our fingerprints. The timeline for the fingerprint appointment is 4-12 weeks. YIKES! Pray for the 4 weeks!

Once we get the fingerprints then we get our dossier documents certified. I don’t know how long this part takes, but I have a few weeks to figure it out!!

After that we make lots of copies and mail off our dossier! Then we will officially be DTE!!! *Dossier to Ethiopia**

When DTE happens ladies and gentlemen…Our wait time officially begins. The current average wait time for a infant boy is 10-15 months.  This is to get our referral for our sweet baby boy!!

After the referral is accepted, we will son in Ethiopia, Africa waiting for US to come get him!!

Then we wait another month or two for a court date. We will go to Africa for about a week and meet our baby. If we pass court he will legally become our son!  Then we come home and wait. I’m sure this will be the worst part, but hopefully it will pass by quick!

Then we will get the call to return to Ethiopia and pick up our son forever!
That my friends is what our future timeline holds. God speed.

Home Study 101

We have two of our four home studys completed! Yahh!! Our next two are going to be on Sunday. (God willing- I get a little nervous announcing it Just hoping I don’t jinx it!) Our social worker is going to be coming to our house this time.
Our first H.S. was in Huntsville and she just drilled us with an 1 1/2 hours of questions. They ranged from “Why do you want to adopt?”, to “What are your strengths and weakness of your marriage” to anything else you could possibly think of couple related. I would love to see how people who are wanting to get pregnant would do on these tests. I bet there would be a lot less pregnancies! You really have to want to adopt to do this!! However, as stressful as that sounds, it really was very relaxed interview. We both left feeling like we answered everything truthful and hoping for the best!
Our second H.S. was much more laid back. It was a training session, not so much an interview. There were four other America World adoptive couples, an adoptive mom of 7 (or 9- I can’t quite remember), and an adult adoptee. The stories from the mom and adult adoptee were awesome. I am really glad they were there to give their testimonies. The rest of the training was making sure we are prepared for having a biracial adoptive family. Scary, but necessary.
The next two H.S. are individual interviews. Ryan and I will both get interviewed separately. I am assuming the questions will be geared more towards making sure we are emotionally ready to handle parenthood. All the books I have been reading talk a lot about making sure the parents are emotionally stable. Our kiddo could have some serious “issues” and if we have our own “issues” that haven’t been dealt with then we are all in trouble. Hopefully my “issues” aren’t anything out of the norm! We all have sommmmme issues right?? She also is going to check our house to make sure it is baby ready! This makes me super excited, but also kind of panicky. We still have plenty of time before the baby gets here, but we better get ready! Some things on our list to buy and install are: fire extinguisher, new batteries for fire alarms, baby proof all our drawers (yikes!), outlet covers for all of our electric sockets. Those are pretty much it which isn’t that bad, but I am not really looking forward to having baby proofed drawers and no baby!  However, I will do whatever it takes!!!

Laptop :)

Today I am thankful for my laptop and just plain ol' desktop. I spend a lot of time on computers. I make a living teaching children how to use them, and my favorite hobby is to read blogs and use social media! I also think technology has given us the opportunity to help each other and spread the message of Christ and his love for us.

Today my organization is One Laptop Per Child: OLPC.

Mission:
We aim to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. To this end, we have designed hardware, content and software for collaborative, joyful, and self-empowered learning. With access to this type of tool, children are engaged in their own education, and learn, share, and create together. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.- OLPC

How are they distributed?
The laptops are generally sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child; using this model, we began deployments around the world in 2007. An additional allocation of machines was used to seed the developer community, to enable a broader community of participation, and roughly 80,000 laptops were donated to countries around the world through grassroots donation efforts. As of 2011, over 2 million laptops-  have been distributed under this model.-OLPC





Where are the laptops going?
Over 1.7 million children and teachers in Latin America are currently part of an OLPC project, with another 400,000 in Africa and the rest of the world. Our largest national partners include UruguayPeru  (the first major country in the world to provide every elementary school child with a laptop), (our largest deployment, involving over 8,300 schools), Argentina, Mexico, and Rwanda. Other significant projects have been started in Gaza, Afghanistan, Haiti, Ethiopia, and Mongolia. Every school represent a learning hub, a node in a globally shared resource for learning.-OLPC

eMi

Today I am thankful for my husband and his engineering job. He is so smart and is a great engineer. In many ways our lives have been blessed and changed by his engineering career. We first started our missions because we found a International Engineering Missions group called eMi.  We applied and our lives were rocked by our first mission trip to Nicaragua. Without that trip I’m not sure what our lives would be like today! We are also blessed sooo greatly by his job financially. God has provided for our the bulk of our adoption by Ryan’s job.
Today my organization is eMi. If you are interested in engineering and how you can use it to spread God’s glory, this is a place for you!!
What is eMi?
“Engineering Ministries International (EMI) is a
non-profit Christian development organization made up of architects, engineers and design professionals who donate their skills to help children and families around the world step out of poverty and into a world of hope.”-eMi

Ryan and I in our eMi hats!

Working on getting a vision for the new eMi multipurpose campus.

Our team working on blue prints and plans for the town of Rama, Nicaragua.

Ryan working on the water system at a church in Bluefields,Nicaragua.

Spouses can go on the engineering trip too….

Noonday collection

Today I am super thankful for my friends. I love having such different groups of friends that all help me be a better person in different ways. I am so fortunate to have great girls to call on!

My organization today is noonday collection.

What is Noonday?
”The Noonday Collection offers fashion forward accessories for you and your home handcrafted by artisans from around the world that receive a living wage for their work. Every item is handcrafted in style, with love, and creates a pathway out of poverty for these artisans. Proceeds also help place orphans in forever families.”Noonday Facebook Page

How did Noonday start??
"After visiting Uganda in February of 2010 and holding hundreds of children without moms and dads, Joe and Jessica Honegger (the founder) decided to adopt internationally (from Rwanda). Also on that visit, they met up with long time friends who had lived in Uganda for many years trying to create sustainable income opportunities for the Ugandan people. They asked Jessica if she would like to sell the fair-trade locally made goods in Austin, in order to raise money for the costly adoption process. Jessica agreed and the first Noonday Collection trunk show was born! You can read more about her story here.

Word spread quickly about Noonday's envied products and the lives they impact. Other women wanted to style their friends while advocating for women and kids. Soon, the Ambassador program launched and Noonday Collection will soon be found in a home near you!"- Noonday

When I first saw this jewelry I immediately thought of all  my friends. The collections just looked like my friends! So head on over to noonday collection and buy some really cute stuff!!

 

Headed to Hunstville...

Tonight we have our first homestudy interview!! Yahh!  Some prayers would be greatly appreciated. I haven't posted about this appointment yet because I was nervous something would come up, and we wouldn't be able to go have it! Here we are though, on our way! I say this everytime, but I really can't believe we are doing this!!! :) :) :) :)

Don't forget...

Don't forget about Team Busen! I am thankful that my college group has been spreading the word and we are getting watches sold for Busen's education and meals :)

If you don't know what I am talking about check this out....
http://liftingarms-at.blogspot.com/2011/10/give-back-for-christmas.html

We only have until November 18th!! Buy a watch!!

Shoes...

As I was packing for our super fun, short road trip I was searching frantically for my shoes! I made sure to pack brown and black flats, and brown and black boots. Who knows what my outfits will call for! So today I am super thankful that I have a closet, and side room full of shoes.

My organization today is......TOMS! Who doesn't love or own a pair of Toms?? If you don't you definitely should!!

The idea is simple. With every pair you purchase, Toms will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.

You better believe Baby Isaiah will be having a pair of these....

*pic from here

Chilly weather...

On wonderful chilly days like this I absolutely looooooove to eat a warm bowl of chili! So today I am thankful that I have the option of not only eating chili and rice, but I can GO buy some chili and have it made for me!!

My organization of the day is going to be Rice Bowls.
The idea is to fill up a rice bowl full of pocket change and one bowl will help feed less fortunate kids!

How much money will fit in a bowl?
A full bowl can hold about $30.
How many children do you feed?
Over 1500 amazing kids! That’s over 1.5 Million Meals a year.
How many orphanages do you partner with?
We currently work with 52 orphanage partners.
Do you send actual food?
No. We provide their food budget so they can buy fresh food locally and support their community.

"New Life" children's home (feeding orphaned children) says thank you to Rice Bowls. from Rice Bowls on Vimeo.

Thankful 2011

Last year I tried to do the "Days of Thanks", but I failed miserably. So why not try again? I want to document things I am thankful to have. The twist is that I am going to document not only things I am thankful for, but also acknowledge that our neighbors around the world don't have access to what I am thankful for.

I am going to try to showcase organizations that will help us donate to give others things that WE are thankful to have.

I started yesterday with charity:water. I sure am thankful to have access to PLENTY of clean water even though it hardly rains anymore.

Today I am thankful for my bed. Mainly because I am going out of town and won't have my bed to sleep in for a few days.

 

Check out Sweet Sleep.

What is Sweet Sleep? Sweet Sleep is a faith-based nonprofit organization which provides beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children, demonstrating God’s love for them and improving their quality of life.
Sweet Sleep's vision is for every orphaned child in the world to lie down in their own bed reminding them they are loved, protected and cared for with hope for the future through Jesus Christ.
According to UNICEF, there are more that 210 million orphans worldwide. Today, 5,760 more children will become orphans.
Orphaned and abandoned children around the world suffer from lack of sufficient or healthy places to sleep. These children often sleep on old, broken and soiled beds or have no beds at all – forcing them to sleep on paper-thin mats or cold, hard floors, making them susceptible to crawling, biting insects and disease. In these conditions, it is nearly impossible to get a good night’s sleep and the effects are staggering.

If your thankful for your bed today and want to help an orphan receive a bed then head on over HERE and donate!

This guy...

This guy is changing the world...

The 2011 September Campaign. Our 5-year-anniversary video from charity: water on Vimeo.