Give Thanks

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever! 

~1 Chronicles 16:34~

Our family gathered for Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Our little family of five and my husband's brother and his family of 6, along with my father-in-law.  Three teen/adult kids ages 15-21, and four wee ones from 3-10.  Yep, we scattered them in all ages, lol, but it makes for tons of fun!  The older kids played board games all day in the game room and watched videos, while the littler ones played with toys, played tag outside and entertained themselves.  And us grown ups.... well, we played cards after my sis-in-law and I cleaned the kitchen and the guys got in their game time and power naps.  ;)  

Us 'big kids' playing cards.

The attitudes playing board games. ;) lol

Gotcha sis!  My daughter always turns away when I'm taking pictures...  she didn't know I was 'packin' when I walked into the game room.  GOTCHA!  =)  Only picture of my daughter from the whole day.  Oh well.  ♥

Our 'twins'.  These two are cousins and just a few shorts months apart in age.  They are in the same grade in school and both were named after their grandmother....

My Tanner Lee, and bro-in-law's Chandler Lee.

And no, in case you're wondering....we didn't plan ANY of it!  lol  They get along famously!

Even 'cousin' Macie came for Thanksgiving.  And Gus was beyond thrilled to have a playmate for the day.  Just like the kids.  They wrestled, explored the great outdoors and took long, lazy naps all day.  (And thankfully....there will be no puppies in our future.) lol

Now... here's a cute little piece of useless information for you:  My husband's side of the family must have some super powered genes because all of our kids tend to look EXACTLY like their fathers.  So much so, that the cousins even tend to look like brother and sister.

Check out my Tanner:

And my niece Kenzie:

Downright scarey freaky huh?!  :)  But definitely adorable!

I can't believe we didn't take some pictures of the food and my HUGE new table that my hubby finished for me.  He bought an antique table at a benefit auction the church had, brought home a BEAUTIFUL surprise for me of a dining room table that is nearly 100 years old (I know this, because I know the family that donated it!), and I could comfortably seat all 11 of us for dinner.  Yep.... ALL of us, and I LOVED IT!

I know someday I'm going to have to have another 'kid' table when we start adding grandbabies, but for now, we can all sit together, share together, help one another, and love eating as a BIG family together. ♥ It was my favorite part of the day.  

After dinner (and before games and cards) I took family pictures for my bro-in-law's family.  (you can bet it was all his wife's idea! lol and we tortured him as long as we possibly could).  Family pics and a new Christmas card were made and I can't wait to surprise them with some extra goodies come Christmas time! ;)  I can safely share this tidbit because I know Michelle doesn't read my blog.  lol

My Bro-in-law Howie & awesome sis-in-law Michelle (who makes the most incredible chocolate pie ever!)

My oldest niece (and I claim her as my first child...long story) Brittany & Macie

New Christmas card with my favorite cuties!  Sidney, Chandler & Kenzie (aren't they just adorable?!)

♥ Family Christmas Card ♥
I just wish I had one for my OWN family! lol

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your families.  Stay tuned to hear how it took a turn for the worse on Black Friday!  (just kidding.....but it wasn't pretty)

SERIOUS giveaway!

So, while surfing my many MANY blogs I love looking for inspiration for a few projects, I stumble upon a FANTASTIC giveaway for a new SILHOUETTE machine!  WOWZERS!

What is a Silhouette machine you ask?  

Well, surely some of you know what a Cricut machine is?  Right?  That fancy cutting machine that we all drooled over in the infomercials when we couldn't sleep at 2 a.m.  Yes, that one!  

*BOO*HISS*

 That nasty machine that you apparently had to buy new cartridges to use with it because the ones that were supplied with the machine, well....simply stunk!  Not a lot there.  And when you discovered that cartridges were anywhere from $25-$75 EACH!  It just plain stinks!  Gives highway robbery new meaning.

WELL.......  this new Silhouette Machine I'm hearing about is the same......only WAY better! ♥

It cuts and does all the fun sewing, craft and scrapbook projects you thought you were going to love about your new Cricut machine,

only it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg in the process!  You see, it hooks right up to your computer and you can download just the designs you want for as little as $0.15 each (yep, they're on sale right now...) or you can use the same fonts and images you already have installed in your computer!

YEAH, you read that right..... the fonts you ALREADY HAVE can be cut with this beautiful little machine.

Now, how do I know all of this you ask.....when I don't have one of my own?

Well, that leads me back to my blog addiction, I mean inspiration.  

The makers of the Silhouette have lost their minds!

They are giving some of these away!

And on Monday, they are having an insane sale if you don't win one!  CRAZY!  I can't wait to win one!  (hey, dream big right?!)

But if I'm not a lucky winner, you can bet I'll probably be adding to the budget this month, a new must-have necessity for our home.  Yes, I call it a necessity to justify splurging on myself from time to time.  I imagine all the cool things I can do as gifts and special surprises for others.  So, it's a service item.  It allows me to serve others more cost effectively.  yeah, that sounds great! ;) lol

Okay, so enough chatter..... check out this list of ladies who are hosting these giveaways:

1. HowDoesShe

2. Make It and Love It

3. Homemade by Jill

4. Infarrantly Creative

5. We Are That Family

6. Grosgrain Fabulous

7. Thrifty Decor Chick

8. The Idea Room

9. NoBiggie

10. Shanty2Chic

11. The Idea Room

12. Moms Review 4 You

13. Love Stitched
14. Decor Chick

15. Tater Tots -n- Jello

And when you're done surfing all those sites and getting your entries in, check out THIS LINK for the actual Silhouette site to take advantage of their incredible sale going on Monday and all week for Black Friday deals.  ♥ 

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday with the family.  I'll let you in on our festivities tomorrow.  But now.......  back to contest entries!  I'm not finished!  LOL  =)

P.S.  Who wants to buy a slightly used, in excellent condition Cricut machine?

*tHiNgS*

So, my bloggy friend Kim made a post about Oprah's recent show on 'favorite things'.  She said it so well, so rather than throw a bunch of mixed words in and get my mind to racing all over again, she's given permission to copy her post and share it.

Did you see what Oprah gave away this year in her annual "Favorite Things" show?

Me neither.

I'm sure it had something to do with chocolate, some kind of kitchen ware, wonderful bath salts and a scented candle. Maybe even all of those each month for a year. Or seven.

Who knows.

And honestly....who cares?

The TV was on for the first few minutes of the show...just long enough for my high school son watch a crowd of grown women scream and cry and have heart palipations because they are taking home some loot.

A lot of it.

While I don't have strong opinions of Oprah one way or the other, and I'm 110% sure she is not one of my readers, I don't blame her for the out of control reactions of the crowd. I blame "us".

My son commented, "Mom...wouldn't you be going crazy if you were given all that stuff?"

While I like a good bath salt as much as any other tired mom, I can honestly say I felt a bit sickened by the whole thing.

Enough to turn it off, actually.

It's just not my thing....and I pray will never be among my "favorite things."

Consider the Orphan. No, not Oprah...the Orphan.

What would rank as their top favorite things?

A Family.

Security.

Love.

Encouragment through life.

Food.

Safety.

A place of belonging.
Knowing their Mom and Dad love them.

Knowing their God loves them more.

HOPE.

That, my friends, would cause THIS grown woman to scream, cry, and have heart palipations.

And I would do it in front of millions of viewers.

So, while you're thinking of your favorite things, or what you will shop for over the next few weeks consider this:  what if you shopped while meeting a need?  While giving to a good cause.  There are tons of ways you can give someone a gift, still pamper yourself in the process too and help someone else at the same time.  Over the next few weeks I want to share some ways to do just that.

For Today..........

And right now they are buy one get one FREE!!!!!!!  Click HERE to check them out!  I think I may need a few! ;)  You can also go to www.livefashionable.com to learn about this project and the story behind the cause.

15 Already?

I can't believe my son is already 15!  Each year they grow past the 'teen' marker is another year you have to watch them become an adult and slowly, ever so slowly, learn to let go.  Which is totally bittersweet.  It's awesome to watch them venture into new things, stand up for themselves, be a friend/helper to others as they mature and seeing their faith grow stronger and stronger.

But at the same time....well, I want to hear him say, "I love you bigger mommy!"

Or watch him sneak out of his bed early in the morning to sit in the floor while watching Rugrats (yeah, that should date this old mom....), wearing his Blue's Clue's jammies, his red cowboy hat and eating powdered sugar donuts. :)

I want to hear the squeal one more time of his little voice when he got his first pet, a guinea pig at the ripe old age of 5.  (what was I thinking?!  lol  Oh yeah, he just wanted it!)  But now his voice is changing.  He's becoming a young man.  The occasional 'squeal' is still there, but it's much more unintentional now. ;)

How he used to lock me out of the car in the morning so he could stay home with mommy has turned into taking a test to get his driver's permit.  Oiy.

Teaching the daughter how to drive = trying, difficult at times, but never scarey.

Teaching the son how to drive = for some reason has me frightened, nervous, anxious and well, just all around hoping to avoid the inevitable.  Which shouldn't be my first thoughts, but it is.

For the longest time, he was the baby.  There is an 8 year gap between our last two children (which I would gladly fill with more babies when the good Lord sees fit to enlighten my hubby on what an awesome dad he would be to a few more [adopted] children).  So, I don't want to let him grow up so soon.  I sometimes don't give him enough credit for the accomplishments and abilities he has.

He reminded me today that Saturday is the barnwarming dance at school.  So, not only do I have a driver's test to deal with tomorrow, I have his first school dance to boot!  Can't he just go with his mother to the dance?

Can't he just let me drive him around a few more years?  Can't he just stay little forever?!  For some reason I want to rationalize that it's harder for mom's to see their little boys grow up and dad's have problems with their little girls.

I really STRONGLY dislike this picture of me, but isn't my son handsome?!  ;)

This son I was blessed with 15 years ago today is:

Brave.

Bold.

Funny.

Loving.

Honest.

Loyal.

An incredible BIG/little brother.

An amazing son.

A heritage from the Lord.

Children are a heritage from the LORD ~Psalm 127:3~

He makes me:

Proud.

Happy.

Smile.

Laugh.

Melt.

Happy Birthday baby boy!  ♥  Don't ever change who you are, for God has a plan for your life and I'm just happy and privileged to be a part of it.  Follow Him, remain faithful and He will reward you.  I love you!

Drawn From Water

Are you drawn from water?  If you are, feel free to shout it out!!!  :)

Today was my 'anniversary' •November 14, 1999• was the day I was 'drawn from water'.  Did I celebrate today?  No, not really.  But I remembered.  I got up and went to church with my family, looked around me and realized just how far I have come with my life over the last 12 years.  Understanding the transition from a baby Christian to a grown up.  And yet, I'm still growing.  Everyday.

Going from the baby who starts a new life with my Savior, yet still fails miserably to do His will.  Recognizing my shortcomings and learning to grow from them....

Maturing into a grown up who wants to walk in His light daily, living for my Savior and choosing to walk away from sin at all costs.  I didn't say I was sinless, but we learn that as we grow as Christians we turn from sin and recognize it much easier.  We despise it and it saddens us.  Yes, saddens.

I want others to feel the joy and have the hope that I have by living with my Savior.  By making him #1 in my life He cares for me, provides for me, loves me and blesses me beyond measure.  As our Sunday school lesson taught us this morning that we find hope and rejoice even in the bad times.  Even when things can seem to be at their worst, we still worship a living God who never will foresake us.  It's wonderful.  It's awe-inspiring, it's magical...... some days it's just indescribable!

So, today.... I celebrate my anniversary of being drawn from water.  12 years ago, on a warm and sunny November afternoon we left directly after church and went to the lake down the road.  Richard Key dunked me in the lake, washed away my sins, and started my life anew.  While family and friends looked on.  It was a beautiful day.  I loved every second of it.

And something I want to share with you all is "DRAWN FROM WATER".... literally.  An organization working in Africa that started all from one child being drawn from water.  But not in the sense I've been talking about.  Not in a raising up, washing sins away, beginning a new life type of way.  But in another life-saving way.

DRAWN FROM WATER began when one little girl was pulled from a river to save her life.  Her tribal custom deemed her 'evil'.....'unworthy'......   mingi.

"It Began with Bale" from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

Mingi is a term defined as the state of being impure or "ritually polluted" in certain African tribes.  In some tribes, a person, often a child, who is considered mingi is killed by forced permanent separation from the tribe by being left alone in the jungle or by drowning in the river. Reasons for being declared impure include birth out of wedlock, the birth of twins, the eruption of teeth in the upper jaw before the lower jaw, and chipping a tooth in childhood. Those who are separated often shadow the tribe, but they eventually succumb to hunger or predators.

A little girl was pulled from the river to save her life as she was sent out to be drowned.  All because her top teeth came in before her bottom teeth.  Wow....  I can't even begin to remember, without pulling out the baby book, how my children's teeth came in.  We just marvel at how cute they are or grumble over the sleepless, drool-filled nights while they are teething.  We never give a second thought to how our children's teeth come in.  After all, they're baby teeth.  Eventually they will be lost, we'll tell our kids about a tooth fairy and slip quarters under their pillow at night as a reward for being so brave when that tooth fell (or got pulled) out.  :)

We can't begin to grab hold of the ideas and rituals of a tribe that will drowned a child, literally kill them, because of such a thing.  One of God's precious children.  A child of promise, of possibility.....oh the possibilities held within the mind of a child who is nurtured and loved.

This organization, DRAWN FROM WATER, that began with saving the life of one child has now grown into a thriving orphanage that houses, feeds and educates the children in their area.  Please, check out their website.  You can even sponsor children now to help.  You can look through their photos, their ages, their names, and discover when or why they were brought to the orphanage for care.  Just yesterday I saw another small baby whose parents, yes--a mother and father--brought their son to the orphanage because they did not want to see him put to death.  For the very same reason.  His top teeth emerged before his bottom teeth.  Imagine the joy of being a parent, showering a child with love, making them laugh and giggle and drool while playing or tickling........ only to be heartbroken and have to give him away to save his very life.  Wow..... just please check them out.

If nothing else.....PRAY for these children.  Pray for this tribe to see the light.  Pray for missionaries to be able to share the love of Jesus with them.  To show them that they are children of God, they are perfect.  They can have hope.  With Jesus.  Mingi is not in my vocabulary.

So glad to be drawn from water today.  ♥  Praising my Savior.

Clean Freak...

NOT!  That's right, a clean freak I am not!  But I love being frugal!  My friend Carla shared a link with me to make homemade laundry soap!  That's right!  LAUNDRY detergent!  It's quick, it's easy and OH SO AFFORDABLE!  That's the best part of all.

Considering we pay anywhere from $10-$15 per jug of Tide, it was a welcomed task of making 10 gallons of soap for the mere cost of less than $2.00!  Yep, you read that right....  and I don't know about you, but 10 gallons of laundry soap will last me quite some time.

What you'll need:

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

• Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with 4 cups warm water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

• Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

We had lots of help in the kitchen.  And of course Gus always wants to be right in the middle of everything.  :)

My hubby with his Vanna White hands showing our finished product.  lol

And who in the world has anything big enough to cover a 5 gallon bucket?!  We just happened to have this bucket from watering the horses.  It's now a soap making bucket!

• Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)  This is how you end up with 10 gallons because you are watering it down yet again.  

Our finished product the next morning.

It's a good thing I tend to be a hoarder (and the kids never clean up the laundry room after themselves), because we had enough empty laundry soap jugs to fill (15 total!) to store all 10 gallons.  :)  We used a few fabric softener jugs but rinsed everything out before filling with the new soap.  Don't forget to shake it before each use!!!

• Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
• Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
• Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
• Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

My husband actually likes to help do things like this so he was the stirrer while I poured ingredients and 'supervised'.  ;)  lol  Move over Bill Nye the Science Guy!  

This would be a great project to do with the kids for a homeschool activity or 4H demonstration, etc.  VERY easy, but make sure you supervise.  You're still dealing with cleaning agents and don't want the kiddos to get anything in their eyes or ingest anything.  Because they might end up looking like my kid.....  

Okay, well, maybe it wasn't ingesting anything abnormal.  He's just a goofball!  :)  Time to put away the halloween costumes.  lol

Lots of fun and creative ideas coming in the next few days/weeks.  We're going to have lots of gift giving ideas and links to share.  I'm shopping with a cause and want to share fundraiser links, plus we're making homemade gifts.  Today we made bath salts!  Mmmmmm.....  Can't wait to share those!  Hope you all had a terrific weekend.  

WIN A FREE MISSION TRIP!

WOW!!!  Yep, you read that right!  You can win a FREE mission trip to a country of your choice!  Visiting Orphans is giving away a free trip to one lucky winner, and it could be you!  I have to throw in..... I hope it's me! But hey, anyone that can receive an opportunity to practice "Pure Religion" (James 1:27) would be incredible and we live for nothing more than to serve our Lord.

We've had the chance to serve in missions work in Haiti in 2009 and oh what a blessing it was.  Just when you think you are going to help and serve someone else (which you DO!!) the Lord surprises you and blesses you beyond measure.  Some of you have read my posts before on our trip and you can certainly look through the archives and read them.  But what I can tell you is this:  "Once our eyes have been opened, we can't pretend not to know...." (Proverbs 24:12)  Your life will be forever changed and your heart for the orphan will burst with a desire to better serve our Lord.  You will learn exactly what it means by feeling able to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34)  

Please visit their site and enter to receive a chance to win. Click HERE to find out how.  You can also check out MY CRAZY ADOPTION and enter the giveaway that's going on there to receive more chances to win!  Good luck!!!  I'm anxious to see who will be serving with visiting Orphans in 2011!!!

So....where will you decide to go?  El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Ecuador, Honduras, China, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, India, Ukraine 

See what Amanda (the girl in charge at VO!) has to say about WHY they are giving away this trip!

Visiting Orphans Heart from Amanda Lawrence on Vimeo.

Orphan Sunday!

Our church began Revival today....on Orphan Sunday!  :)  We were blessed with a message from Bro Daron about "Serving"!  How ironic!  Ron let us share a brief message at the end of the service to (hopefully) inspire everyone to continue to recognize that November is National Adoption Month.

Bro. Daron - We're looking forward to a return visit and even more excited to be able to visit their church soon!  

Joy and I were blessed to share and present a message during Children's Moments this morning.  So, that is what I want to share with you today.  Surely, if our children can wrap their minds around what we shared it will sink in with some adults.  ;)  I know it did with several of the adults in our congregation.

We know that God made His world perfect.  He designed it to be just what He wanted, and just what we needed.  Because we know God doesn't make mistakes, right?!  There are enough basic resources such as food and water in our world to feed the entire population of the world.  God has children all over the world and we know He loves us all just the same.  But for some reason all those resources aren't being shared with everyone in the world.  We know we should share, our parents teach us about sharing.  

We talked about how much money a BILLION dollars is.  And of course the kids said, "that's a LOT OF MONEY!"  We explained that it would take 13 billion dollars a year to provide basic nutrition to all the starving people in the world today.  That seems like a lot doesn't it?

 

But do you know what Amercian Christians spend just on bottled water each year? 

3 BILLION dollars.

 

American Christians spend 4 BILLION dollars a year on Makeup!  (ugh....we all do it ladies!  Fess up.)

 

We spend 7 billion on sporting events.  

We spend 11 billion on coffee.

 

13 billion on our pets.

 

20 billion on soft drinks.

 

21 billion on cable TV.

 

Each time for each statistic we counted out play money for the children (1 dollar was 1 billion) and provided them with an object to represent each thing.  (a bottle of water, a bag of makeup, football, movies for the cable tv, a dog food bag from our puppy at home).

 

We spend EVEN MORE than all that money put together on eating out each year.....105 BILLION.  (a pizza box and a happy meal container worked wonders).

 

How much did we need to provide food to the starving people of the world??  ONLY 13 billion.  

 

If we have so much, why do we give so little?  If we're spending 8 times as much money on just eating out as it would take to feed everyone in the world what is wrong??

 

The bible tells us in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  We need to learn to look after others and serve the Lord, by serving His people.  ALL of his people, all over the world.  The things that we have that we don't necessarily need represent the world to the children.  

Then we prayed that God would help us to find ways to shine His light in the world by serving others.  By looking after orphans and widows by giving up something that we don't always need and using that money for others.  

Joy and I, Orphan Sunday 2010

I know I enjoyed sharing the message with the children and I know Joy loved our time too.  She made an AWESOME new video that we shared with the congregation at the end of the service and we shared a little bit about JHAM (Joint Heirs Adoption Ministry).  Our orphan advocacy ministry that we began over a year ago is still going strong.  We will continue to advocate for the orphan.  We pray that you will find ways to do the same and serve others for Christ.  

Our biggest cheerleader!  Jia!

 I'll share Joy's video with you very soon!  We will be speaking out (more than normal! lol) the rest of the month to recognize National Adoption Month!  

What Will You Do?

November is National Adoption Month.  Not many know that.  I didn't know that until a year and a half ago.  I wanted to learn about all the things I could do and the ways I could advocate for the orphan.  Not because it was a new found hobby or because I had considered adoption (because at that point I hadn't).  But because I met some people.  Some little people......and God stirred my heart.

To look into little round faces with big brown eyes and discover I knew nothing about what it was like to be hungry when I complain "I'm starving!  Let's eat!".  I discovered I knew nothing about not having a place to come home to, because my home has always been there.  I discovered a lot of things about myself that I realized looking back on, I didn't like very much.

I was a spoiled American with a roof over my head, a soft warm bed to sleep in EVERY night, I had a refrigerator always loaded with food.  Even food I didn't like and would probably throw away when it spoiled.  I had more clothes than I knew what to do with (still do.....), I had a HOT shower and a toilet with running water.  But most of all, I was surrounded by people who love me.  Who have loved me from the start.  I have never known what it felt like to be alone, to fend for myself, to wonder what it was like to have people care for me when I'm sick or hurting.  I was allowed to be a child.  To run freely in my backyard playing with pets, toys, whatever I'd been given as birthday gifts.  I was given an education (even if I didn't want it, lol) and told I could become anything I wanted if I worked hard and set my mind to it.  I was privileged.  And I use that term loosely.  You see, we weren't rich financially but we were very blessed and I never knew just how much.

So you see, I learned what God was talking about when He said:

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

~ Matthew 25:40 ~

And what He meant when He said:

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

~ John 14:18 ~

I learned what this thing 'adoption' is really all about:

he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

~ Ephesians 1:5 ~

And the importance of 'adoption' on so many levels.  I'd read the words in my bible many times.  But never really looked at the true meaning of adoption.

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies

~ Romans 8:23 ~

Realizing now, why my own adoption through Christ is so important, how could I have been so nonchalant about earthly adoption?  About being a true example of what Christ did for us, by having an opportunity to be that same example to a child, an orphan, on His earth.  HIS children.  About giving everything I have to help even just one.

He gave His all..... His everything...... HIS SON.  If only to save just one soul.  My soul.  Yet it was for many.

I want to celebrate, advocate, I want to give my all to 'defend the cause of the fatherless'.   Because those same children I want to help, are some of the same children who have shown me just how much you can have, when you have nothing at all.  If I have Christ, that is enough.

With 147 MILLION orphans in the world, what are you waiting for?  What will YOU do?  Will you [pray]?  Will you [give]?  Will you [go]?  I designed these shirts for Orphan Sunday and they are available for sale through our adoption advocacy organization, Joint Heirs Adoption Ministry.  All proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go toward an orphan ministry.  (I'll update you more on that surprise later!)  My family will all be sporting our shirts to church this Sunday, Orphan Sunday, November 7th.

 

Will you Pray?? 

That is certainly doable.

When you lay your head down on your comfy pillow,

snuggle in your nice soft bed under those plush warm blankets...

after reading your children a bed time story

and lovingly tucking them in at night...

Will you pray??

For those that have spent the day the exact same way they've spent every day before.

For those that have barely enough to eat and go to bed hungry.

For those that lay on the dirt under the bed of their parents because that's the safest place to be?

For those laying on a piece of plywood because that's easiest to clean?

For the ones who have cried or rocked themselves to sleep on their knees?

Can you give? Can you take some of the money you spend at Starbucks...or McDonalds? 

Can you give up buying that new pair of designer jeans?

Do we really need a minimum of 12 pairs of shoes?

Not sure where to give?  Contact me.

There are tons of ways to support orphans.  I can give you a dozen charities to give to...

that work in any country you want to support.

OR WILL YOU BE ONE TO GO?????

Who! Hoo!

Will you say YES??!! 

Will you choose to follow God's example and adopt a child of your own?

Will you choose changing the life of a child over...

a bigger house?  that new car??  your dream vacation???

Will you chose radical over the American Dream?

I can assure you, you won't ever be sorry!

PURCHASE YOUR SHIRT BY USING THE BUY BUTTON BELOW:

Size:

Child S (6-8) $20.00 Child M (10-12) $20.00 Child L (14-16) $20.00 Adult Small $20.00 Adult Medium $20.00 Adult Large $20.00 Adult XL $20.00 Adult 2XL $22.00 Adult 3XL $22.00

i will...

[pray] [give] [go]