Gold Party Was a Success!

Our jeweler paid out $5,540 tonight. 
Which means we got about $840 in "commission".

We sold our own stuff and made $900. 

And we had $375 of people's profits donated to us tonight.

This week, we had $320 in donations. (Counting this toward Gold Party
because this is how they heard we were fundraising).  

That's $2,435!!!

And it was so easy!  

We gathered up some jewelry. 

We put together some food.

We invited our friends & family, and they brought stuff to sell!

The jeweler figured out what stuff was worth & made us offers.

Lots of people walked away with a lot of cash!

 We WILL be doing another Gold Party. 
So be looking for some Gold/Sterling Silver/Platinum that you have around the house. 
More details to come.

 

This has never happened before...

Was in touch with our Social Worker today.  Our home study is written, has been proofed and edited then approved.  The only thing we are waiting on right now is a packet of information to arrive in Columbia from Myrtle Beach.  It was mailed on March 12th, so there has been plenty of time for it to arrive.  We aren't sure where it is.  And our social worker says they mail stuff to the Columbia office 2-4 times per week, and "this has never happened before". 

Great.  

So, in case it never shows up, we just need to start getting some of these documents (references, medical forms, etc.) re-done.  I don't mind paperwork, but I do hope we won't have to do it a 4th time.  3 is enough. :)

On a related note, we have our Gold Party tomorrow.  Please be praying that this will be a successful fundraiser.  I am so ready to meet our son/daughter.  It's not even funny.  Sometimes it literally makes me ache! :)

Random Photo, Take 93

The 92nd Picture was from April 2006 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan when we were visiting our friend, "Aziz".  Karl, Aziz, and I had a fun afternoon together one of our last days in Uz.  

Randomly, Aziz and I actually met through close family friends in SC, and when I lived in Uz, he was like an older brother, checking in on me.  He and his family were always willing to host us in their home when we were in the big capital city. Miss him!


Here's #93:  Who, Where, When? 

Questions?

So... what questions do you have for where we are these days? 

Most of my intention for this blog is to keep in touch with family & friends, but it's also going to serve as a memory-keeper for me.  It's a good place for me to record things in our lives. 

Keeping the two things in mind, what would be good ideas to blog about?  

Thanks for your feedback!

Random Photo, Take 92

Pic 91 was actually a recent picture... from Valerie & Zebediah's wedding rehearsal, just this past March 2nd at Lake Lure Inn, NC.

Here is Picture 92:

 Anyone know who, where, when? :)

Random Photo, Take 91

The 90th photo was from January 2003, in front of Ginger's house in Huntington, WV.  We were about to start driving to Colorado!

Here's 91:

Random Photo, Take 90

Pic 89 was from Uzbekistan, on a Sports Day, probably September or October 2005.  This was Kiryll, Anya, and Inar. Probably butchered those spellings.

Here's 90! Remember the game? Who, when, where?  (Only 10 more of these to go!)

Confession: "If God had meant for you to have children..."

Someone said to us last night, "If God had meant for you to have children, He would have given you children."

Please understand that this person didn't say it to be rude or mean-spirited.  I believe he/she was saying it out of a place of hurt in his/her own life.

To be perfectly honest, I have had that thought myself a time or two over the years.  Many times I have asked God if He wants us to be parents.  I have wondered if we have not been able to get pregnant because He doesn't have parenthood in His plan for us. 

I don't want to embark on this calling of parenthood without Him, so if He didn't plan it for us, I don't want it.  It has been a journey of getting to a place where I can say that. 

Thankfully, we KNOW we are called to be parents.  We know God has called us to adopt our first child.  Just like I knew I was called to be Matt's wife.  God has prepared us for this in many, many ways.  

Does it mean we make some sacrifices? Absolutely.  Does it mean life will look different for us than some other families?  Definitely.  Does it mean that this is not God's plan for us?  Absolutely not. 

God DOES mean for us to have children.  He is preparing a child for us right now.  And He's preparing us to be the parents we are meant to be.  Part of that process has been fully embracing our call to adopt instead of having biological children.   

Thank you all for your sweet comments and messages in response to my Facebook post.  God has used you to reaffirm what He had already written across our hearts.  He is good! 

[Also, we love having conversations about this process and this calling.  If you have questions, please feel free to get in touch with us.]

Next Fundraiser: Gold Party!

When: Friday, March 30th

Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm

Where: Bolton's Landing Clubhouse,
1450 Bluewater Way, Charleston, SC

Some of Serena's friends at her recent Gold Party... leaving with CASH!

Unsure exactly what a “Gold Party” is?

To put it simply, bring in anything that’s made of gold that you don’t want anymore
(old, out-of-date, or just plain ugly), and Steve Kersh, an experienced jeweler will sort through it and make you an offer for TOP DOLLAR.
You can either turn it down, or walk away with cash in your hand.
Either way, you’ll have some fun!

Still don’t know what to bring? How about these options:

Charms, rings, chains, bracelets, class rings, broken jewelry, earrings, gold watches,
teeth, gold and silver coins…any color gold and platinum… and you will get CASH!

If you have gold jewelry with stones, Steve will carefully remove the stones and return them to you.

Just how much can you make?

Steve’s current payout is well over $620/oz -10k, $880/oz - 14k, $1170/oz - 18k.
That is far more than our local jewelers offer. (I've checked around.)
So come out and bring a friend and have them bring a friend, too!

 

If you’re unable to make the party, that’s OK, too! You can mail or drop off your gold prior to the party, and Steve will call you from the party and make you an offer over the phone. You can make your decision then. Hope to see you there!

Our Profile Book

We made our profile book almost a year ago.  Some things have definitely changed, but we can't decide whether we want to spend the $ to update it or not.  

This will be given to expectant moms (and possibly dads or other family members) who are wanting to choose the family to place their child with.   We have 4 copies.  One for each office in SC and one to be mailed across the country to families who may find us online.

Here's the preview of our book.  What do you think?  

Meet Matthew and Tricia by Matthew and Tricia | Make Your Own Book

While I'm Waiting

You know how sometimes you've heard a song hundreds of times, but just ONE time it strikes you so very differently.  This happened this morning with this song. 

Here's the song with lyrics (thought the lyrics come up a little delayed.) 

Lyrics to While I'm Waiting :
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Can you see why this might mean something special these days?  

Thanks, Lord, for the neat ways You speak to us!

God's Timing!

In case you missed it on Facebook, we heard from our social worker last Thursday, March 1st, that we are moving forward with our home study approval.  We should receive *final* approval this week.  We are currently updating some medical forms and background checks since it was almost a year ago since most of our paperwork was filled out.  

This news made Valerie & Zebediah's wedding *extra* fun since we got to share with so many family & friends our news about 'expecting' Baby Flagler. It seems so much more real now!!!  I even got Matt a "Daddy-to-Be" card and a little outfit for our little one at the store the other night.  I kept tearing up all throughout the day.  I'm sure people in the baby section at Target thought I was crazy!  I wanted to tell everyone!  Providentially, I did run into a friend (and also another adoptive mom) while there.  So neat to have so many people share in our joy during this season!

Random Photo, Take 89

The 88th Random Photo was from April 2005.  This was Amber, Amanda, Amy and I at Amy Ray's house for dinner.  Nancy was there that night too but must have been the one taking the picture.  Fun college friends! Miss those days. 

Here's 89:

Thankful Thursday

Recently discovered that I can still use YouVersion without my smartphone.  This is truly something I'm thankful for because I love their Bible-reading plans.  Using that app on my smartphone was really helping me be consistent with being in the Word.  I also loved having Scriptures read to me.  If you have a smartphone, you should check it out.  Even if you don't have a smartphone, you can still use most of their services online.  Thankful!

Pandora.  Wow, I love that it's unlimited again.  Love being able to have songs that point me to Christ playing in my ear as much as possible. (Definitely handy since I work at a desk most of the day.)

For other friends who are adopting.  It means so much to be able to follow their stories and read about how God is writing their family stories.  It helps me remember that He's in control of ours too.  


Our church.  Though we have had to miss gathering with our community a lot lately, I'm so thankful for friends who pray with us, encourage us and challenge us to be more like Christ. Recently, I was having a rough day and a good friend popped in to love on me and helped me out in very tangible ways.  I also love that the sermons are online so I can stay connected to what God is teaching us as a body. 


Wedding weekend!  My sister and Zebediah are getting married this weekend.  I'm so excited to see so many family and friends.  And I'm excited to celebrate with them as they enter into marriage.  

Speaking of marriage, I am beyond thankful for my husband!  He serves me, challenges me and loves me so well!  God definitely knew what He was doing when He gave me Matthew.  I can honestly not imagine life without him. 


Cares.  Thankful that this is how we can serve right now.  Thankful that we get to meet so many new people and for the way we see God working in so many lives. 


Focus Roommate Reunion.  Starting one week from today, I get to start welcoming in friends who started off as my roommates at Focus on the Family Institute in Colorado.  We were there together for a semester in 2003.  We haven't all been together since August 2003 when Serena got married.  Soon, everyone else is coming to Charleston, and we get to catch up!  I'm so excited about this.  


And there's so much more, but I'll need to save some things for another post, right? ;)