Worth The Trip

 

I'm in South Carolina. 

 

 

This is what we do.  We write and sell a Christian Classical history and literature curriculum.

 

BIBLIOPLAN

 

We travel to conventions to show our work and sell it.

 

I enjoy talking to people and showing them the work of our hands.

 

It's HARD.  It's rewarding.

 

Sometimes it is REALLY rewarding.

 

Last night a mom walked up with her littlest cuddled in a pack against her chest.  I am a lover of all babies.  And when I saw her little treasure my heart just melted right there.  We were busy when she showed up but all of that went out the window when I saw that little treasure rocking an extra chromosome. Oh my goodness I wanted to hold her.  Her mom was focused on telling me that she has used BiblioPlan for YEARS and LOVES it and tells ALL her friends about it.  She even started telling the woman at our table checking out our material why she should buy BiblioPlan.

 

But me.  I was focused on her treasure.  And when she let me hold her.... THAT WAS HEAVEN ON EARTH. 

 

I got to hold that baby girl and kiss her little head.  She just looked at me and smiled!  What a gift.

 

And you want to know the very best part??

 

As I was holding that little one and sharing my heart with her Mama - not about BiblioPlan but about the treasures across the ocean who are desperate for families - about Aaron's institute and sheds - about the hundreds of babes waiting.  While I was holding that sweet one and kissing her precious head ... her Mama was listening with wonder because JUST THIS WEEK ... JUST THIS WEEK the Holy Spirit had begun tapping on their hearts.

 

JUST THIS WEEK!!

 

And they had NEVER HEARD about Reece's Rainbow and had NO IDEA about the waiting ones across the ocean. 

 

Only God.

 

I told her that if I didn't make ONE sale this entire weekend.  If the ONLY reason I came to SC was to share with her about the treasures across the ocean... then it was well worth my trip.

 

It will have been worth the trip.

 

I will be praying for that family. Praying as the Lord opens their eyes and their hearts.

 

Pray with me.

 

And please keep us in your prayers as we get all of our ducks in a row in the next week.  We have so much to arrange. 

 

It's going to be a wild week!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyperventilating

I am hyperventilating!!

 

Yes. I. Am!

 

We have travel dates.

 

Breathe.  Breathe.

 

Yesterday morning the phone rang and sweet Nancy was on the phone. It was not good.  The letter we had submitted asking for a new date was not good enough. They wanted another letter. 

 

Breathe.  Breathe.

 

She helped us re-write the letter.  We ran it to the bank to be notarized. Then we drove to Richmond to get the shiny golden seal on it.  Back home to scan the letter and pray.

 

This morning on my way to South Carolina the phone rings again.  Nancy.  Yes. Yes. Yes.  We are good to go!! 

 

Praising God in sunny South Carolina.

 

I'm writing this in the lobby of our hotel because our room is not ready.  We are tired but my heart is happy. 

 

It's a crazy schedule.  I have a convention in Tennessee next weekend and will have to fly out from there.  I DON'T CARE!!

 

We are crossing the ocean.  Poor Ben and Jaden (my helpers for this convention).  They got to hear me sing praises to Jesus for an hour.  My brain is everywhere but here.  I don't care! 

 

WE ARE CROSSING THE OCEAN IN TEN DAYS!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Little one... Mama is coming soon!!

 

Breathe.  Breathe.

 

 

 

I'm One of the 164

We are STILL WAITING on new travel dates.

 

 

I was so hoping I would wake up this morning to a phone call and some really good news.

 

I'm trying so hard to attain the 'patiently waiting on the Lord's timing in all of this' certificate. 

 

Sigh!

 

Okay - so to distract us in our time of waiting PATIENTLY... 

 

Did you know that REECE'S RAINBOW is having a 21 Days of Hope fundraiser??

 

 

 

From March 1st until March 21st, if 21,000 is raised for the Voice of Hope Fund then 21 waiting children will each receive 2,100 dollars in their grant accounts.

 

Right now 5,147.00 has been raised which means that 5 of the 21 children have already received the 2,100.00 dollars.

 

Isn't that cool?

 

The Voice of Hope fund is the fund that keeps Reece's Rainbow running.

 

You know.... operating costs.

 

Let me share something you might not know...

 

There are currently 164 families who have a grant account open on Reece's Rainbow right now.  I know this because I just sat here and counted them.

 

164 families who are ALL adopting. 

 

I'M ONE OF THE 164!!!

 

When families open up a  grant account on Reece's Rainbow they have to pay a 25.00 fee to open an account. That is the ONLY required payment they have to make.  They are ASKED to make a $250.00 donation to the Voice of Hope but it is not required. 

 

When people donate to a family's grant account... except for Paypal fees... 100% of that donation goes to the family.  Reece's Rainbow does not take ANY portion of their donations for their operating expenses.

 

Nothing.

 

So the 164 families who are raising money through Reece's Rainbow are able to keep all their donations except the 3% that Paypal takes when people donate through Paypal. What an amazing gift.  I don't have to sit here and calculate needing to raise X dollars MORE than what we need in order to pay RR fees.  When someone writes us a check, 100% goes to our grant account!

 

So how does Reece's Rainbow cover operating expenses?  Through their Voice of Hope fund.  Money goes into the VOH two ways, when people donate to the waiting children, 10% of that money goes to the Voice of Hope or when people donate directly to the VOH fund.

 

The ONLY fundraiser that RR does each year to raise money purely for operating expenses is this one.  The 21 Days of Hope.  But the cool thing is that this fundraiser is still tied to raising funds for the children!!  21 children. 

 

It's day 10.

 

The goal is 21,000.00

 

21 Babes have a chance to received 2,100 each in their grant accounts. 

 

 As each $1000 is raised, the next child on the list will meet their goal and will be given their $2100 grant!

 

 

Five children have met the goal. 16 are left.

 

Will you make a donation to the Voice of Hope fund? It's not as cool as donating to a family or donating to a waiting child but its a very worthy donation.  And your donation is going to help BLESS 21 babes. 

 

Join in!

 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE VOICE OF HOPE

 

 

 

 P.S. Since 2006 1,276 children have come home.

 

So not only am I one of the 164 families currently in process on Reece's Rainbow, my little boy is one of the 1,276 children who have come home!

 

 

How cool is that??

 

 

 

 

 

To Everything There is a Season

There are times on this blog when I have so much to say that blog posts crowd my brain and I feel like I am going to explode.

 There are other times when I am so dry that I can't even formulate one coherent thought.

I'm in that dry spell.

It's okay.

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven

I'm in a time of quietness.  Rest.

Not that I'm getting abundant amounts of sleep.

I'm in the final stages of "labor" and sleeping through the night has flown out the window. My brain will not shut down.

It's okay.

The last few weeks I have been home and able to rest during the day.  Snow has slowed us down.  Kept us home.  Allowed us to nest. Allowed us to plan and get ready.

This next week begins a months-long marathon of traveling across the globe.  Adoption and conventions.

Fun times.

God has been so very good. He is providing what we need on so many levels.  We have been really worried about coverage for our conventions and bit by bit He has provided the people we need for each one of them.  We still have a few question marks but He is filling in the pieces.  He is so very good.

Many of you have asked us about our travel plans.  Who's going. Who's staying.  When we get dates in hand we will happily share those details.

For now pray for us.  Pray for our little girl. 

And please keep praying for my friend, Elizabeth Dehority.

And finally, if you want to support a really good cause... CLICK HERE. 

21 days of Hope for 21 babes!

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;

 A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.

A Warm House and Slippers On My Feet

 

We were supposed to be traveling to Shriner's today so we could pick up Aaron's new braces.

 

 

 

The ice on the roads this morning meant we have a free day at home.  Aaron's braces will have to wait until May.  Rob just left to bring Ben home for Spring Break.  His ride fell through because of the snow. I'm working on my speech for next week's convention.

 

 

 

 

 

A fire in the fireplace.  A warm house and slippers on my feet. Waiting for my firstborn and longing for a little one across the ocean.

 

And all the while, praying for my dear cancer-fighting, not-gonna-quit, orphan-advocating, sock-sewing, Jesus-loving friend Elizabeth Dehority.

 

Please pray with me.

 

She really needs our prayers right now.

 

 

A Little Girl's Room

It's a little girl's room.

 

 

Those sweet little chairs on the dresser?  They were in the FREE box at our co-op this past week.  They have BUTTERFLIES on them! I felt like I had won the lottery!!

 

 

 

Those Dolls are from my childhood.  The boys never appreciated them very much.

 

 

See the Raggedy Ann and Andy wall plaques? Boy am I glad they didn't sell in the auction!!  It didn't dawn on me until after the auction had begun that I could use them in Harper's room.  They were the one item I cheered over when they didn't get any bids!

 

 

Don't look too closely at that little shelf... Yeah. Maybe Harper will like baseball???

 

It's been an all boy house for a very long time!

 

 

And of course her room would NOT be complete without some friends from the Hundred Acre Woods.

 

 

Pooh and Piglet waiting patiently for a little girl to come and love all their stuffing out!

 

 

Pooh Bear can't wait to cross the ocean with us... He's so so excited!  He will be waiting for her in the car on the day we walk her out of the orphanage.

 

 

We even have a few clothes for her.

 

Aren't they sweet?

All of them picked out so lovingly by a sweet friend!

 

Apart from these clothes, Harper's dresser drawers are bare. 

 

I have been waiting.  Waiting with held breath.  Both of us have.  I've avoided the little girl sections in the stores and haven't been able to look at things like curtains or bedspreads.  I need to SEE my little girl.  Right now that is all that matters to me.  I need to see her and hold her and whisper love in her ears.  Then I can consider the future.  The girl stuff.  What she needs.

 

It's hard to breathe.

 

We received a referral date and had to turn it down.  It was a good decision and a right decision but this last week has been hard. Emotionally hard.  I've tried to think about everything that needs to be done for family, business and travel so that I won't have to think about the fact that we delayed meeting our little one.  It's only a week delay. Maybe two. But right now that seems like forever.

 

God is good.  He is providing on so many levels.  We look at how much has been donated to us and we are blown away.  People have been so kind.  God has been so so good.

 

I cling to that. His goodness.  His provision. 

 

I cling and work hard at breathing.  Only a few more weeks.  Just a few more weeks. 

 

"Cast your bread upon the waters,

 for you will find it after many days."

 

A Most Precious Gift

 

Two years ago we were begging for a family for this sweet girl..

 

 

Two years later... last Sunday... she was given a most precious gift from her Mama.

 

A most precious gift!

 

A most precious gift indeed.

The Harper now belongs to a girl I love deeply.

 

 

Ira Deutsch and the creator of The Harper - Tonia Mayhew.

 

 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

Psalm 139:14

 

Tears of joy.

 

Tears of joy.

 

I Know One Little Girl...

I know there is one little girl out there..

 



 

Who is going to have the same blessing this little guy has been given...

 

 

A Papa who drops everything to read a book...

 

 

And play games with him.

 

 

She is going to be one very blessed little girl!

 

Her Papa is the best!

 

 

Traveling Soon...

 

 Check this out... the puzzle has just about disappeared!!

 

Only our state bird and Harper's state flower are left!

 

 

On Sunday church was cancelled as well as Elijah's Aladdin show..

 

Which meant we had a day to just kick back and relax and rest and do NOTHING.

 

 

Okay. It isn't in either of our natures to actually do NOTHING. 

 

 

Instead I spent several enjoyable hours writing names on Harper's puzzle.

 

 

How utterly cool is that?

 

 

Writing the names of so so many kind people.

 

 

What a blessed way to spend a Sunday!

 

 

 This morning the phone rang.

 

We have travel dates.

 

Travel dates right on top of coming home from the South Carolina convention and the same week as the Tennessee convention.  Both conventions where I am scheduled to speak.  There was no possible way for me to get home from SC and get on a plane.  There were not enough hours in the day to be at two places at the same time.

 

So...

 

After talking and considering we made the decision to request new travel dates.  It means turning down our first referral (you are given three) and it means we won't travel until the end of March, but we are at peace with the decision.

 

My stress level just decreased considerably. 

 

We won't know exactly when we will travel for a week or so but we now have a general idea.  That helps tremendously in planning.

 

End of March. 

 

Hurrah!!

 

 

 

Winners Winners!!

Drumroll please....  Names have been drawn and the winners are below!!
 

 Thank you Thank you to EVERYONE who donated!!

This giveaway generated over $3,500.00!!!!!!!

 

1.  ASUS MeMO Pad 8 ME181C-A1-BK 8-Inch 16 GB Tablet (Black) - NEW... Value $187.00

(donated by the Nalles, Hartmans and Drakes)

WINNER - MICHELLE STEVENS

2.  A working Train Track created by Harper's soon to be Granddad!! Value $100.00

WINNER - SUE HOLLISTER

It comes complete with the following parts:

Diesel Engine (Life-like) Sante Fe 3500

2 Freight Box Cars

1 Tanker Car

2 Hopper Cars

1 Caboose

Power Transformer (Life Like)

1 straight track

1 power point straight track

2 short straight track

8 curved track - H4505A

3 curved track - H4506A

2 black curved track

1 curved track

 

3.  A sweet Matryoshka Set - 10 pieces

Value $35.00

(Donated by Melanie Hartman)

WINNER - TONIA MAYHEW

 

The tallest piece is 5 1/2" tall... All 10 pieces have the same painted flower pattern on them!!  Very sweet!

 

 4.  An Aaron Shirt - Sized Medium Black - Child's

New!!

WINNER - CHRYSTAL ANDERS

 

 

Winners - E-mail me - covenantb@yahoo.com!!!