"Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who You are, what You do- they can't keep it quiet!  Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us- You've been so good to us!  We're walking on air!  All we are and have we owe to God, Holy God of Israel, our King!"                                          (Psalm 89:15-18 The Message)

Made over $4,700 from our auction yesterday.  
Made over $500 at a painting party last night.  
Yesterday, we made over $5,000!!!!!

What does this mean?  We need less than $5,000 to bring Aida home.  We are praying we will have the money raised by the end of the year.  Will you join us?

ecstatic, humbled, grateful, overjoyed... thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

It is here!  We have spent a lot of time working towards today.  Ben and I have had an online auction fundraiser rolling around in our brains for almost a year and it is pretty exciting to see the idea becoming reality.  When planning the auction, we decided on November because it seemed like a great time for people to do early Christmas shopping.  But we also decided on November because it is National Adoption Month.  More specifically, we chose to start it today because it is Orphan Sunday. 

We do not loose sight of the fact that while Aida is now promised a home and a family there are still millions of orphans all across the world without that hope.  Please join us in continuing to pray for Aida but also praying for the orphans of the world.

This week we invite you to continue walking this journey of love with us. Our auction began just a few hours ago and will continue until Saturday. Please consider sharing our story and telling others about our auction.  Shop with a purpose and help bring one of the millions of orphans into a forever family. 

We hear all the time that it takes a village to raise a child.  I am so excited to one day tell Aida that the village started working for her and loving her long before she ever arrived home. 

With tears in my eyes and great hope in my heart, I extend our overwhelming gratitude to you for the outpouring of generosity and love that has been shown to us through this auction!

Happy bidding!
                            www.anotherpairofshoesauction.com

Thankful List for October

*got our I-600 back (immigration approval for our petition for an orphan)!!!!!!!!!
*chose a name for our baby girl! (Aida- meaning gift)
*found Ben’s passport after some slight panic and frenzied searching
*twin boys for the Woods!!
*Maddie (age 7) and Hudson (age 5) Lindsey being so concerned about their friend’s little sister being in an orphanage that they decide to make and sale brownies to help bring her home
*incredible donations given to our auction by family, friends, and even strangers… just can’t get over the generosity and kindness of others
*painting party with not such a great turn out…allowed me to really talk with and help the people that were there.  Thankful that a great turn out the month before and a lot of RSVP’s for the painting party the month after make up for a small painting party!
*multiple friends continuing to come help trace and cut appliques (and play with my kids).
*$1,000 grant from Heart of the Bride!!!
*dossier stuff put in the mail to Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee Secretary of States
*a referral of a little baby boy from Ethiopia for the Kinsley’s!!!
*Meegan Weaver once again offering her amazing talents to take pictures of some of the auction donations
*a hard week (October 21st-27th) with multiple adoption speed bumps and frustrations with paper processing… that weariness and a heavy heart in the process leads us to greater dependence in the Peace and Joy that He has to offer; the world certainly doesn’t give it
*Getting to attend an adoption conference for FREE (thank you Irving Bible Church- Tapestry Ministry and thank you also for the free chick fil a lunch!)
*for Melissa Jacobson, Josh and Krista Tiller for taking care of our kids so we could go to the adoption conference.  (Thank you also, Josh, for making a little boy’s day by taking him to an MSU football game and letting him meet a “REAL LIFE football player on the field!”)
*Stephen and Jenny Riddle and all their help and advice in making the technical side of the auction happen
*my sister’s help with sewing Christmas shirts from afar
*family taking the time to hunt down shirts and dresses for me
*mail with encouraging notes and generous donations
*having to put a temporary stop to sewing orders because I have too many
*$500 adoption scholarship from North American Mission Board!!
*after a hard week… much needed good news on the speed which Aida might come home (if we can ever manage to get our paperwork processed) and new pictures of our baby girl (who is sitting up and getting some hair!)
*Libby saying she wants to "pray for Baby Aida”

And a few random things that have nothing to do with adoption:
*it got cold enough (temporarily) for chili and hot chocolate
*mums and pumpkins everywhere
*double date with the Doley’s and the quickest dinner at Olive Garden on a Saturday night that I think has ever happened (which left time for TGS cupcakes afterwards)
*cardboard boat races
*ran in my first 5k with Krista Tiller
*watching my favorite movie as a child, The Parent Trap (the old version), as a family
*Blue Grove Pie day at the BSM and the blueberry pie that I look forward to all year
*Ben and Tucker and neighborhood kids (whose names are Aiden, Caden, and Jaden)  playing lots of baseball in our not so big backyard
*BSM parent’s night out... a success
*Jack-o-lantern pizzas from Papa Murphy’s
*kids in costumes!!