PJ Sunday

It's a freezing cold, snow-filled Sunday. In contrast to our usual busy, rushing around Sunday, this morning we enjoyed sleeping in, eating a big breakfast, and then had our own little worship time - in our pj's of course!
We sang some worship songs

while Andy played the "k-tar,"

had a sweet prayer time led by Emma Lee,

and learned about putting on the armor of God.

 The girls had to finish up our time with a puppet show "just like Ms. Shawna and Ms. Jessica."

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(Kerri's "pretend voice" that she uses for all her barbies, dolls, stuffed animals, etc is very high-pitched. It was cracking me up to listen to her try to sing using that voice.)


I love our church and what we do there, but it was nice to snuggle up and have some family worship time today.

Thank You!

We had a terrific turnout and lots of fun at our adoption fundraiser last night at Chick-fil-A! A big thank-you to all who came!

Jenn, my partner in adoption. :) Her and her family are adopting from Ethiopia, and I'm so happy to have someone to go through this whole experience with!

The big hit of the night for the kids (and the kids at heart) was the Prize Wheel! Thanks to Chick-fil-A who donated all the prizes!

Благодаря

(bla-go-da-RYAH, thank you)

EAT MOR CHIKIN (for adoption)

If you are in the Durham area (or just feel like making a trip) on Thursday, January 28th, stop by the chick-fil-a on Hillsborough Rd for dinner! Our family is joining up with another adopting family (The Hambricks) for an adoption fundraiser event. For every guest that brings in a spirit card between 5-8 pm on January 28th, Chick-fil-a will donate a percentage of the meal total to us. One hundred percent of these funds will go toward bringing home our little boy in Bulgaria and the Hambricks kid(s) in Ethiopia. Click here to download the spirit card, which has to be turned in at the register. Feel free to share them with your friends and family. We look forward to seeing you there!

A Letter from Haiti

Last year our church partnered with the Christian Light Foundation to help Haiti. We sent a missions team to work at an orphanage and helped build a school building with plans to return every year to help with whatever necessary. The director of the orphanage, Sherrie Fausey, just recently sent a letter to help us better understand the conditions in which they are living right now. As sad as it is to watch what has happened on the news, it is even more heartbreaking to hear firsthand about the difficulties they are experiencing RIGHT NOW. Please continue to pray and do whatever you can to help those in Haiti.

Dear partners in ministry,

I'm exhausted. The concrete dust has taken a toll on my breathing and I am running a fever. I have a cough, total laryngitis and cannot talk at all. Some structures are OK. Many houses fell down. Many more are standing but were damaged and are unsafe. Thousands of people have died. Many are hurt. By the grace of God and a miracle, I am alive. I was walking in my room when the earthquake hit. I tried to run but fell down into the hall and couldn't get up. I crawled into the bathroom, put a little plastic table over my head, and watched my room fall off the building. Had I been sitting in my room, I would not have gotten out. The noise was terrible and concrete was falling all around me. I praise the Lord that I got out with just a few little bumps & bruises. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! The house is totally destroyed. The back third of the house fell off. It is a miracle anyone got out. The children all ran outside. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! They are OK except for Peterson who died instantly when the house fell on him. We had about 150 people sleeping in the yard Tuesday evening. Pastor Cenor came by Tuesday evening and I asked him to sing & pray with the people in the yard. They thanked the Lord that they were alive. 9 people accepted Jesus. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! The children have a praise time every evening. They thank the Lord for everything they have.Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! There were many injured people in the yard Tuesday evening. One little girl had a big gash in her leg and was losing a lot of blood. Karen Bultje was able to take them to the Sisters of Charity who still had a building and medicines & bandages. Then the little girl was brought back because everyone slept outside because there were frequent aftershocks, some pretty strong. Karen gave us some Ibuprophen to give the injured. The children are eating. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!! We found boxes of Feed my Starving Children rice mix. Then someone gave us cases of Poptarts. They like Poptarts. They are sleeping in the yard of the construction site. Tuesday night the slept on the ground, but by Wednesday we had started to find some mattresses. It is cold at night. By Friday we were finding blankets and sheets. It is very cold at night - especially sleeping outside on the ground. The wind blows fine concrete dust all the time. We have worked very hard scavenging whatever we could from the rubble. We are all exhausted. We got our medicines out. Sometimes there were aftershocks and the building was shaking as we were working. A doctor with the Restavek Assoc. came by and asked for medicines. She went off Thursday and Friday with a laundry basket full of medicines and bandages to help people. We have taken in more children. I don't know how many because we had no paper to make a list. Some school children are staying there while the family stays with relatives in the countryside. I expect to get multitudes of children. Please pray that we can help the children who lost parents in the earthquake. It is very important that we try to keep going. We need to continue the feeding program and medical program. The children in 4th - 7th grades still have classrooms. They need to continue. They need some sort of a normal life. Please pray that we can continue feeding and caring for children. We got some stuff out of the house. Most of the clothing is ripped & covered with concrete. The children need shoes. Please help us. The wall around the construction site fell down and needs to be rebuilt. We need to finish the 2nd floor of the construction site to make space. Right now, we are very crowded. We will have about 20 boys in 1 bedroom. We need to build a school kitchen and an orphanage. We need clothing, shoes, and everything for daily living. For right now, cash will be better than people collecting things. You can donate on line at http://www.christianlightfoundation.com/  (Please be sure to include my name on any donations.) Thank you for your prayers. The Lord took care of us. God bless you, Sherrie
Sherrie Fausey
Christian Light Foundation PO Box 23881 Jacksonville, FL 32241-3881

News from the Adoption Front

We have completed half of our homestudy visits, and should be completely finished with our homestudy by the end of the month! We really like our social worker and things have gone very smoothly. We did hit another little financial-related speed bump, but I think that we have recovered and are moving right along. Thank you all for your prayers and support! We also received the forms we need to start our dossier, and it was pretty overwhelming to look at - lots and lots of stuff to do for that! Right now, it seems like this is a never-ending process, but every now and then I feel like it is actually really going to happen. :)

We've also been trying to learn more about Bulgaria. One thing for sure - their language is not easy! Here's what it looks like: Обичам те (I love you), Здравей (hello), благодаря (thank-you). Here's what it should sound like: Obecham te (I love you), Zdravey (hello), Blago-dah-Ryah (thank-you). Also, I've read that to shake your head back and forth means "yes" and to nod up and down means "no." Man, that could get confusing! :) 

Due to some thought prompted by a question in our homestudy, I'm trying to think of ways we can incorporate some of Bulgaria's culture into our lives after we bring our little boy home. Here are two ideas I've had so far: (1) Is there a special Christmas tradition we can add to what we do every year? (2) Is there a special Bulgarian holiday that we can celebrate every year? I haven't had the time to do any research for these two things, but it's a start. Any other ideas that you've tried or heard of are welcome!

Cousins Galore

 We took this quick shot of the girls with their cousins (on my side) over Christmas.They have so much fun together, and we know that at least one more will be added this summer . . . 

L-R

Emma Lee - 5

Rachel Beth - 1 1/2

Ryan - 4

Kerri - 4

Ethan - 1 1/2

Joshua - 3

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Due to the FREEZING cold weather we've had lately, I've not wanted to leave our toasty warm house AT ALL! I've been loving some fleece, warm fuzzy socks, thick blankets, and hot chocolate (which, by the way, I have a new absolute favorite that might just ruin any other hot chocolate for me forever - Williams-Sonoma Rich & Creamy Luscious Bittersweet Chocolate Shavings that Melt Smoothly in Hot Milk for an Intensely Chocolaty Rich Taste with a Well-Rounded Body, Smooth Texture, and Exquisite Aroma -  and they didn't exaggerate one little bit! But let me get back to what I was saying before I devote an entire post to hot chocolate!) BUT there is only so much cuddling up on the couch I can take! Here are a few other things the girls and I have done to keep us entertained in this way-too-cold-without-snow-weather.

 

 

 

Happy 2010 from Our Family to Yours!