We had an absolutely amazing weekend for so many reasons.
On the surface, it doesn't sound too special...a garage sale, errands, football with friends...but there were just so many little nudges that confirmed to us this weekend that we are exactly where we are supposed to be at this moment in time and in our process.
We held a garage sale fundraiser Saturday morning that we had been planning for a few weeks. (I know I'm biased, but my little cowboy helper is seriously the cutest thing ever. He was such a trooper!) We didn't price things or spend a ton of time on it, but it was physically tiring to do all the loading, sorting, moving furniture, and whatnot. We advertised it online in yard sale sites, on Craigslist, and on our neighborhood Facebook page, and we ended up making just shy of $1,000 in five hours! Such a blessing!
The financial gain was awesome, but it was the conversations and connections we made that day that blew me away. We made no secret as to what we were raising money for, and throughout the morning, I had some amazing conversations. One sweet neighbor brought her beautiful family over to shop because she had adopted two precious kiddos from South Korea, and she wanted to support us. We discovered we were using the same agency, we talked about our mutual disdain for the "special needs" label our kids will share, and she bought her children all kinds of things they didn't need and way overpaid for all of them. We exchanged numbers, she is praying for us, and she even offered to bring us a meal once we are home with our new little one.
Another neighbor of mine is currently in Uganda bringing home her precious new son, and she made sure her husband (who is back here in the States with their two older children) came over to massively overpay for two baby items they needed. She is in UGANDA, y'all...by herself...caring for her brand new baby boy...and yet she still wanted to contribute to us from thousands of miles away. Unreal.
Additionally, a sweet lady definitely didn't have much to spare, but after spending $2 on a candle, she handed me her remaining $3, held my hands together so tightly as those precious senior ladies do, and said to me, "It's all I can spare, but I want you to go get that baby. Children belong in families." Yes, they do.
One last moment that truly brought me to tears was my mother-in-law sharing that she had a very special $5 contribution from a woman she had met at my niece's soccer practice who is raising her two grandsons and was touched by our adoption story. She couldn't contribute much, but she wanted to help and gave my mother-in-law what she could. She is standing in the gap for her grandchildren, and she wanted to support our family who hopes to do the same for a child in need. She has never met me, will likely never see my mother-in-law again, and will never know us personally...yet, she felt compelled to help a child who needs a home. I was nearly brought to tears.
We held a garage sale fundraiser Saturday morning that we had been planning for a few weeks. (I know I'm biased, but my little cowboy helper is seriously the cutest thing ever. He was such a trooper!) We didn't price things or spend a ton of time on it, but it was physically tiring to do all the loading, sorting, moving furniture, and whatnot. We advertised it online in yard sale sites, on Craigslist, and on our neighborhood Facebook page, and we ended up making just shy of $1,000 in five hours! Such a blessing!
The financial gain was awesome, but it was the conversations and connections we made that day that blew me away. We made no secret as to what we were raising money for, and throughout the morning, I had some amazing conversations. One sweet neighbor brought her beautiful family over to shop because she had adopted two precious kiddos from South Korea, and she wanted to support us. We discovered we were using the same agency, we talked about our mutual disdain for the "special needs" label our kids will share, and she bought her children all kinds of things they didn't need and way overpaid for all of them. We exchanged numbers, she is praying for us, and she even offered to bring us a meal once we are home with our new little one.
Another neighbor of mine is currently in Uganda bringing home her precious new son, and she made sure her husband (who is back here in the States with their two older children) came over to massively overpay for two baby items they needed. She is in UGANDA, y'all...by herself...caring for her brand new baby boy...and yet she still wanted to contribute to us from thousands of miles away. Unreal.
Additionally, a sweet lady definitely didn't have much to spare, but after spending $2 on a candle, she handed me her remaining $3, held my hands together so tightly as those precious senior ladies do, and said to me, "It's all I can spare, but I want you to go get that baby. Children belong in families." Yes, they do.
One last moment that truly brought me to tears was my mother-in-law sharing that she had a very special $5 contribution from a woman she had met at my niece's soccer practice who is raising her two grandsons and was touched by our adoption story. She couldn't contribute much, but she wanted to help and gave my mother-in-law what she could. She is standing in the gap for her grandchildren, and she wanted to support our family who hopes to do the same for a child in need. She has never met me, will likely never see my mother-in-law again, and will never know us personally...yet, she felt compelled to help a child who needs a home. I was nearly brought to tears.
There were so many moments like that this weekend that just absolutely took my breath away.
I know we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by the negative, and I'll be the first to admit that I am scared out of my mind for my children's future...but if you look for it hard enough, I am convinced more than ever that there is still SO MUCH good in the world, y'all. It's not easy to find, but it is there.
After a truly remarkable morning of fundraising and conversation, we packed it up and found our LAST home study document sitting our mailbox. EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKS!! I have been working on these documents for SEVEN WEEKS, and as of 2:55pm yesterday, they are finally done and out of my hands! It's a blessed miracle! Our documents are on their way to Austin, and we are hopefully very close to closing the book on our home study. The first big step in this process is almost done. Thank you, LORD!
We capped off our weekend by celebrating with dinner at Macaroni Grill...because we're fancy like that. ;) Carter sat quietly coloring and ate his pizza neatly, and Hot Mess confirmed that her nickname from the colic days still fits.
This girl, y'all. She keeps us on our toes. There's a special seat in heaven for the poor soul who had to clean up that table tonight.
Have a great week!
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