T minus 6 days and counting....

That's right all you wonderful readers, we have just 6 days until our

Yard Sale for Adoption!!!!

There have been SO many wonderful donations, SO many thoughtful people (people we know and people we haven't met) SO much prayer and prep has gone into this sale (and we're still praying and prepping!)

This Saturday at 8 am our doors (well, yard) will open.

Stop by! Say hi!

Browse some awesome stuff!

Eat some yummy cotton candy and popcorn (maybe not at 8am, but you never know...)

Still have something you want taken off your hands?? Email me! We'll be picking up items until Friday this week, email me (stephLnunes@hotmail.com) if you have something you'd like us to take off your hands.

And if you think about it, please say a prayer for us this Saturday, it'll be an exciting day!

And ps: Thanks for your prayers for Justin, he's on the mend! Take that pneumonia!

Just because...

Today, Justin is still down for the count with the dreaded pneumonia, it's always hard to see someone you love sick, but especially this time its extra hard.

Anyway, I came across this blog of a friend who is currently living overseas, as I was reading through her past posts, I was especially encouraged by this one and this quote that really stuck out at me:

“The situation around you may look nothing

like the vision God has put inside you.

But by the power of faith,

you can turn your small beginning into a grand finale.

Here’s the way Jesus put it in Matthew 17:20:

‘I tell you the truth,

if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,

you can say to this mountain,

“Move from here to there”

and it will move.

Nothing will be impossible for you.’”

-Steven Furtick

Sometimes when I sit and think about the 'what's ahead' with the adoption journey, I get completely overwhelmed with the mountains that lie ahead, but then I remember, God's got this, He's already lived this out, so, I'm currently praying that God would move two major mountains I see : my husbands pneumonia, and the adoption mountain; I know he'll move both, just in

His time. :)

Would you join me in praying for my sick hubby??

In sickness...

I'm still here! Lots of updating since we just got back from winter camp with our students. God did amazing things last weekend, I felt so blessed to be able to witness so many miracles .Hopefully I'll post more on that soon!

On another note, we've been battling quite the sickness over here. It's funny, since the day we got assigned our social worker, either Justin or I have been sick...every other week. I thought when people warned me about attacks from the enemy through the adoption process-the attacking would be just that-attacks on the process. I thought paperwork problems, ridiculous hold ups, lack of funds ect. But it's been quite the opposite (as of now), our adoption has gone quite smoothly so far and every time we've needed funds-they've been provided. But we have been sick :( Justin has pneumonia-pretty bad. It's always so sad for me to see him so sick. But we're doing our best to see the positive though it all, God's been good to us, even through the sickness. We've gotten sick at good times (if there really are any) I'm usually sick on the weekends (I work weekdays) and Justin's always sick when I'm not (so we can take care of each other!) It'd be a big bummer if we were both sick at the same time. Praising Jesus even through the sickness though because we're about to turn in our paperwork to USCIS! (United States Citizenship and Immigration). Then, once that's done, we get a fingerprint appointment, wait for our letter saying we're good to go, and then we can turn in our dossier and submit it to Ethiopia! (well, once we raise the next amount, but God's got that covered I'm sure :) )

Next weekend is our big garage sale! If you think about it, please say a prayer for us. Lots of people have donated to make this sale special, a lot of love and prayer has gone into it so far, can't wait to see how the Lord works thorough it.

Happy weekend!

A ram is on the way...

This has the potential to be a heavy blog post-that's definitely not my intention, but the topic of trust has been something God has been teaching me throughout this journey-and it will continue to be something He works on us throughout the rest of our lives, so I figured I would write about it, since writing has since become quite therapeutic. Sometimes I struggle with where I place my trust; I place my trust in our agency that they will do the best thing they can for us, trust in the government that paperwork will be filled out correctly and filed in a timely manner, trust with the orphanage that they will care for our child as best they can...but, that shouldn't be where my trust lies, my trust needs to lie in Christ, and Him only. He hears my frustrated prayers when hiccups and speed bumps arise, and He chooses to let me work through them, to learn how to trust.

I constantly struggle with control, needing to have it that is. Especially at the stage we're at in our adoption. In the beginning I thought we could FLY through the paperwork stage and get everything we needed in days (OK not really days, but kind of) but I knew that the paperwork phase is pretty much all that I could control, once that dossier is in Ethiopia, it's pretty much out of my hands (literally). But one thing (of many) that I've learned in this phase is, I really can't control much of anything. I couldn't control that our doctors office had to reschedule our notary appointment SEVERAL times, and I couldn't control when one of our doctors filled out information wrong and we had to do the form AGAIN, but that happened and I learned, yet again, that I needed to completely give this adoption and it's process up to God.

I was reading a devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries a while ago, and today, I was reminded of it. I know that if God wanted our adoption to be fully funded in hours, He could do it-but I also know that He wants me to trust Him to move those mountains as He best sees fit. I know that God can place every child in a loving home at the drop of hat if He wanted to, but He chooses to use us and open our eyes to the things that break His heart.

I will choose to trust God with our child, with our adoption and with this process.

A Ram is on the Way
August 30, 2011
Glynnis Whitwer

“So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:14 (NIV)

Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that it looked hopeless?

Have you ever sat at the kitchen table wondering how you were going to pay the electric bill? Have you ever stood at a door that’s been slammed in your face by an angry teenager and despaired at having a relationship with him again? Have you ever had your heart broken so deeply that you wondered if you would feel whole again?

Sadly, we live in a broken world where desperate situations happen every day. I know someone reading this devotion is wondering how she will make it through the day because her situation looks hopeless. If that is you, I encourage you to keep reading. I believe God has a message of hope for you today.

That message is found in the Bible, in the story of a man who was dealing with his own desperate situation. His name was Abraham and he faced the greatest testing of his life. After longing for a son for many years, God finally gave Abraham a boy, whom he named Isaac. Abraham never imagined God would test his faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. But it happened.

It had to have been the darkest day of Abraham’s life as he trudged up the mountain, with firewood strapped to his son’s back. Every step took Abraham closer to what he believed to be the sad ending of a hopeless situation—the death of his son. Yet in spite of his sorrow, Abraham trusted God. His heart wasn’t soaring with joy. He wasn’t dancing up the mountain. But he put one foot in front of the other. Walking through the darkness of the situation; obeying His God’s commands.

Unbeknownst to Abraham, something else was walking up that mountain. Quietly. Out of sight. On the other side of the mountain. Something else was putting one foot in front of the other. Only Abraham couldn’t see it.

For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step.
All Abraham saw that day was his solitary journey of pain. As he got closer to the top of the mountain, his dread must have increased. I wonder if he asked himself any questions. I would have. I would have wondered why hadn’t God intervened? Why hadn’t God stopped this testing? Couldn’t God see that Abraham was a man of faith? Why test him in this way?

But there was no answer. There was no voice from heaven. And so Abraham kept obeying his God’s command. He put Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice his one and only son.

And just at that very moment, at the very last second, when it looked like the end had come, God spoke, stopping the sacrifice. Abraham looked up and there caught in the thicket was a ram. Abraham took his son off the altar, replaced him with the ram, and offered the sacrifice to God.

Abraham named that place “Yahweh-Yireh” or “The Lord Will Provide.” And the story was written down for generations of God-followers to read. It was written so that you and I today would read it as we face our own hopeless situations. It was captured in print so that you and I would know that God is already planning for our provision. We don’t see it. We don’t hear it. But we can trust that our God is at work. On your behalf, and on mine.

I choose to trust God today. A ram is on the way.

So I leave you, my faithful 10 followers, with this message of Hope :) I pray that it encouraged you in some way as it did me :)

Just sitting around, watching the paint dry...literally

Something that I have loved throughout this adoption journey, is finding families who are also adopting and following their stories, it's encouraging to read about people who are ahead of us in the process, and to share in their excitement as their stories also unfold. One day I was reading blogs and I came across Jennifer's blog, The Wayman Family Nest. I have loved catching up on their adoption story and reading about their hearts for adoption, I also fell in love with Jennifer's awesome style. Their home is beautiful, and thanks to their awesome post on how to paint stripes, I was able to FINALLY talk Justin into letting me paint stripes on our wall.

You should check out their blog, and read their story, it's very sweet. I can't wait to see the rest unfold!!!

Speaking of adoption-which I usually am, tomorrow we head up to Sacramento to get our documents state certified! Almost done building our dossier, hooray! One day closer little guy!

We are still collecting for our garage sale! We have been beyond blessed so far by some amazing people who are graciously donating their belongings to help bring our little guy home! If you have anything you'd like to donate, we'll gladly take it off your hands. Our sale is Saturday March 3rd, and you're all welcome to come and hang out, browse, maybe buy some popcorn or cotton candy? Some baked goods? It's going to be a fun day sharing with strangers about our little guy and hopefully making some new friends. Happy Sunday friends!