Why I stay

***update: Giveaway closed, winner Lorna Carnahan*** congratulations!!!! 

I'm so excited to have you here today, because I've had the awesome opportunity to partner with several of my Noonday Collection sisters over the next few weeks to share our hearts behind Noonday Collection, and a bonus-each one of us is giving away something Noonday! So fun, right?!

Ok, so this is my second time on the Noonday blog train.  Last season I shared about my trip to Rwanda, and what an impact that had on my life (if you wanna check it out go here).  That time in Rwanda happened almost a year ago, and it's almost like I'm just now coming out of that time and beginning to process what happened there, and beginning to process what it was like meeting some of the women behind the look book pages.

So Noonday.  I've been asking myself recently, what is my Noonday story, what brought me to Noonday, what keeps me here.

I wish I could show you a picture of our little boy, but we can't just yet! But he's one of the reasons that keeps me here, him and millions other like him.

When I started with Noonday our dossier (ton of adoption paperwork) had just been sent off to Ethiopia.  I desperately wanted to be involved with Noonday but my husband told me we needed to get our adoption paperwork off and so I waited, but you better believe the day it went off, I emailed them.

I had my phone interview with Jessica (Noonday's founder) and just got off the phone so encouraged, talking with someone who actually gets it, get's what I was feeling and my desire to do more.

Little did I know the relationships that would be formed with other women over these two years who felt the exact same thing.

Over this past year and a half, I've realized the need for orphan prevention, and what needs to happen for that to take place, and honestly-it won't be all good until Jesus comes back, but we can make a dent in it, and sustainable income opportunities for the poorest of the poor is a huge start.

That's what keeps me here. I want to stay here for the mom who thinks her only option is to give up her child, for the girls who were just trafficked and exploited, for families who need help fundraising to bring their children home, for justice to be served.

I used to feel embarrassed, thinking that people would get mad at me for asking them over and over to host, over and over to purchase.  But honestly, I don't care anymore because I met some of the faces behind the look book and they're worth it. They're worth fighting for. I will continue to tell their stories, because I honestly know that is what God has called me to do, and that's really something that's taken a long time for me to admit, that it's more than just selling you a paper bead necklace (although they're awesome and you should buy one) it's me connecting you to another person on the other side of the world who you can directly impact and who you can provide hope to.

Photos courtesy of Wurzbach Fisher Photography 

So I'm giving away a Market Tote from Rwanda.  I met the Rwandan artisans last year when some friends and I took a trip over, and recently my heart has ached to go back to the land of a thousand hills. So I thought I'd bring Rwanda to YOU! And give away a market tote! So go ahead and enter! I'll announce the winner on Friday!

And make sure you head over to Paige's blog for yesterday's giveaway and over to Baylors blog tomorrow for a giveaway too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway