Surfside Beach with the Family

At the beginning of June we took a family vacation to the beach with Drew's Dad and his side of the family. We did this last year as well and we had a nice time. It is a great way to connect with our family since we live in another state and seldom have time to see everyone when we are home in Tennessee. The kids love it because they get to spend a whole week with their cousins.

 

We did lots of fun things from hanging out at the beach and the pool, going to Broadway at the Beach, going to a kids carnival and of course lots of eating.

Lucas has been lucky in that the past two years we have been at the beach for his birthday. This year my big boy turned 8 and we let him choose how he wanted to celebrate. He choose his birthday dinner of homemade pizzas and IBC root beer. He also requested we do Tye-Dye shirts for all the cousins and finish off with a water balloon battle. We finished the night off with a yummy ice cream cake.

We love you Lucas and couldn't be more proud of you! 

Haiti Love

I had the privilege of returning to Haiti this year with a team to share God's love. This year was very different for me in that I knew what to expect and had a vision of what our time would look like. I was part of a team of twenty-four and it was as you would expect crazy at times. Keeping up with each other, making sure supplies were were they needed to be and just the general logistics that comes with that many people in a third world county. I will say that we all had different talents and skills that we used to share God's love. There were many components to our days, such as Bible Time, Recreation, Crafts and Hygiene teaching. Thank you Lord for using us and allowing us to complete your work.

I was sad to leave this year and could have spent more time with the wonderful people in Haiti. I have had to really pray about my attitude since returning to the states and I find myself bitter and angry at the entitlement that I see in this country. As we were traveling in our tap-tap and I looked into the faces of those who have so little, I was overwhelmed with emotion as I thought this could be my life. There is no difference in God's love for his people just where he chooses to start your life that changes the circumstances of how you grow up.

 


I leave you with a benediction that was used as part of  devotion time by our team leader. It spoke to me in ways I still cannot put words to.

May God bless you with a restless discomfort
About easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice,oppression,
And exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for
Justice, freedom and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer
From pain, rejection,starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you
May reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that
You REALLY can make a difference in this world, so that you are able,
with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen

1 of 34- Summer of Fun List

Sun, Sand and Sea. See ya in a week!!

Summer of Fun

We are geared up and ready for our "Summer of Fun" over at the Douglass house. I love my job and consider it a blessing to do what I do but I really am looking forward to this summer with my family. We came up with a summer bucket list and the kids are biting at the bit to get started on it. We'll document as we go along and Lucas will be journaling our fun as well. Hope you'll tag along on our summer adventures!

Everybody Likes Cupcakes.... Right?

One way that Sixty Feet is raising money to help children in Uganda is through Cupcake Kids.  Cupcake Kids is a program where volunteers bake and sell cupcakes in their local communities.  These Cupcake sales are know occurring in 38 states and 3 counties around the world. Last year they were able to raise $150,000 through the sales.

Here are Cindy and her friends contributing to the Cupcake Kids sale this past weekend at North Hills Farmers Market.

If you or someone you know would like to help support Sixty Feet please email me or visit sixtyfeet.org.

Sixty Feet

Thanks to one of Cindy's many friends our family was introduced to a great organization called Sixty Feet.  Sixty Feet's mission is to help bring hope and restoration to the imprisoned children of Africa, in Jesus name.   The facilities as designed for maybe a 100 kids and more than 500 are there at any given time. The Ugandan government picks up kids from the streets of the city for loitering or committing petty crimes and takes them to these prisons on a weekly basis. Many of these children have families who wonder what has happened to them.

Checkout the site at sixtyfeet.org and watch the video below to see some of the hope that is brought to these young people through individuals who go in the name of Jesus. 

Snug as a Bug in Rug

 I often check on the boys multiple times after putting them to bed. There are many reasons for this. One is fear and I know I need to let go of it but its hard. Secondly, I just love seeing them clean and smelling yummy all tucked in their beds. It warms my heart to see them content and without a care in the world.

It also reminds me to pray for my sweet girl and the many others that tonight may go to sleep without someone telling them they are valued and loved, without a warm bed to tuck them into. Will you say a prayer for the many tonight that will experience this and ask God to show his love mightily as only he can through circumstances such as these?

All Trimmed Up

Before we left for our vacation we had another fundraiser to help with the cost of our adoption of little miss. One thing Drew and I continue to feel is the love and support from those around us. I have be blessed by my years of teaching in many ways, one of which as been the wonderful relationships that I have made with my parents.Some of which have become my most cherished friends.

 It still came as a surprise when a parent came too me and said she wanted to help with our journey to bringing Kennedy home. She said I don't have lots of money to give but I can give my time. She is a hair designer and came up with this fabulous idea to give haircuts to my students and friends children at whatever cost I determined and all the proceeds she would donate to us. Is that not the coolest idea? I was blown away by her genousrity and just stood in awe at how the Lord continues to open doors for us. Thank you Kat for your thoughtfulness and your love. We can't wait till the day we get to introduce you to our special girl.

Missing in Action

Where have we been you ask. We were sailing the blues seas of the Caribbean on board the Serenade of the Seas.

We have been planning this trip since last summer to go away with our friends Kristen and Rankin for vacation. In all honesty, I felt a little guilty spending the money. I told Drew we could take the money and apply it towards our adoption fund. He quickly rebuked me and said how important it was that we get away together and that we had planned this trip prior to moving forward with our adoption plans. He was absolutely right in that there is nothing more important that building and strengthening our relationship. There is no greater gift we will ever give our children than to see their parents putting each other first.

 We had a great time relaxing and enjoying each other and having our friends with us made it that much more fun. We laughed, ate, swam with dolphins, napped, played with monkeys, zip-lined through the rain forest and spent countless hours at the pool. What more could you ask for out of a vacation!

 

 

I am so glad that I got to take the time away to be with my hubby whom I cherish so much I just often forget in the hustle and bustle of life that this is where it all began, just he and I. There is nobody I would rather spend my time with. Love ya baby!

Loved by many

We had our Chick-fil-a fundraiser and silent auction on March 8th and I am just now getting around to blogging about it. It was an amazing night. We were shocked at the number of people who came out. We know alot of  people but you just never know how things like this will turn out. All in all we ended up taking in around 1600.00 dollars that will go to our adoption fund.

There were a few different components that made up the night, First was our Africa shirts. A few days prior I made up about thirty Africa shirts and my friend Ashley finished them up by stitching them down.

 

Drew thought it would not be as succesful as it turned out to be. Let's say he was a little off. We ended up selling all of them and I have since had to make about 40 more. It was one of our best money makers.We also had a silent auction with ten items that were donated to us by friends. There was some really great items such as a wine tasting for up to fourteen friends, Lia Sophia jewelry and lots of handmade items. I have some crafty peeps in my life. Thankful for them all.

The last part of our night was the actual dinner at Chick-fil-a. Anyone who came between 5pm and 8pm and had our flyer helped contribute to our adoption fund. Chick-fil-a gave us 20% of the total sales for the night. It doesn't sound like much but we were surprised to learn that we earned 223 dollars and some change from it. We had over 1100.00 dollars of food purchased. That's alot of chicken!

What I told Drew that night and many people since is this. It has never been about the money for us. We will get every last dollar needed one way or another. I have faith that God will go before us just as he has done so far and that when we need something it will happen in his time. What meant more to me than anything is that on that night we were affirmed in the call that we have chosen to answer. We saw those that came to stand beside of us through what will be a long journey and say we love you, we love Kennedy and we are here to walk this path with you. The one that will at times probably seem never ending but one that holds a great treasure at its end; our precious daughter.

Wow!

Tomorrow night is going to be lots of fun

We are almost ready for our next fundraiser and are really excited. We will be having a dinner and a silent auction at Chick-fil-A tomorrow night from 5pm till 8pm. Chick-fil-A will donate 20% of all food purchased to us to be used towards our adoption costs. We will also do a silent auction and have some wonderful items to be auctioned. We are amazed at the great things that have been given. Last but not least we will sell our Africa t-shirts that Ashley and I have been working hard to get done.

Looking forward to seeing how God uses tomorrow night to his glory and glad we get to be a part of it all. We hope to see many of you there.

I am going to include our invitation here so that I will have a record of it. If you are local and and want to come join us send me an e-mail and I will get you the flyer that needs to be brought with you.

Every little bit counts

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my bestie doing things like this.

Looks like loads of fun right.We actually did have a good time. A friend told me about the oppurtunity to help set- up the Good to Grow Kids Consignment sale and the owner would pay a set amount for the work. I saw it as another way to raise money for Kennedy's Adoption and jumped at the chance. Kristen and another friend Jennifer came out to help me, along with others that the owner had there to help. We worked hard to get tables, racks and stuff out of storage and set up for there upcoming sale.

  It looks like this is going to be a great sale with some really wonderful things. If you are interested and local its opens Friday 2/9 @ 10am and runs through the weekend I believe.

We are blessed to have great friends who rise to the occasion when needed. It really is amazing to watch God continually walk ahead of us to preprare the way for this journey we are on. Thanks Tammi for passing along the info. Every little bit helps.