Walking Hand in Hand

May 19th was a GREAT day! Let me tell you why it was such a great day...

In the midst of our basement flooding/mold/termites/Rotted Wood FIASCO, the Lord has KINDLY and MERCIFULLY heard our cries!
We met with some of our Both Hands team on Thursday night & were encouraged that others are excited to serve this widow to support our adoption like we are! After the meeting wrapped up, we were hanging out with a few friends and their sweet kiddos who are all around Jonah's age when we found out some more GOOD NEWS...

We were approved for a $5,000 MATCHING GRANT from Hand In Hand!!!!!!!! This is exactly what we have been praying for! We know that the Lord hears, but wow. This is such a SWEET and GRACIOUS provision from the Lord! It is amazing and encouraging to see the Lord MOVING to help us RESCUE 2 ORPHANS and expand our family through our Congolese adoptions!

So we are now busy trying to let people know about this great opportunity to support our adoption & have their contribution DOUBLED! I would love to give $25 knowing that it will become $50, or give $50 knowing it will become $100, etc to any of our friends adopting! Please pray that the Lord would provide $5,000 for this matching grant, so that we will get the full $10,000!!
We are praying that the Lord would move quickly because the letter stated that "All donated monies must be in our HANDinHAND office or postmarked by June 30, 2011 to be considered in the dollar for dollar match for your specific grant. "
*If you would like to contribute to our dollar for dollar Matching Grant, you can mail your check made payable to "Hand in Hand Christian Adoption" to:
Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Jonathan & Bethany Meacham
18524 Juniper Street
Gardner, KS 66030-9147
**For tax purposes please include our name on the OUTSIDE of the ENVELOPE ONLY. Do NOT put our name on the check itself!
** Make sure it is postmarked by June 30, 2011!

Thank you for your prayful consideration in helping two orphans find a forever family!
And please be praying for Jon & I as we have some big decisions to make in the coming days, more on that soon! =)
 I'll leave you with one of my favorite hymns which recently had me in tears, reflecting on the INCREDIBLE mercy of the Lord in saving me when I was 20 years old! And adopting ME as His own.

It is Well with My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)

4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)

A Congolese Adoption Video

If you have any trouble viewing this sweet family's video here, you can watch it online @ http://youtu.be/-E2GDzxCBEg.
You can also read more about their adoption journey @ http://www.journeytocongo.blogspot.com/. They started the process in early 2010, so they were one of the very first families from the US to adopt from the DRC. You'll notice in the video that she mentions being in the country for 41 days! We've talked to our director about this & she reassured us that she chose the Attorney she did because he has done adoptions before & said  he will have us in and out the country in 1-2 weeks. We know it is ultimately in the Lord's hands, so we are trusting Him with this! Enjoy the video! I just love watching God knit families together! I can't wait to see the faces of the children God has for us & officially get our referrals! Trusting that will happen in His timing.

And friends, one last thing: would you please join me in praying for our friends Justin & Bonnie? Join with me and our church family as we plead with the Lord for a MIRACLE to bring their 2 children home from Ethiopia SOON! And that the Lord would give them peace that surpasses understanding until that day comes!

We are having our 1st Team Meeting with our Both Hands team tonight! We are excited to get started with this awesome project that we get to be a part of! You can be praying with us that the Lord would provide abundantly for all we need through this adoption fundraiser! You can learn more about Both Hands in this post.

Both Hands!!

We are so excited and encouraged to have some GOOD news on our adoption! Yesterday morning we got a call from Lifesong telling us that we were approved for a $10,000 interest-free loan from our wonderful church, Immanuel, and that we were approved for the Both Hands fundraising project!
We are praising God for HIS provision! Just the night before all the awesome ladies in my Bible study prayed that the Lord would provide for our adoption & that we would trust in His provision. {THANK YOU LADIES for your encouragement & continued prayer for us in this season! I'm so thankful for each of you!}

We are SO EXCITED to have the opportunity to be a part of Both Hands!!
Both Hands= One for the Orphan + One for the Widow
We will be gathering a team of friends and family to help work on a widow's home one Saturday. Each team member will send letters out asking people to donate to our adoption.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Check out this awesome video from one family's Both Hands project:

Or watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98PD-O97N3I&feature=player_embedded

 

A Grant Update

We have heard back from Hand in Hand, a Christian foundation, where we applied for a matching grant. They are passing our grant application onto their Board and we should hear by May 20th if we get approved or not! Would you please join us in praying & asking God for grant money from Hand in Hand! So far we have only applied for one other matching grant, through Lifesong. With our basement problems deterriorating some of our savings, it would be super helpful and awesome if we were able to get some matching grants!  To God be the glory!

http://handinhandadopt.org/

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:6-7

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Psalm 34: 17-19

Praying that the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, would surround us right now as we pray for our children & try to figure out where the next $14,000 is going to come from!! We can't wait to get our referrals, but also realize that the Lord may be delaying our referrals to give us time to fundraise so we will have that money when it is due!! We are also praying that we would TRUST in the Lord, in His word- that He hears our cry for help!
We've heard it said that "the Lord FUNDS what He FAVORS," and we know He favors adoption & orphan rescue! We are just praying that we can trust in the timing & ways of His provision!
We still have plenty of our Adoption Fundraising Shirts if you want to get one to support our adoption!

Thank you to everyone who has been encouraging us lately!! We really appreciate it and, honestly, we need it!

Rain Rain Go Away

Hey friends!

Well no referrals yet. Still waiting & praying that it would be soon!

But thanks to this record-breaking rainfall we've had this Spring in the bluegrass we really need some fundraising more than ever!

Our basement has been leaking/flooding all spring. It has turned into a pond every time we get heavy rainfall, we've had to empty our 12 gallon shopvac full of water probably close to 100 times. All this water caused mold to grow up our walls, so we tore the bottom 2' of drywall out to discover TERMITES and rotted beams in our walls!

This really frustrating, especially since we've lived here for 3 years and never had this problem AND because we're trying to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE and use our finances to Glorify God with our adoption!!! It feels like Satan is attacking our bank account!

We've had a few people come look at it and it is going to cost thousands of dollars to fix the water problem outside, replace beams & drywall, and get it all back to normal. So please pray for us that we don't become discouraged!!! My husband told me last night that God is probably using this trial to remind us that the things of this world are perishing. Material things (like our HOUSE) do not last. Our security is not in our possessions, but in CHRIST.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

As we wait for referrals any day and have to spend all this money to fix our darn basement, we would LOVE to sell out of our fundraising shirts! If you've been on the fence about getting one, now would be a great time- to encourage us that God will provide, even if it's $20 at a time! Here's what we have left:

Navy Shirts Remaining:

5 Smalls

2 Mediums

2 Larges

4 XLs

Charcoal Gray shirts:

11 Smalls

15 Mediums

9 Larges

8 XLs

2 XXLs

To order your shirt(s) to support our Adoption, you can make your donation to our ChipIn account (on our Fundraising Tab and on the Left Sidebar near the bottom) and make sure to email me at mrsmeach1@gmail.com to let me know what color & size(s) you want.

Or you can email me at mrsmeach1@gmail.com for more info!

 

**If you need your shirts shipped, make sure you include your address and the extra $5 per household to help cover shipping costs. Thanks!

 

Thanks for everyone's support, prayerfully and financially! If you have been (or have just started) praying for us, we'd love to know so we can be encouraged by your faithfulness! Leave a comment here or something so we can Praise God for you & know that we're not in this alone!