WE PASSED COURT!!

"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" (Ps. 34:17-19).

Jon & I are absolutely THRILLED and REJOICING in the Lord's kindness in giving us this precious gift!
 We found out on Tuesday that we passed court on March 5!!!
Thank you to all the saints, especially our Immanuel family, who have been pleading with the Lord with us for our adoption!
We are officially baby R's parents now!
I (Bethany) have been weeping tears of joy! Not only did we pass court, we passed court over 30 days ago AND have the No-Appeal certificate! PRAISE THE LORD! HE HEARS THE CRIES OF HIS PEOPLE!!!!

I can hardly wait to see his face again! We haven't gotten new pictures of him in 8 months! (He's asleep in every picture we have & he was only 6 months old. He's now 14 months.) We are supposed to be getting some soon, but seeing him face to face will be indescribably filled with joy! Praying it will be soon!

Please pray with us that we will also hear good news on our baby girl's case this week! As far as we know she hasn't even started the first phase of court, but we are PRAYING that she would officially be our daughter VERY SOON so we can travel in the next couple months to bring them HOME!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone who has been faithfully praying with us and for us! We certainly feel surrounded in prayer right now and could not be more encouraged! God's grace is amazing- my flesh could never survive all this waiting- but PRAISE Him that through Christ I now have the Spirit dwelling inside me giving me the ability to exercise patience as we wait on the Lord. I am far from perfect in this area, but I know that by God's grace we have persevered (and will continue to) and not given up. The Spirit really is a sweet, sweet gift from the Lord! (And it belongs to all who simply repent of their sin & place all their hope in Christ alone to atone for their sin. Oh, God's grace is an AMAZING undeserved gift!!)

FILLED WITH JOY & PRAISING THE LORD,

final t-shirt order- new colors!

We are now taking pre-orders (as in you pick the size(s) and color(s) you want and we order them for you) for our final t-shirt order!
Jon & I created our t-shirt design together on our computer and the Lord has provided steadily for our adoption through these shirts. We are so humbled and thankful for every one of you who has ordered a shirt already and all of you who are about to! When we designed the shirt, our hope was that whenever you wear it, you will help raise awareness of the global orphan crisis and God's love for orphans. We also pray that wearing these shirts would open many doors for gospel conversations and for sharing how all Christians are called to care for orphans in some way. So be ready to explain that there are 147 million orphans worldwide. That there are 39 million orphans just in Africa- around 4 million in Ethiopia and in the DRC. And that every single one of them bears the image of God, just like you and me.

 We need to order a minimum of 24, and we hope to have at least that many pre-ordered by April 24th so we can send in our order. 
If you would like one (or 10!) please email me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com with the colors and sizes you want us to order for you! I will hand them out (and mail them out) when they come in.

You can donate the $20 per shirt several different ways (please don't forget to include $2 per shirt if you need me to ship them, to help cover shipping costs):
1) You can donate online through our ChipIn button (on our blog's sidebar)
2) You can mail a check to Lifesong (directions on our Both Hands tab)
3) You can mail a check to us and we will deposit it into our adoption account (email me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com)

I happily wear my super soft and comfy adoption t-shirt often! So often that one of my best friends dressed up as me for Halloween and wore- you guessed it- our adoption shirt! =) Love you Jordan!

SO thankful to be an adopted daughter of my Heavenly Father,

Gifts that Keep Giving: Thirty-One fundraiser

Did you know that the name Thirty-One comes from Proverbs 31?

I'm sure most of you have heard of Thirty-One gifts by now, but for those of you who haven't here's a brief intro:"Our stylish, affordable products are exclusive to Thirty-One. From our signature purses and totes to storage solutions that help organize your life, you'll find something to fit every personality and situation. Each season, we develop new products built on the idea that our products must be functional AND fashionable (and, of course, make great gifts!)." (taken from thirtyonegifts.com)

Needless to say, there are TONS of great gift ideas for the mothers in your life!

AND here's the best part- now through April 24th, you can email me an order for any Thirty-one items and my friend, Molly, who is a Thirty-one consultant has offered to donate a big portion of her sales to OUR ADOPTION!
You can browse the entire catalog online and benefit from the April monthly special! For every $31 you spend, get 1/2 off any purse!

There is something for everyone. Cute lunch totes, purses, organizing totes, even stationery!

I have the Picnic Thermal Tote (in the same pattern as #9 actually) and it wonderful for playdates to the park or the zoo. There's plenty of room for me to pack lunch for Jonah and myself (with room to spare for future kiddos lunches)!

I also have my eye on the Organizing Utility Tote (#4) and the Large Utility Tote (#5)! And I love the Retro Metro bag in one of the new gray prints!

Toward the back of the catalog you can see all the fun prints that are available for each bag!

So go to Thirty-One's online catalog, pick out some gifts for yourself or someone you love and email me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com to tell me what you want to order by Tuesday, April 24th, and VOILA- you've gotten a great gift for someone and supported adoption as well!

We are only $4200 away from our adoption being fully funded!

Fundraising Party Coming up!

Hey friends,
As of today it looks like we are just a little over $4,000 away from our adoption being fully funded!!! We are PRAISING THE LORD for His provision for our every need (it is truly SO humbling to see how He has provided for every step of our adoption) and we are looking forward to seeing how He provides through our next Fundraising event!

We are hosting a GIRLS NIGHT OUT Adoption Fundraising Party on Tuesday, April 24th! It will be a fun night to get away, enjoy some free food and drink, maybe WIN some prizes and shop for yourself and all the Moms in your life!
You'll be able to purchase great products by Thirty-one Gifts and Norwex (chemical-free cleaning cloths + more) and a portion of everything you buy will be donated to our adoption!! There will also be adoption cookbooks, African paper bead necklaces, and adoption t-shirts available to purchase to support adoption. So you can SHOP for all the people in your life and SUPPORT our adoption at the same time!

*Orders will be ready in time for Mother's Day!

If you live nearby & would like to come, email me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com for directions & details!

We are opening up ordering to ALL OF YOU! If you would like to ORDER any NORWEX or THIRTY-ONE products, please email me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com  by April 24th so it can be counted toward our adoption donations as well!! Online orders will not be able to be counted, so please make sure you email me all your order info and I will pass it on to our consultants!

Both companies actually have some great specials going on during the month of April!

source

For every $31 you spend, Thirty-one will give you 1/2 off any purse! These great-looking bags speak for themselves! (I LOVE my Picnic Thermal Tote! It is perfect for play dates at the Zoo!)

And Norwex has several monthly deals as well as package deals! For those of you who haven't heard of Norwex yet, here's little info about one of their top-selling products:
       "Antibac Enviro Cloth  This multipurpose, antibacterial, microfiber cloth removes dust, dirt, and grease from all washable surfaces, while preventing the transfer of germs to your hand and cross-contamination between surfaces. Use it dry for dusting, or damp for cleaning walls, tiles, bathtubs, counters, metal surfaces, car interiors, etc. Between launderings, simply rinse, wring out and hang to dry."(Taken from their website.)

Norwex products allow you to literally clean your entire house just using water! Check out their website to read more or come to the party to see the demonstrations for yourself! Several of our good friends have switched to this budget-friendly, chemical-free way to clean their homes and they LOVE it.


Don't forget- email your orders to me @ mrsmeach1@gmail.com by Tuesday, April 24th!
Thank you in advance to everyone who is able to shop and support our adoption!

I am really looking forward to a fun night out with the girls!