Learning to swim..

This is kinda adoption related, kind of not...

I'm quickly entering a new season of life, the season of motherhood...

It will be here before I know it.  This weekend we took our high school seniors up to Lake Shasta for their senior trip.  As we were giving them advice about starting their new season in life, I found myself thinking that I needed to hear the same thing! I've longed to me a mother for so long, and now that the reality is coming up that soon (Lord have mercy I hope it's soon) our little man will be home.

I find myself pausing and while I want to fast forward sometimes until he's here, I want to pause because I know this season of my life is ending.  I'm beyond thrilled, ecstatic.

But as the school year ends (I'm teacher) I pause looking at my little students knowing that this is my last year, this time next year I'll be working with my own little guy on ABC's and 123's.

Someone tell me this is normal.

I find myself sitting and thinking a lot. Thinking about attachment and bonding, thinking about a plane ride home with a sweet boy who will most likely be scared to death.

I know not everyone can relate to this, but even as paper chasers, I think you go through seasons you know? The crazy busy season of photocopies and notaries, and then maybe notarizing again because you had the wrong wording once you got to the state office (oh was that just us?) But then you enter the season of waiting and thinking it will never ever end, but one day friend it will end! And all you've been reading about will be happening to you.

I find myself now more than ever needing to have total dependence on God.  I'm reading this awesome book recommended by our own Wynne, called "The Circle Maker" it's totally challenging how I pray and I've found that in this season, I'm in need and I find myself in constant prayer.  There's a part in the book where the author asks when you last hurt your knees from praying so long. I think my knees are getting sore, because I've been a prayin'! Praying for new seasons and new growth not just for me but for all of you too! As we are all on this road together, whether we've adopted, are adopting know someone adopting, love Jesus or maybe just a blog readers (we love you too!) I'm praying for us all as we're learning to swim in these new seasons we're in or entering. Remember when you learned how to swim? The water was so scary...until you learned how to swim..

Was that totally a jumble of nothing? That's how my brain feels at this very moment. Please don't tell our social worker ;)  And someone please say this is normal.

ps...don't forget to 1. donate to our family of the week

and

2. tomorrow is real life wednesdays! remember to tag us in your real life moments 

New Week, New Family-The Schills!

Hey guys!
I am so so pumped to introduce you to this week's family. The Schills!

Abby (mom) is a fellow Noonday Ambassador and I've loved getting to know her throughout our adoption journeys.  I remember talking with Abby before they even officially submitted their application to America World, and now they're getting ready to submit their dossier! They're hoping to adopt a little girl form Ethiopia, and I know you all can help them out!

Abby is also doing a giveaway for a $50 Noonday Collection Gift Voucher! So make sure you head over to their blog and enter to win! I know you all love Noonday! 

For all you Congo mama's

Have you guys seen these? So cute, I think my little guy probably needs these to show some Congo love to his buddies, anyone else plan on getting a pair, how could you not?!

Check out more on the Toms and Eastern Congo Initiative here.

Happy Friday loves!

Real Life Wednesdays

Last week we introduced you to our new series "Real Life Wednesdays" where we wanna feature some of our readers in their "real life" moments.  We've since gotten pretty techy and got an Instagram, I know, I know, we're big stuff now ; ) So you can head over and follow us (G1S1africa) and you can tag us in your real life moments this next week!

This week we're gonna show you Lindsay's real life moment..have you met Lindsay? She's blogs over at our G1S1 Caribbean site , go check out her story, they've had one heck of a year-show her some love. Anyway Lindsey tagged us in this pic

They've finally been i600 approved! So awesome! One step closer! That is real life my friends, waiting with each other through the hard times and rejoicing in the great times! We're so happy for Lindsay.

Did you have any #reallifemoments this week? I know you did. Share them with us! We'd love to share your moments with you!

#thisisreallife

Now What??

My husband and I are in full time ministry.  He's the high school pastor, and I help out.  We're gearing up to say goodbye to all our seniors soon, in fact this weekend we're off to our awesome "Grad Classic" where we take them out to Lake Shasta and treat them like kings and queens (ok, sort of, the boys have to sleep outside and it's kinda crammed) but they eat awesome food (which says a lot on a youth trip) and we get to spend just a few more days with them, just them and us. Before they go off to college.

I feel like graduation is a lot like adoption.  

You work so hard for four years (some maybe 2 years if you were like me and thought colleges didn't look at grades until junior year...) and then you get into this great college or choose a job, but you're kind of in this..now what? phase. 

You know what I'm talking about, where you feel like you should be doing something more because you graduated you're in college or you have a job. It's like, okay I did all this work and...now what?! 

I think that's kind of like adoption, you work super hard to get all that paperwork done, you get fingerprinted you have interviews, read books, fill out more paper work, ect, ect, ect (said like "The King and I ;) And then you ship off your dossier and THEN......

Now what?

You wait. 

And you wait 

And you wait

And you see what God has in store. 

When we started our adoption, I prayed for God to use our wait time for something bigger than we ever thought He could. 

He totally did

We'll be DTE one year on May 18th, and in just 1 year He showed

-open our eyes to special needs adoption

-widen our age parameters

-and then we found out about a little boy in West Africa who needed a family (in a country I didn't even know existed) 

- Blew down mountains to show us that we can adopt two kids, at the same time from totally different countries.

Ok, so if you're in that now what stage I'm gonna tell you exactly what I tell my girls who are about to head off to college and are usually freaking out if not now, in about 6 weeks...

Be open and ready for God to use you in ways you never thought possible.

Be ready to change, change is good, change is necessary.

The "what if" stage can be totally scary, but totally amazing if you let it happen.

Let it happen and see how big God is.

"God will be in control forever." 1 Peter 5:11 

New Week New Family, The Calders!

Hey gang,
I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day with your families and if you're waiting to meet your little one I hope your heart was full with anticipation! Meet this week's new family, The Calders !

so far you have blessed this family with $735!


They've just received their referral from Ethiopia and are expecting a court date soon! Here's a little note form mom to help you get to know them a little better...

"Adopting is something that Jason and I had talked about even before we were married. We have been active with a Christian rescue mission (City Union Mission) for over a decade working with children from the urban core in Kansas City. In working with countless children that come from such a place of need, many of them being foster kids, God put in us the desire to open our home to a child in need. This plan always seemed very far off, because we had our own young children at home, but this past summer God spoke to both of our hearts and let us know that the time was not later, it was NOW.  We had always planned on fostering to adopt when the time came, but just as we were shocked that God was leading us to adopt now, we were just as shocked to feel Him leading us toward international adoption. Something that had never even been on our radar, that had never been part of "our" plan. We are so excited about bringing another child into our home. It continually amazes us how this process of adoption is a mirror of how we have been adopted into God's family. We can't help but be excited about living that out and using this opportunity to share our faith with others."

Awesome right?! So go ahead and give your dollar and share their story! Let's help this family with the last leg of their journey! 

*we are still partnering with Pure Charity, but allowed our families who had already been selected to be featured, to choose if they wanted to use Pure Charity or not, June 1st all funds will be going through Pure Charity.*

A fun post for mothers day for ALL you mama's out there, and meet our newest contributor!

Hey guys, 

I think that post title was the longest ever, but I couldn't think of a title for this post. 

I have someone I'm super excited to introduce you too, meet Jessa, our newest contributor over here at Give1Save1 Africa!  You can read about her and her husbands amazing adoption journey here on her blog, head over and get to know her a little, leave her some encouragement or just say hey.  You'll be seeing her post around here so you'll wanna check her out ;) I asked to to write a little bit about Mother's Day, since it's coming up super soon and all, and there are a lot of different emotions for everyone depending on what stage you're at in life, so-without further adue...Jessa...

There are few things in life that I have dreaded more than Mother’s Day.

Bungee Jumping.

Socially Awkward Situations.

Plague.

Mother’s Day has always fallen somewhere in the middle of those.

You are given a year grace period after marriage where Mother’s Day sails on by without a second glance. A card to your own mother, a few “Happy Mother’s Day” to some ladies you know, and you are good.

Even handing out carnations to the women who walk into church is a joyous occasion!

I’m not sure why Mother’s Day always falls on a Sunday, but “holiday makin’ peeps” certainly weren’t thinking about church-going women that struggle with infertility when they dubbed Sunday as the day.

No. No.

Not thinking at all about the fact that you will be surrounded by an abnormal amount of people who all have the same question:

So when are YOU going to be a mommy????

And I don’t know about you, but while enjoying a perfectly stuffed cream cheese Danish, sipping a far too weak cup of Styrofoam encased coffee, and trying to make friendly conversation, the last response you want to hear is…

“Oh. Well. We’ve been “trying”. But it looks like we are facing some infertility issues.”

I imagine this falls into the “Socially Awkward Situations” category.

#2 on the dreaded list.

To the credit of many well-meaning people, they didn’t know what they are walking in to.

I, on the other hand, knew exactly what I was walking in to. And I suppose that is what made the dread of Mother’s Day so daunting.

Until I met adoption.

Adoption has changed everything.

How dare adoption waltzed and mess up my perfectly sarcastic and somewhat miserable view on Mother’s Day. 

I was comfortable in my pity, until God decided it was no longer my time to wallow there.

Beauty from the ashes.

As many who have gone through the process of adoption may know, the phrase “growing in my heart” is thrown around quite a bit.

I always thought it was cheesy but that was maybe before I started to feel my own growth…sans elastic maternity pants.

In the “no show” stage, it is easy to “know” you are in the process of adoption. There is all the excitement that comes from sharing the news. All of the new questions, new trainings, new planning. But, there are days that, other than the mile high stack of paper on your desk, you sometimes just don’t think about it.

And unlike a mostly guaranteed 9 month pregnancy, after 1 ½+ years of waiting, sometimes you don’t WANT to think about it.

But the beauty of growth is that, in its time, blooms (and/or baby bumps) start to appear. It may take months, it may take years, but at some point, it starts to show. And you feel it.

You feel it move you.

You feel it change you.

You feel it as a part of you.

And it is beautiful.

And this year, as I approach Mother’s Day in my full term adoption maternity pants, knowing that we have a daughter waiting for us…

Knowing that we get to see her soon…

Praying for her specifically by name…

Resting in the beauty of God’s timing…

I’m not dreading another year of awkward conversations and the passing up of the carnations.

Actually, God’s promised me a bouquet of roses.

“God sent me to announce the year of his grace…and to comfort all who mourn,

to care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

A praising heart instead of a languid spirit.”

Isaiah 61:2-3 (The Message)

So Happy Mother’s Day.

To all of you who are mothers.

To all of you who will one day be mothers.

To all of you who have come from the ashes into the beautiful story of God building family through adoption.