Seifert Update

Good morning, guys. I've got an update for you today. Don't you love those?

First off, The Hagensens went and picked up Sha yesterday!!!

And a dose of adorability for your day from the Seifert family.

Benjamin came home on March 4th -- the day he turned 9 months old  He is unbelievably sweet and loved by all, especially his big sister. 

Could you just die? Isn't that the cutest ever? Love. And now I'll leave you with a warm fuzzy heart. This is what we're all about. You helped with this.  See tomorrow, my dears. 

4-1

Is it cheating if I use today's blog post to tell you to go read someone else's? Cause No.41 has something way cooler going on over there. And a really great giveaway too. This is right up your alley, so head on over.

New Family of the Week: The Brinks

Good morning, y'all! Ready to get this party started?! Say hey to the Brinks.

Are they cute or what?! So let's help Jackson bring his little sister home. You can make a tax deductible donation to Hanifah's adoption by clicking here. Ok, let's be a blessing today!

An Update from the Boutins

Hey guys, bear with me. We're a little behind this week. How about an update to hold you over? Remember the Boutins. They were our first Asia Family of the Week and we featured them right here. Here's how things are going now that Aaron is home with them:

Our journey to our son was long, and sometimes very painful.  But I must tell you how very faithful our heavenly father is!!  We didn't have the agency fees to send our dossier, but through give1save1 we raised $5,300 and were able to proceed!!  Several times after airing our give1save1 video, we were told that we could not continue.  His birth certificate with "baby boy" as the name resurfaced a problem for the second time, and we were told he was not going to be able to be adopted.  God moved mountains and he was able to get a passport without a name change.  We were not granted our I-800 approval because US immigration did not like the documents that were sent from the philippines with our accepted referral.  We prayed for another month and the same officer that said no previously, changed her mind with no other documents submitted.  We were delayed with the ICAB closing for training and then the Christmas holiday closings.  Then there were the ridiculously expensive tickets for January.  But each step of the journey our heavenly father carried us, strengthened us, opened doors, and provided miraculously!!!!  Our hearts desire was to get our son as a family....God provided!!  Our hearts desire was to go to our son's church with him and his orphanage family...God opened doors!!  Our hearts desire was to bless our son's loving orphanage with donations and supplies...once again, we did not have the funds...but God miraculously provided!!!!  

We traveled AS A FAMILY to get Aaron the middle of January.

The first time I got to wrap my arms around my son!!

Our family of five ready for church

Shopping for 9 carts of groceries to bless the orphanage!!!  

If you are interested in watching....here is a video of our welcome home at the airport:)

Welcome Home Aaron

Thanks for the updates! I love to see these kids come home!!!

John's Sleep Nook

This is the most creative use of space I've seen, and I LOVE this kind of thing. The truth is, my kids pretty much only sleep in their room. For all the toys and decorations and books and all that, all of my kids can be found where I am, in the kitchen or living room. That's why I love John's little sleep nook. Ashley made a hall closet with two sliding doors into Baby John's room. Cute and functional.

"My husband & I picked out the perfect apartment when we first got married.  In the mornings we can smell the (pacific) ocean air, we live (literally) 2 minutes away from Target, Whole Foods, Barnes & Noble, three Starbucks, Nordstrom Rack, two Jamba Juices, Corner Bakery, our church, and two parks...just to name some of the awesomeness close by!  So when we brought John John home we had to get creative with space!  The average price of a home on our street is $850,000...so if we wanted to buy a house we'd have to leave our beautiful little neighborhood & that's just outta the question!  We decided our little man could take over the hallway closet!  We jazzed it up a bit, with help from Rubbermaid fabric containers, some wallpaper I found for $2 at Marshall's and thrift store finds & IKEA storage.  Here is the little man's "nook" where he sleeps & his stuff is stored. 

Note: The closet door on the pack n' play side always stays open! haha, we're crazy but not cruel! "

If you've got a room to share, shoot me a picture! We'll definitely be making this a regular installment. I've got more rooms to show you, but I'll spread 'em out. Send design pics to b.cupitt@yahoo.com! 

And hey, guess what? The Wallaces are at $1,672! Nice job, guys! 

Azzie's Room

This is a sweet room share from Little Miss Azzie Tenges, who has been home six months (can you believe it?!)

I love the sweet soft colors in this one. OK, design week is almost done, but this was too fun so keep sending me pics and maybe we'll do this a bit more regularly, shall we? Send your pics to b.cupitt@yahoo.com .

First Purchases

For today's room post Kelli Belt shares her first purchases. 

"I don't have nursery done but these are two of my favorite purchases for it.  We are waiting for our referral of a baby girl from Ethiopia! This will be my only girl so the room is gonna be full of pink :) with plans for an acacia tree- I want Ethiopia to be a big part of the room design."

I love the colors so far. Really sophisticated version of pink. I LOVE that sign too {Philosophy Design}! Jude has the My Roots Lie Here poster too. It's precious. 

Design week's not over yet, folks. Send me your rooms and purchases. I love this stuff. My email is b.cupitt@yahoo.com 

And don't forget to donate to our family of the week. So far they have raised $570.

Adikini's and Joram's Room

So, a few weeks ago I get an email commissioning me for a painting. It's for a little girl. Mom (the ever so stylish Brittany Hughes of Lewa's designs on Etsy) then proceeds to email me pictures of the room so I can match colors and such. My jaw dropped, y'all! I freak out love this room.

The design on the wall was made in Brittany's shop. Lucky for you, you can buy it in any color under the sun. I've got my eye on turquoise. 

 She also made this amazing mirror. It's one of a kind and absolutely gorgeous. 

I love the simplicity and clean look of this room, but the colors do it for me. Navy, coral, gold, and crisp white... I adore it.

I hope she likes her painting. If you need one for your little lady, the shop's open again. 

So welcome to design week! I want to see your kid's rooms! Even the "one thing you had to buy". You know that one thing? Maybe two things? And maybe you don't even know if you're adopting a boy or a girl, a big or a small, but you had to have this one thing... I want to see it. 

Rooms too! Waiting rooms, already home rooms, I'm dying to see them. Shoot me an email at b.cupitt(at)yahoo(dot)com. 

New Week, New Family: The Wallaces

What's up, everybody?! I'm so excited to be back to blogging here for the next few weeks while Steph is in Rwanda! I've got some fun stuff planned. But first let's meet our Family of the Week this week. Well, actually, I probably don't need to introduce you, do I? I'm sure you already know the Wallaces!

You guys, it's finally happening! Let's bless the socks off of this faithful family. 

For every $500 donated, there will be a match granted by the Orphan Care Alliance.

Also, there's a giveaway on the Wallace blog for any item in their shop. I've got my eye on the coin purse. :) So be sure and pop over there to enter. I am! 

Off to Rwanda...see you soon!

I'm out! Off to Rwanda on a vision trip with Africa New Life! (check them out, they're awesome) I'll be gone for 10 days! Don't worry about this lil' old blog, it's once again in great hands with our very own Beth Cupitt stepping back in! Yay Beth! You're in for a treat guys, there's some great posts coming.  I can't wait to share with you all about my trip! Ps, it's my first time traveling to Africa..pointers from any seasoned veterans?

Updates! Updates!

I know you're dying to get some updates aren't you? You are, I knew it. Well, I have good news for you! I have a couple!

Remember the Harvey family from back in December?

Yep, they met their girl in Uganda

and she is HOME! 

Do you all remember the Hill family? 

they were featured here a few weeks ago and they were adopting little baby twin boys from Ethiopia, 

well...

They're home too! 

Do you not just want to kiss those sweet baby cheeks?! 

This is why we beg you (sometimes literally) for your hard earned dollars because look what happens? Families come together. 

We also have several families traveling soon for their court trip! Please keep them in your prayers, to see an updated list of where our families are at in their journey check out our "cool stuff" link. 

"Soccer Making A Difference in Uganda..."

"Soccer making a difference in Uganda"

So I have this awesome new organization to share with you and I know you all will love it. 

From Goals to Wells

"In the spring of 2010, 19 year old Olivia Hinkle took a trip to a landlocked country in east Africa called Uganda. On her trip, Olivia witnessed women and children spending hours each day fetching water that wasn’t even safe to drink. Drinking this water causes serious illness and even death among Ugandan children. When she returned to the states, Oliva shared her experiences and frustrations with best friends Lucas Clardy and Kala Gabler. A few months later, the three friends formed From Goals to Wells with the intention of bringing clean water to Ugandans.

 

Our model is simple: We run youth soccer camps in America to fund the building of water filtration systems in rural Uganda.

 

Our dreams are large: we want to provide all of Uganda with access to clean, safe water.  

• Making a Difference in a Child's Life
• People Over Profit"

(taken from their website)

I first heard about From Goals to Wells from my husband actually. He and Lucas Clardy (one of the founders) went to high school together and my hubby saw an instagram post of some super cool sweatshirts with the Africa picture (which he knew of course I'd love) and so we found out that these three world changers had launched this soccer camp last summer to fund well building in Uganda.  They run a camp where the proceeds go directly to building fresh water wells.The coaches who run the camps donate their time and not only are the children taught how to play soccer, they're educated on the 

water crisis that is plaguing East Africa.

Ok, so here's what you need to do:

1. Go like their facebook

2. Find them on Instagram http://instagram.com/fromgoalstowells

3. Buy one of their shirts! They are awesome. I LOVE wearing mine

4. If you live the high desert of Couthern California (or are willing to make the drive) sign your kid up 

for their next camp! 

ps: So far they've been able to fund 3 wells which will serve 6,000 Ugandan villagers for 10-15 years. 

That's what I'm talking about! 

Duck Dynasty on Adoption

Ok, laugh if you will but I have an obsession with Duck Dynasty. It could seem slightly unhealthy, like I want to buy the shirt.  I love it. LOVE it.  I want to go duck hunting because they make it look so fun. Well, did you know that Will Robertson of Duck Dynasty adopted his son? Yep, he did. One more reason to love the dynasty. He says some powerful things, and I really love his sweatband, very stylish.

New Week, New Family-The Kleins!

Hey guys,

Hope you had a great weekend, mine was super busy as I'm getting ready to head over to Rwanda next week (ekk!) anyway I would love to introduce you to this weeks family, The Kleins!

They're a super sweet family who are currently planting a church in South Asia! So awesome right?! They're over in Asia being a light to the people and bringing God's word to them while working on planting a church where the people can worship and learn more about Jesus. I love it. They're adopting a little one (or two!) from the Congo and are anticipating to be able to travel over to DRC sometime this spring.  Can we help them out? Just $1 (or more if you feel led! ) I know you can. Please share their link and let's get them one step closer to their child (or children!) And make sure you check out their blog too so you can see what God's up to in South Asia! 

So far you guys have raised $3,888 for the Kleins! 

Summit 2013..

Do you ever feel like you're crazy, like clinically if you were like observed a doctor would say you're a little loony (no one tell me social worker I'm writing this) but adoption makes you crazy at times, agreed? Not crazy in a bad way, but crazy in a good way-crazy to want to take a the huge problem of caring for those who have no one. Anyway, check out what Francis Chan says about being crazy...

So, are you headed to Summit 2013 this May?! Last year it was over here in my neck of the woods on the West Coast, this year, it's in Tennessee baby! So who's going? Who's gonna go hang out with all the other "crazies" and change the world?

Worth a Good Read...

The other day I was on Pinterest, shocker I know, and I saw this pin about adoption books, obviously my eyes perked up because I'm always on the lookout for kid friendly books about adoption (and lets be honest...there aren't really all that many out there) BUT I was so happy to see this list because there were several on there! And ones that look fun! Check them out: (list courtesy of this blog)

So far I've gotten "Tell Me Again about the night I was born" and "A Mother for Choco" 

What about you? Read any good books lately?

Going viral...

The picture above has kinda gone viral in Facebook land, the story behind it is sad- it shows the little ones getting some bread and tea with the older ones having to eat the other way because there isn't enough food to go around.  "The older ones can go longer without food." That's the quote I've seen often with this picture...

This is the quote that comes to mind...

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.  They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.  It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt, Radical

Today more than usual, my heart is heavy for those without enough food to eat...

A Ram is On the Way

I found this devotional a long time ago, think like over 2 years ago-I was in a super dark place and definitely questioning where God had me, and had my family.  Although I've come a long way since then, I still find myself having to choose to trust, even though I don't know the outcome.  Will you choose to trust God today with whatever you need to? Maybe you've just started your adoption journey and the end seems no where in site, or maybe you just brought your child (or children) home and the adjustment period is way more than you think you can take, or maybe your trust has nothing to do with adoption-I hope this devotional can encourage you today.

Taken from Proverbs 31 website (source)

"So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'" Genesis 22:14 (NIV)

Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that it looked hopeless?

Have you ever sat at the kitchen table wondering how you were going to pay the electric bill? Have you ever stood at a door that's been slammed in your face by an angry teenager and despaired at having a relationship with him again? Have you ever had your heart broken so deeply that you wondered if you would feel whole again?

Sadly, we live in a broken world where desperate situations happen every day. I know someone reading this devotion is wondering how she will make it through the day because her situation looks hopeless. If that is you, I encourage you to keep reading. I believe God has a message of hope for you today.

That message is found in the Bible, in the story of a man who was dealing with his own desperate situation. His name was Abraham and he faced the greatest testing of his life. After longing for a son for many years, God finally gave Abraham a boy, whom he named Isaac. Abraham never imagined God would test his faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. But it happened.

It had to have been the darkest day of Abraham's life as he trudged up the mountain, with firewood strapped to his son's back. Every step took Abraham closer to what he believed to be the sad ending of a hopeless situation—the death of his son. Yet in spite of his sorrow, Abraham trusted God. His heart wasn't soaring with joy. He wasn't dancing up the mountain. But he put one foot in front of the other. Walking through the darkness of the situation; obeying His God's commands.

Unbeknownst to Abraham, something else was walking up that mountain. Quietly. Out of sight. On the other side of the mountain. Something else was putting one foot in front of the other. Only Abraham couldn't see it.

For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step.

All Abraham saw that day was his solitary journey of pain. As he got closer to the top of the mountain, his dread must have increased. I wonder if he asked himself any questions. I would have. I would have wondered why hadn't God intervened? Why hadn't God stopped this testing? Couldn't God see that Abraham was a man of faith? Why test him in this way?

But there was no answer. There was no voice from heaven. And so Abraham kept obeying his God's command. He put Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice his one and only son.

And just at that very moment, at the very last second, when it looked like the end had come, God spoke, stopping the sacrifice. Abraham looked up and there caught in the thicket was a ram. Abraham took his son off the altar, replaced him with the ram, and offered the sacrifice to God.

Abraham named that place "Yahweh-Yireh" or "The Lord Will Provide." And the story was written down for generations of God-followers to read. It was written so that you and I today would read it as we face our own hopeless situations. It was captured in print so that you and I would know that God is already planning for our provision. We don't see it. We don't hear it. But we can trust that our God is at work. On your behalf, and on mine.

I choose to trust God today. A ram is on the way.