Sooooo, has the shock worn off yet? Are you guys still kind of in a fog that Beth's stepping back a little? Me too actually. It's totally been a whirlwind last week or so talking with Beth and learning all it is she actually does. She does a lot guys, she's pretty awesome and she loves you all a lot.
I wanted to write you all a quick little note to you I'm so honored to be able to walk along with you all, whatever stage in life you're at, I'm sure we all have something in common. For example, I love Etsy and Pinterest. Anyone else? Well, check out
Some of her work been circulating around Pinterest for a few days and I hopped on over to her Etsy shop and there are some beautiful prints there, these are a few of my faves...
AND right now she's offering a FREE 8X10 print with every purchase! Say what?!
That's right guys, it's a BOGO deal over there, and her prints are totally affordable, so you can pick one out for yourself and get one (for free!) for a special friend or family member (or keep them both, whatever your fancy)
Anyway, happy Wednesday all, I'm so excited to be a part of such a fun group! Love, Steph
I bet you saw this coming. I wasn't sure which graphic to use. This was maybe appropriate.
I feel like I really have been faithful with the blog. I knew it would be big and really impact lots of families. It's not there quite yet, but I'm stopping before it's climax because, well... (and here's the graphic that mostly applies...)
You know where I'm coming from? I'm trying to run my house, my art business, and the blog and there's just not enough of me to do it all well. And while I'm blogging about the orphan crisis in Africa, my own former-orphan cries for me to get off the computer.
So, the thing for me to do is pretty clear at this point. I've got to pull back on the blog just a bit. I'm still very much here, just behind the scenes. And I'm still going to be blogging once a week or so starting in January. For the rest of the year you guys are going to get to know your new blogger, though you probably already know her. ;)
Steph Nunes is going to be the new voice of the Africa blog. She's young and fun and stylish; you're just going to love her. She's so perfect. You'll be getting to know her more in the coming month before she takes over full time, but you can pop over to her blog right now and give her a sweet word of encouragement. And you can always pop over to my blog to keep up with us and whatever hair brained scheme I've got going on. I'm not out of here yet. We'll do it nice and slow and we have such similar tastes and styles that you won't even notice the change. Steph is handling all the new families now, so contact her if you're interested in being a featured family. All of you lovelies that emailed me offering to help with the blog (there were alot and I haven't got a chance to respond to everyone yet), I adore you! We're going to keep your names and emails and Steph will email you when she needs some help. I love you all so super much!
Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. And now all the Christmas fun can start!
This weeks' family is a little bit amazing. The Greenfields are living in Jordan. They are now in the process of adopting twin girls from the DRC. Rachel, our mama, can tell you their story far better than I can.
For Nathan and I, adoption has always been something we felt would be a part of our family story. On our very first date, our concern and desire to care for orphans very naturally flowed into our conversation. Although we weren’t sure HOW exactly caring for orphans would be a part of our journey, we trust God would make it clear in His timing.
Four years into our marriage, we welcomed our firstborn, Noah Arend, into the world on May 7, 2008. We were absolutely mesmerized by our precious baby boy and were thrilled to become parents. Less than two years later, we were overjoyed to welcome our little princess, Mercy Elizabeth, into our family and found ourselves captivated once again.
When Mercy was just four months old and I was still suffering through sleep deprivation from a stubborn little diva who was NOT interested in sleeping through the night, God very clearly directed Nathan and I to welcome an abandoned newborn into our home. Although our decision didn’t make much sense on a logical level, as I bounced back and forth between diapers, baby bottles, work, and other demands, I would find myself staring at sweet Maleah and know that God was doing something big.
In the days and months that followed, we were on a roller coaster of ups and downs emotionally. It was in that time that God spoke to us in an intimate way through His Word. The passage found in Isaiah 58:6-12 came alive in our lives and challenged our hearts in significant ways.
Some of you who know us personally, know bits and pieces of the story of Maleah, but in all honesty, there was so much that happened in those months that we could not express in words. there was new life breathed into us as we cared for this sweet child. There was a fire lit in Nathan’s spirit as he sought to be a voice for one without a voice. I watched my husband come alive in strength and vigor. We saw miracles happen, in Maleah’s life AND in ours. Our entire family was changed, right to the very core of who we were. The Greenfield family post-Maleah is not the same as it was before she arrived, and for that reason alone, we are grateful for her presence in our life even if it ended long before we wished it had.
God used that time to increase our faith and strengthen our resolve to help those in need. It was in this time that He confirmed to our hearts that our next child would be brought into our family through adoption.
In April 2011, we began the adoption process and after many, many months of waiting, in August 2012 God gave us more than we could ever think or imagine when He blessed our family with TWIN girls! In October, we flew to the Congo to meet our precious girls for the first time and every moment with them was a treasure. We cherish the memories we made together.
We are currently awaiting our court date, which is projected to be sometime toward the beginning of November. While we are anxious to get our girls home, we are relying on the promises of God to help ease the ache of our hearts. He has been faithful each step of this journey, and we have no doubt He will continue to be faithful to complete the work He has started.
Thank you for this opportunity to share our story on Give 1 Save 1. When we began our adoption journey, we looked at the expenses and knew there was absolutely no way apart from God that this adoption could take place. He has been generous in HIs provision and we have had what we needed at every point we have needed it. PRAISE GOD! Our next major payment is due immediately following our court hearing, and we are trusting God to provide the remaining agency fees and travel money.
God bless you Give 1 Save 1!! You are a blessing to so many people!
Rachel Greenfield
OK, guys, you know what to do. Please remember that they are working in a foreign country. They have been obedient to God, and we are going to have to be as well. Let's take care of this money thing for them, shall we? On this Cyber Monday when the rest of the world is on their computers buying a bunch of stuff we don't really need, lets invest in this family.
Hey everybody! It's been a crazy awesome record-breaking week. Our family of the week is at $13,611 so far for Ana's adoption!!! I LOVE IT! That's what I'm talkin' about! If you haven't yet, go check out their video and donate.
Have a great Thanksgiving! The Give1 team is taking Thanksgiving break off since most people aren't online anyway, so I hope you have an awesome turkey. I love you guys. See you on the flip side. We'll be back Monday the 26th with a new family to bless. :)
Nick and I are leaving for Ethiopia on November 29 and we could not be more excited. Ethiopia feels like home to us, but this trip is going to be a little different. Although we thought our next trip would definitely be related to our adoption, God has a plan that I have to believe is greater than my own (otherwise I would go crazy), and we are heading back just to check in on a few projects and love on some of our favorite people. We usually have our trip planned out day by day, what we want to accomplish and what we need to get done. I feel like that mentality is the only thing that kept me going for two months the first trip. Otherwise, I would have been a bawling mess for most of the trip processing all I had seen and done. Instead, I waited until I got home and had to study for my physical therapy boards to do that :)
We have a rough idea of the people we want to see and the projects we'll visit. We'll definitely be seeing our friends at Hands for the Needy in Korah (a sponsorship program supported through Children's HopeChest), visiting Bring Love In for the first time to meet the family we help sponsor, and loving on all the kiddos at two of the government orphanages Kebebe Tsehay and Kechene.
We may even do a tiny bit of traveling outside of the city! We are typically so busy working from the time we hit the ground to the moment we arrive back at the airport that the idea of getting out of the city is a blur. I guess that's not true, actually, as we helped with a week long shoe distribution in a community outside the city, but I mean outside-outside the city. The few places we're entertaining is Lalibela and Bahir Dar. Lalibela is known for their ancient churches carved out of rock.
Axum is apparently the most ancient city in Ethiopia and is home to some amazing stone obelisks. According to Wikipedia, "The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lie the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed."
The history of Ethiopia really astounds me. How do we chose where to go?! In fact, I stumbled across this itinerary called The Ark of the Covenant: in search of the oldest treasure of all humanity. I wouldn't mind just re-creating that because it looks Ah.mazing. Too little time to do it all! Any recommendations from you seasoned Ethiopian travelers?!
I wanted to let you know about the most brilliant fundraiser ever. I think so anyways. So, on Monday, Shannon did a great post on the Domestic site about fundraising. They've managed to raise a few hundred bucks with this fundraiser before and I think it's fan-flippin'-tastic. She (and some volunteer friends) bake up a bunch of loaves of pumpkin bread and deliver or ship before Thanksgiving. Each loaf is $7+shipping if you need it. Profit is about $5 a pop. That's not a bad cut and *bonus* your house smells awesome. If you'd like to order some (I'm about to!!!) and send them as sweet greetings or as a little something for yourself, email Shannon at ajourneyoflove@gmail(dot)com to get yours. Shannon, dear - fire up your oven!!!
And can I take a sec to encourage you to pop in on some of the other blogs from time to time? We are all SO different, but it's awesome like that. Look over on your left. See that button that says 'back to the map'? It'll take you to all of our blogs. Check 'em out. They're all awesome if I do say so myself. Hey, some of the bloggers even have vocabulary beyond the word 'awesome'. :)
