92 and counting.

This weekend we led a group of high school students on a mission trip to Camp Tipton in Maryville, Tennessee. We worked hard over a long weekend, served the camp and the community around it, and developed some awesome new relationships. One thing that stood out to me from this trip was the comment one of our students made during our debriefing time. She said, "Every person's role is really important and it doesn't matter how big or small you think it is." That is so true! It's true in our relationship with Christ and the things He asks us to do. It's especially true when you are adopting. Every generous act helps!

Hauling the deck lumber away

The girls at Laurel Falls

Taking apart a broken deck

Talk about being pleasantly surprised! Last night wrapped up our t-shirt fundraiser through Bonfire, a t-shirt fundraising company. You all bought 92 shirts and we raised $1,036.76! That's AMAZING! The best part of the fundraiser is that all of the money will go toward the Lifesong for Orphans matching grant we received and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar! Also super exciting is I had people texting me this morning because they missed the deadline and still wanted shirts! :) So, our Bulgaria t-shirt fundraiser is in "overtime!" This time our fundraiser will only last for a week. So, go here if you missed out on the first fundraiser and want to snag a shirt!

After we got back home from our mission trip, I checked the mail. Then I ran to grab Kev to show him what we had received. We not only had surpassed our goal by this point with our online t-shirt fundraiser, we received a response from our Show Hope grant application! We have been awarded $5,000 in grant money toward our adoption. We both had tears in our eyes. God is taking care of our needs step-by-step--not in our time and not all up front, but in His time and in His way. I'm pretty sure I've typed that sentence many times throughout this blog.

At this point, I'm still not sure why I struggle with believing that God will meet our needs. I'm pretty sure God is shaking His head at me daily, considering He is consistently providing. If I'm honest with myself, there are probably some of you out there shaking your head at me, too. :)

Anyone curious how to pronounce the Bulgarian word for hope on the front of our shirt? Listen to this little boy pronounce it. He was adopted by some friends of ours just this past Spring!