A Night in Ethiopia SUCCESS!

6 days ago, we had our largest fundraiser yet. I wish I could say this all makes sense and that I understand the way the Lord provides. Even more so, I wish I could say I always believe the Lord will provide.

We've never been unable to pay an adoption fee. If you know and understand some of these fee amounts, you know that this is miraculous in and of itself.

With all that being said, we've spent the last week in shock at the way the Lord provides!!

Our day started EARLY EARLY EARLY with icing and bagging Africa shaped cookies! From there, the decorations at The Barn at Snider Farms began. Within 5 minutes of walking into the Barn, my husband FaceTimed me. Since he had been sick the previous 24 hours and had gone to the doctor that morning to get a shot, I assumed he would be calling me from the bed saying he wasn't going to work. BUT... of course, God knew that I needed a reminder that He provides more than we could ask or imagine. So... the call began with a picture of a check. Unknown to the ones who wrote this overly generous check, it was EXACTLY the amount of our next fee...for our referral!!! At that point, I knew that all the doubt and fear I had experienced over the prior 6 weeks were straight from Satan. God had this night in His control and would provide MORE than we could ask or imagine!!

So... the day went on and thanks to my parents, my sister and my precious friends Miriam and Melody, we had such a fun day prepping knowing that God was in control.

Ok.. get ready for picture overload. The evening was beautiful....

Well... there's the night in pictures. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was SUCH a special night spent with special friends and we even got to meet a few new friends!!

Now... you've all been waiting..... Drumroll please............. Over the course of the day and night, we raised a total of MORE THAN

$7,600!!!!!!!

If you understood the amount of time we've spent over the past 2 years trying to figure out how in the world we would save/raise the funds to bring our child home and how many small fundraisers we have had, you would know that this amount was only provided because of God!! 

You see, there's one thing that our family understands. Not a single person has to donate a single dollar to our adoption. No one is required to give us anything. Every time a new donation comes in or every time we complete a fundraiser, I'm just blown away at how generous people are. Seriously!! God has done so much refining in me on this journey. I never knew my heart was filled with so much fear and doubt. He has slowly {and it's STILL a work in progress} chiseled away at the fear, doubt and pride that has filled my heart and replaced them with a content heart knowing that I am not in control of any of this!

So... In my book, A Night in Ethiopia was a success!! There are A LOT of people that made this night possible!! My parents, my mother in law, my sister, Mark and Melody Benton, Miriam Parrish, Karl and Angela Snider, Bryan and Bethany Welborn, Rheagan Lovelace... We are more than grateful for all your work to make our fundraiser possible! AND... to all our donors, we can't tell you how you have blessed us! God has been so faithful and used each of you in beautiful ways! 

{Exhausted from the past week Frozen Yogurt trip with the Grandparents! Excuse the fact that Noah is picking his nose!}

SURPRISE!! AN EXCITING TURN IN OUR JOURNEY!!

I'll make you read the details prior to the exciting announcement!!

When we started this journey, we had an 11 month old baby boy and were 4 months away from giving birth to our second boy. Since we knew we would have boys, we decided we would proceed with our adoption with preference for a girl. We had already decided long ago that our first daughter's name would be Matsy Grace (with namesake to a MiMi named Matsy that is just precious!)

Well.. Twenty Six months past that initial application, our agency is giving very few referrals for girls. The wait is significantly longer for girls. And so... we prayed what that meant for our family. We prayed if we were specifically called to wait it out for a girl, God would reveal that to us. He revealed to us this... We didn't get to pick the gender of our bio babies. We have two rowdy little brothers who would LOVE a baby brother. We would save a significant amount of money due to our house already being full of all things BOY!

So through A LOT of prayer... WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE that a few weeks ago we opened our adoption to EITHER GENDER!!

 

THAT'S RIGHT! If we have a boy, we will call him JUDAH!!

So what does that mean for a little girl named Matsy Grace? Well, we could still technically get a referral for a girl! If we receive a referral for a boy, we would still love to have a Matsy Grace one day, but we'll leave that up to God!

For now, we are excited at the thought of our boys having a brother! The thought of another boy getting to share in our boys' special bond of brotherhood makes my heart all mushy! The boys have been extra excited! We were driving down the road yesterday and Noah out of the blue said, "I'm ready for my brudder to come home. I'm gonna give him hugs and smooches, Mommy!" Boy or girl, they'll be great siblings!

So... there it is. The reality of the real push for our NIGHT IN ETHIOPIA fundraiser is that this process may go a (little) faster than we had initially thought. IF current patterns stand, we COULD have a referral by fall/end of the year! There's obviously never any guarantees with international adoption, but that's what current time frames and others with our agency would estimate.

We would LOVE for you to join us in prayer for our child. For our fundraiser. For our boys to understand all of this. For Judah or Matsy Grace to be protected from harm and endure as little trauma as possible. For our child's biological parents to be find hope in the Lord. For us to have patience and wisdom as parents.

A Night in Ethiopia

For the last 25 months, we have dreamed of having a BIG fundraiser!! We've had several smaller fundraisers.. which have been BEYOND a blessing.. but with the fees associated with adoption, there is no way we can financially fund our whole adoption (more on this in a minute). SO... We are hosting "A NIGHT IN ETHIOPIA" dinner, silent auction AND more on June 1 at the Barn at Snider Farms just outside of Jackson, TN. (Tickets Here!!)

Since there's probably a lot of questions, I'll try to clear up as many as I can! 

What should I expect the night of June 1? 

We will have a traditional Ethiopian dinner complete with traditional decorations and of course, COFFEE!! There will also be Ethiopian coffee, Ethiopian jewelry and scarves, kids books, LOVEethiopia Comfort Colors shirts, Noonday, and more for sale with proceeds going towards our adoption! 

Where do I purchase tickets?

http://powelladoption.ticketleap.com/a-night-in-ethiopia/ is the site we have chosen! Get your tickets early!! 

Can I bring my kids? 

Sure! You are welcome to bring kids! There are tickets available for kids at a discounted rate! Or.. get a sitter and enjoy a child free Ethiopian dinner! 

Where is the event? 

The Barn at Snider Farms is one of the most beautiful venues in the South! Karl and Angela Snider have a beautiful story with this Barn, but I'll tell you this... the night would be worth it to come hang out at this perfect place without the traditional ET dinner! So come join us! (Google Map Location)

Why are you having a BIG fundraiser? 

Due to many variables, we don't know an exact figure on our adoption. However, we have a good idea (barring any major unforseen obstacles) of the amount we need to save/raise. So.. as much as I hate sharing (and facing) the figures, I'll try my best to explain. First, what have we already spent on our adoption? We have spent around $16,250 on application fees, program fees, international fees, government fingerprinting, county certifications, state authentications, translation fees, home study review fees and our home study. While that number is SO overwhelming to look at, it is a testimony to how God has blessed this journey! I would have never imagined that God would provided exactly what we need to meet every single fee. God has truly used His people to bring our baby home!! 

So.. what's next? What else could we possibly need to pay for?! (No worries, I ask these questions often myself!!) When we accept a referral, we will owe a $4,240 referral fee. After that, there will be various fees including monthly foster home fees (starting once our child leaves the orphanage), medical fees, updating documents, updating home study, finder fees, and the big one...travel...for two trips for two people! So.. we probably still have a little more to pay than we have already paid. The range from people who have recently adopted is from $29K-$44K. So.. we are choosing to trust God that He will provide!! 

What if I want to donate to the silent auction? 

If you have a talent, a skill, or anything else you would like to donate, please feel free to e-mail me at tiffanipowell7@yahoo.com!! 

What time should I be there? 

"A Night in Ethiopia" begins at 6 p.m.

So... Now that I hope all I have answered all the questions, we really hope you will join us!! God has already been working BIG time and has His hand all in this event!! I wish I had the time to tell you all the God stories that have already happened!! He is such a gracious God! 

If I'm being honest, Satan has been attacking me BIG time regarding this fundraiser! Smaller fundraisers are awesome. But if they flop, they flop. I'm having to rely on the Lord to make this one happen! And it is HARD! Satan tells me that I've only lived in our city for a little over a year and this is crazy. Satan tells me no one will come. Satan tells me that we will never be able to fund this adoption. 

God tells me to walk by faith and not by sight. God tells me that He will use this work for GOOD if I stay faithful, being called according to His purpose. God tells me to quit relying on myself and to lean in to HIS promises!! 

I can't wait to see what God has planned for "A Night in Ethiopia" and how it blesses a lifetime with our child!! 

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9

A Little Update and a Lot of Waiting.

I figure it's time for an update... Or maybe I shouldn't call it an update because there's not a lot of updating, but here goes:

We officially hit the two year mark last month from when we sent in our initial adoption application. Since then, we have experienced our bumps in the journey (by bumps I mean a change in agency, a move which delayed the process, and just the general delays dealing with that much paperwork). In the midst of all those bumps, there was a lot for me to "do." I was eye deep (LITERALLY, people.) in paperwork. I was running here and there to get this approved, this county certified, that state approved, this document to the government, that document to the agency. You get the picture.

But then the bumps cease. The paperworks is turned in. No more to do lists. No more constant emails. No more feeling like "I" am doing everything I can to bring Matsy Grace home.

And we wait. And wait. And wait. It seems like a never ending wait.
No 9 months and here comes baby. No "do" this and here comes baby.
It's just wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

...And then wait some more.

So... we're here. In the midst of the waiting. I had a dream about a week and a half ago. One of those dreams that was too real and has made this wait increasingly difficult. We got the call for a referral and even got to hop on the plane a little before our "dreamed about" court date to spend a little extra time with our daughter. I woke up as we were walking in the foster home in Ethiopia. I immediately e-mailed our agency: "Any updates? I had this dream." Reply? "No, that's an awesome dream. But not reality."

So.. here in our reality of a waiting season, theres a few things I do know:

1) Based on recent trends, we could get a referral anywhere from later this year (2015) to way out into eternity.

2) God is faithful... Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9

3) But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31

4) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. II Peter 3:9a

5) God wants me to work in my waiting. We will continue loving our boys, serving the Lord, being obedient, loving people, fundraising to bring home our girl and being refined in this season of waiting.

I know that's not much of an update. But there's where we are. I'm living on the words of this song these days. Take a listen....

If you're in a season of waiting, know you aren't alone. We are in the trenches of this together. Let's use it for HIS glory!!

Blessings!