Blessed Beyond Measure

We seriously couldn't have ever anticipated how many friends and family would decide to donate to this garage sale!  We've already made $575 just from selling a couple of the bigger items on craigslist!  We have an entire garage full with more families donating next week!  We've been blown away, that's for sure.  God has shown up providing the number of tshirts we needed for our first order, with massive amounts of GREAT items to sell in our garage sale, and even friends who are willing to sacrifice part of their Saturday to come help.

I've been asked how you can help, if you live here in Katy.  I have a few tangible ways:

1)  We need to borrow LOTS of tables.  We'd like them by Tuesday (7/19) if you could part with them for that long.  My mom has graciously decided to take the big kids Tuesday night through Friday and so I think we've decided to turn our living room into Garage Sale central.  We're going to set up as many tables as can fit in our living/dining room so we can start setting things out.  We can't even see how/what we have because it has gotten to be too much. This gives us three days with only one child to corral while we work.

2)  Like to bake?  We'll take any and all cupcakes we can get (to be delivered Saturday morning).  Cara, Micah and some friends will be having a Cupcake Kids bake sale at our garage sale with all proceeds going to that blessed ministry.

3)  Help spread the word.  If you have a bulletin board at work, or an EBB, please email me at newsomes4adoption [at] gmail dot com and I'll send you a PDF of our flier.  We'd love for you to post it at work, at play or wherever you have access.  The folks at Orange Leaf have posted one there, and we've had some friends post it at work.  We have so many GREAT items, we hope to have some GREAT buyers as well!

4)  HELP!  Our sale will be from 7 am - 1 pm on 7/23.  I've held many a garage sale in my day, and since I've advertised 7 am, that means I'll be up at 5 pulling stuff out and people will start showing up around 6/6:30 most likely.  We can use any and all help you'd like to offer.  We have my mom and a friend from church here to help watch the little kids indoors (so feel free to bring yours if you need to).

5)  Help us make posters.  Email me if you have time and I'll tell you what we need.

And last but not least, send people to our blog!  You can send them to this page, or our garage sale page here.  

Here are just a few of the great items we have, some I've had a few minutes to post on craigslist.  The craigslist post is listed after each picture.  

http://houston.craigslist.org/hsh/2493303238.html

http://houston.craigslist.org/hsh/2493312169.html

http://houston.craigslist.org/hsh/2493290834.html

http://houston.craigslist.org/clo/2481018955.html

Sleeping Beauty & Prince Charming

Today Cara decided she wanted Micah and her to play Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming. She has a book and so she wanted to act out each page. She saw the page where he had a red coat on and immediately knew Micah needed to wear this superman cape, to be just like Prince Charming :)

This dress was my mom's when she was in high school I think. I  wore it in a 3rd grade play and all they had to do was shorten it.  My mom was tiny!  Cara LOVES wearing it now.  It's too long, but she doesn't care. "It's fancy with pink flowers."

I was listening from the kitchen. She kept asking him to dance with her. He'd say no. She's say, "Do you need to see the book AGAIN!!" She'd show him the book. He'd say ok. Then she said let's dance. He'd say no. You get the idea. Then I pulled out the camera and they both wanted to take part :). Ignore the piles of clothes in the background--we were going through clothes to get them ready for the garage sale. This was the dancing scene. She had to hold her dress (in the other hand) just so and he had to hug her :). By the time I snapped the shot, they had moved, but it was just too cute not to document.

Next she made him play the queen. Finally I told her I'd play with her after he went to take a nap. He wasn't enjoying it anymore. But I will say that as much as he loves dirt and cars and swords, he holds his own playing with Cara :)

A good reminder: Grace

A lot of my bible study and focus lately has been, well on numerous things, but two words that stick out are humility and grace.  I'm constantly reminded about how selfish my flesh can be, and that without God's grace and my constant seeking of Him, I tend to make things about me, me, me.  That's not the plan!  I had made out a bad schedule for myself now that Eric's home for the summer: staying up way too late, then not getting up and getting 'fed' by God's word FIRST, and thus, being cranky and tired with my kids.  So last night, I went to sleep at 9:30 and it felt good.  God has blessed me with alone time :) and His word has tasted oh so good.

I'm reading a book and what struck me last night was how much like my children I am!  God made me in His perfect image, (Gen 1:27), and I choose to reject Him, unless I focus on the power of His grace.  Take this paragraph from Raising Kids for True Greatness:

    "Think about it.  Why would a holy, righteous God give a second thought about created beings who have worked over time to reject everything about Him?  He's given us all that we need to enjoy a fabulous and eternal love affair with Him, and instead we spurn His love, mock His law, and reject His lead in our lives.  We deserve nothing less than God's complete and unbridled judgment." 

You know a 'raising kids' book almost always leads back to the parents heart right?  I'm so glad I'm reading this book.  It's not the first time I've heard these thoughts or ideas, but maybe my heart is just a little more open to taking them and acting them out now.  Lord, I pray you help me show grace to my kids today, and every day.  That you help me to act out Your undeserved love for them through me.  One more piece of a paragraph I just loved that talks about grace...

    "It motivates us to stand when everything else is encouraging us to run.  It challenges us to reach out and engage when selfish logic says we should focus on our own best interests.  It enables us to endure a lifetime of being inconvenienced on behalf of God's glory." 

WOW.  That last sentence hit me hard when I first read it.  Then I couldn't get off that page I was sucked into  the words.  I just think back to how many times I've made decisions based on my comfort or convenience.  How many times I've taken God totally out of the equation, when He's yearning and deserves to be at the fore-front of my mind, daily, hourly, through every thought I have.  How I consider my glory and accolades instead of His in my decision making.  And I feel weak, lost, sinful....

And then God reminds me through His still small voice: you are not perfect, but I AM.  And I have given my grace to you to USE.  It empowers you.  It quiets that evil in your head and it makes you stronger.

2 Corinthians 12:9:   But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I am so thankful for grace.  Especially when it leads me to humility of spirit.  I've been camped here on and off in my study time.  I love these words and am working on memorizing all of them.  I love words like redemption, grace, forgiveness, love lavished, sealed.  It eases my mind back to where it should be focused.  Praise be to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 1:3-14:  3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,to the praise of his glory.

June 20th

Cara had such a good time on her birthday. Yaya spent the night, we opened gifts that morning, went to Splashway that day, then Nana took us to dinner that night. She was so excited for her day. We always give Cara her gifts on her actual birthday, that way she can look at each one and we can tell her why we bought it for her. This year at her party we asked for no gifts, for people to donate to sponsoring Muzei, a little boy Cara's age in Uganda that we sponsor.  

We pray for him each day and I told Cara because we already have so much that wouldn't it be great to get him some things. She was excited (and I'll admit, a little worried that she wouldn't get anything--I assured her we had a few gifts for her) and we almost raised the whole year's sponsorship at her party. We hope to sponsor a child for each of our children at home. We want to instill in them a giving heart and what better way, we think, than to send a child our children's age to school each year. It makes such a difference in their life in Uganda when they can get an education and get off the streets during the day.  She ended up getting so many gifts, she felt so blessed and asked which ones she was going to send to Muzei, I love my baby's heart! 

Here is our girl in her new bathing suit from Yaya

Here's our girl opening her gifts. I saw this art set on www.hopscout.com a few months ago and knew Cara would love it. We are starting our homeschooling journey in the fall, and I knew she'd love having her own new set to do crafts at school. We were right, she adores it, and asks to play with it almost every day during nap.

Her apron I got her name put on, and a little purse for her.  We've used the apron twice since then, she loves helping me cook!

Since she loves Ariel, we got her an Ariel jewelry set. The little necklace Anna has on plays Ariel's tune she sings. Cara liked it, Anna thought it was HILARIOUS!

Cara's swimming so well now, and she's had her eye on these princess diving sticks for the pool. She asks for them almost every time she sees them and I have to tell her no. She was super excited to open them and take them to the pools this summer!

Need Photos??

First of all, we just wanted to thank you all for the support.  In the matter of a few weeks, YOU've raised over $2,000 towards our adoption expenses.  Lots of friends have donated, some from the blog world, some from strangers that we've never even met!  Thank you for sharing our story with others.  If you want to link them to this post here are a few fundraisers we have going on right now.

Give $5 and 'buy' a puzzle piece here.

Need some fair trade coffee?  For each bag you purchase, we get $5.  

Buy some super cool t-shirts we designed and help bring our baby home!  We need 10 more for our first order.

We are beyond blessed with the amount of items donated for our upcoming garage sale.

Buy some unique bead necklaces or bracelets straight from Uganda! 

You can see all of these across the top of the blog.

Forgive me for not posting this before now.  My friend, Jenny Wright, is starting out a photography career and she just offered any session booked between now and the end of July will be FREE for you, she just asks that you donate to our or our friend the Churchill's fund (or split a donation).  Every little bit helps, and this is a win-win for all 3 of us.  She gets to get better at photography, and we get the blessing of your donations!!  

I hope you are not growing weary of these posts.  I am trying to not post them all at once, but we have a bunch going on right now, and a long road ahead.  If you can't donate, I hope that these posts are a small reminder to pray for our journey.  

When we began this journey, we just said, Yes Lord!  We didn't know how it was going to go (still don't!) or how we could afford it (still don't!), especially without going into debt.  We do know that as soon as we committed to following God's lead, provisions have just started coming.  I've received some "I can't believe you're publicly fundraising" type conversations, and I can understand that.  Not many people want their public information out there for all to see.  And I DON'T share everything.  Some have said, "If God called you to this, He'll provide."  And I agree 100%.  We've prayed about each of these ideas and, with each one God has began providing.  But I also don't think that if I sit around, don't tell anyone our needs and say, "God will provide," without doing any work or acting on any prompting from Him, that we'll be walking the road He has laid before us.  I actually read a great devotion today that really spoke to me about this.  Check out this devo: http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2011/07/trading-fierce-independence.html.  

I know many Christians that consider adoption but never act on it for the SOLE reason that it is too expensive.  And I agree, it is, or can be depending on where you're called.  But what faith it is to immediately obey when God calls you to something, and what a blessing it is to witness Him showing up in a big way only HE CAN!  That is a testimony not to our obedience, but to how big our God is. 

I read an article  by adoptive dad and founder of the Abba Fund, Jason Kovacs. In the article  

Jason says,

It is important to remember that God does not ask us if we can afford to do it (adoption). He simply asks us if we are willing, and asks us to trust that He will provide.  That may sound great to read, but when it becomes personal it is often much harder to believe and much scarier to do. 

I have more to say on why we are adopting, why we chose Uganda, and why we don't mind being different.  God is moving in our hearts and it's a privilege to share the little piece He is sharing with us!  More to come, for now, BED!

Lake Livingston vacation

We were so blessed!  This Sunday through Wednesday we headed to Lake Livingston with Eric's extended family.  His mom invited us to come hang out with Eric's mom, sister, brother, and 3 sets of aunts/uncles and cousins.  It was a great time!  We got there Sunday after church and enjoyed breathing fresh air, swimming in the lake, resting in the hammock, fishing, and just spending time together.  I had my computer but wasn't on it like I usually am at home.  I read 2 books in 3 days.  Prayed a lot and was able to pour into my kids about God's beautiful creation!  It was so sweet on Tuesday morning when Cara asked her Nana if she wanted to go to the big porch over the dock and 'look at God's beautiful creation with her.'  Nana thought it was just too cute :)

I have more pictures, but can you believe I forgot my camera!  I have to download the other batch from Clara's camera soon.  On Monday we went and his mom rented us a boat for 2 hours!  We lucked out because most of the extended family was heading home that afternoon, and when we showed up to rent, they were there.  We found out later they were usually closed on Mondays, but they cut us a deal and let us rent for a couple hours and we had a blast!  Here are some pictures:
Cara ready to hit the waves.

This was pretty much Micah's face the last half of the boat trip, and part of the week. He was exhausted and didn't get enough rest, but he still had a great time!  He ended up falling asleep the last 20 minutes of the ride.

First time for Mommy and Cara to take a turn.

Cara took a turn by herself. She loved it, I wouldn't let Uncle Sparky go too fast, but she had a blast.

Just pushing off

Micah and Mommy

Cara, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Greg!

Anna entertaining all the adults.

Nana (Eric's mom), Uncle Greg, Aunt Amanda, Eric, Micah
Cara, Misty & Anna on the porch over the dock. We had a great time at Lake Livingston, thanks Clara!!

Anna and Aunt Joanie hanging in the hammock

Playing some pool.

Anna flirting with Uncle Sparky (Eric's uncle).

Greg, Amanda and Cameron (our cousin).

3rd Cousins?

My 2nd (?) cousin Erin and her 2 boys Garrett and Braden drove down from College Station to visit on Friday. Can you believe we met via facebook? My dad's cousin Nancie 'introduced' us on facebook. We are the oldest girls for both of our biological fathers and we have a lot in common. She drove down to donate a bunch of items for our garage sale, learn some tips about blogger (and she taught me about Picasa) and we got to chit chat and let the kids play all day. Can you believe she let Eric and I stay at her house (while she was out of town) for the bonfire 10 year anniversary without ever meeting me?

We've really hit it off and I'm so glad we know each other now. Her little sister Linsey is pretty cool too :). And Linsey just got married in April to Erin's husband's little brother--how fun is that?? Can't wait to see if her babies look just like Erins. We didn't take pictures until they were getting ready to leave. Garrett (the dark haired one) and Cara are only 2 months apart. Braden (the blonde) is 7. Both boys were in awe of Eric's 'cool car.' :)