Just Love Coffee- Fundraiser

Hey guys! I am sorry I have not written in a while but as you can imagine...WE HAVE BEEN BUSY BEING PARENTS! I will be writing soon to tell you everything that has been going on with our new baby girl Grace.
The reason I am writing today is to tell you that we have found a  way to raise money for our adoption and the organization is called " Just Love Coffee"  It was started by a family that adopted. So #1, they know how much money goes into adoption, and #2, they do most of the work, Yay! All we do is tell people and we know a lot of people, so hopefully, God willing we can raise some money to pay back our loan.
Click on the link and it will go directly to our store. At the top of the page you can click fundraising model, to see how much money we get from each order that you place! Let me know if you have questions, thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Go To:   https://justlovecoffee.com/grace313

What the Lord is teaching me through our journey to Grace during this Christmas season:

As I watch the nativity story with Jonathan, the Lord showed me something so huge…that I don’t understand how all these years I have been blinded to this event.  Mary and Joseph, they were apart of the first adoption story. Wow, how monumental is that!! And more than that, how did I miss it. Jesus is God’s son not Mary and Joseph’s.  God found them worthy to take Jesus as their own, to protect, love and care for him. Mary could have said, “no.” Joseph knew he wasn’t the father and he was going to be looked down upon but he said, “Yes.” They both said yes, yes to God, yes to watching and bringing up a child that was not their own, but God himself! People were not lying when they said adoption is close to God’s heart, it is His heart, it is how our God chose to begin Jesus’ ministry on this earth. The earth that is not His home and not our home!!!!!!

Not Jesus’ home….. that is the second thought that He showed me yesterday as we drove to the orphanage. He showed me the parallel between earthly adoption and Jesus life.  First thing, I love America, quite of few times I have found myself singing the song, ‘God bless America’, I love it and I miss the United States of America sooooooooooooo much!!!! I miss my house and everything in it, my dogs, family, friends, our food, church, our youth, the sun, our buildings, shopping, our wonderful weather, Christians, and smiling faces even if they don’t mean it, just to name a few. I deeply miss home and miss being home for Christmas. But…Grace makes me stay, makes me want to go through it all because I want to give her a home, a life that she deserves! I want her to know there is a better life for her.  I want to take her away, away from this place that is not her home and give her a new life, a happy, loving, God centered up-bringing!  So, the two trips are worth it, the being in a dark, unfamiliar place is ok, because I know it is only for a short time. Jesus, you did this, you did this for me and for all these people. We are undeserving people and ungrateful for the sacrifice that you made. No one would want to come to earth from heaven, where everything is perfect and amazing. But you did for me, for us because you thought we were worth it and I thank you Jesus.  You knew there was a better place for us. A place where there is no death, no sin, just love and joy; a perfect place that you want to share with all of mankind. I thank you for loving me and leaving your perfect home to come into a dark world and you didn’t even come into money but into a poor family.  You were born in a manger; do we really ever think about what sacrifices you made for us even before the ultimate sacrifice you gave on the cross?  I will answer, and I say no, and I am so sorry! Lord you are so much more worthy than we give you credit for and we don’t show it by the way we live our lives. Thank you Father for taking me across the world to show me and I am truly grateful for the life lesson.

On the same car ride to the orphanage God taught me another lesson. This one, this lesson, it cut down deep. This lesson is a slap in the face but at the same time makes me smile because the King of all Kings loves me no matter how unworthy I am. Some of you might not know, but I was sick for a week during this trip. The first couple of days with Grace were amazing. She was giving equal attention to Jonathan and I and it was perfect. When I got sick, I didn’t see Grace for almost a week. Don’t get me wrong I was happy Jonathan got some daddy daughter time but the downside was when I came back to see her, she was not as interested in me. It hurt and I was sad in my heart.  She came to me and played but it wasn’t the same. Not to mention, I just look like another caregiver to her.  So as we were on the way to the orphanage on Saturday I was praying that she would love me and want to be with me as much as she did with Jonathan.  Then……God spoke in a still small voice, “That is how I feel.” Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! That statement shook me to the core. I love Grace so much and I have sacrificed a lot for her. I love her already so much that is hurts, I just want to be with her, love her, care for her, protect her, play with her, give her everything her heart desires, and just be in her presence. That is what I feel already, and I want her to feel the same about me but she doesn’t yet and it makes me sad. (this is not a pity party I just want you to know in detail) But God said to me I love you and want to be with you, spend time with you, be your number one, talk to you,  listen to you, protect you, talk with you, cry with you, and I just want you. But sometimes, you forget me, I am not your number one and you look other places, you forget to talk to me, love me, focus on me, be with me, and let me be your main focus.

He has sacrificed everything for me, and yet I don’t show Him what He deserves. That breaks my heart and I am so sorry Lord. On Christmas day you have given me great gifts and as we celebrate the birth of Christ, I thank you for the precious gifts that you showed me, the past two days.