My Overthinking

Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption

A Giveaway to Fund the Way

We are getting geared up in this house for some training, team building, lecture writing, and clever packing.

No, we’re not headed to college.

One of us is headed to China in about 6 weeks. And, he may not be coming home with a little one this time, but we’re still expecting some great things.

Days will be filled with teaching English and leadership at a university in Baoding, a city northeast of Beijing in Hebei Province, and connecting with students there on a deeper level. Good work will be done, no doubt. And, my husband gets to be a part of that.

What a privilege. For him and for our family.

I’m thrilled–and looking beyond the parenting-4-kids-by-myself-bit–because Kingdom work is a-happening here.

Vacation time is being used. Arrangements are being made. And the cost–a plane ticket (round trip, mind you, thank you very much) for $1,900 (egads!), visa, staying in China for nearly 2 weeks–needs to be paid.

And, since we have asked for funds from every Tom, Dick, and Harriet (Hello? Have we met yet? Let me tell you about what we do…) for The Sparrow Fund, we’re just sorta running with this China trip thing.

So, we thought we’d do something sorta fun to hopefully help out with that a bit. At least, we’re hoping ya’ll (in honor of my Southern friends) think it’s fun and jump right on in.

A big ole Chinese themed giveaway

See all that? 

Three children’s books signed by the authors
a Mei Mei Niu Niu doll, a smaller version of the Niu Niu doll from Jiayin Designs
a handmade Chinese rabbit also from Jiayin Designs
a children’s bracelet featuring a bead for every animal of the Chinese zodiac (also from Jiayin Designs…yes, there’s a theme here)
a Chinese headband from Beijing ready for any princess that will go perfectly with…
the amazing pink twirl skirt
which was donated by a mother of 9 (no typo there) soon to be 10 (she’s got a 13 year old girl in China who will be joining their family soon) who actually sews for the Atlantic City Ballet Company. 
Wow. 
The skirt is 13″ long, and Diane will customize the waist size for whatever little princess will be wearing it.

And, on top of all that, the winner will also receive a custom charm of their choice from Jiayin Designs. Get your child’s name, a special word, mother, grandmother, love, whatever your little heart desires.

Altogether, this giveaway’s value is…oh…about $250. 
(anyone else thinking this is fun?)
To enter, just click on that GIVE button over there on the right.
Giving $10 will get 1 entry for the giveaway;
$20 gets 3 entries;
$30 gets 6 entries;
$50 gets 10 entries.
AND, we’ve got another giveaway too.
A beautiful word art print of Luke 12:6-7 designed specifically for The Sparrow Fund by the warmest hearted Aussie ever.
A sweet Kenyan bracelet of your choice from The Nest
And, a kickin’ tee inspired by 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (read about the inspiration here and see them for sale here)
Enter to win those goodies just by sharing this link. 
Just that simple. Seriously.
Tweet it for an entry. Share it on Facebook for an entry. Blog about it for an entry.
And, leave a separate comment here for each way you share the link so I’ve got a record of it, k?
(note–you can do each of those twice if you’d like as long as they are a few days apart – it’s about getting the word out after all.)
Both giveaways will close up April 15th.
And, feel free to contact me if you want to learn more about Mark’s trip–the organization he’s going with, what all the team is doing, etc. We’re happy to share privately.
Xie Xie, folks. 
Mean it.

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Created for Care: What it was and what it wasn’t

I hauled myself and no less than 100 lbs. of loot down to Atlanta this weekend (the bags, board, and myself did arrive in tact). I was all energized to be with friends–some I’ve never even met before (I’m a blogger and I still recognize how odd that sounds)–and share about The Sparrow Fund. I confess I expected a girly fest with good food and a pep rally of sorts for orphan care and adoption.

With about 440 women there and about 1,110 children who are no longer orphans represented (amen and amen), that was just sorta what I imagined. I guess I sort of expected adoption to be glorified a bit.

I was wrong.

Someone else was glorified.

The sound of over 400 mother’s voices joining together in praise is some serious worship and perhaps a small glimpse of heaven.

And, we got schooled in responding to the call and then following the One who calls not the call itself.

Hmm…not exactly the adoption pep rally message I was expecting.

And, I realized the weekend wasn’t as much about adoption as it was about the One who adopted us and who called these 440 families represented to adopt to begin with.

I’m still processing a lot of things discussed this weekend–what it means to dwell in His love for me, how I represent Him in my home, how to parent children from hard places, the joys and challenges of parenting a child of a different race, parenting in grace and by grace, and what adoption is and is not and how to walk my children–adopted and biological–through that.

I admit that my throat is still a bit sore today from talking and late nights. But, it’s worth it.

Fine, cat’s out of the blog bag. I’m short even on tip toes.
Either that or Stefanie and Colleen are giants. It’s the latter, really. Such likable women (off their blogs as well as on) even if they are hugely tall. 

With dear friends Ashley and Nicole (master photographer who I appointed official photographer since my very nice camera didn’t make the packing cut to make more room for beads and other goodies)

More dear friends–Esther, Cydil, Nicole again, and new friend and waiting adoptive mama Meghan

Bethany, from the WAGI team, one of the moms I was most excited to hear would be there. Wish I could have spent several more days with her. 
Thankful today for restoration and refreshment as well as reminders and realizations.

Sunday Snapshot



Want to check out what some others posted about it?



Babe of My Heart

Living Out His Love

Ni Hao Y’all

Shades of Brown

Knowing Not Ignoring

Possibility of Miracles

Crazy Beautiful Life

Hike. Blog. Love.

Blabbin’ About the Benefields

Hidden Treasures

Blessings & Raindrops

My Ugly Couch

Our Family Building Adventure

Finding a Family

The Fanning Four

Surprised by Hope

Lee, Me, and the Girls

Our Happily Ever Afters

Our Five Little Hearts

Bumbers Bumblings

Our Journey of Adoption

Making Our House a Home

The Plans I Have for You

The Middle That Counts

7900 Miles

Walking Where He Leads

Picker Point

Until the Day We Meet

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Labor in Love

“We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your 
labor prompted by love, 
and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
(1 Thessalonians 1:3)

I read this not long ago. Paul’s words to the church in Thessalonica. A church of mostly Gentiles, believers grafted into God’s family through faith by God’s grace. A church in the midst of persecution, opposition from their own people–the family next door, coworkers, people they walked by everyday. And, yet, they responded to God’s word and thrived. They were living in a way that pleased God (4:1) with hearts that beat as His. They loved the people around them as God Himself does (4:9-10). And, they did it together, encouraging each other as a community to keep on keeping on even when it was hard (5:11).

In Paul’s words to them as he started his letter, he assured them of his thankfulness for the work they were doing, work that was an overflow of their relationship with God. For their endurance, their long obedience in the same direction, only possible through hope. For their labor prompted by love.

The word labor here refers to unceasing toil, not something that is easy by any means. Put unceasing in front of anything and it becomes hard. Add it to toil and you have labor, a word many of us women know in a different sense and one I’d put with painful, uncomfortable, difficult, messy, emotional and physical and spiritual all at once, taking everything I have to give and then some.

As I thought more about labor and what comes to mind when I hear the word, it led me to this–isn’t this what adoption is? Labor in love?

There’s typically no physical pain like biological labor. No hospital delivery rooms, painful contractions and all that comes with that.

But adoption is labor.

It’s not just a romantic trip to another country or a life-altering phone call in the middle of the night. It’s a decision many think is crazy–maybe sometimes it is, crazy and irrational, illogical. It’s an unceasing commitment. It’s painful–for birth families. for children. and, oftentimes, for the people who become families. It’s uncomfortable–bringing home a stranger who became my daughter in a matter of moments was uncomfortable. Families who foster children who have been hurt, parents who bring home an older child or a child with a special need, or parents who were simply 2 and who are suddenly parents–it’s uncomfortable. Needless to say, it’s uncomfortable for the child as well–new place, new people, new language, new culture, new foods. It’s costly, difficult, messy. Emotionally, spiritually, physically exhausting.

It’s labor. 

But, it’s redemptive. And, it’s fully possible. And, we’re fully able.

Because of love. And, because of hope.

And, with that in mind, we created a little reminder of that.

A subtle reminder of the labor that takes place in our hearts and in our whole lives, not in a hospital delivery room.

___________________________________________
Would love for you to wear your heart on your sleeve…so the saying goes…and buy one of these tees (or several) to support the work of The Sparrow Fund. You can find them here on The Nest.

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99 more days

Drew may not be able to tell time yet, but perhaps he has some sort of internal calendar sending him messages of good cheer.

While the rest of us are complaining that Halloween candy has taken over our grocery stores, some people have already started planning for Christmas. We do only have 99 days to go.

And, while I’m standing in our basement and staring at the mounds of unfitable clothing and unwanted (at least by me) toys and games I’ve collected to sell at an upcoming consignment sale, I’m wondering how we could possibly need more “stuff.” I’ll clear this basement out in October for the sale but no doubt will have another basement full to sell at the sale come Spring.

I’m all about shopping with a purpose — remember our May fundraising drive to build the nest for The Sparrow Fund? Then, there’s Jiayin as well as The Sparrow Fund’s little shop with all the beautiful things from the women in Nairobi. And, I’m always visiting the fundraising families’ page at WAGI to see what new things families may be selling to raise money for their adoptions. By all means, support good causes with your “Honey-I’d-really-like-this” lists and your shopping and gift giving.

But, I want to show you another option too–a new website we just learned about called Shift My Gift. You can actually create what is sort of like an online registry of sorts for any occasion you want–adoption fundraising, a birthday, Christmas, wedding, anniversary…you get the idea. Then, you choose any nonprofits you’d like to shift your gifts to–though I definitely would encourage you to check this option out. Then, with one click, you can tweet your registry or post it to Facebook or simply enter in email addresses to show it to people.

Instead of asking your kiddos to write a long Christmas list this year, you could sit with them in front of the computer and let them decide which nonprofits they’d like to give to instead of receiving more gifts. What a neat opportunity to grow generous hearts…and declutter your play room just a little.

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