Category Archives: Orphan & Widow Care I have gotten a few emails that a few of you guys out there want to sponsor Wiphan kids–but you can’t seem to find the link on the Wiphan site! I got this same request back when I posted about the Silent Night project…SO I’ll share those direct links with you all so you can […] This morning I opened up my letter from our 16 year old son in Korah. I say our son–because my heart is beginning to quickly feel like he is. I praise my God that it is HIS work and not mine—that He is changing my heart to feel just a BIT what He feels…and it […] Thank you for this word this morning. Our SS teacher has been teaching us from a book called Holy Subversion by Trevin Wax. He said what’s been on his heart lately is the fact that we think we are being blessed and are blessing our children with “stuff” that may actually be cursing them. It makes me think of the 16 year olds with cars. Is it really a blessing to be able to give them things that their friends will think is cool or are we cursing them? Thank you for your transparency! This speaks to me at a deep level as I am sponsoring what I consider to be an older child through Wiphan. Her pictures is not only on our fridge with letters posted on there too, making her part of the family, but my children are talking about her to friends. Amazing. We have grown so much as a family in 10-short months. Thankful for God’s direct hand in our learning and sharing and giving … through Wiphan! Sponsorship is so-not a one way street!!! Imagine that!! =) I started sponsoring a 12 year old girl through Compassion when I was in college. Now my family still sponsors her and she is 18! It has been such a blessing to see her grow and I specifically requested an older child because I knew there was more of a need there. thanks for this humbling post~ Would you mind posting a link directly to the children available for sponsorship? I am having a hard time finding it..  I hold on to this command. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Ephesians 5:1. I know I am His–so He is the strength that works through me. I know my children are His–and I will treat them with tenderness because they are His. Last night–my sweet one was up from 11pm to 3am…kicking […] oh, i want that shirt..love it, kj Yes girl…thanks for that post about being imitators of God! btw, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the shirt you posted about. I am definitely telling my hubby I want this soon! :0) love that shirt! did you get the slim fit one? or the other? it’s so hard to know what size to get of all the great adoption shirts out there! Courtney—I got a medium in the slim fit. I couldn’t have done small…medium is pushing it:) Love the new shirt! And love “Into the Streets”! We bought our Dad’s Father’s Day cards with a donation to that ministry! Love it! 🙂 Very sweet children. Their eyes are just captivating. Thank you for the reminder of being imitators of God. It’s easy to walk through our daily lives and live for ourselves. We already sponsor one Wiphan child, but OH how I wish I could sponsor them all! What a wonderful organization! I just wanted to say thank you for giving people an opportunity to really touch the lives of orphans. We wrote our child a letter, and the one that I recieved back from her is still on our refridgerator. I cry just thinking about how sweet that little letter is and how much it means to me. It’s amazing that I have a little penpal over in Zambia. Thanks again for the opportunity 🙂 Just ordered the VERY cool shirt! praying for these sweet kids. I want to be an imitator!!!!! & I love that shirt 🙂 andrea – thanks for letting me know about the size on the shirt! i really appreciate it! 🙂  FIRST…I updated my blog a little with new colors and new headers:). AND after being with WordPress for almost a YEAR now (oh I miss blogger’s ease!) I finally figured out how to add the “follow me” thing that is so easy to use in blogger!!! SO…my computer illiteracy keeps me from knowing how to […] WOW…I got to be your “1st Follower”! I am seriously excited about that! 🙂 Does that make me a groupie or maybe just a blog stocker. You decide…LOL! From one “poop digger” to another…Jenny lol. digging through poop… oh, i want that tshirt…lovvvvvvvvvvvvvve it….what a great one, kj Glad to see that Isaac is doing so well! Can’t wait to read more about him in the coming months…Khakki Alright, I love the shirt. I may need to order one if I don’t win 🙂 I clicked the follow button too. Hopefully it works 🙂 I DID see that Target ad, and I DID think of your ITY!!!!! So funny! I love reading your blog! You and your family are in my prayers daily. God Bless all of you! =} I love seeing photos of YOU and your family!! And Praise God for all those donations of the bags, pads, and panties. They look very professional and something that any girl/woman would be happy to receive. Way to go!!! Whew, the whole wally world story tired me out reading it 🙂 Love keeping up with you guys through the blog! Keep up the great work. Love the shirt…I definately want one! I am faithfully following too! 🙂 Ok since I have to comment to maybe win a t-shirt I LOL at the cricket in your last post. I get those in my house and I put a jar on top of them and we tip toe around it all day until my husband gets home. Definitely do NOT want to squish them cause they have alot of guts! Blessings on your sweet family! If I when the shirt, will my life become more simple? smile! How fun to see all of the pad kits. My friends and I made 33 more kits that we will be sending soon! loving all the bags! I can’t wait to add mine to the pile! ps- I also love the shirt!!! I LOVE the shirt! Thanks for doing all these giveaways to support other families’ adoptions. Oh, and as a sidenote, check out netvibes as another blog-reading spot. You can customize your page and gather all the blog updates in one spot (like google)! I LOVE this tee and the message on it. It has become our family mantra. I would love to win! I also clicked the follow button! Love the shirt and the pictures of your sweeties! Thanks for adding the following thing….just added myself…this will make my life SO much easier! So funny, as I was scrolling to get to the bottom to follow you, I saw the Target add and TOTALLY that that was your little Isaac! CRAZY! I love the shirt! Andrea- I faithfully follow your blog. I love your honesty and the hope you give for adoption. I love that shirt and the meaning is so true. Blessings to your family. I love the message on the shirt! Love that shirt! Thanks for the chance to win! Also clicked follow to your blog. Just hoping noone that shouldn’t gets my info since I guess FB shares it that way? You have to agree to share your basic info. Not sure what all that means. 🙂 I was already following but now I’m officially following 🙂 I would love to win that shirt!! So cute. And Isaac just melts my heart! LOVE that shirt… and I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while…but now I’m a follower!! I want that t-shirt!! If I don’t win, I’ll be buying one! Love the Girl Thing stuff pouring in!!! going to buy a shirt…would love another to give in our basket we’re fixing for an auction for a sweet family raising funds to bring home TWINS!! 3 yr old girls… LOVE the cookbook too!! What a great shirt! And I love your new blog look! Sweet ITY…..he is soooo precious! I love the pics of you and the kiddos! 🙂 Thanks for keeping it real. lol I have been reading your blog for a few weeks. Adoption is something my husband and I are considerng. We playing in a kickball tournament this weekend to help support and raise money for my cousin’s Ethiopian adoption. I would love a shirt! Your family is precious! I love the new blog change. I changed mine yesterday too! It must be in the air. 🙂 And, what a cuuuute shirt! I ordered two cookbooks for wedding presents from Wiphan this past couple weeks and I’m finding I’m a little jealous that I don’t have one of my own. I did get to look through them before giving them away and they are SO wonderful!!! Yes, everyone should go buy one!!! Love the shirt! And I love that I am now an official follower of your blog!! YAY!!! 🙂 Love the t-shirt!! I’ll be buying one, if I don’t win. oh my gosh! that baby SOOOO looks like Isaac! That’s crazy! shirt is super cute, i’ll have to get one of those. btw, love the new layout. i’m a wordpresser too, my husband set it up, but i’m over our layout & need to spruce it up! and figure out how to add all the fancy shmancy stuff at the bottom… also make a cool header, geez, now this is going to be a project! happy fall!! it was 64 this morning, i’m stoked! shoot! i forgot to mention, we have sweet little ladies at our church that are going to be making pads for one of our mission teams that goes to uganda each year. they have a ministry called “god is grace” and they support they women in the villages, they were so excited when i told them about the pads!! That Tshirt is great!! I also signed up to follow you. I didn’t know about the google reader thing… very cool! I would love that t-shirt! Cute shirt! Pick me! Pick me! Cute shirt! Thanks for the chance to win. 🙂 I am a follower! love the shirt!! and you do have a cutie pie on your hands! I’ve had to dig through poop, and it STINKS!!! *Heart* the shirt. If I don’t win one, I’m buying one. 😉 And, I really like that picture of you and Laney. There’s nothing like a mama and her little girl. Yummy! My first comment on your blog–though I’ve been following for a while. I love the shirt! Thanks for being such a great encourager–you are a blessing! Ooh! We’re adopting from Ethiopia, too! I’d LOVE that shirt! Love love the adoption shirts and am following you. So two entries!! We are in process adopting our little man from Ethiopia. Waiting for a court date… Dabney I LOVE the shirt and I LOVE your blog! Thanks for always keeping things real and sharing in so many ways! Would love to win a shirt! I LOVE that new shirt!! Very cute and feminine!:) I signed up to be a “follower” too. I would love any color….Your Walmart trip made me tired…That sounds like me.;) Super cute t-shirt! I’m now a legitimate follower! And thanks for the warning about the poop samples. I had no idea. LOVE that shirt!!! My husband and I have just started an Ethiopian adoption, and have been exploring various fundraisers…excited to discover Simply Love!!!! Your children are just precious! I am so excited for our Project Pad party with my daughter and her friends. Still working out logistics. God has shown up already though and that is awesome…I’ll share the details when we finish. Hey! I follow your blog and love reading it! You worked with my mom, Helen Pierce, at South Forsyth Middle! It would be awesome to win one of the shirts! That’s a saying I have always loved. We just got our information packet in the mail from AGCI and are excited for what the future will bring! Cute cute t-shirt! I’m here to testify as well THAT THE SHIRTS ARE AWESOME!!! I have mine on today!!! We know the Wallace family well and they are amazing people! Please don’t put me in the drawing for the shirt — just wanted to share another testimony that the shirts are fabulous!!! 🙂 And of course — what an awesome opportunity to support their adoption! I would love to win the t-shirt! Thanks for the update on the pad party. We are planning on sending ours in for the December date. Oh, and I became a follower, too! Love the shirts…and all the smiles! I love the shirts! Ok, I’ll bite. I want a t-shirt too. Holy Canoli, you get lots of comments! You rock, Andrea! 🙂 LOVE the shirt! and your new blog look! I would love a shirt…my husband and I just started the adoption process to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Check out my blog at http://becomingafamilyoffive.blogspot.com. I’d love a t-shirt! I follow your blog daily! Love watching ITY grow up and develop so well! Thanks! So good to see you and give a hug at T4A! Love all that you are doing and for sharing your heart! LOVE the idea of all of us mommas getting together too and sharing our stories, love and our heart for orphans! You guys are going to keep me busy writing down all these names…many TWICE…for a drawing! Hmm…we just might have to have more than one winner! You know how I roll;-). You guys are so much fun! -great shirt. I think I am an official follower now. . .and I love your new shirt!! Love your blog, too! Just ‘followed’ you blog… although I’ve been reading for sometime! I’m a AGCI family also… just switched from the rwanda program to ethiopia. L-O-V-E the shirt It was great to see you this weekend! And, I love that shirt! How cute! Love the t-shirt! What a great message! That shirt (even before I noticed the part about a give-away) caught my eye – it’s a message I am trying to internalize, but I’ve still have a long way to go… Already own the cookbook, but would love the shirt! I still need to give you a call to get some insight with my birthmother letter/meeting. I wanted to wait until you returned from your weekend travels. Thanks again for being so candid with your posts! You’re a blessing to many. holy cow!!! you have soooo many comments! Love the shirt! Just catching up on your blog Andrea…we’ve had a few busy weeks and I haven’t found much time for fun blog reading. Oh…did I ever dig through poop when we got home – everyone’s! I think I did four stool samples from four different kids in the span of an hour one day. So gross! Ahhh….the realities of international adoption. I love your heart…so inspiring and on my worst days, I find you to be such an encouragement…to keep my priorities in order, to keep pushing forward, to work hard and not live a life of leisure. Thanks for writing! Yep…saw the Target ad and instantly thought the baby looked just like Isaac. So neat!!! Luke just said, “That’s Isaac!” It was actually the Target baby. I would love a t shirt oooo…love that t-shirt!! Great shirt… would love to win it! And that Target ad– I think you’re right! Love the shirt and the new blog style! I am comment #82 – have fun reading all these!! The Nordstroms are now official followers of your blog after being “unofficial” for several months! I don’t think we’ve missed one post – you are on our blog roll. Now you have to officially follow ours! 🙂 I LOVE the t-shirt! I’m a follower! put me in the drawing…you know i love this blog!! cute shirt!!! I so enjoy keeping up with all your adventures. Love that shirt! Hope I get to wear it! (: wow!!! you have quite the blog following!!! I admire you finding time to keep up with this amongst all your kiddo’s! I don’t know how you do it! Hey girl!!! I’ve got a date night planned Friday to see my lovely family on the big screen!!!!! I cannot wait!!!!! Love you and miss you bunches. love the adoption shirts and poop stories! LOVE the shirt and the blog…been following for a while:)  Well, the 4 of us made it safely to Austin, Texas…the FOUR of us you ask? Yes, it was supposed to just be me, Rico Suave and Isaac T.—but we were heading out for our flight when we ran into some traffic. (Might I add we were also already running late trying to get all […] Count me in on the girls weekend! I would LOVE nothing more than to spend some girl time with other women who have a heart for orphan care and adoption as I do! Just let me know the time and place and I will be there… no matter how far away! I am SO in need of an adoption support system and there is just not many adoptive families here…hope you got our box of panties on your doorstep last week! (: Bobi I am so there for the adoptive mommas weekend!! Count me in!! 🙂 So nice to meet you on Saturday! I would definitely be in for a moms weekend. The leadership at our church doesn’t share our passion for orphans and adoption either. It is hard and heartbreaking! But, we haven’t given up! Oh, and I’m in for a mommy retreat! I’m on the same page as you! Email me so I have your email address and I will send you the pics! I would love that picture with everyone in it. I heard T4A is in Phoenix next year! I am so excited as that’s only a three hour drive from me AND my parents live there (which=free babysitting!) It looked like a great time and I can’t wait for 2011! Andrea, I loved our time this weekend! Your family is beautiful and a delight to spend time with! Keep me posted about plans! Kim wow…what a weekend! Hey girl! I can’t believe y’all were in Austin! I wish we’d come down from Waco to hug y’all and meet ITY in person!!! And can you believe that in only 3 months of living here that I’ve gotten used to these crazy crickets…I mean, you step on and squish crickets on the floor in stores sometimes because there’s so many! Crazy! I never saw crickets (and roaches) this fierce in ATL!!! We are new to the AGCI family, but we love it already. I would love, love, love a mommy retreat! So glad you had a fun weekend! Andrea, I have some bags and panties that we made for the It’s A Girl Thing…but don’t know where to send them…if you’ll email me an address I’ll get them on their way! We have about 80ish bags… Ashley oh girl – let’s do it! I am all for a weekend with my AGCI girls!!! Let me know when, where – and I will try my hardest to be there (unless of course I am halfway around the world! cannot wait for that trip!):) Love the idea of a weekend get away to support one another!! Not sure if I’d be able to come but I would love to try! So wonderful meeting you this weekend – what a blessing it was to be with other families who have the same heart! Loved meeting you at the conference! 🙂 Thanks for not thinking we are crazy stalkers!! 🙂 Think the adoptive mom’s weekend is a great idea! Oh… and it is so funny that you said something about the crickets, during one of the main sessions I saw a huge one crawling down the auditorium isle!! I am there! I would love to help you organize! Sign me up! Let’s all use those frequent flyer miles from traveling to get our babies to come to your gathering!:) You’re awesome! Where do I sign up for the weekend away??!! That sounds amazing! I REALLY hope I can go to the T4A next year… sounds like a wonderful time! It was fun to see you in real life:-) Learned so much at T4A this weekend, just still trying to process it all. |
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by admin
SO wonderful to hear Isaac’s improvement – Glory be to our amazing God and for giving you all the strength and persistance! Btw, I laughed out loud when I read your glue comment =) I was still reading!
I am SOO SOOO excited about ITY’s doc appt. Praise the Lord! I love this post and loved your last post. We also have an older sponsor child. He’s from Rwanda and I just got a letter from him TODAY so I loved reading your post and thinking about him. I actually taught in Rwanda for a summer and got to meet my child. Quite a blessing!!
it has been such a joy to journey with you guys! 🙂
Thank you for the challenge to live for God in the way that I have to desperately seek Him… I needed to hear that today! Praising God with you for Isaac’s great updates! 🙂 And LOVE those Laney boots you keep posting pics of her in! 🙂 Do they make those in adults sizes? hehe 🙂 Have a great rest of your week!
I am so excited about Isaac’s progress. I love how God works! I can’t imagine the joy it brings God to see you rejoice in what He is doing for your son.
Still SOOOO happy reading all the good news about ITY!!!! Praise the LORD!!! Also, so funny that your worst nighttime photography is pretty much better than my best! LOL! Praying for sponsors to come in quickly for those precious kiddos!
I’m PRAISING GOD for ITY’s great report!!!! Exceedingly and abundantly!
While I would *love* to be in your town and walk our journeys arm and arm – I am still grateful for the long distance walk that we take. Precious photos – and funny one-liner about the craft glue. Ya know I read it all!! =)
Yay!! SO excited to hear this awesome report on sweet baby Isaac! Praise God! And I just ordered CG some cute boots like Laney’s…she is so excited!!! (didn’t have her size in the store!)
So so so excited about the good news about your cutie! 🙂 maybe we could hang out again sometime soon?