Smells Like Home!

Our first bars of "Smells Like Home" goat milk soap are now ready! 100% of the money goes toward the adoption of our kiddos from Uganda.

Each bar is 5 to 6.5 ounces and contains at least 1.5 ounces of goat milk.

Cinnamon Honey
Cucumber

$5 for one or Buy 4 Get 1 Free

Coming soon...

3 oz. Bars for $3
AND more variety.

Ugandan Vanilla Bean and Orange
Pink Sugar
Coffee
Lemonade
Cedarwood
Dirt  (for the hunters out there!)

Our first donation has already been received!  Down to nine of each scent already :)

And 30 minutes later...

Make that 8 of Cinnamon Honey and 8 of Cucumber left. Guess I should get back to soap making! Thank you everyone.

And 90 minutes later...

Make that 6 of Cinnamon Honey and 7 of Cuke left!

This week in the lives of the Williams family.

This is a quick overview of the past week. I hope one day to be able to share in more detail of how present God was in each of these days. The good ones and the hard ones... but first He has to unscramble my brain :) Read until the end to find out how far we have come!

Wednesday

Final Home-study visit is over!

We had done everything we could to prepare for this visit and God took care of the rest. In fact, we even got our passports over 1 week earlier than the earliest expected date. That meant we had zero things left to do for the home-study to be completed on our side! Now, we are just waiting for Matt's FBI fingerprints to come back and we can move on to the next step.

Thursday

We ended the day with some hard labor while volunteering with Trinity and Emma's 4H group. They completely revamped the garden for the kids daycare at MRMC. They planted a variety of veggies, fruits, and flowering bushes.

Friday and Saturday

Fellowship.

There are only a few things more encouraging than spending time with like minded people. You know who you are. To be honest, it can be a bit exhausting, but I'd do it again!

Sunday

A great service at Calvary Chapel. Lots of uplifting conversation after. I love going to our church.

The evening didn't go as well as the morning. And that may be the understatement of the year. After the thunderstorm had passed, Matt took the three youngest to VBS at my mom's church while I finished making soap for us to sell as a fundraiser. He picked them up two hours later and found a sick feeling Azriel. If only it was a stomach flu that was ailing her. The stomach pain moved to throat pain. Pink skin turned red and then hives showed up. Emma mentioned candy in a basket being passed around. Some of the candy had peanuts. Matt and Trinity rushed Azriel to the emergency room immediately. It was bad. It could have been worse... and from what they say next time it will be. I am so thankful we were just minutes away from the hospital. This reaction progressed so very quickly. She is okay now. Thank you to all of you who showed up to help, who prayed with us and for us and spread the prayer chain across the state and across state lines! God had her in His hands and for that I am forever grateful!

Monday

Azriel and I stayed at the hospital until 2:30 when Grandma and Emma came to pick us up. The afternoon was as uneventful as we could make it!

Tuesday

Still tried to have a slow day :) I figured we would go ahead and start by sorting coins. Then, we decided to wrap them. $640+ in cash and change! Amazing. The kids are so excited that "their" fundraiser has been so well supported by all of you! You still have plenty of time to get your jars in. I think we will do this again we have 7 more jars. Thank you everyone!

This afternoon, I had a phone interview with The King William Local! They are doing an article about the adoption and the fundraising event being put on by Dinomite Daycare. What a blessing! Pray with me that it impacts lives. That those considering adoption take the next step to be part of the 147 million minus one group. That people come to this blog and read. That their hearts are changed. That they hear the Word.

247 pieces!   We are almost half done with this fundraiser. I can hardly believe it. I read the names and the verses you have chosen and I pray for you all... and then I read them again. I am in awe. Thank you. I just can't say it enough.  For years to come, we will be able to sit with Trinity, Emma, Margaret, Joel, Azriel, Kenneth, and Titus and cherish each word on the back of our little puzzle.

Yep. Their names. Margaret. Joel. Kenneth. The next great additions to the beautiful family God has given us.

4 W's, 1 How, and the Why.

Why? Simply. God said to. I have so many things I want to put here. I want to list all the scriptures that talk about orphans and how God calls us each to care for them. I want to quote the speakers who have talked about how adopting is living out the gospel in front of the world. I could type up paragraph after paragraph of statistics about the millions of children that need homes. BUT. But, honestly, the central reason is He personally broke my heart for them.

Read the whole post by clicking above in the Our Adoption tab.

If you are on a mobile device, click where is says "Home" and then select "Our Adoption"

And one more thing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Sunny with a chance of showers.

I'm not a weatherman, but I think this is a safe forecast for the next 6 months. Add in a 50% chance of severe thunderstorms in the afternoon and it may be dead on.  FYI... not talking about the weather.

Happy and content and with a genuine joyful hope for the future on most days (sunny) and then...

The kids go ape nuts and start destroying the house and each other. (thunder)

My youngest daughter burns her finger. My son prays for her and her sisters hold her close. (sunny)

The dog poops on the carpet while I have paperwork all over the table under a fan. (lightening)

I stay in my safe introverted corner of the room and wonder if I come across rude. I beat myself up for being reserved.  (rain)

My husband comes in to tell me that a man from the hunting and fishing store (you know... the one with the roof that is the color of grass) got his email and wants to help us raise funds and is figuring out what they can do. The gentleman asked what happens if we don't raise the money. Matt told him we will, but that, basically, the funds not being there delays the next step. I love how he knows it will happen. I love that this guy who has never met us read Matt's email and cared enough to call and ask questions. (sun shining bright and with a slight drizzle... maybe a double rainbow in the distance)

Many people. Standing with us. Hearts broken for the orphans. Reaching out with both hands to help.
I. am. amazed. 

James 1:27 (KJV)

²⁷ Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

We hope to do a video update soon to "talk" to everyone about what is going on and what we are doing... as soon as I set up the backdrop and tripod and all the kids are rested and not moody :)

Adoption Timeline Updates:

Physicals are DONE!
Next Wednesday is the final home-study visit!

Fundraising:

191 of 500 pieces sponsored!
Over $2,000 raised so far!
(side note... $10,500 due when we mail the home-study to our agency)
Raffles are being planned for gym membership, complete cornhole setup, and, hopefully, something that launches projectiles. Be intrigued!

97. 98. 99. 103.

That's how the counting went as we wrapped up day 10 of the puzzle piece fundraiser!!! Sixteen families have come along side us so far financially and many MANY more praying. Thank you everyone for sharing the blog, giving of your resources, praying for us and with us, and sharing in our joy as we attempt to follow God's leading to these precious children :)

"And the King will answer them, I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' Matthew 25:40 HCSB

Struggle.

The post I wanted to write many times over the last week was going to be about our story. It was going to be an attempt to answer the simple and more complex questions we have received and the ones we know some are thinking. However, each time I sat down to type it up, the hours or whole day before had been such a struggle that the words just would not come. Struggle. I have a hard time using that word knowing how others are facing things much greater than those things I am facing... but to me... in this moment... I struggle. 

Business decisions and distractions. Around the house stuff from the goats knocking a hose off the pool so that water pours out and the pump makes a terrible noise to water pouring onto the floor in Titus' room from a mystery leak in the window and ruining his carpet. Medical stuff from minor colds to migraines to ER visits because of food poisoning. From filling out paperwork for financing twice to get one thing done to checks not clearing when the money is there and now knowing we have another $1000 in bills from all this stuff this week and knowing I haven't sacrificed a meal out here or a small indulgence there to lessen that burden. 

So, yes, I struggle. I am not Super Mom. <gasp>  I don't wake up each and every day excited about being the main caretaker of the four that are home already much less the three I'm working so hard to add, but I am full of joy that this is what my Father has chosen for me. He knows all my weakness and He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted (Job 5:9)  We are purposing each day as a family to thank the Lord twice as much we petition Him with our request. Today, I am thankful for the new perspective He is giving me through my children. I look at our day to day and I become overwhelmed. Then my children come alongside and help me. They are teaching me. They all absolutely argue, fuss, and fight hourly, but they also love, forgive, and care with their whole hearts hourly. They want to give up more, do more, help more. They amaze me. 
To quote Kisses from Katie...

"I am so thankful for my children's example of loving their neighbors and welcoming them into our home without blinking an eye. They see a baby who needs love and carry him off to feed, bathe, and dote on him as if doing so is the most normal thing in the world. They see a stranger who needs a home and beg me to let her stay. While I am starting to feel overwhelmed, they are feeling overjoyed at the prospect of helping someone else. We face urgent situations frequently; we see devastation sometimes multiple times a day, but my children continue to love, to hope, to believe we can help make someone's life better. 

Oh, what I learn from their beautiful hearts." 

So, I guess I answered one question today that I hoped to answer. No, I don't think my children will resent their new siblings. I do not think they will be bitter about the attention that their brothers and sister will need after living through unimaginable loss and experiences and abandonment. I know that their hearts are in this. I know all my children will hug on, love on, support, and cry with one another. I know we will struggle. This will be hard. Our patience will be worn down at times BUT these are our children we are talking about. I would lay down my life for my child... how much more will I lay down the freedom to eat out, to grab a frozen coffee, to go into busy places for awhile, to sleep, to be alone, to have quiet, to be in my comfort zone... God is preparing our hearts as a family to really live out the gospel as we bring the rest of our children home! Praise Him!
Heal my heart and make it cleanOpen up my eyes to the things unseenShow me how to loveLike You have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks YoursEverything I am for Your kingdoms causeAs I walk from earth into eternity

Hosanna, HosannaHosanna in the highestHosanna, Hosanna Hosanna in the highest        
 ------- Selah - Hosanna------

Fundraising update:87 pieces sponsored! I have been so blessed by the current friends, friends from back in the day, family near by, and family far away that have joined with us to accomplish this task. You all inspire me and encourage me when I need it most. Thank you.