More Wood (continued) . . .

Ahhh the suspense! :) So back to the phone call . . . I guess I should share a bit of back story here leading up to this phone call. A friend and I have discovered a hobby that almost beats garage saleing! I know, I know, ya right, but really, this is even more of an exhilarating treasure hunt -- dumpster diving, well, I probably should call it sidewalk scrounging, but the aforementioned has a better ring to it! :) Here, people are allowed to leave large items meant for the garbage man on the side of the street next to their cans, and let me tell you, I can't believe what some people throw out! Anyway, as we were driving around late one night, eyeballing peoples trash, we drove by a house that had a huge trailer full of wood with a bunch of debris burying it. I immediately knew it would be perfect for some sort of pinterest project that I could sell to make more money for the girls and I wanted it! Since it was 11:00 at night I couldn't just knock on the door so I decided I would swing by the next morning and see if I could catch someone. The next morning came and I got the girls up early so that we could make our way to Pasco to inquire about the wood. We knocked and there was no answer so I went around the corner to my friend's house to check on how she was doing at her yard sale. She encouraged me to be bold and write a note to tape to their door. So, after five minutes, I had a page long note ready. My friend started laughing and I replied, what? too much? lol. I'm a writer,what can I say! 30 minutes later we were back in the car heading to their house to tape up the note. It was a gamble, but I was hoping our story might encourage them to give me a call.

A day passed and I figured that they probably thought I was crazy or just didn't want to bother with the hubbub of calling me back and setting up a pick up time. I was bummed, but thought, oh well, there will be more wood. God had different plans and, once again, had gone before me to orchestrate yet another chance, but divine meeting that would lift our spirits and remind me that he is with us and for us!

The phone rang and I actually didn't pick it up because I was napping after our long work night and early morning rise to get ready for the garage sale. I didn't recognize the number and figured it was not important. When I heard the voicemail dingle, I picked up the phone to listen to it. To my surprise, it was the lady with the wood! She said we could have it if we wanted it and to come pick it up as soon as we could since they were planning to head to the dump later that day.

Isaac, sweet hubby that he is, had been in town all afternoon getting new tires on my van, washing it, and getting it vacuumed for me while I took a nap! I was excited about getting the wood (Isaac had not seen it at this point and had no clue as to what I was asking him to go and get!) so I called Isaac and asked if he would help me go and pick it up in our new trailer. Tired, he grumbled a little, but gave in to my begging and headed home to pick me up. :)

Once, there, he was surprised that it was a huge stack of good quality 2x6s that would indeed be awesome stock to have for upcoming projects that was worth a lot of money if we had to buy them new! We knocked on the door and met Emily and her sweet littles. We spent the next few minutes talking and here is where God began to shine once again down on us and our journey.

Emily told us that the wood was actually from a service project her and her husband had recently done. They had helped out another family by cleaning out and fixing their home. I immediately thought "wow, God, how cool that you are using service project leftovers to bless the journey you sent us on too!" But wait, it gets even better. We began discussing how God had called us to adopt and where we were in the process and that we were getting two little girls from China. She proceeded to tell us that adoption had also touched her personally as her sister had just domestically adopted a little girl! Once again, we were blown away by the fact that God had orchestrated this meeting through something as crazy as my new hobby of dumpster diving! :) He indeed knows my heart!

As we drove home, it was evident that God had truly instructed us to USE WHAT WE KNOW to bring our girls home. The wood and chance meeting with Emily were undeniable proof. We were humbled, yet again, by Gods love and provision for us on this journey. I am blown away by the ways in which he chooses to provide for us and I am so grateful for the ways he encourages and reminds us that we are on the right path every time we need a boost. Needless to say, our day went from down in the dumps to once again raring to work harder to create beautiful things out of the provisions God continues to bring us.

One man's trash is indeed another's treasure! I will post pics once I have some of the things built. :)

More Wood!!!

As many of you know, I have been praying and seeking God's guidance on what we should be doing to bring home our two littles from China. I felt a strong, resounding, USE WHAT YOU KNOW, and so we began gathering wood and outdated furniture pieces. Isaac, the girls, and I all worked tirelessly through the last few weeks to make a stack of signs from the barnwood we were given, refinish the handful of furniture pieces I scoured garage sales for and revamp some antique windows into message boards.

Once everything was done we loaded it up in our new trailer and headed for the Calvary Chapel trunk sale. It was super hot that day and we didn't have a lot of foot traffic. We ended up bringing home most of what we had made and left early feeling super discouraged and heavy hearted, thinking that maybe we had misheard what God was telling us. Then, about an hour after getting home, I got a phone call . . .

Time For an Update!

Well, a lot has been going on, mostly paperwork and education, but we are making progress! It feels good to be nearing the end of the first hunk of required paperwork and we are excited to be quickly coming to the close of our home-study process.

Our first alongside fundraiser was great fun and everyone who came, about 80 people, had a great time. We are so grateful to our wonderful Ice Skating teachers who made this event so fun for all that came! They were super sweet to donate their time and skills to provide lessons and games for the kids.

As the preparations continue to bring our daughters home, we have been in prayer a lot as to what God wants us to do next. Sooooo up next is another, hopefully, massive garage sale on the west side. We are in need of more donations and have faith that God will provide both the product and people we need to make this as successful as our first garage sale. We are excited to be heading west to do this fundraiser so that more of our family can be involved and see God move in our journey.

We appreciate all the prayer our friends and family have been faithful to provide these last few months and ask that you continue to keep us in them as we seek the Lord's guidance on something big that is brewing now!