Guess What!?! It's February!

Yay for February!

Guess what else!?!  We booked tickets and are leaving for Uganda this Saturday!  No, we don't have a child to bring home.  Mikeblair and I are going for just a week to meet with the attorney that we have been talking to and to personally take our home study to some baby homes.  We have been advised to do this, in hopes that it will speed up the rest of our journey to being a family of 5.

Today I am feeling:

ANXIOUS.  Today I have diagnosed myself with stress induced vertigo.  I know this isn't real.  I just googled it. :)  But I also know that i had debilitating vertigo on every Friday in the month of October.  For those of you who know me, know that is the busiest time for us.  I didn't think that i was stressed or anxious, in fact i thought that i was dealing with the stress of it, better than i had in the 3 Octobers prior.  But my body was showing me different.  And after October was over, i didn't have another attack of vertigo until... last night after my house emptied of family who had been over to watch the super bowl.  It hit me.  And today, still here.  It's GOTTA be anxiety.  There are some things i just know about me.

READY.  Despite my head spinning.  I am so ready to go!  I have my bio babies schedule ready, that is a huge load off of my conscience.  We have such a great village that I don't even have to worry about what my current favorite things will be doing, while their Daddy and I are across the world.  They are loved so much by so many.  This is a huge factor that we took into account in our decision to adopt.  There is plenty of love to go around!  Secondly, I am preparing my heart as best i can.  We are going to see amazing things in Africa, but we are also going to see hard things.  I know, after going to Haiti last year, that one cannot be fully prepared to see what we will see. But i also know that our God is going to walk with us and we will not fear.

SO BLESSED.  I have a new friend who is taking time out of her own life to walk me through this.  For no other reason than because she has travel the path that she saw us wanting to travel, and she knew the obstacles that were ahead for us.  People, this is one of the main reasons why God put you on the earth!  So that after you have traveled a dangerous and HARD road that you can turn around and make it a little bit easier for the next one.  I am forever in your debt, Mandie Cantrell.  And I hope that after I have reached the end of the road, I have the energy to turn around and reach out my hand and help someone else. XO ((tears?!, fa real?? I'm a mess))
     We have had so many in our village offer to wear our shirt, to support us, and pray with us.  We want to that you for the support that we have received so far.  Also, if you have been meaning to get one of our snazzy shirts but haven't yet...you better get on it :)  You can email me with you order or any questions @ tif.pepper@gmail.com.  We will be sending the first order in at the end of this week so they will be ready to wear when we get back from our trip.

Prayer Requests-

• that we can get done the things we need to in this short week
• for traveling mercies
• our hearts to be open to what God will show us in Uganda
• Jaxon and Vivi while we are gone and their blessed caregivers (those 2 can be a lot)
• the directors of the baby homes that we will visit to recognize our sincerity

With so much love to our village,
tif

Shirts for Sale

So, here it is!  I am so excited to show you our shirt!  We are taking orders, they are $20.  This could be a huge blessing to help offset some of the cost in our adoption.  I know y'all need a new shirt.

The border is made up of the words from an African proverb, "it takes a village..." to raise a child.  Uganda is known as the pearl of Africa, so we placed a pearl in it's location. 

Thank you for being part of our village, now you can represent. If you are interested in a shirt, let us know however you would like and we can bill you through paypal, just send us your email address.  XOXO
tif

 

 

It's still January

and I am still under attack. 

My kids have been sick with the flu for almost a week.  So we have been under house arrest with a few restrictions.  We have gone to a drive-thru here and there and my fabulous in-laws came over last night for an hour so I could take dinner to the Children's Haven.  Hooray for listening to Lorde as loud as my soccer mom speakers could blast it. 
I am also sad to report, that we are not going to be able to have a fundraiser at Chicfila.  They called me this morning and apologized.  The manager that Mikeblair spoke to, when he stopped by a few weeks ago, was new and didn't know their policy on fundraisers.  I guess they are asked all of the time for many different things and had to draw the line somewhere.  They only do schools.  Of course, I am disappointed, but I understand and I still love what they are doing for our community on so many levels. 

The message that we were waiting for from the baby home in Uganda still has not come.  I did receive news that there is a meeting coming up that has made her hesitant to do anything until afterward.  She said that it sounds like they are discouraging the baby homes from inter-country adoption, wanting them to do more in-country adoptions.  Our attorney doesn't seem concerned, so I am trying to remain positive.  When the average age person in the country is 19, and it is the size of Oregon with 2.5 million orphans... I know they need help.  Who is able to adopt in-country? 
Feeling my January, yet?

The t-shirt guys is super backed up, but that is still in the works!  And he is being really good to us on the price!  It's going to be an awesome shirt I can't wait to share it with you all!  Thank you for being my village, even while I remain to be DebbieDowner for approximately 8 more days.



Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take.   NLT

 

Praying and waiting for him to show us the path.  Please, join us.

the January Funk

Happy New Year!!!

I meant... :/ 

I never love January.  It has rubbed me wrong for all of my adult life.  I remember not caring at all, about it as a teenager, but since adulthood I have always found myself in a nasty funk that I later look back on and realized, "oh, it's just January, again."  Not to mention, that we just experienced 19 days off of routine.  It is even a little bit more annoying right now because I KNOW that I do this, and I am still doing it. (i.e. sitting around, eating too much sweets, not responding to my friends when they reach out to me, ugh! look away I'm hideous!)  Please, if you are being ignored, don't take it personally.  Just know that I am cranky, and you are better off waiting to visit with me until....spring.  ugh. 
 

If you are still reading after I have volunteered too much information about my psychosis...   I wanted to update my lovely village that we have a shirt design in the works! YAY!  My super talented brother is on it. no you can't have him and don't ask him to do anything for you, at least not until he is finished helping me.  We have a dear friend that I was venting describing my ideas to, I want it to be original and meaningful, artsy but not homely, so my people will want to wear it.  A few days later he came back with an idea that we loved, I wasn't even sure that he had been listening to me ;)  I am very excited to show you.  Soon.  ((squeal!!)) 
meanwhile- we are trying to get on the books at our local Chicfila for a fundraiser.  MikeBlair stopped and spoke with a manager who said that they would help us out!!  YAY AGAIN! 

Not sure of the date that we will be hosting it, but you will know as soon as I do.  It's very simple, you get to NOT cook supper, come grab some chicken and tell them you are part of our village, and they will donate a portion of their proceeds to our adoption! So blessed :D even if it is January.

a lil news

We have had a few developments in our world, aka new specific things to pray about.  Here goes:

1.  We decided on another a date to go visit Uganda and I emailed the lady that runs the baby home that I have been in contact with to see if it worked for her.  She came back with news that during the month of January they are on school holiday and no babies are in the home.  They have a program where all of the employees take a couple of kids each, home with them until February.  So, she offered to meet with us but if we waited until February there would be children in the home.  To that, I quickly responded that I don't want to wait until Feb,  I wanted to be there in October, but I would do whatever she suggests.  Then, after much prayer concerning the disappointing news about our home appraisal I decided that it wouldn't  hurt to ask if she needed to see us face to face before giving us a referral or if she felt comfortable with our dossier?  Because, I would love to be in Uganda for court, (not for introductions) in February. 
She said she was in investigations and would try to get back to me before they "break off" hehehe ...meaning go to break.  If this actually happens...idk.  I am already feeling so blessed that a new/dear friend of mine has put me in contact with such ethical professionals in Uganda.  This would just blow my mind.  As annoying as the waiting can be, I am learning SO much about trusting God.  And I know that He who began this good work in us, will continue until it is finish.



2.  The other thing is WAY not that exciting.  I have been arguing with myself about this for a while, but have decided to sell T-shirts to help fund the adoption. 

I tell myself:

• it will be fun
• I love to be creative
• nobody is going to buy a shirt from me
• people will love to wear my shirt
• being creative is TOO hard
• we could design a cool shirt
• everybody already has too many shirts

but last night I had some encouraging advice from a friend.  She said she would love to buy stuff to help a family who is rescuing an orphan, and others do too.  Then I realized...  I am one of those others.  I would love to buy a shirt from someone like me.  hehehe  So, I'm on it.  I will keep you posted.  I will link it to facebook when I get it done.  Thank you for the encouragement I have been receiving from all of you who are supporting us from near and far.  You don't know just how much your private lovenotesmessages and 'attagirls' mean to this poor conflicted soul!  Ha!

I love you, my village!
tif

the Money Hoop

One of the hoops that we were waiting to jump through last week was a "money hoop", we waited and waited.  We finally got some news on Friday that allows us to press on.  Although, it wasn't the news we had hoped for.  Without crossing a line of confidentiality with MikeBlair (my much-more-private-than-I-am husband), I will suffice it to say that I am now researching some fundraising ideas.  I don't want to.  I hate fundraisers to benefit me.  I hate asking for help/money.  (sorry for that fit)
But as most of you know, adoption is expensive.  It is expensive to have our fingerprints done with USCIS, it's expensive to get all of the documents that prove that we are really wanting to add this child to our family to love and treat well, it's expensive to fly to Africa and stay for an extended period to go to court and embassy appointments.  It is not just expensive monetarily, but physically and emotionally, too.  These things don't scare me off, I am committed to making everything line up just right so I can jump through these hoops.  I always assumed that if we were going to do it, we were going to do it ourselves.  Self-sufficient is the American way, right?  Then you remember what God is trying to teach me;  I am not in control.  ((sigh)) 
I have found comfort in the fact that most people wish that there weren't any orphans, tho, not everyone is called to adopt.  Maybe some of our village are the kind who are called to financially help those of us who have been called to adopt.  That is how some will live out James 1:27a Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress... NLT
So, now I am researching a way to invite the givers in our village, to be a part of our journey!  I have a lot of things floating around in my head right now.  We could make T-shirts...We could have a bake sale... Uganda is called the pearl of Africa, maybe I should craft something out of pearls...We could do a silent auction and dinner party...We could host a movie night...  hey, this could be fun!

Back to the things I hate; I hate nothing more than to try and get my village, my people, people that I love, my friends, to come to over my house and buy a cooking utensil, or jewelry or make-up or some other thing that they don't want, but feel like they need to, because I put them in that position. (insert breathing into a paper sack here)  NO! I am breaking out in hives just thinking about putting that kind of pressure on my village. 
So, please, if you consider yourself a giver in our village, please, pLeAsE, PLEASE, give me some feedback on how you would like to be a part of this.  Or if you have suggestions, that would be great, too.  We solicit your prayer as we make these decisions and all along this journey.

Adoption

Most of you already know, we are adopting.  We are jumping and weaving through all of the hoops to make it possible for our family grow by two feet, from Uganda.  We are excited!  We are also overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed with the things we have to do, and the things that we need/want to do but can't just yet.  Anyone who knows anything about adoption knows that there is some waiting involved.  Of course, ;) I knew that.  I THOUGHT I knew that.  I thought I would be waiting for a child to come home with us. I thought I would be waiting for someone to say, "ok, he/she is ready!"
If only that was all of the waiting. 

I have decided that the reason that God put adoption on my heart at such a young age, ( I was maybe 8) is because He knew that I would be able to control lots of other things in my life.  That I would not let myself get into a situation that I couldn't handle.  That I would also, not let myself get into a situation where He could teach me patience, because patience are not my favorite.  It takes too long to learn about patience. 

My heart longs for nothing else enough, to take that class.  But for adoption, it does.  My heart longs to hold a child that has been in a bad situation and give them a chance at a better life.  My heart longs to make things easier, more lovely and teach them Jesus.  So, here I go, signed up for Patience 101.  And already looking for the class to be over.  The rewards are at the end, but I will hafta show up and do the work to make the grade.  Pray for me, for strength and perseverance.  

Thank you, God for knowing me well enough to know how to get me to take the class that I need most.  He is amazing!  In this, I am reminded that He cares so much for me, and knows who I am by nature.  I hope to be delivered through this having become more fruitful as a child of God.         

Philippians 4:6    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ESV

more details to come