Pray for No Rain

So our Both Hands project is this SATURDAY!! But there is rain in the days leading up to the project day for most people this wouldn't matter, but for the widow's house we are working on there is a stream right in front of her house. If there is too much rain then the stream becomes to large and we will not be able to cross it. I feel like maybe we could call up Moses. Bible humor never gets old. I also kept thinking of that old game "Oregon Trail." I would like to forge across the river. Maybe float across or take a ferry across. Please pray for no rain. I know that we could reschedule the work day, but I also know that God is bigger than any rain cloud so we are just having faith that His will is done with our work day. Our foreman and I did some work on her house last night. I had my first experience with a pressure washer. Our foreman caulked some windows up all in preparation for all the millions of Junior Highers and High Schoolers that will soon be descending on her house to paint. I am really excited about this project and I really want her to be blessed by our efforts. I also want her to see Christ's love through our actions, so please pray that we are minimized and God is maximized on Saturday.

Things we have done this week:

• Printed out 2250 pages on our printer.
• Printed out 500 return envelopes
• Printed out 500 regular envelopes
• Spent what feels like a million dollars on stamps, ink, paper, pens, etc.
• Perforated the bottoms of 750 pages so that they would easily be tear off.
• Cleaned the house (at least the bottom portion of it)
• Met with Bethany
• Cried about S (okay, that was just me and just a little bit.)

That doesn't look like on paper how much it feels like. I'll talk about Bethany and then tell you what all the printing is about.

Tim and I went to Bethany on Monday to meet with our social worker and have a conference call with the woman in charge of their Russian program. Basically we got no real news. They are still working on it. Little S does have a sister but someone may be trying to adopt her separately. It's funny that they won't let people outside of Russia split up siblings, but they will let Russians do it. We know that if God wants us to get E we will. So we made a decision to get moving on our homestudy and when all the paperwork is complete we'll revisit the decision about St. Petersburg. We can always submit our dossier to Russia for a referral and if S becomes available in that time we can switch it. It was a good meeting though because our social worker, Lisa, seems really in our corner and like she wants to do whatever she can to help us get S. That was good to hear. Although it does seem like if we have to wait for a referral we might not have to wait too long because we would want a boy.

As for all the printing. Tonight is the big night of our Both Hands letter stuffing party. I'm trying not to be worried. Tim of course is not worried. His faith in this kind of stuff is bigger than mine. I just feel like we've put so much into this both time wise and financially that if it doesn't work we will have taken two steps backwards. I know that God is bigger than this, it's just the believing it part.

If you're coming tonight I will tell you that my mom is making cheesecake brownies and apple cake and we're getting two huge stuffed papa murphy's pizzas as well as a couple of regular ones, so you won't leave hungry.

Pray for S today. I don't know why. Just pray for him. Maybe it's a newly sprouting mom's intuition but I just feel like he needs it.

Both Hands Foundation

Yesterday, we met with JT Olson who runs the Both Hands Foundation. It is really an incredible foundation, and I have a strange connection to knowing JT outside of his foundation. His son, Max, is in my small group at Fellowship. Anyways, Both Hands is a great foundation that pairs adopting families with widows. It is all based on James 1:27 (Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.[ESV]). It is an incredible idea and an incredible way for us to help pay for adoption. It breaks down like this we raise money by donating our time to help a widow with various household chores, eminence and landscaping that she would normally not be able to complete. How that works is JT has strategic partners with contractors, home building supply stores and various other vendors, which he uses to help provide some of the supplies to us. We then ask for support from our friends and families to help support the workers for the time they spend helping the widow. They in turn give that money to us to help pay for our adoption. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to give back and receive all at once. In the coming weeks, we are going to be asking for workers and support. For more information go to www.bothhandsfoundation.org. Also, watch this cool video we attached below