Ugh, waiting stinks.  Some days I’m fine and other days I’m ready to crawl up a wall or under a blanket with a fluffy pillow to squeeze.  I’m having a hard time focusing right now, so I’m making a list of everything that I have to look forward to in the next couple of months.  This will likely be very boring for everyone else but me.

1. Trip to Memphis to meet Lindsey and Le, Ruta, and Alazar.  So slobbering excited about that.  We’re doing the Mojo Music Bus Tour and staying right on Beale Street.  I love the blues, and I loooovvve Lindsey and fam, who I feel like are our counterparts in Oklahoma City.  Can’t wait to talk sponsorship coordinators, Uganda, Ethiopia, adoption, and do some major laughing and celebrating, all while listening to killer music and eating barbeque.

2. The final batch of Adacar profiles should arrive any day now.  I keep checking the mail to see if they’ve come.  I’m just really excited to get all the kids sponsored.  Right now I have a ton of people to follow up with, but slowly I’m seeing my database of kids be filled with sponsors’ names.  Still a lot of blank ones, but people are slowly getting their payments set up.  And we’re making progress on the CarePoint.  More about that when I have concrete info.

3. HopeChest’s partner conference followed by the Together for Adoption conference.  I’m so excited to have quality face-to-face and hugging time with the Warrior Girls and to get to see Joseph (Uganda country director) again.  And to meet more and more and more adoptive parents.  Honestly, I’m meeting so many adoptive parents these days that it almost seems weird to me when I meet a family with all biological kids.  “Like, really?  You made all of these and they all look like you?  Weird!”  Ha!

4. Back to school!  I know, it’s cruel and unusual for me to look forward to that, but I abhor summer and all things shorts and sweating.  I love getting all my high school girls back on a regular basis, cooler weather, layering clothing, and being able to take Elliott to the park without getting a third degree burn.  Fall frolicking is around the corner, and as the leaves die, I start to live.  And one of my favorite things in fall is Vertical Reality, the fall retreat with the high school students.  I can’t wait to spend a whole weekend away with them.  We’ll have so much to talk about, starting high school and all.  I wouldn’t repeat that for a million dollars, but I love walking this road with them.

5. A referral?  Fall should mean we get to “meet” our little one, at least on paper.  I’m so excited to find out boy or girl, and hopefully that knowledge will give me lots to dream of and work on through the winter until we finally get to go.  In the meantime, I am happy to report that we’ve found a delicious Ethiopian restaurant in Atlanta (Thank you, Beattys!!), and I’ll be making lots of trips there to soak up the culture and shovel in the food.  As some of you know, Alex and I tried Ethiopian food years ago in Georgetown and it was terrible!  I love almost every kind of food on the planet, so I’ve just been sick about it (both literally for 24 hours after and figuratively).  I’ve been praying for God to allow me to love it, because both Ethiopia and food are such huge parts of my family.  Anyway, one bite at Queen of Sheba last week and we realized that Ethiopian food is DELICIOUS!  Our first experience in Georgetown must’ve just been BAD Ethiopian food, just like I’ve had bad American food.  Queen of Sheba was good, good, good, oh so good, and Elliott adored it, too, rising on his knees over the big family-style plate and scooping up the food with injera.

Okay, that’s enough anticipation for one post.  And just typing it all out has elevated me from my waiting funk and reminded me of what’s to come.  I also want to balance all the things to come with the things of NOW, because I don’t want to live in the future.  The now is good and is not to be wasted.  The now is digging into God, spending time with friends, kissing my husband, building really tall Lego towers with Elliott, helping unite sponsors with kids in Adacar, wearing my cute Sseko sandals (maybe the one benefit of summer weather in Georgia), and spending precious minutes with my parents.  Two of my close friends lost their parents last week, and I’m reminded that life is fleeting, there are no guarantees, and I want to enjoy every minute.  So, this post is kind of rambly, but I think I just blogged myself into a really hopeful and positive mood.

Wow, we keep asking for money and God keeps stepping up to provide.  It’s like He owns a limitless amount and is just waiting for us to ask…hmm….  So, the rescue in India is totally funded, including aftercare for 10 girls and the salary for a counselor to work with them for an entire year.  God continues to blow my mind with how He spurs His followers to deep generosity.  People are getting that the money isn’t theirs to begin with! 

So, since we keep asking and God keeps providing, we’re going to ask again!  HopeChest’s partner in India has a whole list of rescue missions and is just waiting for the funds.  Today God brought in enough for these ten girls, plus enough to get started on the next rescue on the list.  Yay!  HopeChest was planning on running the fundraiser through Monday, so we’re going to continue raising money and seeing just how many rescue missions we can fund!  Wouldn’t it be incredible if we set out to fund one rescue for 10 girls and end up funding 2?  Or 3? 

People are getting really creative with ideas for raising money to fund rescues.  If you think about it, it’s your chance to live in an action thriller movie.  These courageous, highly skilled Indian agents are doing reconaissance, nailing corrupt officials, raiding brothels, and saving innocent little girls and boys under cover of darkness.  We pay $10 to watch movies with that kind of action.  We read gripping novels in our beach chairs about these kind of covert activities.  Now we can join in the excitement!  By writing a check, having a garage sale, auctioning some items on eBay, or holding a fundraiser, we can fund covert missions for God!  I love a good thriller, so I’m in!  One of my friends is raffling off a Coach purse.  A pretty, pink, Coach purse for the lives of some little girls.  Duh, no brainer, and so very cool and creative.  If you want to pay $20 for a chance to win the purse and save a child, visit her website here.  If you want to help fund a covert mission, click here.

I lack the kung fu and numchucks skills to BE a covert operative and raid brothels in the name of God.  I’m not even sure if I spelled “numchucks” right.  The only reason I’ve even heard of those things is because of my deep love of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Michaelangelo in particular.  But I CAN serve God by finding Michaelangelo some money for his numbchucks.  Nutchunks?  I am a not-so-covert operative – I am an OVERT operative for God, boldly flapping my lips and waving wildly at people to flag down some money so the truly sneaky people can get these precious ones to safety.  Join me?

This blog post is ripped right off of HopeChest CEO Tom Davis’ blog.  This is really going on in our world right now as we drink our mochas and swim with our kids. 

Please read in Tom’s words:

I’ve been out of town and celebrating our country’s independance, so this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and share the good news from last Wednesday.  God did it!  He blew us all away with how He provided for these orphans in India.  We asked for $4,884 in 48 hours to send 12 children to school in Mumbai, India.  Many of these kids were born to women working and living in brothels, and they’d come to an orphanage run by Asha Ministries.  The people on HopeChest’s first vision trip to India found out about them while they were there last week, and found out that school started last Thursday and the kids would have to wait another year if they couldn’t get the funds together in time.  So, on Tuesday morning, we all hit our blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, offering people the opportunity to experience the joy of making a difference in the life of a child.  $4,884 in 48 hours.  Well, God decided to show off and brought in $5,651 in only 28 hours!  12 school tuitions, uniforms, and school supplies, plus money for food!  It was quite a rush to get to watch God work, to see the money come in as we prayed and re-tweeted.  

My favorite story from the day is of one of my Adacar sponsor moms who called me asking if there was still time to give.  Her daughter had accidentally hit a button on the computer which caused my blog to pop up.  This sponsor mom read about what we were doing and thought, “Oh, I wish we could help, but we don’t have any extra right now.”  The mail arrived, and there was a surprise $500 check from a grandmother.  She immediately thought of the kids in India!  When I thanked this sponsor mom for choosing to spend her gift money on school fees for a child she’d never met, she answered, “How could I not?”  Wow!  I LOVE that!!  She had such joy and excitement in her voice, and that’s just it.  When we choose to give, not only does the recipient feel blessed, but so do we!  We are filled with joy and exuberance, and it’s such a fulfilling act of worship to God, who gives so generously to us.  Last Wednesday was such a special day.  I loved asking BIG and seeing my God respond even BIGGER.

Okay, we watched as God brought in $1500+ in one day to save Bosco’s life.  God has shown me again and again how much He loves these sweet kiddos in need and how His provision for them is so often US, stepping out in obedience and faith and sacrificial giving.

Now, we’re asking God for $4884 in the next two days.  The HopeChest team in India has identified 12 kids in need of school fees, at $407 per child for tuition, uniform, and supplies.  School starts on Thursday.  That’s 2 days from now, and if they don’t have the money, they don’t go to school for another year.  Many of these kids are children of the women working in brothels in the red light district of Delhi.  Their mothers brought them to Asha Ministries to get them out of a life in the brothels.  Would you please join us in praying for these kids?  Would you consider giving toward their education?  As we saw with Bosco, if everyone gives a little, it adds up quickly, and all of a sudden, God saves a life, rewrites a future, and uses US to do it!!

Okay, so to give, click HERE, and put “India School” in the notes section.  The money goes through HopeChest to the team on the ground in India right now.

To read posts from the HopeChest team in India, click HERE.

To read more on the kids needing school fees, click HERE.

Getting involved in the one-day campaign to save Bosco’s life back in the fall changed my life forever.  You never know when a simple act of choosing to give could change yours.