Busy, Busy

Sorry it has been so long since we have posted. We have two sick kids and way too much going on right now. We are waiting on our home studies at the moment, so there isn't a whole lot to report on right now. We have about 40 more tickets to sell for our raffle if you are interested in helping us out and entering to win a Photo shoot!! We plan to raffle it off after we sell 100 tickets. Post the link on facebook or tell your friends and family. The more people we have buy tickets, the sooner we will get to announce our winner! (And pay for a home study.) :) Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Adopted by HIM

My friend Nikki sent me a link to this video today. It is what our hearts have been feeling. God adopted us as his children. He sacrificed so we in turn could be a part of HIS family. He chose us and saved us. He is the author of adoption. He is the one who came up with the idea and now he passes that on to us. We are so humbled by the love of Christ and his call on our life. I am pretty emotional at the moment and without words. Just watch this and it will express our hearts better than my words can......love.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6jO7xhU_Pw

Faces of Ethiopia

It is 1:18 am and I can't sleep...this is pretty much how this whole process began for me. :) I follow a ministry called No ordinary love ministries. Tonight I checked up and found these pictures. Oh my heart.....This awakens something inside of my heart I didn't even know existed until recently. These pictures make me long for the day I get to hold my child....the child unknown to me, but not to the one who created him/her/them. I want to do more. I want to help more. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27.Take a few minutes and click on this link. Look at these beautiful faces. How can you help them or show them love? http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2123410008499.2108560.1343332974&type=3

It's Raffle Time with Darcy Holsopple Photography

We have filled you all in on our hearts for adoption, the extreme cost and our process thus far. Last week we mailed in our second round of paper work with our first big check...A check we were able to send thanks to selling our Freestyle and buying a grocery getter! Thank God right?! So now we are on to our first raffle. I am SUPER excited about this one. Our first donation came from one of my nearest and dearest friends Darcy Holsopple. Darcy is an amazing photographer and she has been doing our family pictures for years and we are so thankful for her willingness to donate! Want to see how great she is? Here is some proof!!

 I can't wait to see who wins!!!! You will be so blessed by the pictures you will get and she is so much fun to work with! Here is what your raffle ticket can win for you!

2012 Family Session (up to 6 ppl)

approximately 1 hour session

location of outdoor session within 15 miles of 46553 area code

approximately 20-25 digital images on CD

valued at $200

www.darcyholsopplephotography.blogspot.com

Find me on Facebook at Darcy Holsopple Photography

So, here is how the raffle works.

Email us at erinrtoth@gmail.com. Type raffle in the subject line. Tell us how many raffle "tickets" you would like to buy, your name,  phone number or email address, and tell us if you will pay via check or paypal.  We will assign you 1 number per "ticket" and email the number(s) back to you. After we reach $1,000 we will raffle off the prize.
To pay for your ticket(s) all you need to do is simply click on the donate button on the right of this page. Follow the simple instructions and pay by debit or credit card. If you do not have either of those, email me and we will make arrangements.
Each "ticket" will cost $10.00...which is an amazing price to pay for the photo shoot! Post the link to your fb page or email it to friends you think would be interested in getting a professional photography session at such a great price. The more people that know, the more people will bid. The more people we get bidding the sooner you will find out if you win!!! To increase your chance to win buy more than one ticket. There is no limit to number of tickets you buy! Let's get started!!

soccer mom

Well....it's official.....I'm a 30 year old minivan drivin mama! I swore I wouldn't have any more kids and I wouldn't own a minivan....Now look at me. I am in the adoption process and today I bought a minivan! It really is a huge blessing and answer to prayer, it is just a humbling step for me. :) Never say never....and no I am not quoting Justin Bieber! Last week I told you all that we needed to get some money for home studies and another round of paper work. We felt that we were to sell our Freestyle and buy an older minivan. We then would have a profit that could get us through that next step financially. We sold the Freestyle and bought a 02 Honda Odyssey all within a 5 day period. AMAZING! So praise God we are able to continue on in this process and....we made one little 4 year old very happy by buying a minivan with a dvd player! (Not on purpose, it was just a nice little bonus.) Thanks for all of the prayers! The speed at which things keep happening is a testimony to your prayers. Thank you!

And the process continues!

YAY! Today at 5:05 p.m. we got a phone call from Sarah at awaa. What did she say? We can continue!!!! They are not requiring us to have the full $5,000.00 for stage one! Yay! This means we can get our paper work started as we work on getting the financing. Which means we won't have to wait and prolong the process! This is great news! What is really funny, was that I sat down around 4:45 and typed out an email trying to further explain our finances etc... and when I was about to hit send I lost Internet connection. I thought hmm...I need to stop and wait and just trust that God has it all under control. Sure enough, 30 minutes later I got the call. God is good!

Holding HIS Hand

My friend Stacy emailed me this verse today. ~For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you, "Fear not, I will help you." Isaiah 41:13 It got me thinking....
I have had this picture of God walking with us holding our hands in the same way we hold the hand of our children. We have their best in mind and ask them to trust us to make decisions that are best for them. They trust us to hold their hands. To help them up stairs when they aren't yet strong enough to do it on their own and keep them from falling. In the same way I feel God is asking us to trust Him and hold his hand in this process.
Galatians 4: 4-5, Ephesians 1: 5, Romans 9: 4, Romans 8: 23, John 1: 12 and Romans 8: 15-17 all tell us Christ has adopted us as his sons and daughters. This gives me the picture of holding the hand of our adopted son or daughter, asking them to trust that we will help them....Which we can only do by holding the hand of our heavenly Father. Trusting....