Thank You Gift #2

2 Nights at the George Washington Inn

Escape to the George Washington Inn, a majestic and unique waterfront bed and breakfast on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Located just two hours from Seattle on an 8-acre lavender farm, this Mount Vernon replica features luxurious accommodations and amenities that George and Martha could only have dreamed of. Each spacious room features a king bed, all-season fireplace, large HDTV with DVD player and private bath with two-person spa tub and shower. Wake to a full hot home-cooked breakfast and a cup of George Washington Coffee.

This two-night stay is valid between October 15 and April 15 and is valued at over $400. You will be offered the most deluxe suite still available when you check in, and additional nights may be booked at seasonal rates with 50% of the profit donated back to Tim & Cindy.

 visit www.georgewashingtoninn. com

*Please note, if you were led to this post by itself, please click on the "home" box above to see the instructions about this giveaway. Thank you!

Thank You Gift #3

$250 Amazon.com Gift Card

Who can't use a gift card? Amazon is awesome! Here in Alaska we depend heavily on so many things we can buy with their free super saver shipping. This gift card could buy you Amazon's #1 selling Kindle Fire along with a couple accessories or choose from millions of other products.

Thank You Gift #4

4 Guest Passes to the Creation Museum

" The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life."

creationmuseum.org

Located 7 miles west of the Cincinnati Airport in Petersburg, Kentucky

Each guest pass includes general admission as well as a Stargazers Planetarium show and is valued at over $30. Children under 5 are FREE!

Some of the attractions include: walk through Biblical history, dinosaur den, theater presentations, Noah's ark "construction site" exhibit, botanical gardens and petting zoo.

A fun learning experience for the whole family!

Thank You Gift #5

This package has 3 parts (valued in total at $100):

#1--

This little white country church will add warmth to any room in your house. The edges have been lightly sanded, then the entire church has been stained inside and out to give a slightly aged appearance. A soft light is cast on the church's surroundings through the 6 windows and door. A clip-in electric cord and bulb kit is included.
                    It measures approximately 11" H (including cross), 5 1/2" W, and 7" D.

Rustic Cabin Primitives is a family owned and operated manufacturer of country rustic wooden decorating accessories and furniture located in rural central Indiana.

                                                   www.rusticcabinprimitives.com
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                                                                              AND
#2-- Your choice of any 2 of our awesome "Simply Love" t-shirts! They are SUPER comfy. I've had several people who have bought them tell me that they love wearing their shirt and would wear it every day if they could. I have 3 of them myself, and I agree! We have 27 shirts left from our order of 75, all sizes still represented (small through x-large) in 3 different designs. We have a few long sleeve shirts left, but most are short sleeve now. If you are chosen the winner of this gift package, we will talk over the phone or by email so I can tell you what we have available in your size. They are pre-shunk too!

( Bulgaria shape with phrases from Scripture around the border)

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                                                                               AND

#3--  Kisses From Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption, hardback book
I am not a big reader, as my family knows, but I could hardly put this book down! Katie Davis is passionate about Jesus, orphans, and helping the poor and outcast of Uganda. She is 23 years old and has been in Uganda since she was 18. Katie is in the process of adopting 13 girls and has also established Amazima Ministries. This is a must-read book and will challenge your heart. Keep the tissues close too.

"Though I Was Born an Orphan" and Update

Though I was Born an Orphan

Though I was born an orphan,
Abandoned and alone,
Enslaved and bound in darkness,
Without a hope or home,
The God of grace and mercy
From his eternal throne
Ordained to be my Father
And claim me as His own.

That I might be adopted
The Father sent his Son
To live in full obedience
And die for what I’ve done.
Now through his resurrection,
Through faith, with him I’m one.
A member of his household,
I am an heir, a son.

To soothe my fear and worry
The Spirit from on high
Was sent to be a witness
That “Father!” I might cry.
O How I love this Father!
I’m never left alone.
He’s come to dwell within me
Until he calls me home.

Since I have this adoption,
I cannot close my home
To widows and to orphans,
Abandoned and alone.
Lord, fill me with compassion
To love the fatherless,
That I might show the nations
How great my Father is!

--Eric Schumacher and David L. Ward

 I love these words to a song I found. It sums up what motivates Tim and me (and so many others) to adopt. I was an orphan, a slave to a cruel master, dirty, hungry, thirsty, LOST...

BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, sought me ought, loved me, drew me near to Himself, whispered "You are Mine, and you are precious to me", bought me with the precious blood of Christ, paid my ransom for my sin debt that I could not pay, made me legally His own child. Then He cleaned me, wrapped me in the robes of Christ's righteousness, meets my every need, gave me an inheritance, and made me a joint heir with His Son, Jesus Christ.  

And I did NOTHING to deserve it all. I did nothing to initiate this transaction or relationship.  It was offered freely if I would just reach out and take His hand in faith and say "YES!"  

Because of the great love with which we have been shown in our own adoption by our Heavenly Father, we want to show that same kind of love to our children now and the 2 children the Lord has already ordained for us in BG. Our hope and prayer for our children is that by showing them daily earthly fatherly love, we would model our Heavenly Father's love so that one day they will know Him and accept His free gift of salvation. 

Adoption is not only a testimony to our kids of God's amazing love, but we pray that it will be a testimony to those around us and those we come in contact with through this process. 

                                                                      ******

I have been encouraged this week to connect online with some other Christian families who are adopting from BG as we are. It's nice to know there are others going through the same things and are even at the same point in the process as we are-- being so close to finishing the paperwork phase yet waiting and trusting God to provide financially. 

This week we received our letter from USCIS giving us a date for our biometrics/fingerprinting appointment. We will be flying to Juneau at the end of this month! We were hoping to have different dates so one of us could stay home with the kids while the other one went, so we wouldn't have to buy airplane tickets for the kids too (for an appointment that will last all of 30 minutes). But that could not be arranged as the appointments for everyone are packed full into 3 days, the length of time the biometrics machine will be in town before it heads off to another place. That's Alaska for you. Most people down in "the Lower 48", as we Alaskans refer to it, can just drive not too far away (maybe as far as the state capital) to get this done, but we have to buy 4 airplane tickets! Oh well. I am very thankful to have received these appointments. It is a big step.

I talked to the lady at USCIS in Missouri who is in charge of our application, and she told me she would probably receive our results the Monday following our appointment and could have our approval letter in the mail the next day! So that means we would have our final document needed for the complete dossier by the end of the first week of May. We would just need to notarize and apostille it which won't take very long. Then we'll have a completed dossier!!!!! This is so very exciting!!

Then we make 4 complete copies of all the paperwork and mail it all to our agency, along with $17,000 in fees split between our agency and the BG rep agency which handles everything on that side of the ocean. Then our agency mails the dossier over to BG, it all gets translated, then it gets accepted into the Ministry of Justice/ "MOJ" (BG's governing agency that oversees adoptions). Then they will begin looking for a match for us, or our "referral". The neat thing for us is that we know our children are already known and chosen for us in the mind and heart of God. Pretty awesome!

So we're almost done with our part of this process. We are still lacking $7,000 that we need before we can turn in all this paperwork in a month. If the Lord doesn't provide it in this coming month, then we will wait until He does provide. This is in His hands, and He will move in people's hearts to give according to His perfect plan. We just trust, hope, and pray (as the title of my friend's book sweetly reminds us to do). He will provide!

He Paid My Ransom!

 Tell Me the Story of Jesus

(chorus and verse 3)

 Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.

 

 Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,

Writhing in anguish and pain.

Tell of the grave where they laid Him,

Tell how He liveth again.

Love in that story so tender,

Clearer than ever I see.

Stay, let me weep while you whisper,

Love paid the ransom for me.

 

                                                 --Fanny Crosby

 I am so thankful that God, my Heavenly Father, loved me before I even knew Him, and in that amazing love paid the great price for my ransom-- to redeem me-- and then adopted me into His family and made me His child, a joint heir with Christ!

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4:4-7

" And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world... and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:1-9

 

I just love all the parallels between physical and spiritual adoption! It gets me pretty excited. =)

Enjoy meditating this Easter weekend on our adoption in Christ made possible through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave! 

Then think about all the multiple millions of orphans in this world who need their ransom paid to be brought into a forever family, in the same way your ransom was paid to be made a child of God!