A Whirlwind Week!

We have had a busy few days, and the next few are even crazier. But, the week has been full with so many wonderful things that I had to stop and blog about them (even if it's 1:30 a.m.)!

This week was Popsy's birthday, and we got to celebrate with him with dinner (mexican, of course!) and a benefit concert held in honor of the Gage family. It was a great night with our sweet Pops.

The traditional b-day sign was made for the eighth year, and the girls decided to give Pops malaria nets for his birthday. Pretty original, huh? :)

We also got to spend Saturday cheering for our friend, Charlie, as he rode THIRTY MILES on his bike for His Chase!! Can you believe that??

We were so proud of him, and we're so thankful for all that he is doing to raise awareness and raise funds for the children living in Chase's Place! The girls had such a fun time being the cheerleaders, and Charlie showed us how strong and determined he was by going 50% further in his bike-a-thon than he did last year! Check out Charlie's bike-a-th0n Facebook page HERE.

We haven't received the grand total of what he has raised, because it's top secret, but regardless, we are just so proud of Charlie, and we love seeing how much he loves the children in Ghana already. He and his family are going to do great things for these kids, I can already tell! Griege family, thank you for letting us be a part of this amazing day! Charlie's gonna be a world changer, and we are so thrilled to watch it happen from the front row! :)

After a wonderful Saturday celebrating Charlie's accomplishment, we spent the evening celebrating Orphan Sunday in some great ways. As I mentioned in my last post, November 7th was Orphan Sunday across the nation. And, we were blessed to be a part of this day at our church.

We were all able to share our hearts for orphans in a few different ways. Besides worship and the excellent sermon (which I cried through as usual), we also served fair trade coffee from Rwanda and Ethiopia, showing that even drinking coffee from these countries--who have such an orphan crisis--can enable families to thrive.

We all buy coffee anyway. Why not buy it HERE or HERE, and make a huge difference in these countries?

We also sold more 147 shirts!! (And are still ordering more if you're needing one of your own!)

This has become one of our very favorite ministries, and we have absolutely loved working with Gwen and Suzanne. They inspire me to be a mom who stands up for orphans and helps in any way I can. They are doing so much for orphan care, and we are proud to be partnering with them in this. (And it was REALLY fun to see everyone in their orphan shirts...including Chris, our preacher, and our whole worship team!! So fun!)

Our friend, Jessica, ran a Compassion booth as well, and we were so thrilled to hear that EIGHT more children now have sponsors from the weekend at the Branch! This is so wonderful and those eight miracles are worth it all.

We also handed out paper bags for each family with an Orphan Outreach Family Challenge attached. As people take the challenge and complete the ideas, they will turn their bags back in at church, and we will have supplies of every kind to benefit orphan care ministries.

We announced the launch of a new adoption class, starting in January as well. If you know someone who may want to be a part of this class, email me! We are excited to already have many couples ready to start, and many more praying about what their family will do to help orphans! So exciting!!

It was a wonderful weekend, and as I sang "A New Hallelujah" in church that morning, oh how the tears did flow. One year ago was my due date for my precious Chase. I am celebrating orphan sunday and singing a "new hallelujah" one year later. And, that is not by mistake or accident. It is because of my precious God and His great plans.

And in three days, I will be sitting on an airplane, heading to GHANA! I still can't believe we're going again. This has been such a whirlwind. And, I still don't have my head on straight or my bags completely packed. But, regardless, we are excited and know that God will take care of the details. He always does!

As we get ready to leave, how do we accurately describe the incredible response we have received from all of you? We have raised enough money to buy 1100 mosquito nets, when our original goal was 500. We have pounds and pounds of candy of every kind...when our original idea was just a few small pieces from children's halloween stashes! We have suitcases full of supplies and children's toys...when we never officially asked for most of what we got.

Thank you so much!! You never stop giving! I can't WAIT to show you pictures of the children in Ghana enjoying these blessings!

And, just a side note about the donations: We have reached our limit for this trip. The suitcases are all overflowing and that is a GREAT problem to have! We couldn't have done it without you! And, if you still have donations, I will be glad to talk with you about some other options, because it can still all be used!

And, thank you, everyone, for filling our bags--and our hearts--as we leave again this week!!