Wow! What an amazing year!!! I can not believe that it is a few days away from saying good-bye to 2011!! In some ways, I am sooo happy to say good bye, but other ways we reflect on and wonder if we should have done differently. We will continue to keep our heads up and say bring it on 2012! What a fabulous CHRIST mas we had!! We had lots of fun parties to go to and family gatherings to attend, we baked lots of goodies and made some homemade ornaments and gifts. The kiddos received way too much stuff and I am to blame for most of it!! Through it all they were very appreciative and knew that Jesus was the real reason!! We discussed many times what it is going to be like next year with a new sibling and the joy he or she will bring!! We will keep our traditions and add lots of new ones! Boy are we excited to share the love of Jesus and his birthday with our new China baby!
God is so good!!! The month of December was a great month for Sow To China!! We have raised our next goal of around $5600.00 to pay our next two payments and our dossier payment. I know that you have to be thinking, "They have got to be getting close to their overall goal???" Well, our next goal amount is not determined just yet because we will be taking Carson and Hailey with us to China to meet their sibling and we are not sure of the expenses for them just yet. We can say that we are half way there!! About 8 months ago we were wondering how in the world are we going to get the money to make the agency payments? Guess what, God provided and they are all accounting for!! Hallelujah!!! Thanks to everyone that contributed and prayed for us!! The next goals will be based on in country expenses while in China which consist of flights, travel, hotel, official fees, visit to orphanage, etc.... We have no doubt that God will continue to provide. We have come this far with his hand and have continued to be faithful and trust in him. We don't deserve the joy that we are receiving from this journey, but knowing he is getting the glory for this, we will take the joy all day long!!
In the past few days of being on Christmas vacation with my family, we have played with new toys, games, passed around the tummy bug and finally taken all the Christmas decorations down.
While packing up some of the ornaments that were made this year, a china doll ornament, china ornament and a cross that was made for me by a sweet friend, Averie, that is Hailey's friend, I read a letter that Averie attached with the cross. She is 8 years old and has a heart for Jesus!!! I received a text from her mom one Sunday morning asking if we were going to be in church and I replied back, yes, we would be there. She explained Averie had something for me. Shocked, I definitely wanted to find out what she had for me?? Her attached letter read...
Dear Mrs. Julie,
The reason I made the cross is because you are always doing fundraisers and making stuff for other people. So, I decided to make you something. You know, because no one makes you anything. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But, I hope you like it.
Sincerely,
Averie
What an angel she is!! Of course, I loved the cross and it will be placed in our baby's room! More than anything, I love her heart and her love to give to people!! She brought tears to my face and I realized, I hope Jesus feels this way with me!! I hope he understands that we are doing this for him and not for us!! I hope that he has happy tears for us!! We believe in him and we believe in his sacrifice for us!! What can we do for him? What is most important to him? Is it the one more toy that my kids had to have just because? Absolutely not, it is shining for him and living for him, it is spreading his word!! This sweet orphan that we are going to rescue will love him and know him, just as he wants us to teach he or she and others! There are no orphans of God!! We are all his children and we will always need his love!!
I have had some time to think about what will be the next fundraisers??? Oh my, not sure yet! We have applied for a few grants, but your not always guaranteed, but we will prayed for and considered. I am sure some handmade items will be coming out soon for the Spring holidays and our Sow To China shirt will be posted soon along with other fundraising t-shirts!! We will be praying for God to lead us to where we need to go and what we need to do to gain a few more steps closer to our China baby!!!
Thank you all so much for all your prayers!! We appreciate it so much and love you all dearly!!
God Bless you all and I hope and pray that 2012 will be a blessed year and you will live for Christ!! Believe me, you will not be disappointed, but filled with so much joy that it will send you on a fabulous journey!! Remember what he did for us.....
Blessings and Love,
Julie
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