Give Away Update

UPDATE:  We have made $650 leaving us $4,350 to raise to meet our goal.  Thank you to everyone who has donated and shared!! 

Our goal is to raise $5,000 to use towards our travel expenses.  We have made $485.  We have FIVE days left in our give away.  We need your help!!  Please donate and share about our give away, but most of all please pray for us!

You can donate by clicking on our Reese's Rainbow link on the side of the blog.  Please leave a comment with your email address so I can enter you for our give away.  Thank you for being part of Isaac's story!

Pumpkin Patch Give Away

We are having a give away to help raise money for Isaac's adoption. There have been several generous people and businesses that have made this possible. There are four prizes that are available to "local" (McAlester, OK) people, but two of these prizes plus the grand prize are available for everyone.

The fine print: You may enter by either donating or "sharing" the information about our give away. Tickets cost $5 or you can buy 5 tickets for $20. You will be entered for free every time you "share" about our give away. You can share via facebook, your blog, twitter, your best friend, or second cousin. It doesn't matter with who, just "share" it! You MUST leave a comment with your email address on this blog post of what you did to be entered. I approve all messages before they post so I will remove your email before your comment is posted. I won't have any way of knowing that you blogged about it if you don't tell me :) You can make a tax deductible donation to be entered to win by clicking on the donate button on the right side of the blog. Don't forget to leave me a comment with your email address so I can make sure you are entered.

Now for the fun stuff. As of right now there are 6 prizes and 1 grand prize. Every entry will be entered for the grand prize and your choice of one of the other prizes. Drawing for all prizes will be on Oct. 27th. Thank you for helping us bring Isaac home!!

GRAND PRIZE: $500

Prize #1: (local only) "A taste of McAlester" includes the following gift cards:
$50 RibCrib
$40 Western Sizzlin
$15 Pete's Place
1 Regular Dinner at Ball BBQ
1 Italian Dinner at Gia Como's
$20 Charlie's Chicken
Est. value $150

Prize #2: $100 worth of Thirty-One products

Prize #3: "For the Guys" (yes, women can enter for this too) includes:
12 piece GearWrench Socket Set
7 piece GearWrech Nut Driver Set
Microfiber and Cotton Rags
Sponge
ArmorAll
12 Quart Pail
Est. value $125

Prize #4: (local only) Snocone Party Pack
$50 gift card to Snoman's Delites

Prize #5: (local only) 2 Rocking Chairs

Prize #6: $100 gift card to your choice of either Target, Walmart, or Amazon

Also, you can be entered to win one of these super cute pumpkin chimineas just by buying a pumpkin from The Great Pumpkin Patch. We will be giving one away every Saturday through Oct. 27th. We are located on the corner of 6th and Wyandotte.

Lessons From The Pumpkin Patch

First of all, the pumpkins have arrived and we are open for business.  God has a way of using everyday circumstances to teach me.  We were scheduled for delivery at 9:00am Saturday morning. We spread the word and told everyone we knew.  We found out Friday evening that the pumpkins had been loaded late and they would be in McAlester at 5:00pm.  I got off the phone and proceeded to get in touch with everyone that I thought might be planning on coming.  Friends were sending texts, Mat was emailing, and I worried.  It's what I do.  After telling everyone the pumpkins would be there at 5:00, the semi-truck carrying the pumpkins pulled into town at 3:30.  Once again texts were sent and people started piling in to unload pumpkins.  We were blown away by the number of people that showed up to help!

I am not a patient person.  I worry and fret and accomplish absolutely nothing by doing so.  Often times God speaks to me through Philippians 4:6-7.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  I cling to that verse. 

Adoption can be hard.  Life can be hard.  But God's Word tells me not to be anxious about anything.  I am overwhelmed by God's unfailing love.  He loves me enough to allow "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding", to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  I fully expect that when this month becomes overwhelming and I start to do what I do best, God will whisper ever so softly.

Orphan Love Mud Run

Saturday, we participated in the first annual Orphan Love Mud Run.  There is an incredible group of families in Ada, OK that has started an organization called It's A Child's Life.  They put in an enormous amount of time setting up for this run.  It was awesome! 

Our friends, Lloyd and Kelli Belt are adopting Addi May from Ethiopia.  They also participated in the run.  Elizabeth, Kelli's sister-in-law also ran for Addi.  Here we are after the run.  We are not nearly as clean as we look.

Friday evening, the families that make up It's A Child's Life hosted a meet n' greet for the adoptive families that were participating in the run.  We had a great time getting to know some families that are walking the same path we are on.  We met a family that is adopting 2 babies domestically.  We met families that are adopting from China, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Haiti.  I knew it was going to be a great evening, but really I had no idea how it would touch my heart!

Saturday morning we headed back to Ada prepared to run in the mud.  I was NOT prepared for what I experienced!  When you are training for a 5k Mud Run do not train on a flat surface!  That seems like common sense, but seriously I went about this all wrong.  Kelli, Elizabeth, Mat and I started together in the second group.  It did not take long until I could no longer see them.  I had been jogging (mostly walking) what seemed like forever when people from the third group started passing me.  I realized at that point that it was going to be a long morning!

Even though I didn't run the entire track I pushed myself to do things I really didn't think I could do.  Several times during the morning there were no other people around and I had some great "thinking" time.  I thought about how this run was similar to our adoption.  The majority of the track was uphill.  There were times that I thought I couldn't take one more step.  I wasn't sure the race would ever be over.  There are days that I feel like Isaac will never come home, that I am climbing an uphill track that will never end, but just like I crossed the finish line yesterday I believe that Isaac will come home in God's perfect time!

I had made it about 3/4 of the way through and I was feeling discouraged.  I was tired, alone, and I wasn't sure I could keep going.  What felt like out of nowhere a lady ran up from behind me and the rest of her group caught up within just a minute.  They asked if I'd like to finish the race with them.  They gave me the encouragement I needed to finish the race. One of the last obstacles was climbing down and then back up a steep embankment.  I was nervous to say the least, but as I started climbing down my new friends were cheering "Necia, Necia, Necia" over and over. 

I made it down and back up and went on to finish the last obstacle.  I had to swing on a rope to try and miss the mud pit.  I didn't make it.  I actually bounced off a bale of hay and landed awkwardly at the edge of the pit.  I waded through the mud just for fun :)  At that point I really didn't think I could get any dirtier.

I almost forgot to add that I swam across a pond.  I DO NOT normally swim in ponds, but I made an exception.  I will definitely do this run again, but next time I will train a little differently.