SORRY

I'm sorry to those of you who read this blog. I haven't been good at keeping it updated and I'm sure that doesn't make you want to read this. I will try to do better at keeping this up to date.

First off - there really isn't any new adoption news. We are still waiting to hear from our agency that all our paperwork has been translated and that it is all OK. Once we hear that, we will officially be in the "waiting" stack for our sweet children. Other than that, there really isn't anything exciting to share.

I do want to give you all an update on the fundraisers that took place for us over the summer. I have yet to give the results of these and I apologize for the delay. There are so many of you who have helped us throughout this process and we are SO thankful!

Thank you Kim & Paul for selflessly sharing your anniversary with us and raising over $500 to help in getting our kids home! We were so blessed that you would remember us in this way! You have been a great inspiration in our lives growing up and again now as we see you love each other and us through your marriage! We are thankful for all of your friends who gave!

Thank you Kathryn & Wayne for blessing us with the yard sale fundraiser! Their goal was to raise about one plane ticket for us and I think we more than accomplished that. We were able to raise around $700! It was a great success! Thank you to all of you who donated items, helped set up, tear down, make goodies and hot dogs and chili! It was so much fun spending the day with you!!! Thanks Mom & Dad for helping with this too! We felt so loved!

Thank you Jamie (my sister) for blessing us with all proceeds of your sales in June with your Mary Kay business! She was able to raise about $125 for us! Thank you sweet sister. I love you dearly and can't wait until you can be an auntie to my kids! They will love you as I do.

More than anyone though, I have to continue to thank God for helping us through this process. The journey is long and can be trying at times but as his word says, he never gives us more than we can handle. The truth in that statement though is we really don't need to "handle" it. He's got it and our part is just giving it over to him. As we continue to do that and wait for our precious children to come home, we constantly thank God for all of you who have loved us and are continuing to support us through the wait.

Hope for Mazey Yard Sale

If anyone is available to stop by, we'd love to see you....

YARD SALE FUND-RAISER
SAT. JULY 18, 7 AM-2 PM
6487 NEW RIVER RD.
FAIRLAWN
Below 11 West
Huge Multi Family
clothing, furniture, books, misc.
items. Hot dogs & drinks.

Directions: Head toward Dublin on Rt 11. Go past Sheetz, turn left on New River Rd where C&L Campers is. Follow New River Rd to 6487. It is a white house.

Thank you Kathryn & Wayne!!!

Sweet Ellie Girl

Our sweet Ellie girl passed away on Saturday night, Sunday morning. She was such a sweet & mild mannered dog. Thankfully she went in her sleep. She had been sick for a couple months & wasn't getting any better. Unfortunately, we were not with her. We were on vacation & a friend was looking after her. We felt so bad to not be with her & that someone else was with her when she passed. We are so thankful for how he handled it & also the vet. The emergency vet really blessed us but picking her up from the house for us (since we were several hours away) & allowed us some time with her to say goodbye.

We'll miss you Ellie girl. Sparky misses you too!

"Mary Kay 4 Mazey!" Fund-Raiser

I know many of you already have MK beauty consultants or maybe don't use Mary Kay at all but I wanted to let you all know about this. A blessing from my sister, Jamie...

"My Mary Kay 4 Mazey!" Fund-Raiser

Dear Friends, Family & Valued Customers,

As some of you know I recently began my own Mary Kay Business. One great advantage of doing this is that I have the freedom and versatility to conduct my business as I wish and it gives me great opportunities to enrich women's (peoples') lives and hopefully make a difference in some way.

As many more of you know my brother-in-law and sister, Jeremy & Pamela Pegg, are in the process of adopting children from Columbia. They have been extremely blessed by many personal donations already, but they still have many expenses to look forward to. For more detailed information about the Peggs, visit Pam's Blog at http://hopeformazey.blogspot.com/. (this is not a hyperlink)

I would like to give all of you an opportunity to be a huge part in blessing these "Parents-In-Waiting"!

For every paid order received, from June 8th until June 25th, My Mary Kay Business will donate all the profits to Jeremy & Pam for their adoption expenses. You simply get fabulous, on-trend products that you want and need and My Mary Kay Business will donate to The Peggs on your behalf.

Check out the many tips, ideas and hot, new trends in skin care and color on my personal website, http://www.marykay.com/jamiekgeorge/default.aspx. Even more New Products and Promotions will be introduced on June 16th. There's something for everyone whether it's for Yourself, a Father's Day gift, Graduation, a Bridal Party Look, a Birthday gift, a Vacation Treat or even a Christmas gift if you're really on-the-ball!

I will be placing orders on the 16th and 26th for this fund-raiser. I accept Checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express & Cash (in person). If you are local, in the Portland Metro Area of Oregon, we can arrange for pick-up or delivery of your purchase. The out-of-town purchases will be mailed to you. This is an opportunity only available through me, your Independent Beauty Consultant, and is not an official Mary Kay company-wide campaign or promotion.

Thank you so much and I look forward to participating with you in Mary Kay Ash's "Go-Give" spirit!

Sincerely,

Jamie K. George

Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant

503.710.8780

jamiekgeorge@marykay.com

http://www.marykay.com/jamiekgeorge/default.aspx

Kindness of Friends & Strangers...

Last you heard we were under the gun for making a large payment to our agency for the completion of our dossier. The payment was actually due today & I'm so happy to report that the entire check is in the hands of my agency & God provided every penny that we needed!!! God is SO good. We didn't even have to figure it out, we just kept praying & trying to leave it in His hands. He already had it worked out for us. For those of you who have supported us in prayer, with financial gifts or buying a t-shirt... words can't even express how thankful we are. Thank you for allowing God to use you to bless us through this process & for helping us get that much closer to bringing our children home!!!

With that said, I want to share with you the kindness of strangers. I'm not really even sure the story other than they are friends of a dear, dear friend. In the last two weeks we have received checks from two men that we don't even know. One with a beautiful adoption story of his own... his sister was adopted from Korea. The other, I have to admit, I know absolutely nothing about. He just mailed a check & that was that. Both of these gifts brought me to tears as did almost every check we received from all of you!

This got me thinking... who does that? Who just drops a check in the mail to someone they don't even know. Obviously these two men do. I have always considered myself to be a pretty generous person & honestly, it is hard being on the receiving end during this season of life. It is humbling but it is also really a wonderful thing. To know people are out there who are willing to give when they hear a need, to reach out to people they don't even know. I want to be more like that.

Who does this remind you of? Jesus did just that... his entire life on this earth! He consistently gave with no expectation, knowing no one would ever "deserve" what he was about to give them. He gave the ultimate gift knowing many would never even acknowledge it. His love was perfect! Perfect love casts out all fear. I had some fear surrounding this payment. I received perfect love in the kindness of strangers, all of our friends & family. I never needed to be afraid of what God had in front of us. I just needed to trust that he would completely take care of it & stop trying to control the situation myself. I know I'm a stubborn person & sometimes things have to slap me in the face before I get it. I'm so thankful the Lord has patience with me & understands my humanness.

Ways you can be praying...

• usually takes about 2-3 months to translate the dossier, pray this will go much faster
• learning Spanish
• that our trust in God would not waiver through the remaining expenses (travel, in country & post adoption expenses) that is more than we have paid for everything so far
• we would continue to have peace through this process & can handle the things that are coming
  

Thank you, thank you, thank you... so much for loving us!!!

How much do you really want to know...?

Since my last post several things have happened. We received our invoice for the sum of money that is due at this point. We have a 15 day time line to pay this. We have really felt like it is not up to us to figure it out and God has really shown up. So many people have dug deep and given to us freely. You know who you are and we couldn't be more thankful! Even people we don't know. God is amazing in his provisions!

We also received our travel packet. This is full of information on the next steps of the adoption. I must admit, I began ready this booklet on Friday morning before work and got really overwhelmed and a bit discouraged. I really thought the paperwork and most of the stuff was done but I found out it isn't. Uggh. I got home from work and proceeded to read this 58 page document entirely. Every detail, everything written out. I finished with more questions. Yes, it answered many questions I had but left me with quite a few too. I guess reading something can't really even come close to experiencing something. I was hoping this packet might put some of my fears, anxieties & questions to rest. It did for a few things but also raised a few more. There were details about preparation for our trip, our stay in Colombia, information for after we return, additional reading materials and forms. Details about what to expect from the children, our need to learn Spanish... etc. The list goes on. All this to say... I can really use your prayers. I want to have joy and peace in this whole process. I'm very excited about being closer to getting the children but I feel like a thousand road blocks just got put in front of me. You know the saying... "knowledge is power?" Well I now have more knowledge about international adoption than most people and I'm not really feeling all that powerful. I am relieved and thankful that my God is with me through it all and my dear, sweet husband. I couldn't do this without them.

This is really a faith journey. I feel my faith being put to the test daily, almost minute by minute. The funny thing is is that God is so faithful. I have no doubt that he is going to provide for EVERY need we have, he is going to see us through all of this ... my faith doesn't seem to lack in my God. I just tend to have trouble relinquishing control even though he has proven faithful. I tend to question myself through these things. Sometimes I'm not sure if it is OK to feel the way I'm feeling. I guess it is probably normal but sometimes I feel so hung up on it. I know that God can handle my frustrations, my fears, my failures, my doubts... sometimes I just don't handle them so well.

"Each of us must decide where we're going to put our energy when the battle grows fierce." "God, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which You have called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14). Help me to forget all past failures - or even achievements - and to focus on pressing forward with You now."

The BEST Kind of Wait!!!

The post that I've been waiting for... we now have our dossier submitted to Colombia!!! What does this mean? All the paperwork that was needed is completed. We now have a rather sizable payment to make but God has been SO faithful and we know he is going to provide it. So now we wait... not on papers, not on deadlines (with the exception of this payment due) but for OUR CHILDREN!!! Could be up to 18 months but we are praying for it to come much more quickly. We hope that you will pray with us too! We have lots of things to do while we wait... learn some Spanish, read books on parenting, fix up their bedrooms, pray in the finances for the in country and traveling fees and just have fun together.

Speaking of fun... we just got back from Knoxville TN yesterday. We traveled there for a wedding that Jeremy shot. Joanna and Aaron were able to come too! We had a great time walking around downtown, trying new restaurants, window shopping & going to the movie. It was a fun little getaway.

I'll keep you posted as to what comes next. We will be receiving a package in the mail soon that will tell us about traveling and what things will look like when we go to Colombia!