So I'm Cheating...

After accepting the challenge to read my Bible cover to cover in a month with Justin... I started cheating. I know it't not November yet but I am already in Numbers (the 3rd book of the Bible)

Here are some tips I have learned already!

Variety

Paperback Bible

Iphone Bible App 

Ipad or Kindle

You Version Bible App (audio)

Once I got into the lengthy law part, I found that switching to listening to 

the Bible be read to me on my iPhone, made it more enjoyable! If you listen to the 

NKJ version, the man reading has a sweet Lord of the Rings voice. 

I prefer the ESV translation personally... but the NKJ reader was awesome. 

I've been listening to it while I put away laundry or drive in the car, 

surprisingly Micah doesn't seem to mind. 

Random thoughts while reading (so far):

• The Israelites were super annoying when wandering the desert. "Manna is the worst lunch I have ever had....can we just have a salad or something, don't you know I have had diarrhea since Egypt?" ( a little Nacho Libre humor, sorry....)
• God still uses people who fail Him (be encouraged) 
• I am SO GLAD Jesus came and died for us so we are no longer under the law because HOLY MOLY there were a lot of laws.....
• Also I am seeing God preparing Israelis hearts for Jesus through almost everything he does for them. 
• DO NOT GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH leprosy.... don't do it. 
• Random thought... so Joseph was the reason that all the Israelites ended up in Egypt.... when you read it all in a row it all starts to make sense. 
• There are some pretty hilarious stand alone verses in the Leviticus. I kinda want to make a living off of making prints out of them... no one would buy them. but it would be hilarious.... to me. 
• God cares ALOT about details... just read the account he gave to Moses about the tabernacle... which I can only imagine was GORGEOUS.
  

Bible in 30 Days

I had tried to prepare myself mentally for the time in between meeting/adopting Mathias and going back to get him. I admit I'm struggling. A lot. The emotions I feel being disconnected from my child by oceans and not knowing when I can go bring him home are some of the strongest I have ever experienced. I have felt lost these last weeks, feeling myself sinking into a funk. There are a few other struggles my family is facing that add to the overwhelming sense of attempting to climb up a slippery mountain. God is using the season to develops perseverance, but frankly I just want it to be over. My sweet husband is the best and he never allows me to wallow in self pity. Sometimes that's super frustrating, but for the most part I choose to be thankful for it! 

His challenge to me to help us both get out of this downward spiral is drastic, almost as crazy as asking me to train and run a half marathon with him (which he asked while I was pregnant) I had never even run around the block, but with his encouragement we ran that 1/2 marathon last year! 

His drastic challenge to me this times as reading the Bible cover to cover in the 30 days of November! The Bible is a long book y'all ;)  I am looking forward to having truth overtake my mind and leave no room for doubt, pity, sadness, and lies.

Here is some info if you think your life needs a reboot of truth! 

We are following this plan. 

http://www.teachtochangelives.com/30dayplan/

Tips:

• Use a plain Bible, not a study Bible - you'll be less distracted by all those notes
• Read with a theme or topic in mind.
• Get a partner or small group and do this together - mutual positive encouragement and accountability!
• If you fall behind, don't give up.  Just pick up where you left off and keep going.  Finishing in 40 or 50 days is still a great achievement.

The theme I have chosen to read everything "thought the lens of" is that God is the main character in the bible. Everything is about him and how He is working through his creation. There are a tons of people and history in the Bible and it's easy to get muddled down. I do have a total bonus in having a theologian as a husband... To ask all my questions too. Feel free to email justinevans13@mac.com with any questions you have while reading the Bible! He is the best!

Mathias Tariku Evans

Mathias is now ours! On October 17th we officially adopted our new son. Now we wait to bring him home to Texas! Our agency says to give at least 3 months until that will happen. We had hoped to have him home before Christmas and our move to San Antonio, but it is not looking like that it a possibility.  I wanted to share some Africa photos with y'all! I still haven't been able to process all of my emotion from the trip into words... maybe someday. ;) But for now you will have to be content with photos. 

To everyone who participated in our fundraisers and helped us make this possible, 

we thank you, 

Mathias thanks you. 

Africa!

The streets of Addis Ababa

Mathias Care Center - He is on the top floor

Daddys Boy =)

I miss his sweet face. 

Pretty excited to have a snuggle bug.

after his 1st haircut - handsome little dude

I promise to share my heart with y'all soon. 

It is just the weirdest experience to endure... there really aren't words...

Prayers appreciated! 

I dreamed...

I dreamed about meeting Mathias for the first time last night. I didn't want to wake up. It was amazing. It is the most disconnected feeling to not have your child with you... not just not with me... but oceans away. I need to be with him soon. Thank goodness Oct. 14th is approaching... the first day I will get to hold him in my arms!

The 2nd Guess

Dont you hate the 2nd guess? I know I do. When you think you should do something (or not do something) and the decision you made haunts you.
Tonight a very sweet (and sweaty) (its like 100 degrees) african-american young man in his 20's came to my door and was selling books/magazines. He was dressed very professional and had great manners. He explained that the real point of selling things was to learn people skills and how to be professional. I like to think the best about people so I believed him. I for some reason had no cash on my so I came up with $2 (and a cold 7up) to give him because I didn't want to buy a $40 book (thats crazy). He said thank you and went on his way. He never pressured the sale or made me feel uncomfortable.

When I went for a walk later in the evening I saw a Frisco cop car pulled over on the side of the road and the young man was standing next to it. The cops were in there car while he stood looking awkward on the sidewalk. He saw me walking on the other side of the street and smiled and said quietly "I think I won two tickets to chuck-e-cheese" he was obviously embarrassed and trying to make light of it.

Everything in me told me to walk over to the police car and ask what was going on. I thought I could at least give my experience with him to help his case. Soliciting is not illegal in this neighborhood. I hated to think it, but I'm pretty sure they pulled him over for his skin color... which makes me real, real mad.

I ended up not going over. I wrestled in my mind over whether the cop would get mad at me or if the guy really was a crook and I would be defending him.. basically I failed to live up to my life motto, Micah 6:8 "And what does the Lord require of you, that you seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."

The more I think about it... the more I realize my decision was all about me. He needed my help, my voice. I failed.

Praying for forgiveness and hoping I learn from this.

Court Date!!!

So excited to receive the call today letting us know that we will get to go meet and adopt our sweet Mathias on Oct. 15th, 2013. That will be a wonderful day. We plan on staying a few days to experience Addis Ababa and his home country. Then we will say a hard goodbye and await our embassy date where we can go pick him up and bring him to his new home and family. He has one excited big brother who is ready to meet him. With the estimated times we are hoping this pickup date will be in January or early Feb. The sooner the better! Prayers appreciated!

Good News

So I never could muster up the courage to write about our first court date because we were told that everything went well and we rejoiced and then we were told, "oh never mind, the birth mom never came" soooo Ive been praying and also a little crabby for a few weeks. BUT we found out today that the birth mom has been found! Praise the Lord, thank you so much to all who prayed for this. She is willing to cooperate with the adoption but does not have any government issued ID. Our agency is working with her to get one and then she can sign the paper she needs to. So it looks like we are back on track! Our MOWA letter is still not there, which is a bummer, so please continue to pray for that!

Thank you everyone!

Court Progress.

Found out today that the 1st of 3 court dates has been set for July 9th! This is the birthmom court date. 

The only bad news is that our court date was set with such short notice, and MOWA is running at least two weeks behind, they have already let us know that the MOWA letters, which are normally there at first court, will not make it.  What this means is that the court will happen as scheduled but until that MOWA letter is there, an adoptive parent court date (2nd court) cannot be issued by the judge.  At this point there is no way to guess whether or not we will be able to travel for court before they close mid-August.  It is a possibility that it may be October before we are able to go meet Mathias. Insert sad face. I know this is all in God's hands, so I will not worry. I just pray that we meet him sooner than later. 

Prayers for crazy fast MOWA letters appreciated!!!

- Candace & Justin 

Wednesday.

Wow... Wednesday was one of those days. The days you dream about as an adoptive parent. 

When God convicted us last winter about adoption we knew there was no way we could raise ALL the funds on our own. But we were for sure that God wanted us to start the process anyways. Then begins the roller coaster of amazing people stepping up to help us bring this child into a forever home. When we first saw Mathias's face we knew that nothing would stop us from bringing him home... I mean I would have probably stood on a street corner asking people for money if needed. =) 

My sign would have been really cute, I promise! 

Thankfully God had other plans. Our community, new friends and family surrounded us with generosity and as of Wednesday the 19th we have met our fundraising goal of $30,000 which is the estimated cost of the total adoption. This includes all legal fees, document fees, and travel. I dropped to my knees in the middle of our apartment when Justin called and told me about the donation that pushed us past our goal and just cried. Although if you have a toddler you know that dropping to the floor equals being tackled... so I was also crying because Micah leveled me. 

Earlier on Wednesday morning we had received the call we had been waiting for. Our adoption case was SUBMITTED to COURT! This is huge news considering the Ethiopian government is doing some adjusting and was going to be on hold for a couple months, not accepting any new cases until October. This momma did not want any delay on bringing home my Mathias. 

************************************

I will keep you updated as to when we will be headed to AFRICA to meet Mathias (hug, love, kiss, carry, snuggle, tickle) and adopt him, then sadly and with broken hearts we will return home without him and await our embassy date when we can return to pick him up and bring him home forever!

Thank you for your prayers! There are a lot of amazing things happening in our family during this season and we are so humbled to share our life with each and every one of you. 

Love - Justin, Candace, Micah, & Mathias

If you haven't ordered your Adoption Shirt yet, the official end date to order is JULY 1st!!!

You can do it at the link above =) 

THANK YOU!!!

The Butterfly

I took this photo last year in April and it was at a really relaxing time, Micah was a tiny baby but I was away from him for just a little bit because I had a cool opportunity to photograph a small wedding at a butterfly garden. As I sat in the peaceful garden alone this little guy landed near me, it was one of those "moments" that I will never forget. Little did I know that before God had even stirred my heart toward adoption. My son was being born that day on the other side of the world. 

Today at 1:38 on May 13th I received the call that every adoptive parents wants to get. 

"Would you consider adopting a one year old boy?"

"YES"

"ok, go check your email"

<insert ugly crying for about 30 mins>

<oh and also insert the apartment repair man who came to fix my lightbulb in the kitchen who now thinks I am a crazy lady, he asked no question, I gave no explanation for the sobbing>

These are his hands =) Im gonna hold them real soon. 

March 20th - Dossier

and now we wait....
 we mailed off our dossier and $$ to our agency last week. Thank you Jesus that everything looked great. There are so many crossing t's and dotting i's that it is a little weight lifted when it finally gets approved!
We now have an estimated 4-6month wait to receive a referral for our child! =) I will update the blog as much I can, feel free to ask us questions =)

Check out our fundraising link! Good things are happening!

Dossier

This is an "adoption" word I just cannot pronounce correctly! Basically big ole' pack of paperwork.

WE ARE ALMOST DONE WITH!!!

I am awaiting the "approval" of our dossier from our agency and then I can send it to them and then... we wait.

I am so excited. This is the step before we actually find our who our child is =) 

I am so ready! Come on baby Evans!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We are almost 1/2 way funded! =)

Dont forget to order your support t-shirt before the 31st of March!!

I Think He Knows

I think somehow Micah knows that he will not be an only child for long. He has started looking at me, like really looking at me. He makes me feel like a piece of art. He studies my face with this little smirk on his face just like his daddy always does. The last few nights he has requested that I rock him before he falls asleep. He hasn't wanted this since he was about 3 months old. I have to say I love it. I love getting to stare back at him. Micah will be 20 months old this week. Fastest 20 months of my life. I love everything about my little Micah Doodle. He is going to be an amazing brother. I just know it.

Today he helped me put our thank you notes to all our financial donors in the mailbox. It was one of those mommy moments. I know he doesn't understand yet but I know there will be many times in his life that he is so thankful to us for bringing his African brother or sister into his life.

Handwritten

Today I received a handwritten letter from some friends of ours. There is something very sincere about a handwritten letter. They explained that on their hunt for a new mattress God quietly spoke to them saying "You are looking for a replacement mattress, but you already have a bed, the Evans baby needs a bed before you do" With the letter came an amazing donation, that they decided to give towards our child instead of buying a new mattress. Tears, lots of tears. 

Last week a friend called me to meet her at a grocery store where she proceeded to tell me that God told her to give us a donation towards bringing our baby home. She handed me a check right there in the middle of the grocery store.

I also received a $250 check in the mail from the April Wade. 

The Created New Infinity Scarf Fundraiser is going amazing!! Thank you so much for buying scarves to support us and help us bring home our baby.

I could literally go on and on. God is using our community to completely bless us on this journey.

I am blogging this because I want to remember this part of the journey. 

I know this journey wont always be easy. But today is a good day. A very good day. 

Thank you Jesus.

Home Study Complete!

Isn't my Home Study pretty? 

I have heard some adoptive parents call this the 

"sonogram" of the adoption process.

So excited to have this adoption milestone behind us. It was the first "hiccup" in our process. The agency we used is closing after many years but our awesome agent worked extra hard and was able to complete it in time as well as take us with her to her next agency. Crisis averted. Thank you Jesus.

Why is the HomeStudy important? Well, we can now apply for grants! Whoo Hooo! -AND-

We are now ALMOST able to complete our Dossier (which I pronounce super wrong). Our Dossier is the next big step in adoption, its sort of the culmination of all your paperwork struggle up to this point. Once we recieve our passports in the mail, our Dossier gets sent off!

We then "patiently" await to find out who our child will be! 

We know God already knows... so we love them already!

Thank you again for all your support by prayer, giving financially, and being emotionally involved. 

We are so blessed to journey this with you!

T-SHIRTS NOW ON SALE!!!

Check out our T-shirts! Click the Support Team T-Shirt link! 

ORDER HERE

Thank you! 

Remember to order before March 31st!

Generosity & Community

The generosity of our community has floored me the last couple of months. To have someone tell me that they donated on pay pal to our adoption, but not to worry more is coming after they get their next paycheck... are you serious? Do you want me to crumble up in tears right here on the floor? Or when I get a text from an amazing couple who recently spent a lot on their own adoption telling me they feel led to give us $5,000. Yes, I almost flipped out of my chair. Or to see literally hundreds of people show up to eat Chick-fil-a for our fundraiser... I was holding back tears all day. What an amazing feeling. Or all the beautiful scarves I see ladies wearing from our scarf fundraiser!!!!  Community is precious. There has not been one week go by since we started this adoption that we have not received some kind of encouragement whether a random $10 in an envelope left on Justin's desk, or a local church in the community donating on pay pal and letting us know they support us. Or sweet notes and comments left on facebook or email. 

I pray that as this generosity is being poured upon our family, I am pouring it back out ten fold.

Your money is so needed during this time but I want you to know what your money means to us. Yes, it means helping us fulfill Gods calling on our life to care for an orphan. But more importantly it means that you are going to help us love and care for this precious child of God once they get here! You are investing in this because you believe in it!  

Your money is literally equally love right now! 

We are humbled and honored to be a part of this community and church. 

We love & appreciate yall more than you will ever know.

God Bless Chick-fil-A!

CHICK-FIL-A DAY

TOMORROW

Please come eat at the awesome Chick-fil-a on 75 and 380 on

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13th

Tell the cashier when you order that you are with the Evans Adoption Group

 and 15% of your total will go straight to the adoption fund! 

What a delicious way to help bring an orphan into a forever home. 

Chick-fil-A is a wonderful organization who truly cares about the family. We are very thankful for their willingness to give us this oppurtunity. 

Thank you to all of you who will come by tomorrow! Enjoy your breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or all three) and as you eat it, know that you are being a huge blessing to our family and our future child from Ethiopia. =) Wish I could be there all day to hug each and everyone of your necks!

Stuck.

Adoption seems crazy right? Well at least the adoption process does. Who wants to volunteer to put themselves and their family through tons of legal hoops and frustrations and red tape, not to mention coming up with $30,000. This is the thinking that stops so many families from even considering adoption... but what if it wasn't so hard? 

Please take a moment to watch this preview of a movie called "Stuck" that will be playing on March 16th in Dallas at AMC Valley View 16. It is a film that will create awareness for the children of the world who are stuck in orphanages and about their right to have a family. Both Ends Burning is an organization who is trying to shift government policies so that in the future, the adoption process will be less of a battle and most importantly to change the trend of international adoptions which has sadly decreased 50% in the past 10 years.

  Stuck Trailer

We plan on going to see the movie on March 16th and would love for some of yall to join us! Check the website to see if this movie is coming to your town.

Paper Pregnancy vs. Real Pregnancy

Real pregnancy for me was easy (at least compared to most horror stories I hear) my doctor even told me at my 6wk check up after delivery that I should consider being a surrogate since my body handled it so well. I'm not bragging, I give all credit to good genes. (Thanks Mom) I say this to say, I am not choosing to adopt because I cant have my own babies. Our reason to adopt comes from a totally different place. (Every reason to adopt a child into a loving home is a good one!)
I can remember when I first felt Micah moving inside my tummy. It was an overwhelming feeling, I loved knowing he was inside me and I could keep him safe and I could eat well and give him all the nutrition he needed. I could control (to an extent) almost everything about his life before he was born. I was a little nauseated the first trimester, I was exhausted the second, and had energy the third(and was also huge). Real pregnancy was textbook easy.

Paper pregnancy is hard. I find myself daydreaming a lot or laying awake in bed at night thinking of our little one that has no idea that he is soon to be an Evans, our son or daughter. He/She doesn't know how much we love them or that we are praying for them everyday. They are laying in an orphanage/care center, most likely sharing a crib with another baby. There little mind is trying to learn and grow all on its own. No mommy and daddy to tell them how special they are and to laugh at every new little trick they learn. No one to tell them that its not normal to have flies always flying around there perfect almond shaped eyes. No one hold their bottle for them, and to stare at them while they eat. No mommys heart beat or familar scent to calm them. They probably like most orphans rock themselves to sleep everynight or slowly bang their head on their crib to self soothe. They dont know that soon, Mommy & Daddy get to rock them to sleep. I lay in bed at night and unconsciously find my hands on my tummy as if they were inside, safe and warm. When I realize where my hands are I have started moving them to rest on my heart. Because that's really where this child is. I have chosen to trust God through this, I have nothing else. Every moment spent in worry is a moment not spent praising and thanking Jesus for all he's done.

Poor Micah has been inflicted with all my mommy emotion and even though he is a independent touch me not, I keep tackling him down to give him hugs and kisses, enough for him and his brother/sister.

CreatedNew

April Wade, creator of the adorable ruffle infinity scarf has graciously partnered with us on our adoption fundraising!! (Insert excited face here!!!)

How can you participate?

1. Go to: http://www.aprilwade.etsy.com/

2. Decide which scarf you want out of all the adorable scarfs (hardest part) and buy one for YOURSELF,your mom, best friend, daughter, kids teacher, etc... I'm asking for one for Valentines Day (are you reading this momma?) :)

3. Enter coupon code: "EVANS" at checkout to receive F R E E shipping and to let her know your associated with our adoption! :)

4. Pat yourself on the back because 40% of your sale is going directly into our adoption fund to give an African orphan a forever home.

5. Receive scarf in mail... And strut your stuff. (The best thing about infinity scarves is that you cannot wear them wrong!)

In Case You Were Wondering

I stole these questions from my sister in law Anna who is an awesome blogger who is also adopting! Check them out and order coffee through their fundraiser site. www.justlovecoffee.com/babyabell Its fair trade & ITS DELICIOUS!

How old is the child you are planning to adopt?
 We have requested a child under the age of two. With Micah being almost two, we thought it would be best to let Micah remain the oldest child in our home… especially with his strong will! We know he will make an amazing older brother.

Will you adopt a boy or girl?
We have decided to not request a specific gender. We truly want to keep our home and hearts open for whomever God has planned for us. We want to be as non-picky as possible. We have been told by our agency that this most likely means we will be the proud parents to a little boy! (We are teaching Micah how to say “brother”. It is precious.

How long is this going to take?
I honestly don’t know. So much of the time frame depends on so many different people and variables. Patience is huge. I don’t mind you asking time frames… just know its all a guesstimate. The time frame the adoption agency averages is at the least a year to the most three to four years. We are obviously hoping to have our new son or daughter home sooner than later.

Will you have to go to travel to Ethiopia, Africa?
Yes. Twice. The first time we go we will get to meet our son or daughter and we also have our court appointment. We then have to leave our child at the care center in Africa and come back home. I am absolutely dreading those weeks/months until we get the “go ahead” from the court and our agency to go back and bring our child home!

On a fundraising note, if you or someone you know have frequent flyer miles they would consider donating towards the cost of our travel. It would be GREATLY appreciated!

Where are you in the process now?
We have signed the contract with our agency and paid the HUGE agency fee. Thank you so much to those of you who participated in the photo shoot fundraisers and donated already. We are doing our best to save our pennies, but we truly could not do this without you. We have our Home Study scheduled for next Monday! The social worker will come do an on site 3 hour interview in our home/apartment. This is a huge part of the paperwork that goes to Africa to represent us in court. Aka BIG DEAL!

How will you pay for the cost of the adoption?

We are doing our absolute best to save anyway that we can. We don’t feel called to do it all on our own either. If we did, we would spend the next 5 years saving up and then start the process, but we feel like the need and time is now. We promise that every dime you donate goes directly towards the cost and fees of the adoption. We have a bank account at a completely separate bank from our regular money and savings. We are also doing some fun fundraisers to help offset the $30,000 that will be do along the duration of this adoption.

Coming up first on WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13^th at CHICK FIL A on 380 and 75. All day long they have agreed to give us 15% of all sales from our friends and family. You must tell them when you are ordering that you would are a part of the Evans Adoption Fund. Thank you so much for coming out and eating delicious chicken and donating to our precious baby. We will be there for all three meals, so feel free to eat there for every meal… and then go running.  =)

Coming soon is a Collection of Original Songs and Hymns by Justin and some of his talented friends. Aubrey and Jen McGowan, Blake Reynold, Cody Kimmel, Kandis Sebastian, Macy McKenzie… I am really, really excited about this one as well as super grateful for this insanely talented people who are donating their time and talent.

We also will be selling t-shirts! I will be advertizing on Facebook, instagram, and our blog. Stay tuned!!!

Drowning in Paper

Yesterday was one of those days I just wanted to quit. The pile of paperwork and documentation needed seems to be an ever growing pile. Weirdly enough I am not stressed about the financial side of it at all. I think its because I have seen God provide financially for us so many times I am done doubting. He is so good. Its mainly the never ending checklist of things needed. I did not expect it to be this overwhelming. If that wasn't enough to get me stressed out, my mommy heart is already attached to my baby in Ethiopia (whoever they may be) and I keep hearing these stories on blogs or in person about terrible things that get done to babies in Africa. So not only and I annoyed with the paperwork, I am worried that someone is ripping my babies molars out of their mouth or cutting off their uvula from their throat, or abandoning them somewhere. My momma bear side wants to finish this paperwork as fast as possible so nothing else can happen to my baby! I just want to get this paperwork over so I can know that my baby is in the Care Center of our adoption agency and is being loved on by the  nurses that work there.

If you have a moment would you take a moment to pray for future baby Evans? Thank you so much... from the bottom of my mommy heart.

Application Approved.

So excited to say that our application has been approved and we are now moving on to more paperwork and more paperwork with the contract and home study. This process is way more involved than having a baby naturally =) I wish there was an epidural for paperwork...