Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday.  Churches and people across America will take time to raise awareness of the orphans in the world and pray for those children.

Today we also celebrate that we are no longer orphans and that God did not leave us alone.  We were separated from God because of our sin, but God sent us a Savior to redeem us to Himself.  He left heaven and came to earth for us and sacrificed His life to die for us. For a sinful people who did not deserve it at all.  He gave us life, a hope, and a future.

What an honor we have to be able to show an orphan just a glimpse of that love in an earthly form.  God is the defender of the powerless.  Pslam 68:5 says "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His Holy habitation" and Isaiah 1:17 says "Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."  We are God's hands and feet.  We are to be like Christ.  Adoption is not easy and is completely sacrificial.  But what better way to express this love and follow God's commands?

James 1:27 tell us that "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world."  Orphans are in distress.  We are called to help.  For our family, that means adoption.  What does this mean for you and your family?  It is not a verse to be overlooked or one to be pushed off  'until the time is right'.

November is National Adoption Month in America.  I am not a very good writer- never have been and probably never will be. So you'll have to bear with me a bit this month as I attempt to open up a bit and share more of our heart to you.  I might use a lot of quotes because sometimes when I read something written by someone else I think--"That was EXACTLY what I was thinking! I just could never say it so well!"  (You'll also have to bear with my grammatical errors.....sorry, Andrea!)

Today, I will share the same thing I shared last year on Orphan Sunday. 


Dear Orphan,

I saw your picture today and heard about your plight. Your face is so beautiful and sad, and it tugs at my heart.


I hear you don't get enough to eat, and that there isn't always medicine if you get sick. You sleep in a room with many children, but you still feel alone.


You have never had anyone wish you a "Happy Birthday", give you a gift, or even sing you a lullaby goodnight. No one has ever told you about Jesus or that He loves you.


I wish we could adopt you, but....

It is such a long way to travel, it would cost so much money, and it involves so much paperwork.
Our home isn't very big, and we already have children. Adding another child to our family would mean they would have to share a bedroom as well as our love and attention.
What if you have health issues or special needs that are not yet diagnosed?
You might have a hard time adjusting to a family after never knowing one, or have "issues" from years of neglect, malnutrition, mistreatment, or abuse.

I'm sorry, it just feels like too much of a risk and sacrifice. Adoption doesn't really feel like our "calling". Maybe there is another family....

Written by Amy B.
http://justamomofseven.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-wish-i-could.html

God Provides

We want to share the outcome of our auction with you!  God is good.  God is faithful.  God provides. 

We are once again so humbled by the generosity of people and by the abundant blessings of God.  We had a lovely turn out for our dinner and there were many items to bid on.  Bidding concluded on Saturday at 4pm and resumed at the dinner event for final bids.  It was neat that some of the items did go to the online bidders. 

Thank you to all those who donated their services, items, and time.  Many people couldn't come or it wasn't in their budget to bid on an item, but they made something or gave something to be bid on.  That helped so much! 

Many of you were behind the scenes hanging lights, unloading tables, making dessert, cooking noodles, stirring sauce, or praying for us near and far. 

It was a fun night with great fellowship and good food!  But it wouldn't have been possible without the help of so many.  Thank you.

The Lord blessed our efforts to raise $5000 toward our adoption costs!!!  We have $8000 due at the time of referral, so this is a HUGE help!!!


Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  It means so much to us.

NEW ITEMS!

Many new items have been added to the auction!!

Please check them out--there is something for everyone here.  Thanks for looking and we hope to see you Saturday for the live auction.  There are many more items there that are not listed online.  Those that are able to attend the dinner will have the final bid on the items.


www.32auctions.com/FrazeyFamilyAdoption


All the information can be found at the auction website



We also spoke the the agency and we are still at #5! :)

Auction!

It's time!!  Our auction is beginning on Sunday, October 8 at 12:00PM Arizona time.  The auction will be open for bidding all week and will end at 7:30PM on October 13.  To view the items and place your bid, go to:

www.32auctions.com/FrazeyFamilyAdoption

The website is easy to use.  It does have you sign up if you want to bid and you have to enter your name and address.  You don't enter any payment information unless you win the item. We will be adding new items all week as we continue to have items donated.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has put in your time to make this auction possible.  Many people donated your time making handmade items, many gave items from your shop, some donated services or items that were new and unused.
We were blown away by the generosity of businesses and know that it is only by the hand of God this has all come together and we are so thankful for His blessing on this so far. 

We will still have the live auction and dinner on Saturday, October 13.  If you missed the previous post, here is the info:

Dinner and Silent Auction Fundraiser
Saturday October 13, 2012 at 6pm

2510 W Loughlin Dr
Chandler AZ 85224
(Treva Lint's home)

Dinner will be served from 6-7pm 
Items will be out for viewing and bidding 6-7:30pm

So, if you are unable to attend the dinner but still want to bid on your favorite items, you can do so online!  But we would love to have you come enjoy a dinner with us if you are able.  Please RSVP that you will be coming so we can prepare food and seating.

**There will be more items at the auction that are not listed online. Some things we are not able to get early enough to list ahead of time.

Wear Your Support!

Would you like to show your love and support???  Just wear a shirt!  I would LOVE to make one of these shirts for you!  I am not selling these to raise funds, just to raise support and give people a way to show their love for our little one in Ethiopia. 


Thank you to my beautiful models, Andrea and Adele:)



There are two ways to have your shirt made.  I can purchase the shirt for you (Target has a great v-neck ladies shirt for $10 in several colors) and then I will make it and only charge you for the cost of the shirt and shipping if I need to ship it to you.  OR, if you live close and want to just give me the shirt, I'll take it home, sew it up and return it for no cost!

Target also has a nice men's shirt for $10 as well and I made Brent one.

There are two styles:  the reverse applique, which is shown above or a zig zag stitch on the outside, which is shown below  (I know it's hard to tell in the photos.  In my opinion, the zig zag stitch is more for kids!)

Raelynn wearing her Africa onesie


 

Please contact me if you're interested.  And even if you come across this blog and I have no idea who you are, I'd love to make you one, too!  Just leave a comment below or email at abfrazey@gmail.com



Reverse Applique Close Up



This one is on an old t-shirt I had from Kohl's.  On back shoulder.



Also a shirt from Kohl's.  Front lower hip





October Update!

Well, October has arrived!  I didn't update our number in September because we have been at a little bit of a stand-still on the waiting list.  We are currently in the process of updating our homestudy because we had to add our newest family member to it!  Brent also got a new job, so that of course had to be added in as well.  But I didn't want to leave you hanging for the month of October, too!  We spoke with the agency and they said that if we were to have our homestudy paper work completed right now and were able to receive a referral, we'd be.....drum roll please.....#5!!  Wow, right?!  We can't believe we are in single digits!  So excited to see what God has planned for us in the next few months and how our family of four will be growing.  We continue to trust Him with our plans and know that His timing is perfect.  To God be the glory!

We'd ask that you please pray for:
-God to be glorified through our adoption
-Our child in Ethiopia, who very well may have been born
-Our homestudy update to go through with no complications
-Our dinner fundraiser to come together smoothly in the next 2 weeks
-God to bless the silent auction and dinner fundraiser and our efforts toward it


Have you checked out the items for our auction yet?  We still have many that we haven't collected to take photos of, but here is a preview of some of the items.  God has blessed this so much and we are overwhelmed at the generosity of others.  Now we pray that we will have people to bid on these great items!!
Check them out:   www.facebook.com/FrazeyFamilyAdoption