Hello dear friends from one starved social media queen. First the internet was out at our house, then canceled and then over the weekend my one last tie to the internet world, my cell phone, went on the blink. For those of you who have had the torture of texting with me this weekend know that the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa is stuck. It also beeps when I am trying to talk and my facebook is officially off the list as well. I often wonder what God is teaching me but as for now all I know is that I do have a lot on my plate and He is removing distractions quickly.
Adoption update, NONE. Yes that is correct, no word on an Embassy date. I am unplugged from any other details and for now I figure it is just as well. I'll eventually get an email that has a date and a "book your ticket" message and I will rejoice and book. For now, I am "controlling what I can" by a full fledge nesting experience. Mercy girl has a closet full of clothes and after this weekend (Lord willing) when my sweet mama comes to help me she will have one clean house to call home. I have needed to do a deep clean forever and I figure this is just as good of a time as any. We have made the office a play room and after a few last boxes make their way to our shed that job will be complete as well. Things are all coming together.
As far as the money side of things go, Jesus rocks. We DID get one grant for $3,000 which will bring our final total owed to our agency down to $7,000 which is a MIRACLE. Also, please pray lots because I totally forgot that the grant we got the "no" from last time has a policy to where you can apply 3 times so we are PRAYING the 3rd times the charm. I know the Lord will provide one way or another, I just want to tie a bow on that grand miracle for certain. We are still probably $2,000 away from covering our final travel including Mercy's visa and Jeremy's shots. We have money set aside (thanks to so many of you) for those plane tickets but as you know last minute may mean an exchange for an arm and a leg.
So there we go, I actually feel reconnected with the "real" world already. On my "feelings" side which I hate to even bring into play because they are a boat tossed at sea more often than I would ever want to admit. Basically I feel a bit like I have put a wall up, whether it is healthy or not, just to get through the wait. Jeremy and I both say this still doesn't really feel like it is going to happen or that it is real. I remember that same feeling with court and then one simple email made it all real and very quickly. I sort of feel like I am playing with doll clothes but I am certain I can say that I am loving me some pink. I almost took a picture the other night to share with you guys a laundry basket full of pink. It was gloriously beautiful. I really do promise pictures again one day, but I feel like we have a great win every time I check an email these days so cute blog picutes may have to be enjoyed by scrolling down until I am an official stay at home mom.
Until then I am a fundraising, purity ball planning, crazy wild boy chasing, cooking, cleaning and loving me some Jesus kind of gal. God gave me an amazing weekend with 3 worship times which brought this poor, needy girl back up to level. I am despereate but I think that really is best!
K
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Last Chance for Mercy Girl T's
Hey everyone, I just wanted to send out one more reminder that this is the LAST call for Mercy Girl T's. We are going to order the shirts Friday a.m. so I will take orders up until about 5 on Thursday and then I need to get my ducks in a row to make the last request! If you have just mentioned to me that you wanted one but never sent me an actual size by all means please please send me a size for certain! Thank you SO very much! We are seeing the 2nd trip travel fund grow slowly but surely!!!!!! Have a great week!
bullockfamily77@gmail.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
NOW What?????
Dear Friends and Family,
Now that you have all had the awesome blessing of "meeting" our sweet Mercy girl, I wanted to get on and give everyone a MUCH needed update. That step (court) had to be taken before we could honestly breathe, much less think too far ahead, so thank you for bearing with my silence.
To begin, the obvious question, What Happens Next? Our next step includes waiting on 3 very important documents (one of which includes a birth certificate) and to be given what is called an Embassy Date. To be honest I am really not sure what all that involves other than the fact that once we have that we can fly our sweet baby girl HOME! We are still praying that it will be February but we have no guarantee. J and I are both so blessed to work at places where they love us and understand that we may have to drop everything and leave somewhat last minute so all is well in that area and obviously our sweet boy has more grandparents and family friends than he knows what to do with, he'll be JUST fine, possibly a bit spoiled rotten but nothing less would be expected. So that's the skinny on the "next step". Sidenote-I will be done working at Hope once we go to Ethiopia so I will officially be a full-time mom when we return which takes away large quantities of stress on my part. Thank you JESUS for this grace!
Another huge question is, HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING ON FUNDS?? Well, we have passed halfway, over $15,000 raised which is a total miracle. We are waiting to hear from 2grants and if we were approved for both grants (for the full amounts possible to be dispersed) we would be able to pay our agency in full. You can certainly imagine how much we are praying these two grants will both come through. If they don't I have NO plan B so pray for me to trust Jesus regardless.
*I found out after I wrote this that we did NOT get one of the grants so please keep praying, that was $4,500 stamped NO!
We ARE also still in need of funds for our last trip. We are looking at around $4,000 in plane tickets alone (including a sweet girl's ticket to come home) and that is not counting room and board. All of that leads me to my next point before I stay here too long and panic.
T-shirts, Beads and Earrings- God has been SO gracious and we have sold close to 5- HUNDRED beads. I am still in shock with that as well. We do have about 40 or so more (and probably 20 earrings as well) and we certainly are praying those last few sell. So if you wanted some beads and/or earrings and want to stock up for a few Birthday presents or the PERFECT Mother's Day presents, by all means email away. Another huge blessing some friends have done is to "take a bag of ten" and sell them to your friends and family. I have two more bags up for grabs if you are local and want to try to sell some to your circle of influence that would be GREAT! Also the t-shirts, are SO stinkin cute! If you have a shirt already please comment and let everyone know that they really are THAT soft and that I am not exagerating. The kid ones are possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life so please please buy one for every sweet lady you know. (See the post below for the gray Mercy T.) I am going to make the final order for the t's on Friday the 21st of January because I have to make sure I have them back in time to mail them out for the airport party (more details to come for that, it will certainly be it's own post). Also, if you have ordered a t-shirt and have not received it yet I promise I will have them to you guys by the end of the month. I am just trying to do one last bulk order to get the best price.
Beads $25
Earrings $15
Set $35
T-Shirts $20
bullockfamily77@gmail.com
Another thing that I promise to talk about in much more detail in the future is toddler attachment. We certainly had some LARGE wake up calls over the first trip in regards to attachment so I promise to offer all the details I can. We may be doing some things that look crazy to the general public but we promise there is a "why" and we will share the why, who, what, when, where and how. When that time comes what we will need more than anything will be prayers for tons of wisdom. Our plans change daily now, I can't imagine what it will look like once she gets here, but know regardless that our deepest desire is to do what is best for Mercy (and Cross and my sanity just to be totally honest).
Rooms and Cross- So many of you have asked about our sweet guy and I want you to know that I can see God's grace all over that situation for certain. I have worried that we would just talk talk talk and he would eventually decide that she was make believe, but with the bed up it is certainly becoming more real. They are sharing a room for lots of reasons so I promise to share some pics of their sweet matching beds. Cross opened a drawer the other day and there was a pink brush in it from my shower and he said, "that's Mercy's brush" with NO prompting. That was very encouraging for me. We are trying to think through every detail of his transition once we return as well so pray pray pray that we are faithful and that he feels secure in our love regardless of all the changes. I am also working hard at some back tracking "parent with multiples in mind" so I am trying to set things up so that we will have some sort of order and structure when we return so that everyone will kind of know what to expect out of life! Just PRAY! I am asking humbly because we are going to need it like never before.
And finally, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Where on earth and how on earth could I begin to say thank you, for believing, praying, giving, buying, encouraging, and praising Jesus along the way! We love you dearly!
J and K
Now that you have all had the awesome blessing of "meeting" our sweet Mercy girl, I wanted to get on and give everyone a MUCH needed update. That step (court) had to be taken before we could honestly breathe, much less think too far ahead, so thank you for bearing with my silence.
To begin, the obvious question, What Happens Next? Our next step includes waiting on 3 very important documents (one of which includes a birth certificate) and to be given what is called an Embassy Date. To be honest I am really not sure what all that involves other than the fact that once we have that we can fly our sweet baby girl HOME! We are still praying that it will be February but we have no guarantee. J and I are both so blessed to work at places where they love us and understand that we may have to drop everything and leave somewhat last minute so all is well in that area and obviously our sweet boy has more grandparents and family friends than he knows what to do with, he'll be JUST fine, possibly a bit spoiled rotten but nothing less would be expected. So that's the skinny on the "next step". Sidenote-I will be done working at Hope once we go to Ethiopia so I will officially be a full-time mom when we return which takes away large quantities of stress on my part. Thank you JESUS for this grace!
Another huge question is, HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING ON FUNDS?? Well, we have passed halfway, over $15,000 raised which is a total miracle. We are waiting to hear from 2grants and if we were approved for both grants (for the full amounts possible to be dispersed) we would be able to pay our agency in full. You can certainly imagine how much we are praying these two grants will both come through. If they don't I have NO plan B so pray for me to trust Jesus regardless.
*I found out after I wrote this that we did NOT get one of the grants so please keep praying, that was $4,500 stamped NO!
We ARE also still in need of funds for our last trip. We are looking at around $4,000 in plane tickets alone (including a sweet girl's ticket to come home) and that is not counting room and board. All of that leads me to my next point before I stay here too long and panic.
T-shirts, Beads and Earrings- God has been SO gracious and we have sold close to 5- HUNDRED beads. I am still in shock with that as well. We do have about 40 or so more (and probably 20 earrings as well) and we certainly are praying those last few sell. So if you wanted some beads and/or earrings and want to stock up for a few Birthday presents or the PERFECT Mother's Day presents, by all means email away. Another huge blessing some friends have done is to "take a bag of ten" and sell them to your friends and family. I have two more bags up for grabs if you are local and want to try to sell some to your circle of influence that would be GREAT! Also the t-shirts, are SO stinkin cute! If you have a shirt already please comment and let everyone know that they really are THAT soft and that I am not exagerating. The kid ones are possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life so please please buy one for every sweet lady you know. (See the post below for the gray Mercy T.) I am going to make the final order for the t's on Friday the 21st of January because I have to make sure I have them back in time to mail them out for the airport party (more details to come for that, it will certainly be it's own post). Also, if you have ordered a t-shirt and have not received it yet I promise I will have them to you guys by the end of the month. I am just trying to do one last bulk order to get the best price.
Beads $25
Earrings $15
Set $35
T-Shirts $20
bullockfamily77@gmail.com
Another thing that I promise to talk about in much more detail in the future is toddler attachment. We certainly had some LARGE wake up calls over the first trip in regards to attachment so I promise to offer all the details I can. We may be doing some things that look crazy to the general public but we promise there is a "why" and we will share the why, who, what, when, where and how. When that time comes what we will need more than anything will be prayers for tons of wisdom. Our plans change daily now, I can't imagine what it will look like once she gets here, but know regardless that our deepest desire is to do what is best for Mercy (and Cross and my sanity just to be totally honest).
Rooms and Cross- So many of you have asked about our sweet guy and I want you to know that I can see God's grace all over that situation for certain. I have worried that we would just talk talk talk and he would eventually decide that she was make believe, but with the bed up it is certainly becoming more real. They are sharing a room for lots of reasons so I promise to share some pics of their sweet matching beds. Cross opened a drawer the other day and there was a pink brush in it from my shower and he said, "that's Mercy's brush" with NO prompting. That was very encouraging for me. We are trying to think through every detail of his transition once we return as well so pray pray pray that we are faithful and that he feels secure in our love regardless of all the changes. I am also working hard at some back tracking "parent with multiples in mind" so I am trying to set things up so that we will have some sort of order and structure when we return so that everyone will kind of know what to expect out of life! Just PRAY! I am asking humbly because we are going to need it like never before.
And finally, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Where on earth and how on earth could I begin to say thank you, for believing, praying, giving, buying, encouraging, and praising Jesus along the way! We love you dearly!
J and K
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Introducing.................................
Mercy Bullock
For the Lord has given us beauty for ashes! Thank you for your prayers dear friends! She is OURS!
For the Lord has given us beauty for ashes! Thank you for your prayers dear friends! She is OURS!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Update........
Hey guys, so sorry, I meant to post this a.m. but I came to work and totally forgot, speaking of work, if you are local and know or have a sweet daughter please check out www.friendsofclarksvillehope.com. The Father Daughter Purity Ball registration is up and rocking.
Ok, sorry, update, court did NOT happen yesterday at all so it is rescheduled for next Tuesday. We have a total peace, God is so in control, He knows the timing, the overall plan. Love you guys and thank you tons for your prayers!
Have a great weekend, we will be moving bedrooms, cleaning out, putting away cute girl clothes!!!!!!
Kelly
Ok, sorry, update, court did NOT happen yesterday at all so it is rescheduled for next Tuesday. We have a total peace, God is so in control, He knows the timing, the overall plan. Love you guys and thank you tons for your prayers!
Have a great weekend, we will be moving bedrooms, cleaning out, putting away cute girl clothes!!!!!!
Kelly
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year Blog World
Hey gang, I know I have been super behind with updates but at least I am getting on to say hello to you guys for all major holidays. Today I am counting that as a total win! I am writing to you from a 7:30 a.m., still not so caught up on my sleep stage, this dreary New Year's morn. My sweet dog has been keeping me up at night along with my sweet (not feeling so hot) little boy, so to say the least, I am still a bit behind on my sleep. I think I was asleep by 8 p.m. last night for some very not-so-rowdy New Year's Eve festivities. I was the happiest gal on earth with the early bed time and the hubs was too so that could mean we are officially growing old but just too tired to care.
For a bit of an update on sweet Mercy girl, first off leaving her proved to be another challenge. We were pretty certain that her defense mechanisms went high when she could detect that something was changing again as we were packing to take her back. I think the entire trip was just a huge reality check of the true difficulties that lie ahead, however, we are certain that the joys will far outweigh the hardships in the long run. I kept telling myself "everything in life worth having takes work". A marriage takes work, babies (adopted or not) take tons of work, a house takes work, a career takes work.....you get the point.
In regards to court (and the lack of pictures here to follow), we did NOT pass court. That was heart breaking and emotional all in itself but everything should be resolved and good to go this week, Jan 5th, when the lawyer resubmits the paperwork with a corrected error in terms regarding her birth father's status. He has not come back into the picture by any means so there are no worries there, just an error in paperwork they could not ignore (which in the end I am thankful for their diligence to detail). So, hopefully this week we will be receiving an email or a call saying all is well, "she is ours". We were also waiting on a document on this side of things that arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon, praise the Lord, so hopefully, with God's great grace, we will still be set for a "sometime in February" pick up date. Regardless that date is not assigned until a somewhat last minute moment so we will just prepare as though it will be early February and trust God's perfect timing.
Life in general is a bit off kilter as I start this New Year's Day, but I am trusting God has great plans for us in 2011. The time travel and absence of Christmas in addition to lack of sleep all combine to make things all a bit odd and/or off. I am avoiding questions about my "feelings" at all cost because they can simply not be trusted at this moment. What I KNOW is this, I will need Jesus in 2011. I will need to cling to His Word in 2011. I have a lot to be thankful for from 2010. I have a lot to look forward to in 2011. At one point in the trip I reminded myself, Jesus has to be my everything, regardless and always. He had to be my everything in the lowest moments of Ethiopia and He will have to be my everything today, tomorrow, and in the weeks and months to come in order for me to find true joy.
I have also been reminded this week of the joys of following Him and the devastation of not. I want you guys to all make a pact with me, that this year we will follow Him more than ever. I don't dare want us to try to be "strong" Christians. , No I want us to be madly in love, totally sold out, surrendered Christians. Weak ones, in full need of our Savior will really be our best bet! So in 2011, spend more time with Him, make sure you have plans to be plugged into a Bible Study where you will get the Word and awesome fellowship all in the same place. Seek His will and calling for you and if you are bored with life, reevaluate. And finally if you are weary, do not give up in doing good so that we will reap a harvest! 2011 is looking bright, not because of circumstances and whatnot, but because the King of the Universe has come to give hope!
The Bullocks love you dearly!
K
For a bit of an update on sweet Mercy girl, first off leaving her proved to be another challenge. We were pretty certain that her defense mechanisms went high when she could detect that something was changing again as we were packing to take her back. I think the entire trip was just a huge reality check of the true difficulties that lie ahead, however, we are certain that the joys will far outweigh the hardships in the long run. I kept telling myself "everything in life worth having takes work". A marriage takes work, babies (adopted or not) take tons of work, a house takes work, a career takes work.....you get the point.
In regards to court (and the lack of pictures here to follow), we did NOT pass court. That was heart breaking and emotional all in itself but everything should be resolved and good to go this week, Jan 5th, when the lawyer resubmits the paperwork with a corrected error in terms regarding her birth father's status. He has not come back into the picture by any means so there are no worries there, just an error in paperwork they could not ignore (which in the end I am thankful for their diligence to detail). So, hopefully this week we will be receiving an email or a call saying all is well, "she is ours". We were also waiting on a document on this side of things that arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon, praise the Lord, so hopefully, with God's great grace, we will still be set for a "sometime in February" pick up date. Regardless that date is not assigned until a somewhat last minute moment so we will just prepare as though it will be early February and trust God's perfect timing.
Life in general is a bit off kilter as I start this New Year's Day, but I am trusting God has great plans for us in 2011. The time travel and absence of Christmas in addition to lack of sleep all combine to make things all a bit odd and/or off. I am avoiding questions about my "feelings" at all cost because they can simply not be trusted at this moment. What I KNOW is this, I will need Jesus in 2011. I will need to cling to His Word in 2011. I have a lot to be thankful for from 2010. I have a lot to look forward to in 2011. At one point in the trip I reminded myself, Jesus has to be my everything, regardless and always. He had to be my everything in the lowest moments of Ethiopia and He will have to be my everything today, tomorrow, and in the weeks and months to come in order for me to find true joy.
I have also been reminded this week of the joys of following Him and the devastation of not. I want you guys to all make a pact with me, that this year we will follow Him more than ever. I don't dare want us to try to be "strong" Christians. , No I want us to be madly in love, totally sold out, surrendered Christians. Weak ones, in full need of our Savior will really be our best bet! So in 2011, spend more time with Him, make sure you have plans to be plugged into a Bible Study where you will get the Word and awesome fellowship all in the same place. Seek His will and calling for you and if you are bored with life, reevaluate. And finally if you are weary, do not give up in doing good so that we will reap a harvest! 2011 is looking bright, not because of circumstances and whatnot, but because the King of the Universe has come to give hope!
The Bullocks love you dearly!
K
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