Hello Sweet Friends................

Good Morning Blog World, from a very bad blogger friend! I have missed you all terribly and feel like I haven't really gotten to say a "real" hello in weeks. I am trying to sneak on here before a certain little guy comes barreling through his bedroom door to start the day. He starts each day with such zeal that it works much better if I am awake and alive before his little feet hit the floor. A few sips of coffee do wonders to my attitude in the a.m. God is showing me how much I must cherish this precious time I have left with only him to tend to! We are going on a special date today to Brentwood to pick up beads and hit a local park, just a mommy day and I am leaving that cell phone (with fully functioning email that is just another distraction to me) in the car and loving on my baby! -The door just opened so I will have to type fast.-

Speaking of beads, let me also say thank you to everyone who has ordered some! They are selling like hot cakes and with each bead sold, God is using that to build my faith one strand at a time! -I am now back from a quick diaper change, "milk and a bar" (you can just call me Susie) and "Credibles" (Incredibles) which have officially been my adoption babysitters and no I am not proud, but yes I am beyond thankful!

I really just wanted to get on and praise Jesus! He has rocked my world over these past few weeks, months, and years. We got a video yesterday of Mercy and I told Jeremy I think we have no idea of the joy we are in for in getting her! Just think about how good you feel when you make someone a meal or help someone financially, if my heart is right, it gives me the greatest high ever. I think this is going to be "it is more blessed to give than to receive" on steroids. Please know that I am fully aware of the struggles that are going to be involved, but the joy and blessing that this is adoption is holding I know are going to far out way any bad. When you birth a child you would be insane to focus on the "terrible twos" (or nursing or labor or spit up all over your couches) instead of the tremendous blessing and that is how I feel. Language will be hard, the transition will be hard, but the joy of changing some one's life I think may far outweigh! There have been seasons of this short journey where I would have to be honest and say that I was walking more in obedience than excitement (that happens a lot when following Jesus) but God is taking me into the "I can't hardly wait to get my hands on that sweet baby girl" stage. Jeremy has gone through the same - hold on "he wants some mooooore"- highs and lows, but yesterday he met me at the door with "we got another video" and his smile said it all! It is hard following Jesus sometimes, but I have never followed Him all the way through and not been blessed so I know that is the case here as well. ALL and yes ALL of our paperwork is in! Great friends have blessed us this week even with the funds to finish the rest of our paperwork fees so those are out. It seems crazy, but it really is a good feeling to know that for the most part all I have left is fundraising. That hill for a bit seemed like such a mountain that it was too overwhelming to even begin to climb, but in the good moments God has given me the great grace to do (and be at peace with) what I need to do for that week without being a stressed out maniac to my entire family. He has allowed me (when I have let Him) to trust in His perfect timing and calling for each week. My goal now is simply to sell beads and try to send off 1 grant per week. My personality would like to send off 1 grant per day, but He is showing me that will NOT carry His blessing and that technically that is leaning way more towards the side of works with NO faith so I am sticking with 1 per week and sanity, a much better option.

Well, I think my time may be officially coming to an end as a little guy just said "lets turn it off and play letters" what can you really say to that! hahahaha I think Credibles may have lost their power so I need to jump off and spend some much needed and much neglected QT! I love you guys! I THANK YOU for your prayers and even the ones to come. We are hoping to be traveling before the end of the year and the estimated time frame is that we will have a court date in 3 weeks. Until then I will be climbing the fundraising mountain so not a single prayer will be wasted on that hike! I love you dearly and I can't wait for you all to meet sweet Mercy girl! Her eyelashes will make certain that she is another love of our lives!

K

Beads, Beads, and more Beads......................

*beads modeled by my sweet friend Gina who is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia as well!

Ok gang, I told you fundraising was coming, but I kept the secret that it involved JEWELRY!!!! Yes, my sweet girl friends (and if there is one guy reader out there your wife/significant other/mother will think you are awesome if you buy these for her) the fundraiser is beautiful necklaces made in Uganda!

I just loved the idea of having a fundraiser that would bless everyone involved. Let me give you a little background about the beads and how the money is split up. First and foremost, I was thrilled that YOU would get something out of the deal! The necklaces are beautiful and can also be worn as a wrapped bracelet. They will make GREAT Christmas presents for many many on your list. Think of teachers and loved ones who are hard to buy for. They will be great for the person who has everything or for the gal who deserves something super special. (Sales pitch #1) :)

The second person who benefits is obviously us. The cost of the necklaces are $25 and we get to keep $10 from each purchase for our adoption. So every time I sell 100 necklaces that would equal $1000 raised! There is no overhead for me, just a quick trip to Nashville and if you are out of the area, you could include a couple of extra dollars in your donation and I could mail them right out to ya, in PLENTY of time for Christmas!!!!!!!! Just think, you could actually be ahead of the shopping game this year. And for you moms that wouldn't take your crew into the mall if someone paid you, this is your online shopping sweepstakes! (Sales pitch #2)

And finally, the remaining $15 goes to the precious ladies in Uganda who actually make the beads (from recycled materials none the less) as well as supporting a missionary named Katie Davis who runs a feeding program in Africa. And finally, you will also be supporting an organization called 147 Million Orphans who helps bring awareness for orphans both domestic and international.

So it is that easy! I was thrilled when I heard about this opportunity because I thought about the college student who could swing one necklace and the mom who could buy 10 and knock off a chunk of her Christmas to-do list! I really do thank each of you for ALL of your support! God is gracious and I believe this is His will and is ultimately His bill, but I do believe He is calling each of us to do our part.

All you have to do to place an order is shoot me a quick email to bullockfamily77@gmail.com. Just let me know your name and the number of necklaces you want and we will chat about payment and me shipping or me dropping them off to you locals! I think this is so fitting to watch the entire body of Christ (that is connected to me that is) pull together and take care of the orphans! Thanks again and happy shopping!!!!!!!! (Sales pitch #3)

Kelly

Hello Long Lost Blog Friends..................

Hello Blog World and let me begin by saying I HAVE MISSED YOU! I have been a super blog slacker lately, but I promise with good reason. As all of my Facebook friends already know (which is telling on myself that I have been on fb and not the blog) but the Dossier is DONE! Yes done, as in on it's way to D.C. DONE! I am thrilled to say the least! It should arrive in D.C. by 10 tomorrow morning so please pray favor on that little doc all the way until it hits the top of the stack in Ethiopia to assign a court date in order to bring Mercy home! To say I feel like a huge load has been lifted off of my life would be an understatement at the least. I feel like everything else will be seem like a cake walk, even if it is an uphill climb after that stinking document. It was over 50 pages and just so you can laugh (or cry) with me I will share the craziest story ever. On the day I was headed to Nashville to get my final seal I found out that the notary that had done all of J and I's docs was NOT a valid notary. Yep, you read that right, NOT. So, in an hour's time (and by God's great and amazing grace) we reprinted all those docs (twice because we forgot to change the dates), got them re-notarized, got 2 of them validated and then I literally drove to Nashville on pure adrenaline and then slid into Kinkos to Fed Ex the doc right in the nick of time! What a day that was!

So now to give you a quick time lineish. We have no clue! hahahhahhaha We are praying and asking God to perform a miracle and get her home fast, but we will know nothing until we get a court date. BUT in the mean time...............we have another task at hand and that task is labeled fundraising and the games are beginning whether I want them to or not because now the big bills are coming due. The agency needs to be paid and the airfare needs to be in place in order for us to book as soon as we get a court date. So........... we still have a lot of work to do. God has given us a great opportunity to where anyone and everyone can help regardless of their budget so we are thrilled about that. I am going to try to post on that, possibly even tonight, but just keep all of that in your prayers if you would! If you can help out that would be great, but regardless, just know that we are so thankful that so many people are excited and encouraging us! It is such a blessing to know that Mercy is so loved even now!

Love you guys!
Kelly

I

Happy Birthday Daddy.........................

Your cupcake was delicious!!!!!!!!

Love,

Mommy, Cross, and Snicker Bug

Tommy da Twain..................

Cross got to go on a glorious adventure Saturday with the Bullock men and as you can see in the first picture, that crew included a very grandfatherish Granddaddy...............

They had a great time and I got a LOT of adoption paperwork done. I hated to miss a moment of mommy fun, but I think they did just fine without me! Cross buddy, your "cheese" and that stinkin hat are going to have my heart for as long as we both shall live!

Dream BIG.................

Hello Blog World! With a great big smile I can tell you that I am trucking along in the adoption paperwork extravaganza. I thank you so much for your prayers. After my break down the other night I got organized and made a "getting started" to-do list and put as much as I could fit on one sheet of paper in my oh so favorite list form and then decided I would just wait and make a new list next week once I actually got a few things marked off. It is hard when you have a husband, job, but most of all a child because you most certainly don't want to awake 4 months later from the paperwork fog and notice that your precious son has grown a foot and doesn't remember who mommy is or what memories mean. I am trying to make a very conscious effort to not obsess over the timing I have in mind and faithfully work when the door naturally opens, not when it has to be beaten down. I also wanted to ask for prayer in regards to a bump we hit today in regards to our health insurance proving that they will cover Mercy immediately. This is a BIG deal because it is a requirement by Ethiopia and there are some serious medical concerns (that I promise to discuss once we have processed them ourselves and I know that the insurance ordeal is going to be resolved). So ALL prayers will be appreciated. I feel like a selfish prayer friend so send me yours too because I actually do a much better job at having faith for you than I do for myself.

Which actually leads me to my point of posting. It is after 10 so I am thinking this may be short and sweet, but my desire is for your dreams (and mine) to be big (not at all short and sweet). I am a dreamer by nature. One of my top strengths in the Strength's Finders is futuristic so this dreaming thing is the most natural place for me to go. Obviously, this "strength" comes with a million weaknesses, but we aren't going to go over those details in this post. It is meant to be fun. One time in some much needed counseling during our last two years of "not so heaven like" reality, our pastor gave us some of the greatest counsel ever, to dream. He said don't ever get so defeated that you stop dreaming as a couple. Jeremy likes to dream just about as much as a snail likes a steady sprint, but he has been ever so willing for the sake of our sanity. But recently I feel like we have both stopped dreaming to some degree. So I want you to dream this week and I am going to dream with you in order to give my sweet man a break.....................

I dream of several rug rats running through a home that we own and picked out and painted and hung pictures and scriptures up everywhere! Oh and a backyard with a fence where Snicker girl can rome too.

I dream of a mini-van (yes you read that correctly) packed full of car seats, rocking out to some Veggie Tales and to the point where the base is bumping.

I dream of a kitchen that is larger than the size of my pinky nail where I can possibly toy with the idea of actually enjoying cooking, oh and GLORY hallelujah, it will have a GINORMOUS dishwasher to boot.

I dream of our finances putting us back in the position to bless instead of having to be blessed. I want to live radical, like really radical! I want to die and think, man, Jesus used us to rock the world for Him, what an honor that would be!

I want to fellowship with our Savior, by the day, by the minute. I want to FEEL Him more!

I want to walk more, be busy less, be my man's bestest friend and laugh and drink coffee with my dearest friends whom I selfishly want to be my next door neighbors.

I want to buy things for people, send kids to school in Africa, and have college funds set up for the ones we actually own.

I want our entire family to be radically sold out to Christ!

I want my friend's husband to go to work for a child trafficking organization because he is brilliant and I want them to step out!!

I want my other friends', plural, husbands to come home from war and never go back.

I want another friend to adopt sooner than later.

I want to be big and pregnant (well while we are dreaming, cute and pregnant) with a little red headed girl named Chapel Elizabeth Bullock.

I want Mercy to be totally healed and be Cross' bestest friend and I want to home school them in the same grade because she is NOT behind in the name of JESUS!!!!!!!

I want my parents to quit smoking. I want my cousin to quit doing things that are killing her body, mind, soul and spirit. I want Jesus to come back SOON!!!!!!

Yep, I for sure think dreaming is good for the soul! Feel free to comment dream or to talk your hubs into sitting down tonight and dreaming with you. Dream over email if he is 1,000 miles from home, but let's never stop dreaming and let's never doubt that Jesus has more than all we could ever ask, think, or imagine in store. Let's take Him at His Word and dream big, if we obey Him, He will trump them, guaranteed! Yes there will be hardships along the way, this is earth, not Heaven, but oh the saddest of days will come when we buy into the lie of doomed despair! Let's turn our dreams into prayers and just see what God might do, I dare ya! Have a great rest of the week sweet friends!

K

*ignore errors, I am hitting publish post and closing my eyes, it is 11 PM!

UPs and downs, HIGHS and lows...............

Hey gang, as I sit in front of this computer compiling a list of the 5,001 things I will need for the Dossier and then I scanned over the EIGHT page document I will need to fill out for just ONE grant, none of this is counting a glorious form called the I600a (which I have not even thought about), I am a bit paralyzed. I thought a plea for prayer would be a better use of my time right now. I am usually good at paperwork. It is like one big list and I LOVE lists, but this was more than I could handle, especially considering it is night and you all know just how well I do at night. In the strangest of ways, had I looked at this at 5 a.m. it may have felt like a good challenge, but at 9 p.m. it is making me want to cry. In addition to the paperwork we still need a miracle in the approximate amount of $28,425.00 NOW, that requires a LOT of faith! So here's my prayer this Labor Day Weekend Night, that I will TRUST JESUS, to get these docs done, to give me the time to do my part (a two year old, a part time job with an event a few weeks away and this thing I would like to somewhat keep called a LIFE are all making time a very valuable commodity). Please also pray that I will LEAN NOT ON MY OWN UNDERSTANDING in regards to the money. That is almost easy considering the amount, yet I keep trying to think of "ways" but they all include time and time is what I don't have. So just pray that I will trust Jesus. And finally, pray for me to trust Jesus and not carry guilt. If I think too much about all of this I will beat myself up for not locking myself in a room for hours and knocking this out. This paperwork to me represents a life that gets a modest piece of bread each day for her meal (singular). You get the point. I feel guilty for everyday that goes by and I don't have my paperwork in. I KNOW that God's grace will cover her until we can get to her, heck, long after we get to her for that matter, but pray that I FEEL that grace myself! Ok, thanks a ton, I have never been so thankful for your prayers. Have a great long weekend! Pray I can take it one step at a time!!!!

Kelly