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Introduction

God has blessed us with more than we could ever need. He has not blessed us so we can have the latest iPad, game console or a new car. We have been blessed to be a blessing.

Keep up with our adoption journey and get a peek into the Hollingsworth household.

Friday, January 21, 2011

More Fundraisers

We now have our coffee fundraiser up and running! Click on the coffee tab for information and the web link to order.

I also have stuffed monsters in a variety of colors. You can find them under the handmade tab.

Come to the Chick-fil-A in Northport on February 3, between 5pm and 8pm. Place your order and tell them you are there for us. You will sign the back of your receipt and 10% of your bill will go to our adoption fund!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:4 states, "Delight in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Last night "Mama T" shared that with us as we celebrated a new life that is about to join the world and our church family. One of our Sisters in Christ at Open Door could have her baby any day now. In our Bible study group there have been quite a few pregnacies that definitely came on God's timing and no one else's. As I listened to T explain what Psalm 37:4 meant, I couldn't help but drop a few tears.

It is my desire to bring a Russian orphan into America. Not because I believe God has put America up on a pedestal. He hasn't. Israel is still His chosen nation. (See Romans 9). But the U.S.A. is a great nation to live in. Whenever I feel my rights are being violated against what the Constitution says, I have to remind myself what people face in other countries. We should be thankful for the freedoms we have, but still know what the Bible teaches about humility, self-sacrifice and persecution.

Sorry, I kind of got off on a tanget there. Back to delighting in the LORD.

I sat there listening to T explain that when you delight in the LORD on a daily bases, He changes your desires. It is my prayer that if His will is not for us to adopt from Russia, that he will change our desires. But I can't help but assume for now that He is the one who put the desire in our hearts to begin with. This time a year ago, I would have never entertained the thought of being on an airplane over the Atlantic ocean for 8 hours.

There are days when I feel that we will never come up with $50,000. I try to imagine us adopting through DHR, then quickly something tells me that is not what we are supposed to do.

So I am asking that you pray for us. Pray that if this is not the direction God wants us to go, that He will change our desire.

On another note, I want to share something Raine (our 3 year old) said the other night. There have been many occassions where she informs us that she wants a sister. We explain that if we adopt from Russia, there is a high chance it will be a boy. She keeps informing us that she already has a brother and wants a sister. Then, the other night she said, "I want a sister that is my age." My heart melted!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

More T-Shirts

I have set up another t-shirt shop featuring our "to be a blessing" logo. I wish I could have all t-shirts in one place, however Adoption Bug only allows for 6 shirt designs and only 2 of them can be custom. I'm sorry that Cafe Press is more expensive. However there is one plus side - Cafe Press shops have search engine key words so hopefully I will get extra traffic and sales!

Click here to see our Cafe Press shop!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Slowly But Surely

I feel as if this blog should actually have postings. However, there isn't much to tell at this point. We are going through the adoption process very slowly right now. Our plan* is for this child to be 2 years younger than Seth. Adopting a boy from Russia can be completed in a year or less. So that puts us starting the process this summer. However, Raine wants a little sister. It takes longer to get a referral for a girl. We planned on getting a boy, but we still have an open mind.

Right now we are praying, saving money, and about to select the adoption agency. It looks as though Beacon House will be the one we go with. We could go ahead and apply with the agency, and probably should since we can't start with our coffee fundraiser until then. What's the coffee fundraiser? Just go here and you'll see.

Right now I'm working on stuffed monsters to sell on Etsy. Not all 100% of profits from Etsy items will go toward our adoption fund. Photography is slow in January, therefore the money could be used for other things. But check out our t-shirts! We get about $7 per shirt and it all goes in our adoption fund!

*We plan. God laughs.