Beauty From Ashes

I've been meaning to write this post for quite some time. If I'm being honest, it will probably be the last on this blog. I think there comes a point when a person has healed to a point that they don't look back. They don't want to look back because they've learned, grieved, grown and moved on. So that's a really good thing if you ask me! But this blog deserves one last post. You all deserve one last post. And I think you'll enjoy it.

This all started in 2012. This huge, beautiful, messy, painful journey of adoption. While it didn't end how my heart hoped and prayed it would, in a way this all just FEELS right. I can't explain it. But I hope the following words and pictures feel right to you all as well. You've been on this journey with "us" for years now. You've shared in this story, and the good news is that it doesn't end. The time we spent filling out paperwork, making a home, raising money and in prayer was not in vain. Yes, the McCall family adoption journey is over, but because you joined us and supported financially, those gifts go on. And I want to do my last part in connecting you with those stories.

About a month ago, I realized that my heart had healed so significantly that not only could I accept that (for the time being) adoption and motherhood were over for me presently, I could JOYFULLY give of what you all sacrificially gave to Alex and I to bring our little girl home. I read an article the other day that had a quote that hit me so powerfully: "The best orphanage is still an orphanage." No child belongs in one. And it is with great joy and smiles and tears that I let you all know that your generous gifts to us have reached far beyond my wildest imagination. I sat on my bed a month ago and wrote check after check after check to families who LOVE Jesus and are being obedient to Him and giving a family to children who have none. I've spent months praying over the thousands we raised. Each family below is in such a different stage of adoption, and it is so exciting for me to be able to share their stories with you. Praise Jesus for He is GOOD!

Introducing...

The Richardson Family (Sean and Sarah)
http://therichardsonadoption.blogspot.com

I've never met Sarah, but I went to college with her sister, Katie. We became good friends at Union, and I've been following her sister and brother-in-law's story ever since they announced they were adopting from Ghana! They got to meet their daughter back in February, and she is beautiful. You can follow their journey via their blog (link above).




The Yates Family (Kevin and Rachel)
https://www.facebook.com/Bringingharperhome?fref=ts

I went to high school at Whitefield with Rachel. She and her husband recently began the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti. You can follow their journey via their Facebook page! I love reading about how excited their four children are and how they are involved in the whole process! It's a family affair after all. :)











The Ashley Family (Zach and Danielle)
http://ashleyadoption.com

I met Danielle when I was working at the library up in Northern Kentucky. She would bring in her four sweet girls to storytime every now and then. We got to know each other a little bit and towards the middle of 2014, I learned that their family was also in the middle of the adoption process! They are currently trying to adopt from the United States, but have had one of the hardest adoption stories I've ever heard. Please pray for their entire family as they walk in obedience. Pray that hope is renewed and for the child God will bring into their family.









The Snivley Family (Brian and Anne)
https://snivleysonamission.wordpress.com

I have never met Brian and Anne, but we have many mutual friends through The Avenue. They are adopting from the United States and recently received a matching grant at the same time I was praying about how to use the money God had provided us. I just knew that they were a family to bless in this way because God would DOUBLE that gift! How cool is that?! Not to mention, a couple weeks later they were finally MATCHED! Please keep them in your prayers as they begin this new journey of parenthood. Adoption is not for the faint of heart.










There are four more families (IN ADDITION TO THESE) that were blessed because of YOUR gifts. For privacy and protection of the children they are adopting, I am not able to share their stories with you (presently), but that could change at a later point in time. But for now, please pray for the four families above. Pray for protection over them and their children. Pray for peace, patience, hope and a lot of faith. Writing to each of them brought tons of tears, but not the tears of 2014. These were tears of hope and joy and complete peace.

Thank you for coming along on this journey. It is such a blessing to be able to write this post. It fills my heart with complete happiness to be able to share their stories with you. Your many gifts are making a difference. Children's lives will change because of YOU. And if that is what God had in mind for my story all along, I am happy to be used in this way. Thank you for everything.

Briana McCall

Update!

I know I haven't updated in a while, but we are making progress! We sent our dossier to our agency a few weeks ago and as I expected, they sent it back because we were missing a few things. The good thing is that they are super easy documents to get and send back so we should have it sent back by the end of the week! Thanks for checking back and following our journey.


As you might have noticed, I deleted my personal Facebook account. I have another Facebook account but that is for work purposes. Feel free to add me on there, but understand that I only post work-related material. Feel free to send me direct messages or emails! :)

Personalized Gift Idea!

Halloween is already over and the holidays are right around the corner. Are you looking for a personalized, handmade gift for a friend or family member? I am making various items that I will have for sale, and the first one available is listed below! It is a hand painted burlap canvas that can be personalized with any state, country or continent. It is outlined in polk-a-dots and the color of the dots can be changed according to preference. The ones below are white and silver. I can also put a pink or red heart around a specific city or area of your choice. Each canvas is $25.00 (shipping included) with discounts when you purchase more than one. As of right now I only ship to the U.S. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery! All proceeds will go towards our Ethiopian adoption. :)

Quantity

One Canvas $25.00 USD Two Canvases $40.00 USD Three Canvases $65.00 USD

Personalization

Remember THIS?

So I just wanted to post a couple pictures of our PUZZLE! No, I haven't forgotten about it. Promise! It is all put together, glued, and I have finally finished writing all the names on the backs of the pieces that were purchased. Thank you so much if you purchased a piece!! The puzzle looks really cool with all the names written on the back, and I can't wait to add more so that it can be finished & framed. There are still plenty more pieces waiting for names, so if you are interested in helping us raise $ to go towards our Ethiopian adoption, click on the PayPal link on the left hand side of the blog. Puzzle pieces are $5 each and all proceeds go towards bringing our baby (or not-so-baby) girl home. Also, feel free to share this blog link on your FB pages/Twitters/etc.! The more shares, the more quickly we will sell the rest of our pieces. :)

Re-Creation

When moving up to northern Kentucky, one of the decisions that I anticipated would be the most difficult, finding a new church home, actually was not difficult at all! Sometimes Alex has to work on Sundays, so we wanted to find a church that had a service early enough for him to be able to go to and then head straight to work. There were only two churches that had early services (8:30... yawn) and I was praying that one of them would be the perfect fit. There was a church only 1.5 miles from our apartment so we decided to check out that one first. It was The Bridge Community Church in Wilder, and honestly, we meant to look at other churches but we just never got around to it! The Bridge has been such a blessing in the past 1+ years we have been here, and we are blessed to call this place our church home.

When you've grown up in the church and attended private, Christian schools your entire life, it's easy to let yourself get into the mindset that you've heard it all. One thing that surprised me the most was that every time I heard our new pastor, Bo, speak, it was the gospel in a way I had never heard it before. It was such a fresh and unique perspective and that was new to me! I grew up at the same church my whole life and was involved in a church plant with people from my home church, so everything was so familiar and consistent... not a lot of change. After a few weeks at the Bridge, I really started to take notice of this pattern. Bo didn't just preach one amazing sermon and then the rest were "been there, heard that..." He consistently presented the gospel in a new light that challenged, convicted and guided me in my Christian walk.

Yesterday during church, we were learning about the purpose of the church... why it was created, and for some reason, everything I see and hear I somehow connect to adoption and this crazy process that Alex and I are going through. It's weird. It's different. To others it is not "normal." But our pastor made three points that just stuck with me.

Something even better than creation is re-creation. 

God created this beautiful world with these beautiful people. It's amazing and I notice this every time I see a beautiful sunset, take a nature walk or feel the seasons changing. The beauty of this world is beyond mere words. But when I look at what God has done in my life... how he has taken someone broken, hurting and in pieces that seemed impossible to put back together, and yet restored and redeemed me by only His power... now that is re-creation. That is what our God is best at. 

I think of that TV show, Bad Ink. People come in with these horrible tattoos. These things are permanent... never going away. Ever. Yet these tattoo artists are able to take something so hideous and horrible to look at and turn them into something crazy beautiful. What was there before never goes away, but it is used to create something that resembles nothing of it's former "glory." The old is restored and the new seems to have come out of nowhere. That is what God does in our lives, and that is what he can do through adoption. He can take something so broken and restore it. And he uses those in the church to do that. To go out to the least of these and embrace them in all of their mess and restore them to the people that He designed them to be... His sons and daughters. 

As impressive as creation is, what is more impressive is what He can do with something that is broken.

&

God created the church to be the agent of change to which the gospel is spread throughout the Earth.

The Church is who God called to "go to the orphans and widows in their distress." It's not a choice, it's a command. When we obey this command He has given his Church, WE are the agents in which the gospel is spread. It is a visible act. It is an intentional act. It is an obedient act. And I truly believe that one visible, intentional and obedient act sparks the desire for someone else to act in obedience as well. It's a chain reaction, and together, as a Church, we can be this agent of change. 

I really feel that someone reading this blog is considering adoption. It's probably a crazy idea floating in your head, but it's there for a reason. God is calling His church to unite and to ACT. One of the reasons Alex and I are adopting first instead of trying to get pregnant is because I know myself. I know that after having 2-3 kids, life gets CRAZY. I don't need to experience it myself to know that that is what will happen. Life will get crazy and things will get in the way. At that point, adoption will seem like a long lost dream. I don't want that. A year ago we decided that we didn't want to put adoption on the back burner only to look back at our life and see that we never followed through. Adoption isn't Plan B. It wasn't Plan B for God. It was His Plan A. See for yourself...

in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:5-6

Adoption was His plan all along, and our plans should be His plans. Adopt. Foster. Counsel women considering abortion. Help a family that is fostering/adopting. Make His plans your plans too. It is the most visible, intentional and obedient thing you can do. I'm so thankful God adopted me, and I can't wait to welcome one of his sweet daughters into my family. It's been a whole year since we made this decision, and we are getting there slowly but surely. It's emotional. It's costly. It's time-consuming. But I know she is worth it. It is all worth it to advance the Kingdom and display His glorious works for all the world to see. 

If you would like to support Alex and I prayerfully or financially, we welcome that support with open arms! You can leave a prayer in the comment section or donate via our GoFundMe page. Click on the Fundraising tab at the top of our blog for the direct link. 

Are you willing to act? I encourage you to lay your fears aside and jump in. Let Him take control. His will is the most wonderful place to be. 

Kickoff!

To Kickoff this long journey of trying to raise $10,000 to help bring our daughter home from Ethiopia, we are going to give away handmade bracelets to the first 14 people who donate on our GoFundMe page. I started making bracelets last fall because I just wanted to do SOMETHING once we decided we wanted to adopt. We hadn't even heard back from our agency, but I knew we would need money and I thought a bracelet fundraiser would be perfect. To be honest, I forgot all about them once we started the Puzzle fundraiser, but they're here and will be mailed to the first 14 individuals to donate towards our adoption! To make a donation, click {here} and then send me a message with the address you would like the bracelet mailed to. They are all able to be cut to fit your wrist appropriately so expect it to be big when it arrives. All you have to do is tie the knot and then cut the ends off! Alex wore one for months until it naturally fell off, so I'm going to have to make him another one. They are such good conversation starters! I'm curious to see how much the first 14 donors will help us raise. Any amount between $1 to $10,000 will help us towards reaching our goal, so whatever you can give, we thank you. It really means a lot... more than you will ever know. If you are unable to give at this time, you can help us by sharing the link to this blog! We also have a Facebook page where people can follow our adoption journey. Social media is the BEST for things like this and the more we can get our story out there, the better. You never know who is out there looking to help other people. Thanks so much!!

A Small Look at Some Adoption Stats

I found this graphic very interesting and thought I would pass it along! At our yard sale, almost every single person that I talked to had a connection to adoption in some way. I heard so many stories of families adopting, friends adopting, both domestically and internationally. It blesses my heart that so many people see adoption as a positive choice to make families. :)

Progress

While we are waiting on my fingerprint results to come back for our completed home study, I have made progress with the puzzle! I just got the new one in the mail TODAY and couldn't wait to start working on it. This one is so much easier. THANK YOU ALL. :)

The border is now complete, and I started writing names on the back of the pieces. I couldn't get a picture of the names without messing it up so I'll have to do that when Alex is here with me to make sure it doesn't fall apart.

I was debating on getting two 500 piece puzzles because we have just hit 500 puzzle pieces sold, and I thought 1,000 was too big of a number, but then I remembered my God is a big God and with His help we can sell 1,000 pieces! So far we have sold exactly 505 puzzle pieces and that is over half our goal! Thank you to those of you who purchased pieces. Hopefully we will sell the remaining 495, and even though that feels like such a big number, I know that it is possible. So if you're interested in purchasing a puzzle piece, click on the PayPal button on the left side of the blog! Check back for more updates... I update our Adoption Timeline section more frequently than I write longer posts.

Also, please pray for our future daughter! Pray for her health and safety. I can't wait until we have a face and name that we can specifically pray for, but until then, I'll keep dreaming. :)

Elephants it is!

You all have spoken, and elephants it is! I just placed the order, and the new puzzle should arrive within the week. I can't wait to start this one! I promise I won't give upon this one. No excuses! :)

Yard Sale Weekend Update!!

Whew! I haven't worked as hard as I did this weekend during our yard sale ALL SUMMER! I ended up getting to Louisville a little later than I had hoped, but it was for a good reason. I had thought that my fingerprint background check from last year would be recent enough for our home study, but our agency wanted me to redo my fingerprints, and an appointment opened up early Thursday morning! So I went to that and then packed up my car and headed to Louisville. I had a big to do list for Thursday night since I hadn't been in town to price everything although I had spent the week before Florida trying to organize all of our items, and boy were there a lot. My mom kept telling me that I needed to find some card tables to use because of all of the donations we had, and I didn't understand what she meant until I arrived home and saw all of the stuff piling up my parent's living room, dining room, back bedroom, basement and garage. The house was literally overflowing.. in a good way! My sister did a great job gathering donations and card tables, and I couldn't have done any of this without her. We started pricing clothing items and after a few hundred pieces, called it a night and vowed to wake up super early to finish. The yard sale was scheduled to begin at 8am so I woke up at 4:30 to start setting up. Yes, I typed that correctly! 4:30am came very quickly! I can honestly say that for 3 hours we were just bringing items outside and never stopped... not even once! Early birds were wanting to shop early, but we had to have them wait because all my help was about to leave at about 8:30, and I couldn't do it alone! Here are some pictures from our yard sale on Friday.

Because it was a weekday, my mom, dad, and sister were working, but my brother was able to help out all day, and my mom arrived around 10am (she works night shift). Once my mom got there, we started bringing more items out to sell. We kind of got into a routine. One person would watch the money box and help customers, one person would bring stuff outside to sell and the last person would price the items and organize them on the tables. We literally did not stop bringing stuff outside until 6pm. And when we closed up shop at 7pm that night we still had rooms of donations still inside. I really want to say thank you to everyone who donated items because without you, this whole sale would not have been possible. Want to know how much we made on Friday? Drum roll..... $560.20! In one day! I was amazed and thankful and so ready to get some rest and get ready for Saturday... the biggest yard sale day of them all! 

5am came super early on Saturday, and just like the morning before, we started setting up. The easier part about setting up on Saturday was that the day before my mom had cleaned out the garage (long overdue) and we were able to keep some of the tables set up with the items on them to make the set up process easier. We still had a lot of items inside, and we kept bringing those out over the course of the day! So many people that stopped by Friday stopped by again on Saturday and were confused. One lady even asked, "Are these all new items?!" We laughed and said, "yes," because we weren't even able to get everything outside on Friday. I didn't take any pictures on Saturday because we were so busy, but we DOUBLED the money that we made on Friday! We made over $1100 dollars on Saturday for a grand total around $1650! The funny thing was that we really weren't selling a lot of furniture which goes for higher dollar amounts at yard sale. We had a couple pieces but not a lot! We did have a few ladies that stocked up on clothes and spent over $100 on clothing items priced anywhere from 25 cents to $5.00. We were very thankful for their business! 

I acually do have ONE picture from Saturday. It started to rain a little bit, so we put up a tarp to cover all of the items. We got a laugh at watching people try to shop in the rain. Hey... those yard salers are committed! 

So on Saturday people kept asking us if that was our last day, and I kept thinking about it and thought of all the stuff we still had to sell and how not having the sale on Sunday would be a waste of an opportunity. I mean, the two days we had already done turned out fabulous, so why shouldn't we have the sale on Sunday as well? So we loaded up everything into the garage, I treated my family to dinner as a thank you for all their help, watched a movie as a family and headed to bed to rest up for Sunday. 

After Saturday, we had finally been able to get everything out of the house and available for purchase. Here are some pictures of our sale from Sunday! 

Alex was able to come down on Saturday evening, and he did a great job organizing all of the tables. All of us were burnt out on making the tables look nice, so he took over that job for us! Sunday was very, very slow, and I didn't think it would be very busy, but I thought we would have more people than we did. We made around $150-$175 which was still worth it, and we started packing everything up at 4pm. The biggest part of Sunday was trying to figure out what to do with everything that didn't sell! We ended up taking all of the books to Half-Price and we made $30 there. We took a big box of clothes to Plato's Closet and made $50 there as well! We donated NINETEEN bags of clothes and household items to LifeBridge Warehouse at Southeast which was a blessing because we were able to give back at the end. People were giving to help us and we were able to help pass along that blessing to others! I also took a box of children't clothes to a children's consignment shop and a few tubs of nicer clothing to a consignment shop down the street from me. All of the money that we make there will go towards our adoption as well! 

So in total, we made about $2,000! It was such a great weekend, and I'm so thankful for everyone who donated items, tables, or participated in any way. We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you to my family who spent an entire weekend helping Alex and I. It was so much work, and we are so thankful for all of your help. And thank you to those who stopped by and purchased items! I hope you are enjoying your spoils as much as I am enjoying mine! Yes... of course I went shopping at my own yard sale. I love a good deal! Here are some of my spoils. 

Lastly, but most importantly, thank you to God for showing up. Thank you for your church coming together to help orphans and those called to give them families. Thank you for your provision, your perfect timing and your love and grace over our lives each day. 

Adoption Yard Sale! We need YOU.

A couple that we know recently had a rummage sale (yard sale) to help fundraise for their Ghana adoption and their results...? WOW! They prayed for God to help them raise $2,000 and He nearly DOUBLED that! Praise HIM. With it being summer time and me hardly working {dang budget cuts!}, this is the perfect time to host a yard sale of our own!

While the date isn't for sure just yet, I am thinking that it is going to be the first Friday and Saturday in August in LOUISVILLE. It makes sense to have it in Louisville because we know a lot more people there and we are hoping those friends of ours will consider making donations! Everyone goes through their closet every now and then, and we are willing to accept anything you are wanting to get rid of! Gently used clothes, shoes, handbags, toys, household items, small/medium sized furniture... your unwanted items or "junk" that is cluttering up your house could help bring an orphan into a loving family.

If you have items that you would like to donate, please contact me {Briana} and I or someone in my family can come pick them up or give you an address if you are willing to drop them off at my parent's house. Alex and I have already been going through our closets and gathering items to sell, but we would love to see this be a community effort. It takes a village!

We also need FRIENDS & VOLUNTEERS to help the day of the sale. Do you have young children that might want to participate? We can provide them with all the equipment to set up a little lemonade/snack stand! I can recall countless lemonade stands I manned as a child. They are FUN! We can really find something for everyone who is wanting to help. It will be a TWO DAY EVENT, so the more volunteers, the better! 

We are also looking to raffle off some gift cards to local restaurants, etc. If you just finished spring cleaning and donated all your unwanted items to Goodwill already, you could help by donating a gift card! We will be so grateful for ANYTHING you are willing to give. 

The best way to reach me {Briana} is by phone {502.216.4606}, email {themccallfamily@insightbb.com} or Facebook. I will be in Louisville the 12th and 13th and am willing to meet anyone to collect items, so please let me know if you have anything! We are really looking forward to this and hope that our family, friends and acquaintances can SPREAD  THE WORD! 

Update: {We move in 10 days and then finally have our HOME STUDY!! There is light at the end of the tunnel for this part of the process...}

Pampered Chef Fundraiser

{THIS FUNDRAISER HAS ENDED}

Thank you to all who participated!

Hi there! I'm excited to announce our new adoption fundraiser going on which is a Pampered Chef fundraiser! From the Pampered Chef shows that I have been to and from the products I currently have, I can say that these products are very high quality and wonderful for anyone who loves to cook or, like me, needs a little extra help in the kitchen. This fundraiser will be going on for the next TWO WEEKS, so get your orders in! Shopping online has never been easier. All you have to do is click on this link, put my name in as the show host and then browse the catalog until you find something you can't live without! All proceeds will go towards our Ethiopian adoption, so you are shopping for a good cause! Please message or e-mail me if you have any questions! 

Click here to get Pampered!

Host Name/Organization: Briana McCall