My Cup Overfloweth

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Finale has ended...

The Grand Finale Raffle has ended...

Thank you to all who prayed and generously donated!!

I will email all of the entrants today with what you've won :) and ship them out asap!!

Can you believe that we raised $2600...

YOU guys are AMAZING!!

Our LORD IS AMAZING!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME HOME!!

Tonight at midnight (PST)

Sorry for the confusion!!!

TONIGHT (July 28th) at

11:59 pm

the raffle will end.

Sooo...

You still have time :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

We are $8000 away...we need $8000 to be able to travel to bring Solomon home. All is still looking good for mid-September travel so that means we are 7-8 weeks away! Exciting, crazy, scary all at the same time :)

Tomorrow is it...the last day to buy your raffle tickets...

Solomon's GRAND FINALE raffle tickes...

The tickets where EVERYONE WINS!!

YES, I said EVERYONE WINS A PRIZE!!!

Every entry WINS!!!

For each $20 ticket you purchase,

you will be entered into our raffle and each ticket will win a prize!

spread the word..tell all your friends about all the cool prizes :)

Prizes include:

James 1:27 Junk Posse/Solomon bead necklace ($110 value)

"Be the Change..Adopt" Junk Posse/Solomon bead necklace ($110 value)

Panasonic Electric Shaver ($130 value)

Ipod Shuffle ($60 value)

Signed Jeremy Camp CD

Night Owl hooded towels

Quillow

Children's blankets

Ladybug blanket

Solomon Beads necklaces

Solomon Bead bracelets

Solomon Bead earrings

Pure Religion T-shirts

Simply Love China T-shirts

Shubin family T-shirt

Nichol Shubin Jewelry

Disney totes

$10 Itunes gift cards

$5 Starbuck gift cards

more prizes coming!!!!!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Addicted....

When you first hear the word addicted, what do you think...what are your feelings? For me, I immediately have negative feelings. As I looked up definitions of addicted they all typically led to some kind of substance abuse and we all know there are millions of other types addictions. Here is one definition: the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming...

So when someone asks me if I'm addicted to adopting...it really, really irritates me!! If addictions are typically a bad thing, are they implying that I have a problem with tending to the cry of the orphan & that I should get help for my problem?

For whatever reason this thought came to mind today...the thought of being 'addicted' to adopting & what that really means...does addiction always have to be a bad thing?
~Am I sold out to answer the CLEAR call of the Lord to care for the orphan...YES!
~Do I feel that every child deserves a forever family and am I willing to do whatever it takes to advocate...YES!
~Has raising awareness, advocating, adopting, encouraging & supporting adoption become habit forming...YES!!
~Am I affected by the devastating reality that there are over 153 million orphans in the world...Is it something that can keep me up at night weeping over...YES!
~Is the orphan situation something I pray about, talk about, & share about like non-stop...YES!!! (just ask my friends ;)

Hmmm, so I guess in light of my little revelation...I must be completely sold-out, 100% addicted to adoption & the care of children without a voice! I am completely engrossed with my one and only Savior, Jesus Christ...the Savior who has boldly and clearly called our family to not only adoption but to raising awareness. Sorry my friends...but I'm addicted...addicted to obediently following my God!

Friday, July 23, 2010

today...

Today my precious son (the middle one ;) turns 7. S-E-V-E-N amazing years with this boy...the boy who has the best and I mean BEST giggle ever...his name suits him very well!!

My sweet son, we love you so much and can't even begin to imagine our lives without you. You are a precious gift...a gift from the Lord!! You have an amazing birthfamily that loves you so much, too!! What a treasure to have them in our lives and for them to be able to watch you grow!

Happy, Happy Birthday my baby boy...uuhhh, I mean BIG boy :)

Oh my, you are growing up so fast!! Just look at you my beautiful son...

God has great & mighty things planned for you!!!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

In Honor of...

our precious Solomon's birthday...

I want to remind you that there are

ONLY 7 days left to enter in

HIS GRAND FINALE RAFFLE...

the raffle needed to raise the FINAL funds for him to come home!!

Remember, the Finale where

EVERY TICKET WINS!!

You can see all of the prizes and details HERE!!!

We are $8000 away from being able to board the plane in 7-8 weeks (waiting on TA, still).

We will NOT be able to travel without the remaining funds...while that is super scary to think we could come this close and then not be able to travel until we have all the funds, God is moving mightily to bring our son home and we are excited to see how He is going to provide $8000 in 8 weeks!!! Come along and watch all the Lord is about to do! We are so blessed by all of you that have helped us financially and by praying for us...each of you are a HUGE part of Solomon's story...as story we can't wait to share with him!!!

Would you please spread the word about our raffle or beads??

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Our Birthday Boy....

Today, in China, it is now July 21st....our sweet, precious baby boy's birthday. He has just turned 4 years old. Oh how I had hoped we'd be there for his birthday but God's plans are greater so we celebrate here and anxiously await travel approval.

We love you so much son and we can't wait to scoop you up and love on you! It will be soon...sooo very soon!!!

I was in tears as I worked on this collage...what a gift to have so many pictures of our peanut. Tears of sadness that we've missed out on so much...tears of joy that THIS is OUR BOY...tears of sheer excitement that we will be united soon! Ohhh, How we miss this sweet one!!!!

Enjoy the faces of our boy!!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Favorite Curriculum

Can you believe that July is almost over and it will be AUGUST??? When did that happen???

I have something fun for my homeschooling buddies to chime in on....What is your favorite curriculum and why? As you post a comment in my comment section with your favorites, I will add them to this post. So, tell me...tell me...what do you love??

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Our family favorites: Wow...this is tougher than I thought :) We've been homeschooling for 9 years and have come across many treasures. I think my favorite for my beginning readers is Phonics Pathways...simple and very effective. LOVE Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)...especially their thematic based units. LOVE Five in a Row for my pre-k/k. Have a new found love of Math U See (all ages). I should mention that we love to school with the classical/literature approach :)

Rebekah's favorites: Hi! I love to talk "shop" when it comes to homeschooling! We have been so pleased with Apologia's material. The elementary series: Exploring Creation has been extraordinary and a perfect fit for our family. The older students' curriculum has also been impressive.

For history we love to learn with living books, and I get books from Sonlight, Veritas Press, and also the good old fashioned way, from the library!

For math we use ABEKA for a few, Rod and Staff for one, and we are planning to try Teaching Textbooks Algebra for our oldest. I hope it goes well!

Karen's favorites:Hmmmm...we have changed our idea on our "favorites" a few times:-) I think we found the right mix last year. We use ABEKA for preK-1 (all except for math)we use Math-U-See. We usually use Sonlight from 2nd grade on, add in IEW (my children actually go to an IEW class), Sequential Spelling, Shurley Grammar and Apologia Science. We switch back to Abeka math after Math-U-See Delta (go to Abeka 5). My oldest does the Abeka math DVD. This will be my 1st year with 6 in school (3 Kindergartners). Oh and a new one coming home:-) I'm looking forward to a fun year!!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

His children....

Caring for and loving on His child is what we've been privileged to do since last Tuesday until July 22nd (all children are His children but especially the fatherless!). We have been given the awesome opportunity to host a precious 9 yr. old boy from Asia.

Every summer our agency hosts children from Russia and Asia with the hopes of finding their forever family. Of course, the children only know that they are here for a summer camp.

Sooo, last week we all went to the airport to pick up our buddy and bring him home to stay with us for 2.5 weeks. Let me just say that we were ALL a little nervous...mainly about the language barrier. Ni Hao and wo ai ni are just about the extent of our mandarin :)

Well, my little "I" and our new buddy got along instantly...chattering away..."I" in English and our buddy in mandarin AND they totally understood each other!!! Charades have become the norm around here although we are picking up some mandarin and he is picking up a TON of english :)

Our buddy is the most precious little boy I have ever met. He is so polite and obeys wonderfully. He gets along great with everyone and has been such a joy. Bottom line: OUR LITTLE BUDDY NEED HIS FOREVER FAMILY!!! Bottom line: I need YOUR HELP in spreading the word about this precious boy...God's child!!!

Will you join us in praying that his family will be found? Will you help us spread the word? Could you be his family???

I wish I could show you a picture of his precious face and his fabulous smile, but I'm not allowed :) So here...his sweet little fingers is what you get :)

I would be lying if I didn't tell you how my heart aches at the thought of sending him home and not knowing what will happen to him. Will his family be found or will he live the rest of his child years alone in an orphanage? Will he have a mama and baba to love him and care for him when he's sad & scared or hungry & tired or when he's happy & wants to celebrate or just needs the basic love to survive...the love of a forever family.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Grand Finale Raffle

BUMP...I'm bumping this post to the top...there is still time to be part of our Grand Finale Raffle where EVERYONE WINS a prize!!!!!!!!!

If you are able, please spread the word...we need to raise $8700 more before we can board the plane to our sweet son in Sept. Without that $8700 we won't be able to travel. We are confident that the Lord has already provided that money, He just hasn't shown us, yet :)

July 5th:

The realization that we could be holding our boy in 8-10 weeks is unimaginable. To say we are excited would be a HUGE understatement :) I woke up this morning just bursting with joy...we are coming sweet one...so soon!!!

Since we are drawing close to our time to travel, our financial need becomes very serious. We still need $10,000 before we travel and we can not board that plane until we have it. We have paid all the agency fees...YAY! What's left??? A required $5200 orphanage donation, our travel fees, and in-country fees.

$10,000 seems like sooo much but when you realize that the Lord has already provided almost $18,000 in 5 months...it's simply unbelievable! God's hand in provision has been so clear and so perfect. His confirmation that Solomon is indeed our son has been amazing!! He has used each of you in ways that have brought us to our knee's...ways of financial support...ways of prayer...ways of encouragement...you guys have been the most beautiful gift and we are so blessed by EACH of you!!

We are kicking off our GRAND FINALE RAFFLE...

a raffle where EVERYONE WINS a PRIZE!!!