Hello! (It's Kimberly this time.) This is my first post and I am proud to share some exciting news! We have a t-shirt design!! Whoo-hoo! A good friend, Brad Cockrell, offered to design our shirt for fundraising. He's an artist and we were super excited that he offered his talents! What a blessing. We gave him some ideas and he made an awesome design that we would have never been able to do on our own!! Thanks Brad!
Here's a peek at the shirt (front and back):
Here is the image close up (keep in mind the colors are reversed on the actual shirt):
We. Love. It.
Our guess is the shirts will be in and ready to sell in a couple of weeks! So exciting. They will be $17. Please let us know if you'd like to purchase one! We will be selling them at our fundraising events as well.
On a different note:
I feel the need to start with a side story, so bear with me =). The more I walk with the Lord, the more I learn flexibility. When I really learned about flexibility I was on the mission field in Africa. I knew (thanks to some pretty amazing professors- one in particular- *cough* Dr. Wilson) this was needed on the mission field, so I was as prepared as I could possibly be, however I don't think one can ever be fully prepared for what the Lord has in store. How would we fulfill the commandment to "walk by faith" if we could be? Anywho... (can you tell I love theology?) where I am going with this is...
Due to some recent news on South Korea's international adoption program, we have prayerfully decided to look into adopting from another country.
This was a bit hard for us to swallow due to all our researching, praying, and (a very small amount in comparison) paperwork we did that led us to this decision in the first place. BUT- as believers, we sometimes make the decisions we think He's leading us to make and pray, "Not mine, but Your will be done." This time, His will might not be South Korea. That's okay with us. Whatever, namely, "whoever" He wants us to love and cherish is up to Him, not us! Praise the Lord!! He is immutable and perfect in every way- what's better than Him leading!?
So, you ask, what's next? I have one word: FUNDRAISING.
We know from the reply from our agency that whoever we go through (agency wise) or whatever other way the Lord might lead us to go, we need money first. This is a huge step of faith for us (*by His grace*) seeing that we are raising money with no exact path. We are trusting that if He wants us to adopt a child, He will provide the money.
In the meantime, we will pray, research, pray, send emails, pray, fundraise, pray.. you get the point. And... (hopefully sooner, rather than later) do a HOMESTUDY! (More on that later- for those of you who are not familiar with adoption terms.) I have a feeling the homestudy will be nearer than either of us think. After the homestudy, we can apply for grants. Some grants will match (up to a certain amount) what we've raised! Whoohoo.
Either way, "he owns a cattle on a thousand hills.. and the hills the cattle stand on." -Dr. Rob (one of my professors in college)
I have many more details to share.. soon, my friends. But for now, we ask that you join with us in praying for direction and funds. Thank you so much for your devotion to us, even to read our blogs! What a joy!
To Him be the glory forever, Amen!
Be blessed,
Kimberly on behalf of The Neely's
