Let's reach as many as we can....

We are heading to meet our little son soon. While there, we want to make as much impact for the Kingdom of God as possible. While we are excited to get to know our son and bring gifts to him, we can not forget or overlook the other kids that are living where he is. So we are givers and love missions so we plan to make this a very short mission trip. We are asking family and friends to send in donations for us to take to bless the other children and people we meet.

What are we looking for.....

• clothes (in good condition)
• books (that your own children would enjoy reading),
• child age bibles or story bibles,
• small toys,
• board games (easy ones),
• card games
• and SNACKS.

We are allowed 2 luggages a piece and I'm pretty sure Tyvon and I will be able to pack most of our stuff in 1 suitcase therefore we have 3 others free to put donated items in. What a blessing this will be....I can't wait to love on our son and also all the other children. I'm pretty sure anything will put smiles on their face and just having us there but we feel compell to not go with empty hands. We are called to be the "SALT" and "LIGHT" of the world.

Here are a few verses to ponder....

1. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. Deut 10:18 (NLT)
2. Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work. Deut 14:29 (NLT)
3. Learn to do right (to do good)! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Is 1:17 (AMP

What I dislike about adoption....

One of the main reasons people don't adopt, is one of my dislikes about adoption.....finances!!! This is a very sensitive subject for many. While we have always been a family who have given of our time, finances and resources, we have always believe that God would take care of our every NEED. I know that some will say, why are you doing this when it cost so much and on and on. But when you feel this tug and calling in your heart, you can't just turn the other way or turn a deaf ear to the HEART of the FATHER. While we know that adoption isn't the road everyone will take, you can still be apart of taken care of the orphans by helping someone through their adoption or sponsoring a child. There are many legit organizations are here that are truly making sure funds donated are taking care of many children.

Since starting the blog, we have only said...pray for our  provision of finances. We know that God has called us to this Narrow road to follow and therefore we believe that He will provide the finances. The Word of God tells us "that we have not because we ask not." Since beginning our journey, we have been financing our adoption through our savings and my hair business. We have also done one fundraiser and hoping to start our T-shirt sales in February. Now that things are moving...and moving fast, money is going fast. We would love for you to partner with us to help us bring our son home. What our financial needs are now:

•   $9000 - Rest of agency and country program fees

•   $150 (we will be paying this monthly to take care of our son until we bring him home)

•   $2134 - Upcoming Flights to Ghana to meet our little boy.

•   $280 (estimate) - Hotel while in Ghana

This is our most current financial needs. We are also in the process of applying for 2 grants and praying God's favor. 

If you would like to partner with, you can donate through adopttogether.org/thepetways. Also if you know of any other adoption resources, please feel free to pass this information on to us.

I will leave you with this verse: "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. Eph 1:5-8

Until next time....

Papers, Papers, Papers

Here's are latest update!! Man....paper pregnancy is very exhausting...lol! We received everything need to send in our dossier. I think I looked through it 10 times and then had Tyvon look at it too! Praying we have everything in it and everything is signed. We sent it to our agency today and they should receive it by Tuesday. We have our flight itinerary together and look forward to meeting our son in about a month. Our adoption timeline has been updated. Thank you all for all your prayers and support. Please consider donating to help us bring our son home  at adopttogether.org/thepetways.

Blessings and peace to you all!

Until next time.

News FLASH.......

It's official, we have a referral. We are completely paper pregnant!! We are expecting...it's a boy!!! Wish we could tell you more but can't until after our court date (don't know when that will be; could be months), and he is officially our son. What we can tell you is that it's a 4 year old boy who we felt drawn to from the moment we saw him!! We will be traveling in about a month or 2. Please keep us in your prayers...Still believing God for all financial needs to be taking care of!!

A God Walk.....For sure......

Where do we start......Adoption isn't for the faint in heart. While adoption is a great thing for the people of God to do unfortunately adoption can also bring out the greed in people. Before you begin your adoption journey...do as much research as possible about the different country programs, agencies etc. I would even tell you to find FB groups, yahoo groups and such before you get started with the process. You will find vital information on programs, agencies, POA and much more. This will help you to make a educated decision.

Now on to our news....Tyvon and I have been praying about 2 boys on our current agencies waiting list. One night we both prayed and wrote down what we where hear....I put on my paper...God will put our son just like he picked our bio girls. Therefore we were still not confident in really going forward with either boy. Not watch how this story turns......

Drumroll.......Last night Tyvon and I made a heard decision to switch agencies. There are various reasons for our decision but the main and most important one is a little boy I fell in love with. I saw this little boy back in December in a group I'm a part of and show him to Tyvon....saying to him "He is such a cutie!" The problem....he was with another agency and we are with another agency and we are considering another boy and money and and and. So I just shrugged if off. Then last week, the little boy E came back up again as a child still waiting and my heart melt. So Tyvon and I talked about it again. We contacted the agency and to our surprise the switching process was going to be easy and bigger than that.....WE WOULD NOT be losing money. We were about to send our agency an amount with our dossier which was the same amount that we need to go with this agency. MY GOD....he sure knows how to give us solid answers.

And today...we officially committed to E and are planning to head to Ghana in the Spring!! He is a 4 year old precious boy... 

This agency is awesome and we are excited about how on top of things they are. They have solid history in Ghana: our new agency is About A Child. We have such a feeling of peace that this is where God wants us and the direction He would have us to follow.

I will leave you with a verse a friend shared with me about adoption journeys.....A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure: Proverbs 16:9. In her words...Many are the plans of a man's heart but it is the LORD who directs his steps.

Until next time....

No More an Orphan

People ask....

1. Why are you adopting when you can have your "own" children?
2. Why would you pay all that money; it's so expensive to adopt? I can't wait for you to watch the video for this answer...."Jesus paid a much bigger price so that we would no longer have to be orphans.
3. Are you sure you want to bring a child you really don't know into your home?
4. And there are much much more.

I found this video on youtube and here is the answer summed up so beautifully (I'm sitting in tears because of the LOVE that GOD has shown each and one of us. I count it a privilege and honor to be able to imitate Him at not even a mustard seed size level)!!!!

Until Next Time

Happy New Year - Taking Care of Kingdom Business in 2013

Praise God...its 2013!! We had an awesome time as a family on New Years Eve. We played games, the girls decided on prayer declarations for the next few months (we even got some for "JP", that's how we will refer to our son in Ghana from here on out), had praise and worship, prayer time, Declaration time and communion. The presence of God was truly thick in our "little church," our basement...LOL. God truly did somethings in each and everyone one of us last night. We are expecting a greater awareness of His presence, revelation and His glory to be revealed. We plan to intentionally take the presence of God EVERY WHERE we go and be reflected in our words, actions, deeds and thoughts.

Here are the declarations we will be praying over JP......(please feel free to declare them with us).....

1. Thank you Jesus for giving JP a chance to do great things for your Kingdom while in Ghana and when he comes home to his family in the United States. Revelation 3:8
2. Your World is in JP's heart and protects him when he is asleep or awake. Thank you, Father that You are always with JP and that he knows You are there. Proverb 5:21

Last night each of us prayed individually what was on our heart; everyone had JP on their hearts, but of course. We prayed for him, his family, other orphans and the people and country of Ghana.

We are believing God that our son will be home with us in 2013. We declare God's favor in every step of this process. We are trusting Him in every step of the way.

Remember you can help us bring our son home by: Praying!!! Donating at our website which is https://www.adopttogether.org/thepetways/. Purchasing bracelets; We also still have more. You can even donate your sky miles; this would be a great blessing since we have to make 2 trips to Ghana.