O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Today's encouragement to intercede for sweet Ruth.

Thanks for praying!

Forty days of prayer (day 3)

Seemingly everything imaginable has kept me from writing this post this last week!  Everything from my work, to dishes, to laundry, to fatigue and little motivation, not to mention the occasional potty-training mishaps from my sweet Calvin... phew!

But in God's perfect timing- I'm here and I'm ready to share!

Several weeks ago Turner, out of no where,  told me "Mommy, I think Ruthie will be here at Easter."  My reaction to him was something like "I sure hope so buddy..." and  then we moved on to the next activity and went on with our day.

But lately I haven't been able to get that conversation out of my head.  I've been wrestling with thoughts like- Could it be possible?  Is it ok to hope he's right?  Should I encourage him to pray that way- that she would come by Easter? If we pray that she's here by Easter and she isn't- how will I feel?  How will Turner handle it?  Doesn't God say in his Word that we are to ask him and he will give us the desires of our hearts?  Is it ok to pray with a "deadline"?

And here's the big one- the dirty, ugly, faithless thought I've had If I pray that Ruth comes home by Easter, and God doesn't give me what I want- will I still believe He is good?

These thoughts have been swirling around... over and over for days now.  Then God, being rich in mercy and love encouraged me through his Word.  The more I have thought and prayed and read  the more faith He has given me to ask him- to ask Him boldly for something I really want.  He knows me and he knows that I am afraid of disappointment .  However, despite my fear, despite my distrust I believe He wants me to know he loves me and he wants me to TRUST him in new ways:

He wants me to TRUST that He is big enough to comfort me in dissapointment.

 "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 

He wants me to TRUST that whatever happens, whenever it happens it will be for my good and His Glory.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13       

And He wants me to TRUST Him enough to ask for the SPECIFIC desire of my heart.

Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

So with by the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ- we will pray! Our family will pray these remaining 37 days of Lent that the Lord will bring our daughter home by Easter Sunday!  We would be honored and eternally grateful if you would intercede on our behalf as well.  Would you consider praying for our baby girl's speedy homecoming- perhaps anytime you see a butterfly? 

I can't tell you how much it means to mean to know that just as she is already known by our Heavenly Father she is also already being prayed for by people that love her. To God be all the glory and honor forever, Amen!

Requesting Your Clutter

 

Has this "warmish" weather put you in the mood to spring clean? 
Need to de-clutter someones bedroom or make room for that new furniture you bought
with your tax refund? 

 Well I have the solution for you...

give me all the stuff you don't want!

 

The Ferguson's are having a fundraising yard/porch sale and we'd love your support and donations. 

Here are some idea 

• Furniture
• Jewelry
• Books
• Children's toys
• Art
• Tools

We'd also love to take this opportunity to showcase the amazingly talented artist and crafters in our lives.  If you would be willing to donate a few items to our sale I'd LOVE to showcase your things and give out your information to purchasers.  What do you say?

If you have any other ideas of things we can sell or some secret tips to make our sale successful PLEASE let me know :) 

Thank you in advance for your continued support of our adoption!  I'm eager to see what the Lord has in store. 

Much love,

Maria

PS: If you are interested in donating please leave me a message here or email me at FergusonAdoption@Gmail.com.  I'm HAPPY to pick up ALL donations!

Baby Josh!

Meet sweet, Josh!  Is he adoreable, or what? 
A friend of mine and Josh's mama, Danielle, gave this family a "gift session" as a welcome baby gift- great idea, don't you think?
I really enjoyed my time with Josh and can't wait to share what we captured.

LOVE the light in these- they make Josh' baby blues SHINE!

I love seeing his "focus" in this one

What a joyful fellow!

Here's one of Josh and his beautiful Mama, Jen.

This one has to be my favorite from the day!  Love all the love in those eyes .

And to close, who can resist little fingers and little toes???  LOVE! 

Thank you, Jen and Josh for a great afternoon and thank you, Danielle, for your insane support of our adoption! 

Itty-Bitty-Preview (Baby Josh)

Meet, sweet, 4-month-old, Josh!  I just shot these yesterday and couldn't help myself but to start editing right away- he's ADORABLE! 

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. "

"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb."

Side note: It's official, baby-fever is in full effect with THIS Mama-to-be.

More pictures of this precious little one coming soon!

...brought to you by the letter "R"

First, a quick update: no news.  We have had no calls from the agency, no emails, nor any babies dropped off at our front door.  We're happily, eagerly and faithfully waiting.  (Told you it'd be quick!)

In other news, I'm crafting! 

I've found that I'm not as terrible with my hands a I once thought and I'm becoming braver to try (and maybe at times fail) new crafts.  An added benefit is that it gives me something to do while I wait :).  I'm hesitant to join the crafting/ideas site, Pintrest though... as I have a slightly obsessive personality that might take this new thing a little far... we'll see!  I think Hobby Lobby will keep me occupied with ideas for a bit.
Anyways, I posted the letters I made for Ruth's in my Cocooning post a while back and actually had a friend ask me to make some for her sweet son's 1st birthday.  I of course took the chance to craft and was really happy with the way his "fun in nature" letters turned out! 

Here's a look at both Ruth's and Gray's letters

I had so much fun working on these (as well as some I did for Christmas) that I thought- maybe this could be another fundraiser!  I could do plain, embelished, satin, matte, boy or girl.... so many options!

So here's what I'm thinking:
$3 per letter + cost of supplies (usually less than $10 per name, even less with just initials)

It's know it's not a ton of money, but as I said I love project and I love being busy! Plus every little step we take now to fundraise will help us in the weeks, months and years to come!

If you're interested, or you'd like to order some letters for a friend either leave a comment here or email me at FergusonAdoption@gmail.com.

Thank you all, as always, for your love, suppot and prayers to bring our baby girl home!

We can't wait for her to meet each of you :)