Buy me a cup?

I am totally in love with coffee. No, really we are hitting 12 steps needed, kind of love.

There is so much I love about it. The aroma, the warmth, the time it takes to sit and sip. 

Hold on... I might need to  make me another cup (it might be my 3rd... don't judge).

How about this, why don't you buy me a cup? No really. 

Listen I will buy you a cup, and you buy me a cup. Fair trade. 

Why don't you but me a cup, JustCause...

This week I dare all of you, to put down your cup and "buy" one for a family waiting to get their children home. As most of you know this months JustCause is Journey Together, an adoption and orphan care community that is doing amazing things to support each other and get the word out about the need of the orphans in the world. 

Take this week and instead of buying a cup of coffee at your local coffee shop why don't you donate that cup to a family. It doesn't matter if its a 99 cent up from the gas station, or a 5 dollar triple wip something or another. Donate it. 

All you have to do is click here, donate your "cup of coffee" and say a little prayer. 

Maybe you want to take it farther and dare some one else to buy you a cup of joe.

I know I will. 

Angie- A heart of a mother

When someone says adoption many times the first thing that we think of is new adoptive parents and their cute little person. But what if that little person is taller than you?

Meet Angie and Tom. 

They have three gorgeous boys (one bio and two adoptive), and I assumed that the boys where adopted at a young age.

I was so wrong. Their adoption story started last spring when suddenly they were bombarded by adoption, it was like everything around them spoke adoption, even to the point that one night watching tv, the plot of the episode was adoption.
To which Tom commented "really?".

After a week of being bombarded they deiced to look more into this, that something was defiantly going on. That Good Friday, Angie was invited to a yahoo group from there she found a file labeled: Aging Out Children. Opening this folder she found picture after to picture of these older children waiting for a family. Click through she passed a face, click forward a few pictures, then clicked back to that one face.
She did that three times.
As she puts it, she was captivated by that little face, that his eyes just jumped out at her. After seeing that sweet boy, she read more about what aging out means for children in that country. The sentence of poverty that creates for these children.

She was crushed.

Printing out his file, she handed it to her husband which he responded "a teenager?".
"Yes, that is our son."

 Four months. That was when Colin was set to age out of the system. After being told they wouldn't have enough time to  adopt Colin. They fought for him anyways.
Four months later Colin came home, seven days before he was to age out of the system.

But they weren't done.

Halfway through adopting Colin, Angie saw another little boy who she couldn't shake. Another son for them. When they tried to pursue adopting Cameron, they were told if they did it would jeopardize their adoption of Colin.

Thinking it was a closed door, they started advocating for him. They kept looking for a family to adopt him, family after family were denied. Time was running out so Angie called again, and said this child is not aging out because he's coming home to them.

This was not the way things are done. They had Colin home for only a few months, and was not consider "ready" to adopt again, but she fought. A call was placed to the agencies board and they settled in to wait. What they though would take a week to hear back, took 20 minutes. 20 minutes to hear the words "if your social worker says yes, then its a yes". With no savings, no time to fund-raise they submitted their Letter of Intent, 8 weeks later Cameron came home.

Yes in four months they went from a family of three to a family of five.

Their family is amazing. Their is so much love in their home, and so much passion for adoption, children, and being a voice for the fatherless.

That's why they are doing it again. Angie and Tom are adopting again.
 And once again, not one.. But two.
 Its so amazing to see history repeating its self.

What started as a cute kid that they kept talking about. The sweet boy that Tom wanted to show his daughter as a child for her to adopt. After Tom asked Angie to send the photo over to his daughter, she stopped, Angie couldn't do it, she knew that was her son.

Adopting their fourth son, turned into two, 6 weeks ago. When Colin said "yeah mom if we brought home another boy, we would have to give a little. But he would get a lot."

Now they are rapping.



This family has so much heart. So much. They are fighters.
Not just for their own children but for this community of orphan care. Even with working on bringing their two sons home they are supporting others in this community. Mentoring families walking through their own adoptions and fostering.

Looking back on it all Angie and Tom never had plans to adopt. But now, knowing that a little guy can say "good night mom" to her. A little guy that never had the chance to say "good night" to a mom before, makes it all worth it. 

The diversity of JTM (Journey Together) is amazing. 

There are people who can't sleep at night over orphan care. 

Families that are passionate about fostering, families who are walking through adoption, 

families (like mine) who just want to support in anyway we can.

These community is amazing and changing the face of what adoption looks in our society. Not everyone is called to adopt, but we can all do something. What ever that looks like for you, do it.

If you want to help support Angie and Tom, they have some amazing fundraising opportunities. Everything from soap to jewelry.

Check them out here.

Just Cause: Journey Together

November’s Just Cause is Journey Together Ministries, I couldn’t be more excited.  See this cause has my heart, my soul, and my tears. Journey Together is a is a non-profit organization & community, with the mission to disciple, equip and mobilize the church to care for vulnerable and orphaned children through the process of adoption, foster care and orphan care. They accomplish this mission by supporting families financially, emotionally and spiritually throughout the process of adoption and post adoption and by bringing awareness to the needs of orphans both domestically and internationally.

Here is the question I always get: 

“Are you adopting?”

Answer: No. Not right now, if we do it will be a few years down the road. 

Which is always promptly followed by this question: “then why are you involved?”

Here’s why…

I am a Christian. If you’ve been around this blog at all you are not surprised by this, but because I call my a follower of Christ I also believe that He called all of us to take care of the orphans, to help the fatherless, to be the hands and feet and do something. 

Something doesn’t always equal adoption.

Sometimes something equals speaking out on the issue.

Being aware there are 147 million orphans.

Doing something sometimes means helping others that are in the process of adopting, 

and that’s what I am doing.

That’s what Journey Together does. So here’s some of the great ways you can help. 

Adopt a

Meet Them Here

Hope Families are families that you the opportunity to come alongside and support a specific family that you may know or they can select a family for you that have the greatest immediate need. This program is designed to be set on a credit card recurring monthly basis. A full sponsorship is $40 per month. You can do more than one sponsorship or you can even do a partial sponsorship for as little as $10 per month. You may also make a one-time donation. 100% of funds that you donate toward a family will be given to their fund. Journey Together does not charge these families a fee. 

Spread the word.

This is actual the heart behind Just Cause. Informing others of the causes and needs out there in the world. So why don’t you blog about it? Share what you feel knowing that there are 147 million orphans out there. Read more about Journey Together and what they are doing, and share.  

Don’t forget November is also Orphan Awareness month!

Link up here if you have blogged about Journey Together. 

Donate. 

I know a lot of times this adoption process comes down to money. I might not have a huge margin to give but, I do make stuff and I can give a percentage. This is by no way a “woot look at me” comment, but many times when I set up a table at a craft show, or for a month on my Etsy shop, I would give a percentage from those days to an adopting family. Last year a sweet lady even hosted an event for an adopting family and invited tons of craft vendors to set up in her house and every vender donated a percentage from their sales that day to the family.

Honestly every time I do an event like that my heart is just over flowing! I might leave with my pockets a little lighter, but a mommy who is trying to get their child home leaves with their pockets a little heaver.

Want to donate a percentage of your online shop to Journey Together for their Hope Fund? The Hope Fund is set up to give out matching grants to families for their adoptions. Families that apply for the Hope Fund do not have to be Hope Families.

Link up here.

When you link up I will be contacting you to showcase your items for others to purchase this month. Don’t forget your donations are tax deductible. 

Get to know The Heart of Adoption.

Come back all this month to Just Cause. Every week we are going to be telling the story of a family and their adoption story. I’ll share a little more about my heart, why it breaks so much for these children.

It's so much more

Did you know we're doing a new blog link up called Just Cause? Did you know that this months cause is Sole Hope?

So many of you have been getting behind this amazing cause and creating shoe cutting parties, but did you know there is more that you can do? Not everyone can participate in a shoe cutting party and there is nothing at all wrong with that. How about a drive.

Sole Hope needs more than just shoes. They need supplies. Why not do a drive at your church, neighborhood, mommies group, what ever you are a part of and start collecting.

Here is the list of items they need.

Bar Soap
Sharpies
Large Safety Pins
Surgical Gloves
Cotton Balls
Medical Razor Blades
Medical Tape
Antibiotic Cream
Gauze
Band Aids

Collect them and send them to: Sole Hope, PO Box, 1492, Asheville, NC 28802.

Blog about your drive! I will love to hear what you come up with, and what you collect! Link up those post here.

Just Cause

Welcome to the very first Just Cause, blog good do good. Just Cause is a new monthly link-up with one goal: to do good and inspire other bloggers to do good. Every month we will be highlighting a non-profit, an organization, or someway you can do in your own back yard. 

Every month will start with information about the Just Cause.

 This first month we are kicking it off in a big way. 

September is Sole Hope Month. 

Check out this post from Nat at Take the Cannoli. 

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Have you heard of Sole Hope? I hadn't myself even a few months ago and now this organization has got a hold of my heart strings and has me driven to want to make even a greater difference in other peoples lives.

First if you haven't already, please check out Sole Hope's website HERE but more importantly watch this very short video which was the inspiration behind the start of it all. 

Now that your eyes have seen this video and your heart aches for these poor children, you should know that you can help make a change. 

There are millions of these precious children in Africa right now, becoming infested because of a simple problem. Sole Hope is solving that problem, one pair of shoes at a time!

See for yourself here. 

These little ones, these precious beings with no shoes and having their poor feet infested by parasites, causing so much pain and grief. I had no idea this was even happening. As I type through hot tears, my thoughts keep returning to the mothers of these children and can't even imagine the pain they must feel for their loved ones. Seeing footage and photos of children about the same ages as my sweet babies is too much to bear, isn't it?

Understand that this organization is not only putting shoes on children but they are also changing the lives of many adults as they are helping women and men learn the trade of shoemaking that will help them survive and thrive. 

As the idea of helping widows in Africa learn a trade and support themselves took shape, it occurred to the Sole Hope team that many people in the U.S could also benefit from learning how to make shoes. So they are reaching out to many groups such as:

• homeless shelters
• recovering addicts
• unemployed and underemployed people
• nonprofits

Learning this simple trade allows shoemakers to make a difference. It also helps the environment because they use recycled parts to create the shoes!

To go one step further, Sole Hope sends teams into these impoverished cities in Africa with medical supplies to hold foot washing and jigger removal clinics. This is a God loving organization so as they wash these children's feet, remove jiggers and provide them with shoes, they share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and equate these jiggers to the sin that takes hold of us each day. They share how Jesus is the only one who can wash their sin away. 

For more information on Sole Hope's mission and values visit their site HERE

Just like Asher said in the last video, "You can either turn away and act like it's not your problem or do what you can to help out with the situation at hand."

So now that you know how totally awesome Sole Hope is after reading this post I know you're all dying to order your own shoe cutting party kits so you can host your own party! Head on over to their store so you can order your kit today! But before you purchase your kit make sure to enter the discount code for 15% off your order throughout the month of September!

That's right, even though the cost of these kits help further their mission in saving lives, Sole Hope is offering a discount in hopes more of you will get involved this month!

For 15% off your shoe cutting party kit 

use discount code 

HOPEBLOG

Remember there is HOPE. There is a way to make a change. Our prayer is that you will all get involved to help make that change. As summer is coming to an end and we are heading into the school year we understand schedules can get a little crazy. If you feel in your heart you want to help but know you won't be able to host a shoe cutting party of your own please know that you can donate to Sole Hope directly HERE.

You can make a change. You can help save lives.

"Everyone should use their gifts that they've received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1Peter 4:10

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So what can you do?

First- Blog about Sole Hope! Get the word out. Your voice can change someone lives

Second- Link up your post about Sole Hope, we would love to see how this Just Cause touches you!

Third- Throw a shoe cutting party! 

Fourth- At the end of the month swing back by here and link up your post all about your amazing party, or what YOU did to help!

We can't wait to see what you do with your voice! 

Link up your post about Sole Hope here: