Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Is it all worth it?



This past week has been a busy one.  Our seven month mark came and went.  Some days I have to remind myself where we are in this whole process.  Time seems to be flying. I keep us incredibly busy. I have told y'all before I am a type A personality.  I grab life.  I am a go-getter.  I am a doer.  Sitting back and waiting for something to happen just isn't in my psyche.

They say opposites attract.  My poor husband.  He just makes me laugh.  He told me this past weekend he knew I always had 10 balls in the air juggling when he married me, but he said he never knew it would get to be this much.  Every day lately it seems I have a new project for us.  We are both excited and thrilled to see all God is laying out before us, but I think he is just flat worn OUT.

We have been working on our T-shirt fundraising project for a couple weeks now.  My husband is the technical designer.  He is great with graphics design!  I have told him more than once I married him for his skills!  Of course I am kidding, but we do make a great team.  I can tell him what I am thinking, show him a couple pictures and he can whip a design for me in no time on the computer.


Designing these t-shirts was not quite so easy.  We had the design down.  We quickly learned there was so much more involved than just the design.  Jeff had to learn a whole new design program and recreate the whole project for the printer.  There were late nights, countless emails back and forth, and MANY frustrations.  It was SO worth it!!  The finished project is amazing.  I could not imagine it turning out any better.  What I love most about it is that our design points adoption back to God.  Our Savior died on the cross so that He could adopt us!  How magnificent.

Now that the process of printing is done we are left with t-shirts, t-shirts, t-shirts!  They are the fruits of our labor, but holy smokes y'all!  My upstairs hallway is loaded with adoption shirts.  We have sold many, but so many more need to fly off the shelves......If you have been touched by adoption, if you like our design, if you want a shirt that points to our Heavenly Father, if you want to support our adoption please consider clicking the link to the right and buy a SHIRT!  One meal in this week for a family could support a baby coming home...(shameless plug over now)

As busy as the t-shirt project has been, I have also been working on our SECOND fundraising project! God laid this one on my heart months and months ago.  I am beyond excited to announce this one!  We are proud and honored to be partnering with Chick-fil-A to host a fundraising event!  We just nailed down the final details yesterday.  Tuesday, May 20 from 5-8 pm  at the Chick Fil A in Ballentine we will be working hard to raise money for our adoption!  All you have to do is come eat dinner with us.  Bring your friends!  Bring your family!  Bring a neighbor!  Who doesn't love Chick Fil A??  We live in the south y'all!  Fried chicken is a way of life!  Just mention our name (Hooper) when you order your food and a percentage of the sales will go to support our adoption!

All of our fundraising projects are God inspired.  I have certainly had ideas and offers that I have initially thought were great ideas, but after much prayer have chosen to put down because I do not feel God is behind it.  Nehemiah reminds us that dreams and goals are formed when we allow our hearts to be moved by God.  I have tried to wait for the Lord, pray about each move, and discern His will in each project.  We have trusted God with the adoption from day one.  It has taken months for each project to develop.  Not easy for someone who wants it all done yesterday, but that's what prayer and trusting God will do for you.  He allows for it all in His perfect timing.  

I have a dear friend who has offered to help me sell shirts at our upcoming state dental meeting!  She is managing a main exhibit booth.  She too is going through the adoption process.  The dental convention begins tomorrow.  Our office will be packing up and traveling to North Myrtle Beach for a few days of classes.  May I ask you to please be in prayer for safe travels, the opportunity for fun and fellowship, and for our t-shirt sales to be a success?  Sure it's great to earn money, but bringing attention to what our Father has done for us and through us is always first and foremost.  I pray for the opportunity to share our story and the story of hope and redemption through adoption!  

All the work, all the sleepless nights, all the blood, sweat and tears, all the knee bending prayer.....is it all worth it?  I know I do not begin to have all the answers.  Jeff and I are not perfect people.  However, our one main goal has always been to serve Jesus through all of this, to let people see His light, His glory.  We are more than confident in His ability to do all things.  So when people ask me and I ask myself, "Is it all worth it??"  I can without a doubt answer boldy, "YES!"

I look forward to posting an update from the state dental meeting!  I can't wait to share with you again my friends!  Thank you each and every one for loving us and supporting us.  Your prayers and encouragement carry us!  

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your upcoming adoption! I saw your update through a friend's post on Facebook. I have 2 adopted sons who are almost 12, and I was just like you 13 years ago! It's encouraging to see your passion and energy poured into following Christ through adoption. I hope it is everything you imagine. I would encourage you to look into a program called TBRI by Dr. Karyn Purvis from TCU. I wish we'd known about it sooner. Both of our sons are exhibiting varying degrees of RAD that we were not prepared to deal with beforehand. One of our sons was different from day 1. They think that since his birth mom was in a difficult relationship, his natural biorhythms couldn't adapt to a peaceful, loving environment. It is heartbreaking trying to raise kids who hate you for loving them. It really is a reflection of Jesus' love for us. The people he died for hated him and rejected him. I'm not anti adoption, but I do want other parents to be more prepared than we were 12 years ago. TBRI is easy to follow and will help you learn to spot the signs of attachment issues earlier rather than later. It is by far the best parenting tool I've ever seen...and we go back to the days of Dobson. (We have 2 older strong willed biological daughters.) Best wishes! It is all worth it! Tina Simpson

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    1. Adoption is a wonderful thing! Thank you for the information. I will definitely research the program and ideas you mentioned. I appreciate you reaching out. We need all the help we can get!

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