Pictures of Waiting..

On the journey to fill these shoes with little feet {baby jones} 

Leather Feather Clip - $7.00

These Leather Feather Clips are as versatile as the felted Poppy Clips.
Worn separately or mixed with other accessories they add pop to any ho-hum ponytail or bun.

As with the Poppy clips I have adorned these on scarfs, purse straps, necklace with baubles, sweaters and shirt collars. So transitional.

The colors from top are:

Brown
Neutral
Gold

Not listed - Black and Red

Your purchase(s) can be made at the Leather Feather Clip pay button on your right.
So hip and mod :)

Feathering the Nest Collection

It is a joy for me to introduce my "Feathering the Nest Collection"
I love creating and sharing the joy of things I have created.
It occurred to my heart that I can create to prepare the way for our Little Jonesy.

I chose "Feathering the Nest" because it reminds me of what a momma bird does to prepare for her young. She gathers sticks, leaves and even her own feathers to thicken the placement of her eggs while awaiting their hatching.

Feathering the Nest also reminds me how God so tenderly cares for us, His children..

Psalms 91:4

He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Jesus even spoke in Matthew 6

²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

Oh how he cares for us..

So in the collection thus far,  I have Poppy Flowers, Leather Feathers and Wire Birds Nest necklaces and rings that make up the "Feathering the Nest Collection".

ENJOY! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Blown Away...

total Latergram/post

February 22, 2013 will go in the history books of the Jones family as one amazing night

Many of you saw posts on Facebook and Instagram of our Coffee House Fundraiser..that looked something like this.. 

and saying we were blown away by our fundraiser is such an understatement. 

Thank you a million times Stephanie, Carolyn, Sarah and Meredith for yalls vision..
It was these gals along with students of UMHB CRU for Life (a pro-life organization on campus that has adopted us to encourage and support us on this journey) did an absolutely beautiful job of organization and servantheartedness. I know that whoever walked into the coffeehouse that night knew that something big was going on and in our hearts we knew that God was going on.

 As Phillip and I try to recount the amazingness of that night we still shake our heads with no words to describe the magical evening it was. 

The music provided by sibling duo Sarah and Caleb Hurst was soulful as well as with cheerfulness and grooviness..Keep your eyes and ears out for Sarah's gifted voice to be captured on CD in the coming months...Yay~Sarah!

For 2 hours we had a steady flow of visitors that ranged from people we had never seen before to family and friends who came from out of town to be with us on this special night. It was so organized that all we had to do is walk around and have our cups filled with love, laughter and joy.

The blessing of the night is the coffee house broke record with their sales in which we prayed for their success. In light of this, we raised enough money to pay for 2 of our first major fees.This is so much more than what we hoped for and our hearts could burst from the overflow of love we received.

I still close my eyes and remember the glow and warmth of such an evening that God reminds our hearts that we are not alone and to keep on in the way he has called us to walk in..

So now we continue..

We are working on a bundle of paperwork..uhm..40 or so pages. It seems this process requires a lot of multi-tasking. Things we are on now are Dossier prep (a packet of information sent to the Chinese govt for review)...I guess you could say it's government work!

Within this paperwork we are working on our next big step which is our Home Study. This is the point in which you open the doors to our lives and let people ask you questions....lots and lots of questions. Sounds like a more intense speed-dating relationship. Really though, it's one of the bigger milestones we'll have, but as we meet with a home study worker, we'll also be preparing other documentation. 

Some of those things are renewing of passports, immigration applications, citizenship info, going to the doctor for wellness check-ups, preparing Jonesy's room, and I'm sure other things we haven't even learned about yet. It seems like a lot to talk about...and it is, but as we journal about these things, it really does put things at ease.

So hang on for the ride. 

We really do value your prayers as the great work of the unseen. Pray for our Jonesy and pray for our strength,and persistent endurance as we plant deeply into the power of the Holy Spirit that is alive and at work in and through us in this process. Oh to praise the One who walks with us and has adopted us through Jesus into His great family. Our God is the Author of this story and in His kindness has invited us to be a part. 

the unseen

Hello friends!

I am just going to say it, writing a blog is tough to do.

Looking and waiting for something to "report on" is easier said than done..
esp. when you are camped out in the --white space-- of the unseen..

The ---white space-- is where the journey is for us right now.. 
It's the left side of the red line of a piece of notebook paper..the margin.. 
The place after God says--this is the way walk in it...
but the space before what we are walking towards becomes a reality. 

Hebrews 11:1 captures this chapter of waiting for us so beautifully..
Faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CONFIDENT in what we do not see..
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; 
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
It means sold out believing in what God told us and imprinted so certain on our hearts..
its our quiet knowing 
that slaps up against a superspeed please me now whats taking so long kind of wall.

So to write within the margins of the seen and unseen of what really is happening is tough to do. 

How do I report on the eyes of faith of what we don't physically see?

Yet there is an unshakable peace in knowing what the deep pursuing eyes of God does see.

God sees and cares for our little Jonesy while we cannot not physically hold her, she is safest in His care miles & miles away from us..

We're adopting!

We're adopting!

So much weight seems to fall with those words. Unknown and excitement, fear and clarity all mixed up to create a beautiful journey. There is really no magical sense we came to that we woke up one day and said "Hey, let's adopt!" After 13 years of marriage we remember our dating conversations that would flutter around about children and we both were passionate about adoption. Really no question. 

Over the years our hearts have grown deeper with a compassion to look after the fatherless. As in James 1:27 God tells us to look after orphans and widows in their distress..and we have felt the weight of the growing numbers of babies of all ages with out forever homes.

So why do we write. With all humility we do not write because we have things to say. We write because God has something to say. We only hope as you follow that you could be encouraged in our attempts to raise children to see that out of their hard places, God has a plan and purpose for them and loves them deeply. We write because we know we will not do this perfectly, but in this journey of tiny successes and bittersweet failures you will also see God's amazing grace and His heart for the fatherless.

Come travel with us.