† Orphan Sunday • Day 9

Was an incredible day. Joy, Melinda and I have worked so hard to bring this day together with our open house and sharing with the community what we had planned.

We started our day at First Assembly where we were invited to speak. The message given by Pastor Randy was awesome. I was so impressed that we made such an impact on his heart and his church that he shared a message devoted to God's heart for the orphan and widow. It was a perfect morning spent with family and friends.
We were just a bit nervous to say the least but people told us we did a great job and thanked us for coming. It really means a lot that Pastor Randy invited us to speak at First Assembly.

My son Tyler loved this slide from the overhead presentation during the sermon.

Pastor Randy Cowart at the open house. My son loves taking pics when people least expect it. :)

Once we left the church we headed to the Open House to set up and decorate. There was a LOT to do. We had lots of help (our boys are big boys), the kids helped move tables and chairs, Joy's mother had made cookies for us and helped decorate, my mom was there to help and let us use her 'yearly' employee use of the center for our event. We didn't have to pay for a space this way and really appreciated it more than she knows. My daughter helped set up displays and Cindy (our friend) was kind enough to do some babysitting duty while we worked. Everything could not have been done without the help of these people. :)
When you entered our event the first thing you saw was the guest book and a poster with our pictures and the proclamation from the mayor. Since we've only been working together for about a month this is us... we will be building a scrapbook soon from our times spent together and our advocating activities! :)
We collected information from various agencies and sponsorship advocates over the last month. We had a whole row of tables dedicated to adoption agencies for international adoption and sponsorship through World Vision and Life Connection Mission (our trip to Haiti) and had pictures and items from our trip displayed.

We had a row dedicated to domestic services and foster care/foster adoption where a specialist from Family Services set up. We enjoyed having Becky with us.
We had a 'coffee house' with a lending library where visitors could sit, enjoy coffee and cookies and check out books that we have collected through our own research and reading. My favorite area was the Christmas area where you could shop from the Christmas Tree of Hope, share in our donation jar or make purchases through World Vision for children around the world. Unfortunately my photographer son forgot to get a pic of that side of the room! lol :) I didn't want to worry about pictures yesterday so some of the things I wanted got missed, but we still have great shots from our event.
We worked really hard and enjoyed spending the day together with our families and a few friends. We missed Melinda and are keeping her and her family in our thoughts and prayers. I'm sure she'll be able to join us soon.

Joy & Jia

Being our only 'officially' adopted sweetheart Miss Jia was the star of the show! The kids all enjoyed playing with her and so did a few of us adults!!! She's precious to say the least! My kids even said they discovered their new 'favorite 3 year old'. She just makes you happy! Her momma would tell you how incredible she is and what an impact she has had on their lives. But I can tell you she's made an impact on so many more people that her little heart realizes. We ♥ u Jia!

Tyler & Jia
And look.... my daughter who favors little boys fell in love with Jia yesterday. Maybe a little sister isn't out of the question. ;)

Then, before our day came to an end we had a pleasant surprise. Ron & Beth Tucker showed up with little Lucy Lu!!! We totally forgot she mentioned wanting to come and meet us and see the open house. Her and her husband drove about 2 hours to come to our Open House. Beth and Joy met through the internet while researching the special needs they had in common with Jia and Lucy. It was so nice to meet them and visit for a while. Lucy is totally adorable too and we loved watching all the kids playing together. When God tells us to become like little children it's so true. Something we need to remember as our kids remind us it doesn't matter where you come from, how old or young you are, or what color your skin is.... we're all God's children. He loves us all the same and the least we can do is to love one another.

Joy, Jia, Jory, Beth & Lucy Lu
Beth and Lucy Lu - We ♥ You!

We had no idea what to expect for our open house but we know God has a plan for us. If only one person was introduced to adoption that will make a difference yesterday and provide hope for God's children then our work was well worth it. We hope everyone else that had an Orphan Sunday event had a terrific day and maybe we all played a part in changing the life of orphans around the world. Thank you to everyone that made our event possible and promoted it for us!

What did you do yesterday? Share your Orphan Sunday event or link in the comments section please!! We'd love to see!

• Day 9 of Prayer •
Today, pray that God would break the heart of your city’s pastors with the plight of orphans. Ask that He would convict them to lead their churches to pray, go, and love in Jesus’ name.