Update

We are going tomorrow to the adoption agency for our first interview to begin our homestudy process. All of our paperwork for the most part has been turned in. Donations keep rolling in a little at a time and we keep getting closer to our goal. It's just amazing really. People who we don't even really know who are buying shirts or making donations. Only God could do that!

We are heading out Saturday on a getaway for our anniversary and it cannot come soon enough!! I am so ready to have some time away with Stephen to just relax and hang out just the two of us. We'll be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. We have a lot to celebrate as God has blessed us so much over these last 10 years!!

Once we get back in town then it's time to begin working on our PROFILE. This is the book we will make that birthmoms will look through in order to choose an adoptive family for her baby. If you wold be so kind as to pray for some creative juices to start flowing because they are not and I'm gonna need some! I'm just not feelin' it....but it's gotta get done!!

He Just Keeps Showing Up!

Okay, the check just came from Chick-Fil-A and it was $100 more dollars than it was supposed to be! God is SO GOOD! It's completely unbelievable how little by little the funds for our adoption just keep rolling in! I talked with the owner for awhile on the phone and he asked lots of questions about our adoption and seemed to really care....even though he runs a business and could have written the check for exactly what we raised....he chose to be generous and give more!! The note that was with the check read....

Jessica,
Congrats on your decision to adopt. May this be a wonderful time of blessing for you and yours. Hope the extra helps!!

Signed,
The wonderful owner of Chick-Fil-A
(he really signed his name but I didn't ask him if I could share it here)

So that brings our new Chick-Fil-A total to 1,080!! Remember my goal was 1,000 that I prayed for so God of course gave us more!! Why would I think otherwise, especially since the verse we have been praying for this adoption is Ephesians 3:20 which says "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."

More Pics from Chick-Fil-A Night!

Chick-Fil-A Night

On Thursday night we had our Highpoint Family Night at Chick-Fil-A and LOTS of our friends, family, and church family came out to support us! The kids had a blast playing in the play area and getting their faces painted and the adults had fun too and got to visit for a little while. It was such a fun night and I think Caroline was just on overload the whole night. She didn't really understand how she knew everyone in the whole restaurant...church friends, other friends, and family all in the same place on the same night. I didn't remember to take pictures until the very end of the night so the only pictures I have are from the late crew who were still around. So, everyone has been dying to know how much money we raised so here is our total. Drum roll please...........$980!!! That's almost 1,000 dollars! Some of that is in t-shirt sales and donations...our goal was to raise 1,000 for the night in food purchases, t-shirt sales, and donations and we almost made it!

Some of you have asked where we are in the process as far as the adoption goes. We turned in our first round of paperwork about 3 weeks ago and we will get started on our homestudy soon. Then we will begin working on our profile(scrapbook) and once that is turned in we will officially be on the waiting list! So, hopefully all that will be done by late June and then any time after that we could be bringing home a baby!!

We just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support!! We continue to be in awe of God's faithfulness to us!

What a day....

We had a picnic after church today at Highpoint and it was a beautiful day for it! I was worried after all those storms yesterday that we wouldn't be able to have it or at least have it outside but we did and we sold lots of shirts and passed out lots of flyers for our night at Chick-fil-a!! We raised $850 through donations and selling our shirts! We are so thankful for the support of our church family...they are incredible. When God said it was time for us to adopt again and that He would provide the money....He meant it! And why do we doubt? My heart is overflowing right now....we feel SO LOVED! Makes me think of that song..."Oh how He loves us!"

Here are some pictures from today...I don't have a lot because my camera battery was dead so thankfully some friends have passed some along!

A heart of gratitude...

My heart is so full of gratitude right now. I'm grateful for what God is doing and who He is using to do HIS work. It's amazing to me how many people have stepped up to help and it's just the beginning of this journey. Thank you to all who have purchased a shirt, made a donation, or have offered your time to help us. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us!!

Another opportunity to show your support.....

Highpoint Family Night
At Chick-Fil-A
supporting Baby Stancil's adoption

Thursday, May 6th
Come anytime from 5-9 pm
1230 South Germantown Parkway
Chick-fil-a near Humphreys

Twenty percent of your purchase will
go towards our adoption fund!

To the least of these ...

Our refrigerator is covered in so many things these days. Pictures of family and friends, save-the-dates and announcements, wedding invitations and recipes and funny magnets my mom has given me over the years. And artwork. Little scribbles of pinks and purples and yellows and blues, all scribbled outside the lines with the artist’s name near the bottom (that someone had written for her) …

by: Caroline.

~

Soon after Paul and I married (almost) four years ago we began attending Highpoint Church. It was through Highpoint that we got involved in a small group, and through this small group that we met Jessica and Stephen. I believe that each of us have a story to tell, and from the beginning I found myself completely drawn to theirs. After years of trying to have a baby, and many closed doors, Jess and Stephen began to feel the tug of adoption on their hearts. And soon after we met them, and with this new vision … they began their first journey with adoption.

What a blessing to have walked through this particular season of life with this precious family. For so many years, while her best friends were giving birth to their first and second and third … Jessica was giving her desire to be a mother over and again to the Lord. Waiting with expectancy that He would one day give her the desire of her heart. She dutifully hosted baby showers, showed up with casseroles on her friend’s doorsteps when they brought babies home from the hospital.

And waited.

Almost a year after we met Jess and Stephen, the time had finally come. After months of paperwork with the adoption agency … and being chosen to parent a child by a birth mother hundreds of miles away … and preparing for a baby … it was April.

Springtime … a time for rebirth and new beginnings … for everything there is a season …

I arrived one April afternoon at their house and sat down on the living room floor to help Jessica pack suitcases and bags. They were going to Texas and would be there for quite awhile awaiting the government “okay” for the open adoption to finalize (before they could return to Tennessee) … so packing in and of itself was quite a feat. I remember praying and praying that day … for the birth mother and for the courageous decision she was making to place this baby… for the two people who I knew would love this new baby to pieces … and for the sweet baby girl, specifically, that she would always know how much she was loved. A few days later Jessica and Stephen were off to Texas … and returned several weeks later … with a baby in their arms.

God’s goodness … a desire fulfilled … so many prayers … answered.

Sweet Caroline.

~

Fast forward two years later … and I was standing in the dining room on the day of Caroline’s 2^nd birthday. As we all gathered around this little brown-eyed girl to sing the birthday song, her daddy dialed up a special guest from Texas. I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks when we began to sing to her … with her birth mother listening in on the cell phone, and I’m sure, singing along too. Happy Birthday, dear Caroline … Happy Birthday to you ....

Life – the greatest of all gifts.

~

We (the friends of Jessica and Stephen) now have the privilege and joy of helping to raise funds for their second adoption. A baby sister or brother for Caroline. We are selling the coolest t-shirts in order to help this family meet their financial goals in order to bring another baby home …. and into their hearts and lives. The button on the left sidebar will allow you to order a t-shirt (with the money going directly to their Paypal adoption account).

I saw this scripture used in reference to another adoption fundraising effort recently, and it so resonated with me …

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ –Matthew 25:34-40

~

There is a place for everyone in the story that God is weaving in and through our lives … and all I can say is thank you sweet Lord for allowing me the privilege of being a part of this one …

-Heather Bruce