Slowly By Slowly-Negrete Adoption

We are praying daily that "the" call comes but so far it's just been quiet. Friday evenings are especially hard as we know the soonest we could get the referral is the next Monday. But, today's Friday afternoon is a little brighter!! At the end of school, when my kids were packing up to go home (all teachers know how crazy those few minutes are) I got a call from a grant organization. They have approved us for a $4,000 grant!! Hallelujah! We are so grateful and excited for this extra financial help!! Please pray we get our referral by Christmas, we wait with expectant hope...exactly what this season is all about!

We have over 100 items listed in our auction this year. We are continually blown away and so blessed by each and every item and all the people who have stepped in to help in this way. You can check it out here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435369746717958/ Bidding starts on Wednesday and goes until Saturday at 9PM PST. Get some Christmas shopping done early!! Here are just a few of the items: Happy Bidding!!

This past weekend we had the amazing opportunity to live out James 1:27 through our Both Hands project. I've wanted to do a Both Hands project long before we began our adoption. It's such an amazing blending of caring for orphans and widows at the same time. JT's (the founder) story is amazing (https://vimeo.com/49870537), he's seen the power of blessing the orphan and the widow first hand. This same care goes into all projects under his organization. They were easy to get a hold of, quickly responded to calls or emails. We had numerous phone calls with JT himself, we felt cared for and supported all along the way. We got to spend the day blessing sweet Greer. This amazing woman suddenly lost her beloved husband 3 years ago. We remember him as the man around Biola who wore the big straw hat. He cared so well for the students and faculty of Biola but was an even more amazing father and husband. He is so deeply missed! It's not to late to sponsor our team, visit h...

Friends, I'll keep it short and sweet but we are dancing around here. We're #1 on the wait list!! That means the next child/children approved for adoption that meet our parameters will be ours!! You hear that...ours, our son our daughter. We will be parents, a mama and papa! We are so so excited! Please be praying for us and our future kid(s) in the wait! Come on God, move mountains!!

Look, isn't it beautiful!! We finished the puzzle 2 days ago. It's going to look amazing hanging in the kid room! We can't wait to read all the names on the back with our future child/children. It's overwhelming to see all the people who donated in this way. We have been so blessed by so many who have supported us not only financially but in every way. We are so grateful for each and every one of you!!

Our Both Hands project 2 weeks from today, we've been busy preparing, getting donations, taking pictures and measurements to bless sweet Greer. We can't wait to tangibly bless her in this way! We've assembled our team and spent multiple Saturdays at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware and True Value seeking donations, we'd appreciate your prayers that these stores are willing to partner with us! Our  Both Hands  page is up and running and we have our letter sending party tonight!! We've already seen God's blessing on our project in many ways. We had all our colored copy letters printed...600 of them for free! Two local shops agreed to split the cost. Both mentioned business is slow but were still happy to partner with us saving us hundreds of dollars in printing! We had another Both Hands family send us 200 envelopes and stuffing envelopes they had left over from their project. They sent it as their support for our project and saved us money as well!! ...

Nothing has changed on the adoption front but we are hitting fundraising hard! Just Love has updated their website and our profile. You can support us and enjoy yummy coffee at  http://justlovecoffee.com/ Beneficiary/Profile/2509 Our Both Hands project is in fully swing, you can check out our profile at http://www.bothhands.org/project/negrete-5059 Other than that, we're still truckin along at #2 waiting for "the call". I have my sub plans all ready to go for referral day so I can jet off and be with Chris! Please Jesus let it be soon!