Win an amazon.com gift card!

We are so excited to announce our next fundraiser! We know that most of you have already started your Christmas shopping and if you haven't you are stressing as you think about all the Christmas shopping you need to do. So much time and money! So, we want to help make it a little easier and more exciting for you. You ready for this?

You have the chance to win a $500 AMAZON Gift Card. Oh yes, you just read that right... a $500 gift card. Do I have your attention now? Good!

Here is how it will work. We bought a deck of cards. As you know there are 52 cards in a deck. For $25, we will write your name on one of those cards and enter it into the drawing. You have a 1 in 52 chance to win $500, those are pretty good odds my friends!

On December 1st or when all cards are sold (whichever comes first), we will draw one card at  random. If your name is on that card, you win $500 to spend on Amazon! Amazon is our go to shopping spot. You can pretty much find ANYTHING you need on there and with a click of a button, have it delivered to your door. If you have a prime account, you can get most stuff within 2 days and with no shipping cost!

So, here are 2 things we are asking you to do:

1) If you would like to purchase a card for a chance to win, please click on our paypal button (at the top left of the blog) and donate $25. Include the name you would like on the card.

2) SHARE this blog post with your friends through Facebook or email. We want to sell all 52 cards as quickly as possible so that the winner can get to shopping. Amazon always has GREAT black Friday deals, so if we can sell them fast, the winner will get more bang for their buck.

 Remember your donation is helping us to reach our fundraising goal to get our little guy home from Ethiopia. Let's see how fast we can sell these cards. One lucky person is going to be a very happy shopper!

Where in the World is Our Adoption Tee at? Post # 20

It has been a while since we have done a blog post because I tend to do most of our updates via FB, since it is quick and easy. I forgot that I had received a picture of a precious family wearing our adoption tees a while back and I wanted to make sure to give them a shout out because they are just AWESOME!

Meet Andy Wayne and Krista Chance along with their 7 totally adorable kiddos. I cannot tell you how much I love this family! When I was in college and attended a church in Hammond, Andy Wayne came on as the associate pastor. Through church, small group, game nights and just hanging out we came to know and love this family.

I look up to these guys so much! Andy Wayne is a pastor at The Vine Church in Hammond (If you live in Hammond, you should totally check them out). He is also a teacher at Northlake Christian School. He is insanely smart and loves to pass down his knowledge to his kiddos.  I remember hearing from someone in a conversation once, "I know this guy in Hammond who is teaching his 5 year olds Hebrew." I knew immediately it was AW...haha!

Krista is the essence of everything that I want to be when I grow up. She is insanely beautiful on the inside and out, loves the Lord with her whole being, is always joyful and positive (How does she do that?), home schools her kids, teaches workout classes, bakes incredible cakes and sweets, etc. I could go on and on about her. Plain and simple, I love this lady and she inspires me! As for the kids, they are all precious cotton tops with fun and unique personalities who are always so polite when we see them.

We love hanging out with Chance Crew any chance we get. We are so thankful that they bought adoption tees for the whole family and sported them proudly to church. Thank you Chance family for your love, support, and friendship. We love you guys so much!

Had to add in the one with Esther Kate's silly face. Makes me giggle!

LuLaRoe Shows the Love

One of the coolest parts about this adoption process so far, is seeing the people who have been touched by our story and want to jump in and be a part of it. I have mentioned several people who have come up with their own unique ways to help us with the cost of this adoption from offering legal services to making our adoption video, selling homemade body products,  donating talents and items, cutting hair, etc. Today, I have another fabulous lady to tell you about.

 I met Christy about 2 years ago through one of the neighborhood block parties that we threw. I found out that we had mutual friends and I would see her at events on occasion. A few weeks ago she attended a ladies night with our church. I had heard that she started doing trunk shows with LuLaRoe. 

LuLaRoe sells the cutest most comfy maxi skirts, A line skirts, pencil skirts and dresses. I congratulated her on her new business venture. She proceeded to tell me that our family had been on her heart with the adoption and she wanted to use this business not only as an income source, but a way to give back. She felt like our adoption was how she wanted to do that. I got choked up! It is so amazing how God is laying this adoption not only on our hearts but others as well.  

Christy told me that her plan was that every time she does a trunk show, she will give the people there a chance to enter a drawing for a free maxi skirt. You can get 1 raffle ticket for $2 or 3 tickets for $5. WOW...what a great deal! I would totally be entering that drawing. She is then going to use that money from the raffles at her Trunk Shows and donate it to us to go towards our fundraising efforts. She has our little picture up at the shows and is sharing our story with her clients. I was so touched and humbled, as I was reminded that this adoption is WAY bigger than us! 

I remember her saying, "I know it's not much, but I wanted to help in some way." I told her that the heart behind it means more to me than any amount of money and that we are so appreciative for any amount, no matter how big or small. I just love that God has placed people in our lives who are willing to be creative and supportive in so many ways, big and small. Each person who has stepped up in some way is a source of encouragement for Evan and I and we are thankful.

If you are interested in booking a trunk show with Christy, contact her via her FB page. It's super easy and fun! She brings all of the items to you. Invite your friends to come over and try them on at the party and leave with their new wardrobe in hand! No sales pitch, no catalog, just trying on some adorable clothes with your closest friends. There is also a way to earn a free skirt and get items at a discount.  Many of my friends have recently purchased from her and every time I see them in their LuLaRoe, I fall more in love with their line. Comfortable, affordable and super cute!

Thank you Christy for thinking of us while you embark on this new fashionable journey! 

Going once, Going Twice...SOLD!

One week from today, on October 1, 2013, our FB auction benefiting our adoption will go live at 8:30 p.m (central). I am so beyond excited! We have over 60 items up for bid. So many people have donated to the auction and we truly have a great variety of items to auction off. This is a great chance to get some early Christmas shopping done and help our adoption at the same time. Here is how the auction will work:

Once the auction is live, you may place a bid on the item by typing your bid amount in the comments section. Please note that each item has a starting bid in the description. Bid amounts must be in whole dollar increments and can continue to go up in price until the auction closes on Tuesday, October 8th at 8:30 p.m. Be sure to check on the items you have bid on throughout the week to make sure you are still the highest bidder.

Most of the items can be shipped, however if they are shipped the shipping charge listed will be added to your total bid amount. Some items may be for local pick up only and we will arrange a time and place to meet for those items.

Please keep in mind that while, yes, there are some great deals on our auction and we want you to get an item for a great deal, the purpose of this auction is to raise money to help bring an orphan into a family. The more you share our link (even though you really want to win that item), the more money we bring in and the closer we get to our fundraising goal. PLEASE share the link on your FB page!

The actual auction page is not available as of yet. When it is go time, I will post the link on our McGinty Adoption FB page and you can access it from there. I am currently uploading pictures and writing descriptions of each item to get the auction ready.

All payments will be paid through paypal and if you are the highest bidder on the item, then we will send an invoice to your email. Please, if you bid on an item and win, make sure you check your messages and respond in order that we may send you an invoice. Invoices will be sent out within a week from the time we receive your email address and must be paid within 3 days of receiving your invoice. All of these rules will be on the auction page, just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Honestly, I wish that I could bid on every item in our auction because they are that awesome, but that would defeat the purpose. You guys are in for some good treats! Make sure to "Like" our FB page if you have not already and be ready next Tuesday, October 1st at 8:30 p.m. (Central time) to place your bids. Gosh, I can hardly stand it y'all! I really cannot wait to see what God does. Giving this all up to HIM. I know he will use it as he sees fit and bring in the money according to his plan. Happy Shopping Friends!

Be prepared to get as excited as this lady when you win!

Put on some deodorant and get ya hair did.

Within the past 2 weeks, 2 really awesome ladies have done something pretty cool. On their own, they have come up with mini fundraisers, using their talents in order to raise money for our adoption. With both girls, they didn't even tell me about it. I just got on facebook one day and saw where they had shared our adoption video/FB page and posted about how they were trying to raise money for us. What a total surprise and blessing! I love this for so many reasons.

First of all, it is so awesome to know that people are thinking about us and our son, praying for us and genuinely want to help bring him home. Secondly, these ladies acted on that. They may not have been able to donate finances on their own, but they thought out of the box and used their talents in order to raise money. I love their creativity and willingness to help. Third, because they decided to fundraise, they allowed other people to now be a part of bringing our son home by reaching people that we may not have reached. Basically they are AWESOME! Now let me share with you what they came up with.

First up is Julie Losch. Julie is a neighbor of mine. We met through a neighborhood block party and our kids go to Awana together. Julie makes wonderful natural body products like body butter and deodorant. She had a large batch of deodorant that came out a little softer than her normal batch. So, she discounted them at $5 each (incentive) and advertised that all of the proceeds were going to us (wow!). Julie shared our story on FB, including on our community swap pages. She quickly sold all 13 of her deodorants. One thing that she did that I loved, was she bought a card and as people picked up their deodorant, they signed the card and wrote encouraging messages to us.

Julie delivered the card filled with $75 from her sales along with a donation of some of her natural products for our upcoming FB auction (be on the lookout for them). It was such a sweet surprise for us. Julie, thank you for thinking out of the box and loving us in a tangible way. We so appreciate it!

                                                

Up next is our friend, Chelsea White. We used to go to church with Chelsea and her husband Zoe. We get to see each other on occasion for fun get together nights. Chelsea may very well be one of the funniest people I have ever met...no seriously...HILARIOUS! She is a hair stylist, so she used her scissor skills to raise money for us. Once again, I got on FB and saw how she tagged me in a post. Check it out below:

How awesome! She gave an incentive for others to get a haircut. She set a time limit on it, which made it fun and enticing. She managed to raise over $120 in one hour! I loved this so much! Thank you Chelsea for giving of your talents and time to benefit bringing our son home. There are going to be some great looking people out there with new spiffy haircuts and our fundraising thermometer gets to jump up...yay!

Thank you ladies for getting creative and totally surprising us with these fundraisers. We feel your love and support and it really means so much that you would think to put together something on your own to  help give our boy a family. We love y'all and are inspired and encouraged by your hearts!

Orphan Care: A Call to Justice

Last week I shared about the totally cool fundraiser that my cousin and her church put together for us called "Adopt a Pie." While it was AWESOME to see our fundraiser go up by $1,042, one of the really great things about this event, was that I got to share about the orphan crisis and practical ways for EVERYONE to get involved in some way. I want to share some of those ways with you in hopes that you will see that YOU can do something to make a difference. Now let me warn you, this blog post is long, it is filled with information. So, make sure you have time to read it and then do your own research when you have some time.

First and foremost, I want to share the "WHY" behind caring for orphans. As believers, we come back to God's word for the way we should live our lives. We don't care for orphans because it is a feel good act, gives us a sense of pride, gains us favor with God, is trendy, etc. We care for orphans because our Creator tells us to. We care for orphans in response to what God has done for us. Orphans are near and dear to God's heart. Orphans or the "fatherless" are mentioned in the bible over 40 times. Here are a few of the scriptures that refer to orphans. Read these and then YOU decide if orphan care is important to God.

James 1:27
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this, to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Isaiah 1:17
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

John 14:18
"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."

Psalm 82:3
"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute."


And ultimately it is a reflection of what God did for us:

Ephesians 1:5
"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. That is what he wanted to do and it gave him great pleasure."


Now that we know God's heart for the orphan, let me share some statistics with you in order to show you that even though we may not come face to face with orphans everyday, even though this problem may seem so distant from us, it is indeed a problem and as believers, we are CALLED to step up and do something about it ("So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17).

- There are an estimated 147 million orphans in the world.  (Not all of these orphans are available for adoption)

-If all of the orphans in the word held hands, they would circle the earth 3 1/2 times.

-Over 400,000 children are in the foster care system. That is enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys Stadium 4 times.

- The number of children waiting for a mentor would stretch 5 miles long.

-If just 1 family in every 3 churches would adopt a child, there would be no more orphans in the U.S.

-There are more than 5,000 children in the Louisiana foster care system today.



Those are some pretty big numbers and we can easily brush them off thinking that we can't even begin to put a dent in them or someone else will do it. I want to tell you WE CAN! We can make a difference, and not only that, we are supposed to make a difference if we are following Christ. This will look different for every person. Is everyone called to adopt? No. But everyone is called to do SOMETHING!

Here are some practical ways that you can do SOMETHING. I won't go into deep details on each subject, but encourage you to find where you can step up and dig deeper. So, here we go:

1) Adoption (Domestic, International, Foster to Adopt)

I love this quote by Max Lucado on Adoption:
"If anybody understands God's ardor for his children, it is someone who has taken an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God has adopted you. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home."

I never thought that we would fall into this category. Adoption was not on my radar, not part of my plan but God laid it on my heart. I went through every fear and excuse as to why we should not adopt, but God pressed harder. My husband was hardened to the idea, even laughed at the idea. Through prayer and accountability, here we are 8 months into an International Adoption. I want to encourage you that if you have ever even slightly thought about adoption, pray about it, get more info, ask questions. It is a hard but beautiful thing that is not only bringing an orphaned child into a forever family, but bringing both Evan and I into a closer relationship with Christ as we go through the process.

There are a lot of legalities to go through when it comes to adoption, a lot of money and a lot of time. But God is faithful to what he has called us to. Every country and agency has different requirements and costs. If you have ever considered adoption, you probably have a million questions. I cannot possibly answer them here and may not even have the answers, but please feel free to send me a message with any question you may have and I will do my best to answer them from what I do know. Also, I have LOVED our agency, Lifeline. I do highly recommend them, even though they are not local (they are located in Birmingham, AL). They can answer many questions you may have. They work with several countries and have been so helpful.

You can also find out more information on adopting domestically from your state's Department of Child and Family Services website. Here is the one for Louisiana: Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services

2) Support an Adoptive Family

This is an easy way to get involved, plus you get to follow along on the journey. I know for those people who have given financially, prayed for us and our son, encouraged us, put together fundraisers, participated in fundraisers, donated items for our auction, they are now part of our son's story. I have said it before, adoption takes a village. What an honor to literally play a part in getting a child home to his forever family. There are so many ways that you can support an adoptive family. Besides the ones I mentioned above, I have had couples offer to watch our kids while we go to the coffee shop and work on adoption paperwork. That is HUGE help!

Once a family comes home with their child, they will go through a BIG adjustment period, offer to cook them a meal and drop it off to them. Babysit their bio kids so they have time to bond with their adopted child. There are so many ways to get creative here and tangibly show your love and support for a family. We are not all called to adopt, some are called to support those that are called to adopt. What fun, creative, thoughtful ways can you support a family that is or has recently adopted?

3) Foster Care

As you saw in the statistics above, there is a LARGE need for foster parents. Fostering involves going through classes, a home study and some legal paperwork to get you qualified to foster. You can find out more about fostering at this link if you are in Louisiana: Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services: Foster Care . If you are not local, check out your state's website.

Fostering is a wonderful way to show love and stability to a child who does not know what that looks like. It may be as short as a night or as long as a few years. It could even be over a holiday. What a blessing your family could be to a child who does not know love or what a healthy family looks like, especially a family who loves the Lord. I love what my sister in law says: "God hasn't even promised me tomorrow with my own kids. He has given me THIS moment to love on them. So, why not love on another child, even if it is just for THIS moment." Beautiful right? Fostering can also lead to adoption if the child is relinquished from their birth parents or caregivers . I have heard you should not go into fostering expecting to adopt, but that outcome can occur after a long period of time.

4) Sponsorships

-Compassion International (I call this preventative orphan care).
For $38 a month, you can sponsor a child whose family can not provide their basic needs for them. One of the biggest reasons for parents abandoning or relinquishing their children is due to poverty. Through compassion you can choose your child by viewing their picture. Your donation gets that child, food, medical care, education, clean water and a chance to hear the gospel. You will receive letters and pictures from your child.

Many studies have been done on if sponsorship actually works and the answer is YES! Check this out:

-Kids with sponsorships are 40% more likely to complete secondary education, 50% more likely to graduate college and 18% more likely to attain salary employment (which means they can care for their families. Therefore, you are now helping not only the current generation, but the future generation).

-Respire Haiti:
This is the organization that I went to work with in December of 2012 that confirmed adoption for me. I will be going back in December to work with them again for a week. It was started by a Louisiana girl who said "yes" to God and what he had planned for her life. God is so in this organization and it is obvious. He has blessed all of their work and efforts. From an empty mountaintop where a local pastor and his wife prayed for change and help, to a school for 500 plus kids, a medical facility, 2 feeding programs, English classes, a Cafe for locals to work in, and so much more. Each child that attends this school is sponsored. For $250 for the year, you can sponsor a child to get a years worth of education, uniforms, books, and a meal.

A large portion of the children at this school are Restaveks (child slaves) who have been sold to families to be the domestic care taker. Respire gives these children a way out of that lifestyle by educating them. I have seen these kids faces, have held their hands, have looked into their eyes. They are grateful to be in that school and have so much joy because of it! Consider sponsoring a child before their school year starts in October.

-(Un)adopted:
This organization is founded by our adoption agency, Lifeline. It is based on the principle that so many kids age out of the system. By 16, kids are usually kicked out of orphanages, with no hope of being adopted. They are lost as to how to care for themselves, make a living, cook a meal. Many of them by default end up living lives of sexual exploitation, drug abuse and slavery to "make it." For most of them they don't make it.

(Un)adopted exists to initiate strategies and planning with orphanages, schools, etc in order mentor these kids, and equip them with job & life skills. Check out their website. You can choose different countries and programs to sponsor/give to. Also, a representative from Unadopted will be on the Northshore to share more about this amazing program. Our great friends, The Lomans, will be having a HUGE fundraiser on Nov. 16th from 3-6 p.m. at Terra Bella square. There will be food, live music, a silent auction, a bounce house, balloon animals, popcorn and more info about Unadopted. Please come out and join in the fun. The proceeds will go towards the Loman Family's fundraising efforts to bring their sweet little Emily Hope home from China and towards supporting (Un)adopted. That is 2 ways in 1 to care for orphans!

5) Children's Homes
I was so surprised when I heard that here on the Northshore, we have a children's home. Why did I not know this? I guess it is obvious that I was oblivious to these things until God gave me eyes to see and people brought it to my attention. This is a great way to get involved locally. If you are not a Northshore resident, check to see if you have a Children's Home in your area and find out how you can get involved.

-Methodist Children's Home:
The MCH is located in Mandeville, LA across from Fontainebleau State Park. They currently have 16 kids, ages 11-16 that live there. They are there due to abuse, neglect, behavior, etc. They are in custody of the state for one reason or another. These kids need love. These kids need fun. They need mentors and people who care enough about them to show them. Here are some ways you can get involved:

-Get a group of friends/small group together and go throw a party for them. Give them a fun day! A group from our church did a water games, pizza and outdoor movie night for them and the kids kept asking when they were coming back.
-Use your talents/skills to teach them. Offer to give an art class, teach cooking lessons, etc.
-Donate gift cards for something fun for them to do away from the home. They love the movies, McDonalds, a pizza joint, etc.
- Become a mentor. You do have to go through training for this and they are really in need of male mentors for the boys. You can mentor once a week or once a month. What a difference a little one on one time from someone who shows they care can make for these kids.
-Support their upcoming Golf Classic Fundraiser by sponsoring to play or donating gift baskets or items for door prizes.
-You can get more details on ways to help by contacting Monica Boucvault at (985) 626-6649.

6) Economy (root of the problem)

Finally I want to talk about a really cool thing called Micro Lending. As mentioned earlier, many families give their children up or abandon them simply because they cannot afford to care for them. That makes me sad. No parents should have to give their child up to someone else because they don't have the resources to care for them. Children are meant to stay with their birth families. Orphan care and adoption are beautiful things, but they are a result of a broken world.

-KIVA (also preventative)
There are many Micro-lending organizations out there, but the one that I am going to mention is KIVA. KIVA allows you to give a business loan to a person who has the desire and will to work and provide for their family, but lacks the resources to start it up. You can view their profiles and for as little as a $25 loan help someone start their business. As they begin to make profits, they pay you back.

Is that not the coolest thing ever? What do you have to lose? You can help a father/mother provide for their family and children. Once they pay you back, you can put that money towards helping another person. What an awesome way to bless others with what God has blessed you with.


As you can see, there are so many ways for us to be involved in caring for orphans. This is not an exhaustive list, just one to get you started. I am sure that everyone reading this can do one of these things. Sometimes that may mean stepping out of your comfort zone, sometimes that may mean sacrificing a Starbucks coffee once a week to give financially, sometimes that means giving of your time that is so precious to all of us (because really who has time to spare?) Caring for orphans may not be easy, but what blessing is there in easy? God calls us to step up, to DEFEND orphans, to FIGHT for JUSTICE for them. Pray about where you fit into that role and how God would move you, challenge you and grow you towards his heart for orphans.

Also, know that this should not be a one time event. Caring for orphans should be part of our lives, a normal rhythm to how we seek to be more like Christ and share his love with others. Just because we are adopting an orphan, does not mean that we suddenly stop caring for orphans once our son is home because we did our part. No way! We continue to find ways to love and care for orphans throughout our life.

So where do you feel God tugging at your heart? How can you start today caring for orphans and therefore sharing His love with a child who needs it? I would love for you to share the ways you do that in the comments below. You may just inspire someone else.

Adopt a Pie

My cousin, Shannon, had been wanting to figure out some way to help with our adoption. It is so much fun when people come up with fun ideas and ways to help! She is a fellow stay at home momma and home schools her 3 kids. She can also bake a mean pie. She came up with a totally unique idea called "Adopt a Pie" in order to allow me to speak on orphan care at her church and raise money for our adoption. It was a great night of sharing our story, my heart, and practical ways for EVERYONE to get involved in orphan care.

The event included some of my most favorite things: Adoption, Orphans, Aprons and Pie. Everyone was encouraged to wear an apron and there was a contest for the oldest and most unique apron. There was also a pie silent auction. About 13 people baked pies and everyone got the chance to bid on the one they wanted to take home  or "adopt." Let me just say that I was tempted to dig into each and every one of those pies and gobble them up. They all looked so yummy and some ladies were battling it out down to the seconds before the auction ended for the pie they wanted. They also gave out some fun door prizes! It was a great night.

A big thank you to Northshore Bible Church for hosting this event, to the Ladies Board for putting it together, to everyone who baked a pie, came to listen and donated towards our adoption. Thank you for letting me share my heart Monday night. I will be doing another post soon to discuss some of the things I talked about at the event. As believers, we are all called to care for orphans in some way. I was able to share some of those ways and I look forward to sharing them on our blog with all of you.

I am sure you are all curious how much we raised at Adopt a Pie, so here it is. Between the pie auction and a love offering, we raised....................


A whopping $1,042


I had to add the numbers twice because I thought surely the number was wrong....haha! God is so good y'all! He provides! He provides! He provides! And he uses his people to do it. So, thank you again to all who gave, we are overwhelmed with your generosity.

Here are some photos from the night:

This is my cousin, Shannon, who came up with this fun idea. And no, I am not wearing a cow print dress, that is actually my apron. When I walked out wearing that, my husband looked at me in horror because he thought it was my dress. Guess I can't blame him.

Pies and bid sheets ready to go

The Women's Board, who worked so hard to throw this event together. Thank you Ladies!

Had to get a picture of this cute preggo, Jess, in her apron. It was too perfect.

The bidding wars have begun...

The delicious pies, and yes, I took a picture of every one of them. They were too yummy looking not to. Which one would you have bid on?

Some of the sweet ladies at the event...

Announcing the auction winners......

All of the winners with their pies:

Talk about a deliciously fun and profitable event! Thank you Shannon for getting creative and coming up with a cool idea to help out our adoption and get the word out on the orphan crisis!