It is so cool how life and faith work...
I got a call from my sister last night (Thursday). Her two sons, Caleb (10) and Ben (8), have decided that they want to do a lemonade stand to help us out. They will be up and running Saturday, April 24 (Dana's birthday) starting around 2 p.m.
WHAT GREAT COUSINS! Thanks Caleb and Ben!
We continue to be humbled by all the ways that God is filling in all the blank pages of this story with His faithfulness. He really is good.
On another note I had a great moment in prayer this week. It has been so easy to anxious about the financial side of all this. It really does seem impossible at times. So I have spent a good bit of time praying for that part of the process. A couple of nights ago, as I was praying, I realized that I have spent much more time praying for the $$ than I have for the child who will come into our family. OUCH.
It was a great reminder that this about a life, a child, a Hunt that is on the way and not money.
I pray that we will love our coming child now more than the money we need to pay for the process. Please pray that with us.
doug
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Notarization and Gifts of Grace and BBQ
Just over a week ago all 4 of us headed to the bank to sign, get notarized, sign, get notarized...over and over and over and over. It was all of our contracts etc. for our adoption agency, AGCI. It felt like a very non-exciting moment but I kept reminding myself that each time we signed we were one tiny step closer to bringing home our new daughter/son.
We also sent out a batch of letters in our first big step in raising funds. That is such "faith moment" for us.
Along side of that we have received a few very unexpected gifts of grace from surprising places. It is very humbling to be loved by people...
We do have another great fundraising event in a couple of weeks. A student in our ministry at BCM has a dad who competes in BBQ contests. He has offered to come to Clemson and help us by putting on BBQ fundraiser. In the process our church, Crosspoint, has offered to support our BBQ by allowing us to hold the event in the church parking lot and letting us sell tickets at the church.
If you are anywhere in the Clemson area on May 1 from 11:30 am -2:00 pm you should come by Crosspoint Church on Hwy 123 and buy a BBQ sandwich. If you can't come but would still like to make a donation you can either do that on-line through the button on this blog or send it through the mail to:
Doug Hunt
416 Rock Creek Rd
Clemson, SC. 29631
Let's Eat!
We also sent out a batch of letters in our first big step in raising funds. That is such "faith moment" for us.
Along side of that we have received a few very unexpected gifts of grace from surprising places. It is very humbling to be loved by people...
We do have another great fundraising event in a couple of weeks. A student in our ministry at BCM has a dad who competes in BBQ contests. He has offered to come to Clemson and help us by putting on BBQ fundraiser. In the process our church, Crosspoint, has offered to support our BBQ by allowing us to hold the event in the church parking lot and letting us sell tickets at the church.
If you are anywhere in the Clemson area on May 1 from 11:30 am -2:00 pm you should come by Crosspoint Church on Hwy 123 and buy a BBQ sandwich. If you can't come but would still like to make a donation you can either do that on-line through the button on this blog or send it through the mail to:
Doug Hunt
416 Rock Creek Rd
Clemson, SC. 29631
Let's Eat!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Lemonade Stand for Ethiopia
It has come and gone...Emily's Lemonade Stand. It was an amazing day of grace, being a proud father, having a lot of fun, seeing the Lord provide. It was great seeing friends, college students, kids, strangers, neighbors, all take part. Even the mail man delivered a couple of envelopes that had money from out of town friends that were to Emily and for her lemonade. I haven't figure out how to mail those cups of lemonade yet...
Her stand was open from 1:30-4:30.
When we were all done and counted the money there was $447.85! BOOM! Thank you Father.
Best part of the day was when we were about to count the money. Emily prayed out loud and said, "Thank You for answering my prayers". Before she counted the money, she knew God had answered her prayers.
What a day...
Our child from Ethiopia, that is not even here yet, has such a wonderful big sister! Can't wait for the day I get to tell him/her about the lemonade stand.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Online Donations
For those of you not able to make it to the Lemonade Stand but would like to make a donation towards our adoption, you can now do that online through paypal. Just use the button on the right side of our blog.
Thanks,
Shelley
Thanks,
Shelley
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Orientation
This past Monday we had our “orientation phone call” with our agency, AGCI. Our agency has been awesome. Very helpful. Very encouraging.
The point of this phone call was to walk us through the basics of everything that the process involves. They sent us a 40 page document that explains everything that is going to happen, several things to sign, a schedule of fees, plus information about Ethiopia.
It could be very easy to be overwhelmed right now as we think about all that has to happen but I keep coming back to one thought that helps me not worry…there is a child that the Lord has prepared to be in our family. So, every signature we put on a piece of paper, every form that gets the notary stamp, every dollar that Emily makes in her lemonade stand moves us closer to that child being in our home.
Here is what is happening right now:
1) We have to sign and notarize several forms that go to our agency.
2) We have to come up with the agency fee plus a couple of other smaller fees that amount to a little over $7000.
3) We will complete 10hrs of online adoption education.
4) Build a lemonade stand for Emily.
Shelley and I have reading a great book that we recommend to anyone that would like to pursue a deeper understanding of adoption from a theological and practical perspective.
Adopted for Life, by Russell D. Moore
You can also learn more about our adoption agency at
www.allgodschildren.org
Please let us know if we can answer any questions for you. Thanks for stopping by!
The point of this phone call was to walk us through the basics of everything that the process involves. They sent us a 40 page document that explains everything that is going to happen, several things to sign, a schedule of fees, plus information about Ethiopia.
It could be very easy to be overwhelmed right now as we think about all that has to happen but I keep coming back to one thought that helps me not worry…there is a child that the Lord has prepared to be in our family. So, every signature we put on a piece of paper, every form that gets the notary stamp, every dollar that Emily makes in her lemonade stand moves us closer to that child being in our home.
Here is what is happening right now:
1) We have to sign and notarize several forms that go to our agency.
2) We have to come up with the agency fee plus a couple of other smaller fees that amount to a little over $7000.
3) We will complete 10hrs of online adoption education.
4) Build a lemonade stand for Emily.
Shelley and I have reading a great book that we recommend to anyone that would like to pursue a deeper understanding of adoption from a theological and practical perspective.
Adopted for Life, by Russell D. Moore
You can also learn more about our adoption agency at
www.allgodschildren.org
Please let us know if we can answer any questions for you. Thanks for stopping by!
Monday, March 29, 2010
donations
This week we begin the process of fundraising. We need to raise around $25k. When I say that it seems like a massive mountain, but Jesus says faith that has the motive of the glory of God can move a mountain. I hope that is our motive!
Our daughter Emily is planning on setting up a lemonade stand this weekend. She wants to do her part and I love it.
For anyone who can't come buy Saturday and get lemonade but would like to make a donation you can send it to:
Doug Hunt
416 Rock Creek Rd.
Clemson SC. 29631
We have chosen to have donations sent directly to us. This is because agencies would charge a fee and we want to make sure all donations made go 100% towards the adoption. This also means that donations are NOT a tax deduction.
For those who have already asked how you can contribute, we are really humbled!
Our daughter Emily is planning on setting up a lemonade stand this weekend. She wants to do her part and I love it.
For anyone who can't come buy Saturday and get lemonade but would like to make a donation you can send it to:
Doug Hunt
416 Rock Creek Rd.
Clemson SC. 29631
We have chosen to have donations sent directly to us. This is because agencies would charge a fee and we want to make sure all donations made go 100% towards the adoption. This also means that donations are NOT a tax deduction.
For those who have already asked how you can contribute, we are really humbled!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Journey Begins
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY AND OUR AMAZING JOURNEY IN ADOPTION!
Even as I sit a type these words I am overwhelmed, excited, nervous, happy, humbled…to think that God would allow us, the Hunt family, to be a part of His care for orphans in such a real way is mind blowing!
This little blog is meant to be a place where you all can journey with us in a tiny way during the adoption process. So we thought it would be good to give a little bit of the story that brings us to “right now.”
The Beginning:
In a very real way the beginning started “before the foundation of the world” when “in love He predestined us for ADOPTION as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-7). Our God is an adopting God, a Father who has pursued us in love to bring us into His family. He never asked us to prove we were worth adopting. He just loved us, even in all of our mess, and said through His Son, “I love you and want you in My family.”
Fast Forward a Billion Years or so (January 2010):
A few months ago I started studying the truth of God’s adopting nature. At the same time Shelley and I were attending a conference for college students in Atlanta. One day at the conference I attended a session called “Worship and Justice”. It was about how our worship is to overflow into all of life. A huge part of that was about God’s care for orphans and there was a presentation about orphans in Uganda.
While I was in this session Shelley was trying to get into a different session but it was full so she decided it was coffee time. She purchased a cup of coffee from a vender called Gobena (www.gobena.org). Their whole mission is to sell coffee in order to help feed orphans in Ethiopia. Shelley did not realize this until she paid and the lady behind the counter said, “Thanks. You just fed an Ethiopian orphan for a day. If you buy a whole bag of coffee beans you will feed an orphan for month. There is a video over there that will tell you more.” So not expecting anything life changing to happen, Shelley watched the video. As she saw all of these little faces she was overwhelmed that most of these children would never know the love of a family. She broke….
Fast Forward About an Hour:
Shelley and I met up. The conversation went something like this. Shelley: “So how was your session?” Doug: “It wasn’t what I expected. It was about all of these orphans in Uganda. It just made me want to rescue all of them.” Shelley: “What? You have to come watch this video.” Then the Spirit of God in her and in me collide…He was doing the same thing in each of us without us even realizing it. It is maybe the most profound sense of oneness in marriage that can be experienced.
We landed on this thought. When He speaks that clearly to us we have to do something about it. We knew that our Adopting Father was leading us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love..” (Ephesians 5:1) pursuing to adopt.
Fast Forward to Today:
Over the past 3 months Shelley and I have been praying, reading, researching, talking, and praying more about “what now”. The results have been these things:
1. We are pursuing to adopt an infant from Ethiopia.
2. We are working through an agency called All God’s Children International (AGCI). www.allgodschildren.org
3. On March 25th our application was approved, which means we are officially in the process.
4. The process from now will take 12-16 months and cost around $25,000!
5. Our next steps will include fund raising, orientation with our agency, then what is called a Home Study (More on that later).
We would love for you to pray with us for our new family member. We will be updating this blog as the story unfolds so please check back.
Even as I sit a type these words I am overwhelmed, excited, nervous, happy, humbled…to think that God would allow us, the Hunt family, to be a part of His care for orphans in such a real way is mind blowing!
This little blog is meant to be a place where you all can journey with us in a tiny way during the adoption process. So we thought it would be good to give a little bit of the story that brings us to “right now.”
The Beginning:
In a very real way the beginning started “before the foundation of the world” when “in love He predestined us for ADOPTION as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-7). Our God is an adopting God, a Father who has pursued us in love to bring us into His family. He never asked us to prove we were worth adopting. He just loved us, even in all of our mess, and said through His Son, “I love you and want you in My family.”
Fast Forward a Billion Years or so (January 2010):
A few months ago I started studying the truth of God’s adopting nature. At the same time Shelley and I were attending a conference for college students in Atlanta. One day at the conference I attended a session called “Worship and Justice”. It was about how our worship is to overflow into all of life. A huge part of that was about God’s care for orphans and there was a presentation about orphans in Uganda.
While I was in this session Shelley was trying to get into a different session but it was full so she decided it was coffee time. She purchased a cup of coffee from a vender called Gobena (www.gobena.org). Their whole mission is to sell coffee in order to help feed orphans in Ethiopia. Shelley did not realize this until she paid and the lady behind the counter said, “Thanks. You just fed an Ethiopian orphan for a day. If you buy a whole bag of coffee beans you will feed an orphan for month. There is a video over there that will tell you more.” So not expecting anything life changing to happen, Shelley watched the video. As she saw all of these little faces she was overwhelmed that most of these children would never know the love of a family. She broke….
Fast Forward About an Hour:
Shelley and I met up. The conversation went something like this. Shelley: “So how was your session?” Doug: “It wasn’t what I expected. It was about all of these orphans in Uganda. It just made me want to rescue all of them.” Shelley: “What? You have to come watch this video.” Then the Spirit of God in her and in me collide…He was doing the same thing in each of us without us even realizing it. It is maybe the most profound sense of oneness in marriage that can be experienced.
We landed on this thought. When He speaks that clearly to us we have to do something about it. We knew that our Adopting Father was leading us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love..” (Ephesians 5:1) pursuing to adopt.
Fast Forward to Today:
Over the past 3 months Shelley and I have been praying, reading, researching, talking, and praying more about “what now”. The results have been these things:
1. We are pursuing to adopt an infant from Ethiopia.
2. We are working through an agency called All God’s Children International (AGCI). www.allgodschildren.org
3. On March 25th our application was approved, which means we are officially in the process.
4. The process from now will take 12-16 months and cost around $25,000!
5. Our next steps will include fund raising, orientation with our agency, then what is called a Home Study (More on that later).
We would love for you to pray with us for our new family member. We will be updating this blog as the story unfolds so please check back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
