EVEN IN THE FACE OF UNREAL ODDS
I wanted to share my pal Ashley's adoption story with you today here at Graceland. It is one of crazy courage and outrageous love. It is one that needs to be told and needs to cause all of us to examine our hearts and our willingness to obey even in the face of unreal odds:
Ashley Fumia
January 13, 2011
God had a completely different plan for us than we did.
When He told us to adopt the first time, we gave every excuse we could think of as to why it was not a good time for us.
Number one reason was we did not have any money. We had two boys at the time and they were on state medical insurance. JC did not make a lot and we sacrificed even more so I could stay home.
In July 2006, God made it very clear we were to adopt an older child from Ukraine out of this particular orphanage we were shown. If it were our choice, we would have adopted a little girl between the ages of 3 and 5. We did not have a girl so we wanted to experience having a daughter. But God showed us very clearly the older boy He had for our family.
Let me back up. When we finally said yes to God and told Him we did not know how we were going to do this but we trusted Him, He brought a new job with Coca Cola for JC when he was not even looking for it. We went from the boys having state insurance to 90% medical coverage. God was working every
area of our personal lives out to make way for us to do what He wanted.
It took three long years in getting our son home, but we never gave up on him. We grew so much spiritually in the process. We brought Grisha home in July 2009 and then had a baby boy in August. We went from 2-4 boys very quickly. But oh it has been such a joy to have them in our lives. I would not trade our family for anything. God brought in ALL the money for us to adopt Grisha and we saw Him work miracle after miracle.
In August 2010, God gave us a picture of a little girl from the SAME orphanage and told us to go get her. We started immediately on the paperwork and obeyed Him right away. We did not have the 20,000 but trusted Him completely. We knew He would do it again. He has promised us over and over and shown us many things throughout this adoption so far.
We leave in THREE WEEKS to go get our precious daughter and we could not be happier. She is waiting for us and already calling me Mommy. :) My heart aches for my daughter and I have to get her out of there ASAP.
We still need 12,000 and we know God is going to bring in the rest. It seems crazy to need that much in just three weeks, but we only live crazy, radical lives for Jesus. He guides us and we follow...period. Natasha WILL BE getting off that plane in MS to be greeted by many friends and family that believed she would come home. Believe for the miracle with us.
****************************************************************
Since Ashley wrote this, they have raised thousands of more dollars and are, in fact, in Ukraine getting their daughter right now. But they still need a few thousand dollars to completely cover the adoption expenses.
One way that they are raising funds is by auctioning off items on Ebay. Here are the details as written about in her blog:
http://fumia.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-ebay-listings.html
Our friend has put more items on ebay that were donated. They feel we will get more from them on ebay than trying to get cash from the silver. The candlestick holders are real silver from an expensive company and the silver half dollars are collectors items. Thank you so much to the people that have donated. This is just so awesome. We have lots of choices for people so bid away!!!
Love you all and please spread the word on all of these things that are for sale. Thanks a bunch.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525785064&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580653492&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525786615&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580656276&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525799312&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
And here is a previous post with other offerings:
Please spread the word about these ebay items for sale. All proceeds from this will bring Natasha home. As you know, we leave in just four days! My mother-in-law donated this old silver for the jewelry fundraiser, but we found out it is silver plated. We feel we can bring in more by putting it on ebay. This is VERY OLD and definitely antique. Our friends have listed the items on ebay for us and please go take your bid now. :) If you know anyone who collects antiques, please let them know about this listing as well.
Here are the links... bid away!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580603867
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330523767358&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230578590642&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
Thank you so much!
Also, if you'd like to see other items for sale (including a pool table) or just make a donation thru their paypal account, visit their blog at:
http://fumia.blogspot.com/
And please pray for them. Besides the finances, there are a lot of other issues that have to be overcome before Natasha is securely established in her new home with her forever family.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Later on 2/8 ----
Wanted to give an update that I've rec'd from Ashley. She reports that all the ebay items have now been sold but they are still trying to sell the billiards table. If anyone is interested, go to her blog and let her know right away. Thanks!
Ashley Fumia
January 13, 2011
God had a completely different plan for us than we did.
When He told us to adopt the first time, we gave every excuse we could think of as to why it was not a good time for us.
Number one reason was we did not have any money. We had two boys at the time and they were on state medical insurance. JC did not make a lot and we sacrificed even more so I could stay home.
In July 2006, God made it very clear we were to adopt an older child from Ukraine out of this particular orphanage we were shown. If it were our choice, we would have adopted a little girl between the ages of 3 and 5. We did not have a girl so we wanted to experience having a daughter. But God showed us very clearly the older boy He had for our family.
Let me back up. When we finally said yes to God and told Him we did not know how we were going to do this but we trusted Him, He brought a new job with Coca Cola for JC when he was not even looking for it. We went from the boys having state insurance to 90% medical coverage. God was working every
area of our personal lives out to make way for us to do what He wanted.
It took three long years in getting our son home, but we never gave up on him. We grew so much spiritually in the process. We brought Grisha home in July 2009 and then had a baby boy in August. We went from 2-4 boys very quickly. But oh it has been such a joy to have them in our lives. I would not trade our family for anything. God brought in ALL the money for us to adopt Grisha and we saw Him work miracle after miracle.
In August 2010, God gave us a picture of a little girl from the SAME orphanage and told us to go get her. We started immediately on the paperwork and obeyed Him right away. We did not have the 20,000 but trusted Him completely. We knew He would do it again. He has promised us over and over and shown us many things throughout this adoption so far.
We leave in THREE WEEKS to go get our precious daughter and we could not be happier. She is waiting for us and already calling me Mommy. :) My heart aches for my daughter and I have to get her out of there ASAP.
We still need 12,000 and we know God is going to bring in the rest. It seems crazy to need that much in just three weeks, but we only live crazy, radical lives for Jesus. He guides us and we follow...period. Natasha WILL BE getting off that plane in MS to be greeted by many friends and family that believed she would come home. Believe for the miracle with us.
****************************************************************
Since Ashley wrote this, they have raised thousands of more dollars and are, in fact, in Ukraine getting their daughter right now. But they still need a few thousand dollars to completely cover the adoption expenses.
One way that they are raising funds is by auctioning off items on Ebay. Here are the details as written about in her blog:
http://fumia.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-ebay-listings.html
Our friend has put more items on ebay that were donated. They feel we will get more from them on ebay than trying to get cash from the silver. The candlestick holders are real silver from an expensive company and the silver half dollars are collectors items. Thank you so much to the people that have donated. This is just so awesome. We have lots of choices for people so bid away!!!
Love you all and please spread the word on all of these things that are for sale. Thanks a bunch.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525785064&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580653492&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525786615&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580656276&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330525799312&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123
And here is a previous post with other offerings:
Please spread the word about these ebay items for sale. All proceeds from this will bring Natasha home. As you know, we leave in just four days! My mother-in-law donated this old silver for the jewelry fundraiser, but we found out it is silver plated. We feel we can bring in more by putting it on ebay. This is VERY OLD and definitely antique. Our friends have listed the items on ebay for us and please go take your bid now. :) If you know anyone who collects antiques, please let them know about this listing as well.
Here are the links... bid away!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230580603867
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330523767358&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230578590642&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
Thank you so much!
Also, if you'd like to see other items for sale (including a pool table) or just make a donation thru their paypal account, visit their blog at:http://fumia.blogspot.com/
And please pray for them. Besides the finances, there are a lot of other issues that have to be overcome before Natasha is securely established in her new home with her forever family.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Later on 2/8 ----
Wanted to give an update that I've rec'd from Ashley. She reports that all the ebay items have now been sold but they are still trying to sell the billiards table. If anyone is interested, go to her blog and let her know right away. Thanks!
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