We survived the tri!

So, two weekends ago we had a garage sale to raise money for our adoption and this past weekend we did a triathlon to raise awareness and money for our adoption. Now, we can relax a little!

The triathlon went really well! We had five teams and five individuals who were doing the triathlon in the support of our adoption. Scott and his team got second in the co-ed relay and Sara Wilson got third in the women's division! I was proud of the fact that I completed and that I actually ran the whole way in the 5k. This was the part that I was most worried about. It was humbling and encouraging to have people their supporting us in our efforts. It was also a lot of fun to get together with other individuals and families to train together and work towards a common goal of completing a triathlon. It might be the start of a new annual tradition for some of us : )

Here's some pictures from the day for your enjoyment!

                Almost the whole group. Todd and Hannah Wilson didn't make it in the picture, but hopefully I can get them photoshopped in later.

Scott's relay team; Amy Schrieber and Lynn Rathjen.

 Todd and Gracie Wilson getting ready to
head out on their 10 mile bike ride

 Kelly Pawley coming back from her ride!

 Lynn Rathjen sprinting to a 18:48 completion time in the 5k.

 Me swimming. This was the only leg I wished I would have pushed myself more.

 Winnie Poland coming in on her bike. She was our only participant who had done a triathlon before. She may have gotten more of us roped into doing this more often!

 I was happy to be almost done and that I had ran the whole time!

 The five of us who had done the triathlon individually.

 Thankful for all the wonderful people who had come out to support us!

If you're still interested in sponsoring us for the triathlon there is still time. Contact Scott or I for more information. We don't have a sponsorship total yet, but that should be coming soon! Thanks for everyone who has supported us through prayer, encouragement and financially so far. We love you all!

Garage Sale

We had our garage sale this past weekend. It went great. It was a lot of work and we're exhausted and still cleaning up from it, but it was worth it. We're one step closer to bringing our child home! We raised about $2,200 from the sale and that is wonderful. I have some pictures of all the craziness. Not the coolest pictures, but just a little taste of what went into making this all happen.

 This is when we're trying to get some organization to happen the night before the garage sale. We were feeling a little overwhelmed by it all and so our Bible study came over and helped! They were wonderful!

 Scott ended up putting up a sign the night before because he didn't want people to stop and shop the night before the garage sale.

 Trying to shove everything back into the garage so we could close it up for the night.

 A rare slow moment on Friday. We had pretty much constant traffic all day Friday.

A look from outside.

Thank you again to everyone who helped. A big shout out to my mom and sister who came up Friday afternoon and stayed through Saturday afternoon helping with the sale and the kids.

We also got our appointment back from USCIS for going to Omaha to get fingerprinted and we hope to talk to our dossier specialist this week and get moving on that. Things are moving in the right direction and we're very thankful for that!

Hannah

Triathlon

Wow, training for a triathlon can be exhausting! We've been so blessed by people who have come along side us in this journey of adoption. Honestly we wouldn't be doing this without the love and support of all the people around us. We have great friends who have put together us using a triathlon to raise money for our adoption. It's been exciting and challenging to train for this event. When this idea was first brought up to me, I thought, sure I'll join a team and do the triathlon. I'm sure I can go around and try and get some people to sponsor me to run, swim or bike one leg of a triathlon. Then as I started training along side some friends who were doing the whole thing I started to think, I really could challenge myself more in this. So, now, possibly against better judgment I'll be doing the complete triathlon.

Going through the steps of adoptiong we don't just get to pick the parts of the process that will be the easiest for us or the most comfortable. We are having to do things that aren't easy and that challenge us, and we haven't even brought our child home yet! So, yes my body aches in a lot more ways now then before, I'm spending time swimming in a lake the second week of September and I'm trying to figure out what bike will be most comfortable to ride for 10 miles...but I'm also reminded of how worth it this is. Bringing a new son or daughter into our home is not going to be a simple, quick process, but God didn't call me to do simple, quick, things for him. He gave up His only son for us to be adopted into His family. I'm being asked to give up time and money, and so as I'm out there running, biking and swimming I remind myself that this is not supposed to be easy, but it is all worth it.

If anyone would like to sponsor Scott or I in the upcoming triathlon you can send a check to us made out to Bethany Christian Services with our name in the memo line. We have a donor who will match all donations up to $5,000. This is an amazing opportunity to partner with us to bring a fatherless child into a home. Thank you for all your love and support. We value your prayers and encouragement through this process.

Hannah

Do I ever ask "what am I getting myself into?"

Adoption is something I've seen myself doing for a long time, so I think that there was was this thought that I wouldn't have any doubts through the whole thing. Not true. The thing is, even when I know I am acting in obedience to God, satan tries to keep me from feeling confident and he fills me with fear at times. So, yes, there are times when I wonder, "what am I getting myself into?" Those are the times that I need to hold on to God's promises. Instead of looking to my future and the unknown, I take time to look to my past and all the ways that God has fulfilled His promises and been faithful in my life already. This is one of my favorite things about some of the great prayers in the Bible. I think specifically of some of them in the Old Testament, David in the Psalms, Nehemiah, Moses, and Joshua to name a few. They take the time to thank God for the way that He has shown Himself faithful throughout the history of His people and sometimes personally in their own lives. Nehemiah 9 is one of my favorites. He starts out in Verse 6 with, "You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you." So, he starts at the very beginning; at the creation of the world and then he continues on with laying out a history of how God has shown Himself faithful to them as a nation, even through times of disobedience.

This is something at different times in my life that I have tried to do. I go back through my history, the good and the bad, and I look at everything God has brought me through. There were definitely times when I questioned why I had to experience certain things when I was in the midst of them, but looking back and seeing where I am now I'm able to see how time and time again God showed Himself faithful in my life. Because of that I'm able to say with confidence that what we are embarking on with this adoption is what God would have us do. We are acting out of obedience, and at times I will be filled with fear, but I can trust that God will be faithful with this just as He has been faithful throughout my relatively short history.

There is definitely a time for, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead..." (Phil. 3:13), but when it comes to being overwhelmed with thoughts of "what am I getting myself into?" I like to look behind to my past and to God's faithfulness in my life.

Just some thoughts...
Hannah