Monday, September 23, 2013

Our Friends, the Townsends

We have some very close family friends, Jack and Susie Townsend, who have recently adopted a little boy from Haiti, and I had the privilege of photographing their beautiful family.



Jack & Susie have been married over 14 years, and they have six beautiful children three of which have been through the blessing of adoption (one domestic adoption, two international adoptions: Guatemala and Haiti).



The Townsends are an amazing christian family, and they have been coming to our farm fellowship since we have started it. They are also a part of A Sea of Hope Orphans Ministry, and their family has personally worked to help us raise funds for our adoption. They definitely have a heart for orphans and a desire to serve the Lord.


A little over a  year ago, the Townsends took their entire family on a month long mission trip to Guatemala, and they have fallen in love with the people and the country; they feel God is clearly calling them to missions in Guatemala.

Currently, they are trying to raise funds to move their entire family to Guatemala to work with a local church there. Please join us in praying and supporting this awesome family, and check out their family's mission: www.ToGuatemalaWithJoy.blogspot.com


Saturday, September 14, 2013

Room for 15 and School for 13

"Where are you going to put everyone?"

It's a question we often get, and I guess it is a reasonable question...considering.

So, here are the arrangements. (A special thanks to Teresa and Kim who helped provide some of the children's comforters. Thanks to Sam, Megan, and Shannan for helping provide us with extra twin sheets. And, thank you for Ashley and Shannan for the donation of a mattress! We now have all the bedrooms complete...Alleluia).

Dustin and I have moved out onto the family Sunroom (closed in porch) as our bedroom to allow more room for the children. We did this because it just made the most sense. The room isn't that big, but it has beautiful natural light, and it's a lot like being outside (only with heat and AC). Hearing the birds serenade us in the morning, the squirrels chattering, and the rooster crowing are all peaceful ways to wake up in the morning. Plus, the early sun rays give just enough light to be able to read our Bibles in bed without even turning on the light.  It's the perfect bedroom for us, and we love it. There is a love seat at the foot of our bed that the kids use during school days to have a quiet place to read. We also have the sewing machine and keyboard in our room behind where the picture is taken (maximizing space usage).

The 6 boys (ranging from ages 7-12yrs) will be in what was designed as the master bedroom (pictured below). It is a large room that is very open, and it still has plenty of room even after 3 bunk beds were put in there. There are 3 adjoining closets which works out perfect (and they are full of clothes, thanks to Kathy, Megan, Teresa, and Cheryl). It is also has a full bathroom attached to this room which will be the boy's bathroom.


The younger 4 girls (ranging in ages from 5-8yrs) will be sharing one room (pictured below). They have a good amount of clothes in their closets too (thanks to Kim and John). The younger girls will share a bathroom with Dustin and I downstairs.

The older 3 girls (ranging in ages from 13-15yrs) will be sharing one room (pictured below). The older girls have a decent amount of clothing (though I am pretty sure teenager girls can never have too many clothes...haha). Special thanks to Megan and Christy who have donated clothing for the girls). The older girls will have their own girl's bathroom.


PERFECT FIT! This house is laid out wonderfully to accommodate everyone.

We homeschool as well. So, many people have asked, "How will you do that with 13 children?"

Hey, it's not much different than the old one-room school house approach of early Americans, right? My answer when I get that question is that we are relying on "God's grace." Obviously, I can organize and plan all I want, but I cannot do it alone; we will need His help. We will continue to pray and ask God to provide wisdom, peace, and joy in the process of educating all of our children. We recognize that it will be difficult and challenging at time, but we know the rewards and bonding are worth it. (That being said, we are not opposed to getting help from outside sources, and have already talked with the local public school system about help for one of our children in our home that may need some additional help).

We will work together; the older kids will help the younger kids (this helps the older kids to master information when they are having to explain it to someone else). We also have schedules and computer programs to help teach, drill, and track grades.

Plus, we are involved in 2 co-ops (one that meets weekly for a full day of Literature, Writing, World View, History, Grammar, Memory work, and electives, and one that meets biweekly at our farm and covers Science and P.E.). These co-ops definitely help us with our schooling efforts, and we are so thankful for all the people involved in them. In addition, we have an awesome tutor, Marlo, that is coming out twice a week to help us (and more in the future if necessary). We are thankful to God for all the wonderful people He has placed in our life!

For our school areas, we have a study which we use to keep all our home school curriculum. This room is designed to have about 6 kids in it working quietly at different stations/computers/desks. It is to be a quiet place to work on schoolwork, though we also utilize the beautiful dinning room table Larry made as part of our school for group lessons and individual work. (to see the beautiful dinning room table click here).


We also have these sturdy organizers we got at Costco that we are using for each of the children's individual school books and supplies. Each child will have their own bin with their name on it.

Did I tell you that Dustin and I were both logisticians in the Marine Corps? Yes, and it is a good thing that we learned how to organize "gear" efficiently and make the best use of space, because that has helped us a great deal in preparing our house for a large family.

I love to look back at things like that where God has prepared us in one way or another for things in the future that at the time we have no idea how He would utilize them until years to come. I love how the Lord is omniscient.


Lifesong Grant Matched AND Church Donation

Our Lifesong grant has been matched. We had a $4,000 matching grant, which means that is actually $8,000 towards bringing our kids home! Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Lifesong for Orphans grant. And, thanks again to We Care for Orphans for sponsoring our grant! The work that these organizations do is so precious as they care for the orphans and help remove the financial barrier. They are a blessing to so many, and we would pray that the Lord would continue to bless their organizations and ministry.

Grace Community of Topsail also made a very generous donation. They gave us $4,000 towards our adoption! Isn't that incredible? Wow! Amazing. We are so immensely blessed. The Lord is providing.

Look at the thermometer on the right of this blog. We are getting so close to funded.

If all the envelopes come back...we will be completely funded! We will have all the funds necessary to travel to bring our children home. Praise the Lord in Heaven!

Thank you to each and every one of you who have helped raise the money to bring these kids home!

If you are interested in seeing the breakdown in expenses for the adoption of 7 children click here.


Friday, September 13, 2013

All Envelopes GONE!

What an amazing fundraiser this has been for our family! We are so overwhelmed with the outpouring of support, encouragement, and generosity that has been the result of this fund raiser. Within less than a week, all 144 envelopes were gone! It's incredible.

We have had support of so many friends and family members. There were also complete strangers that joined in and got involved after reading our story. I have been so blessed with getting to hear stories of other adoptive families, adoptees, and so many others who have hearts for orphans and a love for the Lord!  As I stuffed the envelopes, I marveled at the magnitude of support and thanked the Lord.

It has been absolutely amazing to witness how the Lord has moved the mountains with regards to the financial burden of our adoption. We cannot even express the gratitude we feel to each person who came along beside us on this journey of adoption, and who so generously gave to help bring home our kids. Thank you Lord. Thank you for bringing all these wonderful people into our lives to help us bring home our children. I pray that they will be blessed abundantly.
Our family prayed over all the envelopes before mailing them. We also prayed for each person who committed to helping us with our adoption funds that they would be blessed and rewarded by our Heavenly Father.
Audriana came out with me to mail the envelopes, and she wanted to say another prayer when we put the letters in the mail box. (I couldn't resist snapping a quick picture of her).

The envelopes have already started returning. I will try to continue to update our thermometer showing our adoption funds. If all the envelopes are returned, there will be over $10,000 raised towards our adoption! Alleluia! What an AWESOME God we have!

Thank you to everyone who made this fundraiser a success. Thank you for your support and your generosity. Thank you for sharing our story and our fundraiser and for advocating for our adoption. We could not do this without your help. You have truly been an answer to our prayers and an instrument of the Lord's provision. Thank you. May the Lord bless you!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Envelope Fundraiser Progress



God is moving the mountains for this adoption! Thank you to every one of you who have been an instrument of the Lord's provision. I cannot thank you all enough for your generosity. Words cannot express my gratitude to each of you who have joined us in this journey and who have been such an integral part of bringing our children home. God bless you abundantly! 


There are still several numbers available if you want to get involved: 63-66, 68-73,78,79,81,82,87,88, 90-94,97,102,106,108,109,112,113,115,116,118-121,124,126,128-132, 134.


Facebook Envelope Fundraiser Bestul Adoption


Or email me if you would like to reserve a number: the.bestul.family@gmail.com



Monday, September 2, 2013

144 Envelopes Fundraiser

Now that we are matched, we will need to provide a large portion of the finances for our adoption, and after that we will have the expense of 9 plane tickets (2 round trip for Dustin and I, and 7 one way from the Philippines to home! YAY!). We are still a long ways from our total need, and though it is difficult for me to ask (because of pride), we would like to humbly ask your help with this fundraiser:

Kim Adams (with Ordinary Hero) had a GREAT suggestion for a fundraiser called "144 Envelopes."

Here is the idea:

We take 144 envelopes. We number each envelope 1-144. (that's the easy part)

Next, we will ask people to commit to taking an envelope (or more than one if you are feeling overly ambitious and super generous. :)

When you agree to an envelope, it means that you are volunteering to be responsible for coming up with the dollar amount on your numbered envelope. So, if you have the number 1 you would commit to $1. If you have the number 2 you would be committing to $2, and so on. The highest numbered envelope is 144. So the most anyone would commit to is $144.

All donations will be tax-deductible, and checks can be made out to "Christian Adoption Services" with "Bestul Family" in the memo field.

*You do not have to come up with the money on your own. Ask your friends and family members to join you. Perhaps you could have your small group commit to taking an envelope or two, or you could do your own fundraiser. (If you do this, please let us know, so we can advertise your fundraiser and give others ideas on how they could raise funds!)

Your envelope will be sent to you with the number you have requested. It will already have a stamp and our address for you to send your pledge back to us once you have collected it. (We are having them sent to our personal address to collect them all to send them into our adoption agency together).

Several people have stated that they thought it would be fun to do this completely randomly. So, you would sign up for an envelope, and I will randomly send you one. You wouldn't know the amount you are committing to (but the minimum it could be would be $1 and the maximum it could be is $144).

However, some people may not be able to commit to a large number, and they would prefer it to be for a specified amount.

Therefore, we have decided to leave both options. If you want to sign up for a specific number, please let me know. I will keep a tally on Facebook for people to sign up for specific numbers (please let me know if you prefer it to be anonymous). If you would rather that I randomly assign you a number because you like the surprise factor, I would be happy to do that too.

I would like to upfront thank everyone for their help with this fundraiser. This fundraiser cannot be a success without each one of you. I also want to thank my sister, Jeanette, who has offered to cover the expense of 144 stamps. I love you Jeanette!

Now here is the incredible thing...

If all 144 envelopes are committed to and returned...this fundraiser would bring in $10,000! 

Would you consider committing to take an envelope?  If you have facebook sign up at our event "144 Envelopes for the Bestul's Adoption." Or, you can email me if you are interested in helping us with this fundraiser. My email is: The.Bestul.Family@gmail.com

If you are curious how much our adoption costs and would like to see the breakdown of expenses, please click here.


Sunday, September 1, 2013

WE WERE MATCHED!!!!!!

Alleluia PRAISE GOD!!!! WE WERE MATCHED!!!!! Ahhhhhh! I can't even put it into words how excited we are!

We were officially matched with our SEVEN children from the Philippines! Though they have been our family in our hearts for some time now, they are now "officially" ours, and we are officially a family of 15! God is SO good!

We have to submit our paperwork accepting our referral, and then they will let us know how much we owe the country for our financials. Hopefully then they will be able to give us a little more of a timeline as to when we can go and get our kids to bring them home!

Once we submit the paperwork to accept our referral, we can make the kids photo albums to introduce our family to them.Please pray for them as they are told the news of our family. Please also continue to pray for provisions for this adoption.

 Yay! Matched! We are on cloud nine! Join us in celebrating and singing praises to our Heavenly Father! He is worthy of our praise!

THANK YOU JESUS! ALLELUIA!