Bai Jia Bei

100 Good Wishes

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part will go into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

Some examples:

Great right?!?! So this is our next fundraiser!! We're going to be making a quilt for our son/daughter! We are asking for you to send us THREE items: an 8x8" (or larger) piece of quality cotton fabric, a "wish" (can be scripture, prayer, poem, words of love, etc.) and a donation.

The fabric you choose can be something you find in a fabric store that you simply like, something that you feel represents your family, or something you feel represents our family/child.

If you would like to participate, but are out of the country, or unable to send a piece of fabric, just let me know as I have a few pieces i pulled recently for that very reason and I can add them to the quilt! (donation can be made through our PayPal link on our blog, and the "wish" can be added in the note via PayPal or emailed to me).

So what do you think? I am so excited about this one! It fits our family so well!

I love the way these two quilts look. These are the quilts I will probably be using for inspiration for our 100 Good Wishes Quilt.

Thank you and as always, please continue to be in prayer for us and our child!

We're adopting...

Some may know already, others may not. WE'RE ADOPTING FROM CHINA!!!! 

We are all very excited and know God has put us on this journey for a reason. We can't wait to meet our son/daughter and find out all about him/her. 
Here are some BIG things you can do for us:
PRAY. Pray. Pray. Please pray. We need it. Our child needs it. Our journey needs it. Pray for what you may be asking. If you are like me, you like specifics. Well, sad news. On this journey, there aren't a lot of specifics! But we do know a few things we are praying for and we are asking others to join us. Here they are: 
First and foremost: OUR CHILD. 
          -his/her health. we are adopting from the waiting child list so our child will have some minor health needs. He/she may be having surgeries that we aren't aware of. We want our son/daughter covered in prayer all day long every day until we come to get him/her.
          -his/her caretaker/nanny. We are praying that whoever is taking care of our child until we can, is loving them with as much love as possible.
          -his/her friends at the orphanage/ foster home. They are all in this together and are the only family each of them have EVER known. It's very emotional (even at a young age) to see their friends leave and them not. Or they leave the only family/friends they've ever known to go with someone they now are calling mom & dad. It's rough. And they are young. and have young hearts. They all need our prayer. 
          -our family. We would love to be covered in prayer as well. Everything from determination for filling out papers and collecting papers to protection from spiritual warfare.
          -Mary. She's a part of this process too. We want her to see and know why it's important in what we are doing. We want her to want to participate and BE a part of this process. God isn't just giving us a child, He's adding to our family. He's giving this child to all of us. 
          -fundraising. We have a LOT of money to raise. We'll be saving as we can, making sacrifices along the way, receiving donations from people that God has called to give, having many, many fundraisers, working odd & end jobs to raise funds, and we'll also be filling out MORE paperwork to apply for grants. Please pray with us that God will provide every dollar needed to bring our child home. We have faith he will. He's called us to do this and He will provide the means. 

Thank you for being on this journey with us. It's going to be exhausting, emotional, fun, crazy and SO WORTH IT when you meet us at the airport when we bring our son/daughter HOME!!!

boston butts fundraiser

Thank you to EVERYONE that purchased a boston butt ticket from us for our fundraiser!! We sold enough to make $1190 towards our adoption!! yay! Praise God! Please be looking out for the next fundraisers :) we have some really awesome ones coming up !