One Year in Business!

One year ago today I officially opened my Etsy shop, Things Redeemed. I was excited and a little scared. I kept worrying that no one would like the items I chose to offer....what if I just ended up with a bunch of stuff I couldn't sell?  I'm glad to report that I was wrong! While my shop may not a big success in the grand scheme of Etsyville, it is successfully to me. I love to pick out new items that people will love and eventually buy. I love to meet new people who share a love for all things vintage. My whole life I've found a twinge of happiness with vintage items, and everyone always told me I had the "eye". So I put that eye to the test and I am so happy I did. Through this year on Etsy I have found many things: a small dream come true, a renewed sense of style, and most importantly, new friends. It has had it's ups and downs- life with Etsy is unpredictable and sometimes leaves you scratching your head. But I have loved every minute of it and I can't wait to see what the next year brings...
I do want to say thank you to two people who have helped me through this last year. They answered questions and gave me great pointers. The first is Jana from Madison Avenue Vintage. I used to work for Jana and when she semi-retired she urged me to go out on my own. She taught me much of I know about vintage fashion. Through one of my teams I made a good friend, Corrine from Bebe and Kay. She has been my go-to for questions. She sells gorgeous vintage jewelry that is to die for. A big thank you to both of these ladies for their friendship and mentorship...I couldn't have done it without you! 

So go check out my shop if you haven't already...I'm having 25% off through July 28th. 

How To Adopt a Child

I wish I could tell you that adding a precious child to your family through adoption was as easy as reading this post and following my "How-to"...but it's not. No worries though, because I am writing this post to encourage some of my friends who are in different stages of their process. So here are some words of wisdom I would love to offer you from my own experience:

Relax.
It's easy to say that because my little one is sitting across the room as I write this. The papers are signed and everything is as it should be. But seriously, sit back and take everything as it comes. If you get high strung about the whole overwhelming process you are costing yourself extra stress. I'll admit this was hard for me to do, but it is truly necessary to place the process in God's hands and trust that everything will work out in His time.

Be Organized.
This was an easy one for me. (most of the time!) Keep every scrap of paper, card, and phone number handed to you. You never know when you'll need it. Whenever someone tells you that you need a document, mail it to them the next day. If they tell you to make an appointment, take the next available one. Move fast when the ball is in your court, because when it's not it may take awhile to get it back.

Be Yourself.
Through out this process your whole life will be on display for everyone to see. At least, that's what it felt like when the worker sat down and asked me "What's the worst thing that has ever happened to you". I wept as I told her about my mom being sick for so long. I was open and honest about my own childhood struggles.  It's okay to show workers your humanity and vulnerabilities. They want to know that children are being placed in a good home, not a perfect home.

Wait.
It's true, the waiting is the hardest part. There were times when I thought I might go crazy from the waiting. (I think I did once.) I could fill this step with all sorts of cliches, but I care more about you than that. Here's the deal. if you focus on the waiting it will kill you. Focus instead on the here and now of it. If this is your first child spend time together as a couple. Take joy in the moments of everyday life and rest easy in the fact that one day your child will be in your arms.

Pray.
It goes without saying that this is an important step. But I wanted to add this word of encouragement: never get tired of praying for the process. When it comes to adoption, this is my calling. Everyone prays broad prayers about the adoption and child, and that's great. But, I pray for the specifics. I intercede for the workers, the judge, the file clerks, and the everything in between. Since our experience, I see the need to pray for the tiny details of the process.

Philip Joseph Russell Day, June 30, 2010

I hope this post has encouraged you! I would love to pray for your adoption, so please feel free to message me with any request!

Time for Something New

Soooo.....What If I told you that I have been running from my blog for awhile?
Well, I have. God has certainly downloaded some good ideas for posts, but I have just kind of been like "ehhh, when I have time, I will".  Somehow, I never find the time to write though.
BUT LATELY....God has really been speaking to me about returning to my blog.  I'll be honest with you, I quit when it was time to get real vulnerable. I was all about telling you the story of how God gave us Philip. I was not all about telling you how I have continued to struggle with myself, and who I am as a mother.  That is the realest of the real, right there...That is the hardest part. 
I am not going to pour my heart out today....But I will soon. This has been a long time coming and I am just getting started.  I am going to blog overhaul in the next few weeks. That should be fun....Please stay with me, and thanks to those who have continued to encourage me in my running...you know who you are.
What about you? What have you been running from? In what areas has God specifically told you to do something and you haven't? Just like me, there is GRACE for you. Let's start over together....Let's get it right this time...Love.

Adoption Story Page Seven, Fight for the Promise

I wish I could tell you that once we decided to adopt that we lived happily ever after. I know we all wish that to be true in our situations, but that's not how life turns out. Publicly I cannot tell you each detail of this story, due to privacy issues. But I will tell you as much as I can, so that I might convey to you the importance of fighting for your destiny.
One day in late Summer 2009, we were told about an eighteen month old baby boy. All they told us was that he was the same tribe as me, that he had been in a shelter for a few days and that he had red hair. Justin and I immediately felt that this child was meant to be ours. I think it was that initial reaction that gave us the strength we needed over the next two months.
To make a very long story very short, we thought we were going to be able to bring him home, but important people decided that we could not. WE WERE HEARTBROKEN. We were ready to go with everything we needed and then they said no.  I cannot tell you how much I wanted to crawl under my bed at that time. But I didn't, we didn't. We fought. We felt like he was meant to be ours, and we fought for him. Again, I cannot discuss the tactics, but we laid all our cards on the table, we did all we could and then.... we sat back and watched God bring our son home to us.

Philip, On the first day in our home.

Nearly two months after hearing about a little red headed choctaw, and a much needed vacation later, we got a phone call. The man on the phone said "I understand you were interested in fostering Philip?" "Yes!" I said. "Do you still want to take him?" "YES!!!"

Two weeks later we drove to the Love's station and picked up our son for the weekend, and the next Wednesday we moved him to his forever home. This was the fulfilment of the beautiful work that God began nine years earlier. This was the fulfilment of God's promise to build our home. This was what God had intended for us all along, and we did not give up in the darkest hour of pursuing it. We fought and God fought for us.

A Time to Be Excited, Adoption Story Page 6

Once we decided to adopt, excitement set in. The decision brought so much freedom to our lives. For so many years we dreamt of what our family was going to look like, our hopes would be raised and then shattered. When you are dreaming about having a child biologically, you know that you will become pregnant, a baby will be born, the baby will look like you and have some of your personality qualities, the child will continue to grow. A person who has their children through pregnancy pretty much knows what to expect. When you are growing your family through adoption, you really don't know how your family is going to look. Since we adopted through DHS, we had a lot of options. We were able to decide what age group we wanted to look at, if we wanted a sibling group, what race. Initially we put that we wanted a sibling group ages seven and younger. It was a big surprise when we ended up with a young child without a sibling group, but that is for a different page. This was the time when we were finally able to dream about what our family was going to look like and know that it would soon come true. It was such a happy time in our lives and we could feel the peace that comes from letting God have control of our plans.  It was during this time that I found my joy. I realized that my life didn't need to look how I wanted it to. I became content with the idea of  my life looking how God wanted it to look. That was true freedom. In the next months that joy and freedom grew while we went through the process of adoption. God brought me out of the darkness and into the season of fulfilment.

Shall We Pause for Questions?

As soon as someone finds out that we adopted our little booboochachoo, questions follow. I am cool with this, in fact I take every chance I get to talk about what God has done in our lives. For my readers sake, I thought I might post some of the FAQ, just in case you have been wondering. Also know, that if you ever have any questions about our story at all, feel free to email me. 

Most Asked Questions:

How long have you had Philip?
We got Philip in Oct. 2009, he was almost 21 months when he came home with us. It was love at first sight!

How did Philip come to live with you?
A: We get this almost daily in one form or another.  We adopted Philip through DHS.  Despite popular belief, this was not hard, you do have to go in depth about your personal life, but don't let this scare you. 

Did it take along time finalize your adoption?
A: Philip came home with us ten months after we applied, and our adoption was final about eight months later.  This seems like a long time, but it went by really fast!

Do you have an open adoption?
A:Yes. We believe it is important to keep Philip in contact with his birth family. Through our adoption we have extended our family to include a whole other family, his birth mom, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This work really well for us and I enjoy having them in our lives.

Where does Philip get his red hair?
A: This is another one we get almost daily. Philip gets his red hair and curls from his birth mom. She has beautiful long, red (a little darker than Philip's), curly hair.
Do you want to adopt again?
A: Absolutely! We believe that God is building our house, and we are waiting for the direction of when to take that next step.

I hope this answers any questions you might have! Again email me with your questions, I love to hear from you all.

The Turning Point Adoption Story Page 5

In every story there is a turning point. Mine started out very dark and took over a year to come about. In August of 2007, Justin and I woke up to the sound of water rushing into our house. We lost almost everything we owned in a "hurricane" on dry land. A creek was literally running through our house.I don't remember much about the next few days, but I do remember how our church family rallied around us. I am so thankful for the people who came and helped us in our time of need. For the next year I was simply going through the motions of life. There were a lot of other things that happened in our lives around that time that were good and if it had not been for those good times, who knows how far into depression I would have gone. Slowly, I repeat SLOWLY, I began to come out of the depression. There was no precise moment that I changed, it was a little at a time. But let me assure you, it was God who did the work in me. I began to feel a closeness to God I had not known before.  I began to know that God was writing my book, and I began to let him.  I guess I finally began to realize that nothing was going to carry me to my destiny except God's grace, God's plan, God's love. There was absolutely NOTHING I could do to change any of that. It was really hard for me to accept that I didn't have to work for any of these things. I had spent my whole life working to earn something from someone, including God. It was in the days that I had nothing left to loose, that I saw God work in a mighty way in me. In October of 2008 Justin and I started to seriously discuss adoption. We talked about everything we would need to take into consideration.  Finally, we were like "Let's do it!".   Whenever we decided, I started to feel such a peace about it. It was finally the moment I had been waiting nine years for, I was going to be a mom!