Support Adoption and Orphans Around the World!

Did you know that according to The Orphan Foundation there are 147 million orphans around the world? As followers of Christ we have been instructed to care for orphans. In fact, the Bible calls caring for orphans, "pure and undefiled religion" (James 1:27). Through our adoption journey we have come to learn that people adopt for a variety of reasons. However, among these reasons, one of the greatest is a sense of God's calling upon a families life to adopt. That's right, it really is a calling.

We are so thankful that God has called many individuals and organizations to come to the aid of these children who are so precious to our Lord. One of these organizations is AdoptionBug.com. This company was started to provide assistance to families in raising financial support for their adoption. Today, not only does AdoptionBug help with the financial obligations of adoption, a portion of their proceeds go to help organizations who are on the front line of orphan care, like Show Hope, etc.

We have created a site through AdoptionBug to help raise financial support for our own baby adoption. When you visit our site (www.adoptionbug.com/bullard) you'll be able to purchase adoption related t-shirts, that will not only help our adoption and the care of orphans around the world, but you'll help promote adoption and orphan awareness. There are 6 different t-shirt designs that you can choose from. In fact, the two images in this post are both t-shirt designs! The prices vary, depending on shirt style and size. A portion of the cost of the t-shirt will come to us for our adoption, and if you purchase a "Show Hope" t-shirt, a portion of the cost will go to our adoptions, as well as the ministry of Show Hope (www.showhope.org), which is affiliated with Steven Curtis Chapman. Please note: When you go to our site only the 6 shirts on the home page help support our adoption. There are other shirts on the site, but only those 6 will go to help with our personal adoption.

To check out these really cool t-shirts and to order yours today, please visit our personal site at www.adoptionbug.com/bullard. We are so thankful for your love, support, and prayers through this journey. While our previous fundraising efforts have helped us tremendously with our adoption expenses thus far, we are really excited about this effort, because we will be helping support adoptions and orphans around the world!

Direct Selling Into December

We told you it would be worth the wait, so here it is! Our December giveaway is out of this world!!! Our friends with these wonderful direct selling companies have donated many items for this giveaway. Take a look at what's included in this giveaway...

Tastefully Simple – Nicole Berry (www.tastefullysimple.com/web/nberry2)

Onion Onion Seasoning

Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix

Chicken Tortilla Soup Mix

Pumpkin Patch Bread and Muffin Mix

Twisty Grams

Thirty-One – Lindsey Bullard (www.mythirtyone.com/bullard)

Large Utility Tote

Organizing Utility Tote

Lia Sophia - Cathy Royal (919-418-8380)

Sterling silver twisted cuff bracelet

Necklace

Pampered Chef - Leann Faircloth (www.pamperedchef.biz/leannfaircloth)

Medium Round Stone with Handles

Ultimate Mandoline

Pizza Cutter

Pizza Crust Mix with Rosemary

Beauti Control – Shelley Gurley (www.beautipage.com/ShelleyEsposito)

Dark Chocolate Exfoliating Body Wash

Caramel Souffle Body Butter

Chocolate Cherry Lip Gloss

Spiced Chocolate Fragrance Mist

1 oz Extreme Repair Hand Creme (un-scented)

A Reusable Tote Bag

A Tupperware (brand) Bowl with trimmings to gift wrap (if desired)

Body Wash Pouf

Scentsy – Shawna Cox (www.shawnacox.scentsy.us)

Mid-Size Scentsy Warmer - "Hatteras"

Scentsy Bar - "Autumn Stroll"

Scentsy Bar - "Eskimo Kiss"

Approximate Total Retail Value: $370

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS...

For every $5 donated until Dec. 15th, we'll enter your name into the giveaway for our "Direct Selling Into December" Basket. (So, for $20 you will receive 4 entries and so forth.) Give the post a shot out on Facebook or Twitter (pastorkellyb) and we'll enter you in again. On Dec. 16, we will do a random selection and someone will be taking home this great Direct Sales Basket.

HOW YOU CAN DONATE...
You can make your donation by clicking "GIVE" on the GiveForward box on the right side of this page. You will be directed to our personal donation site where you can enter your donation amount. Remember, for every $5 donated, you will receive an entry into the giveaway.

NOTE: When you give your donation with GiveForward, please be sure to provide your name. If you choose, you can select the box that reads,"I would like to hide the amount given." Also, at the bottom of the donation page, please make sure you check the box that reads, "I would like to share my contact information with the beneficiary." This will ensure that we receive the necessary information to enter your name in the give-a-way! If you would like your donation to be made in private, please feel free to mail us your donation.

You may also mail a check with your donation to our home address. Once we have received your check, we will make the appropriate number of entries into the give-a-way. Please email us at ltbullard@yahoo.com for our mailing address.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GIVE-A-WAY!

After you donate, post something about this on Facebook and we'll add your name again to the list. Just be sure to friend one of us (Kelly or Lindsey Bullard) in your status on Facebook. Just to remind you that this will be up on the blog until Dec. 15th. On Dec. 16th we will do a drawing of the giveaway and deliver or ship the basket to you.

If you desire your name to be put on the list for the drawing without donating, just email ltbullard@yahoo.com. Note: GiveForward donations are not tax deductible. If you would like to send a check just email me.

Adoption Update

So, here's a quick update on our journey of faith. Today we had a follow-up meeting with our adoption agency, Bethany. We are so grateful to be a part of the Bethany family. God is using this agency is such a special way. They have been such an encouragement to us through this process. We have learned so much and God continues to lead and guide us every step of the way.

Tomorrow is going to be a BIG day, as we have the first of three home assessments. We have to travel about 2 hours to meet with our case worker. We will meet with her twice over the next 2 weeks and then she will come to our home for the final assessment. After the assessments have been completed, she will make her recommendation to the Bethany State Director. Once we have final approval, we'll begin the process of waiting for a placement.

As we go through this journey we are learning each day to trust and depend upon God. Every day we loose a little more control of all of this and have to rely completely upon Him. One area that we are learning to trust is the area of finances, especially in regards to funding the adoption. We are very appreciative to those of you who have been praying for us and for those of you who have given financially to support our adoption. We are continuing to do various fundraisers on our website. In fact, TOMORROW is the last day to get in on our "FALL INTO FAMILY" giveaway. Just scroll down a few blog postings and you can read all about this fun family giveaway. Any donation you can give will greatly help us in our adoption process. Who knows...you might be the recipient of this wonderful giveaway.

Thank you all for your support, prayers, and love. Our journey is indeed a journey of faith...but, so is yours! Let's all trust in the Faithful One!

And the winner is....

Lindsey and I would like to express our appreciation for your support and donations to our TV giveaway. We had 224 entries into the giveaway. Thank you for each of your donations. We are overwhelmed by your support.

We are pleased to announce that the recipient of this new 32" VIZIO LCD HDTV is DARREL DAVIS of Garner, NC. Congratulations Darrel! Thank you for your support and for encouraging others to support our adoption as well.

We hope you all will continue this journey with us. Please keep checking our blog for more adoption updates and special fundraisers. Don't forget that we still have 2012 Chick-fil-A Calendars available for $8 each. These calendars contain over $30 in free coupons! Also, in just a week or so we will be posting our next giveaway. So, visit our blog real soon!

Preliminary Application Approved

Even though this post is a week late, we wanted to make sure we included every detail of our adoption process on this blog. Last week on Wednesday, August 31st we got the official word that our Preliminary Application had been approved. Words cannot describe the emotions of that moment. Even though we knew that we still had a LONG road ahead of us and that this process could take months or even years, we felt that we finally saw light at the end of a 17 month tunnel.

For 17 months, we have lived on an emotional rollercoaster. For 17 months, we have answered the hardest question that you can possibly be asked when you are so deeply longing for a child and are unable to get pregnant..."when are you going to start having children?" That one question can cause so much pain and heartache that people are not even aware of, because they don't know what is going on personally in someone's life. One thing I have already learned from our journey so far is that words and questions, no matter how innocent they may seem, can hurt someone so deep. Going forward, we have vowed to be more careful with asking that question to other couples, since you never know what they may be struggling with privately. For 17 months, God has challenged us and taught us that He will be strong enough for both of us when we felt that we have been pushed as far as we could go. For 17 months, we have cried, prayed, hoped, dreamed, and wished that this struggle would come to an end and that we could finally add children to our little family.

In that moment when we got the email saying our preliminary application had been approved, we felt relief. We felt that our longing to have children was finally becoming a reality. We felt that finally, we were on a road that will, hopefully, one day end in us adding a sweet, precious baby to our family. We felt God saying "trust me...I have your best interest at heart." We have learned so much over the past 17 months and know that we will learn even more in the journey ahead. We know that we can only get through this with God's help and that ultimately He has our best interest at heart. So now our journey begins...

Telling Our Parents the Exciting News!

This post will have us caught up with everything that has happened in the past 2 weeks. We appologize for the past posts being so long and promise to try and make them shorter in the future.

As soon as we received word that our preliminary application had been approved with Bethany, our minds started thinking about telling our parents. We decided to create small picture books of our journey as husband and wife over the past three years. After flipping through the book, the last page would reveal our annoucement. This page had a picture of baby feet with the words "We're Adopting" over the image. Now that the book was completed, we had to come up with a legitimate reason for meeting up with our parents.

The first call was made to Kelly's parents. Dinner was scheduled at Buffalo Wild Wings in Fayetteville. After placing our order, we told Kelly's parents that we had a gift for them. We explained that we had made a picture book for our anniversary, sharing our journey over the past three years. We told them that we thought they might like a copy and this one was theirs. Kelly's dad flipped through the book first. When Kelly's dad flipped to the last page, his eyes got big and he couldn't stop smiling. He wanted Kelly's mom to be surprised. So, he passed the book off to her and said, "Here, go ahead and look at it!" She slowly flipped through the pages. We watched closely as she neared the end of the book. When she flipped the last page, she screamed in the restaurant. After a brief moment of embarrasment and looking around to see if anyone was looking, we all laughed and exchanged hugs! Telling Kelly's parents couldn't have gone any better. One family down...two to go!

Lindsey's mom and step-dad were going to be driving through Fayetteville the next afternoon, headed to the beach. So, Lindsey called her mom and asked if she wanted to meet up at McDonald's and chat a bit on their way down. No, McDonald's wasn't our favorite choice of location, but given our circumstances and the logistics of meeting up, this was our best option. So, the next afternoon, we met up at McDonald's, just off of I-95. We explained the picture book, just as we had with Kelly's parents. As Lindsey's mom began looking through the book, our hearts began to race a little. We knew that in a matter of seconds she would find out that she was going to be a grandmother! As she turned the last page, her face glowed with excitement and great joy! She said she felt something was up, but didn't know what was going on. She and Steve were both very excited and anxious to hear all about Bethany and the adoption process.

Last, but not least was Lindsey's dad and step-mom. Coordinating a time to tell them our news was a little challenging. After numerous text messages, we determined it would be impossible to get together and tell them our news over the weekend, espcially since we wanted to announce it to our church family on Sunday. We decided to call them and tell them over the phone. We told them about the book and that their copy was waiting for the next time we saw them. They were so excited to hear of our news and are looking forward to being grandparents. We'll have a picture soon of Lindsey's dad and step mom with their picture book.

It's wonderful to know how excited all of our parents are and we can't wait to see them with their grandchild.

The Journey Begins...

Three years ago we stood at the altar and shared our wedding vows. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. Everyone says those words, but at the time, we don't realize the significance of them. Life is a journey. For some, it's like a roller coaster filled with ups and downs, high climbs and sudden drops. We never know what is around the bend, but we keep on going.

Our story definitely has it's moments of joy and excitement, but we have also experienced the "sudden drops." For years, even prior to being married, we have had a special love for children. From the day we said "I do" we knew that God had called us to be parents, but we could have never imagined the road that we would travel to get to that end. For months we had tried to start a family, but nothing was happening. After months and months of trying, after months and months of doctor's visits, after months and months of tears, we were left with questions that seemed to have no answers. What was wrong? Why could we not get pregnant? When will it happen to us? Through this time there has been many emotions that we have experienced. We've experienced moments of joy. pain, resentment, anger, frustration, hope, excitement, and disappointment. For us, these emotions have been ongoing and reoccurring. However, the grace of God has sustained us through it all.

Well, here we are 17 months later. Not much has changed, but we have learned a lot through this process. After being diagnosed with infertility, for no apparent reason, we are learning to trust in the sovereignty of God. We are learning patience and how to wait on Him. We are learning how deep our love and commitment is for each other. Yes, this journey has allowed us to grow closer in our relationship with God, but it has also allowed us to grow closer in our relationship with each other. It's true that difficult times in a marriage will either draw you closer together or drive you farther apart. We are grateful to God that this journey has brought us together!!!

While our story hasn't played out the way we had intended, we have learned that God's plans are not always our plans and His ways are not always our ways. Even though we cannot physically have children, it does not change the calling to be parents that we feel our hearts. Understanding this truth and calling from God, we have decided to begin the process of adoption through Bethany Christian Services.

Words can not even begin to describe the excitement that we feel! We know that this process will not be easy and that it could possibly be a long process, but we are ready! We know that in God's perfect timing He will bring our family together. Until that time, we will keep hoping, trusting, and praying! We ask that you, our family and friends, keep us in your prayers. We will use this blog to keep you updated on all the exciting news. In the near future, we will begin various private fundraising initiatives. Most of these will be done through this blog, so please subscribe to our blog to stay updated.