18 team members

We have built up a team of 18 people so far!

We are praying about this thing every step of the way and God is blessing us.

Its not to late to get involved.....here are some ways.

 

1.) We would LOVE to have some more team members!

 

2.)  We need stamps.  We will hopefully be sending out about 2,000 letters as a team.  That is a lot of stamps and will cost us about $1,000.  If everyone could donate a few stamps, it would really help save us money.

 

3.)  A website has been set up on Both Hands where you can sponsor our project.  It is really easy to sponsor online using a debit/credit card.  Every little bit helps.

www.bothhands.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl



Both Hands Fundraiser - Be a part of the team!

I am getting really excited about this project.

Gavin and I have spent the last week praying about a widow that we could serve.

God brought us one!

Our Both Hands project will take place on September 7th.

We will be fixing up a sweet widows house.

We will clean up trash in her yard, trim bushes, pull weeds, rake leaves, take down old gutters, and do whatever else she may need.

It will be a great time to bless her.

 

We are looking for a team of volunteers to help us with this project.

If you are interested in being a part of our team, all you have to do is say yes!

We will be putting together a team this week.

 

Next week, we will plan a envelope stuffing party.

This is where each team member will bring all their addresses over, we will have a potluck, and send out fundraising letters.  The letters will be asking your family and friends to sponsor you for this project...it is very similar to collecting pledges for running a marathon.  We will supply the letters, envelopes, and stamps.  You will just need to bring a side dish and the addresses of every family and friend you can think of.

 

After that, you just show up on project day and love the widow that we are going to serve!

A Friend in Congo

I have a sweet friend who traveled to Congo this week to pick up her daughter.

Her daughter happened to be in the same foster home as our babies.

She was able to take a few beautiful pictures for us!

It feels so strange that she is there with them yet they feel SO far away from us.

 

They were wearing the sweetest traditional Congolese outfits!

These are made by one of the foster moms and I plan an buying a few when we go.

She said that both of the kids were tiny!  She said that they look so big in pictures compared to how big they are in person.  I have been wondering if their weights are inaccurate because they do not look that small in pictures.  My friend assured me that they are in fact very small kids.

 

One of the first things I asked her was if she could tell me anything about their personalities.

I want to KNOW my kids so bad...any glimpse of who they are makes my heart smile.

She told me that Isryelle did not want to play.

She stood by herself and had a sad look in her eyes.

This breaks my heart and surprises me.  She always looks so happy in pictures.

This next picture has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.

They must have told her that her parents are coming for her soon!

She looks so ladylike in that dress!

 

 

My friend let me know that Boaz played with her!

He enjoyed playing with cars and blocks.

When the blocks would fall over, he would laugh!

What a sweet sound that must be!

 

I am not going to lie, these pictures made me ball my eyes out.

The fact that my little girl looks sad is heart breaking.

I am missing my little boy's laughs which I am sure is constantly changing.

I am still crying out to God to bring my babies home.

I have faith that they will be here soon.

 



Five Months and Hoping

Today marks five months since we accepted our kids referrals.

As I try to write this post, I just don't know what to say.

Some days I have a hard time being very happy about the situation.

Our prayer lately has been,"Lord we don't know why you are not bringing them home yet but we will make a daily choice to trust you."

Every night we go to sleep aching for our little ones and every morning we wake up and choose to trust God's timing.

 

I am starting to want to get their rooms ready.

I am thinking about the adoption shower.

I want to start preparing for their arrival.

What if they don't come home for a year or even longer?

I don't want to prepare for them too soon and have the constant reminder of empty bedrooms and clothes not yet worn.

 

To top it off, in there last update pictures they both looked very unhappy.

Boaz looked sick.  He had a snotty nose, goopy eyes, and was sweaty like he had a fever.  His mouth was hanging open as though he could not breath through his nose.  Isryelle looks a little under the weather too.  Our normally happy girl did not crack one smile in this months updates.  We are still praying that they come home soon.

Boaz has some hair!  I am sure by the next update they will have shaved his hair again.  I just love this...I can't wait to grow it out!

Even when she is not very happy, she still shows her attitude.  She crossed her arms and gave the camera a very serious face.

 



Want to Help a Widow AND help bring our kids home?

BOTH HANDS!

If you have not heard of this organization...you should!

It is an amazing idea and we have been approved to be a part of it.

There are a couple different ways you can help.

 

Here is how it works.

 

1.We will find a widow who we can serve.  This can mean anything from helping her paint a room to doing some serious construction. 

 

2.Then we will put together a team of volunteers and draft a letter to send out to family and friends explaining the project we are doing for the widow and the fact that we are searching for people to sponsor us for our work.

Sponsors can pay a volunteer for every hour that they worked or just give a lump sum.

The sponsors checks will be sent to our Lifesong fund and will be tax detectable.

We will write these letters up for our volunteers!

 

3.We will put together an envelope stuffing party and all of our volunteers will send letters our the THEIR family and friends.  That is my favorite part!  I think our family and friends are getting a little sick of fundraising letters:) This way so many more people can have a chance to be part of bringing our babies home.

 

4.  We will serve the widow!  We will raise money for our adoption!  We will give God glory!

 

How you can help.

1. We are searching for a widow who needs to be loved and served.  If you know of one who could use the help, let me know.  My husband is a contractor so if you think the job is too big, bring it to me anyways.  It might not be!

 

2.  Volunteer to help with the project and get sponsors. It is going to be so much fun!

 

3. You can commit to sponsoring me, Gavin, or one of our volunteers.

 

4.  Pray for this awesome opportunity.  We want God to have so much glory through this project!

 

rachelwilson2@hotmail.com



Personality Guessing Game

Gavin and I both spend a lot of time dreaming about what our children are like.

We get lots of pictures of them that show off their personalities a little bit.

Every time we get a new picture, we think of another personality trait that the child might have.

Its strange having children who you do not "know".

We are looking forward to picking them up and finding out what their personalities are really like.

 

OUR GUESSES

 

Isryelle

We think Isryelle will be a really happy little girl.  She smiles a huge genuine smile in a lot of the pictures we get of her.  We think she will have the sweetest little giggle and will be the life of the party.  We already see so many similarities between her and Irelyn.  I am sure they will get along great!  We also think she is going to be very girly.  She is always throwing out a little sassy pose for the pictures.  We can see her just being a little love bug.  We think she will run, play, and dance around and then come over to our laps for some snuggles at the end of the day. 

 

 

Boaz

We think Boaz will be more reserved.  He rarely smiles in pictures and even when he does, they are not full smiles.  We have NEVER seen his teeth.  We think he will be stand offish at first.  We see him going with the flow but taking a long time to let us in.  He has been passed around a lot in his little life and I think it will take him a while to trust us.  We think he will be calm, collected, and tough.  We think he will really enjoy American food and having sisters to take care of.  We think he will be loving and genuinely caring.  We think he is just going to be a really sweet little boy that will be a joy to be around.

 

We will see how accurate we are when we go get them!

Care Packages

I am sure you all remember those care packages we put together for our kids a few months ago.

We sent to someone in Canada to take with her when she went to pick up her daughter who lives in a foster home with out kids.  The poor thing has still not been able to pick up her daughter!  Due to some government difficulties, she is not sure when she will be able to pick up her daughter.  Please make an effort to pray for this mother and daughter until the little girl goes home!

 

In the meantime, our coordinator is heading to Congo in a week or so. 

Our packages have been sent to her to take with her to Congo.

I am beyond excited for our children to get there packages!

Our coordinator will take a lot of pictures while she is there and I am sure she will try her best to take pictures of the kids opening their packages. 

 

I have started a "secret" page on FB where I am sharing pictures of the kids with family and close friends.  When the kids are officially and legally ours, which God willing should be soon, I would be happy to add many people to the group to follow our process and see pictures on a more personal level.  Hopefully by the time we get pictures of the kids opening their packages, we will be able to add more people to our group.

 

If you want to be a part of this FB group let me know!

If we are not friends on Facebook, we should be!

Rachel M Pehl

Look me up!