checking the calendar - God's plan

A year ago today, I posted THIS. 

It is hard to believe that was a year ago. But then, it seems like an eternity ago.

On Jan 15th last year, we held a concert to raise funds for the adoption.  The concert was great.  There were hundreds of people that came to Goshen, Indiana on a snowy winters day to support us. 

Since my hubby is a musician, it made sense to get some of his buddies together and hold a concert.  I had no idea how great the benefits were of having friends with talent!

Yes, we hoped that Anya's story would touch people.  We planned a truly entertaining night of great music...music that would bring you to tears, and rock the house!  We did everything we could to build a buzz, called in all of our friends in media to help us promote the event.  We sold tickets, passed out flyers, and talked about the concert to anyone who would listen. 

The best part...God showed up.


Our financial situation was bleak...we needed to come up with thousands and THOUSANDS of dollars to travel to Russia and live there for 2 months. Taking into account not working for that period of time, and the very real bottom line that was in our checking account...well, it wasn't good at all.

At the time, we laughed that OF COURSE we would get a court date NOW that we are broke.  NOW that the economy had  fallen apart and our income sliced in half.  I was debating between buying a plane ticket for one of us to go...or to pay the mortgage for Jan 2010. 

I had tried to micromanage every facet of the adoption to control it.  I did that for 6 years.  In January 2010, I was exhausted and spent (in more ways than one!).  Trying to keep our businesses going to bring some money into our home, trying to keep the adoption going (which of course required money) I felt completely pushed to the edge.

 And God knew all that.  He knew our financial situation.  He knew how we were going to get to Russia.  He knew how freaked out I would get.  He knew it would be taken care of.  ...but I didn't know it.  Now, a year later, I will admit that my Faith was tested.  I will admit there was a little part of my heart that was MAD at God.  Just really irritated that we had to go through ALL of this to bring Anya home.  It wasn't fair.  I didn't get it. I started questioning every single thing I had ever done in my life to be sure I had adequately asked for forgiveness and/or repented. I couldn't understand WHY HE would let Anya suffer another minute without us.  And why now?  Now that we have to be embarrassed to the entire community about needing money to bring her home. To say having Fund Raisers is humbling is an understatement. 

On January 18, 2010 we had the money to go to Russia.  We had airline tickets in the works and the mortgage got paid.  God had a plan.  As if I needed any further proof of God's hand in this adoption (apparently I did).






He had a plan, and He worked it out for HIS glory.

I had lost sight of what this was all about.  It wasn't about me, it never was.  It wasn't even about Anya.  It was always about God - about HIM...and giving others a glimpse into the true test of Faith. 



Thanks to Brittani Renee for being the BEST photographer EVER.  See the rest of the photos from this great concert here

too many words, not enough pictures

I noticed that my past few posts have been all words, and no pictures. So rather than to bore you with all of the amazing things that happened at the concert and days leading up to the concert last Friday night...I offer the concert...in photos (thanks to Brittani Renee Photography!) See all of the pics HERE.

I will need to add some words about some of these photos...ya know, because I am a wordy-type...

Do you know Dale Shafer? If not, you should. He is honestly one of the nicest people I have ever met. Not only does he have a great sense of humor, but he is a very talented drummer. And no ladies, he is not available (sorry!)! He is getting married in May! YAY!

Steve Smith is the husband of my super-duper good friend Vanessa. We lost several emcees right before the concert, and there for a minute I thought I was going to have to emcee (which would have been odd). Steve jumped into the emcee role (literally) at noon the day of the concert - and he did an AMAZING job!!! THANKS!

This is our dear friend Angie Henry. She is amazing and beautiful...inside and out. She is the kind of person that makes you a better person. And her voice? WHOAH!
Here is a shot of my sweet friend Larisa and her son George with my sister in law, Lori...they graciously agreed to help us at the ticket counter for the concert. I know time is precious, and something neither one of them have a lot of...so I appreciate them VERY much!
This is Todd Bruce - he and his beautiful wife Lorraine are great friends. He was in the zone playing his bass guitar!
Of course, my frighteningly talented husband - he sang 3 songs that he wrote. One of the songs, called 'home' is about Anya. I hope he is able to get the video to that song, and the song up on You Tube soon so you all can hear it and be in awe of his talent.

He has a website where he has posted a TON of his music - that website is currently being used as an adoption donation page, but we will take that down soon so you can hear the music www.martyfriend.com

Kim Stewart and Angie Henry singing...which they should do more often! I love to see the pure joy in their faces when they sing. Kim also sang a song that ROCKED the house! I just love Kim...the more I get to know her and her heart, the more I just love her!

Seth Bible and band...and yes, that is his REAL name! Seth, oh what to say about Seth...the God given talent he has is something I can't seem to find words for. His music touches hearts every. single. time. he sings. (and he has an adorable girlfriend named Sarah!)
Mark Pitcher jams! Period!
Dean Swihart agreed to join in on the concert fun at the last minute. His talent really added a ton to the concert! Thanks Dean!

Kim Helmbreck is one of my BFFs, and oh goodness can that girl SANG! Kim is married and lives in Milwaukee now, so I so appreciate her driving over to our neck of the woods for the weekend to share her talents with us.

smiles with unexpected blessings

I was working today, for those of you who don't know what I do for a living go HERE.

So, I was working. When I head out for the day, I am always looking at a 1/2 hour (or more) drive. One of the many joys of living in the boonies. As I drive I always listen to WFRN or PULSE FM (Christian stations). Many times as I am singing at the top of my lungs, I find myself deep in thought and prayer...and generally it is over Anya.

Such was the story today.

I don't know if I want to admit it, but I was praying for a sign. Something to let me know that HE is hearing me. I know how crazy that sounds, and how unfaithful that is...but that is where I was. To be honest, I prayed something like this "OK God, this is out of control. I need a little somethin' somethin" (just keeping it real here)

I went to my client's home, chose her wardrobe for the next 7 days (remember me saying if you don't know what I do...go HERE?). I got a call from my local Russian friend who also works in the fashion world. Kind of funny that she called me, I haven't seen or talked to her in MONTHS - I've been thinking about her a lot the past few weeks. Every time I hear her voice (or a thick Russian accent) I can't help but to get a little misty eyed.

Then I made some some courtesy calls with local boutiques and shops. Soon after I walked in one of my regular haunts, a woman came in that I recognized but couldn't place. I realized that she is the one who had the Silpada fundraiser for the adoption a few months back. She said that she saw me come into the store, and wanted to give me something. She handed me a check for $100 toward the adoption. I am not kidding.

I have been consigning things for a few months now. I have taken things from my closet and the closets of my clients. All of the money raised from the clothes will go toward the adoption. I was talking to the owner of the consignment store I do business with, and all the sudden she hands me a check for $375!

Do you ever feel like God sends you a Hallmark card just to tell you He is thinking about you, and to reassure you He is in control? Well, that is how I feel today.

Fund Raiser update

ADOPTION FUNDRASIERS...update

Thanks to all of you who came out and supported our Fashion Show Fundraiser last week.
It was a huge success, and we far exceeded our goals and expectations. If you missed it - then you missed lots of clothes, lots of great food, Marty in women's clothing, me crying...and over 60 of you that supported us, it was quite a night!

Several have asked when the next fundraiser will be...and it is THIS WEEK!

Join me on:
Thursday, June 11th
7pm - 9pm

Serendipity Consignment Boutique
7106 Grape Road
Granger, IN 46530

This will be a Silpada fund raiser, with some silent auction items thrown in for fun.

Clean out your closet, and bring some things to be consigned as a donation!

This is also a great opportunity to check out my favorite consignment shop!

Can't make the event, but want to buy a piece of Silpada jewelry for the fundraiser? Contact Michelle at 574-271-1200.

Stop by, if for no other reason than to check out this new consignment shop. It is amazing! If you like designer clothing, handbags (like Coach, Kate Spade, LV etc...) you will LOVE this shop! They also have amazing consigned home decor things...what a great way to give your house a face lift!

What for Mother's Day?

Why a necklace of course! I am having trouble updating the website with new locations and new fundraising totals, but will figure it out eventually...

I think (and I may be a little bias) that this necklace is the perfect Mother's Day gift! It is a story about a mother...it helps to build a family - and it's fashionable to boot!

Get yours today! http://bring-anya-home.com/necklace.html

Fundraising necklace gets national play on website

Most of you know that I occasionally write for a national online magazine called "Blissfully Domestic". The editor of the fashion section did a story this week on the BRING ANYA HOME necklace.

Here is the story:

A Stylish Necklace to Help Out a Stylish Friend
By Jenny Rapson on April 6, 2009

One of the very vital team members here at Blissful Style and Blissfully Domestic is contributor and fashion expert Kathy Friend. Kathy has written some of my all-time favorite Blissful Style articles like this one on how clothes should fit. Girlfriend is a professional wardbrobe consultant and she knows what she's talking about!

Something you may not know about Kathy is that for five long years, she and her husband Marty have been trying to adopt Anya, a lovely little girl who lives in an orphanage in Irkutsk, Russia. (Please read their whole story here!) Now, after five years of tears, five trips to Russia and tens of thousands of dollars, Marty and Kathy, who have never given up on the little girl they love, see an end in sight - there is a very real possibilty that Anya could officially be their daughter by her 7th birthday in June 2009.

Read the rest of the story HERE

Fund Raising Website is up and running!

Took some time today to build a website to keep track of our fund raising efforts. You will also be able to order the 'Bring Anya Home" necklace on this site too!

http://www.bring-anya-home.com

Check it out!!

let the fund raisers begin!

This weekend officially kicks off our fundraising efforts to Bring Anya Home.

My friend and jewelry designer (Ali Oesch - you should always wear her stuff!) has made this one-of-a-kind necklace for us to sell. Isn't it beautiful?! To understand this necklace, you need to know me fairly well. From reading this blog - you may have a pretty good idea who I am and what I am all about. Things I've said about this journey always include the words strength and truth.

The 3 stones represent me, Marty and Anya.


The Pearl is important, not only because I wear pearls every day of my life (in one form or another), but because it is the stone of Truth.

The little silver bead represents the strength of platinum, and our strong resolve, and strong faith to bring Anya home.

And of course, the clear teardrop in the center, representing the many tears we've shed over making Anya wait to come home...the big tear also represents tears of Joy for the end of this story.

All of this I came up with, so if you have a better story to put with the beads, I'd love to hear it!

Ali will make as many as 100 of these for us to sell. Can you believe that?! We will retail them for $38 - and make them available anywhere that will offer to sell them for us!

I know you are dying for one, aren't you? Well, I will have the very first of this limited edition 'Bring Anya Home' necklace with me this weekend at Camellia The Makeup Store in Heritage Square in Granger. There will be some other great things there this weekend too that we'll be selling to raise funds.

Fundraising

We have several fundraising efforts in process right now.

My good friend, Ali Oesch, who is the most talented jewelry designer I know - is making a 'Bring Anya Home' necklace - can you believe that? I cried, seriously...when she told me. It is going to be STUNNING and come with a story card. We hope to have these available next weekend...

Camellia The Makeup Store is having a Spring Trend Event next weekend, and they've graciously asked me to participate with them. As a fundraising effort, we will be selling 'Bring Anya Home' pashmina/wraps, and I will have some of Ali's jewelry there too. STOP IN!

Marisha from 4Her (boutique) gave us a great idea on a fund raiser. Marty is working on the major part of it - so stay tuned for more details!

The big party - it was a hit!

Well, we pulled it off. The Jackson’s met me this afternoon to help me get the remaining things I needed for the party. THANK YOU TAMI AND STEVE! I could not have done it without you.

The children were so excited. The party started with a cookie on a stick (kind of looked like a popsicle, but it was a cookie dipped in icing) and a juice box. After the snack, we had an activity – we painted t-shirts. The caregivers were very confused about this paint and the tees. How did it work, can the paint be used for other things, how long does it take to dry, can it be washed. The kids had great fun. The painted everything from boats to houses to flowers and even a bunny.



Then Anya got to play Santa Clause…or Father Christmas. Each child got a coloring book, set of markers (crayons are not easily found in Irkutsk), a journal (they are all learning to write), a page of stickers and candy. The boys got a ball and a car (or a boat) that is like a llego thing, and the girls got Barbie dolls, and a little purse filled with hair bows. Anya then made a snap together rubber bracelet for each of the children. She chose a character (lion, tiger, monkey, butterfly) for each child to decorate the rubber bracelet.




The children all yelled “Spaseeba!” over and over again (that is Thank You).

Unfortunately, I was unable to get photos of all of the children at the party – something about taking pictures of other kids being illegal – so as to not upset Russian Law, the party photos are all of Anya.







Anya then presented each of the caregivers with a gift. They received a small perfume, cosmetic bag (small and large), and a shoe bag.

The head caregiver gave me a gift for the girls who sent the Barbie dolls (thanks Wegner girls). She is sending little Russian dolls and Russian candy.

She was very touched by this – and by the fact my friends and family would care for all of the children, and give them a party and gifts. She was visibly moved, and asked over and over again ‘who are these gifts from?’ and I would say “from my friends, their children and my family”.


I always gift gifts to the orphanage’s doctor, director and social worker. This time, I decided to also include the 2 security guards (kind of a last minute thing). I couldn’t find either one of them as I was leaving…but ran into my favorite security man on my way to the car. He reminds me of Nick Ambrose (probably why I like him so much). We told him there was a gift for him in the doctor’s office, and you should have seen the look on his face. He said “a gift for me? But why?” I said, “no reason, I just wanted to give you a gift”. He got tears in his eyes, grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek. So sweet!

I also got our driver a gift. Nice kid…23 years old! Very good driver. At the last minute, I decided to add a $20 to his gift. As I was getting out of the car tonight, I gave him the gift, and said “this is a thank you gift”, he said “oh, thank you so much, my baby will be born in 3 weeks – this is very nice, thank you”. Who knew?

Sometimes God moves you to do things, and you don’t know why. I have felt prompted several times on this trip to do something or give something that is outside of what I would normally do. It seems that God knows the whole picture and what that small token from me would mean to someone else.

The Big Party

Well, we've spoken to all the caregivers, gotten permission from the head caregiver, and the pans are in motion for the big party tomorrow. It kind-of (ok, it A LOT) stinks that everything is closed. I couldn't do any party supply shopping Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - which is when I had planned to get it done. I thought I would scope out a few places, get some ideas etc. Now, I am only going to have time to grab and go.

So far, I have the food and activities done. Got cakes (the are individual on a popsicle stick), juice boxes for everyone (huge hit from Anya), candy (hard candy and chocolate), and t-shirts.

I will need to get 12 coloring books, crayons, balls for the boys - any anything else I see that the kids would like.

My intreperter doesn't seem too excited to help me get this stuff, so I might need to call in back up. I will only have about 2 hours to get it done tomorrow...and if things are closed, I am going to have a problem.

There is a huge market here - I wonder if they have toys there. The markets seems to be open.

Also need to get a few gifts for men...3 men, and I am at a loss - any ideas? One is the security guard at the orphanage - he is so nice, always says "hello Katherine!". The other 2 are for younger men.

Party for the Kids

I think I am going to have the party for the kids at the orphanage on Friday afternoon. I try not to do anything grand for the kids at the beginning of my trip. I’ve learned if I do that, every day when I get there, I am mobbed – they think I am bringing them gifts or candy every day.

This will also give me some time tomorrow to purchase what I need for the party – and get “official” permission with my translator. I wanted to do this party thing yesterday (i.e. Wednesday) – but I was without interpreter – and I can’t imagine what it would take for me to try to get them to understand what I was asking. Ugh!

Scarf Sales now online!

Click HERE to purchase a scarf today!

Wanna Give some Orphans a Christmas?

I was at a friend's store a week ago, and saw these scarves that her daughter made. They were unique, simple, and a great idea.

That gave me the idea to spin off her idea, and create my own...not as a business, but as a fund raiser!

I want to do something special for the kids in Anya's group for Christmas. Doing this is going to require not only a few more dollars for gifts and snacks - but extortion money to pay for an extra bag on Aeroflot - which I am sure they will decide is overweight. I estimate this exchange being in the $200 range. The good news is that if I sell enough, I won't have to bring anything with me. If I can raise enough money, I can hire a catering service to deliver cakes and snacks in Shelechov, and purchase gifts there. To do that, I would have to pay a translator and driver to be with me. Last year, there was a need in the home for new blankets for every child. Wouldn't it be amazing it I was able to raise enough money to purchase a new blanket for every child's bed? I think there are about 100 kids in this orphanage. And imagine if I raise enough to be able to do something for Anya's orphanage, and the groups that my friends children are in. That is a lot of scarves...lots-o-yarn.

I hope to be able to place these in stores throughout Michiana. I am going to start with the stores of some friends (if you are a friend with a store - is that ok?). I am calling them Krasivaya Couture. Krasicvaya means 'beautiful' in Russian. I can also take orders (I guess...) via this blog. They are $35 - and I can ship it to you via USPS. If you want to pay with PayPal - please pay $40 (PayPal fees - blech), please pay mars@mastermedia7.com.

Anyway - here are the first dozen scarves I've made. They are very girly - very frilly...I have 2 that I've worn for the past few weeks - and I get tons of compliments. They are not stitched or knitted in any way...since I don't stitch or knit :)

If you want more details - let me know!