3 Months Waiting

This week marks our 3rd month of being on our agency's wait list for our children.  Only God knows how much longer we will be waiting as there are so many unknowns that could make our wait shorter or longer than usual.  In the mean-time we are doing all that we can to continue to help children who are orphans and those who are just in need both in our community and in other countries and that gives me peace of mind and makes the wait for our babies seem to go by a little faster. 

 Last week Jason and I decided to sponsor a child in Uganda to be able to go to school and church, get medical help and eat 2 meals a day through
The Suubi Project.  In a time where we have cut back a lot of our spending and pretty much put any money we have left after our tithe, paying bills, groceries, gas, etc, to our adoption savings, I did hesitate for a split second about if this is something we should be doing considering we only have about 1/3 of what we need to fund our adoption but God definitely kept placing this need on my heart so we said YES!  There are pictures of all the children on the facbook page and this one little boy's face just kept drawing me to him but when I was asked to choose a child officially I didn't feel right picking him because maybe I was just drawn to him because he was one of the younger ones there, closer in age to my Jalen and just adorable as can be, so I wrote down all the names and cut them up and put them in a bowl and shook them around really good and had Jalen pick.  As soon as he gave me the piece of paper I opened it up and gasped a bit and told Jason I couldn't believe who he just picked, out of the 17 names in the bowl he picked Samuel age 4, that was the little boy I was so drawn to!  I am now just waiting to hear from the director to get officially signed up and started but I encourage you to check out The Suubi Project and pray for them.  They are doing great work and I am so excited we get to be a part of it!

Half Marathon Training.  Yes this is in full force and has been such an amazing experience.  I can't explain how different running for a cause is versus running for exercise.  4 years ago Jason and I started training for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix just because and I don't ever recall being so motivated to keep pushing on.  By the time I got to mile 8 my knees started acting up and every time after that if I ran any more than 2-3 miles my knees would make me suffer for quite some time so we easily stopped training and never completed our half.  Now 4 years later, my knees are just that much older and at times that much worse but training for this half has not bothered me or my joints and there is NO way I would give up.  This time I am running for my babies and for orphans all over and as much as those children have to deal with, it is a very small thing for me to do to run on behalf of them.  Yesterday I ran 10 miles (94 mins) and I truly know it is by the power of God that I can keep going and to be honest I feel like I could keep on going every time! 

We are able to raise money for our adoption through this race through donations that can be made to the
Bethesda Fund and are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!  Just be sure to put our name in the "special instructions":  It's A Child's Life-O'Neal Family.  So, if you know anyone needing to get a year end donation made, just putting it out there :)  Donations can be made HERE

We will have our orphan ministry, It's A Child's Life, there selling t-shirts and handing out information on adoption, foster care, mentorship and more to anyone who is there.  If you live in the area we would love to see you in New Braunfels, TX on October 29th.