Come on home, Gage & Jude

I desperately wish I was allowed to post the picture of my new nephews, but until my sister and brother-in-law have legally adopted them we can't post their pictures online. Let me assure you that they are handsome little Ethiopian boys.

Gage Moses Tafesse Ellis is 4 and named after a dear friend Logan Gage who is a thinker, a pursuer of Truth, a man of integrity. He is named Moses after the Israelite man adopted by Egyptians- to later return and free his people. It was the study of the life of Moses that brought Jasmine to a place to consider adopting. He will keep his Ethiopian name, Tafesse because it is who he is and where he comes from.

Jude Harrison Abush Ellis is 2 and even smaller than our little Everett. The name Jude is biblical and Harrison is the name of my brother- not only does he share with Jude in being adopted into our family but also has overcome a past to passionately pursue Christ. Abush is Jude's Ethiopian name.

We are hoping and praying that Gage and Jude will get to come home within the next 3 months. (It better be soon because their bed is all made up and their new siblings are ecstatic! (Pearl-5, Eve-4, and James 2)

To help with the enormous expenses of the adoption we decided to do a garage sale at our house this past weekend. We prayed that God would make it worth it and began asking people if they had anything to donate.

...and boy, did they. Once our garage was filled from floor to ceiling, we began tarping the furniture in the driveway.

The week before the garage sale Lance and Jasmine got a bill for the next stage of the adoption process: $6,500. It had to be paid sooner than expected. Half jokingly Jasmine said, "Think we should make that our garage sale goal?"

Last week a dear family member sent a check saying she couldn't make the garage sale but wanted to help. Enclosed was a $5,000 check. Jasmine called half-crying, half-laughing, and all the way jumping up and down. A couple days later came a check from good friends- $300.

Our goal for the garage sale became $1,200. Our cousin Sommer came from Portland to help. Jasmine's sister-in-law Leah, my sister Megan, our mom, sister Ericka, friend Tara... people kept showing up either bringing items or help. We set up for nearly 12 hours on Friday.

Saturday morning we had customers by 7:15am. They kept coming...and coming...and coming. Leah had the espresso machine going, people had donated baked goods. It became quite the party!

At the end of the day we gathered; dirty, exhausted, sore feet, determined to never look at another trinket or price tag for a l-o-n-g time. We counted the money. It was nearly $3,000. Our grand total for the week was nearly $8,000!

Our God is a God of exceeded expectations. He is a God that loves the fatherless and cares for his own. He is a God of provision and of miracles. He is a God who puts it on people's hearts to give, to sacrifice, to support and encourage others who are following His commands. He is a God who knows how to throw a party!

Our kids & their garage sale finds- plenty of dress up for the girls!
This is obviously early in the day setting up (note the perky smiles)
What the yard looked like Friday night in preparation.
The not so perky faces after 12 hours of set up.
The sun coming up as we are ready for customers Saturday morning.

...and the loot (no way of getting it in one frame- this doesn't even include a driveway full of furniture)
Woo-hoo!