Give1Save1-Africa: New Family - The Greenfields

This site has become one of our favorite Monday rituals in the last few weeks! Each Monday a family is featured and a short story about their adoption is presented. We love to see how God is blessing us with extra in our personal finances so we can bless others even while we are saving and paying for our own adoption! Check out this sweet family and consider giving, even a dollar & social network share will spread the word and increase their account!

Give1Save1-Africa: New Family - The Greenfields: Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. And now all the Christmas fun can start! This weeks' family is a little...

Thanksgiving Reflections

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts to paper so forgive me if this is a bit jumbled, but I do want to share. I am running a Thanksgiving Day 5k tomorrow morning and immediately afterwards Jeremiah is running his first Kids Fun Run 1k. He is adorably excited about it and cannot wait for people to cheer for him.

All day today I have been emotional thinking about him running this race. It was 4 years ago that the Lord first called me to begin running and I ran this same race on Thanksgiving day, 2008. See, we had been trying to conceive a baby for several years and we had lost 2 babies to miscarriage. Al & I both felt like this run was unto Jeremiah. I didn't really know what that meant, just that we were committed to do anything the Lord called us to, not to waste any days just waiting. Each time we trained we prayed for the baby boy God had promised, but also asked what else He might have for us in our season of preparation. When I ran that race I was carrying a teeny tiny little guy that only God knew existed. I found out the Saturday after Thanksgiving that I was pregnant. Now that tiny little miracle is a walking, talking, running little boy!

He doesn't know what this race means for me, but I do. The bigger picture for us this year is that Jeremiah and I  are racing to raise support to bring the next member of this family home through adoption. I look forward to a night like this in the future when I can sit down and blog after the kids are in bed and remember the race Jeremiah ran for his brother Luke, still unknown to us in Ethiopia. I know that Thanksgiving I'll be a mess watching my boys run side by side, a couple of promises fulfilled. Don't worry, Iris will be right there with them! I'm confident she won't let them do much without her.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, encouraged us and sowed into this adoption financially! We are so thankful for each of you! We are very close to having another payment to send in and then we'll be starting our home study! Exciting days ahead!

If you see me tomorrow at the race, don't be surprised if you see a few tears of joy. God is so good and I am ever thankful for his faithfulness. He who promised, truly is faithful.

Martha

Sponsor Jeremiah is his first 1K! Click the link to the right or contact me for a mailing address...

Remember if you'd like to run, walk or skip in the Turkey Trot 5K, you can join our team and get your own sponsors! Email me for more details, marthaandal@gmail.com. We love you and appreciate ALL the prayers and support!

Chicken, Treasures & Running

What do these three things have in common? I'll tell you! Besides the fact that we love them all, they are all a way that the Lord is providing finances for our adoption. Here are some dates to watch for, pray for and plan for!

November 1st: Chick-fil-A Pearson Adoption Spirit Night

• Come see us at CFA Thoroughbred Square in Cool Springs on Mallory Lane, from 5-8pm on Thursday night. Mention you're there for the Pearson's adoption night and a percentage of the sales will come to us! Invite your friends, neighbors, family & co-workers! 
• Pray this night brings in lots of sales both to bless Chick-fil-A and to bless our adoption fund! 
• Pray that we can connect with new and old friends who might be considering adoption or have never thought about it before. We are believing our story will inspire and bring more than one orphan home!

November 2nd & 3rd: Friends and Family Yard Sale

• We are collecting, sorting and pricing like crazy over here for a yard sale! 
• Clean out those closets, garages and toy boxes and bring us the things you don't need anymore.
• Come shop and find that treasure you didn't even know you were looking for, we will have lots of good stuff! 
• Pray for a sunny day and lots of shoppers and sweet connections! 

November 22nd: Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K and Kids Fun Run

• Come and run, walk or trot with us on Thanksgiving by joining our team! By joining our team you will be supporting GraceWorks Ministries and getting your own sponsors will support our adoption, (I have sponsor sheets available). Click here to join our team! Choose team, RUNNING FOR LUKE
• Don't run? Have plans for that day? Live too far away? Sponsor our family in the run by clicking the link on the right --->
• Pray for beautiful weather for this event. It is always a fun day and the race itself supports GraceWorks Ministries here in Nashville. It's a great way to start a day of eating!

Look for more events and announcements coming soon!

We're adopting!

Thanks for visiting our blog! We used to be so diligent about updating this page with photos, stories and thoughts. Then, life took over! Now that we are in the process of adoption, we knew this would be a great way to keep friends, family and maybe even soon to be friends, up to date on our process, up to date on our events and up to date on our cute kids!

About a 16 months ago the Lord gave Martha a dream that was so real she couldn't shake it. That same night He gave a friend a dream that tied to hers and made the word, "adoption" enter our prayers and vocabulary. Over the next 4 months it was confirmed in two other dreams that the Lord had a little boy for us in Ethiopia. We began praying and asking the Lord for the right timing and the right people and He led us to America World Adoption Agency. We were approved for adoption this month and we are harvesting the funds we need to move forward. Keep checking back for more information and watch this page for events and ways you can serve us through this process. We covet your prayers!

To donate, click one of the links on the right!

Much love,
Al, Martha & the kids!

Iris is 9 months old!

Wow, didn't I just post about her being 3 months old? We are having so much fun around our house. Iris is mobile, Jeremiah is silly and we are busy!

At 9 months, Iris...

*crawls at breakneck speed

*pulls up

*knows what the garage door opening means... Daddy's home!

*love, love, loves her Daddy, I thought Jeremiah lit up when Al came into a room, but there is something special about a little girl and her daddy

*eats solids 3 times a day and so far autumn veggies are her favorites

*drinks water from a sippy cup, but just like her brother she prefers to drink from my water bottle

*now shares a room with her big brother and they love to make each other laugh

*would rather play with a cell phone or remote than her toys

*likes to be kept on a schedule and does not like when that schedule gets changed

*has 7 teeth in and is STILL working on 2 more up top

*loves to have her belly tickled

*makes our lives more fun!

We are so thankful for this beauty that makes our lives more beautiful!

A couple of silly faces for your Friday night

This is Jeremiah at 5 months old and Iris at 8 months old (sitting with Jeremiah, 2 years old). They know how to make us smile!