Joy in Paint

Years and years ago, I would find joy in painting occasionally. I find fresh canvas to be intoxicating. I was literally itching to get started on this little project after a trip to the craft store. I had the opportunity to meet this gal at the C4C retreat. And I tell you, I think she is amazing. I used her tutorial for creating these canvases. Of course, Jenn makes it look super easy while I waivered the entire time throwing them in the trash and pretending the whole day never happened. I am like that with projects. Very impatient to see the end result, I walk a fine line of every project being a disaster. I think I got them to a point of satisfaction and I tell you they look perfect over my bed. However, we are fundraising, so I am open to the idea of selling them. I am taking them with me to a craft fair this weekend.

LifeSong Matching Grant

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you all doing very well. As some of you might know, we have decided to welcome another child into our family. We are currently in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia through a wonderful agency called All God’s Children International. The number of children worldwide without families to love and care for them is astounding… there are over 43.4 million orphans in Africa alone! We prayerfully considered several countries, and ultimately felt drawn to Ethiopia. It is a beautiful culture...with a rich Christian heritage, wonderful people, and deep traditions. But sadly, in such a beautiful country, there are many, many orphans...currently 4.5 million! These children have lost their families to disease, famine, and poverty. What an honor it is for us to welcome one of these children into our home and our family.

Our life is crazy, and we LOVE it that way! We are crazy for our family, and crazy for the 147 Million Orphans who don’t have a family to call their own. Our hearts are full and our laundry piles are high. Our house is filled with much love, and many laughs. God has shown us that there is always room in our hearts to love more, and that we can always find time to do more laundry. And so we are stepping out in faith to bring home our next blessing. And we could not feel more blessed to be on this crazy journey!

Our family, over the last 12 months, has been saving and preparing for this adoption. Kelly has been busy behind the sewing machine making dresses, capes, dolls and quilts. We have initiated a “sponsor a dress” fundraiser, where we make a dress to clothe a little girl in Ethiopia. Our plan is to hand out these dresses on our first trip to Ethiopia. To date, we have made over 50 dresses.

As you might know, adoption is expensive. We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, Ethiopian government fees, translation fees, travel, orphanage fees, medical, document fees, etc. to be $30,000. We have met all adoption expenses so far, around $13,000. We are grateful to Covenant Presbyterian Church and LifeSong for Orphans for providing us with a $2,500 matching grant to help us with the remaining adoption costs. Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org), a trusted organization administering the funds, will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

We would like to extend an invitation to you to joyfully partner with us to help bring home our Ethiopian son. While not everyone is called to adopt a child, we believe (and hope!) many will join us on the journey to make an eternal impact on this child’s life. We would truly appreciate your prayer support and if you would like to be part of financially helping us, you can send your donation directly to Lifesong between now and April 11, 2012 to the address below.

We thank you for reading this letter and considering our invitation to join our journey.

Blessings,
Troy, Kelly, Jack, Cole, Clare and Clark


Please make checks payable to: Lifesong
In the memo section please write:
“Preference Farrington #2562 Adoption”.

Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Att: Farrington #2562 adoption
PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744

*Your contribution is fully tax deductible. In following with IRS guidelines,
your donation is to the named non-profit organization.

Super Hero Capes

Because Superman was an orphan...

There are lots of ways to support our adoption, and here is one.
Superhero Capes are $30. For information on how to customize a cape, see this post.