Hey this is Lexie!

Hey guys this is Lexie! Mom has been on a computer sabbatical for the past couple weeks. Im sure she will tell yall more about that later. Her friend Carrie from Expecting a Blessing had her baby a couple days ago. Mom and Dad went to see them at the hospital last night so we had to share some pictures. He is absolutely precious but you will not believe how big he is!

Baby J came into this world weighing 11 pounds and 4 ounces! Check out how cute this little man is!

Sweet Home Alabama

We are celebrating tonight! Today was the day that we have looked forward to for several months. We started our adoption process in early June and the past 6 months have been filled with paper chasing and waiting. Then today Daddy and I loaded up the little kids and the completed dossier and headed south to the capitol of Alabama to get THIS! Our state of Alabama certification.

Funny story: it was freezing here today and very windy, but me and the twins had to stand in front of the building that houses our Secretary of State and take a picture. Right after Daddy snapped this picture, the three of us dropped the certified paper and it started blowing down the sidewalk. Luckily, I got to it and snatched it up just before I made a complete fool of myself running out into the road in front of our state capitol. After I rescued the paper, we all cracked up laughing : ) especially the kids.

Next, we headed to the Fed Ex store and had our baby girl all packaged up safely and paid way too much money to have her overnighted. There were several people in line behind us so when I asked the clerk if I could snap a picture of these two sweet ones holding the box before he took it, I got some rather impatient looks from the folks behind me. As I turned to leave, I said, "sorry to keep you guys waiting but their baby sister is in that box, we HAD to have a picture". Hope child services is not on my doorstep tomorrow. ; )

It may sound crazy, but I'm praying that this special little package is tucked safely on a jet tonight headed to our agency. But, here is what my dinning room table looked like last night.

That is six months of tears, prayers, and anticipation. I have been pregnant 6 times and birthed 7 children and I'm not sure all of it put together took this much effort. All I can say is, I pray this baby girl knows how much she is loved. Momma and Daddy may have been in charge of most of this paperwork but the rest of our crew have been amazing little cheerleaders on the sidelines. They can't wait to get their little sister here.

Baby girl, we are praying you HOME to Alabama! And tonight, we are a huge step closer! Thank you Jesus for this day. Only HE could have brought us this far. I am boasting in my Father's love tonight.

'til there's no more!

Expecting a Blessing could use YOU!

Most of you are familiar with the ministry we have called, Expecting a Blessing. We mentor a group of pregnant ladies living at Lovelady Center in Birmingham. We meet with them every other week for Bible Study and a time of relationship building. Another major part we play in their journey to motherhood, is helping them acquire the many essentials required for caring for a baby. We have several babies that will be born shortly after the first of the year.... and they could use your help. If you are looking for a cause to support this Christmas... please prayerfully consider these babies. Here is a list of the items we need donated:

-blankets

-onesies

-sleepers

-burp cloths

-socks

-diapers (newborn)

-wipes

-bottles

-towels

-wash cloths

*All items should be new and newborn size. We are expecting boys and girls so you are welcome to purchase pink or blue.

Please pray about your family, Sunday school class or any other group you are part of, helping us gather these items this Christmas. This is an amazing ministry and I am just thankful that I get to be a part. However, the needs are great but our PROVIDER is greater! What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior by providing for these babies.

If you would like to donate items, please contact me at pollybice@aol.com.

Thank you all for your past support of these ladies and babies. I'm amazed how God's people love to GIVE! Here is one of the precious baby girls that has been blessed by your donations. She is a doll!

Hope you've all had a wonderful week-end! I spent mine being taught the WORD of GOD by the likes of a few sorta cool gals..... Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore.... need I say more? ; )

"Are you WILLING?" ..... watch this video

Final post of National Adoption Month

National Adoption Awareness month may be almost over but it has been a month that has changed my life forever. My heart is so full I could not possibly get my thoughts out and actually make sense. God is answering so many of my family's prayers and He is piecing together a puzzle that leads to a lifetime of orphan care. In the months to come, as He hashes out the details for His plan for our family, I will be sharing but all I'm saying is... we are some excited folks right now.

This month our pastor has taken my answer for why we are adopting and simplified it to 6 simple words.

"ADOPTED people want to adopt PEOPLE"!

I'm a simple person, so that just works for me.... but if you'd like a bit more meat with that, enjoy this article by Dan Cruver. Then you MUST watch the video. Turn my music down and enjoy these informative resources.

http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=9120

Isaiah's Story from 31Films on Vimeo.

'til there's no more!

147 Million minus ONE! We are so thankful!

Today has been one of the greatest Thanksgivings for our family. We have so much to be thankful for that I'm overwhelmed as I reflect on my life this past year .... God is amazing and because of Him, my family is blessed today. Our day included spending sweet time with many of the blessings in our lives such as grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters and cousins. In particular, it was wonderful for my family to have a couple of new members this year. I will soon have a new sister-in-law and niece and we are crazy about them both. This is our first holiday season to have them in the family and we could not be happier. I hope she's still willing to marry my brother after spending the evening with my wild bunch of kids : )

It was a great day but our Thanksgiving celebration started a day early this year. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law decided only a few short weeks ago that the time was right for them to adopt. They had considered it in the past but like most hubbies, my bro-in-law was a bit skeptical. After lots of prayer, he knew it was God's plan for their family. They have 4 boys so obviously they were ready for some pink in their house. They felt led to South Korea's waiting baby girls. They were a bit discouraged when their agency told them it was rare to find infant girls with minor medical issues in South Korea. However, they felt strongly that this was where God was leading them. With in a few days of hearing this news guess what shows up on their agency's photo-listing?.... you guessed it.... a sweet baby girl, 6 months old from South Korea with minor medical issues. Long story short, Brandon and Sonia accepted her referral along with 2 other families and went before a committee to decide who this baby girl's new family would be. The day before Thanksgiving the agency made a decision.....

Introducing Daria's new family.........

Do you think she will be rotten or what?: ) I wish I could share her picture but it will be a few more weeks before we have permission to do that. She is beautiful and to say we are excited would be an understatement. On this Thanksgiving night, there is ONE LESS orphan in the world. She may not be in our arms but she is definitely in our hearts. The world may still define her as an orphan but she has a mommy and daddy half way around the world preparing to blaze a trail straight to her. Please join our family in praying her home.

Thank you Jesus for loving me so much. My cup runneth over! (actually, my wagon runneth over)

'til there's no more!

Are these kids beautiful or what?

Last week-end we got to spend some time with a family that has been a huge inspiration to us. They love big families, they love adoption and they love the LORD..... and WE love them. Here's the Bice and Weimer kids.Wow! Can you believe these 16 kids belong to two couples?

Wonder who those crazy parents are?

Yeah... that'd be us and our sweet friends, Heidi and Kirk. You would think our house would have resembled a zoo with all of our kids running around but I must say, the Weimer kids are some of the sweetest, most polite kids we've ever met. This couple is doing an amazing job of raising a large family. It was such a blessing to spend time with them.

They were in town to share their adoption story at our church. Their words were very encouraging to many of us on the journey of adoption. And, I think they encouraged a few more couples to take that leap of faith and care for fatherless children. God is doing amazing things in the hearts of HIS children.... and I pray that it means more orphaned children end up in homes with mommies and daddies to call their own.

Visit the Weimer's blog HERE.... make sure you watch their promo video.

As soon as the message from last Sunday when Kirk and Heidi spoke is added to our church's website, I'll share the link. Many of you have asked about the message shared on Orphan Sunday; It was amazing and you can listen to it HERE.

Thanks to so many of you who have ordered shirts from Ordinary Hero and supported our adoption. They have a couple of new items for sale and I wanted to share them with you.

You can order any of these

...or any of the other great shirts on their blog and it will help us bring our baby home. Please put "Shawn and Polly" in the section that says, "add note to seller" so we can get credit for your purchase. I'm about to order several for Christmas gifts.

One last thing..... would you like to get your name in the drawing for one of our adoption shirts? Even if you have already purchased one, you can choose any size you'd like and give it as a gift. All you need to do is go to the top of this blog and grab our "blog button" found on the sidebar and add it to your blog. Just send me an e-mail to pollybice@aol.com (or leave a comment) and give me your name and blog address. I'll draw for a winner this week-end. Thanks so much for supporting our blog!

'till there's no more!

Introducing.... a very special family!

I know I'm constantly testifying about God's provisions for our adoption. I hope you guys aren't too sick of it but I just can't help myself. This is the part that is totally blowing our minds right now. I'm not sure why it is so amazing to us since we know that God is more than capable of providing for our every need... but it still has us in tears as we watch daily as HE fulfills His promises to us.

Our family has spent a lot of this year reflecting on the early church and their love for Jesus and for others. We have prayed and strived to re-arrange our priorities so that we could "do life" more like they did. We were captivated by the truth that they sold their personal belongings and gave to whoever was in need. I think when a believer in the early church had a need, the body went to work to make it happen. Many of us are challenged by a lifestyle that looks like that because we have fallen victim to the desire of obtaining the American dream. However, over the past 5 months I have been inspired by many people who have been willing to step out in faith and give of their resources and time in order to help us bring our baby home. Let me introduce you to one of those families.

Our very dear friends, The Frye Family!!!!

This amazing family loves Jesus, they love others, and oh man, do they love our Esther! And, we love them and are forever grateful for the many ways they are helping us get closer to bringing her home. Jodie decided that instead of just buying our adoption shirt for themselves, they would make up their own order forms and sell them to others. Then, along with their precious boys, they came up with the idea of going door to door in their neighborhood asking people for "change for life". How amazing is that?! Jodie said, "children come to my door all the time asking for support for their fundraisers; Why wouldn't we go door to door asking for help to bring this baby home?" Well of course that makes sense but I was floored that another family would do this for our family. However, though we are blessed beyond measure, I know that this sweet family has received just as much blessing from becoming a part of Esther's story. That was very evident when we went to their house last week-end. We dropped off several shirts they had sold in exchange for the money they had raised for us. Included in the envelope were pictures they had drawn and "love notes" from their boys to Esther. WOW! Shawn and I drove home in tears. Our hearts were filled with gratefulness for what this family is doing for us. You see, this is not a "we've done our part" kind of deal for them... They are committed to our baby girl.... their motto is "we won't stop until she's home". They will forever be a part of her story.... her journey to redemption.

Here are the "orphan loving" Frye boys sporting their team colors.... their on Esther's team!

Eric, Jodie, G, A & P, we love you guys and can't thank you enough for loving our baby girl and being dedicated to bringing her home.

We know that our Father is the one providing for Esther's homecoming, but He is using families just like the Fryes to make it happen. They are just one of many who are being obedient to the command of caring for orphans by helping us provide this child with a home and a family. We give these families thanks, but we give God ALL the Glory! Not to us, but to YOUR name, Father, be all the Glory!

'till there's "no more"!

New Shirts and New Prices!!!

Hallelujah!!!! We sold (almost) every adult t-shirt we had. So, how did we celebrate? You guessed it.... we ordered more shirts. The soft shirt was the best seller, so that's what we ordered. We have been out of small and mediums for several weeks. Many of you have e-mailed me inquiring about whether we would have more, and we do. I had a few requests for an XXL so I now have a few of those as well.

We have a new "discounted" price on the youth sizes.... they are only $15. These have been hard to sell so please consider them for Christmas gifts for the kids on your shopping list. They are absolutely adorable.... my kids wear them all the time. Here is a picture of our twins proudly showing off their "Esther shirts".

Do they look proud or what?

I can't thank you all enough for supporting us through shirt sales. When I picked up the first order I remember thinking, "oh my, we can never sell THIS many shirts". Shawn reminded me a few days ago that WE haven't sold ONE yet.... the LORD has sold them all for us. : ) After all, He did say He had this thing covered.

We have sold many of them to blogger friends. Ohio, you guys rock... I have lost count of how many shirts I've mailed to you. I've never been to Ohio... but I think I want to visit; Esther has some major supporters there. Our friends and family have bought tons, friends have sold them on facebook for us and then there was "Orphan Sunday" when our church family knocked our socks off with sales. We have a friend in the dental business who purchased one for every employee in his office... They are designating certain days to wear them as a team and also have one on display at their front desk. Then there is a very special family who is determined to help us get this baby home..... I will introduce you to them and share what they have been doing for us in my next post. Don't miss it!

Hope everyone is having a great week. It is flying by at our house!

'till there's "no more",

Congrats! We have a winner..... and a few pics from today!

I would love to show you some cute-sie pic of one of my adorable kids drawing a winning name out of a bowl..... but it's been a long day and... well, they are in the bed and mama won't be far behind them tonight. So I did the drawing and congrats to MANDY! You are the winner of "Adopted for Life". We actually had this book on display today at our church, along with many others that our pastor is recommending for this month.

It was a wonderful Orphan Sunday at Christ City Church! Our pastor is very passionate about adoption so it was very cool to hear vertical adoption AND horizontal adoption shared from the pulpit. Our sermon series for the month of November is titled, "Adopt(ed)". I will be sharing highlights from each week and you can hear the sermons for yourself at the website HERE. I'll share a quote from this morning and then a few pics of our table.

"When people are adopted, they want to adopt people".

It is that very truth (my adoption in Christ) that God used to begin preparing my heart for his call on us to adopt. Hopefully, I can get that from my heart to this blog one day soon.

So I had my professional photographer take pics this morning.... only I forgot to tell her that I wanted pictures of all of the tables. We had six ministries set up with displays filled with information. You could visit our welcome center and learn more about helping aged out orphans acquire life skills, how to become a foster parent, get involved with a local ministry that has recently opened an orphanage in Uganda, discuss the process of adoption with a local adoption agency, sign up to become a mentor to local pregnant moms and assist in caring for their babies AND you could purchase our adoption fundraiser shirt. Every table had lots of traffic.... and we sold a ton of shirts! Thank you to our CCC family for being so gracious to our family this morning.

The first pic is obviously our shirt table and below is our table for "Expecting a Blessing".

I have to share this hilarious picture with you. I don't even know when this dress-out took place but Lexie just sent it to me in an e-mail.

The Tide might not be rolling in Bama..... but who cares, we are team Esther all the way!

I just hope my little man didn't put that shirt back in the box to sale when he was done with it. If you order a kid size shirt and it's severely stretched out... just send it back : )

Hope everyone had a great Orphan Sunday! We won't stop.... till there's "no more"

A Call or A Command?

Well that depends.....I do believe that adoption is a "calling". Orphan care, however, is absolutely a command from God to all believers. You can find those commands in scripture and they are pretty clear. Many of you who know our story, know that this is where Shawn and I struggled for several months before making a prayerful decision to adopt. We agreed that we were commanded to do "something" about the 147 million orphans in the world but we were not sure of what. Obviously, after much prayer and attending the Together for Adoption conference, it was clear, God was asking us to physically adopt a child in need of a home and family. What a blessing that He would consider us worthy of such a high calling. However, that doesn't excuse us from being involved in and promoting orphan care. Orphan advocacy is one of our greatest passions and we plan to spend the rest of our lives fighting for the needs of these precious children. We have huge dreams for where we hope this passion takes our family in the future and pray that God will allow these dreams to be reality for us some day soon.

As for now, well, we will continue pursuing our baby girl in Ethiopia and encouraging others to get involved on some level. I promised earlier in the week to share some happenings planned for our church as we join forces with others to promote orphan care during the month of November. At Christ City Church in Ensley, we will spend the next 4 Sundays recognizing the needs of orphans and offering solutions. We will have many special guest sharing their adoption testimonies, including Mac Powell of Third Day and his wife Aimee, and Kirk and Heidi Weimer. You can learn more about their amazing family HERE. (Make sure you watch their "promo" video.) The messages from the pulpit will focus on adoption. Not necessarily about physical adoption but about our adoption in Christ. Local ministries will display information on how to become involved in orphan care on a local, national or international level. Personally, our family will have our adoption t-shirts for sale to help with our fundraiser. We will also have information available about how to get involved with our ministry, Expecting a Blessing. To read more about the plans at CCC, you can check out the updated website HERE. If you are in Birmingham, you can also pick up a copy of this magazine and read about it inside.

I hope that all of you attend a church that will be recognizing the needs of the millions of orphans in our world, and God's command to us, the church, to care for them. If that's not taking place at your church, I encourage you to step out in faith and do your own thing to bring about awareness. It only takes one to get a spark started, and you inspire a couple others, and girlfriends, you have yourself a fire. I urge you..... get on fire for these children! If we don't, who will?

Look for a guest post from my hubby soon : ) He is one amazing man with a passionate heart that knows how to love some babies. But, better than that, he loves his Jesus! I can't wait for you to hear from him.

I leave you tonight with a video..... happy week-end to you all!

Turn off my music at the bottom of this blog : )

Hope is Fading – Orphan Sunday from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

Want a great looking shirt?

It's so neat how people who "get" adoption want to help other families bring home their babies. That is exactly what is going on over at Ordinary Hero. If you have followed my blog for long, you know that I totally heart this organization. So here's what they are up to for National Adoption Awareness month. If you purchase shirts from them and put "Shawn and Polly" on the "add special instructions to seller" memo line.... they will donate $10. per shirt to help us bring Esther home. How cool is that?! And, they have the most awesome shirts! I thought our adoption shirt rocked, until I ordered THIS:Then I ordered these for all of my kiddosThese are the softest shirts ever.... if you have seen my kids in the past week... then I'm sure you've seen this new shirt. They have worn them numerous times because they like them so much. And I love that because it equals less laundry for me. No, I have not washed them every day.... around here, you only wash "dirty" clothes (really dirty clothes).

You can check out all the shirt styles at Ordinary Hero's blog and I'm certain you'll find one you love. If you make a purchase, please leave our name and help us raise some funds! Thank you for your support friends!

God continues to blow us away with the ways that HE is providing for this adoption. He actually did something today that was so amazing it deserves it's own post... so look for that in a few days. At this point, if you see me please DO NOT say what so many people have said to me in the past few months...."I would adopt in a second, if I could afford it". I may just unload my heart on you with out thinking twice. We told God we couldn't afford it and He told us HE KNEW THAT! Like we thought He was clueless to our "jacked up" finances.... : ) He said, "You can't afford it, but I CAN".... and He is making believers out of us these days.

Speaking of Him making it happen... let me share a picture of what my hubby brought home from church tonight.

This gift was from this special little girl!

Yes, both of these girls are very special to us.... Kelsie (on the right) is the little sister that I never had a.k.a big sister to all our kids a.k.a mentor to our teen daughter.... and the list could go on and on. Savannah is Kelsie's younger sister. (Does that picture scream; "I'm proud of my big sister" or what?)

You see a few weeks ago Savannah's family had a yard sale and she set up a lemonade stand to raise money to help us get Esther home. I love a child with a heart for others and this little lady has one. Thank you Vannah for loving Esther.... I can't wait until you can hug her neck.

Last of all, don't forget to get your name in the drawing for THIS book! You can either leave your name and e-mail in the "comments" below OR you can e-mail me at: pollybice@aol.com

I will be drawing for the winner this week-end!

Happy National Orphan Awareness Month!

Happy National Orphan Awareness Month!

I have been excited about the month of November for quite some time now. It is orphan awareness month and I say we get busy for the sake of the 147 million orphaned children in this world. I hope to do several post sharing resources that will change the hearts of many, and bring hope to the lives of the desperate.

Our church is going all out for the sake of the orphan for the entire month. If you are in Birmingham.... you should plan to join us at Christ City Church for the next 4 weeks. I will be sharing more details about the agenda later in the week.

To kick off the month, I want to do a book give away. When we first started praying about adoption, we read Russ Moore's, Adopted for Life. It made a huge impact on us, and now I would like to give away a copy to one of YOU! If you would like to join the drawing.... just leave your name and e-mail address in the comment section and I will add you to the list. I will plan to draw for the winner this coming week-end. Even if you already have the book, get your name in the drawing.... you could always give it to a friend or family member for Christmas : )

You can read about the book HERE!

Best wishes to all!

Happy Birthday Cash!

How did THIS....

Turn into THIS so fast?
Let me introduce you to the "happiest baby boy in the world"..... Sweet Baby Cash
Yesterday Sugar (a.k.a Cash) turned "one" and last week-end we had a pumpkin party to celebrate. Everyone wore their costumes and we had a ball. This little fellow takes the cake for being the happiest baby we have ever had. He has these great big dimples that just make you want to eat him up every time he smiles, which is most of the time. He is such a blessing to our family. You can probably tell this mama is crazy in love with this sweet little man.

At the party, we have a witch, a football player (roll tide), a cowgirl, a pumpkin, jessie, woody and buzz. My kids love deciding on costumes for halloween and this year was a pretty easy one thanks to Toy Story 3. : )
We had some very cute pumpkins by the end of the evening....
The week-end of celebration continued Sunday at the pumpkin patch. Levi and Lilly probably enjoyed this day the most. Inflatables, hayrides and ice cream... what more can a kid want?
.... and at the end of the day Maggie took this picture of myself, Lexie and Kayla (our "other" daughter/Lexie's bff) and I had to share it..... notice how beautiful and vibrant these two sweet (young) darlings look, AND how absolutely worn out mama looks. These girls worked very hard all week-end helping make sweet baby Cash's first birthday very special. Thank you girls.... I love you both more than you know : )
I thank Jesus everyday that I get to be mom to this amazing bunch of kids..... and what a special blessing Cash is to all of us. We love you sweet baby boy!

I Need an Expert!!!!

If you have made a donation to our adoption fund via the "donate" button on this blog..... please send me an e-mail at:
pollybice@aol.com.

Paypal experts, I need your help. I have had two people ask me if I received their donation through our blog lately and unfortunately, I did not. Other donations have come through with out any problem and t-shirt orders have been successful. Any idea what might be going on?

God has been so faithful in providing the funds to make this adoption happen and I pray that He is protecting even our paypal account.

If you have suggestions, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

A Great Book & an Inspiring Movie

I just finished a really good book and last night we watched a sweet family movie. I love to read, and when I heard about this book I knew I wanted it.
Here is the link to read more about the book and/or purchase a copy of it.

It was similar to other books that many of us have been challenged by lately, but I don't think we can ever get too much. Here is one of my favorite quotes.

"None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?" I love that because I think it's easy for us to go, "there is so much need in our world, I can't do nearly enough to matter". Yet, when we think of every little opportunity to serve someone as being a chance to serve Jesus; that should change our perspective. He's not asking us to save the world, just to serve someone in need. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

And if you are looking for a really sweet, "Christian" movie for the whole family to watch.... you might enjoy this:

We watched it as a family and my kids have already watched it again. You can view the trailer at THIS SITE. With all of the bullying I'm hearing about going on in schools right now, this should encourage our kids to pray for bullies and approach them the way Jesus would. Sweet movie..... hope you get a chance to see it.

Well, we are getting ready for a "1st" birthday party around our house. Tomorrow we will have some pumpkin painting going on as we celebrate baby Cash turning ONE. It's been a busy day! I will share pictures from the party in a day or two.

Hope everyone has a fun "fall" week-end!

Christmas Frenzy

We may have pumpkins on the porch and mums in the flower beds but Christmas will be here before we know it. That means it's time to start thinking about a Christmas list. This year my Christmas list will be much different from last year. Those receiving gifts from us will get a gift that benefits another as well. I plan to do all of my shopping by purchasing gifts that will help bring home a child, care for an orphan or widow, clothe the poor, or in some way, serve someone in need. I encourage you to do the same! So many families are doing fundraisers right now to help financially support an adoption; If you are one of those, visit THIS sweet family's blog and take advantage of their offer. They have just brought home their precious son, Solomon and they want to help others on their fundraising journey. Check out Christmas Frenzy on their blog. Enjoy your Christmas shopping and find joy in knowing that you are giving gifts that will keep on giving!

As I start my shopping I plan to share my great finds with you all. Those of you on my list, sorry, you may know what you are getting before you unwrap it : )

A Beautiful "new" Gotcha-day Video!

They are all very sweet, but expect this to make you cry. The response of this precious little guy when he sees his momma and daddy coming for him, should make us all run to the rescue of every child in need of a home.

Updates and needs

I am constantly trying to figure out how to blog more often so I don't have to do one post and update on 10 things. There are so many things on my heart that I want to share yet being that I don't blog as often as I wish, I end up sharing the things of most importance.....usually not what is on my heart. I can't use my usual excuse of how I have 7 children and I homeschool and that's why I don't spend more time on here; because most of my blogger heros have more kids than me and homeschool and they do tons of other important things and they still find time to blog every other day or so. What are y'all??.... like superwoman! Oh well, maybe one day : )

Many of you have inquired about our plan for a city wide orphan alliance that I posted about HERE last week. As well, many of you who are local and have e-mailed or called me to tell me what God has placed on your heart about this possible ministry and how you would love to be a part. I could do a few post on what I have heard from people just this week. All I can say is, there are some pretty amazing things going on in the hearts of God's people. We are very excited about what HE is up to. We do not know at this point when or how this ministry will come together. We are specifically praying that God would raise up HIS chosen ones for HIS chosen agenda in HIS perfect timing. We realize that this is much bigger than us and it will take a mighty work by our Father to orchestrate it. But I must say, the excitement of the families that I have been talking with has me filled with anticipation and joy. Yes, excitement fades and that's why we are praying that God would give us an undying passion to serve the orphaned always. I will keep you posted on any new details and please keep praying for this ministry.

Next update..... adoption news!!! Our I-600 is going in the mail this week so we will then be waiting for our immigration approval. We are praying that it doesn't take very long. We are so relieved to be done with the paperwork process but it did keep our minds busy, now we will just be waiting. My dinning room table is officially just a school table again. I will also keep you updated as to when we receive our immigration approval. Please pray that it will be speedy.

Lately God has been impressing on my heart many things to be praying about for our daughter, her birth mother and our families transition. Just the other night I was going over a check list of these things with Shawn only to discover that he had already been praying for the same exact things. Guess I thought I was special or something and that God had only shared those prayer needs with me. Never did I dream that I would sit in my living room floor at night and hear my babies pray for their sister half way around the world. Just this morning, Cross said, "when daddy get home, can we go get baby Es-sir?" Our hearts are heavy for our little princess.

Last of all, I have a few needs. For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know about "Expecting a Blessing". And, many of you have made donations to this ministry over the past few months. I do have several new "followers" so let me bring you up to speed. Expecting a Blessing is a ministry for pregnant women living at a local transition center. We meet with these ladies bi-weekly to do a Bible study, pray, and just love on them. Basically, we just walk through this journey with them. We also put together care packages for each new mom that includes most of the items she will need for the baby upon giving birth. I will do a separate post about the items that go into the care package in a few weeks. We are currently expecting 4 babies between Dec. and Feb. so I will need some help bringing in the items for these babies. However, right now we have a few needs for the moms. Currently, we are in need of all sizes in maternity clothes, and jeans for a mom that delivered 8 weeks ago. She asked for size 9/10 but I'm thinking she could also do an 8 or 10. If you are interested in contributing any of these items you can e-mail me at pollybice@aol.com. If you are local, I will pick them up. If you are out of town but just want to help these girls out, I will be happy to pay the shipping cost.

Sorry this has been so long and I hope someone is still reading......thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support.

"kNOw MORE Orphans" was amazing!!! and a new song

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post about our Saturday night fellowship but it has been a very busy week. Furthermore, I am still trying to process the many ideas swarming in my head about where to go from here. Let me explain a little of what took place. A few months ago I had an idea to have a fellowship for families in our area who had adopted or were interested in adoption. I set a date and asked a few friends to help out. Soon that turned into me also inviting families who did not feel "called" to adopt but did want to be involved in orphan care. Since we began our process of adoption, I could not tell you how many people have said to us, "I didn't realize how many orphans existed and that we (the church) were responsible for their care". We can relate..... we felt the same way. I'm embarrassed to say, we were clueless. Then I thought, what if we invited a few families that do foster care, and our dear family friend who works at a local children's home. I posted about it, inviting local families and the RSVPs started coming. We knew that God was up to something much greater than what we were planning. As it turned out, we had around 40 adults and almost that many kids. After dinner, we sat around (stood, sat in the floor and in kitchen chairs) our den and shared hearts and dreams.

Here's a little of what that looked like. Several families had already adopted or are waiting on children to come home now or knew that they would adopt in the near future. We had families here with foster babies in arm sharing their hearts on how they had been willing to step outside their comfort zones and do something radical in order to give a needy child a family to love and care for them. There was a total of 7 church congregations represented and many desired to challenge their church body to get involved in orphan care. Then, we all heard the vision that a very sweet friend and mentor of mine has to organize a city wide orphan care ministry. How cool is that?! Are you seeing why the LORD planned this thing to be much more than what I had planned? I love that! He knew that we needed foster families, adoptive families, ministry resourceful families, and those that are ready to get involved and do "something". Because, that's what it will take to make something this huge work. It will take believers with different callings and gifts BUT with one passion. And that's what I saw sitting around my den; a houseful of people in different places in their lives, ALL with the same passion..... to bring justice to the orphaned.

So what next? Lots of prayer! I have already had many e-mails and phone calls this week as everyone is beginning to process the idea of an entire city forming an alliance for orphans. We know that God is sovereign and His plan will unfold. Many of you prayed for our fellowship and I ask you to please continue to pray for God to do a mighty work and awaken the hearts of the "church" to care for "the least of these". I am praying that we will soon, (have) "kNOw MORE Orphans".

Sorry that I don't have pictures to share. My oldest daughter was supposed to be the photographer but she quickly turned into a child care worker : )

On a final note.... please check out the story behind this new song and then you can download it on i-tunes. A friend sent this to me today but when I jumped on blogger, I saw it everywhere.... should be a hit!

One Less by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

My Random Saturday Thoughts!

Can I just say, "I absolutely love being a member of the body of CHRIST!"? I can't wait to do a post and let you guys know how the fellowship goes tonight. Please keep us in your prayers because it appears that God is up to some pretty amazing things with this group of believers. Pray that we allow HIS agenda to unfold tonight as opposed to ours.

In the meantime, check out THIS blog and watch the video from her post on September 23, The Final House Reveal. This is our dream ministry. Shawn and I have been praying about doing something like this for a couple of years now. It's called Ordinary Hero and I keep their button on the sidebar of my blog at all times.... I encourage you to follow along and pray for their efforts. We found these folks about a year ago and they are truly being the hands and feet of Jesus. Enjoy and be inspired!

Hope everyone has a great week-end!

"kNOw MORE Orphans" Fellowship!

If you are interested in hanging out with several families that are all about "adoption" and all about "caring for the needs of orphans"..... join us at our house on September 25. This is not just for families who have already adopted OR are in the process of adopting. If you feel that God is tugging at your heart to just "do something" to help care for the 147 million orphans in the world..... then, you need to come. We will eat, hang out, pray and fellowship with the overall theme of the night being all about our desire to "kNOw MORE" orphans.

The month of November is Orphan awareness month and November 7th is actually "Orphan Sunday". You can click HERE to learn more about that. If your church doesn't currently dedicate this day or month to orphans, we would love to share some ideas on how to get that started.

If you are close enough to join us for fellowship, we would love to see you. We will get the night started at 6:00. Kids are welcome! I'm thinking dinner will be a mexican buffet but who knows that could change in the next week and a half. If you are interested in joining us or you just have questions, please e-mail me at pollybice@aol.com

Together, we can all "KNOW more" about our responsibility to the fatherless, so the orphaned can be "NO more".

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Never Under-Estimate the HEART of a Child!

I'm not sure I've seen many things sweeter than this!

I've shared from the beginning of our adoption journey that very early in our "praying about it" stage, God confirmed to us that "He funds what He favors and He was in favor of this adoption, so we could stop worrying about how WE would pay for it". He still reminds us all the time that WE won't fund it, but HE will! Well, the LORD has brought people to our door with money, sent checks in the mail, used store clerks to hand us checks, had friends offer to do fund raisers for us and lately He has been sending lots of t-shirt orders. Thank you Jesus! (I am NO salesman, thank goodness, God handles that part too. I just want to give away every shirt.) He is using His people as vessels to bring a fatherless child home to our family.

Please let me introduce you to a "precious vessel" that just helped us get one step closer to Esther!

This is Madyson (on the left) with Maggie. Madyson recently turned 10 and like most kids, she had a birthday party. A pretty cool one I might add. They swam, designed funky hair styles and stayed up way too late having loads of fun. However, there were no gifts for Madyson at the party. She asked all of her friends to please bring a monetary donation for the "Bice's Adoption" instead of gifts for her. Is that amazing, or what? What a blessing! I know Madyson's heart well enough to know that we weren't the only ones that received a blessing from this...... I know she did too. I can't wait to put our precious baby girl in Madyson's arms and say, "here's the little lady you helped give life to". Madyson, please be in the front of the line at the airport my dear..... YOU will get some of the first kisses on her!

These are the sweet friends of Madyson's that partied, swam, acted silly......and helped us bring our baby girl home!


My heart is blessed today because of these 6 amazing "young ladies" who call serving others........FUN!

I pray that God blesses each one of these girls with a future of caring for orphans, and to HIM be all the GLORY!

I love you GIRLS!

Anyone want a cool t-shirt?!!!

Our new adoption t-shirts are here! We have enjoyed sporting these all week-end. The neat thing is, it doesn't only give us a chance to share our story but because of the design on the shirts, it opens the door to tell people how many orphans are in different parts of the world and exactly how God feels about that. It breaks HIS heart.

The shirts are dark gray. The front says "BREAK OUR HEARTS FOR WHAT BREAKS YOURS" in red with the outline of the world in black. The number of orphans is printed on each continent. On the back are the names of many children who are no longer orphaned because a momma and a daddy adopted them. In bold red print is the verse John 14:18, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come for you".

The shirt comes in three styles:

-soft, slightly fitted sizes S-XL

-heavier cotton, regular fit sizes S-XL

-youth sizes S(6-8), M(10-12),L(14-16)

The price is $20.00 for all styles with $4.95 for shipping. Obviously, if you are in Birmingham, please contact me by e-mail at pollybice@aol.com so I can deliver your shirt to avoid paying shipping.

I have set up "buy now" buttons on the side bar of the blog to purchase them using a credit card and having them delivered to you. If anyone would like to mail me a check, you are welcome to e-mail me your order and address and I will be happy to stick it in the mail to you. The pictures on the sidebar are not very clear so I will add new ones a bit later. I hope you can view the shirt below and see the details well.

We have already had several orders and people are loving the shirt. Thank you all for your support. We are currently on a mission to raise $8,600. in a hurry! We know that is nothing for our Father. We are trusting HIM to do great things.

Look what came in the mail today.....

The last item on the list for Dossier documents just arrived in our mail box..... our passports are HERE! Well, they are sorta the last thing. Our home study has not been written yet but that is out of my control. However, we had the most amazing social worker ever and he asked us to give him 2 weeks from now to get it written. That's pretty quick from what I hear, so of course we said, "that sounds great". We had an immediate connection with him and it was a friendship from the first few minutes of the first visit. I was a bit concerned that we would need to convince a social worker that we weren't out of our ever loving minds for wanting to adopt a baby when we already have 7 bio kids. No need convincing this guy..... he totally "got us". He has adoptive children so it just makes sense to him. Such a God thing! Although, I do need to thank my sister-in-law for hooking us up. Thank you Sonia!

So, we should be mailing off a Dossier to Ethiopia very soon! I will keep you all posted. In the meantime, thanks so much for all of your prayers. Today we are one step closer to our Esther, and for that I am so grateful. As I am praying for her, I often repeat the words of Jesus found in John 14:18: "I will not leave you as an orphan, I will come for you". We are coming for you sweetheart!

BTW, shirts are HERE!.... and they are awesome. As a matter of fact, that verse I just mentioned above is on the back of the shirt along with the names of many children who have not been left as an orphan because a momma and a daddy came for them. We will be posting pictures by tomorrow.

Orphan Sunday is coming up!!!! and we will have shirts very soon

It's so exciting hearing from so many people that are interested in starting Adoption and Orphan Care ministries in our churches. A very wise friend of mine reminded me a few days ago that churches that are not participating in orphan care are either unaware of our responsibility to orphans or, they are just being disobedient. That is so true! My husband and I were leaders in the church for many years before we were really aware of this truth. However, once our eyes were opened we could not pretend that we did not know. Therefore, we now know that part of our ministry is to share this news with as many people as we can. So let me offer a couple of resources.

*Our family will be hosting an adoption/orphan care fellowship at our home on September 25 at 6:00. This will just simply be a time to come together as believers and share ideas, stories, and encourage one another. E-mail me at pollybice@aol.com or leave me a comment if you are interested in joining us.

*Orphan Sunday is coming up on November 7. This is a day when Christians across America and around the world take a stand for the orphan. It is an opportunity for us to awaken the church to God's call to care for orphans. Events will be held across the country and you can join one of those or simply hold your own event in your church, community or your home. To read more about this amazing opportunity for awareness check out THIS website. This site offers a ton of resources for churches or individuals to celebrate this day.

Last, if you having been praying the prayer, "God, break our hearts for what breaks yours", then I think you are going to love our new t-shirts. They are going to be so cool and we should have them by the end of this week. Obviously, the proceeds will be used to help us bring our baby girl home from Ethiopia. I will post a picture and all the details about them as soon as they arrive.

God is everywhere..... even Kinko's!!!!

Have you ever left Kinko's crying? We just did! Let me share an example of how good God is. Tonight, we headed to Kinko's copy center to get a bunch of copies made of what I have been calling our "begging letter". If you've adopted before you probably know what I'm talking about. It's a letter that tells the story of how God placed the desire in our hearts to adopt a child and it shares what our needs are right now. Obviously we are seeking prayer and help in raising the funds to bring our baby home to us. We have prayed over this letter and for the many families who will be receiving it in a few days. I just keep saying, "God please provide these funds for us". Okay, so tonight we go into the copy center. I go to the copier but I really want to use heavier paper than what is in the machine. I go to the counter and ask an employee if they have some heavier weight paper that I could use. She shows me what she has, I choose the one I want and turn to go back to the copier. She then asked did I want to do it myself or have her do it behind the counter. For time sake and the sake of the store (6 of my kids are on the loose and the little ones are pulling things off the shelves left and right) I decide it would be easier for her to do the copying.

While we wait, we run into someone that I have not seen in about 18 years. It's a couple who explains that they are trying to have a baby but haven't gotten pregnant so far. When I tell them why we are there, they have many questions about adoption and the whole process. In my mind I'm thinking, God you are so good. What were the chances of running into someone I haven't seen in so many years, sharing our story and them being inspired? That was cool but it gets better.

I look up to see the lady behind the counter walking to the register with my box of copies. As I approach the counter I notice she appears to be almost crying. Here's what she says to me....

"I read your story while making your copies. I am from Kenya and I came to America to get an education so that I could do mission work and help the poor. Some people don't get this but I do. I am in nursing school and work here to pay the bills. It's not much, but I want you to take this check for $50. and use it to help get your baby home from Ethiopia."

She hands me the check, I call Shawn over to the counter and tell him what this precious lady has just done for us. I pay for the copies (tears are literally dripping off my face and onto the check that I'm writing), we thank her over and over and I just about crawl up on the counter to hug her neck. As we leave she asks us to please bring the baby by to see her when we get home. Shawn and I round up the kids and walk to the car in tears and amazed by what God just did for us. Yes, my man cries and I love that about him. (Lately it seems like this little Ethiopian princess has us crying quite often.)

Is that story amazing or what? Our Father is so loving! I believe He just enjoys reminding us all the time how much He loves us and how much He plans to provide for our needs. We will be praying for this very special sister in Christ that we met tonight. Praying that God will bless her and continue to use her to bless others. Thank you Jesus for our new friend!

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matt. 7:7

Do you want to be used?

Have you been asking the LORD to use you for the sake of HIS Kingdom? Watch this video.... I believe you will find a way to be used by Him.

(turn my music off at the bottom of the page... you don't want to miss a word of this)

Ordinary Hero~ A day in the trash dump in Ethiopia from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.

Back to school and... a peek into the closet of a princess!

We are very busy around our house getting prepared to start school. Lexie had to start this week because she goes 2 days a week to a local co-op for home schooled kids and they began lessons on Monday. Dallas and Maggie are 4th and 7th grade and we are gearing up for them to begin school work next Monday. The twins are K-5 so they get to hang out for another 2 weeks. It seems to work best for me if I alternate them instead of starting everyone at the same time. We'll see how it all goes. It's the same yet always different from year to year.

We are very excited about tonight. Our church has a prayer service called First Day Pray at the beginning of the school year. Parents get the chance to bring their children and go to the altar with them to pray over them. Many ministers are also there and pray for all the children, parents, schools, teachers and faculty. This year my heart has been burdened even more to pray for our school systems especially, our public schools. We have precious nephews that are brand new students in brand new schools this year. So thankful that we have good schools for them to go to.

People tell me all the time that they don't know how mommas who homeschool do it. Well, I can't speak for all but I know I'm speaking for many when I say, it's all about PRAYER! So tonight might be "First Day Pray" but for this homeschooling momma there will be second day pray, third day pray, and eventually one hundred and seventy one day pray. It's an honor to get to be all my kid's teacher but HE's the strength behind the teacher. Thank you JESUS!

On another note, summer coming to an end has had one perk..... thanks to Target's summer clearance sale..... the highly anticipated Ethiopian princess coming to our house got herself a good start to a wardrobe. (We bought things that could be layered in case they fit when it's NOT summer... well, except the swimsuit but it was only a few bucks).

Can't you just picture her dark skin in that pink dress that says "Princess"? I sure can!

Ministry Update.... and a challenge for us sisters!

Yesterday was our second day to meet with my new girlfriends who are "Expecting a Blessing". As you can imagine, I received the blessing. There was a new girl, named Detra. Let me just say, lately the LORD has been making me so aware that something that happened in my life a few years ago was meant for my good and HIS Glory. Today, HE confirmed that through Detra. She is precious and she is on her way to freedom. She is finding her hope in Jesus and I know she is about to be busy doing some wonderful things for the Kingdom of God. She gets it! She gets that God allows trouble and sorrow to sometimes wreck our lives as we know them, so we can be used to make a huge impact on HIS Kingdom. He uses what Satan intends for our destruction and equips us to reach even more people. It's kind of like going back and getting an additional "master's degree" every time we are inflicted with pain, sorrow and trouble. However, this is only the result when WE decide to let God use us and put our new "degree" to work for HIM! Please don't let Satan bind you up away from the people that need you the most. Be willing to put yourself out there and share the mercy you've received from God with others.

Here's the scripture that I shared with my "girls" yesterday and boy, did it make for some amazing discussion (and crying).

Psalm 116

1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:

"O LORD, save me!"

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

Please reflect on these verses today and be amazed by the grace and mercy bestowed on us by our LORD!