An empty house and trading

Isn’t it amazing what God chooses to use to move us?

Rewind to the summer of 2008 and God was churning in Chandra’s heart to consider a move for all of the typical reasons-- the kitchen was too small, the bedrooms weren’t quite right.  We were a family of six in a comfortable home in a comfortable part of town.  As God would have it we were looking at some land with a friend of ours when we stumbled upon a foreclosed house that sat empty.  It appeared massive.  It was ¾ of the way completed without any furniture.  Six bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, huge marble columns in the foyer and a large, very large kitchen and dining room.  But the picture that stuck in my head that day was the huge kitchen and living room.  Oh, and did I mention that it was empty?

Fast forward 1 weekend and there was still this insatiable thought in my head—What a ministry it would be to have a house like that and fill it?  I could picture standing in the kitchen with little faces all around thae table waiting for a pop tart or cereal bar.  On the way home from work one day I said to Chandra, “What did you think about that house we saw last week?”  Her response was eerie.  She said, “I just keep having this picture in my head of many little faces sitting around the table.”  I still remember sitting in a traffic jam on the way home and smiling, not yet ready to admit it but knowing what God was calling us to.  As we discussed it further we both felt the same.  It was one of those Amen thoughts-- a thought where God was speaking the same thing to both of us. 

How could this be?  We were still in the midst of dealing with difficulties with one of our adopted sons.  And if we knew what was yet to come--the endless physical therapy appointments, inpatient psychiatric treatment, counseling for him and us—we would have ran the other way.  But still the calling was there, and we couldn’t deny it.

As we started to look for a house, we could never find just the right one.  There was always something not quite right.  “What about building a house?,” Chandra said one day.  I believe my response was something like, “No, we don’t have time for that.”  Then the thought that brought everything into focus:  “Let’s build the biggest box we can afford, and fill it with kids.”  From that came the push that I needed to be able to see the house matched to the calling.  Eight months later we moved into that house with an unfinished basement, partially finished upstairs, and main level that had work to do in every room.  I call it the five year project, and we are currently in year 3.

So I come back to the question…  Isn’t it amazing what God chooses to use to move us?  Looking in the Bible I see that God raised Moses in a palace to use him in a desert.  He raised Joseph in a desert to use him in  a palace.  In the case of David God raised him as a shepard to use him as a king.  In our case He used an empty house... to give us a picture of what a full house might be.

What has God used in your life to encourage or to clarify a calling?  An unrelenting thought, a casual statement, a time in the desert... or an empty house. The facts are His ways are always higher and much better than ours.

 

The Event

So, we shared Mom's "Once upon a time". And you got Dad's short story (or so I hope).  My sister is always chatting on Facebook or someplace.  Now it is my turn.  Don't worry I won't blow your mind with some fantasy story, bore you to death with some type of basement plans, or be so social and take up all day. FYI, I am the 11 year old crazy Stinson girl, Emmaline.

Some people have asked us how much the adoption will cost. Well, the answer to that is approximately $50,000. Nope, I did not mistype that, it is $50,000!  The answer that we have found to that problem is simple.  If God wants us to do this then He will give us the money.  So we are going to have a fundraiser.

Our fundraiser:  The Event.  The Event is an Italian dinner under the stars and a silent auction.  On October 13th the silent auction will occur at 5 P.M. and the dinner will start at 6:30 P.M.  Following dinner the bidding will continue.  You will have at least 30 minutes to complete your bidding on those awesome auction items!  (FYI:  The auction donations are available for you to check out at Facebook, search for "The Event".)  You must reserve tickets for the dinner.  The link to do so is in the top right hand corner of this page.  Another option is to mail a check to us.  Once we recieve your dinner reservation we will know you are coming so we can plan the amount of food accordingly.  You will recieve a conformation letter to give you the specifics for the evening.

Next question: How can we help?  Well that question can be answered simply too.  First of all you can come to The Event!  But if you want to help further, you can participate in many different ways.  Any would be great!  Wow, thanks for stating the obvious, Em.

Many of you are amazing, and I mean amazing shoppers so today is your opportunity to put that skill to use because we are on the lookout for bargains! We have already been blessed by someone donating spaghetti, but we are trying to keep the price as low as possible and yet have an excellent meal.  So if you find any low prices on these items we would love it if you could tell us about them!

We are in need of:
votive candles
small disposable salad bowls- clear or white
sturdy disposable(plastic) plates- clear or white
small dessert plates- clear or white
sturdy disposable(plastic) utensils- clear
plain white napkins
hot beverage cups
cold beverage cups- clear
romaine lettuce
cherry tomatoes
shredded Parmesan cheese
croutons
Ceaser salad dressing
bread sticks
spaghetti sauce
ground beef
mazarella cheese
lemonade mix
decaffeinated coffee
unsweetened tea

If you come across a great bargain please, please, let us know.  You can contact by phone, e-mail, or on facebook at The Event page. 

Thank you for helping us get my brothers and sister home,
Emmaline(a.k.a. E-E or Emmomo)

Really?!

Questions, questions, and more questions.  We thought we would honor all of those who have asked and help out all of those who are to afraid to ask by answering.  (As you can tell, nothing is too private for us.  We really don't mind telling!)

Are you really adopting four more children?  Yes, we really are adopting four more children.  We are not joking.  The youngest of the new Stinsons is a 4 year old boy.  His name is Orin Mihiretu.  Next is a 5 year old boy, Lee Atnafu.  The only girl in the bunch is a 6 year old.  Her name is Evelyn Shega.  Then Levi Ashenafi is an 8 year old boy.  This means our new Stinsons will fall in between our existing members.  Aubrey is 12; Emmaline is 11; Graham is 8; Levi is 8; Wil is 6; Evelyn is 6; Lee is 5; Orin is 4; Worth is 3; and Jermiah is almost 3!

Why four?  How did you get so comfortable with a group of four?  We weren't attempting to adopt four but every previous group we attempted to adopt fell through.  As we pursued this group, God swung all of the doors wide open.  And we mean wide open!  Three interviews in 2 weeks.  After what we were initially told was a long shot, it became a probability and then moved to a definate.  There are no doubts, this is the group for our family.  We have a peace that this is the step to take, and we are confident even admist the chaos. 

How do you know this is of God?  First, see previous answer.  Second,  God has given us a 12 seat van and a 12 seat table.  8 current Stinsons + 4 other Stinsons = 12 total Stinsons.  The moral of the story... don't buy a large table because maybe, just maybe, God will fill it. 

Do they speak English?  No.  They speak Kimbatissa which is a tribal language.  They are currently in the process of learning Amharic which is the national language of Ethiopia.  They have been at the orphanage since March.  By the spring we have been told they will know Amharic, but have very few English words.

How are you going to communicate with them?  We are currently in the process of learning some Amharic.  Our children are studying it in school (after convincing Mom to take a year off from the Spanish curriculum), and we are slowly..., slowly learning from them.

And last but not least...

What kind of van is that? This one seems to come from the men. For all of you wondering, it is a Freightliner Sprinter.  It seats 12, and you CAN stand up in it.  There are 2 in Springfield that we have seen, ours and one other.  FYI, we may have spotted a third this weekend.  So, if you see one around town chances are it is us.  And yes, you may look in it.  Everyone asks- it's ok. 

We Are Loved?

Many people have been asking about our t-shirts, "What do they mean?","What's your goal in this?" "Why is "We Are Loved" your theme?".  I hope some of these explanations will help you understand us more.  We were wanting to be able to raise money to bring our brothers and sisters home.  So, my aunt Kim and my sister Emmy came up with this design.  When the shirts say "Apple, PC, Mac, Liberal, Black, White....." the idea is that there are all these people coming from many different walks of life, but we are all brothers, sisters, and ORPHANS!  Without Christ's love, we are no one, with no place to call home.  Until we have accepted this gift of everlasting love, we are still orphans.  As you go down the shirt, it continues to say we are ADOPTED AND LOVED!  Through accepting Christ's gift, he adopts us into his loving family, and never leaves us or forsakes us, throughout our whole journey on earth and into eternity!  Since this is our calling, we believe adopting is the earthly way of showing how God takes us, even when we are a sick and ugly mess, and turns us into a light to guide many others to Him!  We adopt into our family because we have been adopted into God's family.  This is our way we have been called to obey Him!

We are now taking preorders for short sleeve/long sleeve t-shirts and zip up/pull over hoodies.  Prices  range from 15-25 dollars, depending on the shirt.  Please contact me at"auba@att.net" if you would like more information.  Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to bring my brothers and sister home!

Aubrey

Invitation to The Event

If you have access to Facebook, you can check out our invitation for The Event by searching for "The Event".  This is a dinner and silent auction to help raise money to bring the newest Stinson children home.

Ditch digging or bed filling?

Questions, questions, questions. One of those unstated questions we see on peoples faces is, "Isn't that enough...? 6 children? 4 biological and 2 adopted?" Yes, we know that we require 2 family sized meals to feed our crew. But we know that God desires us to adopt again.

Back in January of this year I was reading Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening", and the post on May 16th stuck with me. I know, I know you're wondering, "May 16th in January?" I was behind. Anyway, 2 Kings 3:16 says, "Then he said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Dig ditch after ditch in this wadi.' For the Lord says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the wadi will be filled with water, and you will drink-- you and your cattle and you animals.' This is easy in the Lord's sight." At the end of his devotion Spurgeon states, "What trenches am I digging? O Lord, make me ready to receive the blessing which thou art so willing to bestow." The warriors of Israel had to dig these ditches not knowing how God would fill them but just trusting that He would. They spent all day digging trenches, preparing for God's blessing.

You see, we had this ongoing discussion in our house of, "Do we finish our basement or wait? There really is no need right now." Throughout this time I couldn't get this passage out of my head. That seems to be how the Holy Spirit works in my life-- by recurring thoughts. So we knew we were going to adopt again, God had already told us that but were we prepared for the blessing? What trenches were we digging? It seems so clear now to know God was preparing us for these 4 children. We were thinking one, maybe two. But four? God knew the plans he had for us. A home equity loan and six months later...we are 1 month away from having two additional bedrooms finished. 5 bedrooms, 10 kids.

I am reminded of how in verse 18 the Bible says, "This is easy in the Lord's sight." The Israelites toiled to dig the ditches but it was easy for God to fill them. While we have toiled to do as much of the work ourselves, the blessing is easy. He will fill the ditches. Or in our case He will fill the beds.

Since we have recently announced our adoption plans, we have been flooded with questions.  Most of the time they go something like this: "Why?" - "How did you decide on these children?" - "Are you crazy?" - "Do you want to be on TV?"  First of all, let me dispell that last one:  WE DO NOT! :)  I realize many people who are connecting with us as we work to get our children home have not even met us before!  What a blessing it has been as we are contacted by so many of you who want to help, and I want to share with you more about our story.

The "Once upon a time" all begins back in high school.  I, Chandra, realized God was calling me into mission work.  Of course, I assumed I would live in a hut in Africa and teach the children how to read and love God.  In college I met a handsome, brilliant guy who swept me off my feet.  We talked about this plan and agreed that we were both open to be missionaries wherever and whenever God called.  Fast forward several years and I have my teaching degrees, Matt has finished medical school and we have three children:  Aubrey, Emmaline, and Graham.  Over those years we had met with the International Mission Board three times to pursue a place to serve.  Each time they were eager for us to continue with interviews and paperwork to find our position, but we were hesitant.  God always seemed to be saying, "Wait."  So we waited. 

In 2005 Matt and I felt called to adopt.  We had developed a real interest in adoption even while we were growing our family biologically, and we thought maybe we should adopt our fourth child since we probably wouldn't have any more.  How funny is that!  We completed the process, and brought home Wil.  He is a beautiful little guy.  But as most of you know, he has severe issues because of what happened to him before he came home.  Through it all, God was very gracious.  He gave us help from people around us, strength to survive great heartache, and most of all, time to adjust. 

It was then that God revealed His plan for the mission work He wanted to do in our family.  Matt and I each began to feel God leading.  We individually saw a vision of our family with many little dark skinned faces, saw how God could work this way, and wanted to join in.  Now don't think this was a quick, easy thing.  It took us two weeks (and if you know me, you know how hard that was) before we came to each other and were able to say, "We need to talk about something."  I remember how relived we both were when we saw the other had the same calling. 

After adjusting to this new idea, we began our second adoption.  So then came Worth and Jeremiah.  For those who are having trouble keeping up, Worth was born to us; Jeremiah was adopted.  These two have been a blast.  Being three months apart in age, they are best friends. God added some comedy to our lives, and we are loving it. 

Okay, so today? And these kids?  Well, we have been shaping our life to adopt again.  You may have seen the "Party bus"!  So last summer we began looking for the next children God had for us.  We had strange calls about orphanages closing, teen girls needing homes for babies, and such.  Every time we said yes, but the doors were firmly shut.  These particular children were sent to us on an e-mail.  We responded that we were interested and were told it was a long shot since we already had six children and one has special needs.  Since May 25th of this year we have been interviewed over the phone, written answers to many preliminary questions, and collected info from doctors and friends to submit to a committee which decided the children are a good placement for us.   

God has plowed down so many barriers as we have followed.  I am currently just overwhelmed with the response we have seen in friends and aquaintances as you have stepped up with donations and help for The Event.  It has really humbled me.  (And the six here at home love to laugh at my cry each day as I see more support!)  We have begun collecting for our paperwork to go to Ethiopian court.  After the court date they will schedule us for an appointment at the US Embassey in Ethiopia and that will be when we can bring the children home.  Right now that date is estimated for sometime between March and May. 

So there it is!  That's the why, the how these children, and the when.  The are we crazy is a simple yes.  We are crazy to follow our calling in life, to be a part of something much bigger than us, and to impact the future for our children and their children.