Popcorn & Soles

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." ~Exodus 14:14

Today I pulled into the garage and sat for quite a while having quiet time, praying for a number of things that have been on my mind. Today is Charlie's 4th birthday and I was thinking about that a lot. But mainly I was focused on our court date and court dates for other friends at the end of their processes. It was super quiet sitting there in the car and I was enjoying it. A lot!

I was interrupted by the sound of the UPS truck. I got super excited because I thought that it was the shipment of Garrett's Popcorn (yes, Holt girls, I AM ADDICTED!!) that Wayne lovingly ordered for me :) Garrett's Popcorn is the best popcorn on earth! No lie. I hadn't tried it until last April in NYC and I was smitten. Now, we regularly have shipments of popcorn delivered here. So ridiculous, but so so worth it. :) Chicago Mix is my fave...you can check it out for yourself here. They also have a free shipping code right now: THANKS12F! If you haven't experienced Garrett's you should!!

I ran to the door and found this instead:

A few months ago I contacted Soles for Souls about a shoe donation for Wayne and I to take with us when we travel to Uganda. We were BLESSED when they said YES!!! So, today, so appropriately on our sweet little man's birthday we received 127 pairs of flip flops to bless other children in care centers in Uganda. If you haven't heard of this amazing organization then you need to!!! Man, I sound like a bossy boots telling you all what to do! But seriously, after you order yourself a tin of Garrett's go check out Soles for Souls and all of the amazing work that they're doing!! It really shows how one person's vision can turn into an opportunity for anyone & everyone to help out others by donating gently used shoes for others in need. From this venture other non-profits have been created like Clothes4Souls and Hope4Souls to provide clothing and other necessities as well.

Shoes were extra meaningful to us as a donation because the first picture we ever saw of our little guy showed these pink shoes:

I remember after we reviewed his file and inspected every inch of the photo above and the included progress reports that I spotted his shoes. And I began laughing through tears over this little man whose smile literally had me from the first moment I saw it. I knew instantly that this little boy with the ornery grin and the pink shoes would be in our lives forever. Now, I know that in the scope of things shoes aren't a big deal. It didn't matter what he was wearing but it expressed to me that there was a NEED. Things that we take for granted (how many pairs of shoes do you have right now in your closet?) are so special to others.

In addition to the flips that we have one of my adoption buddies shared our contact info with one of her adoption buddies (adoption really bonds people together & we are like a big family!) and she sent us 25 pairs of croc shoes to take with us as well!! Amazing!

So although today is a little rough and we aren't together for his 4th birthday I'm resting in the fact that God controls the timelines around here!! Please continue to pray for favor for our court date and if you would, lift up my other adoption friends as they prepare to end their journeys by traveling soon!!!