I am overwhelmed and so excited about all of you who have agreed to write your story for the BOOK .... If you wouldn't mind emailing me, so I can compute a list for the future. I will begin the communicating via email instead of the blog. I think that will be easier for everyone.

My email is s.oatsvall@comcast.net
Note: A few of you have asked time frame ... Let's say if you can get me your story anytime in the next 3 months that will be great ... I already have Jim Chapman on board to do the art work ... I am wanting the family pictures for him to do sketches of ... I want to protect our privacy yet still express our stories ... I think this is the best of both worlds ... Jim is amazing and his heart for adoption shows in everything he does !

I want to encourage you to pray about your story and what God would have you share. Feel free to share whatever part of your story you wish. I say that because today I was visiting Melinda's blog and she posted the most amazing story her friend had written. It was a story about how each of her adoptive children bonded to her in different ways and at different times. It was so moving that it made me realize that we all have a specific story and something that will shape or impact others, so please share whatever you want and not just the 1, 2, 3 step process ...

I am beyond excited about this and know God is going to do something amazing here because He is in the AMAZING BUSINESS !!!! And just think if all this work brings just one family to the decision of adoption we will hear the choir sing in heaven !!!!

Not sure where to start and I am sure when I explain what I want to do most of you will say I have had the same thought ... I have said a 100 times how I have been impacted by all of the adoption journeys that have been shared w/me ... I hold them in my heart and they shape me ... I have also been getting quite a number of private emails about people wanting to adopt but for one reason or another they have not ...

So here is what God is laying on my heart ... This is a big project and I don't know where it will go or ultimately what God will have me do with it ... but if you would like to join me and participate this is what you can begin doing ... (NO HURRY)

1. Write your adoption story in 1000 words or less (first names only no last names in story)NOTE :LETS FORMAT IT TO ME IN AN EMAIL S.OATSVALL@COMCAST.NET
2. Come up w/ one piece of advice for waiting families
3. Share one word of encouragement or advice on what you have learned once you came home
4. Picture of your family
5. Your favorite scripture
6. One fundraising idea if you raised funds ...

My goal is to put together a book ... I know this has been done before, but not from my blog family ... You have all inspired me to record this journey we are on together .... It may just end up being something just for me so that I can revisit your stories, it may be a tool that is used in churches to encourage fellow believers to get involved in the mission of caring for orphans through adoption or I may even try to get it published (wouldn't that be just God to help me bring my two home from Ethiopia this way) ... Honestly, I really haven't gotten that far ... I just know God wants me to do this ... So if you are willing please begin to gather your heart's story and I am currently working on a publishing release form ....

I think this will be a life changing experience for me ... I feel as if God is molding me each day into the person He wants me to be ... I am just sad it has taken me so long to listen ... Although I loved my 20s, I feel as if I just wasted them ... The 30s totally rock !!!

Love You All (P.S. If you don't feel like doing it please don't feel the pressure to participate)

Girls dresses by REDTHREADSTITCH@AOL.COM (help her bring a daughter home)


Our Lord and Savior brings such joy, peace, comfort, and understanding to my day ... As we stood in church on Sunday and I looked into Maggie's sweet eyes I knew He would have died on the cross just for her ... He is that amazing of a Savior, He would have went through all that for just one !!! Holidays are one of the many things that have taken on a different meaning since bringing Emily and Maggie home ... It is not that I didn't love or appreciate them before, it is just that the emotion of the holiday or celebration mean so much more in my heart !!!

I adore you all and I appreciate you praying for my niece, sweet Savannah ... I got a call from my friend Emily (on my sidebar) and her family has chosen the most beautiful daughter/baby boy from Ethiopia on a waiting list to be part of their family ... I am over joyed for their family ... It seems each day some one else experiences this miracle of adoption and receives a little peace of heaven ...

God is pressing on my heart a project to do that will capture all these amazing stories ... Please stay tuned ... You all have changed me and I want to capture in my heart your stories, encouragement, and prayers ... more later ...

Have a fabulously blessed week ...

PLEASE GO TO MY SIL BLOG (CRYSTAL) ON MY SIDEBAR ... Today's post has my heart breaking and the tears won't stop ... Crystal visited Savannah's village today and meet some of her biological family ... Whats she saw w/her own eyes I know have changed her forever ...

I am not sure I can even describe how Jeremiah makes me feel as a mother ... I will never forget his first cry after a very scary emergency c-section ... He came into my world and changed me forever ... I credit the capacity in my heart to love as a mother to him ... He helps me see the world the way God made it w/ his amazing heart ... He is truly one of kind ... I can't tell you have many parents call to tell me what a great friend he is to their child ... Or how many people at a game that will come up to me after a game (whether we win or lose) and tell me how amazed they are at his sportsmanship and athletic ability ... He has the heart of someone much older than 10 ... This year on his birthday I realized how quickly the time is going and I want to cherish every moment... He is my biggest helper at home and never fails to share whatever he has w/his siblings or others...I can see God at work in his life ever day and I can't tell you how over joyed that makes me... I pray for his heart each day, I pray he will make decisions pleasing to the Lord, I pray he is a good friend, and sometimes I pray for his future wife (that one is hard to swallow right now ... hee hee) ...

Just to describe what kind of young man he is becoming I will give you a treasure box moment or two ...

1. Wednesday night, I ask him for his birthday to pick out a bible verse for each of us that would describe us, and sitting right there on my counter he said I already have Maggie's, so I asked what it was and he said, "Man looks on the outward appearance and God looks at the heart." Can I just say that I teared up ... I saw right to his very heart and realize that Jeremiah is so concerned w/how people view Maggie and that they can't see always what a blessing she is to us ...

2. We have played in a lot of basketball games over the years and after each game Jeremiah is always first in line to shake hands w/ the other team and tell them what a good job they did ...

3. I can't think of a time when he had something and his siblings or friends wanted it and he always shares (even his most favorite things) ... He is such a giver ...

4. Now mind you we live in a very affluent area and at a private school, we are by far in the minority when it comes to income .. At our school, there is always a cause they are raising money for and on Fridays you can give a $1 to wear jeans ... Well, we always give Jeremiah his $1, but he never fails to give some of his own money. I know he is usually saving to buy something for himself, but in that moment he realizes their are others who need it so much more than he does...

5. When talking about bringing the girls home or going to Africa, Jeremiah is always supportive and says I don't mind giving up things ... He desperately wants to go to Ethiopia w/ me and I think the Lord is preparing his heart for something big ....

6. I will always remember our 1st trip to feed the homeless on that cold rainy day when a man ask if we had a size 11 shoes for him and we didn't ... I handed him the gloves I had on and gave him a lunch and blanket ... As we drove away Jeremiah said, "Dad we need to make sure we have shoes next time we come." ... He has a heart for those in need and would give them anything he had I just know it ...

I could go on and on about this amazing young man, but I will leave you w/the thought that our children are the only thing we can take to heaven w/us, so let's always walk close to them and show them the amazing life a believer can live by faith each day ... Jeremiah will always be the first person to steal a piece of my heart and that is why his symbol is my heart ... All the good in him comes from the Lord and I am so proud to be his mother and I thank him for teaching me each day more about the Lord ...

Jeremiah, I love you and will always be here for you till I take my very last breathe !!!

Court went great ( a lot longer than expected) !!! I always tear up when the judge talks about the fact that an adopted child receives all the rights and benefits as if she was born of my womb ... It is so overwhelming to know that God laid the plans for all of this and that even the government see my precious adopted girls in the same way we do ... It was a sweet moment and very surreal the second time around ... Our lawyer (who is a believer) informed the judge we would be back after going to Ethiopia (I thought Scott was going to fall out of his seat ... Hee Hee Hee




March Madness is one our favorite times of the year in the Oatsvall house ... This is the college men's basketball tournament ... Each person in our family does a bracket (see sample below) and you get points for each game you get correct and the points increase the closer you get to the championship game ....

So here is the game ... By Friday night send me your pick for the National Champion plus a point spread ... Example and my choice is NORTH CAROLINA BY 7 ... Also just to make this girlie you can also pick your favorite team uniforms (mine ... TEXAS)

You can print a bracket off the computer ... It is super fun ... Jeremiah did 4 before he was happy with his choices (Jeremiah has Vandy to win, Scott has TN Vols, and Elijah has George Mason) ...So go impress your honeys and tell them you wanna a March Madness Bracket !!!!

CRYSTAL HAS SAVANNAH HOPE IN HER ARMS ... WHAT CAN I SAY, BUT PRAISE THE LORD !!!!!

Bible study w/ Tina starts next Monday ... I will do a post each week after her class ... I know this time w/ Tina and the Lord will be very changing to my spirit and I can't wait ..

WE HAVE COME SO FAR ... PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS FAITHFULNESS AND HEALING!

1. COURT DATE IN THE MORNING TO OFFICIALLY MAKE MAGGIE AN "OATSVALL" (JUST FORMALITY SINCE SCOTT DIDN'T TRAVEL W/ME, BUT IT IS VERY EMOTIONAL)...

2. MY SIL LEAVES IN THE MORNING FOR MALAWI !!!! SAVANNAH HOPE WILL BE HERE SOON ...

3. MARCH MADNESS HAS STARTED "YEAH BABY!!!!" GOING TO HAVE A CONTEST POSTED SOON AND SEE HOW SAVVY YOU LADIES ARE W/YOUR PICKS... (IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT MARCH MADNESS IS THEN I WILL TEACH YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND WILL BE SOOOOOO TURNED ON ... HEE HEE HEE

4. TINA (ON MY SIDEBAR) IS BEGINNING AN AMAZING BIBLE STUDY WHICH I WILL BE JOINING ... THIS LADY IS ORDAINED BY THE LORD ... SHE INSPIRES ME TO GO DEEPER AND LIVE FULLER !! I CAN'T WAIT ....

WATCH VIDEO FIRST



I have been waiting to post this because the story is so amazing I needed a couple of weeks to process how God causes are paths to cross with one anothers ... I fully believe we should be able to give account at any moment about what the Lord is doing in our life ... I received this You Tube video from a friend (who was sent it from a friend and so on) ... It was Friday night late and I watched and cried as I always do when a child who is an orphan joins their forever family ... This issue is at the core of my heart (like so many of you), so anyways Anna (my pretend sister) and I are watching and just felt so touched by the story... I felt God confirming my heart for Ethiopia ... The very next day as I was sitting in the gym for the 3rd game of the day this lady comes walking down the hallway w/a baby in a carrier ...Anna says, "That is the lady from the You Tube video." I look closer and do what any normal stalker would do ... I JUMP UP IN HER FACE AND GO "I AM NOT CRAZY, BUT I JUST SAW YOUR STORY ON YOU TUBE LAST NIGHT" ... She smiled and I looked into Levi's most precious eyes and he smiled at me ... We talked for a minute and exchanged numbers ... It was a most precious moment!!! It is just another way that God blesses us ... He puts us in each other's way ... Some people we seek, some people we run into, or some people we trip over by accident, and some we even bump into in cyberspace, but whatever it is that we do to find each other, to encourage each other, to pray for each other ... IT IS THE LORD WHO MAKES IT ALL POSSIBLE ...

Have a great rest of the week and know that there is someone out there you probably don't know really well that is praying for you TODAY !!!

I am reading (very slowly) "There Is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene ... Last night while I was reading I was profoundly changed in my heart and in my thoughts ... In our culture very few people can wrap their minds around statistics in the millions (unless a scientist or mathematician)... The author put it in a way that brought it home to me ... She is writing about the orphan situation in Africa ... There are over 25 million children orphaned by HIV/Aids ... She went on to put those children into her daily life ... So ponder these statistics and put your own life into the mix of it ...

Who is going to take 25 million children to school, sign 25 million permission slips for field trips, watch 25 million basketball games, kiss 25 million boo boos, make 25 million p/b jelly sandwiches, take 25 million children to the YMCA, put 25 million children to bed with kisses and prayers, cheer for 25 million good report cards, play in the back yard with 25 million children, take 25 million children school shopping, play hide and seek (or ring around the rosie) with 25 million children, teach 25 million children to swim, comb or place bows in 25 million children's hair, tie 25 million shoes, and take 25 million children to sunday school ...

Lord thank you for finding ways to open my heart and prayer life to the things that are important to you ... I want to challenge us all to pray for the orphans of the world in a real way and do whatever we can to help ... ADOPT, PRAY, SPONSOR, PRAY, DONATE, PRAY, SPREAD THE WORD, PRAY, SPEAK UP FOR THOSE THAT CAN NOT SPEAK, PRAY, EDUCATE OURSELVES, PRAY ... OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT GOD LAYS ON YOUR HEART ...

I have met some incredible people in bloggerland and I know together we can make a difference ...

Love to you all and have a great weekend !!!!

8 BASKETBALL GAMES, VISIT FROM JAKE (college player we coached as a kid), SCOTT BIRTHDAY & ELIJAH'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, SPEND THE NIGHT W/FRIENDS, COLLEGE GAME, AND SO MUCH MORE .. HOPE YOUR WEEKEND WAS AS BLESSED AS OURS !!!

Happy Birthday Honey ... You are the man of my dreams and my perfect match ... There isn't a love story out there that I would trade for ours ... I appreciate the man of God you are and I am thankful for your leadership, love, and protection of our family!! You just get better with age ... I love U !!!


Happy Birthday sweet angel of JOY ... Elijah is 6 and I don't know where the time has gone ... I can't wait to see what God is going to do with all your creativity ... I love you my special red head ... Thank you for making my life so full !!!

Birthday fun for Scott & Elijah






Spend the Night Fun w/ the Team !!! Won't be able to afford to feed them when they get into High School ... ha ha ha

TESTING THE WATERS ... FREEZING !!!


Jake and Emily