I can't tell you how many people say they would adopt if they had the money ... Well, I am here to tell you we are on our 3rd adoption and we didn't have one extra penny for any of our adoptions and God provided it ALL ... Today, I am officially OUT OF UGANDA MAGAZINE BEAD NECKLACES ... I picked up 160 necklaces Monday night and as of 3:00 today they are ALL SOLD OUT ... I am truly feeling humbled by the Lord's provisions ... We are very close to unveiling the newest Member of the OATSVALL TEAM ... Please continue to pray as God works out the details ...

I have a thought I want to share and I pray no one takes this the wrong way, but I feel like it is a great look into God's eyes and it is perspective that has been stirring in my heart lately ... Scott has been working so much over the past year (most weeks 7 days) and it is not something we like, and I am beyond proud of the provider he is for our family ... I am humbled by the way Scott never ceases at working for his family and I love all that he brings to our family as father, spiritual leader, teacher, and friend ... He is fabulous at including his children in even his work time ... He always puts our family first ... I pray one day soon he won't be working so much, but I also know there are millions of fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters all over this world that work 7 days a week for 12-15 hours a day just to put one meal on the table a day if that, so why is it that we here in America feel that we deserve something more than what the least of these or the poor of our world must endure EVERY SINGLE DAY... They dig in the dirt, plant in the field, labor to build things they will never be able to step foot in, they clean homes they can never afford, they walk miles with pounds and pounds of items on their heads, they take their children to work everyday (sometimes strapped to their backs), they work in swelting heat and freezing cold, they never stop WORKING and hoping for a better day ... I have no doubt as I lift Scott up to the Father each day that My Lord and Savior is proud and honored by my husband's hard work, his heart to provide, and his willingness to be a father again to a child who doesn't know what a father is ... I know he will teach him about what UNCONDTIONAL love is that comes from our Savior the way only an earthly father can do ... So my challenge to us all (myself included) is to never feel entitled to free time, extra curricular activities, birthday parties, or vacations ... Let's feel honored to be able to do those things and lift all our thanks for our life to the Father and to never forget those closest to His heart "the least of these" ...

Blessings all ... Thanks for all your prayers and support ...

Here is all I will say after the concert ... I WILL TAKE ALL 147 MILLION ORPHANS !!!!

I am so excited to be volunteering at the concert tonight ... Everyone knows how much the Oatsvall Team loves the Chapman family and everything they do to help the orphans of the world ... I pray I can be a vessell tonight as someone walks up to the table ready to make that very important decision ... ADOPT OR NOT ... SPONSOR A CHILD OR NOT !!!! I pray they can see in my eyes and to my heart how the need for everyone to join hands and really dig in deep to help the FATHERLESS, the LEAST OF THESE, the GIFTS and HIDDEN TREASURES of the Lord !!!!

I love you all and thanks to BECKY BILBY for my blog makeover ... We traveled together during our adoption of Emily ... This family has waited a very long time for the second daughter and could use a little help, so if you need a blog make over check her out or click on CHLOE'S CLOSET ON MY RIGHT AND STOCK UP ON SOME REALLY CUTE CLOTHES ...

time to go lay some bricks ... (Nehemiah reference )

P.S. pray for my hubby ... he is sick !! This man works tirelessly for our family and has very little down time ...Sick does not stop him, but I do pray God will heal him quickly ... Love you, honey!

I can't get it out right now ... I tried posting and had a page full and just hit delete ... so back to packaging UGANDA NECKLACES ... I saw pictures tonight from Curry (sweet student and friend), who just left Katie in Uganda and it has my heart all in a twist ...

Lord, I am thankful !!!!

The necklaces will be here Monday ... So if you pre-ordered, it is time to head over to pay pal from our fundraising site and pay SHOPOATSVALVILLAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM ... and each time you wear one or give one as a gift please share the story of the woman/man in Uganda rolling the piece of magazine by hand to make the necklace and how by purchasing this necklace you help a FAMILY sustain itself in Uganda and helped two orphans to their forever family ... I MEAN SERIOUSLY DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT FOR YOUR MONEY !!!!

I should have posted this sooner, but it didn't really hit me till this morning that some of my bloggers who live locally might be interested ... I will be sharing our STORY OF ADOPTION, my PASSION FOR THE ORPHANS, and the MINISTRY OF KATIE DAVIS / AMAZIMA at LifePoint Church in Smyrna, TN @2:00 tomorrow Sunday, 26th ... I have a sweet friend Beth, who is totally a servant of the Lord and sees ways to spread His news and called me with the idea to tell people about our amazingly-crazy-blessed life that is full of SAYING YES TO GOD ... We were a part of this bible teaching church for 6 years and just loved it and still call it home (Pat Hood is the pastor and he is on my sidebar ... his blog speaks great TRUTHS) ... When we moved we felt called to a church in our community, but we still go back to Smyrna and still do life with many of their amazing families ... Join us if you can !!!

Side Note .... Kristi Johnson won the raffle and will be getting a sweet special blanket made by my SIL ... I will post her picture w/ the blanket as soon as it gets here ... Thanks to all who participated !!!

There is lots more in my head, but it isn't ready to come out yet ... If you haven't read the KNOCK, KNOCK POST BELOW ... please do !!!

NEW ORPHAN AWARENESS T-SHIRT IS OFF TO THE DESIGNERS .... God has a strong message in this one !!!

Love You All

What if you got a knock on the door and there was a child standing there who was hungry, thirsty, and needed a mom and dad ???

This thought has been coming to my mind ever since Katie went back to Uganda and began enrolling more and more kids in the Amazima program ... Suzanne and I were like we have to stop taking kids in until we can get people to sponsor them and Katie said to us, "How do you tell a child NO, who is hungry and standing at your door." ... We cried and said of course we would say YES ... Katie's faith walk inspires me to think out of my box here in the states; it helps me to be bold in my life here and encourages me to blindly follow Christ in the road He has laid out before us ...

I honestly wish children would knock on our doors, homeless people would stop by for a bite to eat, we all had a prison inmate to pray for or a widow would call and say she needs help ... I truly have to believe we would all be saying YES a lot more ... YES, YES, YES, AND YES

Here are some God hightlights from the past weekend ... Crazy Love study w/a group of women WHO GET IT, Amazima Board Meeting, Sweet Sweet 13 year old girls had their birthday party and ask for donations for our adoption and not gifts (they raised $900.00 ... more to come on this), I spoke to about 100 amazing people at LifePoint church on Sunday and they engulfed me with blessings and I saw many hearts opening and saying YES, and we received some news on the sweet little boy at Amani that is bringing us closer to a decision ...

God is seriously calling us OUT INTO THE OPEN and I can't wait to see what He has in store !! Lord, I pray for protection from Satan for my family ...

Love You All ...

You know it is time for an updated post when your honey says, "You haven't posted since Sunday." ... hee hee ... He loves the blog ...

Jesus Calling today says "I am calling you to a life of THANKFULNESS. I want ALL YOUR MOMENTS to be punctated with Thanksgiving ...

I am thankful for so much - my husband, my children both here and in Africa, my family, my amazingly faithful friends both in my everyday life and in the blog world, my new sister Katie and what she has brought to my life, for Dr. Kelly (Maggie's doctor), my home, my church, the t-shirt I designed and how God is using it in a way I never dreamed, my car, chocolate, my friends bringing home children, and you know this list could go on and on, but the point is I need to wake each morning and begin to thank God and it will set the tone for my day which will make me more effective for HIM ...

WE HAD OUR HOMESTUDY UPDATED TODAY ... Can you see each stepping closer to our children ...

This is the new youth shirts for boys (and girls can wear them too) ... REAL GUYS WEAR FLOWERS ... hee hee ... I order a very small amount of these in Youth small, medium, large, and adult small ... So check the site tonight and get yours now ...

This is the view out of my front window last Saturday at 8:00 am in the morning ... This is Jeremiah and Elijah's AAU basketball team heading out to Alabama for a tournament for the day ... We had about 6 boys spending the night and they woke ready to play as they asked each car passing to honk ... AND PLAY THEY DID ... 1st Place for the 4th weekend in a row ... They ROCK !!! And did I mention they have a really HOT coach (you go honey) ...

There are moments when you are at church, in your car, with friends, or family and something is said, a verse from a song, a phrase by your pastor, or words from a friend/family member and you just know God just spoke to your heart ... Today we were in church singing and I had one of those moments that seem to come very often these days where God revives me, brings me to tears, and engulfs my heart w/ His purpose for my family's life ... The song talked about dying so that I might live ... My mind was bombarded w/ dying to self so that I may hear Him more clearly, so that I may be broken for what breaks His heart, so that I will rejoice daily in all the miracles that surround me (seriously to many to think of when you know that each BREATH is a gift/miracle/from the Lord) ... On this Easter day I praise the Father for being so ever present in my life !!! Elijah is asking questions about salvation, about what it means to be sinner, about the gift of ever lasting life w/ Christ ... I want nothing more on this earth than for my children to accept Christ and go teach others about His unwavering love !!!

He is Risen !! He is not in the tomb !! Death could not keep Him !! THANK YOU FATHER FOR YOUR GIFT OF LIFE ABUNDANTLY ...

My super talented Sister-In-Law, Leigh Ann is donating a beautifully crocheted item to help us raise funds for our adoption ... check out the fundraising site
SHOPOATSVALLVILLAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM and purchase your raffle ticket now for only $5.00 ... This opportunity will only be open for 2 weeks ...

Plus, limited time only is the youth boy's orphan awareness t-shirt... They will be in soon !!! I only ordered 10 of each size ... pre-order yours now ...

Ugandan Magazine Necklaces that will be in by the end of the month ... I sold 80 in 12 days ... I only have 160 coming so pre-order yours now !!!

Just some random pictures ... I know how you all like pictures ... hee hee

While I was in the hospital for 4 days, I had a lot of time to be still (which is not in my nature) and be inside the four walls of our room ... I had a lot of time to pray, think, and wait for the Lord to speak to my heart (since Maggie was watching Space Buddies and HSM3 non-stop)... By Thursday I was feeling restless and ready for MOVEMENT ... Today at home was a day full of movement ... I had fun picking up my house, doing dishes, and just re-organizing ... I was full of joy and putting into action somethings God had spoken to me about ... It is such a great parallel of our spirit life ... Our spirit needs time to be still and refresh and refuel and hear the Lord clearly, so that when it is time for MOVEMENT, we have heard the Lord and processed His calling and then we can go forward into the work the Lord has for us with JOY ...

I will be spending SATURDAY and SUNDAY working on THE BOOK ... God has truly spoken to me that it is time to dig deep in and trudge into this project and FINISH IT !!! I also had time to spend thinking about what Maggie must have endured in China the 6 months she spent in the hospital ... Yes, you heard me, 6 long months in the hospital ... As the little girl in the room next to us weep and no one was there I was broken at the thought that my daughter was probably in that same position for over 6 months enduring burns, surgery to remove bone, skin graphs, infections, and so much more .... I almost choked on my heart as I allowed myself for the first time to go there ... It was very cleansing and I am thankful to the FATHER because it showed me once again WE HAVE ENOUGH here in the Oatsvall house to give to two more children in AFRICA ... The AMERICAN DREAM is not God's dream ... God's dream for our lives is to live out the truth in scripture ... We need to believe Him when He says to care for the LEAST of these !!! I know I am preaching to the choir now, but I had to spit it out, so I could move forward ... God has called us to great things that are often hard, but I can tell you even on my worst day here, I feel more peace and my faith always seems to find a way to grow and I wouldn't want to miss that opportunity to grow !!!

I can't wait to see what MIRACLES God accomplishes through all of us ...

We are going home today ... They came in and took the drainage tube out of her head and now I am packing up ... Can you hear my totall excitement ... I can already feel a hot shower at home, my bed, hugging on my kids/hubby, and some really good food !!!

Of course w/ the way hospital times goes we probably won't be home till 3 or 4 ... We have had great care here and everyone is interested in Maggie's story, so perhaps God has allowed me to plant many seeds ...

Thanks all for your prayers, scriptures, and loving encouragement ... We are in the midst of this journey and I can honestly say I can't see what is ahead, but that is probably good .. I often think if I could see ahead it would hinder my faith ... I will walk today blindly w/the Lord and know He has tomorrow already taken care of because HE KNOWS ALL ...

Love You !!!

You will all get this and I know you will join me ... In the room next to us at the hospital is a precious little toddler baby girl about 12-16 months old and she is alone ... Her mother has to work during the day ... I can not tell you how this affects my heart, but I know you understand ... Let's lift this angel up and her mother ... I pray God helps neither one of them to feel alone !!

It makes me so appreciative to Nana (Scott's grandmother), who has stayed at my house all week just to be a pair of Mama arms for my children ... She is the most fabulous 84 year old ever and my children think she hangs the moon and that she can do ANYTHING !!! We love you Nana!

We may get to go home tomorrow if the new oral antibiotics work !!!!

Scott is always looking to the Lord and when things don't look so great I can always count on him to say, "Late in the midnight hour, God is going to turn it around." ... Scripture also tells us that JOY COMES IN THE MORNING ... Maggie's fever broke, she is off the IV line and she had a great night of sleep ... Your verses are filling my spirit ... Trust in the Lord, the Lord will bring you peace, He has equipped you for this journey, Be in communion w/ me the Father, don't worry about your daily struggles He is more than able to carry you through, and I could go on and on ... The thought that keeps resonating in my spirit is how I feel for those people who deal with difficulties and they don't know the Lord ... They don't feel His constant LOVE, His ever present peace, and His amazing shoulder to lean on ...

No April FOOLS here ... GOD IS A GOD WHO KEEPS HIS PROMISES !!! Thanks for loving on my family for your constant stream of prayers !!! I do pray we can be home by Friday because the other Oatsvall Team members miss their mama !!!

Big Blessing ...My friend Kristi got her referral yesterday from Ethiopia and this is one beautiful child !!! I love referral day ... She came to the hospital last night so I could see a picture and bring me a diet coke !!! Kelly (her sister came w/ chocolate) and another friend Kara brought dinner ... We just had us a good ole girl's night out here celebebrating in the hospital ... I do love how the Lord knits us all together ... Still eating the massive 5lb cup cakes sweet Dani brought yesterday and Maggie's bed is full of stuff animals thanks to Aunt Donna, Coach John, and Kelly ... Not to mention that I sleep on the Legos Ondrea bought her plus I am covered w/ the stickers Wendy had in her goodie bag ... Not to mention that two high school girl friends came by and hung out yesterday ... And I could never had made it with out Erica (my cousin) and Retta (my aunt) each spending a night here ... Other sweet friends taking dinner to my family at home !!! Are you seeing a theme here !!!! WE alll need each other and my cup runeth over w/ blessings from the Lord because of all of you ...