Thursday, February 25, 2010

Are we crazy?



Welcome to my brand new blog! I am so excited about all the changes coming up in our lives and how God is moving and guiding us. We are thrilled to be able to share with you as we embark on this new journey.....so what's all the big news?


Well, I am sure by the title you can tell we are now expecting our third little babe! Baby #3 is expected to make his or her arrival sometime in October and we are beyond thrilled. Jackson and Olivia are very confused and excited about the baby in mommy's tummy.

The other big news is that we have decided to become full time missionaries with SIM in Ethiopia. We have felt God calling us towards missions for a while now and we have spent the last year praying and preparing for how this will look for our family. We are so happy about SIM and being apart of such a great organization. Our time frame for leaving is fall of 2011.

What are we doing in Ethiopia? Well we are still waiting for that to be finalized and it should be very soon, but you know how things run when you are on Africa time....if things go as planned right now, it is a great fit for our family and we are excited to share it with you all soon, so stay tuned!

So, are we crazy? This was the question that I asked my sweet husband as we were laying in bed one night after coming home from a week spent at our mission agency in North Carolina. Without skipping a beat, he said uh yeah, I think we are. So there you have it....the question I am sure you were just asking yourself! We are crazy! We are crazy for God and his people. We are crazy for our sweet kiddos, and we are crazy for each other. And we are happy to be on this crazy adventure that God has called us to.

As for this blog, I would absolutely love to be able to keep our family, friends, and supporters up to date with what is going on with us. The next 18 months will be filled with baby growing, studying, training, support raising, and lots of praying!

To kick off this new blog I am going to do a fun giveaway to support one of my favorite organizations, Compassion International. If you want to be the proud owner of one of these cool t-shirts that support orphans and people living in poverty all over the world just leave a comment to enter! Giveaway ends on March 8th. For extra entries:

1. Become a follower of Raising 3 Babes in the 3rd world and leave me a comment telling me you did so.
2. Blog or post to Facebook, or even Twitter about our new blog and the giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did so. One entry for each one!
3. If you sponsor a child with Compassion International, leave me a comment with the country from where your child is from (this is on your honor of course!).

If you win, you can choose from:

The Child Survival T-Shirt
Compassion's Child Survival Program means the difference between life and death for vulnerable babies. Translated in Hindi, survival means "protect life". Join the fight for life, a portion of the proceeds will go directly to the Child Survival Program.

The Global Food Crisis T-shirt- Creole
Eco navy heather tee shirt, imprinted with Please design in Creole on front and back and Compassion International logo

The Global Food Crisis T-shirt- Spanish
Eco red heather tee shirt, imprinted with Please design in Portuguese on front and back and Compassion International logo


The Global Food Crisis T-shirt -Bengali
Eco green heather tee shirt, imprinted with Please design in Bengali on front and back and Compassion International logo

or my personal favorite......

Global Food Crisis T-shirt- Amharic (Ethiopia's national language)
Eco black heather tee shirt, imprinted with Please design in Amharic on front and back and Compassion International logo (It looks like the others but for some reason I could only get the zoomed in view!)





We hope that you join us in prayer as we prepare to raise 3 babes in the 3rd world!

46 comments:

  1. That is big news. I guess pregnant, and Scott guessed missionaries. Our next door neighbors are in Nigeria through SIM. They left a year ago and have decided to stay long term. Anyway, I like following their blogs, so I can't wait to see what yours has in store.

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  2. CONGRATULATIONS!!! I'm so proud and excited for you guys!! I'm adding this blog to my roll and will be keeping track of you.

    Blessings!

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  3. Wow! That is a lot of BIG news! Congrats!

    I'm adding you to my blog roll and we DO sponsor a child through compassion in Ethiopia his name is Mesfin!

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  4. That is WONDERFUL! God is so good! Since we have had our referral one month exactly on March 8th, I need to enter (I'm with you on your personal favorite :)). Will totally be following your blog!

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  5. I will pray and I am excited for you!! We go on the SIM website about once a month and get all hmmmm, what if??? And when I see someone going I am so excited and also long to go too!! Somehow, God will do something with us in Africa, just gotta figure out what and when...I am thrilled for you all--and CONGRATS on baby #3!!! And we love Compassion, btw-we sponsor 4 kiddos and one is in Ethiopia and they drove him 8 hours one way just to meet us when we were there getting Zoe! Amazing organization-AMAZING.

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  6. Awesome stuff! Praying for you guys and congrats on numero tres!

    (I saw that you had become a fan of "Raising 3 Babies in the 3rd world" and I thought, Deedee always finds the coolest people in bloggy land...and guess who the cool people were!?)

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  7. So, I reread the post about the giveaway a little more, and that Spanish shirt is pretty cool! I am a fan on FB and we sponser a sweetie in Guatemala, of course. :) I am adding your new blog to my email update list.

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  8. YAY!!! The blog looks GREAT!!! OK... I am now a follower and of course I'll add you to my blog roll (are you don't with the other one?). We support 2 children through Compassion... one in Uganda and the other in Indonesia. Love you girl...

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  9. congratulations! ANd we are so excited for your journey - can't wait to hear more! definitely following:)

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  10. Love the new blog. Congrats on the baby. Such a beautiful blessing. I am following this one now and I will change the link on my sidebar of my blog so that others can come check this out too.
    Blessings,
    Amy

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  11. We sponsor a little girl in Haiti. We call her T.W. We have sponsored her since my daughter was two and she couldn't pronounce her name, so we started calling her T.W. during prayers. Compassion has contacted us three times saying that they are searching for her, but have not located her. They have hope that she is still alive, but just relocated due to the conditions. We are still praying for her and would ask that you say a little prayer for her too.
    Blessings,
    Amy

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  12. super awesome!!! i've become a new follower and i have also blogged about your blog and your giveaway! i cannot wait to follow you guys in your journey!

    http://aheritagefromthelord.blogspot.com

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  13. Hey gal...so excited to see how God uses you!! We are connected with Ab's parents church in Addis...maybe I can introduce you to them in email..they are doing alot of outreach there to their fellow Ethiopians! and I'm following you and hope I win a shirt :) I'm partial to the amharic one too!

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  14. Congratulations on Baby #3! I am very proud of you and what you are doing is going to be amazing. I will keep you in our prayers and I can't wait to follow your blog!

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  15. Congratuations can't wait to follow your journey..oh and it would be cool to win a t-shirt

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  16. Congratulations! I'm following.

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  17. I became a follower...but only for this giveaway. I am so excited to follow your journey...what an amazing time it will be, I'm sure.

    I will also link to you on Facebook...email me and I'll friend you on FB.

    I don't sponsor a child through Compassion, but I do sponsor a 5yo dear boy through Holt...who lost both his parents...he's just a sweetheart.

    Love the t-shirts, by the way.

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  18. YEA! Congratulations on expecting a new litle one! And I'm so excited for you guys as you begin this journey towards Ethiopia. I can't wait to hear more about it.

    I just started a new blog a few days ago as well about our plans--but I haven't really "gone public" with it yet--still working on it. But I think you can see it if you click on my link.

    Oh, and we have sponsored a girl in India named Revathi for 10 years now--she's about to graduate from high school.

    When are you guys going to SIMCO? You aren't there now, are you? We're hoping to go in July.

    Hope you're feeling well, DeeDee. And we will be praying for you all.

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  19. Oh my goodness! I saw the title of the new blog and thought, okay, they must be having #3 but what is this part about the 3rd world? So exciting. Congratulations on these big happenings. I look forward to following along on your exciting journey(s)!

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  20. What wonderful news and cool blog! I look forward to following you all!

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  21. I am following! Got your blog from facebook from another friend and I will share as well!

    We are bringing our 3 from Ethiopia home soon!

    Blessings!

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  22. AMAZING!!!! I think you are Crazy- FOR GOD of course!!! That is AWESOME!!!!!!!
    We sponsor a child from Bangladesh. This is wonderful news & I can't wait to see all that our God is going to do through you!!!!!!

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  23. SO EXCITED for your new journey as missionaries!!! So excited also to read about your 3rd baby on the way!!! I have added your new blog to my blogroll, and will be following your story! Praise God for your hearts- hoping we can serve God in Ethiopia some day, too!

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  24. yayyyyyyyyyyyy, SO YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!! Ok, did i miss that annoucement, or is this it!! LOL..so happy for you guys, yayyyyy....I'll be following along, super happy for you all, kj

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  25. Hi, Im new to the list serve, #20 for sibs, it looks like youre pretty much a pro at te adoption and blog thing. Your blog looks great! I added it to my follow list and am excited to watch your journey. If I dont win the give away, I wanna know how to buy a shirt, I lOVE all of them!

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  26. Hi, I'm a follower, I blogged about you, linked to FB, and we've been sponsoring a little girl in Tanzania for several years. Our goal is to sponsor a child a child for each child in our home. So we're two short now, but will catch up as soon as our adoption is done. :)

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  27. I am beyond excited for your little one on your way and your calling to Ethiopia. I often pray if this is something my family should do and I am stoked to follow your journey as you emark on this. Way too cool.
    Blessings and prayers are with you,
    Carrie
    www.hiswillandgrace.blogspot.com

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  28. Sorry if this is twice...i am having problems with the computer
    Very very excited for you all. Congrats and blessings on the little one on the way and I cannot wait to follow your journey. I often pray if this is something God wants my family to do and I love that you know you are to do this!
    Blessings and prayers,
    Carrie
    www.hiswillandgrace.blogspot.com

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  29. Oh and I did become a follower too. Hopefully once I get home I can post something on facebook for you too; can't do that at work.
    Carrie

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  30. Hey there, congratulations! So exciting for you! We are an Ethiopian adoptive family too and we dream of returning to live in Ethiopia as well. I just wanted to give you a heads up that the use of the term "3rd world" as it is not well received in the "developing" or "majority world" as they prefer to say. Since you're going to be missionaries there, I thought you might consider their perspective before your blog gets even more readers and it's more difficult to change. Here's a brief summary on why it's an outdated and somewhat patronizing term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

    Best of luck as you prepare for your exciting move!!

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  31. Congratulations - I love to see how God is working in other families - and to have similar paths is very fun. My husband and I have been married almost 6 years - have 2 bio boys, and soon should be on the waitlist for siblings from Ethiopia. We checked out two different ministries in Spain (working with N Africans) and Uganda a couple of years ago and at this point, God is asking us to stay put in the US.

    My husband just got back from a trip to Ethiopia last night at 1100pm. He was there with a pilot program with Compassion Int'l. We sponsor 5 children with them. 2 of which are from Ethiopia - and both he got to meet while there this past week!

    If you're interested you can check out our website which will be updated soon about his trip and the new C2C program with Compassion and of course, we keep everyone updated on our adoptions there as well. Nice to meet you - and looking forward to 'hearing' more from you.

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  32. Hey friend! I love your blog - you guys did a great job with it. Well, I became a follower and posted your blog on FB! I can't wait to see how God works through you guys in Ethiopia! I LOVE the title of your blog, too!

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  33. Wow! this is such exciting news! People (our children) always think they're 'insulting' us when they call us crazy - we just go along with it with a great big smile on our faces and a great big OH YEAH!... so excited for you! This is big and we'll be following along it's a dream of ours to serve in this way too, you can be our mentor!

    I'll post on FB and our Compassion Child is Victor Antonio from Peru! He was our first experience at helping the poor from a distance.... but definitely not our last!
    God's many blessings on your journey!
    Love,
    Maria

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  34. Congratulations all around Paul & DeeDee! What an exciting adventure this next phase of life will be for the both of you! Blessings to you and your family!

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  35. Hi...I'm in MOPS with you. Congrats on your new baby! I didn't know you guys were preparing to go to Ethiopia..wow!
    Anyway, we sponsor a girl in India through Compassion.
    maggiecarson @ hotmail.com

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  36. Hey guys,
    Congrats! This sounds awesome and we're excited to follow along! We'll give a shout out on facebook too....prayer warriors are a must!

    Looking forward to updates!

    Chris, Jana, and Family
    p.s. Tesfanesh (Juniper) is doing great!!!

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  37. Amazing news! Can't wait to follow along!

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  38. Congratulations on both of the big changes going on in your life! I'm so excited to see how it all unfolds!
    I understand feeling crazy...I've been feeling that way a lot myself lately.

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  39. YAY!!! Congrats!! What an amazing family you guys are!
    I'm following you guys on Facebook! Can't wait to see the developments. :-)

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  40. I love these shirts- I'll need the first one in a size M or S (If I win : ) )... We sponsor a little Guatemalan girl through COMPASSION. Our church makes several trips a year to the village she lives in so I have got to meet her and see first hand what an amazing org. COMPASSION is. I got goose bumps when I heard you all are on coarse to go to ET!!! I am so excited to follow all that is going on in your family over the next year, I am definitely in to be a follower of this blog! Blessings, Leah

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  41. Love your new blog, love these t-shirts, love that you guys are crazy and congrats on the baby!!!

    I'm following!

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  42. we also sponser a little boy in Tanzania and a teenage South America...

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  43. wow-- this is so neat! I love that you are going to ET full time! We can't wait to make our 1st trip! :) oh... I'm following! :)

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  44. So I'm behind the times and just spent the past who knows how long catching up on your life. I'm so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I know how hard that is. My heart breaks for you. Many prayers for you and your little family as you embark on this new adventure.

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