ONE WEEK!

A week from today is Christmas Eve!

Can you believe it?!  I kind of think Christmas should be two months long; it always seems to FLY by!  Things are SO fun right now with everything going on, it’s such an incredibly joyous time of year – it makes my heart sing.  And as if it couldn’t get any better, someone SO special in my life who means the WORLD to me got ENGAGED over the weekend…

MY SISTER!

(photo taken over the summer)

I am SO excited for her and J – God brought them together and I have been so incredibly blessed to watch their relationship blossom into what it is today - BEAUTIFUL! We love you and are SO excited for you guys!  Can’t wait for all of the fun planning, celebrations and shindigs over the next few months!!  Oh, and um, her ring is GORGEOUS!!  AMAZING job, J!

I’m so ready for this weekend to begin!  Tomorrow Honey-hubby and I are finishing up ALL of our Christmas shopping and then after we are celebrating by heading to a new, very much talked about, casino for dinner and entertainment with some friends, FUN!  Saturday I get to FINALLY see my sister from Houston and her precious kiddos who are getting into town, but our reunion will be put on hold for a li’l bit because Saturday night we have TWO Christmas parties to attend, Sunday night we have my hubby’s company/holiday shindig, and then don’t even get me started on Christmas week! Christmas with Hubby’s family one night (since this year we’ll be with mine for Christmas Eve & Day – we rotate each year), engagement party one night, NYC one night, AND, of course, celebrating the birth of our Savior!  LOVE. IT.  I’ll jump on and do a quick post next week with Christmas decorations and all of the fun things we’ve been cooking in the kitchen.  But, before I go, I want to share something with you that has HIT my heart SO HARD.  Have you heard of the 30 Day Journey blog by the Hollis family?  If not, check it out here.  I found out about it through the Wheeler’s blog, another AMAZING family.

This is a post taken from the Hollis’ 30 Day blog on Wednesday, November 25th.  The $ is STILL pouring in.  This seriously brings SO MUCH joy to my heart.  By the way, Lydia is ELEVEN years old.  This section below is taken from a post written by Lydia’s mother:

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Most of you know by now, our family decided three years ago to forgo giving presents to one another during the holidays. Instead, we reach out and raise money for orphan ministries.

We just finished going through the book, "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan with our kids and decided this year, we wanted to be CRAZY for Jesus! He is so crazy about us, we wanted to share His love with everyone throughout the year, but especially during November and December.

Lydia took "CRAZY" to a whole new level, however, when she approached me (while her dad was on a mission trip in Africa) and asked if she raised $20,000.00 before Thanksgiving, could we adopt a little orphan girl, Darya, who has Down Syndrome in Eastern Europe. (A friend of ours adopted a little boy from the same orphanage and reported that Darya gets no attention at all....no one speaks to her or holds her.)

THAT WAS 8 DAYS AGO! Being a sensible 41 year old, I told Lydia she would never be able to raise $20,000.00 in 8 days.....she is only eleven. She didn't hear me. Instead, she asked again, "But if I do raise the money, will you adopt her?" I responded yes, if she raised that much money in 8 days, we would know God is in it and would travel to adopt Darya!

Tonight, I would like to report that Miss Lydia has raised $26,550.00 and the donations are still coming in. It just so happens, we have good friends who have been planning to adopt a little one with Down Syndrome through Reece's Rainbow, but lack of funds has delayed them. Not anymore, everything above $20,000.00 goes to them.
So, friends, you have been a part of a double Thanksgiving Miracle. Not only will Darya have a home ....but through your gifts, another little angel will be given hope for a family tomorrow too! God is so great, isn't He?

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say REJOICE!" Phil. 4:4

Does that not give you chills?!  God is GOOD.

Happy Thursday, loves!

Blessings/XOXO