Life Unexpected

Just a reminder that our Adoption Fundraiser is taking place next Saturday, December 10th at 5pm. We don't want you to miss this! Click on the picture below for more details:)

Well, the second half of our Thanksgiving weekend included a trip to Hershey Park with Nate's family (the three nephews...ages 3, 6, 9, his sister and her husband, and his mom), part of my family (my sister, my two nieces...ages 6 months and 5 years old), and my "adopted sister," who lived with us for a couple of years growing up, and her two daughters (ages 6 and 10). Let me just say one thing. When it is 65 degrees on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, HERSHEY IS GOING TO BE CRAZY! We decided to do Hershey the cheap way, which was go into Chocolate World for FREE, go through the FREE tour (which is actually pretty fun), and get a FREE shoppers pass into the park which allowed for you to walk through Hershey for 1 hour without riding rides but being able to see the reindeer. Here is what I learned from that experience...Chocolate world + kids= a potential hazardous financial situation! My sister, Heather, who I think is one of the smartest people I know, decided to give...

This past Wednesday, Nate's family arrived all the way from Maine and Mass to come visit for Thanksgiving. This was only the second Thanksgiving we have ever hosted (the first was with two of our friends from Kansas City that I was in seminary with...ask me about that some time!), so I was a little anxious! We survived Wednesday night with a meal on the table ready to go. Nate and I woke up bright and early the next morning and for the day....I felt like we had our own family. Nate and I had been invited to go to a breakfast at a church that was being hosted by some students from our FCA we work with. We woke up at 6am and decided to venture out with two of our three nephews, Noah and Isaac. We arrived at the church (which had very few seats left), and found ourselves sitting in a row, Nate, Noah (age 9), Auntie Ang (that's me), and Isaac (age 3). The food began being passed and the lady next to me asked, "Does he like eggs (Isaac)?" "Uh...I have no idea wh...

The past week has been one of praying for discernment. We have had some adoption decisions to make (to be blogged about in the future), and it has been a time where I have found myself longing for quietness, in hopes that I will hear the voice of God. I was doing my devotions this week, and decided for some reason to read the book of Habbukuk (did I even spell that right???). Here is the verse that stuck out to me..."Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR." If I am going to be honest, I have no idea what God's plan is in our adoption process. The "waiting" in the adoption process is really hard, but the truth of the matter is, God is still walking with us, and even carrying us at times, and he will one day reveal this amazing plan he has ...

We are so excited to announce that our we selling t-shirts for our adoption, just in time to gift give this Christmas! Our amazing friend, Chris, designed them, so we want to say a big thanks to him. The shirts are white, Gildan brand, 50% cotton, 50% polyester, and come in sizes S-XL. The front says , "How do you reach 147 million orphans." The back says in small letters, " two at a time" with the logo "love knows no borders" around the continent of africa. We are asking for a donation of $20 per shirt, and $5 if you need it shipped. We are also selling Ethiopian bracelets as well. They are stretchy, one size fits most, with a butterfly charm (a symbol of hope). We are asking for a $5 donation for those. Pictures are listed below. All orders can be placed by email (asawtelle@hagerstownnaz.org), or through our facebook group (Life Unexpected...Nate and Andrea's Journey of Adoption).

First of all, I want to say thank you to all of those who sent texts, emails, and facebook messages to let us know you were praying for us today. That means the world to us. We did get a chance to talk to our social worker as well as the person who does all of the matching for referrals at the big agency office. She basically confirmed the facts that we had already heard. They are seeing very few referrals for sibling groups that include an infant, very few referrals for sibling groups under the age of four, and the wait proess is extra long for those (possibly 15 months for a sib group under 4, and we have been waiting for about 8 months). She told us there are about 7 other families asking for the very same thing we are, which may not seem like a lot, but is a lot due to the infrequency of seeing these referral. One of the things they suggested we pray on is opening up our preferences to say we are willing to take a sibling group or an infant referral, depending on what comes a...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to serve as a mentor and workshop leader for a retreat designed for students feeling a call to full time ministry. As much as I felt like it was privilege to be asked to participate, my heart was not there as we pulled out of the driveway Friday for the weekend. I felt like I was emotionally spent and honestly didn't have a whole lot to offer. It's now Monday afternoon, and I honestly could not be more thankful that I was there this weekend. Not only was it amazingly encouraging to listen to the stories of students feeling called, but God really spoke to me Saturday night. One of my friends and colleagues, Josh, was speaking on Spiritual Disciplines Saturday night, and then gave us about an hour to just be still and spend time praying in creative ways. I was struggling that night feeling as though God had forgotten about me. I don't know why, but I was drawn to the Isaiah 40 passage (I think someone had mentioned that passage i...

I am getting ready to leave in 30 minutes to go away for the weekend with a group of teenagers called to ministry, but felt like I needed to blog, because honestly, I need you to lift Nate and I up in prayer. This past week, Nate and I officially made the decision to open up our age range for what we are asking for in regards to our referral (the match of children). Up until this point, we have been very set in getting an infant. After our agency informed us that they were not seeing a lot of infant/toddler referrals, if any at all, we began to pray that God would open our hearts to what we should do. We decided several days later we were open to a sibling group that did not include an infant. That was a huge step for me, one who has struggled with infertility the past several years, one who has been looking forward to holding a baby, and one whose been imagining what it is like to have a little one in the home. But thank God, he brought me to a place where I could be open and rel...

Last week I was determined to think of something I am thankful for every day. Reality has sunk in this week. While I have tons of things I am thankful for, the chance of me blogging daily is slim to none, so here is my catch up list for the past few days... 1. Friday...I am thankful for Chocolate Crock Pot Lava Cake. Need I say more with that name? Nate came home the other day from work with this recipe a teacher had made. You basically dump a chocolate cake mix, a pudding mixx, and a bag of chocolate chips into a crock pot for 3 hours...amazingness! 2. Saturday...I am thankful for one of my greatest friends in the world, Jenny Shafer. Nate and I had the opportunity to go to lunch with Jenny and her husband Brian on Saturday, and we began talking about our adoption fundraiser dinner we are having. Jenny got so excited to support us, she already told us of 5 couples from her church coming, and offered to buy all of the garlic bread we need for it! It's amazing that God has...

Tonight we had a play-off game for volleyball that we won. It was great night watching our girls come together and shine. Before the game started, I had a chance to introduce myself to the two coaches as they walked into our gym. The head coach was a young girl in her late 30's and the assistant was an older gentleman. They had just had 4 girls on their team, who happened to be starters, decide at the last minute they were not going to attend the play-off game because they wanted to go to the school pep rally. I imagine as coaches that was extremely devastating the day of the first play-off game of post season. I asked them if they had been coaching long, and they said off and on and then they told me..."they were a father daughter duo!" I don't know why, but that about made my heart melt! How cool is it to coach with your Dad and have someone to lean on during times of disappointment and defeat. That's when I realized I do have that! So, tonight I am tha...

Today I am thankful when we catch glimpses of God's work in youth ministry. Tonight at youth group we kicked off a new small group ministry. I had worked really hard to get everything ready, recruited leaders, and contacted teens to be there. While the turnout wasn't as large as I had hoped, I still felt encouraged. I felt encouraged as I watched a brand new 20 something youth worker say, "I LOVE MY SMALL GROUP (believe me, that's a big deal when you are leading a junior high group!)" I watched as her co-leader, who just recently graduated from our youth ministry, nodded in agreement, and I secretly cheered "Yes," feeling like one of our teens made it! I listened as another leader shared how one teen in her group thanked God for the small size group, because it gave them a chance to reach out to more people. It's not all that often that you see tangible fruit in a youth ministry and it is far too easy to focus on what's didn't happen. ...

It's hard to believe that it is November already. When we started this whole adoption process, we thought for sure we would have brought home kids by now. We haven't even been matched yet, we are having to evaluate and make decisions about what ages we are open to, and frankly, it's discouraging some days! At the same time, we are learning to take one day at a time, we are taking advantage of the time we have together as a couple, and we are imagining on a daily basis what it will be like when we get that call and all the changes that are going to come. It's a season of unknowns, a season of frustration at times, a season where "waiting" has become second nature, and a season where it is much easier to focus on what's not happening rather than all the good things that are happening. So, in honor of Orphan Awareness Month (in case you didn't know, it's the month of November), and in the season of Thanksgiving, I want to try to blog as many days ...