Wonderful Works

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“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.  I know that full well.” 

-Psalm 139:13-14

I repeated these words over and over in my heart and in my head as I was going through testing and procedures to figure out what was “wrong” with me...what was keeping me from getting pregnant.  There were (are) moments when I would despise my body because it couldn’t do the thing that women are supposed to do.  What was wrong with my body?  Over and over the Lord would reassure me, “Kat, I created your inmost being; I knit you together in your mother’s womb.  You ARE fearfully and wonderfully made; My works are wonderful!” 

Last weekend Isaiah and I were at a craft fair called the Giving Market at Apex Baptist Church.  As we approached one of the booths, there they were...those words, printed beautifully and matted.  Isaiah and I saw it at the same time, looked at one another and nodded, one of us said, “For the baby’s room.”  We both teared up.  Isaiah knew this verse had been so significant to me, and we also knew that it would be amazing truth for our child.  The vendor, a precious woman around my age, saw us getting emotional and Isaiah actually had to walk away for a moment to gather himself.  I looked at her tearfully and said, “We’d like to get this for our baby’s room.”  Her gaze held question, so I said, “We are adopting, and this verse is very significant to us.”  At this point Isaiah came back and we chatted a little more with the woman.  As she got our print ready, she handed it to us and said, “I want to give this to you.”  As the words came out of her mouth, she began to cry...and not just a little bit, she actually started sobbing.  Of course we began to lose it too.  We waited a little bit thinking she may share more with us, but she was too emotional to speak.  Even though there were no words, we felt her grieving with us.  Her tears said, “I see the pain you’ve endured.  I see the longing of your hearts.”  Her generosity to give us the print reminded us of God’s goodness and faithfulness.  We walked away teary-eyed, but once again reminded that God’s hand is in this adoption.  He may be knitting our child together as I write this blog, and like Mary, I am pondering all these things in my heart and full of gratitude that God leads us tenderly.  His works are wonderful!

Our Adoption Profile

Our agency asks each adopting family to make an "Adoption Profile" (scrapbook) for the birthparents to see.  These books provide information for the birthparents about the adoptive parents; giving them a glimpse into the daily routines, families, friends, and activities.  Our agency only works with 20 adoptive couples at a time so when birthparents come in they are given these books to look through to help them choose a family for their child.  Since there are so many who have supported us on this journey who live far way we thought we would post our's here for everyone to see.  The resolution isn't great (and you probably won't be able to read our writing) but you at least have an idea of what we've been working on for about two months.

You can also download the video here to see it up close!

Pregnant with No Due Date

Praise God for His FAITHFUL provision!  We reached our financial goal!  Thank you to all of you who bought a t-shirt, came to our benefit, helped with garage sales, donated money, and supported us through prayer and friendship.  We are amazed that the part that seemed the most daunting...the finances...has actually been the least of our worries thus far.  We have seen the money not just trickle in, but flood in!  Continually we are filled with gratitude and reminded once again that God funds what He favors!!  Adoption is at the center of His heart! 

Any day now we should hear word from our social worker that we are on the waiting list.  Last night we finished and ordered our profile book which is a scrapbook that the birth-parents look through to help choose the adoptive parents.  Now we are finished with all paperwork, scrapbooks, interviews, fund-raising, etc, and we just wait, hope, and TRUST that God is bringing our child(ren) to us. 

If the birth mom wants to meet us, we will be able to walk along side her in her pregnancy.  But if she'd rather not meet us, we could literally find out the day of, or day before we go to get our baby.  In the meantime we will begin to prepare our hearts, prepare the room, and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!  In a way we are pregnant, but just don't know when we are expecting.  Since there are no physical signs, there is no acknowledgement of us being "pregnant", but our hearts are pregnant with anticipation to meet our precious child.  

Brushstrokes & Lyrics Recap

Brushstrokes & Lyrics Recap

If you were able to attend Brushstrokes and Lyrics you were part of an amazing evening in which Jesus was magnified, truth was revealed, and the heart of the Father was present.  Thank you to ALL those who played a part through attending, helping, and prayer.  You helped us raise over $6,000! WOW!  We have almost reached our goal of $24,000...another WOW!  It was less than a year ago that God made it clear He wanted us to adopt.  At that point we had $0 saved to pay for an adoption.  In less than 12 months we have seen over $20,000 come in through the generosity firstly of God (He owns the cattle on a thousand hills) and secondly through our friends and family.  Tonight was so much fun!  We couldn't believe how many people came through...we estimate there were around 200+.

If you weren't able to make it here's a snapshot of what went down:

-raffles from an ipod touch, jewelry, exercise classes, lawn       services, etc.

-silent auction (3 night, 4 day stay at a cabin in Beech Mountain)

-bake goods sale

-puzzle...donations to purchase a piece of the puzzle that helps place our baby in our family

-custom made t-shirts (there are more left so you can order online...see info below)

-food plate (hot dogs)

-local artwork

-homemade accessories

-Thirty-One items (25% of the proceeds goes towards our adoption). Click here for website.

-children's art lesson by Lara & Jill's Art.  For more info and summer camp info click here.

-live music

-adoption video (interviews with adopted children)

-around 200 people laughing, talking, eating, and hearing about our Adoption into God's family

A verse that has been highlighted for us in the last week is Matthew 6:33 that says, "But seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."  As we focus our attention on the great King things fall in place in their proper order.  The money that has come in throughout this year is a direct testimony of this.  We are so underserving and easily distracted but God in His great kindness has purposed in His will to provide for us not only monetarily, but through deep and intentional community.  We are so humbled! 

:t-Shirts:

You can now order your t-shirts for $25 (includes shipping) online.  Click here, designate your payment as Whelpley Adoption T-Shirt, fill out the required fields, and we will contact you for sizes and shipping address.  

so what does the shirt mean?

We have been getting this question a lot...which is what we were hoping for!  The numbers in each state identify how many orphans are available to be adopted (meaning parental rights have been signed over to the state).  Since we are adopting from North Carolina we have colored it in showing there will be one less child in our state through our adoption.  People are also asking, so how many are in North Carolina...another great question.  There over 2,700 children waiting for the call to be placed in a family.  Just in Wake County alone there are about 80.  We are praying and trusting the Lord that these shirts will help raise awareness of the plight of orphans whether domestically or internationally.  If you'd like more information on orphan care please go to our resource page.  It's limited info, but it will point in the right direction.

Minus One T-Shirts

Minus One shirts will go on sale at Brush Strokes & Lyrics.  Brush Strokes & Lyrics is an adoption benefit hosted by Freeway Church. They are $20 each ($5 extra if outside of NC for shipping).  If you're outside of NC and want to order a shirt email me at isaiah.whelpley@gmail.com.  We have adult men, adult women cuts, and kids sizes!  See invitation below for more information on this great family event!

Brush Strokes & Lyrics Adoption Benefit

Brush Strokes & Lyrics is an adoption benefit hosted by Freeway Church.  It is a family event focused on adoption through the arts.  Come and support a cause close to the Father's heart.