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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sweet Livy's 4th Birthday- A little late posting it!

She wanted brats and celery for her birthday dinner. 
Wow she is all done! 
Loves to play with her little dress up princess dolls all day
Loves to sing and dance
Loves to eat celery all day long(we easily go through 6 bunches a week for  her)
Loves to not eat dinner.  Just because she doesn't like it.  She will wait to eat until breakfast the next day.
Loves to pester Jeremiah(her little brother)
Loves snuggling and loving on all of her brothers
Loves to hear her daddy come home(especially if she is falling asleep and she hears the garage door open)
Loves to take walks and hikes and catch frogs
Loves wearing anything...seriously anything
Olivia just loves everybody.  Always giving hugs to everybody.    She is a classy tomboy and full of love to share.
We love you!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Crazy Love

Crazy for Kids
Ok, fellow readers this post might not make much sense for you but it's all about a family over at www. aplacecalledsimplicity.com and they are so fun and loving.  Readers were invited to participate in "Crazy love".  I urge you to go and check it our on their blog.  It is so awesome. Just see what the Lord can do for you and put on your hearts.  We were asked  from Linny, the writer of "Simplicity" to  explain out needs, link it to her blog, and then challenging people to prayerfully consider giving to those in need. So what are my needs and what would I write about to share with others? Here you go:
My husband Dave and I live with our 4 awesome kids (3 boys/1 girl all under 6) in the small town of Kiel, Wisconsin, We moved here in 2005 when my husband took the job as Chief of Police in town. Moving here had its own challenges for us but we've found more and more along the away. Being avid Jesus lovers for a long time now and we have battled some serious issues along the way but God has always pulled us through and we are faithful. We have our likes and dislikes about the area but we feel called to be here. God has a plan of us and we anxiously await more signs from him. We tried several different churches in the area but returned to one of the first we had looked and felt called back to the Kiel Alliance Church right in our downtown. It's a church that is growing in leaps and bounds and has lots of potential. Dave and I both volunteer in several capacities at church and we recently led and hosted a bible study on service which we both enjoyed. We tithe as much as possible, not always 10% every week but we give something every week and try to make up by giving more when we miss a week. Adoption has been something I have dreamed of since childhood and David knew it was something we'd probably do when we married. We have 4 beautiful kids already but we both knew we had room in our hearts for more so we decided to adopt a child from Ethiopia. When we were considering adoption, we heard over and over from other families about how Satan attacked them throughout the process. When we made our choice to adopt, from Day 1 we were attacked. We've been under constant attack since. Some of those have been extremely brutal and hard to withstand but we have endured. Dave has been hit the hardest but he manages it by praying and stands tall. He says that he knows God's shield will protect us. Every day our shield is full of arrows, but every night we stand up, wipe them off, and by morning, God has a new shield waiting there for us. Our needs deal directly with our adoption. The costs are high and we are managing but we are devoted to the cause. We've put our house up for sale and plan to use the money from the sale for our adoption.  Our adoption story is one of faith—a mission defined by our desire to participate with God in restoring what’s broken in this world—we thought you might like to contribute to this journey God has brought us on. . We need your prayers. We need you to pray for our finances and for support of this adoption. We're in need of both right now...www.campfunk.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Renald

A clear example of what love and attention can do for a child. Just look at this beautiful child...with the cutest darn face. God is good.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Pray

Please continue to Pray: We had our first house showing yesterday (monday) and our realtor told us that the prospective buyers liked our house and are coming back for a 2nd visit on Friday. PLEASE PRAY FOR US. There are a few homes currently for sale in our city that would work for us so this would truly be a miracle if we sold our home and moved right into another one with money available for the adoption. We're trying not to get excited as we know this can all change in a blink, but WE BELIEVE God will reward our faithfulness and the power of praying is overwhelming so those of you that are doing it, please keep praying!

 

Christian Alliance for Orphans

Coming to an area near us.  Come and see how the Lord can put your thoughts into action.
The Christian Alliance for Orphans (Alliance) works to ignite and equip individuals and churches for effective, Christ-honoring service to orphans.
Mission Statement of the Christian Alliance for Orphans
: Motivate and unify the body of Christ to live out God's mandate to care for the orphan with the vision to have every orphan experience God's unfailing love and know Jesus as Savior.
Click on the link for more information on the summit! Feature speakers include Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. http://www.christian-alliance-for-orphans.org/summit

Friday, March 19, 2010

Praying and Fasting going on over at the Funks

Our house is up for sale. The sign went up on Tuesday and we are so excited for what God has in store for our family.  We decided to fast and pray to help with the selling process. We've fasted since Sunday afternoon skipping breakfast and lunch, eating only small portions for dinner. We get hungry, but our prayers seem to help ease the hunger pains and we've made it 6 days so far. We are on a serious mission here. We know it will take just the right family to buy our house but we are confident it will sell.  The house is a lot of what WE wanted not what God had in his plan for us. We also finished our Homestudy yesterday. It went great but of course Satan attacked us too. Right before Dave was supposed to get off work early for the appointment he had to deal with a bad situation at work and had to stay late. The homestudy appointment went well. Our homestudy rep is a wonderful lady and we have finished the next part of this journey.  Finishing up more paperwork for both the agency and our Dossier. We're cruising right along. Slow and steady but still moving! God is good...God is great.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mud and Water

Mud and Water...The love of a child


I had a date with my 5 year old son Jonah the other day and it just happened to be raining and pretty dreary outside.  His choice was to go the park (right down the rode from us) and then go and have lunch somewhere.  We forgot the umbrella but we played happily in the mud and water with our boots on.  We were looking for frogs along the river bank and poking sticks in the ice along the water's edge, digging up the slush and muck and whipping it across the river.  What a simple joy to see how far you could throw a stick full of mud and how much you could get on the stick swishing it into the ground.  He was amazed  there was water on the top and ice still down below. 
After an hour of this my hands were freezing and we went to St. Vincent DePaul's to peek around for some much needed boots for him.  I cannot seem to get the smell of yucky wetness out of his old boots.  I have tried scrubbing them with all sorts of stuff and a boot dryer of a friends and nothing works.  You can smell him walking down the hall.  No luck on finding any boots so we went to lunch and had a burger and just hung out chatting like 2 old friends. Jonah is just a funny guy.  There was an elderly lady sitting by herself with a little bonnett on her head and Jonah just couldn't get his mind off of her.  He was very curious about why she was so alone eating lunch.  So when the music was playing in the restaurant he decided to get up and dance a little bit for her in between each bite.  She seemed to think he was oh so cute and he was having a blast. Even though it was cold and dreary outside  we had a wonderful morning together.  It's fun to find the joy in such small things. 

Sunday, March 14, 2010

We are diving in....you heard right.
Putting the house up for sale to help us with this adoption..


Enough goofing around. You're going to notice a little change in how I blog movng forward. A bit more "in your face" and "tell it like it is". A dear sweet friend of mine shared some insight with me and I realized I was doing a bit more whining and saying "poor me" about our problems which is OK and I need to get those problems off my chest, but sometimes it went on too long and came out wrong. We'll that's gonna end right now. No more crying about money, we need it but who doesn't right? We're going to get serious now to bring this child home. Dave and I have kicked around the idea of selling our house for some time. We built it out of a true "want" and although it is big and beautiful home, we don't need it we just want it. If we sell it for the price we need, we could use the money to fund our adoption and downsize to a smaller and more practical home for our family in the future. So today we're meeting with a realtor to formally put it up for sale. We're going to fast and pray to God that we sell our home for the price we need (not want!) and that we sell it fast. Please pray with us for the same.  
We are putting it all into God's hands!

Walking on Water

Water.....
The other day when I was walking I came over the bridge by the Sheboygan River near our house. The water captured my attention.  With the recent warm weather we've had, the river is right in between the melting stages of being free water and still frozen.  You could feel the crispness of the flowing water and yet there was still some ice underneath.  I stopped walking and thought about running across.  The water looked like I could just step on a chunk of ice really fast and keep going like a frog on a lillypad and I would definently make it to the other side. But what if I fell?  Someone would see me I am sure. I hope!  Maybe, just maybe because it looks really fun I will go for it. What a thrill it would be to try.  What a sight that would of been to see our Lord and Saviour do that but without the fear and hestiation I had.  
 (Jonah in California 2008)

Friday, March 12, 2010

                                           
                                            Pure Joy!!






Homestudy Part 1 Completed
We had our first homestudy visit and it went great.  What a sweet lady.  The kids had fun showing her the house and running around like the crazy wonderful children they are.  We have also been working on our Dossier paperwork and getting that done.  Minor setbacks but no big deal.  We also had our passports done for all 4 of us.  Thank you (you know who you are) for your kind and generous donation it covered all the costs for everything related to our passports. 
On another note we decided to wait on fixing Dave's teeth.  we just can't do it right now with the adoption and no insurance.  He is fine with that.  The one he's missing on the side adds a little character I told him. (Looks like a pirate!) 
I have sent out the t-shirts for those of you who have ordered from the Feb. order.  The next order will close March 24th.  Please email me if you are interested in the youth style for an adult shirt.  No problem. Thank you all for your Funky Bun orders as well.  Keep them coming!!! I have been busy pricing all of our rummage stuff and we have changed the date to May 13, 14, 15 with the city wide rummage that is on those same dates here in Kiel.  We also will be having a brat sale and selling off a collector's series autographed Green Bay Packer football. Please let me know if you have things to donate for our sale.  The bigger items too. We can't thank you enough for the prayers and donations.  Please pray for the finances to come in and for peace in our home as the stress is pretty heavy on us right now. We're in need of an additional $8500.  You are an awesome God! Spread the word!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

We have been faithfully cranking away at all the paperwork in the wee hours of the morning at the Funk household.  It seems like we get more done between 2 and 3 in the morning than at night.  We seem to fall asleep when we put the kids to bed.  We are about half way done with the dossier and are getting very excited. 
I want to thank everyone for the donations, t-shirt orders and for the funky Bun orders as well.  We cannot thank you enough.  It is such a good feeling to me to see people giving and wanting to be part of this childs journey home.  My ultimate goal would be to bring orphan awareness to the forefront over here in the WI area.  People don't know much about it or care about it, which just breaks my heart.  Living selflessly in our lives, to help a child have unconditional love and a forever home is what I want to be a part of.  What a great gift from God to be able to do this. 
On another note Dave broke 2 teeth.  One while eating dinner and a 2nd an hour later!? How does that happen? The city doesn't provide dental so we're now faced with some serious dental bills too. Satan just seems to be after my husband lately.  He's been under attack one after another since we started this journey. Sometimes I start to think about fear and doubt in my life.  
 Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”He said, “Come ahead.”

Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” -Matthew 14:28-30
Do I really believe all the time that he can save me? I start out strong and faithful but then start to sink sometimes. 
He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, why did you doubt?” -Matthew 14:31

Jesus never doubts me either. Every time I fail, He picks me up without hesitation. He draws me closer to him and wraps His arms around me.  I don't doubt him I doubt me. I don’t have to “walk on this water” alone. In fact, He is longing to walk through this with me.  We serve an awesome GOD!  Thank you to all.


T-shirts will be done by March 10th and will ship ASAP  

We are still in need of $8500 to pay for the first part of the agency program fee and our Home Study. Think of it as 85 $100 bills.   We are still believing in full faith that God is providing (as He has been). We have no doubt.  Join us as we pray for and work for and think for and wait for the remaining. It can be done... Just wait. Please spread the word of our blogsite to your family, friends and facebook friends.  What a way to help a child in this world.  Thanks so much!!!













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