Celebrating TWO Nephews Today

Our family continues to grow on both sides of the family. Reid's sister, Margaret, and her husband, Andy, have everything finalized in Ethiopia for their son, Eyob. He is officially their son! Yippee! Margaret and Andy recently returned from their first trip over for court. They fell in love with Eyob immediately and said his personality will blend beautifully with their girls. Eyob, we can't wait to meet him! We are so excited!

We also celebrated our nephew, Christopher, last night as well. He will be coming from Ethiopia as well. My sister, Wendy, and her husband, Adam, are in the process of adopting him, but have not received a referral yet. They patiently wait.

Last night, some friends of Wendy and Adam's hosted an elegant fund-raising Valentine event. Silent auction items were up for bidding, and a money tree quickly filled with gifts to support them. Wendy and Adam plan to use the gifts to also help others adopting. (Yes, the cost is unbelievable.)

However, the highlight of the evening was hearing the testimony of two couples who had been led to adopt. The women shared the journey, but the two husbands shared about adoption as being God's heart. Everyone in the room was challenged to consider what role they could/should play to make a difference in the life of children. "Christ-followers are not facing an orphan crisis with over 145 million orphans world-wide. Christ-followers are facing an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus."

After watching a video about the children in Ethiopia, and hearing the stories of these two families, many eyes were wet around the room full of people. At the end, everyone circled around Wendy and Adam to pray. It was a beautiful picture of God's people coming together to celebrate what He is doing.

Below are a few more photos from the evening. Reid was out of town for work, and my Dad had a charity auction he was doing, so their handsome faces are conspicuously missing.

My sister, Kelly, and her husband, John. They are making plans for their first mission trip! They leave in March for Haiti. So exciting!

The Franklin women: My 93 year old Mamaw, Lorene. My mom, Janet. Me. And, my beautiful sister, Wendy! Our smiles come from Mom!

Sisters Three: Wendy, Robin, Kelly. The Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful family. I'm so thankful!

May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. Psalm 67:5