Show Hope. Nashville, Tennessee

Over the past few months, Ryan and I have been following an organization called Show Hope, that has recently opened an orphanage in China. The orphanage is called Maria's Big House of Hope which is named after the Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter. Their cause is very close to Ryan's and my heart. The girl in the picture is one of the residents of Maria's Big House of Hope (MBHOH).

Maria's Big House of Hope from Show Hope on Vimeo.

In November, Ryan and I are going to Nashville, TN to Steven Curtis Chapman's home church for Orphan Sunday and we are going to visit Show Hope's office while we are there. Ryan and I have thought and prayed about building our family through adoption. We feel we have been called to adopt. The girl in the picture of the last post, we have expressed interest in adopting her, but we do not think she is well enough to be considered for adoption. To read more about her, go to http://blog.showhope.org/?p=424 If we cannot adopt now, we will someday soon. Here is another post from the show hope blog, The joy of laughter was a sweet gift to the Upton’s as they traveled to China to meet their daughter, Haddie. Her contagious giggle erupted even at the first tickles from Bob and Collette. While still in Guangzhou, they shot this video to share a portrait of hope with their children Noah and Hannah who were waiting in the United States. At home now, Haddie loves to sleep in the arms of her mom and dad and is bonding with her forever family! Thanks to all the sponsors and supporters who helped give this precious child such amazing joy.

Haddie from Show Hope on Vimeo.

Thank you to everyone who have been praying for us. In the recent months, people are being more positive about Vertical and we made it through the first month without my paycheck, and school hasn't been as bad but I have a tough week coming up with two papers due soon and then I have finals for this quarter. Please keep praying for our schedules, they are still crazy, and please pray for our church. Thank you for taking time to read this, and maybe to watch a few videos. To find out more about Show Hope, go to www.showhope.org . God bless.

September...

I finally found some time to update my blog. I hope everyone hasn't given up on me. School has been very very harsh and I pretty much have no life, but writing papers. I believe it will get better though, I think September is going to be my busiest month. I love that the weather, it is getting cooler, Fall is my favorite season. I am trying to make sure I enjoy it more this year. Lately, I have been missing things about Arkansas, not the humidity of course, but camping trips with my family, fish frys, my cousins(all of them, not just Arkansasans) and just familiar faces and places. This is probably one of the hardest months I will go through, please pray for me as I go through this season of my life. Ryan also needs prayer, because he is just as busy as I am, he works 60 to 80 hours a week. Life is pretty crazy around our house. I tried to find a picture that I could put on here, but we haven't really taken any lately, so I will leave you with a picture of a little girl that has captured our hearts. I will tell everyone more about what she is all about in another post and why Ryan and I will be going to Nashville,TN in November. Please leave a comment or email me!

Couple of Good Days and A Couple of Rough Days

I want to say thank you again to everyone who said they would pray for me! The last few days have been pretty rough, but there have been a few things that have been really good. John and Courtney Mills have come back to Colorado and he has also found of job! They are definitely a blessing to everyone here in Colorado. Also, the church just bought a new, big trailer to haul everything. Our attendance Sunday was also great and many others that were gone for the summer came back.

This was great to see everyone back, but these last few days have been rough on me. I have just been thinking about how busy I am going to be this year and it gets to me. I'm trying not to worry about money at all, actually I would say it would be #4 on my worry list. #1 would have to be my position at the church. I need prayer that I stay positive about myself and my volunteers, and that people will volunteer. My biggest enemy right now is negativity and others having nothing nice to say. I don't think they realize that everytime something is said about Vertical it is negative, but it is all that has been happening. With this being said, pray that I handle the negativity better or more positive things will be said. God is working in me, in what He would want me to do. Pray that He gives me the direction that I need, so that it is revealed to me what I should do.

This year has practically flown by and I wasn't ready for it. Christmas is less than 5 months away. Hopefully, May 1st(Graduation Day) will come soon. Also, if anyone would like to come visit Ryan and I that would be great. I would love to see some family and friends. More to come this week!

God bless!

Church, School, and Block Parties

Thank you to everyone that responded, it definitely was a blessing to hear from you! This last week, I have been getting ready for school to start back, I also start my internship for a company called Fostering Hope. This company supports and educates foster care parents, with the help of churches around Colorado Springs. My schedule is going to be rather crazy. I will go to class on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, and on Tuesday and Thursday and Friday I will have internship. Not only will I have homework, term papers, and projects due, I also have many things to do for the children's ministry at Fusion church called Vertical. So if you could pray that I would not go crazy in the next month or really that I can use my time well, so I am not as stressed that would be great!

At church, we are praying that God would help us reach more people. We have set a goal of 80 to accept the love of Jesus Christ by next year. We want to see God change this community with his love. To meet the people of our community, we have had 5 block parties in many different areas of Fountain Valley. Boy, was it crazy! It was great to meet our neighbors, many of them are wives of deployed soldiers. These women are very brave, I do not know how well I could take Ryan being gone for a year. It is a critical time for our church, please pray that our church will grow and that I will receive new volunteers for Vertical. I really, really need more volunteers.

Also, since I am going to be going to school full time and heading up the children's ministry, Ryan and I with God's help, have decided that it would be best for my sanity and our marriage that I stop working for the university. Please pray that I put all my trust in God and that he will comfort me when things seem like they may fall apart.

This is just some of what I am thinking, dealing, and praying about right now, so more to come in the next week. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Love to you all or y'all. ha ha

God Bless,

Whitney

Hello, Family and Friends!

Over the past week, many things have changed and I would like a way to connect with people who will help me through the next year. Also, during a coaching session last week we were challenged to find a prayer force, people who would pray for me. I thought since most of the people I know and love, have the Internet then, why not start a blog. This way everyone can know exactly what I need prayer for and what is going on in my life and what is going on with Fusion Church. I think I am going to be surprised, in what could happen. So if you have received a link to my blog, please send it to anyone that could pray for me and anyone who may enjoy getting to know me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

You can let me know that you are praying for me by commenting on this post and future posts.

God bless.