Meet the Stevens Family

I love how God burdens our hearts with new things as He writes our stories and our seasons change. I have always admired families who adopt children.  And I've always thought women who choose life for their babies and make the ultimate sacrifice to give them up for adoption are the most courageous women on earth. But I've never been involved or would consider myself an advocate for the orphan or the families who have been called to adopt them.  

Until now.

In the last several years, the community of friends the Lord has surrounded me with is saturated with the call to adopt.  I went from only having a few friends in my life who had adopted or were adopted to having dozens and dozens.  And that is awesome. I began to support these friends as often as I could. I mean, it was the right thing to do. And I'm a nice person.

And then He crossed my path with Tyler and Erica and sweet Evie Joy and my life was forever changed.  I saw first hand the beauty of adoption.  The process of what all these families go through.  The sacrifices, the blessings, the scary stuff, the hard stuff and the WONDERFUL stuff.  Nick and I both know that the Lord has not called us to adopt a child ourselves but He HAS called us to advocate for the orphan and the families who are adopting them.

This is why I have an extensive t-shirt collection.  hashtag... adoption fundraiser favorite.  And this is ONE of the reasons I love hosting Noonday trunk shows.  Noonday Collection's very foundation is built on the love for adoption. You can read about the founder, Jessica and her family here.

But Noonday not only supports families who are adopting, they support families all around the world by creating jobs for artisans who make the jewelry itself.   It's such an incredible company with whom I am so proud to stand beside and lock arms with and give my support. You can a little taste of what they are about here.

So with all of that said.... I want to introduce you to The Stevens...Casey and Chesney. 

  Chesney is young enough to be my daughter.  In fact the reason I know Chesney is because she is friends with Lydia and Marcus (my daughter and son-in-law).  I was so tickled when I discovered they were adopting and knew I wanted to help them in any way I can.  (By the way, When you purchase anything through our Noonday Trunk show, 20% of all sales will go directly to their adoption fund.  It's such a blessing and easy way to support them.)

I asked her  to share a little bit of her heart as to how they knew the Lord had called them to adopt.  Here is what she shared.....  

The journey of adoption is exhausting, joyful, frustrating, uplifting, hard, and whatever other words you want to throw in there. It’s a lot like your story, I am sure. Different, yes of course, but in so many ways its the same. That is one of the most valuable things I’ve been learning in this - that me and you, we are a lot more connected than the world wants us to believe.

Yes, we may from the outside have completely different lives. You may be the mother of five children and I am struggling to have one, or you may be 18 and marriage/children are the furtherest thing from your mind, or well you may be well past the child bearing years & you are still searching for so many answers. But in each of these stories lies so much goodness. So much to learn for each of us. Because struggling and waiting, though they are hard, are two common threads that the Lord ties us together with.

But for now, though I long to know your story, honestly, here in these moments I am going to let you in on my journey and where we are in bringing home our child from Kyrgyzstan.

First off, let me tell you about how we began this adoption process & why Kyrgyzstan. (read more about it here)

I don’t remember this one moment in my life where I was drawn to adoption, rather it seems as if the desire to adopt has always been there, like a fundamental part of who I am. Of course, a desire like that can’t come from myself, but only from the Lord. I believe He has written adoption into the hearts of his children. Ephesians tells us, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons, through Jesus Christ..” As his children, I believe both Casey’s & my desire to adopt comes from being adopted into His family.

So, why Kyrgyzstan? (Go, look at a map, its over there squeezed under Kazakhstan & beside China).

Sometime around 3 years ago our church “adopted” a UUPG (unengaged, unreached people group) through the IMB. Our church chose a people group of Central Asia that has close ties with Kyrgyzstan. In these years of supporting this effort to engage & reach these people we have been drawn to them. Praying for these people to know Christ, learning about their culture, and sending members of our church to live among them.

When we began to research countries to adopt from and Kyrgyzstan came up, we quickly knew where the Lord would have us bring our child home from.

We are currently two months shy of a year of being fully immersed in adoption - paperwork, approvals, homestudy, fundraising, dossier, and more fingerprinting than any law abiding citizen should have.

May - December of this past year was a “hurry-up and wait” season of life for us. Then January came and a season of full on waiting came - and well, we are still sitting in that season. There is no more paperwork, there are no more approvals needed, we are waiting to be matched with a child! There isn’t much of a timeline of when we will be matched. Actually, there is no timeline at all. We simply wait, eagerly anticipating the day we receive an email with the picture of a face that will change our lives forever. Whether that is in six weeks or six months, is in the Lord’s plan.

When we first announced our adoption I talked a lot about adoption and its direct relation to the gospel. How nothing that I have ever done deserves the love and affection of God. Yet each and every day He shows me grace, He provides every need, & I remain adopted. How beautiful it is and will be when we have our child home, fully ours - no matter what he/she does, he will be our child. Just as I am Gods, he will be ours.

How my heart longs already that this child will know their Creator. My most fervent prayer for our child is that his/her heart is being drawn towards our Savior. That they will know even in all of the chaos of their present life, there is a God who loves and cares deeply about him/her. A God who will provide family, a mom & dad (us!), at just the right time.

I pray that for our child & I pray that for myself. That I will trust the sovereignty of my Savior to provide for us our child at just the right time. But until then, we hold fast to our own adoption through Jesus Christ as we seek to glorify the Father in our waiting.

“Rejoice in hope,  be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Thank you for letting me share a glimpse of our story. More than anything we need your prayers. We have been so very encouraged by the prayers & words of so many - thank God for the gift of His church!

Thank YOU Casey for giving us a glimpse of what the Lord is up to in your lives!  He's writing a beautiful story and it's a blessing watching it unfold. And thank you for allowing us an opportunity to have a small part of what God is doing.  

If you would like to support her adoption AND support families in other parts of the world through fair trade and incredible unique jewelry, then please use click HERE and go get ya some Noonday. 20% of all sales will go directly to their adoption fund. 

Also, we've created a FaceBook page where I am sharing daily pics and ideas of all the ways I wear and style my own collection of Noonday...(which has unashamedly grown to be a pretty extensive collection over the last few years.)  If you'd like an invite,  please friend me on Facebook (Stephanie Cooper Holden) and send me a DM letting me know you would like an invitation)

Thank YOU!! 

Stitch Fix 23, 24 and 25

Hey, hey, heyyy.
So, apparently some of y'all sweet people are still interested in what's showing up in my beautiful turquoise box each month.

I've gotten a little behind so for you inquiring minds who have asked....
I'm gonna show y'all the last three fixes in all their glory....

Fix #23

First up was this cute little navy and gray striped dress.  I loved it.  The fabric is super stretchy and comfortable and the little solid panels on the side is super slimming.  It was a keeper.

Next up was this this halter top.  I loved the colors and the print had a bandanna feel to it.
It was a keeper too.

The third piece in the fix were these jeans.  They were borderline for me. What won me over was their comfort. They have stretch to them and are super quality so I ended up keeping them.

The fourth piece was this maxi dress.  The fabric was SO soft. Super comfortable.  But the front of the dress flopped open.  I had it pinned for this picture but it still gaped open.

Soo it went back.  (the denim vest was from a fix last summer.)

The last thing were these earrings.  They are totally my style.  I seriously loved them.  But didn't feel they were worth the price.   So these went back too.

All in all it was a great fix and kept three out of five pieces. 

Fix #24

First up in this one was this little sleeveless top.  I loved the color. But all in all, it was just ho hum to me.  Nothing special.   So it went back.

Next was this cobalt blue tank.  It's my color according to  Nick  but again, this top was just too ordinary.  It went back too.

But even though the first two were sleepers, this next one made up for it!
I LOVED it.   Now this top has character and adore it.  It was definitely a keeper.

The fourth piece was this great dress.  The color was perfect and the neckline and waist with all the rousing is super flattering. It's super lightweight and great to throw in the suitcase for a little weekend trip. (like that's my life. lol)

The fifth piece in the fix was a pair of pants that were not flattering at all...like, I couldn't even take a picture to show you.  

SO I ended up keeping 2 pieces out of five.  Not bad.

Fix Number 25

Unfortunately, this one may have been my least favorite fix.  I didn't even take pictures of the things I didn't keep....which was almost everything.

But I did love this top.  It is a great length and I love the fabric.

It was a definite keeper.

They also sent a fabulous navy blue clutch that would have looked perfect with this outfit.  But I just don't use clutches enough to justify spending the money on them.

This is the perfect little top for date night.
And speaking of dates...here's mine.
He's been my dating me since 1986 and it just keeps getting better and better.

Well there you have it.
Now I'm off to bed.  I leave in the morning for a women's conference that I get the honor of speaking at in Keystone Heights, Florida this weekend.  We normally drive straight through in beast mode everywhere we go. But since I will be in China on our anniversary my sweet man is taking me a day early and we're gonna stop about halfway there for a quick afternoon at the beach!  Then we're gonna crash at cute lil hotel that we scoured the internets for and found a sweet deal on.

I would covet your prayers for this weekend.  May God would be glorified in all that is said and done. I can't wait to meet all the ladies He's gathering together to be encouraged and equipped.
What a blessing to used by Him!

Thanks for hanging out with me for a few minutes!

ps.  If you are interested in getting Stich Fix for yourself just click on the button on my sidebar.
If you have any questions just email at Honeyholden25@gmail.com
xxoo

Purchasing with Purpose x2

If you've been following me for some time, then you already know about my love and admiration for Noonday Collection.  The idea that I can purchase amazing jewelry that I absolutely adore, knowing that my purchase it is literally changing lives of families on the other side of the world is incredible.  If you don't know much about Noonday and how they came about, I encourage you to go check it out here.  You will be blessed.

(This pic was taken last weekend on my trip with my besties.  We love Noonday y'all. Wish all of this was mine. Or that they lived close enough we could raid each other's collection on a regular basis. )

But the best blessing is that they allow you to host a trunk show to help support the wonderful_scary_expensive_amazing_journey for families who are adopting. Which means instead of receiving hostesses rewards, they will give your credit, in cash, to an adoptive family!!  So awesome.  Well, when our schedules worked out and I finally had a chance to host one (my awesome ambassador Emily is driving FIVE HOURS to come make this happen!),  I knew exactly whose adoption I wanted to support.

Years ago (as in 18 years ago), when Nick and I first moved to Meridian because of the Navy, we didn't know the Lord in a personal relationship yet.  But He began to work in our hearts and we ended up at an incredible church called Northcrest. It was there that Jesus interrupted our lives and rocked our worlds in the best kind of way.  He saved us and called Nick into ministry and our lives have never been the same!

The people of Northcrest will always have a special place in our hearts because it was there that the Lord grew us so much as He was preparing us for ministry.  And there was this adorable teenager that had a smile as big as Texas.  Her name was Jamie and I loved her and her momma from the get go.  Well, she has grown up now. She and her husband serve wholeheartedly there at Northcrest and I've been so blessed keeping up with how the Lord is working in their lives.  They have recently answered the call of adoption for their family and I am beyond excited for what the Lord is doing in their lives!   This child the Lord has created just for them has no idea what kind of fierce love he or she is about to experience.  I can't wait to watch it all unfold.  I asked Jamie if she would share a little of their story with me so I could share it with y'all.

After you read it, if you would like to be a part of bringing their baby home, you can shop the Noonday trunk show I will be hosting for her.  I will have the link at the end of the post!

J.D. and Jamie’s Adoption Story!

This is the first time I’ve written our adoption story. I’ve journaled a little here and there in order to remember the basics, but to be honest, this is the first time I’ve had the guts to sit down and look at the story as a whole. Adoption can intimidating, scary, beautiful, heart-breaking, fulfilling, lonely and lovely all at the same time. I suppose there are a lot of things in life that are that way. Thank you for caring enough about our little story to read this. In that way, you’ve made this less lonely, and I really appreciate that. Here goes!


The day I turned thirty, I begged the Lord for some direction. I had married the most wonderful man several years prior. I had a great job. I belonged to a life-giving church. I had wonderful friends. But
I lacked direction. I always thought by the time I turned thirty I would have a couple of little Ainsworth babes and a clear cut direction from the Lord. But I was listless, and kind of wandering. J.D. and I have a fantastic marriage, but the topic of children was a hard one for us. We were wading through are-we-or-aren’t-we ready territory. 

I can distinctly remember praying whole-heartedly. ”Lord, I just want to be yours, all in. Please give me a direction. A call. I want to answer you, whatever you want for my life, I want to do it.” It was a really simple prayer, but it was true. I look back at it now and almost laugh because I had NO IDEA what God was about to do in my life, J.D.’s life, and our marriage.

Don’t pray prayers you don’t mean. God will rock your world!  While praying that prayer, I waited to see what God what do. The desire to be wherever the Lord wanted me was starting to grow more and more, but I knew He’d show me what He wanted of me when the time was right. Then my friend Kaitlyn mentioned to me that she would be leading a group of people from my church to work in an orphanage in the Philippines.

It was like I woke up from a dream. I knew this was it. Yes, the Philippines is half way around the world. Scary! I don’t even like airplanes! But who cares?! I wasn’t missing it after I had begged for it! Convincing J.D. was a little harder, but ultimately he drove our team to Atlanta and put us on an airplane and there we went. 

The orphans, the street children, the beautiful people. I can’t explain how my heart felt when I first laid eyes on little Mikey, who was kept in isolation due to sickness. Or watched my teammate, Micah, pour his clean water into the mouths of street children like they were little baby birds. Or when I was allowed the honor of praying over a newborn baby. The list goes on and on. And every day, J.D. and I Skyped and he saw my face and surroundings, he heard my heart in my voice. I told him about the babies and the people. Being half way around the world from the love of my life was so hard. But so necessary for what God was doing in us as a family. 

When it was time to say goodbye to the Philippines and our orphanage babes, I was crushed. Will they find families for them? What will happen to them? What happens when they age out? Will I ever see them a!gain? Truly, I felt like my heart was being torn.  We arrived home on a Friday night, and I believe it was Sunday when J.D. said to me, “How do we get one of these kids? This is what God wants for us.” At least I’m pretty sure that’s what he said because I was screaming and jumping up and down inside. While I was in the Philippines, God had been working on his heart about orphans as well, and after praying together, we both knew this was IT. This was the way the Lord wanted us to start our family. I want to take this moment to be clear about something. This is our first choice. It’s possible that we could have biological children, but we KNOW that adoption is the call on our family, and we want to obey. Once that was clear to us, I wanted to SING! I wanted to tell EVERYONE! Was this sort of like pregnancy? It was going to be a long one.

That was mid-January. It was May before we had the money to start. Adoption is expensive, y’all. But let me tell you. Our adoption as sons and daughters of God was expensive too, but did He shy away from paying the price? No way. We know that God will never call us to do something He won’t provide for, and so far every single time we have needed to make a payment, He has provided. We have seen miracles where the money for this adoption is concerned. He has used people and avenues that we will be in awe of forever....just another part of the intricate and beautiful story. 
So...we prayed and called many agencies and finally we chose Christian Adoption Services, located in North Carolina. Our social worker, Jenica, has been very kind and helpful. She has helped us complete our dossier and send it to the Philippines. We also had to have a contract home study done by Lifeline Children’s Services. Our social worker there is Mrs. Vicki, and she’s wonderful! We joke and say that she is family, because she literally knows more about us than our family. There are so very many things you have to do to adopt a child....and every bit is absolutely worth it. A few of those things are: many home visits, psychological evals, health evals, adoption classes with testing, books to read, many sets of fingerprints, every question you can think of about every part of your finances/marriage/childhood/family, background checks, and your middle school best friend’s name. (Just kidding about that last one, I think.) Currently, we have completed our dossier and it is in the Philippines. We have no idea how long it will be before we get a referral. It could be a long time. 

There have been moments on this journey that my heart has soared, and there have been moments that my heart has broken. J.D. has been a rock and I’ve been really thankful that God put me with him. I can’t say enough about his gentle spirit. All this waiting can be really hard on a future mama’s heart, and there have been times I’ve been pretty stressed out. Basically, adoption is a big ole unknown, like most things in life. But, I KNOW that the Lord has set us on this path. He has already answered my prayers. We LOVE Him. And we TRUST Him.

Oh my goodness!  Isn't it wonderful and inspiring to see people step out in faith and trust God?  I am so honored to have a small part in helping build their faith in how God is providing for their adoption every step of the way!  Even through something such as jewelry and fashion!  God is so creative!

If you are local to the Meridian area and would like to join me on Saturday, Oct 11th for the trunk show, please email me (honeyholden25@gmail.com) or send me and message on Facebook and I'll give you all of the details.  Jamie will be just getting home from her mission trip to the Philippines so I can only imagine how special this time will be!

If you aren't local but would like to purchase something to help support Jamie and J.D.'s adoption just click here and then choose HOLDEN for the trunk show and they will get the credit.  It is such a great way to get a little Christmas shopping done while you are purchasing with purpose times two! Such a blessing.  Please make your purchases by next Saturday so that they will get the credit.

I'm praying that God does exceedingly above all that I could ever think or ask for on behalf of the Ainsworth family!  He is able!

Ephesians 3:20

Thank y'all so much!  Y'all are the best.