When we walk into our church sanctuary we are handed a bulletin, like most churches. On the last page, there is a place to take "Sermon Notes". As I listen to our pastors speak, I try to write down things that have meaning to me, or that touch me deeply. Pastor Ryan preached an AMAZING sermon today which made me decided to write this post, but unfortunately I didn't have a pen with me today! :( I will go back and listen again to his sermon online once it is posted. It was REALLY touching today for me. Anyway... I take "Notes" and eventually clean out my Bible Carrier as it gets too full. I read the notes I have written one last time, and hope it they have sunken deep into my soul so I remember...Then I toss them. Seems like kind of a waste, because I'm sure I haven't remembered half of the things I have written over the years!! Today I decided that since I am blogging somewhat, I'd like to record my "Notes" so I have them, and just maybe they will mean something to someone else who may read them as well! Here are my notes from the last few months, in no particular order...
Jesus is ABLE, I am NOT!!
What do you make "YOUR" Gospel?... your job? your kids? husband? Your "Gospel" is where you find hope. Is my hope in my kids, or is it in GOD?? My kids may be the center of my life but they don't need me...THEY NEED GOD!!
There is only 1 Gospel... It is Jesus!! Our hope needs to be in HIM!! Everything else will fail you. HE will NEVER fail you!!
Imagine sitting in a courtroom, about to be sentenced for ALL of your sins. EVERY "bad" thing you have ever done... If you have given your life to GOD, JESUS will walk in, in place of your lawyer and say "She's with me". Immediately the Judge will respond... "You are set free". THAT is what Jesus has done for us. His death on the cross has us covered, as long as we give our lives to him.
Peace is not going to happen through anything but the Gospel of Him, and HIM alone.
God would like to know... "Why do you keep putting yourself at the center of your life? It's better if I'm there!"
God, I'm yours. Whatever you want from me... I'm in!! Give me something out of my comfort zone. I will do whatever you need!
God says, "You are capable of doing the things that I did and even more!! Because "I" am with you!!"
Early in the morning, go to HIM
You can NOT believe the Gospel (Bible), then not have it impact every aspect of your life... EVERYTHING you do, EVERYTHING you say. Let the Gospel penetrate your heart. Not just to escape Hell, but so we can live life the way GOD intended it!
Is salvation possible without repentance?
When GOD commands, we HAVE TO obey!
How to Find the Will of God... 1. Be prepared 2. Be willing 3. Listen: A lot of time we are looking for some big movement, when GOD will actually whisper 4. Trust HIM!
If you come to a cross road and don't know if God wants you to do something or not, don't just sit there and worry and over think it. If you wonder...PUSH ON THE DOOR! If you are meant to do it, the door will open. If not, the door will be pushed shut. Either way.... PUSH ON THE DOOR!
When GOD came to us in the flesh, he did this so we can understand him. We are created in GOD's image. God has the ability to think, feel, and act so we were created with the same abilities.
Strength makes you think you can rely on yourself. Strength makes you prideful.
With Prayer and Thanksgiving, make your requests be known to GOD.
God is the object of my greatest affection. NOTHING is above him.
God Bless you all!!
~Tammy Jarrett
Tamara and Jenny
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Happenings....
It's been a long couple of weeks!! Kids are back in school so things are starting to settle down a little bit I guess :-/ Here are their pics :)
Jordan's first day as a Senior!
Jonathan is a freshman!!
Jacob is a middle schooler this year!!
Jasmine: 3rd grade!!
And of course sweet Jewel...Preschool 2014 :)
LOVE THESE KIDS SOOOOO MUCH! I'm sad summer is over for this year :-(
I wanted to start off by talking about a friend that has stepped forward in a HUGE way for our family... TOM WILFONG!! Tom and I graduated from High School together, although we weren't close friends. We got along fine, and talked occasionally, but not much more than that. I obviously was missing out on being closer friends with someone very special!
When I first posted my GOFUNDME page here on this blog, Tom made a generous donation with God Given timing. Here is the message I sent him to thank him....
"Tom, Have you ever seen the movie "Facing the Giants"? If you haven't, you NEED to see it. Anyway, there's a scene in the moving where a parable is told about 2 farmers who both are praying for rain. After praying, only one of the farmers goes out and prepares his crop... The one who has faith.
I've been praying for this adoption, but struggling with the faith...until today. I have a check that needs sent to our agency to start the adoption process. I'm not sure how we're going to cover this check so I've been hanging on to it... Not "preparing my crops". But today I got your donation and I cried. It meant so much to me and I can't thank you enough. You have made a difference Tom, and my check will be in the mail to our agency tomorrow. Tell Cindy "Thank you" as well. God Bless you both"
Tom replied back saying he felt led by God to give us that donation... HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
Then, not too long later, I see this post on his Facebook Page... "Please bear with me and read this post in its entirety. This has been weighing heavy on my heart the last week or so. I have a couple of friends that I grew up with, went to school with, and graduated high school with one of them that are embarking (again) on the journey of adopting two little girls from China who are blind. These two have three biological children and have already adopted two little girls from China who are blind. They have unconditionally loved and welcomed those little girls into their home and their hearts. Now they are once again stepping out on faith and opening their hearts and home to another two blind girls from China. As you may or may not know, adoption is very expensive (especially from China). They need to raise a significant amount of money as a minimum to be able to get these girls to home where they will be loved and cared for like they deserve to be. I have seen many videos posted about people doing challenges to raise money for different things. I began to think what if there was a challenge issued to help raise money for this worthy cause? There would be no ice water, no cinnamon, no fire involved; nothing more than giving at least $5. How many of us drop $5 on a Starbucks coffee or a fast food meal or other unhealthy items (alcohol and tobacco) without even blinking? If every one of my FB friends would donate at least $5 and then challenge their friends to do the same, we would be able to raise that money in no time so that they can bring those girls home and not have to worry about how they were going to do it and hopefully be able to help cover some of the cost of their medical care and other things.
So here is the challenge, I challenge each and every one of you to give at least $5, you can give as much as you would like but $5 is the minimum. Fellow Rovers, especially those in the classes of '92 and '93, we need to rally behind one of our own and show them how people from Rootstown take care of each other, especially in their time of need. I am posting the link below to the page you can go to donate. If you do not feel comfortable donating online through the site, I am sure they would accept a check from you ( you would just need to contact them to get their mailing address). Please don't just read this and keep on scrolling. Copy and paste or click on the link and help to bring these little girls home!! Read, act, share...Thanks!
-www.gofundme.com/cumgxs-"
Because of Tom's "plea", enough money was donated to pay for our initial application fee as well as our first payment toward our homestudy. We are so grateful to him, and he continues to feel led to help our family and our girls. Thank you Tom. We are so blessed to call you our friend.
In other news...lol
I have met a Facebook friend who is VERY CLOSE (2 weeks!) to bringing home her son from China. Her son happens to be in the same orphanage that Jenny is in, so she has offered to deliver a gift from us to her! I'm again falling on faith that GOD is going to work this out for us because this sweet girl is going to find out she has a family!! Here is what she will be getting...
I hope someone can translate for her! I love her so much already! <3 <3
As I was taking pictures of Jewel for her first day of school I realized she was reminding me of pictures of Jenny I have from about a year ago. These 2 were meant to be sisters!
And I'm not forgetting our soon to be youngest, Tamara.. (pronounced like "tomorrow" but with and "uh" on the end instead of "oh") I worry about her so much!
I'm apologizing in advance for all of the fundraising we are doing from now until the girls come home. We honestly have NO EXTRA MONEY to put toward their adoption. We are holding on to our faith in GOD and know in our hearts that these girls are ours. We need to fundraise to get them home ASAP. I would hate for them to spend any amount of time longer in their orphanages than they have to.. just because of money. The only reason I'm not panicking is because God's got this. I'm sure of it. Please continue to pray!!
Speaking of fundraising.. please message me with any questions about AVON or AVON orders. Visit my AVON link on the right to order online! This will help a lot!
Thank you so much. God Bless you all!!
~Tammy
LOVE THESE KIDS SOOOOO MUCH! I'm sad summer is over for this year :-(
I wanted to start off by talking about a friend that has stepped forward in a HUGE way for our family... TOM WILFONG!! Tom and I graduated from High School together, although we weren't close friends. We got along fine, and talked occasionally, but not much more than that. I obviously was missing out on being closer friends with someone very special!
When I first posted my GOFUNDME page here on this blog, Tom made a generous donation with God Given timing. Here is the message I sent him to thank him....
"Tom, Have you ever seen the movie "Facing the Giants"? If you haven't, you NEED to see it. Anyway, there's a scene in the moving where a parable is told about 2 farmers who both are praying for rain. After praying, only one of the farmers goes out and prepares his crop... The one who has faith.
I've been praying for this adoption, but struggling with the faith...until today. I have a check that needs sent to our agency to start the adoption process. I'm not sure how we're going to cover this check so I've been hanging on to it... Not "preparing my crops". But today I got your donation and I cried. It meant so much to me and I can't thank you enough. You have made a difference Tom, and my check will be in the mail to our agency tomorrow. Tell Cindy "Thank you" as well. God Bless you both"
Tom replied back saying he felt led by God to give us that donation... HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
Then, not too long later, I see this post on his Facebook Page... "Please bear with me and read this post in its entirety. This has been weighing heavy on my heart the last week or so. I have a couple of friends that I grew up with, went to school with, and graduated high school with one of them that are embarking (again) on the journey of adopting two little girls from China who are blind. These two have three biological children and have already adopted two little girls from China who are blind. They have unconditionally loved and welcomed those little girls into their home and their hearts. Now they are once again stepping out on faith and opening their hearts and home to another two blind girls from China. As you may or may not know, adoption is very expensive (especially from China). They need to raise a significant amount of money as a minimum to be able to get these girls to home where they will be loved and cared for like they deserve to be. I have seen many videos posted about people doing challenges to raise money for different things. I began to think what if there was a challenge issued to help raise money for this worthy cause? There would be no ice water, no cinnamon, no fire involved; nothing more than giving at least $5. How many of us drop $5 on a Starbucks coffee or a fast food meal or other unhealthy items (alcohol and tobacco) without even blinking? If every one of my FB friends would donate at least $5 and then challenge their friends to do the same, we would be able to raise that money in no time so that they can bring those girls home and not have to worry about how they were going to do it and hopefully be able to help cover some of the cost of their medical care and other things.
So here is the challenge, I challenge each and every one of you to give at least $5, you can give as much as you would like but $5 is the minimum. Fellow Rovers, especially those in the classes of '92 and '93, we need to rally behind one of our own and show them how people from Rootstown take care of each other, especially in their time of need. I am posting the link below to the page you can go to donate. If you do not feel comfortable donating online through the site, I am sure they would accept a check from you ( you would just need to contact them to get their mailing address). Please don't just read this and keep on scrolling. Copy and paste or click on the link and help to bring these little girls home!! Read, act, share...Thanks!
-www.gofundme.com/cumgxs-"
Because of Tom's "plea", enough money was donated to pay for our initial application fee as well as our first payment toward our homestudy. We are so grateful to him, and he continues to feel led to help our family and our girls. Thank you Tom. We are so blessed to call you our friend.
In other news...lol
I have met a Facebook friend who is VERY CLOSE (2 weeks!) to bringing home her son from China. Her son happens to be in the same orphanage that Jenny is in, so she has offered to deliver a gift from us to her! I'm again falling on faith that GOD is going to work this out for us because this sweet girl is going to find out she has a family!! Here is what she will be getting...
And I'm not forgetting our soon to be youngest, Tamara.. (pronounced like "tomorrow" but with and "uh" on the end instead of "oh") I worry about her so much!
I'm apologizing in advance for all of the fundraising we are doing from now until the girls come home. We honestly have NO EXTRA MONEY to put toward their adoption. We are holding on to our faith in GOD and know in our hearts that these girls are ours. We need to fundraise to get them home ASAP. I would hate for them to spend any amount of time longer in their orphanages than they have to.. just because of money. The only reason I'm not panicking is because God's got this. I'm sure of it. Please continue to pray!!
Speaking of fundraising.. please message me with any questions about AVON or AVON orders. Visit my AVON link on the right to order online! This will help a lot!
Thank you so much. God Bless you all!!
~Tammy
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Blessings to my HEART...
I have spent a lot of time these last 2 days praying and laying my worries on GOD. Focusing on Him, listening for him to tell me where to go from here to bring my babies home. As I am quiet and listen, and got REconfirmation that these girls are the girls I am meant to bring home. :)
Yesterday morning I got an Facebook message from a lady who found out we were adopting "Annabelle", who we are naming Tamara. She was so happy to find our that we were adopting her. She told me that she had been praying for her and a few months ago had considered bringing her into their home! It didn't work out and she said she just decided to pray her home. She was so happy for us... "I will continue to pray her into your home. I feel like I have a special bond with her since God asked me to pray her home so many months ago." I was so touched to meet someone who loved my girl.
If that wasn't a blessing enough, just a few hours later I got this in an email..."I just learned after I tried to advocate for JENNY in one of the advocacy groups I am in, that you are adopting her! Congratulations!!!! We were considering adopting her back in February 2014....I loved her dearly as we thought and prayed about adopting her for a couple of months. My husband felt that we were to wait for another child, so I chose to advocate for her instead."
Someone who loves Jenny too!! It's hard to explain what it means to me to meet these 2 ladies. You have to understand that when you connect with the picture or video of an orphan, if it gets to a point that you consider bringing them home to be part of your family, you already LOVE THEM!! Then to not be able to do it, for whatever reason, you worry for these babies that you love!! I'm so happy that I will have a connection with these 2 ladies through my girls. I can't wait to tell them how loved they were, before we even knew them <3
On a side note, as I continue to try to raise funds to bring Tamara and Jenny home, I have decided to sell Avon. I've worked with them before and honestly love their products. Please message me or text me if you'd like a catalog, or visit my Avon website @ http://youravon.com/tjarrett There is also a link on the side bar.
Thank you!!
Yesterday morning I got an Facebook message from a lady who found out we were adopting "Annabelle", who we are naming Tamara. She was so happy to find our that we were adopting her. She told me that she had been praying for her and a few months ago had considered bringing her into their home! It didn't work out and she said she just decided to pray her home. She was so happy for us... "I will continue to pray her into your home. I feel like I have a special bond with her since God asked me to pray her home so many months ago." I was so touched to meet someone who loved my girl.
If that wasn't a blessing enough, just a few hours later I got this in an email..."I just learned after I tried to advocate for JENNY in one of the advocacy groups I am in, that you are adopting her! Congratulations!!!! We were considering adopting her back in February 2014....I loved her dearly as we thought and prayed about adopting her for a couple of months. My husband felt that we were to wait for another child, so I chose to advocate for her instead."
Someone who loves Jenny too!! It's hard to explain what it means to me to meet these 2 ladies. You have to understand that when you connect with the picture or video of an orphan, if it gets to a point that you consider bringing them home to be part of your family, you already LOVE THEM!! Then to not be able to do it, for whatever reason, you worry for these babies that you love!! I'm so happy that I will have a connection with these 2 ladies through my girls. I can't wait to tell them how loved they were, before we even knew them <3
On a side note, as I continue to try to raise funds to bring Tamara and Jenny home, I have decided to sell Avon. I've worked with them before and honestly love their products. Please message me or text me if you'd like a catalog, or visit my Avon website @ http://youravon.com/tjarrett There is also a link on the side bar.
Thank you!!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Matthew 19:26 .... With Man this is impossible. With God, all things are possible.
I have struggled the last few weeks since we decided we are going to adopt our girls from China. We REALLY are starting with nothing this time. To even come up with the money for our application fee has been a challenge. There's always something else that needs bought or a bill that needs paid. I lost faith, started doubting. Can we do this? These last 2-3 days I've had conversation with friends renewing my faith and trust. Then tonight I read a blog from nohandsbutours and it really made it sink in....
"You are stepping out in faith for a child. You are stepping out to serve the Lord and to be His hands and feet. There are many unknowns but if you focus on what you do know you will find abundant blessings! You know that God will never leave you. You know that even though you fear you can’t do it, He can!"
"What I have found in our adoption journeys is that GOD handles the details.....Most likely we won’t even notice that we have an extra child at the table, it will instantly feel “normal” to us. But to the child it will be life changing.....She will learn about Jesus and what a life with FAITH is like! And the icing on the cake is that she will run to her Mommy and her Daddy for a hug and kiss…"
We are meant to adopt these girls. I know that and am so happy tonight to be reminded of that. This adoption I am going to try REALLY hard to do differently. I'm giving God the lead... This adoption is in God's Name and is for his Glory. GOD is bringing these girls home, and I am BEYOND BLESSED that we will be their Mommy and Daddy. <3 <3
I have struggled the last few weeks since we decided we are going to adopt our girls from China. We REALLY are starting with nothing this time. To even come up with the money for our application fee has been a challenge. There's always something else that needs bought or a bill that needs paid. I lost faith, started doubting. Can we do this? These last 2-3 days I've had conversation with friends renewing my faith and trust. Then tonight I read a blog from nohandsbutours and it really made it sink in....
"You are stepping out in faith for a child. You are stepping out to serve the Lord and to be His hands and feet. There are many unknowns but if you focus on what you do know you will find abundant blessings! You know that God will never leave you. You know that even though you fear you can’t do it, He can!"
"What I have found in our adoption journeys is that GOD handles the details.....Most likely we won’t even notice that we have an extra child at the table, it will instantly feel “normal” to us. But to the child it will be life changing.....She will learn about Jesus and what a life with FAITH is like! And the icing on the cake is that she will run to her Mommy and her Daddy for a hug and kiss…"
We are meant to adopt these girls. I know that and am so happy tonight to be reminded of that. This adoption I am going to try REALLY hard to do differently. I'm giving God the lead... This adoption is in God's Name and is for his Glory. GOD is bringing these girls home, and I am BEYOND BLESSED that we will be their Mommy and Daddy. <3 <3
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Braille Wall Art!!
Jasmine and I have designed some Braille wall art! Each "Letter" is 10" long, 8" wide and 3/4" deep. Jasmine likes pink of course ;), so we did her name in pink with some glitter paint highlights. It spells her name in Braille!!
We are selling these to help bring the girls home! Jasmine and I will paint and design each one personally. (Jasmine knows the Braille letters and I don't so I NEED her help!)You pick the colors you want, and the letters. Spell our a name, or a word that means a lot to you such as "Love" or "Faith" in colors to go with your home décor :) Here is a close picture of one of the letters to give you a better look. The letters are raised, so if you have a blind family member they can enjoy your art as well!
We are selling them for $15 per letter.
Thank you so much for your support!
~The Jarrett Family
We are selling these to help bring the girls home! Jasmine and I will paint and design each one personally. (Jasmine knows the Braille letters and I don't so I NEED her help!)You pick the colors you want, and the letters. Spell our a name, or a word that means a lot to you such as "Love" or "Faith" in colors to go with your home décor :) Here is a close picture of one of the letters to give you a better look. The letters are raised, so if you have a blind family member they can enjoy your art as well!
We are selling them for $15 per letter.
Thank you so much for your support!
~The Jarrett Family
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
We are the Jarrett family and we are starting the process of our 3rd adoption...but 2 this time! We will be documenting our journey from beginning to end!! Thanks for joining us on this journey!!
First, let me tell you a little bit about us. Jeff and I were High School sweet hearts and were married in 1996. We quickly started our family, and by 2002 we had 3 amazing biological boys. Jeff and I had always talked about adopting one day, and after no luck in having a girl ;), we decided we definitely wanted to look into it! We started the adoption process thinking we would bring home a “healthy” baby girl, until we saw the picture of a beautiful 1 year old “blind” baby girl.
We didn’t know anyone who was blind, or anything about raising a blind child, but we decided to bring this precious girl home to be our daughter. In April 2008, Jasmine became ours and our outlook on life has never been the same!
After our experience with Jasmine and learning that blind orphans wait REALLY long times for families, we decided to adopt another child and this time specifically looked for a blind girl. In November 2010. Jewel became our second blind daughter and we are beyond blessed!
We have never been the same after seeing the faces of orphans… after knowing their names. We are a large family already, and don’t have much space or money, but we have enough LOVE in our hearts to give out. We have prayed and prayed this time over what to do. Adopting again isn’t logical…it isn’t what most people would do. We are going to have to give up “things” in order to do this, but it is worth it to give children the love that they deserve. To give them a Mom and a Dad, and brothers and sisters who love them. We’ve downsized to the minimal amount of “stuff”, and it will be so worth it to give these girls a home and a FOREVER family.
We again have decided to adopt girls that are blind…This time 2 at once! We don’t know how it will work out with 4 blind girls in our home, but we are up for the challenge! Our life will be overtaken by canes and Braille! Lol. The girls we are adopting are in two different orphanages, in two different provinces in China. They have started on their journey “HOME” and they don’t even know it yet!
“Tamara” is 5 years old and seems to have some vision, but we really won’t know how much until we bring her home. She has spent most of her 5 years of life in her crib according to one of her caregivers. She is very delayed, but most could be related to institutionalization.
“Jenny” is 6 years old and is completely blind. According to someone who has recently visited with her, she seems to be withdrawing a little bit and is struggling with orphanage life. I can’t wait to get to my girl!
We know we want to adopt, we know the girls we want to adopt, and we know we love them. That is about all that we know right now ;) Adoption is very expensive, and adopting two at once is twice as expensive (as you might guess!). I’d appreciate so much any help you can give us. We want to bring these girls home so badly, but we can’t do it alone! We believe this is what God is asking of us, and we have faith in his plan for our family! We appreciate your help! If financially you can’t help, please like and share on Facebook and Twitter!
We will have adopted 3 times, so I am becoming quite the expert! Lol. I am such an adoption advocate, and think that a lot of times people are scared of the process. I plan on writing a book, which will document the China Adoption process with tips, tricks, possible setbacks, and info you can’t only learn from experience. My book will also be personalized to my girls and things I learn about them along the way, as well as our “Gotcha” day and challenges of our 2 weeks in China with them. Adoption is challenging, amazing, stressful, and fulfilling all at the same time. I am excited to document our journey in a book then have it published!! We will also be working on a private video “Documentary” of our journey. We can’t wait to get things moving!!
It takes a Family to adopt a child, and we would love to have you be part of our “Family” Thank you for your love and support!!
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