God is the Rescuer of Orphans

Foster care has been a valuable tool to teach me eternal truths.

As we walk intimately through J-man's life, share our children with him, our home, our hearts- we have the privilege and responsibility of being his biggest voice in the foster care system. I wanted to share a few verses and quotes that have been tools with sustaining power through the hardships of loving a little one from a hard place:

This one was my fuel in the beginning of my foster care journey:

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." ~Proverbs 31:8-9


It gave me the strength to begin the journey of being his voice.

But that wasn't enough. I feel often like my voice falls on deaf ears. We have had 5 case workers in a years time. Each case worker carries quite the load on their shoulders- juggling several case loads at one time.

And our little boy is not a just a number. Often, when a concern is raised, it is met with, "I understand your concern and I agree with it." Nothing more. This used to STRESS me out tremendously. I really didn't know how to hold up under it. If I have no control and continue to be his voice, with little or no listening involved, where does that leave me?

STUCK IN REALITY. This is where rubber meets the road. What control do we actually have? Foster care has been a beautiful, sanctifying journey.

I will share with you the verse that now is my foundation:

"O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear, To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror." ~Psalm 10:17-18

In all my anxiety, I was trying to change a reality that does not exist. I am not in control. My sovereign God is. His ear is turned towards me, towards you who are in Christ. HE vindicates the orphan and the oppressed- my sweet, crazy, intelligent little dude. I am not capable. I am the voice- He is GOD.

He is my Rescuer. He alone is J-man's rescuer. He is sovereign over a broken system.

I needed this reminder today.

Living Life "In Between"

Foster care has definitely been a journey that I said for years I would never take. The main reason I always looked the other way with foster care was really for one reason- I just did not think my heart could take it. I just didn't think I could love like that to only give little ones away.

To be honest, things haven't changed. What is asked of you within foster care is humanly impossible.

But, with God ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE.

 We are to LOVE hard with an open hand as foster parents. April 21st was our "metcha" day with our little J-man. He has been with us for over a year, and for all purposes of the word, he is my son. I share him with his biological family, but he is my son, and he will always be my son, no matter what his future holds.

I wanted to share a song that has inspired and encouraged me through this journey. I first heard it at an adoption conference, "Created for Care". If you have never been, you should go. It is balm to the heart of a foster mom/adoptive mom. Here is the link for the conference: http://createdforcare.org

The song "I Am" by David Crowder, has become our "go to" song.

We dance on the kitchen floor to it. My kids know most all of the words and argue over whose song it is. It started as a song I prayed over for our J-man, and then it became a song I leaned into the hardness of entering into the suffering of our little dude. And now, I pray it is our whole family's song. I hope it encourages you.

The LORD sustains His people who seek to follow Him in caring for the orphan and vulnerable.

He is holding onto me.

He will hold onto you as you step out to care for the vulnerable in your community.

465 days of silence

It has really been that long? 465 days? In many ways, I cannot believe it. But I will give you three, precious, beautiful reasons why there has been so much silence:

My hands are so full, but my heart really is fuller. We welcomed Eden Geneva Lawson into this world on June 29, 2014. We met our little J-man on April 21, 2014. Our adoption journey has taken a slight detour for foster care for right now. It has been an exhilarating, fulfilling, exhausting, and demanding time in our lives. But we wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope to share some of our journey in the next few blog posts. The silence has ended!

Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser

We have been absolutely amazed at the Lord's provision for our little one overseas. One of the most recent provisions was through a matching grant!! Hand in Hand Christian Adoption approved us for a 4,000 matching grant! Potentially, this means we could have 8,000 when it is all said and done. God is so good!

Part of the way we would like to raise these monies in a unique fashion is by doing a puzzle fundraiser. We have this beautiful puzzle through National Geographic of elephants in Africa:

I love it! One of the things the Lord has taught me through this adoption, is how we can't do this alone. The Lord uses people to be a part (or piece) of our journey in this adoption. With a $10 donation, your name will go on the back of a "piece" of the puzzle. If you donate more, then we will add your name to more pieces. This is a 500 piece puzzle, so we have a potential of having 5,000 towards our adoption at the end of this fundraiser (even more with the matching grant!). When each of the pieces are accounted for, we will glue the puzzle together and frame it in our little boys room as a reminder of the many who loved him, prayed for him, and helped bring us home before they even met him! 

Here is how this fundraiser will work:

*Puzzle pieces cost $10 a piece (with the matching grant, you will actually be donating $20!)
*Email me at Evrytribe@gmail.com or message me on Facebook if you would like to donate. I will then write your name on the back of one of the puzzle pieces. If you donate more than $10, then I will add your name to more than one piece of our "puzzle".
* Make checks out with your donation to Hand in Hand Christian Adoption. Send the check to:

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.

Lawson Family

18318 Mimosa Court

Gardner, KS 66030

It's important that you only put our name on the outside envelope and not on the check itself. All of the monies go towards Hand in Hand and then they will send the check with the matched amount to our agency to go directly towards our adoption fund. 

This will be fun! We will continue this fundraiser until all of the pieces are accounted for. However, you only have until January 24th (postmark by date) to get the money you donate matched. At that time, I will change the directions for the fundraiser.

We are so thankful for all of you!

In Christ by His Grace,

Amber Lawson

Happenings around the Lawson Home...

We have had a lot going on around here lately! A ton of blessings from the hand of our great God has flowed our way.

For one...

We are expecting Lawson baby #2 in July! Here is our latest pic:

This was at 10 weeks along. We are now almost 14 weeks along! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going compared to my first. Naphtali sure keeps me busy :-) Isn't this just a testimony of what a miracle a little baby is? At 10 weeks, we could see the heart beating and the little arms and legs swimming! I am amazed at God's good design. 

As for adoption news... we are now on the waiting list!! WOO HOO! Our long wait to get through immigration has passed, and now we have a number. This is huge. The wait will still most likely be between 15-18 months until we receive a referral (or longer), but we have reached this milestone. God has been so faithful to us in this journey. We are so thankful! Without further ado... here is our current waiting number:

Later this evening, I will be posting some other great news :-) But, I do believe it calls for another posting!

Final Cap on Yard Sale!

Wow. Time has flown by! So many changes have taken place in our family since JULY... and I have failed to update my blog on them. Oh well, life goes on!

Without further ado... here are some fun facts about the success of our yard sale! I thought I would finish this thought before sharing all the fun new updates from our family :-)

First, because we all love pictures:

Sweet Hannah modeling a hair bow!

My girl and her friends chilling in the parking lot!

Ms. Robin and I on the day of the yard sale. So many people chipped in! We are so blessed!

A view of the yard sale from afar!

Add caption

Love this picture! My good friend, Jenny Cribb, made Africa sugar cookies for us! :-)

The Pope family was the mastermind behind the whole yard sale! We thank God for them!

One of my all-time favorite pictures from the event! Rett Moorcroft looking adorable :-)


Thank all of you for all that you did in support of us during this time! You know who you are ;-) We are so grateful to have such a loving and supportive church family and community. This little boy is well-loved already!


GRAND TOTAL: $618- I'd say it was successful!!!

Yard Sale #2

Yep, you read right. We are gluttons for punishment, starting on Yard Sale #2! We are excited to be working again towards making payments for our adoption. This means progress. This means taking steps closer to seeing our little boys faces. This means we are one step closer towards holding them in our arms. How this thrills this Mama's heart!





Here are the details for the Yard Sale:

What: All Things Baby through Teen Yard Sale
When: July 20th from 8am to 2pm
Where: Rockdale Community Church parking lot
2455 Old Salem Rd SE Conyers, GA 30013
Why: To help bring our boys home from Uganda!

If you would like to donate, please message me. We will be taking donations at the church on Thursday from 9am-3pm and Friday from 6:30pm- 8:30ish.



Here are some pics from our last yard sale:

 (Fun with signs)

 (Loved using the church for our sale last year!)

 (Yummy baked goods!)

 (The guys working hard!)

 (Oh my! How little she is?! Time flies TOO fast!)

Looking forward to sharing more photos this time around! So blessed by our church family, Rockdale Community Church, to allow us to use their parking lot and to volunteer so much time and donations for our adoption! 

Hope to see you there!