The Yard Sale is 3 Days Away!

Ryan and I are getting exciting about our upcoming yard sale.  We are armed with lots of $1 and $5 bills and have TONS of stuff to sell.  Now all we need to do is...PRICE EVERYTHING!  This is the part of yard sales that just aren't fun to me.  I never know how much to ask for garage sale stuff.  Luckily, I have friends helping me who will hopefully have far more yard sale knowledge than me.  So, needless to say, we'll be accepting "or best offer" prices.  I am praying that people will remember that this event is to raise money for our adoption and hopefully will feel led to pay a few quarters more for things than they normally would.  We've been overwhelmed by the amount of things we've received to sell from friends, church family, school families, and some things from people we don't even know.  God is definitely providing for us and our filled 1-bedroom apartment is definitely showing His provision!  Please pray for the sale on Saturday; not only for funds, but for it to be a great opportunity to share WHY we're adopting with people that come.

THIS Saturday, October 2nd

6am-4pm

2716 Winter Song Road

Raleigh, NC 27614

(Located in Bedford Subdivision)

Yard Sale Location Change

A lot has gone on this past week and we've had to change the location of our yard sale.  A wonderful friend and co-worker of mine has leant us her yard, garage, and driveway for our sale.  We are so thankful to her for having an open heart.  Thanks, Jill!  Our new yard sale location will be:

(Located in Bedford Subdivision)

2716 Winter Song Road

Raleigh, NC 27614

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 

6am-4pm

If you have items you'd like to donate to our sale you can drop them off at the above address the week of Sept. 26-Oct 1.  Please call me (404-824-1222) or Ryan (478-397-4885) so we can arrange a time for you to drop off your donations.  We are already so encouraged by so many of our friends who have been setting things aside for us.  We can see God at work through our friends and through this adoption.  Thank you all!

Adoption isn't plan B

Sarah posted her first blog post, so I thought I’d follow her up today. The Lord has been teaching the two of us so much through adoption. Whether it is faith in God’s provision for finances to follow through with his call on our life to adopt; simple lessons like trusting we will find a location to have a yard sale, or big lessons about the picture of the gospel in adoption. Adoption has already taught us about our former condition and the rescue of Christ for those without hope.  Adoption definitely is a clear picture of what Christ did for us as Christians. I hope through this long process many friends and family will be challenged to ask how they could help the 143 million orphans around the world. Could God be calling some of them to adopt as well? James 1:27 tells us that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Many see adoption as plan B, after all “normal” avenues are pursued or large quantities of money are spent for chance fertility, but the question must be asked as to when you stop to consider the 145 million without parents? God has commanded the Church to take care of the orphaned. The Church must be brought near to the crisis and therefore, the need for adoption as a major focus among all Christians. “Adopted for Life” by Russell Moore taught me a lot about the presentation of the gospel in the process of adoption. Ephesians 1:5 says that God “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” We all as Christians have been adopted into the family of Christ. Some may ask why we would adopt internationally with another race. We ask “why not?” Christ went beyond the Hebrew nation and adopted all of us of another race as Gentiles. If Christ did not care about adoption-we all would be lost in our sin. The church of the West needs the orphan far more than the orphan needs the Christian. The Church is the arms and heart of Christ as agents of change in every nation. Adoption is one vital area of change. Orphans are those without anyone to provide, care, and fight for their protection. There are approx. 300,000 churches in America; why are there still 145 million orphans? We are consumed with ourselves and we do not have faith for storing treasures in heaven. I believe Roe vs. Wade has likely not been overturned because the church is not radically pro-adoption. Like culture at large we see orphan care as optional. Adoption really can save the American church from their toxic self-absorption and materialism that consumes it as we speak. Adoption is not a pet project; adoption is the gospel. At this moment there are 75 million orphans in Asia and 50 million orphans in Africa. One country full of orphans is Ghana, West Africa which has an estimated 1 million orphans out of a population of 30 million. Having traveled to Ghana in the past I was able to see personally the large number of orphans roaming the streets of major cities like Accra and Tamele.


Sarah and I are very excited about the opportunity of sharing the gospel through adoption. As people see our child as obviously ethnically different, we will consistently use the opportunity to share why we adopted and how our heavenly Father adopted us as well. At the same time, we will give a precious child without parents a loving family and home. We both know that our future child will bless us far more than any sacrifice we could ever make to adopt. We cannot wait to invest our lives into our child.

The Beginning of a Wonderful Journey

On June 14th of this year Ryan and I decided to begin the adoption process for an international adoption.  We have always felt the Lord was calling us to adopt and while we were in Florida for a conference the Lord told us "Now!"  I had joked with Ryan about how for our Two Year Anniversary (June 14) he could give me a baby.  We both laughed it off.  On the 14th around lunchtime I received a text from Ryan that read, "I want to start the adoption process.  The Lord's calling is clear."  I was ecstatic that I received my gift after all.

Since then we have chosen an adoption agency, been accepted, and now here we are watching the Lord supply the funds a little along the way.  We're currently working on our first big fundraiser event.  We will be having a yard sale on October 2nd (6 a.m.-4 p.m.) in Wake Forest, NC.  The address is 3106 Heritage Trade Drive Wake Forest, 27587 NC.  My school, Thales Academy, has been so gracious to lend us their parking lot since we live in an apartment and can't necessarily have a yard sale here.  We're praying the Lord will supply us with items/donations we can sell.  We've only been married two years and don't have much to sell of our own.  We're hoping to be the "Goodwill" for the community and be able to accept others' excess and clutter.  If you'd like to donate to our yard sale please contact one of us (Sarah- mrs.clopton@live.com, Ryan- clop2090@hotmail.com).  Our yard sale ad can be found here:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=14600156&fbid=10150254608070467&id=747465466&ref=nf#!/event.php?eid=125465197502509&ref=mf

Please pray that we would remember and glorify the Lord's providence and that we would use every opportunity to use our adoption as a means to share the Gospel.  What better a message of the Gospel than adopting an orphan into our home and family; after all, the Lord has adopted us as His children.  We were once without a Father or a home.