Quilts for Uganda

We were able to ship off our second batch of quilts to Uganda. Our first shipment was 33 quilts and blankets and this one was 25. My goal when I set out was 50 quilts total. So, I've exceeded my goal with a total 58 quilts!

Here's a photo before we vacuum sealed them:

And one after:

29 1/2 pounds of love to children who desperately need it.

It's been a long journey (I decided to do this in January 2010), but such a beautiful experience. For this shipment we were able to send them to a close friend who is living in Uganda right now caring for children. So, she will be able to hand deliver these quilts to those in need.

Thank you so much to those of you who have made this possible.

Friend from Afar

The Nelsons are dear friends that have started an organization for orphans and vulnerable children called Special Hope Network in Zambia, Africa. Eric has not been back to the United States since they left 2 and a half years ago. While he was in town we were able to visit with him. It was such a blessing to spend some time with him and to hear what God is doing in Zambia through them. Amazing stories of God's love and faithfulness.

He brought us such neat gifts from Zambia:

We are so blessed to know this family and to even be a small part of what they are doing for children who desperately need to know and experience God's love.

This makes two sets of gifts we've received from Africa recently.  How exciting!

Special Hope Network Event

Holly brought her camera, yay!

When we moved to Charlottesville, we have had the opportunity to get to know the Nelson family. They have a beautiful family which consists of three children all adopted with special needs. They sold all they had (we bought their van) and moved to Zambia, Africa in 2008 to start a non-profit, Special Hope Network, ministering to special needs children. Holly needed to come home for awhile to tend to some things here so we held a get together where she could update us on what's going on. It was wonderful to see her and hear what all is being done in Zambia.

A Gift That Gives Back

If you are still looking for a Christmas present for that special someone, please consider purchasing one of these beautiful necklaces. Each necklace helps to provide water, food and medicine to a child in need. With this purchase you also provide income to the women who make them as they support their families.

Let me know if you're interested. They are $20 a piece and I will gift wrap and ship for an extra $2. Thanks!

Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17

Thankful for - Weekend Away

The day we found out about our adoption setback we were scheduled to head up Maryland for the weekend. I really did not want to go, but am so glad we did. Family was just what was needed! We had a super weekend and were just able to be together and enjoy life.

So thankful for all that God has given us in our families! We are so blessed.

Adoption Setback

Last Friday we got some devastating news about our adoption plans. As it stands right now, we will have a 3 year waiting period until we can proceed any futher. To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Right now there are many more questions than answers. If we simply wanted more children, bearing in mind our past experiences, we could easily have them biologically. But, the Lord placed adopting a child from Uganda on our hearts over 2 years ago, and we feel as though we have followed the Lord each and every step along the way, only to be brought to this painful waiting period.

We have been told that this experience can be compared to a late-term miscarriage. As much as I know about pregnancies, birth and children, I couldn't agree more. This precious child had a quilt being made by her Mama, a journal we wrote to her in, and a huge place carved out of our hearts that could only be filled by her. We're trying with all our might to trust in this promise:

He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Unfortunately or fortunately, after over 7 months of already being in this process, we just a couple days earlier decided to share our plans with more than our family and close friends via this blog and facebook only to learn two days later of our setback.

We've only had a week to process all of this and we're starting to come out of the fog. We definitely don't have the clarity that we know will come with time, but each day is making a little more sense than the last.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

And now as always we simply have to entrust ourselves to God who is all powerful, all knowing, and who in all things works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18 

We sit at his throne and wait. We wait patiently on the One who holds to world together. Even though very little makes sense right now, we commit our ways to the Lord, trust in Him, and trust that he will bring His will to pass.

Thank you to all of you who have walked with us so closely during this season. We feel the prayers of His people and have been carried by them. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward.

The Eckert Tree...

...is growing more branches, this time of African descent!



Collecting More Blankets *EDITED*

Due to our shortened deadline last month, I know some of you were not able to send me your blankets in time. I've already recieved a few, but I know there are still some of you out there that wanted to bless some children with blankets.

We have a friend traveling to Uganda between Christmas and New Years and will be loving on some orphans while she's there. We want to send some blankets with her. Mail them to me as soon as you can and she will be able to pass them out to comfort lots of Ugandan babies at the end of this month.

I need the blankets by December 13th!

Thanks so much!

And, They're Off!

Last Saturday we packed up 33 blankets and sent them off! It felt so good to pray over them and smile at the thought of some of God's precious little children being wrapped up in them in just a few short days.

Our good friend, Pete Davis, is a fantastic photographer and offered to take some photos of the quilts once they were ready to go. Here are about half of what we sent:

The orphanage also wanted me to share the word that they are trying to raise some money for some bunk beds. They are $75 each. They also need pots and pans. If you would like to contribute to either of these needs, please contact me.


Thank you to everyone who played a role in all of this! Stay tuned for our next project. There are plenty more needs to be met.

Quilts Update

When I first decided to do this whole quilts for orphans bit I originally thought I'd choose an orphanage and then once we collected as many quilts to give each child one, we would ship them over.

Well, we've since had a better opportunity come along... having a couple who is adopting a daughter from Uganda bringing them over with them and giving them to the children themselves. Their originally scheduled time to travel was in December, but now, it's in 3 WEEKS! That means they want us to mail them the quilts by this weekend!

Praise the LORD that an orphan will be with her forever family sooner, but yikes on our deadline being so soon!

So, if you have a blanket, quilt or are finishing one up, please send it to me immediately so it can be added to the shipment.

*If you cannot get it to me by then, have no fear. We have another friend who is traveling to Uganda between Christmas and New Years who will be able to bring a few with her, but not a lot.

Thanks so much for your support!

Quilts for Uganda - DEADLINE

Last night our family was able to witness the engagement of a very dear couple to us. This couple has shared their lives with so many and we were all so touched to be a part of their special occasion.

While at the party, I found out that the woman of the house loved to sew so a couple of us were talking to her about our sewing/craft club we are starting. We told her our first month we are going to be working on quilts for Uganda. Well, come to find out her brother is adopting a little girl from Uganda and is leaving between Thanksgiving and Christmas to go get her. Coincidence, I think not!

After she called her brother today she informed me today that he can take up to 70pounds of our blankets to Uganda to personally hand them out to the children. This orphanage that his daughter is currently living in has about 40-50 children and NONE of them have their own bedding. Most of them share a sheet with another child and a good percentage of them sleep on the concrete floor.

My heart breaks for these children. I long for the day that they find forever homes. The Lord loves each and every one of these children just as much as he loves you and me.

She will be visiting her brother for Thanksgiving and will take him all of the blankets we have made up until that point. My goal is to get 70 pounds worth of blankets however many that will be. We praise you Lord for making there be a safe and secure way for these blankets to get to these children!

Please help make a difference for one of these children that so desperately needs the most basis human needs.

Let the countdown begin!

Becca's Quilt

Here's another quilt that's finished for Uganda!

I am so thrilled to add this to the collection. Look how gorgeous it is.

Thank you to all of you for your incredible support of this project. I am so encouraged by all of you to stick with it because I know I have the support of so many. It would have been so easy to quit and to write this off, but with your help, we'll be sending these off in no time!

Becca is my cousin's wife and is the mother of 4 little boys! What an inspiration she is to be willing to take the time to do this. Thanks so much Becca!

Be sure to check out her blog. It's a must read.

Breakfast Prayer

I have been trying to upload this video for over a month and just got it to work... enjoy!

If you need translations let me know...

Love In Action

I remember as a little girl dreaming such big dreams and having my mom encouraging me to go for them. Granted, I didn't accomplish all of them, but just knowing I had someone supporting me was sometimes all I needed to give it my best shot.

That's what moms are suppose to do when you're little, and I firmly believe that shouldn't stop when you 'grow up'. Having a fan club in life is so crucial to our souls. Whether it's parents, siblings, friends or a spouse, we need to be encouraging each other to reach for our dreams.

Recently, my mother-in-law and her friends got together to sew some blankets for my little initiative to send 50 quilts to Uganda.

There is nothing more motivating than the support of someone (in this case a mother-in-law) to keep you going as you venture out in the world and do all sorts of crazy and challenging things.

Thank you, Robbie, and friends, for not only giving me the verbal encouragement to help me reach a goal (that would be unobtainable on my own) but for actually helping me reach it!

So far we have 9 quilts completed and waiting to be sent... along with about a dozen or so being worked on by people all across the country! So far I've gotten 2 blankets in the mail from women I don't even know... How fun!

Keep sewing, we'll get to 50 together before we know it!!!

147 Million Orphans

Last October when our family traveled to Tennessee to attend an adoption conference we were heavily impacted specifically by the orphans of Uganda.

There was a booth there called 147 Million Orphans. I found myself in a conversation with a woman who was waiting for the green light to head over to Uganda to pick up her newest additions, a little boy and a little girl.

Before this conversation we were not even aware that Uganda was a country that was open for international adoptions.

God made it very clear to us the needs of this country and put in our hearts a desire to make a different for the children of Uganda. We are still praying through what that is going to look like for our family. And what makes it so easy to remember to pray for these children is a necklace I wear almost on a daily basis. I got the necklace at the conference from the 147 Million Orphans table.

Here is a little about them:

We are proud to partner with Katie Davis and the wonderful women of the Karamojong tribe to offer you these beautiful necklaces created by hand and from re-cycled magazines … Our goal is to help these women maintain sustainable income for their families … We will be purchasing these necklaces from them and also sending 50%+ of the proceeds back to a feeding program run by Amazima Ministries. It is a beautiful full circle story of the body of Christ.

So, if you have a heart for orphans or just simply want to get an awesome necklace, please purchase some of these necklaces. They are awesome gifts! I am asked almost every time I'm out about mine. It's an incredible way to spread the awareness of the needs of these orphans.

If you're interested in helping out in another tangible way, please consider sewing or donating funds to help build our supply of blankets to send over to an orphanage in Uganda.

I cannot wait to share with you some recent quilts that have been finished. God is moving and I am so excited to be a part of what he's doing! Will you join me?

Recent Blankets for Uganda

Blankets, quilts whatever you want to call them, they are adding up for Uganda. I couldn't be more tickled. I have received some from others already and know of several more in the making.

God is doing something really neat through this.

We have no idea as of right now if our home will ever be graced with an Ugandan child, but we are certain that he is growing our love for them.

I want to encourage those of you who are sewing for these babies to keep it up! Together we are making a difference.

Here are the recent quilts/blankets made:

This one was is from a woman I do not even know. She is a friend of a friend. Check out her etsy shop here.


Below are my February and March blankets.


If you know of friends that sew, please pass along this cause. Together we can send 50 quilts to these precious children who are desperately in need.

*If this is the first time you're hearing about this on our blog please visit this post to learn about what I'm up to.

Care for the Orphans Video

Russell Moore Defines Adoption and The Call To Care for the Orphans.

My First Uganda Quilt

In dozens of ways the Lord has placed Africa on our hearts. One of those ways was through the Nelsons. It was after we decided to support Special Hope Network did we find out that one of the countries they will be traveling to is Uganda. There along with several other countries they will be helping out orphans with intellectual disabilities.

Holly, the wife, is an avid sewer and is leaving behind her most valued possessions (her sewing things) with me. I thought using one of her fabrics was so fitting to use as my first quilt.

So without further ado... my first quilt for the precious babies of the Sanyu Babies Home:



In Quilting for Peace, a woman's words brought balance into my perfectionistic world and made me really focus on my objective:

"Think about what the goal is," Susan says about making binkies. "If the goal is to comfort a child, take all the other stuff out of it. Take out the 'I want it to line up, I want it to match this picture.' Bring it down to the simplest goal you have: What would comfort a child?"

It feels great to finally have one done. 1 down, 49 to go! With my goal of making one quilt a month I'm on a good start with finishing 9 days early. Woohoo.

I am thrilled that this project has inspired so many of you to join in. I've already lost count as to how many have contacted me saying that they want to make a quilt. I can't wait to see how all of our talents come together to bring such joy to these children. Keep up the sewing friends. We'll be there before you know it!

Quilts for Uganda

As some of you might have known, we were in the beginning stages of adopting when we found out we were pregnant. We had been given this passion several months ago, but did not have many specifics. While attending an Adoption Conference in October the Lord spoke very clearly to our hearts about the need for families to advocate for and adopt the children of Uganda.

So, why Uganda? Why not another country or why not even right here in America? The answer is simply... I don't know... All I know is that we prayed that the Lord would give us specifics about what orphans we were to focus our energy on and the Lord answered our prayers. He placed Uganda so deeply on our hearts, we cannot help but feel responsible for caring for these children in as many ways as we possibly can.

The facts about Uganda and their orphans are staggering.

Uganda is one of the worlds least developed countries. It is resource poor with an estimated 90% of it population living in rural area’s. It has a current population of 24.7 million (census 2002) and an orphan population of over 2 million set to rise to 3.5 million by 2010 (UNICEF, 2002). This creates an environment in Uganda where 10% of their population are Orphans, and the percentage will only rise.

Orphans Know More.

Uganda has the highest proportion of AIDS orphans in the world. (UAC2001).

Knowing the circumstances surrounding traveling to a country like this pregnant or with a newborn are either quite difficult or impossible. We are once again convinced that the Lord's will is best and even though he placed this passion in our hearts when we were pregnant (but just not aware of this new miracle) he is in control and we simply need to follow his lead, whether it is down the road to adoption one day or another plan to care for orphans.

With that in mind, one of the ways we have chosen to contribute to the orphans of Uganda now is to combine two of my passions and fill a need where there is one. And the best part is, I'm asking you to come along side of me!

I will be sewing and gathering quilts for an orphanage in Uganda and once we have enough quilts for an entire orphanage, we will be shipping them directly to the children. I have spoken with several orphanages and they run anywhere from 30-50 children.

Why quilts? In Quilting for Peace: Making the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time, it explains: The world can be an especially frightening place for its youngest inhabitants. But simple things can have an almost magical effect on anxious children, and quilts seem to hold extra-special comforting powers. Linda Arye, founder of Quilts for Kids, explains it this way: "Somehow, when you get under the covers, the whole world goes away, and it's just you in safe haven. And I guess that's what the quilts do. They provide a safe haven for these kids."

I am aware that a quilt isn't going to change their lives, but many have said that donated quilts are often the only long lasting possession that orphans have to call all their own. So if I had to give them one item of comfort, I can't think of anything better than a quilt.

My goal is at least a quilt a month, so if you do the math, it would take me years to finish alone. So, in faith, I am starting my first quilt this week and asking my fellow sewers to join me. Even if you only make one, or just sent me a quilt top or donate some fabric or send a few dollars to help out with the supplies and shipping, it will help.

The future of our family is completely uncertain, but what I do know is we serve a God who has a heart for the orphans and widows and cares about their lives...and we should too. So, until we get a better glimpse of God's heart for our family, I will sew my love into some quilts for these children that have become so dear to my heart.

This is where the rubber meets the road and I'm beyond excited to see where God is going to take this. Will you consider joining me?

Katya is HOME!

About 2 weeks ago we drove to Dulles Airport in DC to welcome home the Finley's newest family member, Katya. After a year of praying for this day to arrive it was quite an exciting time.

Our boys are really starting to see some of their BIG prayers answered. It's such a faith growing experience for us all. We are so thrilled to be a part of such a beautiful story.





Always room for one more!