When is it okay to just give up?

That is a question I have been asking myself for weeks. To say that these past few months have been hard would be the understatement of the year. It seems like Richard and I can never get a break. We are both beat down and exhausted. We thought that life back in the states would come together a bit more smoothly...we thought that getting into the routine of life would be a whole lot easier...and we thought that God would open the doors for us a whole lot sooner....God's timing NOT OURS!
Today has been one of those days I want to curl up and go hide in a corner. My heart is aching for a baby that I don't think is mine...my checkbook is leaking money that I know we don't have...and my soul is searching for answers that are not coming that easy. Crying...yep...that is what my day has been. These are REFINING times. These times of brokenness only make us stronger. I know that we are not alone and I know (for a fact) that we have friends who are a lot worse off than we are....but man...refining is hard work.
God promises us that he will provide for us and be faithful to us in all circumstances and right now I am clinging to that promise.
It is just one of those days...
It is bound to happen...
Prayer is what I (we) need...
Praise the Lord HE is in control...

If you would like to pray for us specifically....here goes:
*Richard finds a job VERY soon.
*We figure my health stuff out.
*God will provide for us on our adoption journey and give us direction as we make decisions in that area.
*God will provide a small group for us to be a part of....Richard and I could really use a "sense of community" right now!


Special Note:
In happier news....our online adoption auction will be happening very soon! Make sure to continue to check back for details!


Love and Blessings,

Hello Friends and Family…
I am starting a new venture to raise money for our adoption. I was approached by another adoptive mommy to go into adoption fundraising with her (and her already established business) and I couldn’t resist the opportunity.
Below are several of the necklaces that I am selling and 100% of the proceeds will go towards our adoption for baby #2! Each necklace will come with a chain and a guarantee that if you do not like it I will refund your money! There is a flat rate shipping of $1.50 added to each order no matter how many necklaces you order!

Group #1….Pre-made (There are many more scriptures to chose from so if you have one in particular that you would like let me know!)

$15.00











Group #2……Custom (your child or your grandchild’s name or picture…the pendant can hold up to 10 names….your child’s sports team and number….we can do about anything)

$20.00






We have also decided to make a necklace that represents our adoption. This necklace will look just like the scripture necklaces and it will say "Defend the cause of the Fatherless" It is listed at a special price of $12.00! Order yours today!!

Please feel free to pass this on to your family and friends!
Thank you in advance for your support!!

If you have any questions or would like to place an order you can find me on Facebook or email me at tiffjett@hotmail.com

A change....

As many of you know we have used this blog as a way to keep in touch while we were in Kosova. Since we are no longer in Kosova this blog is going to change. We will now be writing about our journey to bring baby #2 home. Yes...you read that right we are starting the process again. We are at the very early stages but we are super excited. We have been accepted by The Home of God's Love in Taiwan to adopt another baby....we just now have to raise the funds to start our homestudy and other paperwork.
In order to raise these funds we have decided to do a few fundraisers to help offset the cost. The first fundraiser that we are going to do is an online auction!! It will start at the beginning of March....so check back here to find out more info!!
The second fundraiser we are going to do is a HUGE yard sale (once the weather gets nice)...so as you begin to Spring clean *think* about us and maybe you could donate that item to our yard sale!!
We are very excited about this new journey that God is taking us on and we are even more excited that you have decided to join us on this journey!!!

Blessings!

As the "love season" approaches I am reminded of all love that I have been blessed with!
I have an amazing husband who loves me as his bride....
I have an amazing son who loves me as his mother....
I have an amazing God who loves me as his daughter....
I am blessed.

This year promises to be a year of change, growth, and love....and I am excited!

Richard and I have so many "goals" that we hope to accomplish this year but we know that our first goal is to love unconditionally. That is so hard. There are times when I get so frustrated with life. I get frustrated because we dont have jobs, I get frustrated because we dont have enough money, I get frustrated because nothing ever seems to "go right". But when it is all said and done I know that we both have a love for each other that is unconditional and that will see us through these "rough times".

My challenge for you for the month, for the year is to love unconditionally....love as Christ loves.
Life is hard....I get it. I have been through a crazy year myself but no matter what I am committed to loving others. My husband, my son, my friends, my church family, my co-workers.

How will you love??

'bout time....

Good grief....I am SO far behind on my blogging. I still have our layout as a Christmas theme. Gonna have to work on that!

Many of you are probably interested in what the Jett family is doing now that we are back in the states.

We all finally made it here after delayed flights and awful weather. We enjoyed spending the holidays with my family. It was great to see family that we hadnt seen in a while. After the first of the year we began seriously working on getting my surgery taken care of but unfortunately have ran into one problem after another. The latest is that my insurance is causing us major grief and they are wanting all this paperwork. We have submitted the paperwork and now are waiting for them to review it and get back with us as to what their decision is (if they will cover it or not). Hopefully we will hear something very soon and I can get it all taken care of.

We are still job hunting (well Richard is...I will be starting the process soon when we find out exactly where we will be living). He is looking in Knoxville, TN and in Joplin, MO. He has sent out at least 50 applications and resumes to places in Knoxville and we have heard nothing...so now we are focusing more on the Joplin area, praying that some of our connections here will turn into something.

We have been attending College Heights Christian Church here in Joplin since we have been back and WE LOVE IT. We are going to try and get into a small group and attend Wednesday night elective classes. We are so thankful for a good church to attend and experience growth with.

Overall we are doing good! Enjoying being back with our friends and family but miss Kosova like crazy.

Hopefully we will have job updates VERY soon!!

Love you all very much,
Tiffany

PS. Check out my friends blog! She is getting ready to start an online auction and all the proceeds go to their adoption of two children from Ethiopia. Please support them if you can!

http://www.teamchase4andcounting.blogspot.com/

Change is a comin'

As I sit here and write this blog I realize we only have 8 days left here in Kosova. So weird. My mind and spirit are a mix of emotions. On one hand I am so incredibly excited to see my family and friends...but on the other hand I am extremely sad to be leaving our wonderful students and new friends we made here in Kosova. God truly blessed our time here and I would not exchange it for anything. Being here is Kosova has made a huge impact on my life. I now see Jesus in a totally different way. Being the church means more to me than it has ever before. And being a wife and mother has taken on a whole new meaning. God is good and I am thankful.

I am so excited to see what God has in store for us in our future. There are TONS of unknowns and at times it is a bit scary and overwhelming, but I know that our God is in control and because of that I can put my whole trust in HIM.

This week will be crazy for us. Not only are we in the midst of packing and trying to crunch our life into 6-8 suitcases we will also be attending lots of parties and dinners. It will be so much fun to have one last hoorah! with a few of our good friends here.

Kyler is changing so much. I am so excited for our families to see him. He is talking so much and he is so funny! I think we might have a comedian (or class clown) on our hands. What a joy to be his mommy! In the midst of all of my health stuff and very frustrating moments he can always bring a smile to my face. I love that little guy so much.

I am sure that I will be updating again soon. Just wanted to check in to the blog world!

Until next time....

Much love,
Tiffany

PS...dont forget to check out Richard's amazing website... www.hisnamenotmine.com
(he is so humble and doesnt want to make a big deal of anything but let me just share...he has been approached about submitting a couple of his posts to various magazines for publishing.....i am just a LITTLE proud of him!!!)

The journey continues.....

Hello friends and family,

We seriously have the best supporters, friends and family ever. We love you all so much. The flood of emails we have gotten with encouragement from you all has been amazing. But we realize not everyone knows what is going on.....so let us share.

Since Tiffany's gallbladder surgery she has continued to be in a lot of pain and began experiencing some other serious health issues. After a couple of months of these issues we realized that she needed help so we told some trusted friends here what she was dealing with and all three of them gave the name of a Christian British doctor who is in Kosova to train fellow doctors. We felt confident in seeing her because she is one of the top doctors in her field in Europe thus knowing that her facility/instruments would be sanitary.

We went expecting her to be able to look at Tiffany and tell us what the problem was and then be able to prescribe some medication to heal her. What happened instead is she told us the seriousness of the issue and that Tiffany would need another surgery. So we thought we were going to be making another trip to Greece, but when we told her this she said Greece was not an option. She explained that given the sensitivity of the area in need of surgery and seriousness of complications we had to go back to the States. We couldn’t believe it and tried to talk about other options, but she emphatically said over and over that the only option was to go back to the States right away to receive the proper medical care. Even waiting till May she said would result in serious lifelong consequences.

We left the visit and went to a nearby restaurant to debrief the news we had just been given. We both cried sitting there. We had resolved to our motto “endure through the suffering” and fully believed that we would press on through our commitment here even though things have been tough (school situation, health, and other issues we shared with many of you). Our prayer has always been, “God we are not going anywhere unless you clearly tell us to go.” And now that is exactly what is happening and we are sad.

We have sadness because we don’t want to leave Lide (our nanny) and her family. They have become part of our family and it breaks our hearts to leave them so soon. We also are sad to leave our students and miss out on opportunities to share the Gospel with them. For example last week I a student point blank asked me how I could be so confident that I was going to Heaven…if that is not an open door then I don’t know what is. In this time we hold on to 1 Corinthians 3:7-9:

“It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building.”

We realize how we have been and how we will respond to this tough time will speak volumes to those looking on about our hope and faith in God. When we suffer the spotlight is on us. People are looking to see if we respond in a way that will validate our faith or will we respond like those with no hope?

We are also very scared. Because we know that by coming back to the US the suffering is not going to stop. In fact in some ways the suffering will be simply changing shape. Yes it will be easier by having you all and family nearby but we thought we had 5 months to line up a place to stay and places to work but now we only have 2 weeks.

So the craziness begins. Today we were able to secure plane tickets for Dec. 21. We will be flying to Indianapolis where we will spend a few days with Richard's family before heading down to Joplin to be with Tiffany's family for Christmas and shortly following....the surgery. Some VERY dear friends of ours, the Winstons, have been helping us raise money to get back to the states, have some for medical expenses, and hopefully still have some extra to see us through for a few months until we find jobs. These dear friends also have been in contact with a great doctor for Tiffany. He is willing to see Tiffany for free if the insurance doesn't pan out. Tiffany's health issues where explained to this doctor and he is familiar with the type of surgery Tiffany needs....although he said it is very delicate and if he cannot do it, he will refer us on. We are SO thankful for our friends and how they have help support us in so many ways.

At this time we are simply trusting in God. We know that HE is in control of what is going on and we trust in HIM completely.

We will continue to keep this blog going...but it will just change directions!

Continue to follow us here to find out what is next with the Jett's.

We love you all so much!!