Tiny Ones.

Hello!

If you read this post earlier this week, you know that I've been working on a brand new product.  I'm so pleased to announce that they have made their way into the shop as of this morning and are now ready to be purchased!

Right now, we have three collections of colors that have been specially chosen and put together. However, there is an option to pick and choose which colors you want. I'm still working on picking out new colors and finding knew color combinations that I think look nice together, so if you don't see your favorite colors, please let me know! I would be so happy to work with you to find a collection that works with your little one's style.

I've decided that to properly kick off this product, there needs to be a sale of some kind. So, for one week only, when you buy one collection, you get a second for free! No joke. It's for real happening. All you have to do when you check out is leave a Note to Seller with your second collection choice, or three new color choices. So, for $10, you're getting 6 [[instead of the usual 3]] hand crafted hair bows! 

Tell your neighbors! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Because, come 11:59 CST August 6th, I will no longer be offering this deal.

Happy Wednesday!

Introducing...

I've been working hard to come up with new products for the Fāyán Knits family for a while. For me, it's difficult to think in terms of knitting when I step outside and it's a thousand degrees.

However, I am proud to introduce a new product that will be hitting the shop this week.

These adorable bows will come in a variety of colors and can be completely customized depending on your taste. Once these babies launch, I will be holding a sale, so be on the lookout for the coupon code! 

 Much love,

Short Update + Some Exciting News

Lately, people have been asking me, "So, how long until you guys get a child?" This is a very valid question, but the answer can be quite complex. Right now, the pressure is on us because we still have paperwork to finish and a profile to complete. We're hoping that will be finished in the next month or so. However, once that is completed and handed in, we aren't really sure how long it will be before we go into circulation. After we are in circulation, we don't know how long it will be until we are chosen by the birth mother as viable parents for her child.

So, while I would like to tell people exactly when we can expect to have our little one, I can't. Imagine the excitement of finding out you're pregnant, you know that a baby is on the way, but you have absolutely no clue as to when baby will arrive. It could be tomorrow or it could be in a few years. There is honestly no way of knowing and in this place, we have to really lean into God and trust His timing. Adoption is definitely a waiting game, but God is working and preparing the way, it can just be difficult to see at times. We believe that God is busy orchestrating all of the right circumstances to lead our child to us, if only we're patient.

I would now like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been praying for us and those of you who have chosen to help us out financially. We are now very happy to announce that we are fully funded for Phase 1! This means that we can go ahead and submit our paperwork to begin the finalization process.

We are feeling so blessed and in awe as we've seen God work. As the money continues to come in, we are constantly humbled at the kindness and the generosity of others. We see how much people want to see our adoption come to fruition and that they're willing to help us get there. We honestly couldn't have made it this far so quickly without everyone's help and we will be forever grateful.

We're still working hard to raise the rest of the money and we will have a few new opportunities in the coming months for ways you can give. As always, you can visit my shop, donate via Paypal [[button in sidebar]], or shop through Pure Charity.

Print available here.

Much love,

Seeing God

As we've started walking this road called "Adoption" there have been many times that I have tried to take everything into my own hands. 

If I just hand in all of this paperwork ASAP...

If I return this email right this instant...

If I....[[fill in the blank]]

But, adoption is a very humbling process. Everything but filling out the paperwork and having my home clean and ready for the home study, is out of my control. 

I can't make a birth mom choose us.

I can't move our paperwork to top priority so that we get into the system faster.

There are just a lot of things that I can't do.

I have been witnessing God move over and over again and we're really only in the beginning phase of adoption. 

God has provided the funds we need to cover expenses.

God found us an agency that would work with us when no one else would.

He has already done so much and used our family and friends to bless us, not just financially, but also through loving support and prayer. 

Things are slowly but surely moving forward. We've (read I've) started making our adoption profiles. [[They're really just scrapbooks that the birth moms get to look through. I have to make 5 of them...]]

We've been putting off some of the paperwork for now simply because the questions are a little overwhelming...

"Where would you like your relationship with your child to be in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?"

How does one answer that question if one does not even know the gender of their child yet? Oh well...we have to answer it...as long as it's a "healthy" answer, I don't think they care what we say...

So, quick financial update:

We are 23% of the way to our goal of $13,000! 

I don't want to keep hounding people for money [[because that's not what we're about here...]] however, we would like to invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in our endeavor. Even if you don't feel called to give financially, we covet your prayers. 

Here are some ways you can be praying with us:

{1} Pray for our future birth mother. She has been heavily on my heart lately. I don't even know who she is yet, but I am already feeling the burden of what she will have to go through in the future. Pray that God will continue preparing Josh and I to partner with this new family and be able to work together for the good of our child.

{2} Praise for God continuing to meet our needs financially. He is still blessing us through gifts and stories from our loved ones and we just can't say thank you enough!

One final announcement:

I would like to set a fundraising goal of 25% by the end of the weekend. And to help us reach that marker, I'm having a BOGO sale!! Everything in the shop is Buy One Get One!! No joke...

Just use the code FAYANBOGO at check out to receive your discount. 

Thanks for all of your love and support!!

A Last Minute Sale

Hey friends!

God has been good in the last week and we have received so much support from our loved ones to help us reach our fundraising goal of $1,500 by Thursday.

However, we're still a bit short, so I've decided to have a last minute sale. From now through Thursday, you can get 15% off of everything in the shop by using the coupon code PHASEONE at checkout. We really appreciate your help to bring our child home to us!

 



Much love,

Fundraising Update

Alright.

So, a few weeks ago, I posted to update y'all on our adoption plan. We expressed our need for fundraising and have seen some amazing generosity! We are currently ~2% to our final goal of $13,000.

Here is where we need to really ask your help. Next Thursday [[May 16th]] we have our first home study. We will owe $1,500 at this time. Please consider purchasing something from our shop or making a donation by clicking on the "Donate" button in the left-hand sidebar to help us reach this first milestone.

UPDATE (5.8.13): We are currently 11% of the way to reaching our first goal!

Thank you to all who have supported us financially and through prayer so far!
Much love,

An April Fools Sale + Shop Announcement

April Fools in not something we celebrate in our house.

[[Mostly because I can dish it out but I can't take it...]]

But that doesn't mean that we can't still have a little fun and enjoy the spirit of the day. 

SO! *drumroll please* From now until Saturday April 6th, you can take 25% off ANYTHING in the shop! 

You heard me...

ANYTHING!

No fooling.

Simply use the coupon code APRILFOOLS at checkout.

I also would like to take this opportunity to announce that I am now adding PRINTS to the shop! Yep. It's true. Fāyán Knits is now going to be Fāyán Knits & Prints. Exciting stuff!

So, to recap all that's happening:

1) It's April Fools Day, so I'm having a sale. 

2) Coupon code is APRILFOOLS

3) I am now selling Scripture Prints.

WHAT A DAY! 

So go. Now. Hit up the store.

And have a safe//cautious April Fools Day!

My Heart

Last night I attended an online class through the Influence Network about creative ways to fund an adoption. My husband and I sat attentively listening to Lauren share her family's story of adoption. Their story was so inspiring and encouraging, I urge you to hop on over to her site and read it for yourselves.

We learned a lot about what we need to do to get started on this journey and our eyes were opened to the enormity of the task God has placed before us. We have yet to figure out what the cost will be for us, mostly because we are unsure of the type of adoption we will be pursuing at this time [[domestic or international.]] We do know that we will be doing some fundraising.

Fundraising is such a scary word. Lauren shared with us her definition of fundraising, which I found to be wise and inspired.
        

                      "Fundraising is not simply asking others to give you money for something you want to do. Fundraising is an invitation to be a part of a greater work that God is doing in your life and the lives of others. It's allowing others the blessing of being a part of a redemption story."



This is such an accurate depiction of what I want from our community. I want people who have a heart for orphans but who may not feel called to adopt, to be able to participate in our story.

Proverbs 31:8 is the verse that inspired the name of my handmade shop, Fāyán Knits. Fāyán means "speak" in Mandarin. I began my shop in April of 2012 to begin the process of raising the necessary funds for an adoption. I decided that I wanted to do all that I could to bring home our child who is yet unknown to us. If you would like to help us in our journey to become adoptive parents, I ask that you check out my shop. 100% of the profits go straight into our savings fund and each dollar brings us a step closer to our goal. [[p.s. Everything is 15% off with code FAYAN15 at checkout!! But only through the end of the month!]]

In the future, we will be looking into more ways to raise money, but for now, we would really appreciate it if you could partner with us in prayer.

Things you can be praying with us for:

{1} Our decision on international vs. domestic adoption.

{2} That we find an agency that will work well with our family and specific needs.

{3} That we be patient and open to how God will be working in our lives.

If you are currently in the throes of adoption fundraising, have been through it all before, or if you are interested in adopting in the future, I would love to connect with you! Please leave a comment below or  email me at fayanknits {at} gmail {dot} com.

Much love,

In the New Year...

Over the past few months, I've taken a break from my blog. I've posted a few times, but nothing major for a while now. I've just been focusing on other things.

• I've been growing my handmade business, Fāyán Knits.
• I've been focusing on my husband and my relationships. It's really important to me to have people on my side. People I would fight for and know would fight for me should I ever need it.
• I've been focusing on rest. I've had a few warning signs lately that I need to slow down my schedule [[migraines, etc.]] I also need to learn to say "no" to things because being a people pleaser leads to nowhere good.

But, with a new year, comes new hope! I'm taking a week of rest starting Christmas Eve. During this week, I plan on actually sitting down and taking time to create a working schedule for myself. It seems like I have 3 main parts of my life right now and I can't balance them equally at all. If I'm too into keeping up house, my business and blog suffer. But these last few weeks, my sole focus has been growing Fāyán Knits, so our home and my blog have taken a back burner.

Also, I've been reading The No Brainer Blog by Hayley Morgan. I will be making a few changes to the blog and how I do things around here. This book has been so inspirational and helpful! If you have a blog, please consider hopping over and picking up a copy. It's seriously great.

So, since this will be my last post of 2012, Merry Christmas, y'all! + Happy New Year!

Catch you on the flip side!

Fall Sale @ Fāyán Knits

Hey y'all!

Fall is upon us! [[Basically...]] And you know what that means...

NEW FALL KNITS!!

 

In an effort to get you new products in the shop, I would like to clear inventory from summer. The season of change will be bringing in some changes to my shop. I would like to begin using all natural fibers in my products to ensure the best quality [[and coziest]] knits there are! However, I can't get you these new products without clearing out a few of the ones that are already stocked...

SO!

I have decided to give y'all 15% off everything in the shop! Yep...15%! Off of everything!

All you have to do is enter the code

FALL15

at checkout. Simple as pie. So head on over to Fāyán Knits and do some shopping! [[Because I'm really excited about the new projects I'm working on and you should be too!]]

Snapshots: Life As of Late

I feel like as of a few weeks ago, life has just gotten crazy hectic.

Not that my time has been completely filled to the brim with activities, but that when I do actually have time for myself, my very last concern is coming up with a new thing to post about.

But, hey, it's still summer...so give me a break.

A few weeks ago, Josh and I went down to SC for a visit with his family.

This wasn't scary at all...

I'm obviously married to the best looking man around...obviously.

Since I wouldn't get out of the boat [[I have a thing about murky water...]] my husband left a note on the beach so it looked like I got out.

Half eaten horseshoe crab that Josh found...that thing stank something fierce!

Shrimp boat.

This thing wasn't big at all...

I mean, honestly, the things you see in the south...

Reminds me of the church we used to attend when I was little...

 Another reason for my lack of blog posts is that I have been too focused on getting my Etsy Shop updated. I have been working on some new marketing strategies and trying to focus my products. Instead of offering up a variety of items and seeing what sells, I will now be focusing on one specific type of product and moving on from there. I will have a couple of new items up starting some time next week [[assuming all goes according to plan...]].

I hope y'all have had an amazing week, and that you have an equally amazing weekend!

Drumroll Please...

I am pleased to announce that my Etsy shop is now OPEN!!! [[hurrah!]] It feels like it's been a long time coming, and I still have managed to only have two listings, but be not dismayed for I have more items on the way! [[For example I am currently finishing up some knitted coffee sleeves.]] The name of the shop is Fāyán Knits. Fāyán means "speak" in Mandarin. I decided on it after reading Proverbs 31:8 [[Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.]] That is exactly what I want to use the funds from this shop to do. I am just so excited that this day has come!

So please go take a look at it [[there is a link at the top of this page]]. I know there's not much to see right now, but keep an eye on it because I have more coming.

I am currently searching for more ideas for products, so if you have any ideas, please send them my way! [[jspencer2303@gmail.com]]