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Posted via email from Russell and Meagan's Journey

Free Concerts and A CD

When we first posted our news about adopting I mentioned something about a CD I would be doing. Here is the rest of the story.

For the past several years I have recorded several CDs. When I start the process my goal is to write music people like, that has a biblical message, and that is heavy in the use of the Piano.

I think have done a good job of the first two.. but it always seems that the songs that get chosen for recording are based on the guitar.... I wanted to change that.

This summer I am offering churches, youth groups, house bible studies and anyone else who will listen, a free night of music and worship. This will include congregational worship, original songs, and instrumental piano. The thing is, I'm leaving the guitar at home. Just me, the congregation, and a piano (or keyboard).

The entire evening will be recorded. At the end of the summer, or maybe early fall, I will collect all the recordings and compile them. Then I'll choose 10-15 of the best instrumental pieces for an instrumental piano CD.

When the CD is finished it will be made available for sale. The majority of the proceeds will help us in the adoption process. A portion of each CD, however, will go to help raise awareness about adoption, and to help others with the process.

If you are interested in helping you can do so in 4 ways:

1. Pray- Pray for us as we begin this journey, pray for families considering adoption, pray for children waiting to be adopted, pray for this CD and what God has in store.

2. Host a night of worship- My goal is to line up 15 worship events. These can be large church services, youth groups, retreats, or even home groups. My goal is to finish recording by the end of August. There is no cost for the event, I am only asking for a love offering to help with travel expenses.

3. Buy a CD when they come out. I’ll let you know when.

Our Journey Begins

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

Life is a journey. It is a journey where the only thing you can really plan on, is that your plans will change. 5 years ago Meagan and I set out on a journey of our own. We got married, and planned on starting a family within a few years. A few years have come, and a few years have gone and we have not yet had the chance to begin this journey.

Someone once said that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. We have come to realize that our plans, for the way we wanted things to be just might not be what God has planned for us. And as Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, His plans are to prosper and not to harm, to give a hope and a future.

One thing that Meagan and I both said before we even got married is that at some point we wanted to adopt. In the past year we have had little hints, and reminders that have brought that thought back up to us. So in November of this past year we began the process.

We are only at the beginning stages of this journey. We have an orientation to go to, home study to be conducted and money to raise. We wanted to let you know now, because we ask for your prayers. Prayers that we are doing what God wants of us; prayers that financial and physical resources will be found; and prayers for the birthmother and child we hope to be connected with.

We also want you to pray for all those who are, like we were, being led to consider adopting. We want to use this blog not only to tell our story, our journey, but also to encourage those who will be embarking on this same journey soon. If you are considering adoption, ask questions, talk to us. We will try to post resources, stories and encouragement we receive along the way. If you have adopted, then feel free to offer your own stories, of joys, struggles, and experiences you have encountered on your own journey.

Finally, we want to encourage you to pray for all those children who are currently or will be put up for adoption for whatever reason, wherever in the world they are.

So that's about it. You'll hopefully be hearing from us on a regular basis. You'll hear about our trip for orientation with stories and photos; you will hear more about a live piano CD that Russell is recording this summer to help raise money and awareness for adoption; and you will hear about where we are and what else is going on.

We hope you will join us and pray for us as we begin this amazing journey.

Thank you and God Bless

Russell and Meagan Martin