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Pickin' & Pies! A Benefit Concert for Lulah

I am so so SO excited to share with y'all about this concert right here.  Did I say SO EXCITED??  This has been in the works for a loooong time and it. is. finally. happening.  A friend had suggested about a year ago that this would be really cool to do (which I agreed) and especially here in Nashville where we know so many incredibly gifted musicians that are more than willing to share their talents.   So, after a long time of thinking and praying about it, waiting for certain things to happen, gathering the right people, it's time. {Thank you to Amanda Speer for designing this lovely poster for us!}

I can't even tell you how much we have already seen God at work in this.  For starters, He has totally blessed us with a beautiful venue.  When planning first began, we really had no idea where we were going to have this concert.  Several ideas were thrown around, but the one thing I kept coming back to was that I wanted it outside, ideally on a farm, in my favorite little Tennessee town of Leiper's Fork.  Okay, I know that's getting pretty picky, but that's just the picture I had in my head.  I'm a dreamer.  Work with it.  Well, we know lots of people who know lots of people that have farms all over middle Tennessee.  I asked these people who asked their people, but nothing was working out it seemed.  Then about a month ago, after weeks of looking and coming up with nothing, I started emailing people.  Random people, that is.  Meaning- people that I don't know.  This is kinda how I work.  I just start asking, thinking it doesn't hurt to ask.  (if you don't know our wedding story, ask me sometime)  And, it just so happens that one of these random people said "Yes" and made me one happy girl.  Meet Paul, aka "Farmer Joe" of Joe Natural's Cafe in Historic Leiper's Fork. giving us the tour

I had met Paul a couple of years ago at his adorable little locavore cafe in Leiper's Fork.   He has a farm where he grows much of what they use at the cafe and sources locally anything else that he doesn't grow.  He hosts a farm to table dinner every month that I know about only because I am on their email list.  So I knew that they hosted some events on the farm, although I had no idea if they ever did anything else there besides the monthly dinner, and if they were even willing to let anyone that they didn't know host something there.  I knew this was a long shot, but, like I said before, it doesn't hurt to ask.  We have had a couple of brief conversations before but I knew he wouldn't remember me, so I emailed him and told him who I was and what we were doing, and that I was just wondering if they ever hosted any outside events at the farm.  Within a few minutes he emailed me back and said, "Let me see what we can do."  I read it and started crying.   It honestly blew me away that he was even considering it.  But why should it have blown me away?  Earlier that very week, after hitting dead ends everywhere, I started praying hard that God would work this detail out.  That He would lead us to a great venue; just any venue at that point.  Could this be it?  I replied back to thank him and let him know that we could work with just about anything and started praying more.  In two days He answered that prayer when I got this second email from Paul:

I'm inclined to let you use the farm free of charge. Our customary fee for the venue is $5,000 for the day.

WHAT??!!  Although we were hoping to not have to pay for a venue, we were thinking that we may need to the way things were looking. In my emails to random people, I had said that we could pay something, although not much, since we were trying to raise money, not spend it.  My mind was blown even more.  Not only did we have a venue, but it's a farm, in Leiper's Fork, and we are paying $0 for it. $0 when they typically charge $5,000.  AND- it's a man that we don't even know.  Our Father keeps on blessing abundantly.  I went out to the farm the next week with a couple of sweet friends, and Paul gave us the grand tour.  The chickens and the pigs and the horses and the dogs were all there to greet us.  We tasted some unbelievably sweet cherry tomatoes and enjoyed just walking the farm and getting to see a little snippet of farm life.  {He is a New Yorker and former mall developer, with a really interesting story on how he came to this bitty little town in Tennessee.}  When I thanked him over and over and told him he really didn't know how much this meant to us, he just said, "Well, I just thought it would be a good thing to do."  He is using what he has been blessed with to be a blessing to others, and so the circle continues. Roaring Creek Farm

We have an awesome line up of musicians that I can't wait for you to hear.  Each one of them are different and special in their own way.  From close family, to close friends, to almost strangers, they all share a love for our Lord and have eagerly and graciously joined our cause. We can't thank them enough for their generosity.   We are asking everyone to bring a pie or two to share, a blanket and chairs and we will provide coffee, cider, water and some other treats to snack on throughout the afternoon.  We have some fun activities planned along with some live auction items and an emcee that provides a level of hilarity that I can't even describe to you.  If you don't know Joseph Kirkpatrick, you need to come just for him alone if for no other reason.  If you do know him, you might be coming for him alone, and we're okay with that.   You can purchase tickets ahead of time at www.loveforlulah.eventbrite.com or pay at the gate.   We have a facebook event page that you can join and keep up with more specific details as we get closer to the day.  It's set up so that you can invite your friends so please share and help us spread the word!  We'll be doing some giveaways soon so keep checking back for your chance to win!

We hope you will join us for a day of great music, yummy pies, good people, beautiful scenery and God's glory.  All for a little girl named Tallulah, who we are patiently waiting for in hope.

***please see our most recent post for a concert update and fabulous auction item that has been donated for our cause!
Posted by JONATHAN and SHAWNA at 12:44 PM Labels: adoption, adoption from madagascar, fundraiser, Joe Natural's, Leiper's Fork, madagascar, tallulah
