Orphan Advocacy–Reece’s Rainbow and Holt

Time to do a bit of orphan advocacy, or, you know….James 1:27.  (by the way, “pure religion” was almost the name of this blog…just fyi)

Reece’s Rainbow advocates for waiting children.  There are 100s of children in need of families. If you feel called to adopt, visit their site and learn more.  If you want to donate to waiting children’s grants, you can.  That grant is given to their family when they are matched and ready to travel.

Here are a few of the waiting children… Justin, age 1 1/2. He has Down’s Syndrome and heart issues.  He has a huge grant to help his family bring him home.  Is it you?

Meet Miss Naomi.  She is 5, beautiful and has Cerebral Palsy. Her country is open to single moms.

And on the Holt Waiting Child Page, there are boys and girls waiting. Waiting for their forever families.

What? Did you ask about requirements to adopt? Look here for info about several countries.

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. (Proverbs 3:27)

I’m glad you stopped by today!

Almost DONE!

I updated my little vine on the side….did you see it?? We left that little lady bug behind;)  ((Small update: There was a cute little vine, but I accidentally deleted it.  Oops. Just take my word for it…it was really cute.))

We may have gotten a bit overzealous with the tee shirts. If you want one, let us know! I’ll mail it to you for $20.  (or 2 for $30!) Pretty please! I can only wear so many tee shirts!!;)  Otherwise, you better hope I don’t get your name at dirty santa this year…

(Just for clarification, any more money donated/raised will still go toward our expenses.  We have some travel expenses that are going to be a bit more expensive since we’ll be traveling around summer time…you know, when ticket prices jump up! We’re not stressing about it, though.)

Thanks, everyone:) We cannot wait to go to Korea!

Here’s a link to some children waiting for their family…..it could be you , ya know!

Trust

Wow, it’s election day again! Even though the campaigning started waaaayy too early, it doesn’t seem like 4 years have gone by. So, what about tomorrow? This is what I know. I’ll be supportive of either candidate who becomes president.  I don’t think one is our saving grace and one is some horrible being. I do know that God created them both, just like he created you and me. I also know that neither man can save this world, nor can they condemn it to utter despair.  They’re just men.  Psalm 25:5 says “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” v.21 “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.”

Moving along…

It is National Adoption Month! Learn more about getting involved somehow in orphan care, foster care, or adoption. If we’re believers, we are all called to care for widows and orphans. (James 1:27)

Here’s a ministry that helps both.  Wiphan.  Take a look.

Learn more about adopting through foster care. AdoptUSKids

There are many children with special needs featured on Reece’s Rainbow.

There are so many other good organizations that help in various ways. Feel free to let me know of your favorites!

Do you know a family who has adopted? Know someone who’s in process? Do you have any friends who are foster parents? This month is a good time to encourage them. Take them a meal, send them a note, give them a big hug. Not everyone adopts, but everyone can care.

Now a word about our adoption……thank you so much for those who ordered the necklaces as soon as I posted them on Facebook! I’m ordering more and will let you know when they come in.  If you want a t-shirt, holla’!  I’m mailing some out this week.  All of the money is going toward our adoption expenses.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW: If you feel led to give, you can do so by clicking the donate button or by ordering a shirt, necklace, 31 gifts item (event on FB with shopping link)  or shopping on Zoe Clothing, where we are still benefitting from sales.  We are grateful for those who have supported us.  We greatly appreciate your generosity.  If you would like a tax deductible receipt, please mail it or send it via paypal on the Reece’s Rainbow site. (their mailing address is on there, too)  If you do give there, we will not be given the names of our donors, only amounts given.  So, if you give, please let me know so I can thank you!

WHY DO WE HAVE TO FUNDRAISE?  When we had our boys, our insurance covered the majority of those expenses. When you adopt, your insurance doesn’t cover anything. So, while we have saved money and are paying as much as possible ourselves, we know we have to rely on our “village”….our friends and family and those who have taken an interest in our adoption. Also, we hope to hear good news from a grant that we applied for in December. We appreciate your prayers and kind words!!  Adoption is an emotional roller coaster, let me tell ya!  We also know that God is using this time to teach us about our own faith, faith vs religion, and totally transforming our lives. It’s hard and good at the same time.

WHO ARE WE ADOPTING? Here’s a picture of sweet Julianna…

Isn’t she the cutest thing ever? She was snacking away on her toddler puffs!! Drinking her juice like crazy and just being adorable!! (This was about 10 minutes before she slung my glasses off. I should’ve put that picture up, huh? Hey, tantrums don’t scare me!)

So, if you want to help, we welcome it! We’ll keep you posted on any new information about the adoption, but as of now, we’re still thinking she should be able to come home in the Spring.  We can’t wait!

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Sunday

It has been a beautiful  2 days here in MS. The cool weather has kicked in–woohoo!!  Sean is gone for a couple of weeks–boooo! I wore my new boots today–love them–thanks, Sean!  Caleb made his wonderful costume today while Jacob and I worked on his school project.  We had a nice, relatively fight-free afternoon.

I’ve had a few questions about our tees that we’re selling. The ladies’ shirts are true to size and a medium red color.  The men’s are lighter and more “washed” in appearance.  You can click the picture to order.  I’ll put our fundraiser link HERE so you don’t have to scroll down to find it.  We appreciate those who have purchased items from us or Zoe Clothing.  We’re still on their site, by the way! Isn’t that nice of them? Seriously, it is;)  If you bought a shirt from them, upload it to their FB page! And mine, for that matter:) Did we tell you that if Caleb had been a girl his name would’ve been Zoe? We love it! (Julianna was close to being a Zoe, too, just so ya know)

While I’m soooo very excited about our baby girl coming home next year (excited is an understatement), I still have a burden in my heart for those children who don’t have families.  It just makes me sad, as a mother. Children need to be in a home where they are loved. So tonight, I’m putting up a link to Reece’s Rainbow for a boy named Felix. He is in Eastern Europe and is waiting on his family. He’s also HIV positive. And he needs a mama. He has been transferred out of the baby house into a mental institution.  That’s where children with special needs go. To a mental institution where they receive no real education and they just live there forever. Felix is 4.  There is a social worker in Oklahoma who has offered free home study services to any OK family who wants to adopt him.  It’s almost more than I can stand to write. I know that I can’t save the world and I know that everyone doesn’t adopt. We all have our own “callings”.  I get it.  But someone may be interested in learning more about Felix, so I’ll spread the word here and you can share this info to others. You can also learn more about adopting and caring for kids with HIV at Project Hopeful. Also, here’s a link for AdoptUs Kids, the US foster system’s registry for children within our country who are eligible for adoption.

Thank you for supporting us on this part of our journey! And believe me, it truly has been a journey that is changing us, hopefully, for the better.

Saturday Hello

How is your Saturday going? I have my coffee (thanks, Sean!), slept late and the boys are enjoying their morning of nothingness. It’s a good day.

One perk of being involved in advocating for adoption is that I’ve made some new friends who are also in the adoption process. Sally is currently in the second half of their adoption phase. Check out her blog about bringing Martin home.  (feel free to chip in to their fund–they have a matching grant through October)

As always, you can click my big Give1Save1 Asia button, too, to see the current family of the week!  (see it over there on the right?) The Campbell family will be featured through this weekend and next week will be the Tucker family. Take a look at their stories, too.

Our Zoe Clothing fundraiser is still up and running! You get cute clothes (the girls’ tees are especially cute!)  and they donate a percentage to us:)  We truly appreciate it!

Oh, and Sean is teaching Caleb to vacuum…….my day just got better!