The perfect Christmas gift!

If your idea of the perfect Christmas gift is being a part of God's work in saving lives, that is. Here are four of the next Leras, nearing their turn to move from the orphanage baby house to a Russian institution where they are ineligible for adoption. I doubt the gospel is shared in the institution and certainly not to children who are not really viewed as human, much less humans with an eternal soul who were made in the image of God just as we are. Really, the plea isn't so much about giving them a home, it's about giving them an eternal Home. It's about being conformed to the image of Christ, who came to seek and to save the lost and who gave us a Commission to continue that work on earth.

Romans 10:14: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We're having a FIAR Christmas tour of homes so I thought I'd play along and add some pictures of what Christmas looks like in our home so far.

Christmas tree in foyer. Please ignore the lovely cord on the floor. I usually try to camouflage it with gifts but I haven't wrapped any yet! Oops.

Top of tree (because I know you couldn't tell) and balcony with pretty pink poinsettias peeking over!


This is new. I decided to string some lights from balcony to balcony over the living room. We just put them up last night and it was pretty fun to have them twinkling overhead in the dark. I think next year I will either do more or switch to those lights that have the lighted snowflakes attached. Wouldn't that be fun?

This is our new kids' tree in the living room. I bought a taller slim tree because the little 4.5 footer was sheathed in ornaments last year. Not sure how long this one will last, either!

I hang our stockings in the dining room so I can use hooks with Command adhesive that wouldn't work on the stone fireplace in my living room.

I haven't finished in my kitchen yet, but plan to keep it fairly simple. Too much work is happening in the kitchen to allow much room for Christmas decor!

I'd love any and all to link to their own Christmas pictures at home!

Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree (take 2)

For those of you who were following Lera's situation last week, followed by her amazing rescue, please let me introduce you to several future Leras.

Zane in China. I received an Angel Tree ornament with his picture on it last year, and he is still waiting this year. Because China is so new in allowing children with Down Syndrome to be adopted, we really don't yet know what their future looks like in the way that we know what the future looks like for children with DS in Eastern European countries. I can confidently say, however, that the future of a child in a family is going to be better than a child in an orphanage.

Victoria, still a baby in many ways
My love -- Rebecca in Russia, who is not exactly on the Angel Tree, but can be accessed along with all of the Older Girls like....
.....Varsha in India. She is another repeat member of the Angel Tree from last year, and maybe even from the year before. I know I've been admiring her beauty for a long time and wishing for a home for her.

Tonya in Ukraine. She is already old enough to be transferred from her baby house to an institution, although as far as we know she hasn't been yet. She has a $4,000+ grant right now. This child has been and is covered with prayer. I know she will be a blessing!

Sophia, also still a baby, and a beauty, too!

Joseph. Isn't he handsome?

Jin-Wu in Korea. Another beautiful little face, another two timer on the Angel Tree.

Ivy in Ukraine. Scrumptious, isn't she? I think I would always want to dress her in green!

Charlie in Ukraine. He's been seen by several adoptive parents and they all think he's adorable. Doesn't he look like fun?

Ernie in Mexico. It isn't too far away, you know! I know he has also been covered in prayer because I am his Prayer Warrior! If you would like to be involved with Reece's Rainbow we always need more Prayer Warriors.

Ashleigh in Eastern Europe must have the smoochiest cheeks around! Adorableness!

Anastasia looks like a delicate flower to me. She's in Russia and facing institutionalization. Should we let that peaches and cream complexion turn wan and sallow?

A large grant like Lera eventually received can be the difference between an intolerable existence in an institution or a life, a real, full, rich life in a family.

If you follow the link on my side bar or click here, you can see all these children and more in the Reece's Rainbow annual Angel Tree. If you donate at least $35, you will receive a Reece's Rainbow ornament with your sponsored child's picture on the back. I received 2 last year for Christmas and couldn't have been happier with any gift. While there are always a million and one things I think I might like, I can never say that even one of them would make me happier than to know that one of my angels with Down Syndrome is closer to coming home.

In fact, the only thing that would make me happier is for all of those faces to be gone next year because they are home.

Please pray over these beautiful faces. Please give if you are able. Please adopt if you feel the Lord calling you.

Anna's debris hut

Anna is taking an online course called Adventures in Literature. They are reading through a number of different books with adventure themes. One of the books, Brian's Hunt, is set in the Canadian wilderness. Brian is mostly alone and builds a debris hut for shelter. Anna's class was asked to build one as well and then send pictures of their results to the teacher. The kids and I had a great time assisting Anna in building her hut. We are fortunate that we live with some woods on our property. We even threw some flowers on the hut for decoration (seeing as it's the end of the season and some of our flowers had grown incredibly large due to all the rain).

I thought she did a great job! She has really blossomed this year in school as far as taking a lot of responsibility for her assignments. With each new book assigned, her teacher will give pages of project ideas, vocabulary, etc. Anna will disappear to her room for hours and work diligently on her assignments. It's been a fun experience, and she is already looking forward to next semester's class!

Luke's 14th Birthday

How can it be that I became a mom 14 years ago!!! How can it be that my shy little toddler is now a mouthy young man almost as tall as I am? When did Thomas the Tank Engine and dinosaurs get replaced with Legos, making corny cooking videos, becoming a massive Ranger's fan and a facebook afficionado? And where did all those goofy Chuck Norris jokes come from?

I don't even want to think about what changes the next year will bring much less the next 14!

Luke's birthday fell on a Sunday this year (October 11th, I'm just a wee bit slow to post it) so we celebrated after church with lunch at Campania's Pizza. We love us some Campania's! We came home and Luke got to open his gifts, all the while reminding us that it was his first anniversary with his iPod Touch. I think he was trying to imply that we wouldn't be able to top last year's birthday surprise.

Ha! We may not have topped last year's gift, but we definitely surprised Luke with two framed, professional pictures of Neftali Feliz, the Ranger's pitching wunderkind. I think Luke almost cried.

He was further surprised by the Feliz jersey he received, as he knew that the Ballpark in Arlington hadn't ordered any (because Feliz was called up late in the season). Thankfully, you can order any name and number via the internet. Gotta love it!

We can't forget Luke's other sporting love--Texas Tech!

Any of those shirts would seem to be a vast improvement over the undershirt he's sporting.

I know, I know, Vera has nothing to do with Luke's birthday except for two things: it's always Vera's birthday, and Luke loves Vera to absolute pieces.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Luke in our lives! He is a constant joy in our home and a near-constant source of laughter. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every stage of his development, and look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for him during these last years in our home. (You are leaving someday, right, Luke?) I'm not wishing him to go too soon, though, because every morning and night without fail I get a huge hug from my boy. That's priceless!

Lera has a family!!!

I have no idea who the lucky family is, but I do know she has been claimed!!!! Praise the Lord for providing for her and blessing a family.

Please, oh please, oh please, click on this link and look at all the other angels in line to go to an institution. They need your prayers, your sponsorship if you can and your family if you're called. Unless they are chosen they will end up in the same precarious situation as Lera, although we often don't know they have been sent to the institution until it's too late.

Thank you to those of you who prayed and passed the word along to friends and family. I could not be happier!! Praise the Lord who is always the father to the fatherless!

John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

It's come to this...

*****Update: Lera now has a $5000 grant! It isn't for upfront costs, but for those incurred toward the end, but is still a huge benefit!*****

Lera, the beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome in St. Petersburg, Russia, whose picture has been in my sidebar for months, is within days/weeks of being transferred to an institution. Once there she can no longer be adopted. All that it would take to keep her out of there, initially, is an application with her agency and a commitment to her. The baby house would be able to keep her there until the family (or a single mom!) came to adopt her (yes, that is part of the commitment).

Andrea Roberts, the founder of Reece's Rainbow, has graciously offered a $1000 grant for her adoption. If you are the family that can keep this beautiful little girl from a life behind the bars of a Russian mental institution where she does NOT belong, please contact Andrea at bamaroberts@comcast.net. ***Andrea would like me to mention that you can determine your eligibility and financial preparedness by visiting: www.reecesrainbow.org/newfamily.html ***

I know I have written about mental institutions before, but if you missed it you could watch the video I have shared on my sidebar. The basic idea is this: Lera is currently living in a baby house where she is treated like all the other children in the orphanage. They have three meals a day of barely passable quality, they play outside in a crummy little play area, they have a few toys, they nap daily, they probably go to the bathroom in a little plastic pot after each meal, scrubbed down with cold water 'baths' and they don't get lots of hugs.

Doesn't sound nice, does it? I may be slightly wrong about her exact experience, but that is what I saw at Alex's and Vera's orphanages.

It's a garden spot compared to what's coming for her. One day soon she will be plucked out of her little place in the world with no warning and no transition. She will go to sleep surrounded by the kidlets who have been her friends for years and awaken to a world filled with emaciated adults prone to strange outbursts, no playground, just a bed, meals occasionally, baths less occasionally, and caretakers who were overwhelmed with the endless needs of the variously handicapped residents years ago.

Alternatively, she could come to YOUR home. Do you see how much you have to offer her? Think of your home, with a soft bed for her, a warm, nutritious meal (yes, even a kid's meal with chicken nuggets and fries is better than what she had and what she's going to get), a warm bubble bath, medical care from your friendly pediatrician, a toilet that flushes (!), toys of her own, maybe even a baby doll or an stuffed animal. Best of all? YOU! A parent to hug her, bandage her scraped knee, fight for her educational rights in school, tuck her in each night when she's scared, play music so she can dance, give her a new name to call her own, give her a future with a family to catch her when she falls.

Believe it or not, the life you save will be your own.

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Announcing our 4th Annual CHRISTMAS ANGEL TREE The Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministryis a 501c3 charity which promotes and facilitates the international adoption of children with Down syndrome.   In only 3 years, more than 225 children with Down syndrome and other special needs have found their "forever families" at the end of Reece's Rainbow!   Your gifts have made that possible!  The Angel Treeis our most important fundraiser each year, and this year we have (166) orphans with Down syndrome around the world who are in need of grant donations (and adoption!) From November 1-December 31, 2009, each of our orphaned children is praying that YOU will be their "Christmas Warrior".   Please help them raise money in their adoption grant fund so a *forever family* can  afford to rescue them from life in a mental institution.    There are families lined up and waiting to save these children,but they need financial help to do it!    With an average cost of $25,000 to adopt internationally, every penny helps.  Even the smallest donations really add up, and can truly change the course of a child's life! *** With your donation of $35 (or more), you will receive a beautiful, porcelain Christmas ornament with your sponsored child's photo on the back. *** This is a special way to share Christmas with an orphaned child, and to make it possible for them to  spend NEXT Christmas at home with their new family! Regardless of your faith, ethnic background, or nationality, your gift is life-saving in nature.  Our goal is to raise $1000 or more for each of our waiting children.  You can help by donating and sharing this Angel Tree with others!    This is a very meaningful and personal gift idea for the holidays too! Your additional gifts to our Voice of Hope fund help keep our ministry operational. Give the gift of a family this Christmas! International sponsors welcome!  *** Be SURE to watch and share our new video (click link to the right)....powerful, moving, compelling, and definitely worth watching!  It really captures the essence and urgency of our work! *** We also ask you to please just hit *forward* to everyone in your address book, and share this official Angel Tree announcement with everyone you know! Visit our home page at www.reecesrainbow.org throughout the year for more ways to bring our children into loving families.   All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.  EIN 20-5466141

This email was sent to williamtheoutlaw@googlemail.com by Andrea Roberts, Executive Director (bamaroberts@comcast.net). To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list. Click here to remove yourself from this mailing list. Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry | PO Box 4024 | Gaithersburg | MD | 20885