I found the original information sheet we received about Vera from the adoption agency, dated April 2003, a year before we found her. It was so fun to read the description of her personality, to see the enduring characteristics as well as catch a glimpse of parts we never really experienced:
"The child is energetic, inquisitive and curious. She enjoys classes, music, PE and role plays. Follows instructions of caretakers accordingly and willingly. She is obedient.
Vera is a character. She is a leader and wants to be in the center of attention. Quite selective in relationships, especially with adults.
Loves to play with dolls, put on and off clothes, likes putting the dolls to sleep and feeding them. She has favorite toy dishes. She sets up a toy table, put the dishes and uses her imagination really well in this role play. Sometimes uses different bottles, tins and other stuff to replace the dishes. Vera expresses interest in books. She carefully watches each page with pictures and illustrations. Tries to be neat, turning over pages. She shares toys with others, but mostly those toys that are of no interest. She will not give up toys she plays with or loves best. Can put on and off clothes, but can't button up. Washes her face, hands, uses soap and a towel. Eats independently. Picky eater."
(From the adoption facilitator, Marina) "The girl looks good to me. I videotaped her dancing, eating, washing hands, combing her hair in front of the mirror. She showed me her towel, jumped on the trampoline, waved hello and goodbye. The girl looks really happy. Both caretakers love her much. Supply manager says she is her favorite and often brings treats to her. Vera comes to her office often and has special feelings towards this lady. She smiled to me, answered my questions (yes or no), followed all my requests patiently."
Having seen so many children with Ds come home from orphanages in such a neglected state, these descriptions are glorious and amazing. She had access to toys and books and exercise and loving caretakers. She was special to someone...was a favorite!
I was sad to read two sentences, though: "[Mother's name] and [Father's name] signed up the letter of relinquishment on April 22, 1999 because of Down's syndrome diagnosed. The girl arrived to the Infant's Home at age of 2 months, 19 days."
They had her for 80 days. I wonder how they processed that loss, how was the leaving, the parting, accomplished? I wonder if it might have made a difference to have the information I just shared, to know their girl would be such a character, a really happy girl? I think of them often and wish I had a way to ease any hurt they may still have in their hearts. Adoption is always a chiaroscuro--filled with light and shadows, joy and pain.
I read the information at dinner tonight and Vera, of course, knew we were talking about her, her adoption. She got "the look" on her face, the one that says she knows she is special to all of us, she is still a favorite, and she solemnly came over to bury her face in my neck and tell me she loves me.
Vera has been our daughter for 3090 days. I could write a book filled with observations and stories about her and I am so grateful for that privilege. She is still a leader, still the center of attention when she needs to be, and oh my, what a character, full of light.
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Who's the winner now?
I also won something from the very start...the satisfaction of knowing I was helping a little beauty, Paisley Tam, find her way home. That's no small thing.
Gorgeous Paisley!
From my soul sistah, Ashley of The Chaos Diaries, my mom learned that a little girl in Eastern Europe had been transferred to a mental institution despite having a family who was working hard to bring her home. A little girl Mom had seen countless times here on this very blog. A little girl who reminded us all of our precious Vera, of the fate that could have befallen her, of the potential we see blossoming in her.
Beautiful Lera
So, one fine day my mom up and wrote a letter. Here it is, in part:
Dear friends,
Of necessity, this is a long email. Please bear with me.
As most of you know, my daughter Jill has adopted two daughters with Down syndrome internationally. It is a very expensive process without even counting the money for international travel. As a result of these adoptions, Jill has become an advocate for adoption of Ds children and their new parents. I am constantly amazed by all of the wonderful people who are willing and enthusiastic about sharing their lives with these children. By experience, these are some of the most wonderful persons in our lives. We are thrilled to have three beautiful granddaughters with Down syndrome.
Now, the reason for my email:
In eastern Europe and Russia, once Ds children reach the age of five, they are taken from the baby house orphanage and placed in an institution for the mentally ill/insane. They are tied to their cribs and neglected, with no nourishing, and usually die within the first year. This situation is deplorable, as bad as the asylums of years ago in the United States.
A couple that Jill knows has been trying to adopt a beautiful little girl named Lera. I have seen pictures of her and she is precious. They have about $21,000 of the $30,000 they must have in hand before the adoption can move forward. They are desperately trying to raise the funds. However, Lera has already been moved to an institution, and I cannot get her out of my heart.
Reese's Rainbow is a non-profit that helps identify Ds children and helps with grants for the adoption. Jill has worked with them and the founder, Andrea Roberts. Right now, I am asking any of you who can afford $100, or really anything, to consider helping this family. All you will get from this is their, and my, eternal gratitude. And also, a charitable tax deduction.
She mailed it to friends, family, her Sunday School class. In less than a week, she had collected over $2,000 and a guarantee from a longtime family friend to cover the remainder, whatever the family needed to get Lera home. Some people had to wait until payday to give. Some people had the wife write a check for one amount, the husband for another and then agree to give both checks. Last I heard, the total she collected was over $7,000. It would have been higher had it needed to be but the family had lots of other support, too.
So who's the winner now? Paisley and Lera, of course. My mom. Those who gave, though perhaps not in the way they expected.
Some of those people have grandchildren who have yet to be born. If one of those babies is found to have Down syndrome I will just bet that they will be excited to welcome their grandbaby into the family, knowing that there are families willing to go for broke (literally) in their adoption of a child with Ds.
Some of those people may not be used to giving outside of church, or to adoptions. Perhaps their hearts have been opened to helping the least of the least around the world because that's what God told us to do. Perhaps they took a peek at Reece's Rainbow and opened their hearts to praying for those precious, precious faces who don't yet have a family fighting to bring them home.
I really enjoy winning things in giveaways, I do. Moreso, I really enjoy being a part of miracles. I would bet my mom would say she does now, too! It's an amazing place to be, watching God move mountains. It's amazing to know you were a part of it, whether it's by writing letters, donating, praying, encouraging.
I feel like I'm dancing around my point, so here it is: be a part! Don't just sit on the sidelines and let everyone get blessed.
Luke 6:38 ~~ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Here's your chance to be Jesus's hands and feet in the life of another family chasing hard after God and His command to care for the orphan: GO! BE A WINNER!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
My friends are CrAzY!!!
But one stands head and shoulders above the rest:
Renee.
She is one CrAzY CaJuN!
Renee.
She is one CrAzY CaJuN!
Right now, my CrAzY CaJuN friend is having a crazy fun chance to win some jewelry and humiliate some gals and guys who may or may not deserve it.
Why is my CrAzY CaJuN friend doing this? Why are those gals agreeing to help her?
Grab This!
You probably could have guessed why.
Renee is CrAzY in LoVe with PaIsLeY!!
Renee has been working so hard to bring Paisley home, cooking up a storm, saving pennies (and a whole lot more) but those international adoptions don't come cheap so she and her husband and some ZaNy FrIeNdS came up with this lovely giveaway.
Wanna see what you might win for the low, low donation of a mere $5? $5 that gets Renee that much closer to Paisley, that is.
Well, here ya go:
Aren't those gorgeous?
Now that I've tempted you with goodies, go over and read about the ways your $5 (or more...much more) could go toward humiliating some deserving (or not) people. That may be better than jewelry, but maybe that's just me.
Now that I've tempted you with goodies, go over and read about the ways your $5 (or more...much more) could go toward humiliating some deserving (or not) people. That may be better than jewelry, but maybe that's just me.
Why are you still reading?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Miracles
We recently had a guest speaker in our Sunday school class, a man who speaks about ministering through your workplace. One of the questions he asked our class was, "Do you ever see supernatural events (miracles) in your workplace?"
For a second, I simply dismissed the question as irrelevant to the chronically unemployed mommy that I am. Then it occurred to me that although I didn't have a paying job, I do volunteer with Reece's Rainbow and that is a workplace of sorts for me.
As soon as the thought hit my brain a smile spread across my face. I see miracles all.the.time. Weekly or even daily sometimes. I have a front row seat as some of the most amazing, unbelievable, 'didn't think it could happen again but it did' events have transpired in the lives of families adopting children with special needs.
From the very start, I was amazed as I witnessed while two different 5 year old children who had only lived in cribs were lifted out, chosen by families who hadn't adopted before and didn't even have biological children with Down syndrome. That's a miracle. God worked a miracle in the hearts of those moms and dads to see past the dirty clothes and faces, the crossed eyes, the sickly pallor, the malnutrition and the blank looks; those parents didn't turn away because they saw their child.
I couldn't begin to count the number of times I've seen families who are days away from traveling to adopt their child(ren) with special needs and are short thousands of dollars. Equally as often I've seen God finance their trip. He uses all different means to accomplish it, to be sure. Sometimes he uses a whole bunch of people to contribute $5, $10, maybe $25. Sometimes He sells something for them and they get more than they'd hoped. Sometimes an anonymous donor shows up and gives them all they need. No matter how He works it the results are the same: a miracle.
I had the privilege of watching a miracle unfold in Ukraine last summer. A family went to adopt their son with arthrogryposis from a mental institution. He was the first to be sprung from that place and probably the first ever to be adopted in that village. The family, adoption novices, had to live with a peasant lady for weeks because there were no hotels. The accommodations were primitive, at best. They had no assurance that the judge would even hear their case (the problems with that issue seemed insurmountable for quite some time) and that, once hearing it, would grant their adoption. I'll never forget the imagery they used to console their anxious hearts as they walked to their long-awaited court. They knew the Reece's Rainbow family (and many, many others) were praying for them: they imagined thousands of bowed heads behind them as they testified before the judge, thousands of bowed heads pleading with a just and loving Lord to work on the judge's heart, thousands of bowed heads crying out for a boy to be saved from a horrible life. Their precious son is now home in Virginia, a miracle.
More recently, a family went to adopt child #7 and while in Ukraine found out that a little girl they had wanted to adopt (but were denied by the orphanage director) a couple of years earlier was now available; the orphanage director had his heart changed toward adoption and the little girl is now living in Florida with seven brothers and sisters. A miracle.
A couple of weeks ago the call went out around the internet for a boy in Latvia who was about to turn 16 and would thereafter be on the streets, kicked out of his orphanage, lost forever from adoption and family and hope. He had been to America and stayed with a host family and thought he had a family pursuing his adoption. The family decided not to adopt him but never told anyone until finally, with less than 2 weeks until his fateful birthday, the sad news was discovered. The boy, Davids, was crushed. Hearts all over the world were broken for him. The most desperate problem was that a family had to be found who had a special, Hague approved homestudy that said they could adopt a 16 year old, was current, and the family had to be able to file with the US government to adopt him before his birthday, an expensive proposition. It seemed so impossible. But God...
I still cry thinking about it. God brought forth a family that was already adopting an almost 16 year old from Latvia, their homestudy was perfect and allowed for them to adopt two children although they were originally going for one. Every detail was taken care of. Between the time the call went out for Davids and the time the family was found, almost all the money necessary for this new adoption had been raised for them. A miracle. A big, fat, could only be from God, better than we could have expected miracle.
How could we not praise such a God? How could we not trust Him over the details of our lives?
Today, right this very second as I type, I am just waiting for the next big, fat, could only be from God, better than we could have expected miracle because I believe God is setting up the situation perfectly. While we sleep tonight, a judge in an Eastern European country is going to be approached by an adoption facilitator and asked to set two court dates for two Reece's Rainbow families who are each adopting a child with Down syndrome. Both families have met their child, fallen head over heels in love with their child, and have been waiting months to go back, have their court date and bring their precious little one home.
Much like the family who adopted the little boy from Ukraine, this judge may not even grant a court date. That's the first hurdle and, like I said, it's happening while we sleep tonight. If that doesn't happen then three children will not get their families.
Three?
Yes. Another family, better known as my wonderful friend Ashley of the Chaos Diaries, is also in the process of adopting a princess with Down syndrome in that same region of that same country. If the first two families don't get a court date, Ashley won't be allowed to proceed either. If the families do get a court date but are denied the adoption of their children (which we have been led to believe would be due to the judge's predjudice against Down syndrome), Ashley won't be allowed to proceed in her adoption of Baby J.
Can you imagine? These families have been in process for over a year. Well over a year. If you haven't adopted this may seem a bit strange to you, but I can assure you that in their hearts these children are theirs already. They've been imagining and daydreaming about just how their new child will fit in the family, about all the glorious and wonderful new things they'll show their new child, all the love they'll lavish upon their little frames.
At this point, everything is out of their hands except for prayer. Like I said, it's the perfect setup for God to work. I think He lets us muddle around, grasping and trying and getting increasingly desperate, knowing it's all a prelude to His mighty work, started at the foundation of the world.
Tonight, I'll be up praying for my friends. I've said it before about my own adoptions: I'm a miracle junkie. I love to see God work in a seemingly hopeless situation. As I pray for Baby J, Kirill, and Evan, I'll comfort my anxious heart with the knowledge that ranging round the judge will be thousands upon thousands of bowed heads. I'll know that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, and I'll be waiting for news of a miracle.
For a second, I simply dismissed the question as irrelevant to the chronically unemployed mommy that I am. Then it occurred to me that although I didn't have a paying job, I do volunteer with Reece's Rainbow and that is a workplace of sorts for me.
As soon as the thought hit my brain a smile spread across my face. I see miracles all.the.time. Weekly or even daily sometimes. I have a front row seat as some of the most amazing, unbelievable, 'didn't think it could happen again but it did' events have transpired in the lives of families adopting children with special needs.
From the very start, I was amazed as I witnessed while two different 5 year old children who had only lived in cribs were lifted out, chosen by families who hadn't adopted before and didn't even have biological children with Down syndrome. That's a miracle. God worked a miracle in the hearts of those moms and dads to see past the dirty clothes and faces, the crossed eyes, the sickly pallor, the malnutrition and the blank looks; those parents didn't turn away because they saw their child.
I couldn't begin to count the number of times I've seen families who are days away from traveling to adopt their child(ren) with special needs and are short thousands of dollars. Equally as often I've seen God finance their trip. He uses all different means to accomplish it, to be sure. Sometimes he uses a whole bunch of people to contribute $5, $10, maybe $25. Sometimes He sells something for them and they get more than they'd hoped. Sometimes an anonymous donor shows up and gives them all they need. No matter how He works it the results are the same: a miracle.
I had the privilege of watching a miracle unfold in Ukraine last summer. A family went to adopt their son with arthrogryposis from a mental institution. He was the first to be sprung from that place and probably the first ever to be adopted in that village. The family, adoption novices, had to live with a peasant lady for weeks because there were no hotels. The accommodations were primitive, at best. They had no assurance that the judge would even hear their case (the problems with that issue seemed insurmountable for quite some time) and that, once hearing it, would grant their adoption. I'll never forget the imagery they used to console their anxious hearts as they walked to their long-awaited court. They knew the Reece's Rainbow family (and many, many others) were praying for them: they imagined thousands of bowed heads behind them as they testified before the judge, thousands of bowed heads pleading with a just and loving Lord to work on the judge's heart, thousands of bowed heads crying out for a boy to be saved from a horrible life. Their precious son is now home in Virginia, a miracle.
More recently, a family went to adopt child #7 and while in Ukraine found out that a little girl they had wanted to adopt (but were denied by the orphanage director) a couple of years earlier was now available; the orphanage director had his heart changed toward adoption and the little girl is now living in Florida with seven brothers and sisters. A miracle.
A couple of weeks ago the call went out around the internet for a boy in Latvia who was about to turn 16 and would thereafter be on the streets, kicked out of his orphanage, lost forever from adoption and family and hope. He had been to America and stayed with a host family and thought he had a family pursuing his adoption. The family decided not to adopt him but never told anyone until finally, with less than 2 weeks until his fateful birthday, the sad news was discovered. The boy, Davids, was crushed. Hearts all over the world were broken for him. The most desperate problem was that a family had to be found who had a special, Hague approved homestudy that said they could adopt a 16 year old, was current, and the family had to be able to file with the US government to adopt him before his birthday, an expensive proposition. It seemed so impossible. But God...
I still cry thinking about it. God brought forth a family that was already adopting an almost 16 year old from Latvia, their homestudy was perfect and allowed for them to adopt two children although they were originally going for one. Every detail was taken care of. Between the time the call went out for Davids and the time the family was found, almost all the money necessary for this new adoption had been raised for them. A miracle. A big, fat, could only be from God, better than we could have expected miracle.
How could we not praise such a God? How could we not trust Him over the details of our lives?
Today, right this very second as I type, I am just waiting for the next big, fat, could only be from God, better than we could have expected miracle because I believe God is setting up the situation perfectly. While we sleep tonight, a judge in an Eastern European country is going to be approached by an adoption facilitator and asked to set two court dates for two Reece's Rainbow families who are each adopting a child with Down syndrome. Both families have met their child, fallen head over heels in love with their child, and have been waiting months to go back, have their court date and bring their precious little one home.
Much like the family who adopted the little boy from Ukraine, this judge may not even grant a court date. That's the first hurdle and, like I said, it's happening while we sleep tonight. If that doesn't happen then three children will not get their families.
Three?
Yes. Another family, better known as my wonderful friend Ashley of the Chaos Diaries, is also in the process of adopting a princess with Down syndrome in that same region of that same country. If the first two families don't get a court date, Ashley won't be allowed to proceed either. If the families do get a court date but are denied the adoption of their children (which we have been led to believe would be due to the judge's predjudice against Down syndrome), Ashley won't be allowed to proceed in her adoption of Baby J.
Can you imagine? These families have been in process for over a year. Well over a year. If you haven't adopted this may seem a bit strange to you, but I can assure you that in their hearts these children are theirs already. They've been imagining and daydreaming about just how their new child will fit in the family, about all the glorious and wonderful new things they'll show their new child, all the love they'll lavish upon their little frames.
At this point, everything is out of their hands except for prayer. Like I said, it's the perfect setup for God to work. I think He lets us muddle around, grasping and trying and getting increasingly desperate, knowing it's all a prelude to His mighty work, started at the foundation of the world.
Tonight, I'll be up praying for my friends. I've said it before about my own adoptions: I'm a miracle junkie. I love to see God work in a seemingly hopeless situation. As I pray for Baby J, Kirill, and Evan, I'll comfort my anxious heart with the knowledge that ranging round the judge will be thousands upon thousands of bowed heads. I'll know that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, and I'll be waiting for news of a miracle.
Psalm 77:14--You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
you display your power among the peoples.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Elizabeth C. and her NEW FAMILY!
I just realized I hadn't updated my blog with respect to the beautiful Elizabeth C. yet. Her family found her (which I had noted), and what a darling family they are! Click on their blog to meet the Clark family...a family with three brothers for Elizabeth (they're keeping her name!) and two sisters. Both sisters have that extra chromosome, and one of those sisters just came home from China in September. Isn't that incredible?
I hope you will follow their family blog as they move quickly forward to claim their daughter and reclaim her and the abundant life the Lord has for her. I was searching my blog for pictures of Elizabeth that they may not yet have and found my prayer for her. What an amazing blessing to see how God answered that prayer with this fantastic family. My only complaint is that He didn't bring a family that lived a little closer to me, but who can really quibble with God's divine plan?
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever!!
I hope you will follow their family blog as they move quickly forward to claim their daughter and reclaim her and the abundant life the Lord has for her. I was searching my blog for pictures of Elizabeth that they may not yet have and found my prayer for her. What an amazing blessing to see how God answered that prayer with this fantastic family. My only complaint is that He didn't bring a family that lived a little closer to me, but who can really quibble with God's divine plan?
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wilson met his Angel Tree goal!!!
Wow! I'm just stunned. We've never had such a successful Angel Tree event. Keep an eye on my sidebar 'button' for the Angel Tree, as results will show up in a day or two regarding the total amount raised, children who've found homes, ornaments mailed. It's been a great year!
So....where's Wilson's family? He's got a cool thousand bucks to help you on your way!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Alexander the Great!
Alexander, as described below, has dual diagnoses of Down syndrome and epilepsy. In the coming days, I will be trying to demystify the idea of having a child with epilepsy by sharing what other moms are sharing with me. The quick answer, though, is that in the big picture it (having epilepsy or some other seizure disorder) just isn't that big of a deal.
Isn't that great to know?
Alexander-2H
Birthdate: February 2007Gender: Male
Eyes: Brown
Hair: brown
Character: Calm, sedentary
Alexander is a sweet boy with brown hair and eyes. He was born with Down syndrome and also struggles with epilepsy. He has strabismus as well. Alexander is described as affectionate and social.
He sounds perfect to me!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Why Adopting a Girl from China isn't like the Doctrine of Election
A few months ago I received an email that purported to explain why adopting an older girl from China is like, or illustrates, the doctrine of election.The person who wrote it has not adopted, which really isn't all that important except that perhaps they are not completely familiar with the world of adoption, which types of adoption are really popular, etc.
[Let me quickly say that I am not opening a debate about unconditional election. In fact, it is secondary to a different point I hope to make.]
The gist of the writer's email is that little girls in Chinese orphanages are in a bad place and they need to be removed from that place. Their parents choose to adopt from China and are rather arbitrarily assigned a child. The idea is that these good parents have chosen to extricate a child from a world that otherwise leads to their destruction. Some of the other girls in the orphanage won't be chosen and will face a life apart from parents. On the face of it, that sounds an awful lot like election, doesn't it? God, in a move that often seems arbitrary to us mere mortals, selects those whom He would save, those whom He would extricate from a world of sin that will ultimately lead to their destruction. Those not so chosen are headed for their rightful destruction as sinners apart from grace.
Why do I disagree with this illustration?
Let me explain a tiny bit about the world of adoption, centered in the USA. Hands down, the most popular type of adoption is a healthy, white, female infant birthed from a non-drug user in America. Following closely behind is the same child in a male body. However, due to many factors those babies are not as easy to find as they once were. Enter the international adoption.
As of last year, the most popular country from which to adopt a child was China, closely followed by Ethiopia which has overtaken Russia as of late. Although the supply of healthy Chinese females has dropped dramatically in the last few years, those females are still very popular and much sought-after among international adopters.
What does this have to do with election? The adoption of a Chinese girl is very popular because they are seen as very desirable, very cute, smart, etc. They just need a home and many families are eager to provide that home, thankfully so.
So if the doctrine of election is like adopting a Chinese girl, we are saying that God is choosing some pretty desirable people for His eternal kingdom. That's where I have the problem.
Romans 12:3--For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
We are sinners. Filthy, waste-encrusted, wretched, hateful, mean, lovers of self, blind, deaf, bitter and hard-hearted beyond measure. If you could find such a child on earth and adopt that child, you might get the merest glimpse of the miracle of our adoption by God. And yet God chooses us to be His beloved children, washing us with hyssop so that we are whiter than snow, changing our heart of stone to a heart of flesh, opening our eyes and ears to His truths.
How quickly we forget just how awful, how depraved, how indifferent to others, how sinful we were before Christ came into our hearts. We think we need to be saved from a bad situation when what we need most is to be saved from ourselves and from God's justifed wrath.
How deep the Father's love for us!
How vast beyond all measure!
That He should give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure!
We are worse than we ever seem to believe; we are more loved by God than we could ever imagine.
Thanks be to God!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Heroism of Joseph
I have posted this essay by Elizabeth Foss in its entirety on my blog before, but I still love it and thought perhaps some of my adoptive moms might like to see it and share it with their sweet husbands! I post these words again today that so perfectly echo what I've seen in my own husband . John Dee, you are the hero of our amazing family!
I thank my God every time I remember you.
(originally printed: By Elizabeth Foss, Herald Columnist, From the issue of 12/22/05)
My son Christian was searching the bookshelves yesterday, apparently frustrated by the dearth he saw there. Since we have well over 1,000 titles at his disposal, I wondered what was missing.
"There's hardly anything on Joseph here! I understand why we need so many Mary books, but nobody says much about Joseph, you know? And he was a hero … " he trailed off.
A hero indeed. Though I hadn't spoken it, I had been meditating lately about the heroic good of St. Joseph and the Nativity. Commonly, we look at the story of Christmas as a birth story: We have a round-bellied Madonna riding on a donkey until she gets to a cave where animals joyfully welcome a lovely baby. As a mother who has been nine months pregnant during Advent and a mother with a newborn on Christmas Day, it is easy for me to identify with the birth story.
But the Nativity story is also a story of adoption. A strong man heard the call of a God to take into his heart and home a baby that was not his biological child. Against the raised eyebrows of those around him, but because he dearly loved his wife and the God they served, he traveled a great distance. He wasn't sure what he'd find there; to say that the accommodations were less than what he was used to is to understate the case. And then, almost immediately, it was his job to rescue the baby, to save him from grave danger.
Once they were safely at home, he raised the child as his own. He shared the faith of his fathers; he taught him the family trade. Certainly, there were challenges in this family that related to the adoption. This child, at 12, left his foster father for three days to return to the home of his real Father. How many children of adoption have experienced that same restlessness and caused the parents who have rescued them the grief that Mary and Joseph felt while they searched for their child?
St. Joseph was faithful. Perhaps he recognized that we are all children of adoption. We are all broken, disenfranchised, wounded and in grave danger. Our Savior makes us brothers and sisters, heirs to His throne. We become one family of faith, like that little family in Nazareth so many years ago.
For some reason, the Lord has surrounded me by the miracle of adoption. I have seven children. Five of them have godparents who are adoptive parents. Most recently, Christian's godmother welcomed a little boy from Liberia, just in time for Thanksgiving.
When I look at the fathers in these families, I am struck by their courage. Adoptive moms assure me that adoption is rarely ever a man's idea. And it is almost always an idea born of a woman's pain. The sorrowful heart of a mother meets the sorrowful heart of a child and together they begin a new life. But how do they get to "together?" They become a family through the courageous actions of a man who sees the pain of his wife and listens to her as she tells him about the pain of the child. Rarely, do these women beg and plead. Rather, like Mary, they trust God.
They pour out their hearts in prayer and God convicts their husbands. The program director for a Catholic adoption agency assures me that this is not the case of weak, badgered men who cave to whining women. Rather, they are tender, brave men who recognize a mutual need and hear a distinct call.
The father who adopts is strong and faithful. He travels to places like Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Guatemala and even hostile Africa. He saves the baby — often from abject poverty, illness or death. He is the St. Joseph of our times.
There are literally millions of children in this world who need rescuing. We are called in James 1:27 to care for the widows and the orphans. What does that mean exactly? Do we toss a few coins in the poor box or wrap an extra gift at Christmastime or do we take a risk? Are there brave men out there after the heart of St. Joseph who will travel great distances to difficult places to rescue a baby and give it a home all because it's the will of God? It is the will of God.
These are the weakest of us, the poorest, the most defenseless. In this country, we cannot fathom children who scurry along the murky puddles in Haiti scavenging for a few slender fish, only to come up without anything. These children are so malnourished that their hair turns orange and falls out in clumps. There are "dying rooms" in China where children who have cerebral palsy or missing hands or missing ears are left in the dark to starve to death.
And what will become of the children who grow up orphans if we do not have men like St. Joseph in our midst? According to Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation begun by Christian music legend Steven Curtis Chapman, who has adopted three daughters, "Statistics regarding the future prospects for children who emancipate from orphanages, the foster care system, or who grow up as street children are profoundly bleak … . Theft, prostitution, homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration and suicide affect the lives of the vast majority of those children who grow up as orphans and never find permanent, loving homes. In short, orphans by definition are children who for whatever reason have found themselves in need of permanent, safe, and loving families. And for such children, being taken in by a family through the "spirit of adoption" is their greatest need"(http://www.howtoadopt.org/).
They were going to stone the Mother of God. Joseph knew the baby was not conceived by him. He didn't understand it. How could this baby be his to raise? How could he be asked to overcome the opinions of his community, the misgivings of his own mind, and listen to the call upon his soul? Where would he find the courage? How could he possibly provide for the childhood of the child of God Himself? Why couldn't this be simple? Why couldn't he marry Mary and just conceive a baby of his own? Instead, he must set off on a two-year odyssey to distant and hostile lands to bring home a baby that didn't even look like him. And what of the future? This was an extraordinary way to build a family; how could he know what the future held, particularly with a beginning like this?
A hero? He was a hero. He was a strong, courageous, man of faith. And there are men like him today. They are Paul, and Joe, and Mark, and Chuck, and Scott, and Kevin, and Ed. They are ordinary men who are called to extraordinary measures for a humble, helpless child and the love of the woman who becomes the child's mother. They are the men of the Christmas story. God bless them.
I thank my God every time I remember you.
(originally printed: By Elizabeth Foss, Herald Columnist, From the issue of 12/22/05)
My son Christian was searching the bookshelves yesterday, apparently frustrated by the dearth he saw there. Since we have well over 1,000 titles at his disposal, I wondered what was missing.
"There's hardly anything on Joseph here! I understand why we need so many Mary books, but nobody says much about Joseph, you know? And he was a hero … " he trailed off.
A hero indeed. Though I hadn't spoken it, I had been meditating lately about the heroic good of St. Joseph and the Nativity. Commonly, we look at the story of Christmas as a birth story: We have a round-bellied Madonna riding on a donkey until she gets to a cave where animals joyfully welcome a lovely baby. As a mother who has been nine months pregnant during Advent and a mother with a newborn on Christmas Day, it is easy for me to identify with the birth story.
But the Nativity story is also a story of adoption. A strong man heard the call of a God to take into his heart and home a baby that was not his biological child. Against the raised eyebrows of those around him, but because he dearly loved his wife and the God they served, he traveled a great distance. He wasn't sure what he'd find there; to say that the accommodations were less than what he was used to is to understate the case. And then, almost immediately, it was his job to rescue the baby, to save him from grave danger.
Once they were safely at home, he raised the child as his own. He shared the faith of his fathers; he taught him the family trade. Certainly, there were challenges in this family that related to the adoption. This child, at 12, left his foster father for three days to return to the home of his real Father. How many children of adoption have experienced that same restlessness and caused the parents who have rescued them the grief that Mary and Joseph felt while they searched for their child?
St. Joseph was faithful. Perhaps he recognized that we are all children of adoption. We are all broken, disenfranchised, wounded and in grave danger. Our Savior makes us brothers and sisters, heirs to His throne. We become one family of faith, like that little family in Nazareth so many years ago.
For some reason, the Lord has surrounded me by the miracle of adoption. I have seven children. Five of them have godparents who are adoptive parents. Most recently, Christian's godmother welcomed a little boy from Liberia, just in time for Thanksgiving.
When I look at the fathers in these families, I am struck by their courage. Adoptive moms assure me that adoption is rarely ever a man's idea. And it is almost always an idea born of a woman's pain. The sorrowful heart of a mother meets the sorrowful heart of a child and together they begin a new life. But how do they get to "together?" They become a family through the courageous actions of a man who sees the pain of his wife and listens to her as she tells him about the pain of the child. Rarely, do these women beg and plead. Rather, like Mary, they trust God.
They pour out their hearts in prayer and God convicts their husbands. The program director for a Catholic adoption agency assures me that this is not the case of weak, badgered men who cave to whining women. Rather, they are tender, brave men who recognize a mutual need and hear a distinct call.
The father who adopts is strong and faithful. He travels to places like Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Guatemala and even hostile Africa. He saves the baby — often from abject poverty, illness or death. He is the St. Joseph of our times.
There are literally millions of children in this world who need rescuing. We are called in James 1:27 to care for the widows and the orphans. What does that mean exactly? Do we toss a few coins in the poor box or wrap an extra gift at Christmastime or do we take a risk? Are there brave men out there after the heart of St. Joseph who will travel great distances to difficult places to rescue a baby and give it a home all because it's the will of God? It is the will of God.
These are the weakest of us, the poorest, the most defenseless. In this country, we cannot fathom children who scurry along the murky puddles in Haiti scavenging for a few slender fish, only to come up without anything. These children are so malnourished that their hair turns orange and falls out in clumps. There are "dying rooms" in China where children who have cerebral palsy or missing hands or missing ears are left in the dark to starve to death.
And what will become of the children who grow up orphans if we do not have men like St. Joseph in our midst? According to Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation begun by Christian music legend Steven Curtis Chapman, who has adopted three daughters, "Statistics regarding the future prospects for children who emancipate from orphanages, the foster care system, or who grow up as street children are profoundly bleak … . Theft, prostitution, homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration and suicide affect the lives of the vast majority of those children who grow up as orphans and never find permanent, loving homes. In short, orphans by definition are children who for whatever reason have found themselves in need of permanent, safe, and loving families. And for such children, being taken in by a family through the "spirit of adoption" is their greatest need"(http://www.howtoadopt.org/).
They were going to stone the Mother of God. Joseph knew the baby was not conceived by him. He didn't understand it. How could this baby be his to raise? How could he be asked to overcome the opinions of his community, the misgivings of his own mind, and listen to the call upon his soul? Where would he find the courage? How could he possibly provide for the childhood of the child of God Himself? Why couldn't this be simple? Why couldn't he marry Mary and just conceive a baby of his own? Instead, he must set off on a two-year odyssey to distant and hostile lands to bring home a baby that didn't even look like him. And what of the future? This was an extraordinary way to build a family; how could he know what the future held, particularly with a beginning like this?
A hero? He was a hero. He was a strong, courageous, man of faith. And there are men like him today. They are Paul, and Joe, and Mark, and Chuck, and Scott, and Kevin, and Ed. They are ordinary men who are called to extraordinary measures for a humble, helpless child and the love of the woman who becomes the child's mother. They are the men of the Christmas story. God bless them.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Memorial Box Monday: Elizabeth C. and George Mueller
SpIGoT--Where Learning Flows, was started with the intention of being a homeschooling blog. I remained focused on that intention for exactly as long as it took me to set up and name the blog. My first posts were blurbs on each of our children. I discovered that they were much more fun to write about than our school work and I never looked back!
All to say that I do still homeschool my children. On Wednesday of this week, I was reading to Alex and Anna about the amazing Mr. George Mueller. If you haven't read of Mr. Mueller yourself, I suggest you stop reading my blog and immediately locate a copy of his autobiography and read it, then come back. To say that reading it has been life-changing for many, many people would be putting it mildly.
George Mueller is most famous for his faith and his praying on behalf of the 10,000+ orphans he housed, fed, clothed and educated over his adulthood. His goal, however, was not only the housing, feeding, clothing and educating of orphans; his goal, his overarching purpose, was to show a watching world that God is real, God is trustworthy, God answers prayer [John Piper, sermons].
Back to Wednesday, we were reading what is arguably Mueller's most famous day at the orphanage. He and the hundreds of orphans had awoken to a new day that contained no food, no milk, and no money to purchase any. One of his friends was visiting with his little daughter, whom George took with him to the cafeteria where the orphans were assembling. George led the group in a prayer of thanks for their daily bread, knowing none was in front of them.
In no time, a baker knocked at the door. He said God had awakened him at 2 a.m. and told him to bake bread for the orphans and he was just delivering it. Moments after that, a milk wagon broke an axle in front of their building. The driver had to unload all the milk to fix the wagon, meaning the milk would go bad before he could sell it. Would the orphans have use of his milk?
So, on Wednesday morning I challenged Alex, Anna and myself to take a minute and pray like George Mueller. We did so, and then we talked about the times we've prayed and seen God work immediately and the times we've prayed and God hasn't answered the way we would like, but we still know we can trust Him for our good.
Thursday morning, I got up and started scrolling through facebook updates on my phone. I didn't get far at all before seeing an update from Andrea Roberts, Reece's Rainbow founder, that said we need to get busy finding homes for all the other older girls with Down syndrome now that Elizabeth C. had her family find her.
I dropped that phone like a hot potato and ran into the kitchen were John and the kids were gathering for our morning family devotional. "Alex and Anna! Guess what I prayed yesterday? I prayed that Elizabeth would find a family and guess what!!! I just found out she did!!!" I think overjoyed would be a good word.
In one day, God had strengthened the faith of my family and found a home for a girl who desperated needed one. He's very efficient that way, our God.
My challenge to my readers and to myself is to continue to pray like George Mueller, trusting that God cares, God loves, God is real, God is trustworthy and God desires to make His Name known in a fallen world by answering our prayers.
I know that this isn't Monday but I don't think it matters. I'll post it on A Place Called Simplicity next Monday. I was gone all day yesterday and couldn't post this wonderful news and I just couldn't wait any longer to share the news.
How great is our God?
Now, where's the family for Elizabeth's best friend, Angelina? I believe it's time to pray.
Angelina R., July 8, 2004
UPDATE: Here is the link to the family blog of Elizabeth C's family! They just returned from China in September with a new blessing, also found on Reece's Rainbow. What a lovely, God-honoring family He found for our sweet Elizabeth!!
UPDATE: Here is the link to the family blog of Elizabeth C's family! They just returned from China in September with a new blessing, also found on Reece's Rainbow. What a lovely, God-honoring family He found for our sweet Elizabeth!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
My new favorite Christmas card
Yesterday, when I visited my new friend Renee's blog, I found she had left me the most wonderful Christmas card. Of course, I had to show it to you! As you can see from the video, Renee is adopting a darling little girl, but those who are still waiting weigh heavily on her heart, as they do mine.
Enjoy...but don't forget the tissues!
Enjoy...but don't forget the tissues!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Hello, my international friends!
I like to check my sitemeter and see where folks are when they read my blog. I often see someone from Germany, the UK, occasionally Norway, but my face lights up when I see Ukraine.
Why Ukraine? you might ask.
Because, I might answer, I can generally guess those are Reece's Rainbow families who are over there adopting a little one or two or more. I totally get the boredom that can creep into the long stays in country. Although I remember my adoption trips very fondly (hey, who else gets to say they met a member of the Russian mafia?) I do know the yearning to be home. When home isn't coming anytime soon then at least we can read blogs and see normal family life and birthday celebrations and we can think of the day when we will celebrate our new little one's birthday.
So to my Ukrainian reader today--hello! I hope you're doing well! I hope you're soon home and immersed in recalling your new little one or two or more back to life.
Until then...enjoy a little dose of what passes for normal around here. ;-)
Why Ukraine? you might ask.
Because, I might answer, I can generally guess those are Reece's Rainbow families who are over there adopting a little one or two or more. I totally get the boredom that can creep into the long stays in country. Although I remember my adoption trips very fondly (hey, who else gets to say they met a member of the Russian mafia?) I do know the yearning to be home. When home isn't coming anytime soon then at least we can read blogs and see normal family life and birthday celebrations and we can think of the day when we will celebrate our new little one's birthday.
So to my Ukrainian reader today--hello! I hope you're doing well! I hope you're soon home and immersed in recalling your new little one or two or more back to life.
Until then...enjoy a little dose of what passes for normal around here. ;-)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Dean is 6!!
My youngest is now 6 years old! Wow! I remember when I never thought my oldest would be 6.
Our second birthday with Dean. His was the only adoption where we missed two birthdays during the process. Thankfully his was our fifth adoption or I might have gone nuts!
Isn't he the cutest little boy?!
Nothing like the Spicer birthday picture, is there? This is one of our better pictures, actually.
Next on the agenda...teach Ella to stop making her 'picture smile.'
I think I should get extra points for sharing a picture of me...first thing in the morning...no makeup...no hair fixing...just enjoying my little boy's JOY in his birthday morning.
For my pacifist British friends, please note that Dean has just opened a NERF gun. I will have to retract a statement about the NERF gun that I made on facebook, however. I said that it shoots foam bullets and therefore couldn't hurt a fly. However, if your big sister Vera shoots your new NERF gun from point-blank range at your eye then you might cry for a few seconds, although I'm still unclear whether the crying was from being shot in the eye or because Vera had stolen his NERF gun.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUDSON DEAN!!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
I can't say I didn't know
Proverbs 24~~
10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?
10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?
...but what have I done? How small is my strength?
Micah 7:7
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
And the winner is....
I had a giveaway. Sophia was blessed! Now it's my turn to bless those who were able to give during this busy and often expensive holiday season. I wish I could bless you all but I suppose I'll need to leave it up to Jesus, who has much better gifts at His disposal than we do down here. ;-)
Here are the entrants:
Luke is giving you a hand, Carrie Joy!! You won!!! Go take a gander again at Laura Lu's photographs and tell me which one you want (although I seem to recall something about a barn) and which size would work best for you (I think it would look best in the larger size unless you have a small spot in mind to hang it). You can message me on facebook and we'll get 'er done so you'll have it for Christmas. Oh, and don't forget to give me your address! As soon as I get it your picture will be ordered from Laura and your book from amazon!
All four of the ladies who contributed are so special to me. CJ is one of Reece's Rainbow's biggest cheerleaders, often beating me in posting information about RR on facebook. Sarah, through her etsy shop, has contributed financially to numerous RR adoptions (and I have the necklaces to prove it!). Tina has long since inspired me with her family's generosity and loving ways.
Last, but certainly not least, Megan has become my new friend. Not just because she's a sweetheart, although she is, but because....
MEGAN IS ADOPTING SOPHIA!!!!
You can check out her blog here!! Megan is a single mom-to-be and has really stretched herself and her trust in God to help her through this expensive adoption. I can see already that it is true love that compels Megan toward Sophia and that is precious to see. She is head over heels in love with our darling little Sophia and I can see she's ready to move mountains to bring her home. Isn't that exciting news? Megan may not have won the giveaway but she's certainly getting the prize!!
Thank you, truly thank you all, from the bottom of my heart! Your generosity humbles me.
Here are the entrants:
Here is Alex choosing (and Luke choosing to act goofy, knowing I would post this):
And...the moment you've all been waiting for...Alex shares the winner:
All four of the ladies who contributed are so special to me. CJ is one of Reece's Rainbow's biggest cheerleaders, often beating me in posting information about RR on facebook. Sarah, through her etsy shop, has contributed financially to numerous RR adoptions (and I have the necklaces to prove it!). Tina has long since inspired me with her family's generosity and loving ways.
Last, but certainly not least, Megan has become my new friend. Not just because she's a sweetheart, although she is, but because....
MEGAN IS ADOPTING SOPHIA!!!!
You can check out her blog here!! Megan is a single mom-to-be and has really stretched herself and her trust in God to help her through this expensive adoption. I can see already that it is true love that compels Megan toward Sophia and that is precious to see. She is head over heels in love with our darling little Sophia and I can see she's ready to move mountains to bring her home. Isn't that exciting news? Megan may not have won the giveaway but she's certainly getting the prize!!
Thank you, truly thank you all, from the bottom of my heart! Your generosity humbles me.
Elizabeth C.--my prayer request
Today at A Place Called Simplicity, Linny is calling for a day of fasting and prayer, as she occasionally does. We've seen God move some big mountains when His people pray and today I'm adding my request to the many she will gather on her blog today.
I found out yesterday that Elizabeth C. was moved to an institution. A mental institution. In a former Soviet country that has never recovered its value of human life, much less disabled human life, since its repudiation of communism. I have written many times before about mental institutions in Eastern Europe. Today, I'll share what someone else has written about them, someone who was just there, someone who saw a teenaged boy with Down syndrome whose daily job was to wash out the toilet pots, who daily had excrement smeared all over his hands, who daily smelled overwhelmingly awful, who daily smiled at her and tried to interact with gentleness, who daily reminded her that a mental institution is no place for such a gentle soul.
That situation may be better or worse than where Elizabeth was sent; we don't know. If it's worse, it's not by much. In the USA, our institutions, relics of our own misguided past, are often in the news after yet another flagrant abuse is discovered. Their institutions don't even make the news; no abuse that is discovered will ever even be known, prosecuted, championed. The caregivers over these defenseless children wield enormous power inside the walls of the institution. I feel sure some use it judiciously and others use it maliciously.
So my prayer request: I ask for prayer that someone would step forward today and claim her for their very own. I pray that someone could move quickly with her adoption. Even in that situation, it will take months for her adoption to be completed, so I pray that God would send some mighty fierce angels to guard her innocence, guard her heart, guard that sparkle in her eyes until her parents can remove her and escort her safely home.
I pray for a kind-hearted caregiver for Elizabeth, one who treats her gently and who has a kind word for her every day. I pray for friends in the orphanage. Elizabeth has been ripped away from her very best friend, Angelina. They spent their days playing dolls together. I've never heard of nor seen a doll in an institution. Not a toy. Nothing. These are the places where active and imaginative children are tied to too-small cribs.
As I'm typing, Vera just came in to give me a big hug and good morning kiss. I'm weeping now. This is where she was headed. I cannot imagine Vera's spark being snuffed out by life in the institution. What a loss to me. What a loss to Vera.
I pray that when Elizabeth is adopted that God would restore the years the locusts have eaten, that He would meld her into her family as seamlessly as if she'd been born to them.
She's been put into some awful glasses but that sweet smile just shines through, doesn't it?
Here is the info from Reece's Rainbow:
Elizabeth C.
Date of Birth: August 2003
Gender: Female
Eyes: Gray
Hair: dark brown
HELP! I HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRANSFERRED ((
This sweet girl is 7 years old. We are so hopeful to find a family for her! Elizabeth is so beautiful, and she loves to care for her baby dolls. She is active, intelligent, social, helpful, and an orphanage favorite. She does wear glasses, but who knows if they are the right prescription for her? Elizabeth will do very well in a family setting, and I hope someone will "baby" HER very soon!
From her medical records: Down Syndrome, moderate mental deficiency, atopic dermatitis; delay in growth, amblyopia of high degree, congenital myopia with astigmatism
FULL MEDICAL RECORDS AVAILABLE
LOTS MORE PHOTOS AVAILABLE
I AM ELIGIBLE FOR AN OLDER CHILD GRANT (which currently stands at $975, but a fundraiser that has raised $990 has not been added, or at least has not been added in its entirety)
I found out yesterday that Elizabeth C. was moved to an institution. A mental institution. In a former Soviet country that has never recovered its value of human life, much less disabled human life, since its repudiation of communism. I have written many times before about mental institutions in Eastern Europe. Today, I'll share what someone else has written about them, someone who was just there, someone who saw a teenaged boy with Down syndrome whose daily job was to wash out the toilet pots, who daily had excrement smeared all over his hands, who daily smelled overwhelmingly awful, who daily smiled at her and tried to interact with gentleness, who daily reminded her that a mental institution is no place for such a gentle soul.
That situation may be better or worse than where Elizabeth was sent; we don't know. If it's worse, it's not by much. In the USA, our institutions, relics of our own misguided past, are often in the news after yet another flagrant abuse is discovered. Their institutions don't even make the news; no abuse that is discovered will ever even be known, prosecuted, championed. The caregivers over these defenseless children wield enormous power inside the walls of the institution. I feel sure some use it judiciously and others use it maliciously.
So my prayer request: I ask for prayer that someone would step forward today and claim her for their very own. I pray that someone could move quickly with her adoption. Even in that situation, it will take months for her adoption to be completed, so I pray that God would send some mighty fierce angels to guard her innocence, guard her heart, guard that sparkle in her eyes until her parents can remove her and escort her safely home.
Isn't she beautiful?
Elizabeth C.
Date of Birth: August 2003
Gender: Female
Eyes: Gray
Hair: dark brown
HELP! I HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRANSFERRED ((
This sweet girl is 7 years old. We are so hopeful to find a family for her! Elizabeth is so beautiful, and she loves to care for her baby dolls. She is active, intelligent, social, helpful, and an orphanage favorite. She does wear glasses, but who knows if they are the right prescription for her? Elizabeth will do very well in a family setting, and I hope someone will "baby" HER very soon!
From her medical records: Down Syndrome, moderate mental deficiency, atopic dermatitis; delay in growth, amblyopia of high degree, congenital myopia with astigmatism
FULL MEDICAL RECORDS AVAILABLE
LOTS MORE PHOTOS AVAILABLE
I AM ELIGIBLE FOR AN OLDER CHILD GRANT (which currently stands at $975, but a fundraiser that has raised $990 has not been added, or at least has not been added in its entirety)
If you are her family then please contact Andrea Roberts at: andrea@reecesrainbow.org to get started. Today.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
3 pictures of Wilson!
He's even more irresistible now! What a doll!! He's at such a great age to come home to a family, having just turned 2 in October.
I just know someone's going to fall in love with those big brown eyes and blond hair. I just know they'll want to see God work and move mountains to bring this little guy home. I just know someone is dreaming of being cheek to cheek with him, feeling his chunky little hands pat them on the back as he starts to understand what hugging is. I just know someone wants to put some chub on that skinny little belly so they can blow raspberries on it. I just know someone wants to plop him into a big warm bubble bath and wrap him up in the softest towels, just to let him know he has a soft place to land now. I just know someone has some soft fleece jammies for him to wear as they slide him between clean sheets in his own bed and tuck him in after bedtime stories and prayers. I just know someone wants to tell him that Jesus loves him, in word and in deed.
I just know someone is wishing for a little boy who will love unconditionally, smile often, laugh more, stay little longer, need his mommy a little more, try harder to reach his milestones and keep the empty nest from emptying quite so soon.
I just know someone's going to fall in love with those big brown eyes and blond hair. I just know they'll want to see God work and move mountains to bring this little guy home. I just know someone is dreaming of being cheek to cheek with him, feeling his chunky little hands pat them on the back as he starts to understand what hugging is. I just know someone wants to put some chub on that skinny little belly so they can blow raspberries on it. I just know someone wants to plop him into a big warm bubble bath and wrap him up in the softest towels, just to let him know he has a soft place to land now. I just know someone has some soft fleece jammies for him to wear as they slide him between clean sheets in his own bed and tuck him in after bedtime stories and prayers. I just know someone wants to tell him that Jesus loves him, in word and in deed.
I just know someone is wishing for a little boy who will love unconditionally, smile often, laugh more, stay little longer, need his mommy a little more, try harder to reach his milestones and keep the empty nest from emptying quite so soon.
God has a family for Wilson. I just know it's you.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I'm having a giveaway!!!
I'm killing two birds with one stone with this giveaway. It's sort of complicated, for a giveaway and all, so read through it and see if you can participate!!
The first bird: One of my dear friends in the adoption world, Laura Lu, had a very quick adoption happen earlier this year. It happened fast due to the earthquake in Haiti; their son was made available much more quickly than would normally happen in a Haitian adoption and they weren't yet prepared for the costs.
Zane is actually their second adopted son. Their first son was a domestic adoption. I have rarely seen a family work so hard to raise the funds for an adoption. Among other things, Laura's husband took an evening job delivering pizzas. I'll never forget the night of her birthday when he had to work. He showed up at their door with a pizza for Laura and their girls, a quick kiss and then he was gone. I still tear up thinking about the sacrifice and devotion. I share this because they are not the type to sit back and beg for help but this time around they simply didn't have the time to get their money together.
Laura is an accomplished photographer with a rare sense of artistry. She is having a fundraiser that features several beautiful photographs, some with scriptures or a quote, for sale in either an 8 X 10 or 11 X 14 size. Please go look now! I don't want to copy them without her permission. You can read about their adoption there, too. (And please, feel free to buy one yourself without waiting to see if you've won here!)
I AM GIVING AWAY ONE OF HER PICTURES!
(plus something else, but you'll have to read to the end to find out what)The second bird: I volunteered to be the Christmas Warrior for Sophia C, the beautiful little girl pictured below. (Newly discovered pictures of her!!) I am hoping to raise $1000 to help defray the adoption costs and get her home more quickly.
Soooooo, if you'd like to be entered in the giveaway for Laura Lu's beautiful photographs (your choice of size and image), please give a donation of $10 or more to Sophia via the ChipIn I now have at the top of my blog. If you have never used a ChipIn before I can assure you it is very easy and it will walk you through the steps. Your donation will go straight to Sophia's account with Reece's Rainbow. I don't ever see a penny of it. As I have mentioned previously, donations of $35 or more will also get you a Reece's Rainbow Christmas ornament with Sophia's picture on it.
The first bird: One of my dear friends in the adoption world, Laura Lu, had a very quick adoption happen earlier this year. It happened fast due to the earthquake in Haiti; their son was made available much more quickly than would normally happen in a Haitian adoption and they weren't yet prepared for the costs.
Zane is actually their second adopted son. Their first son was a domestic adoption. I have rarely seen a family work so hard to raise the funds for an adoption. Among other things, Laura's husband took an evening job delivering pizzas. I'll never forget the night of her birthday when he had to work. He showed up at their door with a pizza for Laura and their girls, a quick kiss and then he was gone. I still tear up thinking about the sacrifice and devotion. I share this because they are not the type to sit back and beg for help but this time around they simply didn't have the time to get their money together.
Laura is an accomplished photographer with a rare sense of artistry. She is having a fundraiser that features several beautiful photographs, some with scriptures or a quote, for sale in either an 8 X 10 or 11 X 14 size. Please go look now! I don't want to copy them without her permission. You can read about their adoption there, too. (And please, feel free to buy one yourself without waiting to see if you've won here!)
I AM GIVING AWAY ONE OF HER PICTURES!
(plus something else, but you'll have to read to the end to find out what)The second bird: I volunteered to be the Christmas Warrior for Sophia C, the beautiful little girl pictured below. (Newly discovered pictures of her!!) I am hoping to raise $1000 to help defray the adoption costs and get her home more quickly.
Soooooo, if you'd like to be entered in the giveaway for Laura Lu's beautiful photographs (your choice of size and image), please give a donation of $10 or more to Sophia via the ChipIn I now have at the top of my blog. If you have never used a ChipIn before I can assure you it is very easy and it will walk you through the steps. Your donation will go straight to Sophia's account with Reece's Rainbow. I don't ever see a penny of it. As I have mentioned previously, donations of $35 or more will also get you a Reece's Rainbow Christmas ornament with Sophia's picture on it.
So that's my plan. You donate to Sophia C's chipin at the top of my blog and you are thereby entered into my giveaway for one of Laura Lu's photographs PLUS a copy of Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. (Not that the pot wasn't sweet enough with a gorgeous photograph, but I just couldn't resist giving away that book, as Laura and her family so beautifully exemplify the ideals contained in it.)
I will draw the winner on December 1, 2010.
Thank you for reading, thank you for (hopefully!) sharing, and thank you for participating if you are able. I hope you win!!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sophia C. and the Angel Tree--a Fairy Tale
Two years ago, in a faraway land, a beautiful little blond-haired princess was born. She had an extra chromosome. No one understood that made her extra special! The doctors told her parents she was cursed. Her parents believed the doctors and sent her to live in an orphanage until the curse could be lifted. No one in her country understood that it was no curse, but a blessing. They kept trying to remove the curse from princess, without success, until...
Something extraordinary happened!
The fearless and bold Andrea Roberts, leader of Reece's Rainbow Adoption Crusaders, has kind helpers in this princess's country who scour the countryside, looking for pretty little girls and handsome little boys with extra chromosomes. When they find these children, like our princess, Sophia, they take pictures of them and send them back to Andrea. Andrea puts pictures and all the information she can find onto the Reece's Rainbow website so families like mine can find these pretty little girls and handsome little boys and bring them home. Home, after all, is the place where people with an extra chromosome are best able to reach their amazing potential!! Home is the place where princess Sophia's curse can at last be lifted...the curse of living in an orphanage with no parents to love her, place sparkly tiaras on her head and dress her in the colors of royalty, as every princess deserves.
So many families look at the pretty little girls and handsome little boys on Reece's Rainbow and know they want to bring one or two or three to their own home. Isn't that a happy ending? No, because the big scary expenses of adoption stand in the way of so many of the families. These special families could treat the pretty little girls and handsome little boys to a sweet life of fun, family, and festivities, if only they could clear the path of that dragon and bring their prince or princess home.
Sophia is a true princess and she needs her happy ending! Will you help her family-to-be find their way to her by slaying some of the big bad adoption expenses? Sophia's expenses are even bigger and badder than most of the children on Reece's Rainbow. She needs a knight in shining armor!
This Christmas season I am raising money for Sophia as part of Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree. The Angel Tree is our biggest fundraising push of the year and I am honored to help. I would be all the more honored (more like thrilled) if you would join with me in slaying the expense dragons in her way! If you donate at least $35.00 to Sophia's account (as explained below), you will receive a Christmas ornament with the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Tree logo on one side and Sophia's picture on the other side. $30 will go to Sophia's account while $5 goes into the Voice of Hope Fund to defray the costs of the ornaments. Click here for a full explanation. Speaking of money-hungry dragons, all donations are tax-deductible, too.
If you click here, you can donate money to Sophia by clicking the "Donate" button, which takes you to a Paypal page. On that page, near the top, is a box with a blinking cursor in it--put the amount you wish to donate in that box and click the yellow box that says "Update Total". After that, scroll down a bit and you'll see a place to log in to PayPal. If you have a PayPal account, I probably don't need to tell you what to do! If you don't have a PayPal account, however, please note that on the left side of the page there is a place to click and you can then just pay by debit or credit card. By donating in this way, you are ensuring that Sophia receives the money you donated.
Click here to see all the other pretty little girls and handsome little boys that Andrea has gathered from around the world! For the months of November and December all our precious little ones with Down syndrome (aged 5 and younger) are gathered together on one page so we can follow along and rejoice as their dragons are slayed and the path cleared for parents to bring them home.
Thank you for being a part of Sophia's happy ending!
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Friday, October 29, 2010
Lisette
Girl, Born March 10, 2007Lisette is healthy and active and just waiting on a mommy of her very own! She currently weighs 20 pounds at three and a half years old, so she’s still tiny! She was born with a heart condition that no longer requires medical check-ups. She is sitting independently, crawling and can stand holding on to the side of her crib.
Her head was shaved this summer, but her pretty brown hair is already starting to grow back! We have many photos of Lisette from the previous year.
More photos available.
She has a grant of $1791 today! The total estimated costs for adoptions in her Eastern European country, including travel, are $16,000, making hers one of the least expensive adoptions we have on Reece's Rainbow.
Can you tell she's one of my favorites? Even with the shaved head, she reminds me of a dainty little fairy.
Lisette was put on Reece's Rainbow last year just before Christmas, I believe, so she's been waiting almost a year. Actually, for a few months she had a family committed to her but they have backed out. On her birthday this year, I wrote a birthday prayer for her. My prayer today is that on her birthday next year she'll have a family working to get her home FAST!
I read one of the most touching, tear-jerking blog posts yesterday at One Blessed Nest. If you've ever thought that older child adoption would bring you an out of control, ungrateful child, please take the time to read about my friend Tina's precious daughter and her amazingly clear understanding of what it means to be in a family. It's why we do what we do...over and over again.
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