A Challenge for You for the New Year!

Almost every year I have attempted to read the Bible through, and every year have not succeeded. Well, this year is going to be different...I actually started two days early, and so far, so good!

I would love to encourage all of you to join the 2011 Boss Your Heart Bible Challenge.
There are different plans you can follow...but after reading this inspirational post by Mattie, I felt like the Lord wanted me to do the 90 day challenge. I am enjoying this so far.

If you join the challenge by midnight, there are two amazing prizes you will be entered to win. But no matter when you join, please join because you want to develop the habit of spending daily time with the Lord.

I have struggled with having a daily quiet time for quite some time. My eventual desire is to serve the Lord on the foreign mission field working with orphans, however, the last few times I went overseas, the quiet time was the first thing to go. It is easy to say that I will develop better habits when I change locations or do something more fulfilling with my life...but it never works that way. Therefore, I am starting now to form this habit that I know will enrich my life and draw me closer to the Lord whom I desire to serve.

For details on this Bible Challenge...read this post by Mattie's mom

And One More Little Angel

When I was choosing children to sponsor for the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree, I also felt drawn to little Kathleen! Then Marina's mom wrote this post and I knew that the Lord was telling me to sponsor this little cutie as well!



If you have not yet, please visit www.reecesrainbow.org
and sponsor one or more beautiful orphans...maybe next Christmas they will be celebrating with their forever families.

I have also started a blog for Kathleen and four others to try and find families for them. Stay tunes...more info on that blog coming soon!

Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree

Do you have any last minute shopping to do? Anyone you need to buy a gift for--but they really do not need anything or you have no idea what to get? What to give your children's teachers? Somebody special you would like to honor? What if you could bless someone special in your life, while also helping give a child the gift of a family?

Let me explain. Each year from November-December, Reece's Rainbow does an Angel Tree. The children listed are all international orphans who happen to have Down Syndrome. They are pretty cute, too! In several countries outside the US, children with disabilities are often given up at birth. If not adopted the child will be sent to a mental institution at 4-5 years old. There are families who would love to adopt these children, but adoption is expensive. When you choose a child on the Angel Tree, and make a donation, the money will go into a grant fund to be used to help fund that child's adoption. The children with large grants are most likely to find adoptive families. The goal of the Angel Tree is to raise at least $1000 for each child's grant.

For donations of $35 or more, you will get a photo ornament with a picture of the child. A gift card is included if you are donating a gift in honor of someone special.

Here are the two angels that I sponsored this year: Amanda (in yellow) and Nana (in pink). No, those are probably not their given names. Amanda is almost 3 and Nana almost 2. They are cute, aren't they?




If you are still hesitant, meet the little girl I sponsored last year: Anastasiya! The top picture in the blue outfit is from the Angel Tree last year, and the picture in the red outfit is more recent. She has a family in the process of adopting her now! It is so exciting to see what the Lord is doing in her life! I still have her ornament and instead of putting it on my tree, I have it out in my room to remind me to pray for her and for her family!


So your Christmas is just not complete without one or two little faces on your Christmas tree? Click this bubble and select a child who has less than $1000 in their fund. Maybe next Christmas, or the Christmas after, your little angel will be celebrating with his or her forever family!

Christmas Angel Tree TwentyTen

CLICK HERE to Put the Angel Tree Bubble on Your Blog! Thank you!

Updates

Well...I am terrible at keeping up this blog. I started it as I was hoping to return to the Philippines. While I may do that at some point, the Lord is leading me to do a few things in the USA first. I am pretty involved in my church right now. I am also hoping to make a short missions trip to Ethiopia sometime in 2011 if the Lord wills.I am also hoping to do some more volunteering with the Down Syndrome Guild in my area...but will sadly not be able to post the beautiful faces of the children there online.

My eventual plans are to adopt and/or start a children's home overseas...location to be determined. I love the Philippines...but am also open to going to Africa...we shall see where the Lord leads next.

I know the Lord is going to do some exciting things in 2011. Some of them I will post here. Others I cannot share just yet, and some things are not for sharing publicly.

I will continue to blog. I will probably come up with a new title for this blog, and it will be a little bit of everything. If you would like to read about my previous trips to the Philippines, or about the Lord's leading me to Ethiopia, those are on other blogs. Please let me know and I will send you an invite.

As far as advocating for the children on Reece's Rainbow, I will definitely continue to do that. Neah (formerly Nadya) is just a couple days away from coming home to her new family. Anastasiya's family finished their homestudy and is working on their dossier. Both families have blogs:
NEAH
ANASTASIYA

Please stop by and send them some encouragement.

A few specific updates:
December:
I am working at Gymboree (clothing store) part time and loving it. I am also active in AMP--my church's young adult group, and helping with The Rising on Friday evenings. The Rising is a church plant located at a local university. It is sponsored by my church. My church is doing a lot of Christmas activities--so I am excited to celebrate with them. This will be my first Christmas at this church and I am so thankful for all that I am learning. I am also excited about having extended family over on Christmas Eve--hoping that this respiratory illness that I am fighting vanishes so that I can enjoy all the festivities...and most of all celebrate the birth of Jesus--the One Who died and rose again so that I can live and be forgiven.

January: I may need to look for another job as my Gymboree job is just a seasonal position. I am also excited to start Grace Adventure at the end of the month. Grace Adventure is an intensive workshop...it is four weekends long and also one night a week spread out over a 3 month period. It is hard to explain exactly what it is...but if you click on the highlighted "Grace Adventure" you can learn more. A good number of the people at my church have gone through it already. You learn more about who you are in Christ and how to live according to who God has made you to be.
While I know Grace Adventure will not be easy, I know it is something that the Lord will use in a mighty way in my life. I am also hoping to start ballet classes again...that will be a lot of fun. All of this in addition to my church activities should keep me pretty busy.

Well...that is it for now. I will write more soon!