More babies who need families

Check out the new buttons on my sidebar. Meet Ian, Martin, Mindy, and Wallace. These precious little ones WILL be transferred soon to a mental institution if they do not have families commit to adopt them immediately. This is an urgent plea to anyone who reads this...to check and see if your family is missing a son or daughter (or two)...these babies will likely die if they are transferred, and they cannot be adopted out of the institution. Look closely at these little faces...is one of them supposed to be yours?

I think it is so sad that these little ones are seen as less than valuable in their society due to how the Lord created them. Each one of these children, created perfectly in God's image...and probably doing a better job reflecting Him than most of us, who have experienced all the world has to offer, and have found time to focus on everything but Him. These little ones, having never experienced life outside the orphanage...innocent children who will forever be childlike...need to know the love of a family...a family who can introduce them to the love of Jesus. Jesus said whatever we do unto the least of these, we are doing to Him. The Bible speaks often of the value God places on caring for orphans...I don't see this as optional...The Bible also speaks of childlike faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the only requirement for salvation...something that comes easily to one of these little ones...so I must conclude that these four children are four of God's most valuable creatures. I hope we all do not get to miss out on all they have to offer.

You may wonder why I have a heart for these kids. I have a cousin with Down Syndrome, and some good friends have a teenage son who has Down Syndrome. My cousin is 24 now...just three years younger than me...she is a high school graduate, a valuable employee at two restaurants, and she is living in an apartment...quite an amazing young woman if you ask me. The young man I mentioned, I have known since he was a baby. One day, when he was younger, he and his mother came over to visit my mom. My grandma lived with us, and she had Parkinson's and dementia. She did not always know where she was or what was going on. Most little kids would have noticed something was not right, and would have been uncomfortable...but not this boy...he sat by her and loved on her like nothing was wrong... what an example of how we are to treat other people. This young man trusted Jesus as His Savior in the past year, and I had the privilege of attending his baptism! He truly loves the Lord.

As you can see, people with Down Syndrome have an incredible amount of potential when they are in families who love them for the wonderful people that they are. They are the ones who teach us how we should live our lives. And so, I hope that there are families somewhere who will see the potential in these four little ones, and will bring them home.

Sometimes I wonder why God gives me a heart for these kids, and no way to do much about it...I am in no position to adopt right now...however, I can spread the word, and I can pray...and someday when the timing is right, He will provide a way for me to be blessed to be able to call a couple of these children my own.

Saving Ruslana

Grab This Button

Just look at this precious little girl! Her story is one of hope, redemption, and the sovereign plan of a loving God Who cares for the orphans, and invites us to do the same. Ruslana is almost five years old, and on the verge of being transferred to a mental institution. She has had four different families commit to her, who were unable to bring her home. Her last family saved her life, because had they not committed to her, she would have been transferred to the institution a couple months ago. I thank the Lord that they were obedient to the Lord even when they did not understand. Just days after this family realized they were not Ruslana's forever family, the family God had planned for her realized they were missing a daughter and committed to bring her home.

There is just one complication: They must come up with the $25,000 needed for her adoption by February 1, or she will be transferred to an institution. However, I know God is sovereign. He has worked out His amazing plan for this little girl so far, and He will continue to do so. However, God delights in using His people to accomplish His plan. Money is nor an obstacle for God...nor is it for His people. If you don't believe it, click Hope's button and read all about her sister who raised the money to adopt their newest sister in a little over a week. She did not do it by herself though...she spread the word, and many others heard, they obeyed God and gave, and told others who gave, and now little Darya will get to be with a family for Christmas next year, all because of one 11 year old girl, and one amazing God!

Please click on Ruslana's picture, visit her new family's page, and prayerfully consider how you can help them bring Ruslana home!

Found! Families for Tonya and Ruslana! Fundraisers for three more little ones!

I just checked the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree, and Tonya now has a family committed to her! Also, precious Ruslana had a family commit to her as well! This has been a happy day for these two little girls who were about to be transferred to an institution. Praise the Lord that instead, they will be celebrating Christmas at HOME next year with their new families!

There are three more babies that I am hoping will be home next year:

NADYA: I am Nadya's prayer warrior. Milena is making heart ornaments to raise money to help Nadya come home to her forever family. They are just five dollars each. These ornaments can be used after Christmas as well...consider giving them to friends for Valentine's Day! Please click on Nadya's button to visit Milena's blog and order your own heart ornament.

KIRIL: Christine is asking that everyone donate $1 to Kiril's fund and then tell one other person...or you can post about the fundraiser on your blog, to get the word out to more people. This is an easy one. All of us have spare change lying around. We all spend money on things we don't need. Please spare just one dollar to give this little boy something he needs: a forever family! Of course, you may give more if you want, but even if everyone gave a dollar, and told somebody who then gave a dollar, and so forth, Kiril's fund would grow significantly. Click his button to go to Christine's blog for Kiril, and give a dollar to help him cone home!

ANASTASIYA: I am going to do a giveaway for Anastasiya on my blog as soon as I can get a chip in set up. It will probably start sometime next week! Tickets are $5. Details on Anastasiya's blog. I do not have an Anastasyia button yet, so just click her picture on my sidebar.

There are a few other babies who need to come home too!

Anastasiya

Meet Anastasiya. There is just something special about this little girl that has touched my heart. So, in addition to advocating for Nadya, I will be advocating for Anastasiya as well.

Just look at this little girl! She is obviously happy, and looks well taken care of. Somebody cared enough about her to dress her up cute and take her picture...and just look at that face she is making! She just has to find a family! I am not exactly sure what I am going to do...but if enough people read this maybe we can put some money in her adoption fund. I know who my Christmas Angel will be this year. Please visit www.reecesrainbow.com, and if you haven't chosen a Christmas angel already, maybe you would like to sponsor Anastasiya too!

I have started a blog for Anastasiya at afamilyforanastasiya.blogspot.com

Tonya

While I love the Philippines, I have a heart for orphans all over the world...and especially for those little ones who have been blessed with a little something extra in the chromosome department. Today, I want you to meet an amazing little girl named Tonya. She has a family who would like to adopt her, but they do not have the initial $20,000 that it will take to get her home. Please consider donating to her adoption fund at www.reecesrainbow.com

Here is her story...told by Ana's mommy, who got took this picture while at the orphanage to meet her new daughter.

I want to share pictures with you, but right now I have more important matters on my mind. Ana has a friend in her orphanage that also has Down Syndrome. Her name is Tonya. Tonya is nearing 5 years old and they are going to have to send her to an institution. The orphanage director teared up a little as she let me take a couple photos of Tonya and told me that she needs a family, just as she teared up when she was telling us during our interview how special Ana is and all about her personality. She really loves these children and wants them to have families. They teach the kids that one day a mom and dad will come for them, so when we first met Ana she was not shy at all. She was quite the opposite, running through the door to greet us and jumping up into Handsome's arms.

The director is fearful of transfer for Tonya. She said Tonya will loose all the potential and current skills that she has if she were to be transferred. I asked her how long until they would have to transfer her...she didn't answer. She just looked over at Tonya and said, "I will do everything to keep her here if I can know she has a family coming for her." And she will. She loves this little girl just as she loves our Ana. We are the first family ever in this region to adopt a child with Down Syndrome. At this orphanage they do not do very many adoptions per year. Usually it is just a couple, but this year has been a full one. They have had 13 adoptions, both in country and international (I think that is what we were told). That is a lot for them.

I can tell you that adopting from this region is a blessing. The people are very charming and the city shares the same. It's a bigger city, the capital of it's region. The locals are very friendly and the buildings are old and colorful. As with most of the country, they walk everywhere. There are plenty of cars, but also many people walking to their destinations. Though it's a big city, it has the feel of a small town which is more like what I enjoy. Everything is more than affordable here, so our food, housing, and transportation has not been as expensive here. The officials and other people you work with for adoption are kind and interested as well. They have been very friendly and kind. I can't speak for all regions, but adopting from here is sure to be an enjoyable experience.


So friends, we need to find a family for Tonya. We have to find one and I know we can do it. We have been blessed with this amazing tool of communication called the internet and it makes spreading information so easy. Please spread the word about Tonya and help us find a family for her quickly. Pray that we can find one for her even this week. Share this information on your blog. Share it with friends. Share through Facebook or e-mail, whatever means you can so that this little girl can have a family coming for her as her Christmas gift this year.

Tonya is very high functioning. She walks and runs well, and has a large vocabulary. She is quite the healthy little girl, she just has a diagnosis that frightens people in her area because they don't know much about it. She sat on my lap in a bench swing today and snuggled in a little. She is sure to be a special addition to her forever family when they come for her. When our facilitator asked her if she wanted a Mom and Dad today, she said, "Da. Da." (Which means yes, yes.)

Are you Tonya's forever family? If you would like more information about Tonya or the process of adopting her, please contact Andrea from Reece's Rainbow. Click the link here and scroll down to Tonya. She is orphanage 24 (the only child there). You can click on Andrea's name which is highlighted to contact her. If you want to ask me any questions as well, feel free. I would love to do anything that would help Tonya find her family."

Well, alot of things have happened since I last updated! The most exciting thing being that I have a job! I am working part time at Hobbt Lobby, and it is lots of fun! Alot of the time I am working as a cashier, but I also get to walk around the store and help customers or do "reverse shopping"--my term for putting away a shopping cart of items that the customers took to the register and decided that they did not want...and that can be pretty fun. Hobby Lobby is an awesome place to work-- the big thing that impressed me is their policy to be closed on Sunday so that their employees can have time for family and worship....how many places give you a mandatory day off? They are also closed on Thanksgiving...allowing their employees important family time. They also have some people who only work holidays or during the school year...and hired mw knowing I was going to be in the Philippines this summer! I am also able to be off in time to get to my ballet class every week! It is so nice to have a job that fits my schedule perfectly! As I am re-doing my bedroom, I will be a frequent customer there...during the times I am not there to work. They have so many cute things at amazing prices...yes, the Lord has provided exactly the job that I need right now!

I am still working on my missions trip stuff... no new news...although I will begin raising support early next year. If you would like to read about my previous two trips to the Philippines, please request an invite to my previous blog. I will not be updating there until further notice, but do not mind letting you read it. I just ask that you leave me a comment with your email address and a link to your blog so that I can see who you are...unless I have met you in person, and then just your email will be sufficient.

Blog Award

EDIT//Nov 26// While nobody has complained about me linking their blog, I have removed most of the links to my friends' blogs for their privacy. In the future, no blogs will be linked unless the family has posted a button for people to grab--meaning they wish for their blog to be linked--or the blog owner has given permission for me to link their blog. Thanks for understanding.
//



Kelly over at trustedwithmuch.blogspot.com gave me this blog award in June, but have not been near a computer long enough to pass it on until now.

There are two rules to accepting the award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs.
Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Kelly picked some awesome bloggers, so I am going to pick 15 that she did not choose.

First of all, my lovely friend Alex, whom I went to school with, and whom has been a dear friend for the past almost four years...one of those people who knows almost everything about me and loves me anyways...loves to write and always has encouraging thoughts to share.

My friend Allison is currently completing her student teaching, and writes about her adventures on her blog.

My dear sister Beth who is an interior designer and writes about a little of everything.

Milena, who started a blog for my little Nadya (see previous post) and is trying to help her find her forever family. Click on Nadya's button to read more about her!

Brigitte, who adopted my other prayer warrior angel, Jacob Paul.

Jenny, who adopted sweet little Levi from the Philippines.

Christine, mother of twelve children...is an inspiration to me as I desire to have a large family, and to adopt someday.

Two of Christine's daughters: Rachel and Julia have their own blogs and so I am nominating each of them as well.

Alexandra Michaela has an amazing heart for children. She reminds me alot of myself. Keep advocating for the kids, Alex!

Kim and her husband run the children's home where I will be working this summer.

Bethany has three beautiful children, and takes amazing pictures too!

Valerie is a fellow missionary in the Philippines, and she writes about life with her husband and three adorable children.

Charissa has a real heart for orphans, as well as children with special needs. She and her husband adopted little Ava a couple years ago, and they have four other adorable children, as well.

And last...but certainly not least, my dear friend Deana, who is an author. She wrote a devotional book entitled, "I Will Give You the Rain."