Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Your VBS is Jealous of Our VBS

I know that sounds a little mean, but it is so true.

I mean look at this!
Unfortunately I was sick all week and only stayed the last day,
so I dont have a lot of pictures.



This is Ethan with his new BFF Wes. Right after I took this, E reached his hand up and held Wes's for a second. It was so sweet.

Ethan said, " I made lots of friends at VBS! Some of them I didn't even ask if they wanted to be my friend, I just...made a friend out of them!"

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hope is not far off...


More than $20,000 has been raised for Terri Lynn in less than 3 days!

"I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!"
Deuteronomy 32:3

Dear Zoey (Letter #7)



Hey Baby,

Tonight when your brothers and sister were splashing around in the bathtub, I reached in the closet and brought out the red and pink striped monkey I have been saving for you, and the blanket with the ducks on it. I hugged them real tight for a minute, because it made me feel close to you.

I love you,
Mama

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Princess in Need of Rescuing...


There is a little girl who reminds me of my Charlotte, and my niece Selah. She is 5 1/2. Her name is Terri Lynn and she is one of the many children with Down Syndrome on Reece's Rainbow. Last December when she turned 5, no one threw her a party, or gave her any presents. No one sang her a song or baked a cake.
In her country, children with Down Syndrome are kept in a Baby House until they turn 5. Then they are taken on a car ride- for most, the only one they will ever have- to one of the many Mental Asylums in the country. Here they will have their heads shaved and be assigned a crib that they will never leave. Some will have their wrists and ankles tied to the bars. They will not be changed, or taken to the bathroom, or played with, or given toys, or fed anything but porridge in a bottle. They will be drugged day and night with adult tranquilzers so they dont bother the "caretakers" with their crying or whining or asking to be held.

Research shows that about 95% of children with Down Syndrome die of starvation, neglect,or abuse within the first year in the Asylums.



After just a few weeks, she is not the same little girl. Her beautiful hair, her pink cheeks, that curious look in her eyes, is all gone.

No one cares that she wears boy clothes, or clothes that fit. No one cares how those bruises on her face got there, or what or who caused them.

But we should care. We know she is a child of the Most High God. We know that a child with Down Syndrome has so much more potential than what her current environment has in store for her.
There are many families trying to raise money for Teri Lynn. There are no prizes to offer, just the knowledge that by donating you are helping rescue this little princess from certain death.

Some matching grants have been offered at No Greater Joy Mom and the total is climbing.
Terri Lynn doesn't have a family yet.
Most times families who consider adoption end up not going through with it because the cost seems too great.
But, as we are singing in VBS this week, Our God is so BIG!

Soon, I just know it, her Mommy is going to see her picture and know this is the little girl she has been praying for. And she won't have to worry about how on earth she will get the money because it will already be there.

God doesnt need our help, or our money, but what a blessing it is that He gives us the chance to be a part of something like this. That He opens our eyes to see beyond our little comfortable bubbles and gives us the opportunity to do more than just talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus.






Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Updates on Zoey

Here is an update in case you've been wondering...
We have our fingerprint appointment on July 27th. If all goes as planned, we should recieve our Customs/Immigration clearance about 2-3 weeks after that. Then we can send our dossier to our agency and get it approved and they will send it on to Ethiopia and we will be able to get on the waitlist.

The wait time between getting the dossier to Ethiopia (called being DTE) and a referral has been raised from 7-11 months for an infant girl to 11-18 months.

And the courts are getting ready to close for the rainy season soon. They don't open till late September I believe so we may not officially be DTE until the end of September. Which makes the earliest we could expect a referral, as of right now, late August 2012.
Which is really depressing.

Why does God's timing always have to be so S.L.O.W?

And, just to keep it real, Im not a very good Christian. I haven't been reading my bible very much lately. I feel really bad about that. But today I got it out and really just shared my heart with God, which He already knew, of course. I asked Him why it has to take so long. If there is such a need, why is it so hard to do something about it?

I read this. It didnt really answer my question, but it made me feel a little bit better.

"God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have showed him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
Hebrews 6:10-12

In other news, I am having new shirts made. By real shirt-makers this time. My other ones were good, but it took a lot of time to make them myself, and it got to where it wasnt so much fun anymore. As soon as we get some in, I will show you all what they look like.

VBS is next week, and when that is over we will start thinking about more fundraisers. I know we will have another garage sale, which I said I would never do again, but oh well. Gotta do it.
And maybe another kickball tournament or something.

Hope you are enjoying your summer so far! I will post more pictures of ours tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday: The first half of the first half of Summer