Imperishable

Sorry, this is going to be a long one. I am not sleeping. I love sleep and it is rather late, but about 100 things are keeping me awake. First of all, the Gould family adoption fundraiser was a smashing success! I can't even describe how wonderful it all was and how faithful the Lord has been through the whole process. Originally my mom and I were heading it up, but I have a tendency to get really excited about and idea and rally and go crazy and then fall off the band wagon when things get tough. Its a sin and its wrong and God is really revealing that to me lately. Anyway, my mom was really the lady of the day, along with several other amazing women who have more perseverence than me. We held the event at Sodium, which is really a pretty amazing ministry in itself.

Michael and Julia enjoying some lunch.

My mom working the silent auction in her one less orphan shirt from the Elliots. She is my hero and my best friend. I love her. :)

The soon to be big sister of a beautiful Ethiopian sibling! Me working the silent auction. Lela Grace and the Gould's youngest son Ian (affectionately known as Sho on the blog:)

My brother Joseph (in the Titans shirt) and the oldest son of the family that lived with us last summer. Love them.

The Lord brought in SO much more money than any of us were expecting, which was such a huge blessing. I was so blown away and the thought I was carrying around in my head all day was "Lord, you really are good!" I think its something I know in my head all the time, but yesterday literally everywhere I turned all I could see was the goodness of the Lord. He is who He says He is. He is faithful. He is good.

The second reason I can't sleep is because of this girl.

Meet Diana.

Isn't she beautiful? Her precious little pixie cut and missing tooth, ah. Diana is an orphan on Reece's Rainbow. She has Cystic Fibrosis, a lung condition that is terminal if untreated. Diana needs a family badly so that she can get vital medical attention, her time is short and every breath is a struggle for her. Several people are working hard to get her story out there so if you have a blog or a facebook page be sure to share about Diana. You can see her information on the Reece's Rainbow website and visit Dreams For Diana which is a blog all about her! Her eighth birthday is approaching in April the 24th, wouldn't it be amazing if her forever family could commit to her by then? Please help spread the word where ever you can!

Finally, just lately I've been convicted about advocating for the orphan, sure, its easy to do on a blog or with people who already know about and love orphan care, but what about in everyday life? How can we get loud about orphans on a daily basis? I have several ideas that will probably each get a post in themselves in the next week but I do want to mention one thing.

At my school, the seniors final project is an oral defense of a thesis they have written. I've written about the thesis process before, but this year its a little different. We give a 3-5 minute speech in front of more than just the school and then answer three questions defending our thesis. My paper is about adoption and I am excited for the opportunity to get to share in a way and to a group that I wouldn't normally get to. While was at my teacher's house the other night practicing, she threw me a practice question about practical ways for people to get involved. I was surprised. I was expecting something a little more scholarly or historical perhaps. I listed off a few things, but now I am going to make a list and have several really doable ways for people to get involved in orphan care after hearing my speech. I am so excited and nervous, I really need the Lord to just use me and have it actually be all Him.

My pastor preached recently about Sodom and Gomorrah and about how God didn't destroy those cities because their was too much sin, but because their weren't any guardians. Not even 10 were to be found in the city, Abraham asked. We as Christians are called to be guardians and preists in this world, interceding and covering. We are called to be preservers. We are called to be salt.

This evening I was praying for Diana and asking the Lord for a specific verse for her.

"For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

~1 Corinthians 15:53~

What does salt do? Salt is a preservative. Salt makes that which is perishable, imperishable. God is swallowing up death in victory and we are a part of the story. We are the salt. He is making all things new.

So we do not loose heart.

17th Birthday

Yesterday my family and I celebrated 17 years of life. I still went to my Friday babysitting family, and saw my little down syndrome friend who I've come up with a name for. On this blog I'm going to call him Sho. Its Japenese (which doesn't have anything to do with why I chose it, just a fun fact), it has the same amount of letters as his real name, and it means, "to soar/to fly". I wanted a name that had the opposite connotation of the word 'downs', because thats exactly what this little guy is. He smiles and fusses and eats and poops like any other baby. He has his big brother's wide smile and his daddy's bald head, the big blue eyes of the brother nearest his age, he's turning one next month. Sho isn't defined entirely by down syndrome.

I took this picture yesterday. Isn't it a hoot?! I laugh out loud every time I see it. Especially the half closed eye. And his mouth is kind of huge. Anyway, Sho gave me one of my very favorite presents yesterday. I went over in the morning and Sho's mom started showing me how his physical therapist said to hold him to help him sit up. Anyway, so I was practicing and Sho was watching his big brother play with a toy and he seemed pretty steady so I took my hands away. After a few seconds without support and he was still straight and sitting, I called his mom in to look. The whole family kind of trickled in as little Sho sat for the first time for about 1 minute! He did it again several times throughout the morning, getting up to almost 2 minutes once. Big boy! I was so proud of him! It was so much fun to be there for that.

Good job, little Sho!!! We're all so proud of you. Keep working hard, and thank you for making my birthday babysitting job especially exciting!

ps. I did do other things on my birthday including planting a tree, witnessing another little (baby) friend have her first taste of chocolate, eating Ethiopian food with family and 2 close friends and wrapping up the evenings with frozen yogurt and presents. Just if you're interested. :) I got a laptop on which I have composed this blogspost!

Sergei

Remember him? This little boy as well as his 9 year old sister have changed my perspective about people with special needs and given me a passion for Reece's Rainbow (even though he is biological) and kids with Down Syndrome.

I was blessed beyond measure to snuggle this little cutie again tonight for quite a while. He has grown and gotten so much stronger since about a month ago! I'm proud of him. He was in a super happy and unbelievably adorable mood this evening. He looks a older than this picture too, I wish you could see his ear-to-ear smile.

Tonight, this little man was smothered with kisses and cuddled and admired by about 30 people. He is appreciated and accepted and valued. But what about Sergei?

How amazing would it be to see this little one happy and loved by a family and a covenant community?

Sergei and I have been very blessed by those of you who have responded and wanted to help support his adoption fund. And we'd like to remind you that "we do not loose heart, though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day."

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Perspecitve

Lately, my perspective has changed. A lot of that is due to this amazing family: http://the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com who have two children with down syndrome and one of them is adopted and they are in the process of adopting another child with down syndrome. Also, I have learned a ton from this sweet little guy:



I have loved children and had a passion for orphans for as long as I can remember. However, for my whole life until just a few months ago I had consciously turned my back on the plight of special needs orphans. I didn't want to think that much. I didn't want to feel that pain. I made the excuse that that wasn't my calling--- that wasn't my problem. And there was nothing I could do anyway. I didn't want the work that love takes.


But my merciful Savior has a plan for my life and a plan for my heart. When my love fails, His love is unfailing. He brought the Hollis family to my attention through the blog world and then gave me the opportunity to meet them in person. He brought this precious kid into my church family and caused me to fall in love with him on the day that he was born--- months before I ever met him. My life has been radically changed and blessed. Perfect love casts out fear.


So, my challenge to you would be: if you have, like me, struggled to allow God to bless you through care for special needs orphans (or just special needs people in general), take 3 minutes whether it be at church or school or in your neighborhood to talk to/play with a special needs person in your life that perhaps you have awkwardly avoided before. If you do have a love for special needs orphans, visit http://reecesrainbow.com and donate towards an orphan's adoption fund and pray specifically for the waiting children on that list. Finally, Praise God for His beauty that He gloriously displays in the people that He creates.

I believe I've said it before, but....

... I LOVE


LOVE

LOVE

LOVE BABYSITTING! Seriously, how cute can you get? I am head-over-heals for this sweet kid --- and all of his big brothers and sister! We had so much fun on friday. (Oh, and by the way I didn't have them all by myself, Mom was there too:)

I stole the "lovelovelove" idea from http://ashtonsmeimei.blogspot.com/. Thanks Ashton! :)