In exactly one week from today we have been given an opportunity to have a HUGE fund raiser! I couldn't sleep last night due to my thoughts screaming through my brain as to the generosity of this dear friend....BLOWS MY MIND!!! It makes me wonder if i could ever do such a thing for a friend....WOW! I haven't even told my hubby or even most of the kids ;) Every day i will add a little more to what it is going to be but i pray that you kick this to the moon!!! I pray it will rock our world and my friend's with your generosity! Her generosity well, i am going to say it again...it blows my mind!!! Keep reading and i will keep telling more!
Until then, will YOU PLEASE PRAY for this upcoming fund raiser? Will YOU PLEASE PRAY for our Ethan and our family? Transitions, travel, preparation, etc.....
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie (Ethan's Mommy) for the crew
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYER
When Scott and i were in Ethan's country....a BEAUTIFUL country, it was absolutely wonderful weather. The temps were in the 30's and 40's. When we were in Ethan's orphanage visiting him, they would bring him down from wherever he was at into the one of two rooms that we were allowed in. The first day we were there, they made sure that we kept the door shut as they had it so warm in our 'visiting room'. If they would have only known that we keep our house at 65 degrees! (not the 'typical' American family's temperature setting) Our precious Ethan was brought to us with a coat or a vest coat on almost every day. THEN they would take his coat off once he was in 'our room'. After they saw that we had taken off sweatshirts, then our long sleeve shirts, that first afternoon they turned down the temp....a little. That afternoon our son was dressed in a coat but under that coat was a wool flannel button down long sleeve shirt, then a turtle neck, then two shirts under that PLUS he had on heavy tights under his corduroy overalls!! Because i loved that outfit so very much, they put it on him again the next morning so he could have that be his visa picture outfit! LOVE <3 Thankfully, every day they turned down the temp a little more each time. I did NOT want them to waste their heat on us! I wanted the heat to be saved for those precious 38 children!
When we got out of the van the first day, i immediately searched for the children outside because i could hear them as if they were playing out in the beautiful sunshine. They weren't BUT i could hear them as if they were right there. By the end of the week, i had counted over a dozen windows that looked like they were covered in such a way that must have been how we were hearing the children. The last day, as our van was leaving the orphanage, i looked back and i strained my neck to watch the orphanage way up on the hill and it appeared that there were windows that were missing or were covered in such a way that it didn't have a glass pane. The windows on that side of the building were dark so i assumed that they must not use that side of the building and they must close it off. I have no idea for sure. i DO know that our orphanage was a nicer orphanage.
I don't know if you have paid attention to the weather in the Eastern European countries but they have been hit VERY hard with cold weather and snow that is now flooding in areas. Our little sweetheart, along with hundreds and even thousands of other little ones are living in orphanages that are probably not funded highly and heat is a HUGE blessing that may be rare. Many of these children are in poor health or are low in weight and so this kind of weather is VERY VERY scary for our children and the children who are waiting for a family to claim them as their own.
Will YOU PLEASE PRAY specifically for our son Ethan? Pray for his health as we do not want him even getting a cold as they said that his breathing is not great already due to his "third tonsil". Before we went to him, they told us that they would not want Ethan to have any kind of respiratory issues as that could not be good for him and could even be serious.
Will YOU PLEASE PRAY for the orphans of Eastern Europe? Will YOU PLEASE PRAY for the children who are waiting for their families to come and bring them home? I know of SO MANY who are just waiting for their last visit from their mommy and daddy so they can go home. PLEASE pray for the people that work with our children in EE from the orphanage workers to our attorney and her team who are experiencing weather that is NOT helpful to these precious little ones and makes their job even more stressful.
How i covet the prayers of the righteous on behalf of these sweet treasures! I am ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie (Ethan's Mommy) for the rest of the crew
Friday, February 3, 2012
Chapter THREE- dire needs
There are MANY MANY reasons why i haven't written but one of them is that there are just SO MANY OTHERS who are in GREAT need and it has been week after week after week. SO i just kept putting it off and off and off. I have already put up a blog about my dear friend Shannon for her Shannon! Thank you so much for all of you who helped her out! They could still use help if you would like. I am going to give you three for this next week though. These three are in desperate need! First is Kelly ...they are leaving in just a few days and are in need of thousands of dollars yet before they can bring home Charlotte. Kelly is the lady who brought our paperwork to DC for us without even knowing who we were!!! They have an incredible way to have a chance at winning some amazing things with your donations at.... http://chasingcharlotte.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html but THAT is not why we give!
Second, there is Deanna who is bringing home Charity...they were hit hard with some unforeseen financial hits and are going to be needing their money very quickly as their country goes VERY VERY fast! Charity is a little girl that we have prayed HARD for since the VERY FIRST week that we found out about Reece's Rainbow! There isn't anyone that cheered louder than our family when we saw our friend say that they were the family adopting Charity!!! (ok...i KNOW that we don't know that for sure but i am not kidding when i say that we were LOUDLY CHEERING!!!!) Another CHANCE at receiving.....
http://the21stchromosomeablessingindesguise.blogspot.com/2012/02/get-away-giveaway-for-charity.html from your donation BUT again...NOT the reason that we give.
Third, well i have talked about this friend a LOT! Her name is Mandy and they are adopting Joseph and Samuel. She is near and dear to my heart! She is an incredible woman of God who is more like Christ than most twice her age! They will SOON be getting their dates to go and BRING HOME their two boys from the same country as our Ethan! They are still in need of thousands also. Mandy has a friend who is giving a HUGE portion of her earnings to Mandy's grant....in fact, $25 goes to help fund the boys' adoption for every necklace sold. Go to her blog....http://findingourlittleone.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-excited.html and follow the instructions of how to order your necklace for your Valentine or for yourself! They are BEAUTIFUL!
Yes, i know that we still need around $8,000-$10,000 yet....there have been SO MANY who are in greater need...their money is needed sooner and some have even more needed than we do! IF you are able to help a family who is adopting....PLEASE help one of these three OR ALL of these three!!! Our day our need will come soon enough but it is STILL not now. PLEASE PRAY and then give generously to these families!
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew
Second, there is Deanna who is bringing home Charity...they were hit hard with some unforeseen financial hits and are going to be needing their money very quickly as their country goes VERY VERY fast! Charity is a little girl that we have prayed HARD for since the VERY FIRST week that we found out about Reece's Rainbow! There isn't anyone that cheered louder than our family when we saw our friend say that they were the family adopting Charity!!! (ok...i KNOW that we don't know that for sure but i am not kidding when i say that we were LOUDLY CHEERING!!!!) Another CHANCE at receiving.....
http://the21stchromosomeablessingindesguise.blogspot.com/2012/02/get-away-giveaway-for-charity.html from your donation BUT again...NOT the reason that we give.
Third, well i have talked about this friend a LOT! Her name is Mandy and they are adopting Joseph and Samuel. She is near and dear to my heart! She is an incredible woman of God who is more like Christ than most twice her age! They will SOON be getting their dates to go and BRING HOME their two boys from the same country as our Ethan! They are still in need of thousands also. Mandy has a friend who is giving a HUGE portion of her earnings to Mandy's grant....in fact, $25 goes to help fund the boys' adoption for every necklace sold. Go to her blog....http://findingourlittleone.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-excited.html and follow the instructions of how to order your necklace for your Valentine or for yourself! They are BEAUTIFUL!
Yes, i know that we still need around $8,000-$10,000 yet....there have been SO MANY who are in greater need...their money is needed sooner and some have even more needed than we do! IF you are able to help a family who is adopting....PLEASE help one of these three OR ALL of these three!!! Our day our need will come soon enough but it is STILL not now. PLEASE PRAY and then give generously to these families!
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie for the crew
Chapter two.....uffda
When Scott and i got home from seeing Ethan we were tired but we knew that we only had those two days to get the paperwork done...Christmas Eve and Christmas. We whipped through and worked hard and made copies and worked on it until the very last minute...literally! Scott has never cut it so close.
I sent the paperwork to the USCIS and was thrilled that we were finally DONE!!! What i found out days later was devastating....i had sent ALL of the paperwork to the USCIS when we should have sent only HALF of it to the USCIS and the other half to Ethan's country!!! It was too late and there was nothing that i could do but WAIT....another FIVE and one-half WEEKS!!! IT KILLED ME!!!
We also found out that our medical paperwork had been done incorrectly. I guess that the date is supposed to be written in the European way (it IS written under the line but NONE of us saw it!!!) not the American way. SO, when my Dr. wrote that she had seen me she put the date as 10/06/11 SO in Ethan's country they saw it as 6/10/11....outdated dates then!!!! Oh my goodness! I was about to lose it....after all that had gone on physically and now this! I had one of the biggest struggles of my flesh to trust the Lord with His timing that i have had so far on this journey! OH how hard this was!!! I finally allowed myself to not only KNOW that God knew what was going on but to FEEL that God knew what was going on and that He knew best! HE sees the WHOLE picture...i don't!
I had one friend who knew ALL of what was going on...MORE than what i am telling here and way harder things then what i can share here. She told me that i needed to get a full physical and find out what in the world is going on. She prayed for me, she encouraged me, and she loved me through all of these very hard things! i thank God for her!
I had the appt. on Wednesday of this week and according to my Dr. i am just fine;) Just getting old...hee hee! Probably had a bad virus that caused the two illnesses. He did a whole bunch of tests too. I got hit with the jet lag for those first two weeks and my body probably was in an easier position to catch 'bugs'...NO PUN intended;) Waiting on a couple of tests yet but so far they have called and all is well and they are not concerned at all. I didn't think so BUT i do have to say that it was nice to KNOW!
Ok....backing up. The Monday, after that second Sunday that we missed, we left for Scott's parents house...without Scott;) It was a wonderful time of watching the grandparents with Sophina and the girls! THEN we went down to my Mom's house for our FIRST Christmas of the season! Yep, it was mid-January! It was a WONDERFUL weekend! We missed another church service though and oh how i was feeling like we had been gone for MONTHS! The time together with family was VERY sweet though!
Monday, we had home school group. We had come home very late on that night before and we were exhausted. It WAS however, wonderful to SEE people i hadn't seen for such a long time. We barely had time to unpack, do laundry, etc....when Scott came and we got him in the van and went back up to his folks this past weekend for his family's side for Christmas! It was another WONDERFUL time of hauling wood, eating great food and watching Sophina be absolutely HILARIOUS 'running' from present to present to help open everyone's gifts! Oh MY WORD...there is no way to describe how funny she was!!! She was SO LOUD in her efforts...it was as if she was pulling cement out of the gift bags and mortar off of the boxes! LOADS of giggles and laughter!
We came home and IMMEDIATELY started unpacking and organizing and then PAPERWORK! Monday we had a field trip for the two girls then we worked FURIOUSLY on our paperwork...nail biting times and finally getting it all done....it is now about to get on an airplane to fly over to our attorney!!!! The relief is overwhelming! We are praying that it is the end of the paperwork until he is home (then we have MORE paperwork).
I cannot wait to be in church this Sunday...to see our home church people...it has been SO VERY VERY LONG!!! I don't know how people do it without a church family! I miss shaking hands, i miss giving hugs, i miss the conversations...that gathering of the saints (who are not saints at all -just forgiven people who are now saints due to their repentance of those sins and Jesus' forgiveness)!
THis has been WAY long overdue....another quick chapter will be following this one....ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie
I sent the paperwork to the USCIS and was thrilled that we were finally DONE!!! What i found out days later was devastating....i had sent ALL of the paperwork to the USCIS when we should have sent only HALF of it to the USCIS and the other half to Ethan's country!!! It was too late and there was nothing that i could do but WAIT....another FIVE and one-half WEEKS!!! IT KILLED ME!!!
We also found out that our medical paperwork had been done incorrectly. I guess that the date is supposed to be written in the European way (it IS written under the line but NONE of us saw it!!!) not the American way. SO, when my Dr. wrote that she had seen me she put the date as 10/06/11 SO in Ethan's country they saw it as 6/10/11....outdated dates then!!!! Oh my goodness! I was about to lose it....after all that had gone on physically and now this! I had one of the biggest struggles of my flesh to trust the Lord with His timing that i have had so far on this journey! OH how hard this was!!! I finally allowed myself to not only KNOW that God knew what was going on but to FEEL that God knew what was going on and that He knew best! HE sees the WHOLE picture...i don't!
I had one friend who knew ALL of what was going on...MORE than what i am telling here and way harder things then what i can share here. She told me that i needed to get a full physical and find out what in the world is going on. She prayed for me, she encouraged me, and she loved me through all of these very hard things! i thank God for her!
I had the appt. on Wednesday of this week and according to my Dr. i am just fine;) Just getting old...hee hee! Probably had a bad virus that caused the two illnesses. He did a whole bunch of tests too. I got hit with the jet lag for those first two weeks and my body probably was in an easier position to catch 'bugs'...NO PUN intended;) Waiting on a couple of tests yet but so far they have called and all is well and they are not concerned at all. I didn't think so BUT i do have to say that it was nice to KNOW!
Ok....backing up. The Monday, after that second Sunday that we missed, we left for Scott's parents house...without Scott;) It was a wonderful time of watching the grandparents with Sophina and the girls! THEN we went down to my Mom's house for our FIRST Christmas of the season! Yep, it was mid-January! It was a WONDERFUL weekend! We missed another church service though and oh how i was feeling like we had been gone for MONTHS! The time together with family was VERY sweet though!
Monday, we had home school group. We had come home very late on that night before and we were exhausted. It WAS however, wonderful to SEE people i hadn't seen for such a long time. We barely had time to unpack, do laundry, etc....when Scott came and we got him in the van and went back up to his folks this past weekend for his family's side for Christmas! It was another WONDERFUL time of hauling wood, eating great food and watching Sophina be absolutely HILARIOUS 'running' from present to present to help open everyone's gifts! Oh MY WORD...there is no way to describe how funny she was!!! She was SO LOUD in her efforts...it was as if she was pulling cement out of the gift bags and mortar off of the boxes! LOADS of giggles and laughter!
We came home and IMMEDIATELY started unpacking and organizing and then PAPERWORK! Monday we had a field trip for the two girls then we worked FURIOUSLY on our paperwork...nail biting times and finally getting it all done....it is now about to get on an airplane to fly over to our attorney!!!! The relief is overwhelming! We are praying that it is the end of the paperwork until he is home (then we have MORE paperwork).
I cannot wait to be in church this Sunday...to see our home church people...it has been SO VERY VERY LONG!!! I don't know how people do it without a church family! I miss shaking hands, i miss giving hugs, i miss the conversations...that gathering of the saints (who are not saints at all -just forgiven people who are now saints due to their repentance of those sins and Jesus' forgiveness)!
THis has been WAY long overdue....another quick chapter will be following this one....ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie
This past month - first chapter...uffda!
These past days have flown like crazy. We came home from being with Ethan and the jet lag hit me hard. My skin itched like crazy (still does) from my head to my toes! After around two weeks of checking my head, on a Wednesday night, i went to the laundromat and Sophina and i were about to leave i leaned over and a bug fell into Sophina's white blond hair! I grabbed it quickly and squished it and went on. (i think because of the stress of what had happened to our family three years before made me put it out of my mind because otherwise i went into shock) I had completely wiped it out of my mind by the time i got home and could have had Ally check me. The next night however, at 9:30pm, i remembered. I had Ally check and she saw two bugs...i ran to the bathroom and saw one in the mirror!!! Vika was checked....found one almost immediately....Catia next (i couldn't look) Ally found one in hers too. Yep, i went into immediate shock. You should have heard me. Complete monotone voice walking around like a zombie. For once, i had been ready for getting to bed early...as i was still exhausted at that time...no more to have that happen....
"Ok, we need to strip the beds, vacuum all the couches and chairs, wash a ton of laundry, and go through heads. The baby needs to go to bed. It is only me and Ally....ok..." I don't even remember how Holly T. knew about it but she called and said that she was coming over. I had called Bob and LeAnne to see if we could use their 'bug zappers' and she came and instead of dropping them off...she said that she was staying to help with a loving force that made me step back and listen! I was just so out of it!
LeAnne had brought TWO 'zappers' and so the two of us went piece by piece through the LONG hair of our girls and then she did mine....only to not find a single thing in any of our hair!!! THEN Holly came over and she went through the girls' hair tiny strand by tiny strand...NOTHING!!! Then Holly went through all of our hair again but this time with our oil concoction that i have given out to MANY people who have gone through this ordeal. STILL NOTHING!!!! I couldn't believe it! We KNEW lice at our house!
Three years ago, lice hit our house with a vengeance! I was pregnant with Sophina. All five of us females had it with one of us having it so bad that they were jumping out of the hair!!! It was LITERALLY weeks upon weeks upon weeks of laundering, going through box after box of every concoction possible then oiling our hair, picking and picking and picking then cutting hair that had been absolutely beautiful and LONG! Thinking that it was gone only to find another. I actually started spotting from the stress! Scott was home quite a bit at that time and then Bob and LeAnne would come over and help pick and pick with us! It was one of the hardest times of my life...i am not kidding!
THAT is why i totally believe that we were given a miracle!!! My head and body STILL itch like crazy but there has never been A THING found!!! We check often and now it has been weeks of checking with NOT A THING found!!! A miracle you ask....YES!!!! HALLELUJAH! A MIRACLE!!!!
We missed church because we still did treat it as if we really did have it by not being in public and vacuuming and washing but we didn't have to do it over and over...thankfully. Oh how i missed church! I couldn't wait for the next week!
The next week came and there was illness! I was sicker than a dog on a Thursday and i started a migraine almost immediately. I have had migraines every day and every night for a full year...i KNOW migraines. THIS one was the WORST migraine that i have EVER had! It was VERY long lasting. The pain of it was overwhelming BUT the nausea was WAY worse! Ally was in WI. helping to get ready for the youth retreat that weekend so the oldest person other than me was our 13 yr old. and she was FREAKED out. At one point, i couldn't even think straight and i thought that i was in big trouble. Looking back (and the nurse was VERY unhappy hearing what i told her the next day), i SHOULD have called someone but i wasn't thinking straight. I KNEW that i just needed to "lose" what was inside of me and i would be fine and sure enough...i lost it....in a HUGE amount and sure enough...i was all better IMMEDIATELY! WEIRD! Yes, i was weakened but fine! OR so i thought....
Friday afternoon i took Vika and Ally to church for their trip to WI. for their youth retreat and went home. We had Bob and LeAnne over (as normal) that night and all was well. We had our amazing popcorn and had a wonderful time visiting and having conversation! Oh how i treasure their time at our home! ANYWAY, the next morning before i could even say a word...i. was. sick.
I got SO SICK that i couldn't sit!!! THEN it got even worse and i couldn't even walk! Remember the only other people in the house were Sophina and Catherine! UGH! It lasted all day long!!! SO again, i missed church the next day! OH HOW I MISSED the people, the music, and the teaching!
There is more that happened.......i will have to write again!
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie
"Ok, we need to strip the beds, vacuum all the couches and chairs, wash a ton of laundry, and go through heads. The baby needs to go to bed. It is only me and Ally....ok..." I don't even remember how Holly T. knew about it but she called and said that she was coming over. I had called Bob and LeAnne to see if we could use their 'bug zappers' and she came and instead of dropping them off...she said that she was staying to help with a loving force that made me step back and listen! I was just so out of it!
LeAnne had brought TWO 'zappers' and so the two of us went piece by piece through the LONG hair of our girls and then she did mine....only to not find a single thing in any of our hair!!! THEN Holly came over and she went through the girls' hair tiny strand by tiny strand...NOTHING!!! Then Holly went through all of our hair again but this time with our oil concoction that i have given out to MANY people who have gone through this ordeal. STILL NOTHING!!!! I couldn't believe it! We KNEW lice at our house!
Three years ago, lice hit our house with a vengeance! I was pregnant with Sophina. All five of us females had it with one of us having it so bad that they were jumping out of the hair!!! It was LITERALLY weeks upon weeks upon weeks of laundering, going through box after box of every concoction possible then oiling our hair, picking and picking and picking then cutting hair that had been absolutely beautiful and LONG! Thinking that it was gone only to find another. I actually started spotting from the stress! Scott was home quite a bit at that time and then Bob and LeAnne would come over and help pick and pick with us! It was one of the hardest times of my life...i am not kidding!
THAT is why i totally believe that we were given a miracle!!! My head and body STILL itch like crazy but there has never been A THING found!!! We check often and now it has been weeks of checking with NOT A THING found!!! A miracle you ask....YES!!!! HALLELUJAH! A MIRACLE!!!!
We missed church because we still did treat it as if we really did have it by not being in public and vacuuming and washing but we didn't have to do it over and over...thankfully. Oh how i missed church! I couldn't wait for the next week!
The next week came and there was illness! I was sicker than a dog on a Thursday and i started a migraine almost immediately. I have had migraines every day and every night for a full year...i KNOW migraines. THIS one was the WORST migraine that i have EVER had! It was VERY long lasting. The pain of it was overwhelming BUT the nausea was WAY worse! Ally was in WI. helping to get ready for the youth retreat that weekend so the oldest person other than me was our 13 yr old. and she was FREAKED out. At one point, i couldn't even think straight and i thought that i was in big trouble. Looking back (and the nurse was VERY unhappy hearing what i told her the next day), i SHOULD have called someone but i wasn't thinking straight. I KNEW that i just needed to "lose" what was inside of me and i would be fine and sure enough...i lost it....in a HUGE amount and sure enough...i was all better IMMEDIATELY! WEIRD! Yes, i was weakened but fine! OR so i thought....
Friday afternoon i took Vika and Ally to church for their trip to WI. for their youth retreat and went home. We had Bob and LeAnne over (as normal) that night and all was well. We had our amazing popcorn and had a wonderful time visiting and having conversation! Oh how i treasure their time at our home! ANYWAY, the next morning before i could even say a word...i. was. sick.
I got SO SICK that i couldn't sit!!! THEN it got even worse and i couldn't even walk! Remember the only other people in the house were Sophina and Catherine! UGH! It lasted all day long!!! SO again, i missed church the next day! OH HOW I MISSED the people, the music, and the teaching!
There is more that happened.......i will have to write again!
ALWAYS BLESSED, Connie
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
PLEASE DONATE $5 for Shannon's paperwork!!!! TODAY!!!!
If you are a friend of mine on FB you will know that i talk about Ethan #2 a LOT!!! This is a family with whom i have fallen in love with! I absolutely LOVE the mother whose name is Shannon. I LOVE her faith, i LOVE her faithfulness, I LOVE her HOPEFULNESS, i LOVE WHO she has HOPE in, i LOVE her willingness to KEEP GOING ON in the midst of trials!
You see, they have their dossier ready for a little girl also named Shannon who happens to live in the same country as OUR son, Ethan!!! The dossier has BEEN ready for MANY weeks and the paperwork material that is in it is getting close to being outdated! They need $3200 yet before they can send out the paperwork! It is NOT tax deductible which means that this is straight sacrificial giving...you get NOTHING....NOTHING!!!
I am BEGGING you, my friends to give because you love Jesus...because you love this family... because you love adoption...because you love Shannon...because you love Ethan...because you love me....or if you are reading this on someone else's FB wall...because you love THEM...BUT PLEASE GIVE....$5 is all that i am asking that you donate! IF you can give more PLEASE DO!! IF you were planning on donating to US this month...PLEASE DO NOT but instead give it to Shannon's dossier!!! I LOVE this woman and her daughter that much!!! PLEASE ...i cannot beg enough..PLEASE give $5 TODAY and let's get this $3200 out of the way in the next FIVE days!!! PLEASE, will YOU join me????
Let's hope that i can do this right...here is her blog....please go there now to donate!
http://www.faithsetfree.blogspot.com/
Love, Connie (ALWAYS BLESSED!!!!) for the crew
You see, they have their dossier ready for a little girl also named Shannon who happens to live in the same country as OUR son, Ethan!!! The dossier has BEEN ready for MANY weeks and the paperwork material that is in it is getting close to being outdated! They need $3200 yet before they can send out the paperwork! It is NOT tax deductible which means that this is straight sacrificial giving...you get NOTHING....NOTHING!!!
I am BEGGING you, my friends to give because you love Jesus...because you love this family... because you love adoption...because you love Shannon...because you love Ethan...because you love me....or if you are reading this on someone else's FB wall...because you love THEM...BUT PLEASE GIVE....$5 is all that i am asking that you donate! IF you can give more PLEASE DO!! IF you were planning on donating to US this month...PLEASE DO NOT but instead give it to Shannon's dossier!!! I LOVE this woman and her daughter that much!!! PLEASE ...i cannot beg enough..PLEASE give $5 TODAY and let's get this $3200 out of the way in the next FIVE days!!! PLEASE, will YOU join me????
Let's hope that i can do this right...here is her blog....please go there now to donate!
http://www.faithsetfree.blogspot.com/
Love, Connie (ALWAYS BLESSED!!!!) for the crew
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011/2012
Last year, at this time and for the next three months, we were DAILY hearing about adoption... DAILY!!! It was as if you had a headache and you asked your kids to stop being so loud but it kept on going to where even though you had your ears covered...you could still hear them screaming!!! Yes, we were BOTH like that parent with our ears covered praying that the voice that we heard wasn't REALLY telling US to adopt!!! HOW COULD WE!?!?!? First, we already had our hands full! We had a wedding coming up to help pay for! We had three of our family members going on international missions trips! We aren't in the best living conditions for a FAMILY!!!! SURELY THAT ONE would do it for dismissing US!!!????
THEN lots of things started melting our hearts to remind us that all of those things were so earthly minded, even selfish, and we should at least check it out. DAILY more and more things happened until one Sunday on March 20th...my life was completely utterly changed! I haven't cried heaving cries like i did in those first days...and for that long...EVER! Constance on Reece's Rainbow rocked my world! Then there was Robert, Josephine, Oscar & Christine & Charity!!! Every day there was a new face that gripped my very broken heart! Every one of these children now either are in a family or are on their way to a family! We have prayed daily on FB for almost THREE HUNDRED children with Down Syndrome to have a family!!!! At least 66 of those children have been brought into families or are being brought into families in the process of being adopted this year!
It was one of the hardest things ever to choose a child...much begging for wisdom and asking for prayer! THEN we had been waiting and waiting for a little girl...since of course that would be what we should do since we knew how to parent a girl...another little boy changed my heart- Danny! He was the boy who melted my heart into knowing that we could definitely say yes to WHATEVER sex God chose for us....his Mom and Dad will be meeting him for the first time in just hours!!! They were the family that went over to our son's country after we were there!!! God is amazing!
We were sent write ups with pictures of the boys that were left that had DS that were needing to be adopted. Landon was being heartily talked about.....and now HE has a family that is coming for him! Ethan was talked about next and as we were about to say yes to him... a little girl came up that was in the age that we were wanting...she looked just like me...she was precious... her name was Joanna....and we even talked about adopting BOTH of them!!! Joanna has a family coming for her!!! We finally decided on Ethan and oh my goodness!
PAPERWORK is all that happened with the adoption next...that and fund raising for the adoption!
THEN our Ally left!!! For FIVE WEEKS!!! She came back a young lady who was different...wanting more to be like Christ and really so unconcerned with the things of the world! I was so proud of her!
THEN our Lizzie married her love...Nate in a beautiful wedding...she was absolutely stunning! It was a very blessed day! The Lord's face shone on them! They glorified the Lord even in their choice of music! Their love for each other and the Lord SHONE on their faces! They BOTH have a heart for the Lord, for each other, for missions, for children and even for adoption!!!
Our Victoria and Catherine GREW so much that many times we were using heating pads, medicine and massage to help them! Victoria is taller than the new couple! Catherine will not be far behind! The two of them have a HUGE heart for adoption! Catherine is the one who has a book full of each child that we have prayed for and Victoria reads MANY of the blogs of the families who are adopting!
Our precious Sophina...is told that she is adorable, cute, special, lovable, loved, and is kissed more than any other baby on earth...we cannot get enough of her white blond hair, beautiful blue eyes, and personality that just melts us! SHE IS LOVED and we still fight over who gets to get her out of her crib! Which actually led to our daughter Ally getting her knee very badly hurt...and still brings her daily pain.
THEN...we had fund raisers for our adoption and those fund raisers paid for our plane tickets!!! We were thrilled! After the night before as we talked on the phone with each other...saying, "well, we obviously will not be going until mid January at the earliest..." to only read the next morning that we were leaving in THREE WEEKS!!!
When we saw our son...he was a perfect match...God had chosen perfectly! We were both so grateful that the Lord led us to Ethan! A precious little boy who is as opposite in colorings as can be to his sister, Sophina!!! They will be beautiful and handsome! He is dark eyed...like his mother-that would be ME- with dark brown hair, again, like his mother! He was cuddly! If you know our family...oh my! Let's just say that we are SO VERY THANKFUL that that prayer was answered with a YES, he will be cuddly! He is ALL BOY!!! Well, my house will be completely changed for that! THINGS do not matter...people DO!!! May i say that again! God gave that to me a few months ago..... THINGS DO NOT MATTER---PEOPLE DO!!!!
I pray that the people in my world will not let that statement go but will chew on that and allow the Lord to work those words into changing their lives...YOUR life!!! YOUR family! I pray that YOU will be bold and ask the Lord to tell YOU what that means for YOUR life THIS YEAR of 2012!!! I pray that the Lord will break YOUR heart for something that will broaden YOUR FAITH, that will NOT DEPEND ON YOU ALONE but ONLY WITH GOD with YOU, and that the Lord will be able to melt that heart and bring down those hands that are covering those ears so you can hear His whisper as He asks YOU to move in FAITH!!!!
I cannot believe that i got to write all of this as it is 8am and again the children are sleeping! I am ALWAYS BLESSED...even on those days when the paperwork doesn't get into the mail when i SO DESPERATELY wanted it to...even on those VERY HARD days of loneliness...even on those hard days of parenting...even on the days when all looks hopeless....i am ALWAYS ALWAYS BLESSED! Connie for the crew... Ethan's family...soon to be joining us in this year of 2012
THEN lots of things started melting our hearts to remind us that all of those things were so earthly minded, even selfish, and we should at least check it out. DAILY more and more things happened until one Sunday on March 20th...my life was completely utterly changed! I haven't cried heaving cries like i did in those first days...and for that long...EVER! Constance on Reece's Rainbow rocked my world! Then there was Robert, Josephine, Oscar & Christine & Charity!!! Every day there was a new face that gripped my very broken heart! Every one of these children now either are in a family or are on their way to a family! We have prayed daily on FB for almost THREE HUNDRED children with Down Syndrome to have a family!!!! At least 66 of those children have been brought into families or are being brought into families in the process of being adopted this year!
It was one of the hardest things ever to choose a child...much begging for wisdom and asking for prayer! THEN we had been waiting and waiting for a little girl...since of course that would be what we should do since we knew how to parent a girl...another little boy changed my heart- Danny! He was the boy who melted my heart into knowing that we could definitely say yes to WHATEVER sex God chose for us....his Mom and Dad will be meeting him for the first time in just hours!!! They were the family that went over to our son's country after we were there!!! God is amazing!
We were sent write ups with pictures of the boys that were left that had DS that were needing to be adopted. Landon was being heartily talked about.....and now HE has a family that is coming for him! Ethan was talked about next and as we were about to say yes to him... a little girl came up that was in the age that we were wanting...she looked just like me...she was precious... her name was Joanna....and we even talked about adopting BOTH of them!!! Joanna has a family coming for her!!! We finally decided on Ethan and oh my goodness!
PAPERWORK is all that happened with the adoption next...that and fund raising for the adoption!
THEN our Ally left!!! For FIVE WEEKS!!! She came back a young lady who was different...wanting more to be like Christ and really so unconcerned with the things of the world! I was so proud of her!
THEN our Lizzie married her love...Nate in a beautiful wedding...she was absolutely stunning! It was a very blessed day! The Lord's face shone on them! They glorified the Lord even in their choice of music! Their love for each other and the Lord SHONE on their faces! They BOTH have a heart for the Lord, for each other, for missions, for children and even for adoption!!!
Our Victoria and Catherine GREW so much that many times we were using heating pads, medicine and massage to help them! Victoria is taller than the new couple! Catherine will not be far behind! The two of them have a HUGE heart for adoption! Catherine is the one who has a book full of each child that we have prayed for and Victoria reads MANY of the blogs of the families who are adopting!
Our precious Sophina...is told that she is adorable, cute, special, lovable, loved, and is kissed more than any other baby on earth...we cannot get enough of her white blond hair, beautiful blue eyes, and personality that just melts us! SHE IS LOVED and we still fight over who gets to get her out of her crib! Which actually led to our daughter Ally getting her knee very badly hurt...and still brings her daily pain.
THEN...we had fund raisers for our adoption and those fund raisers paid for our plane tickets!!! We were thrilled! After the night before as we talked on the phone with each other...saying, "well, we obviously will not be going until mid January at the earliest..." to only read the next morning that we were leaving in THREE WEEKS!!!
When we saw our son...he was a perfect match...God had chosen perfectly! We were both so grateful that the Lord led us to Ethan! A precious little boy who is as opposite in colorings as can be to his sister, Sophina!!! They will be beautiful and handsome! He is dark eyed...like his mother-that would be ME- with dark brown hair, again, like his mother! He was cuddly! If you know our family...oh my! Let's just say that we are SO VERY THANKFUL that that prayer was answered with a YES, he will be cuddly! He is ALL BOY!!! Well, my house will be completely changed for that! THINGS do not matter...people DO!!! May i say that again! God gave that to me a few months ago..... THINGS DO NOT MATTER---PEOPLE DO!!!!
I pray that the people in my world will not let that statement go but will chew on that and allow the Lord to work those words into changing their lives...YOUR life!!! YOUR family! I pray that YOU will be bold and ask the Lord to tell YOU what that means for YOUR life THIS YEAR of 2012!!! I pray that the Lord will break YOUR heart for something that will broaden YOUR FAITH, that will NOT DEPEND ON YOU ALONE but ONLY WITH GOD with YOU, and that the Lord will be able to melt that heart and bring down those hands that are covering those ears so you can hear His whisper as He asks YOU to move in FAITH!!!!
I cannot believe that i got to write all of this as it is 8am and again the children are sleeping! I am ALWAYS BLESSED...even on those days when the paperwork doesn't get into the mail when i SO DESPERATELY wanted it to...even on those VERY HARD days of loneliness...even on those hard days of parenting...even on the days when all looks hopeless....i am ALWAYS ALWAYS BLESSED! Connie for the crew... Ethan's family...soon to be joining us in this year of 2012
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