My Jacob print arrived today!!!

Yesterday, was Resurrection Sunday and my husband was baptized!!! We had a great day, exhausting but great. I had spent the day before cleaning my house, each and every room. Can you say, "Old woman, achy joints?" LOL

Today, I checked my mail and my print Jacob Warner made to help the adoption fund for his brother, Joshua (click the link to see their FSP and donate to Cliff on Reece's Rainbow), arrived!!! I LOVE IT!!


I will admit it, I cried when I opened it and I cried again when I read the letter from the Warner family that came with it as well. Forgive me, Lisa, this picture does not do the print justice at all. But the print is lying on Alexander's bed and soon as I can get a frame for it--it will hang on his wall.

At the bottom of the artwork there is an excerpt from the poem The Down syndrome Creed it could not be more fitting to hang in any child's room but especially if you have a child with Down syndrome. A portion of the proceeds from the gallery will go to the Warner for Cliff family adoption fund. It does not get any cooler than that.

Why not purchase one today? As you see, I already have mine and LOVE IT!

You can click here JACOB'S ART and purchase any size print to cherish forever. I know I will. You see, Lisa, played a very integral part in our finding Alexander.

Here is exactly how it started:

Lisa Aspin Warner February 7 at 7:58pm

I have a favor to ask. I know you are in the midst of fund raising for Peter and am totally psyched for Julie. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with her and she is a wonderful person and mother. There is a little boy on RR that will be turning 6 in 2 months and he has already been transferred. There is a group raising funds for him so that is not what I am asking. He needs to find a forever family before April 13, 2011 (his birthday) or his grant which is just over 7,000 is taken from him basically ensuring he will not be saved from the institution. I tried to see if we could get him when we got Cliff but Andrea said they are in entirely different regions but I have to try and find some family to commit to me.. his little face and the video of him haunt me. I do not have the clout to get his story out there but was hoping you could advocate for him to find parents.. not funds just a momma and daddy. Here is my blog post that deals with him http://buildingourvillage.blogspot.com/2011/02/are-you-his-forever-family.html I can send you the video via email if you do choose to maybe ask around. Thanks, Lisa

Christie Young Taylor February 7 at 9:10pm

Lisa, I most certainly will help!! My heart just sank. I did not realize he nearly six...

Christie Young Taylor February 7 at 9:30pm

Lisa, send me the video link to (my email was here)

Christie Young Taylor February 7 at 9:50pm

Nevermind, Lisa, I managed to steal your video and make my own to put on my blog. Thank you.

Lisa Aspin Warner February 7 at 10:04pm Report

thanks Christie!!

Christie Young Taylor February 7 at 10:05pm

No problem, Lisa. :) He is beautiful.

Christie Young Taylor February 8 at 12:48am

Lisa, may I ask who is fundraising for him?

Lisa Aspin Warner February 8 at 7:04am Report

one of them is Corbett Burick.. there are a few of them

Christie Young Taylor February 8 at 8:19am

ok, thank you Lisa.

Within hours, I knew in my heart Alexander was ours. I asked my husband to make the decision for our family and our journey began. Can you help this family out? I would love to see their fund explode with the financial provision they need. They will be submitting their dossier soon and I DO NOT want money standing between them and Joshua's homecoming. Please, do what you can. If you cannot buy a print. Will you donate a dollar? How about five? Ten? Twenty? PRAY???? Most of all pray and share their story. PLEASE!! You'll thank yourself for it, I thank you for it and you will be blessed because of your compassion.

Thirty-One Fundraiser!!!

We are starting another fundraiser today and we will run for 3 weeks, so party will close on April 22, 2011. 

You have all made our Scentsy fundraiser so successful, THANK YOU!!!!

So, on to our new fundraiser. Christy M. found our story on Patti's blog and wanted to help. Christy has offered to do a Thirty-One party for us online.

Christy will be donating her full commission to our adoption fund. If you love Thirty-One products you can shop our party and help bring Alexander to our home, his FOREVER home.

The one catch with this party, since it is all online and I don't live where you all live; you must choose the option to have your products mailed to you. There is an additional $4.00 charge to do this.

So, thank you in advance--and can you say a prayer for Christy's beautiful little girl Bailey? She just had her heart repaired.


Clicking this LINK will take you straight to our event page on Christy's Thirty-one page.
Also, the catalog can be found on Christy's web site too – just click on the catalog tab.

All orders will be processed and credit/debit cards charged on the day the party closes, April 22.

FASTING, PRAYING FOR KIRILL

This is a copied blogpost from http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-you-join-us.html and the blogs author, a gal named Linny. 

Monday, March 28, 2011

Will You Join Us?

If you have been hanging around our Place Called Simplicity for any length of time,

you know how important prayer and fasting is to me.

Why is that?

Cause God's word says that there are some things that just don't happen without prayer and fasting.

But why does God do things like that?

I frankly have no clue, but I suspect that it has something to do with the body of Christ joining together for a common cause. Scripture is filled with verses about unity and the importance of it.

Remember Queen Esther {who by the way was adopted - how sweet is that?} and how the Isrealite nation was about to be annihilated until she calls for a three day fast? Remember how God moved and spared the nation of Isreal? Remember?

Since I started asking my bloggy friends to join in days of prayer and fasting, many, many, many of you have written and said that you have seen your life change as a result. And many, many, many of you had never fasted before!! Your letters have encouraged my heart - there is no doubt that God moves when people fast.

So sweet friends, let me tell you what is going on....

On the other side of the world {in Russia} there is a little boy....

His name is Kirill.

Kirill was found by his mommy and daddy on an adoption list. They worked feverishly to get all his paperwork in so they could bring him home. And during that time of working to bring Kirill home they found that Kirill is the first child from his region in Russia EVER to be adopted with Down Syndrome.

A birth mother keeping her child with DS is unheard of in this area of the world. Adoptions of children with DS just don't happen in this region, these children are literally hidden away from society in orphananges and mental institutions. As it turns out Kirill would be a pioneer. If Kirill's adoption was approved, it would pave the way for other children with special needs to be adopted from this region as well.

And so just two weeks ago, Kirill's mom and dad were there in Russia headed to court to fulfill the necessary steps to bring Kirill home...

and they were loving on Kirill....

and after enduring five agonizing hours of difficult questioning before the judge...with strong statements on their behalf from two doctors, two social workers and the Minister of Children's Services fighting on their and Kirill's behalf...and prepared for the court's stamp of approval,

the Judge gave her ruling:

"Your application to adopt is rejected" 

The Judges reasoning:

Kirill is "not socially adaptable" due to his "medical condition" and he is better off in an institution than in a home with a family. The Judge did state several times that Greg and Tesney were a good family, that they met all the criteria to adopt a child, but that she would not approve our adoption because Kirill has Down Syndrome. She told them that they could adopt another child, because legally our application had no problems according to Russian adoption law. She said she would approve their adoption for a 'typical' child, but not this child.

The ONLY reason?

Because Kirill has Down Syndrome.

{Home study approved and Immigration approved for a child with Special Needs}

BUT 

and so here's where we come in...

I just can not believe for ONE second that Kirill is supposed to stay in an

institution in Russia for the duration of his life.

NOT A CHANCE.

Almighty God's heart is for the orphan and it is attentive to their cry.

Almighty God's heart longs for every child to be in a forever family.

"He sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:6

Soooooo

If God's heart is for the orphan and He longs for every child to be in a forever family...then God wants to and will move to bring Kirill home.

But some things do not happen without prayer and fasting....

So I wrote to Tesney and asked if I could call for a fast on Kirill's behalf...

Her response:

Linny,

Yes! We would LOVE this...Wednesday is better for us; and it coincides with our appeal being filed at the Supreme Court. It should be filed on Tuesday of this coming week, so the Supreme Court will hopefully begin the review shortly thereafter.............and we are humbled and honored....

THANK YOU!

Would you be willing to join with us in a day of

prayer

and

fasting?

{possibly a meal, two meals, all day}

When:

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Will you do battle on your knees for Kirill?

For the other families who are in the process of adopting treasures with DS from this same region....

one even going to court on Thursday for a daughter with DS...

Will you please pray {and fast}with me?

Please spread the word to every one you know

{Bible studies, small groups, bloggy friends, relatives, your children}

a world wide fast this Wednesday to set Kirill free!!

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Prov. 24:12

Labels: Fasting, Orphans, Prayer, Prophetic Words

DONATION BOX

For regular visitors of our blog, you will see our Donation Link Box is gone. For a while you will not be able to access the totals directly on our blog. Please, if you are donating you can now click on Alexander's picture right over here---------> and donate that way.  **YOU MAY NEED TO CLEAR YOUR BROWSER HISTORY OR CACHE FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN GET BACK ON THE SITE**

You can also click here: SPONSOR TAYLOR FAMILY


Thank you!! Hopefully, in the near future, Reece's Rainbow will have new direct tally donation boxes ready for us families again. In the mean time, just use the link above, click on Alexander's picture or mail a check with "Alexander for the Taylor Family" in the memo line and send it to:

Reece's Rainbow

P.O. Box 4024

Gaithersburg, MD 20885

Be sure and leave a comment if you are wanting to get in on our iPad2 giveaway!!!

iPad2 (choice of white or black)

16 GB with Wi-Fi

Your color choice of polyurethane sleep cover for the iPad2 (gray, blue, green, orange or pink)

Apple iPad2 Dock

THIS PACKAGE WILL NOT BE PURCHASED UNTIL AFTER THE GIVEAWAY CLOSES ON APRIL 17, 2010. WE WILL RUN THIS FUNDRAISER FOR ONE FULL MONTH. DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 21, 2011. THE iPad2 WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO THE SELECTED DONOR. APPROXIMATE SHIPPING TIMES (RIGHT NOW) ARE 4-5 WEEKS.  

The person selected as the giveaway champion will receive an electronic receipt of the purchase and delivery information as soon as we have communication as to where to send the information. 

Now, how do you receive an option for this package? First donate at least $10 to our Family Sponsorship Page by clicking on Alexander's picture in the sidebar of my blog at the top. If you do not have a paypal account you can mail a check to Reece's Rainbow with "Alexander for the Taylor Family" in the memo line and send it to:

Reece's Rainbow

P.O. Box 4024

Gaithersburg, MD 20885

Then you can come here to my blog and leave a comment, your name and entries will be tallied and added to our bucket to select the winners. This fundraiser will be live ONLINE and we will also be doing direct-face-to-face donations as well. What that means is this, my husband will be gathering entries through donations to Reece's Rainbow as well around town. 

For $10 you will get 1 drop in the giveaway  (& 1 option for a freebie)

For $25 you will get 3 drop ins to the giveaway ( & up to 3 options for freebie entries)

How do you earn a freebie option?

Once you have made a monetary donation, PLEASE share this blogpost for another option. If you donate enough for one option, you can only earn one freebie option by reposting. BUT if you donate enough for 3 options you can earn 3 freebies too. Facebook it for another option. Tweet it for another . Blog it for another too. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. Momma said it was good to share, right? Come back here and let me know that you shared it and we will add to your entries for this giveaway. If you donate money multiple times over the weeks this giveaway runs--you will get options for that too.  YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR NAME and, please, do not post just anonymously because I won't be able to find you if you are the selected donor.

So keep coming back to see how many options are going in the "bucket" and watch the blessings unfold!!

Thank you!!!!!! You are BLESSING AJ and BLESSING our family too!!!!!

Amazing....

WOW!!!  As of 9:34 p.m. March 24, 2011 our FSP and personal savings combined have grown to a total of $5,000.60!!!!  When we started this journey into iPad2 giveaway-land, we had $1,347.60 in our account. God's graces have been amazing over the past 7 days. The support from the community at large from here and far is AMAZING.

I have families who have pledged to give GENEROUSLY in April, our iPad2 fundraiser runs through mid-April, our Thirty-one Fundraiser begins April 1st and Sonia will wrap up our AVON fundraiser on the 4th of April. On April 30th, we will round out the month with our Scrapbooking Crop too.

March has been awesome so far, and we aren't done yet. Tomorrow, March 26th, my dad will be 57 years old, a little girl of a friend of mine will be 3 and Amy V. is holding a charity yard sale fundraiser in Walla Walla, Washington--she is donating those profits to our fund.

I will be absent today from blogland and fundraising. My oldest is having his left eye operated on (again) in an attempt, yet again, to re-align his eyes. Jared has struggled with strabismus his whole life. This is an easy surgery, but surgery just the same. He does not like going in for surgery and complains about the drunken side-effects left behind from anesthesia. Good thing is I am well versed when it comes to strabismus, which will come in handy for Alexander. I believe he will need both of his eyes repaired also. Jared has had both eyes operated on once before, his right eye has been done twice and now his left eye will be done again. Here's praying this time sticks...and here's praying he is up for his Pinewood Derby Race tomorrow evening. He is so excited about his hotdog derby car Shawn made for him!!  I love it too, the car cracks me up every time I see it!!  LOL

 

If this is your first time here, scroll down to the post before this one and check out our iPad2 giveaway information....if you have been here before, will share our story and pray for us? And, please, donate if you can.

3-21 World Down Syndrome Awareness Day!!!!

So, March 21st has rolled around again. For those of you who don't know (4 years ago, I had no clue) today is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. March 21st or 3-21 is the chosen day to celebrate awareness for individuals born with Down syndrome because people like my son, Joseph, have 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. People like me (and probably you too) only have 2 copies of the 21st chromosome.

Celebrating awareness, celebrating World Down syndrome Awareness Day is a remarkable thing. Today is one special day we get to show the world how NOT SCARY Down syndrome really is. Down syndrome is not my son. Down syndrome is not a disease. Down syndrome is not a horrible curse. Down syndrome is a genetic anomaly resulting in extra genetic material that IS compatible with life.

My son is Joseph, and he happens to have Down syndrome. Down syndrome does not have him; Down syndrome does not have our life. Down syndrome cannot be cured. There is nothing you can do to make Down syndrome happen. AND there nothing you cannot do (besides NOT getting pregnant) to not make Down syndrome happen.

I am so blessed to have birthed my son in the United States of America. We may face obstacles and receive ignorant comments or unwanted, unnecessary pity---BUT my son was born at time and place where I was encouraged to take him home with us and LOVE him and RAISE him among his brothers. I have been encouraged to challenge him and encouraged to set the bar high and allow my son to AMAZE ME.

Sadly, Alexander--my son across the seas waiting for me--was not born in the USA, he was born in an Eastern European country. Maybe he was born to a mother who was so in love with him, maybe she sang to him during her pregnancy, maybe she wanted him more than life itself. Surely, she had no idea how he would be born carrying extra genetic material and doomed from the start in her society. I imagine Alexander was born, diagnosed, and abandoned. Left alone in the hospital nursery and denied love from his mother. No breast to suckle. No heartbeat to calm him. The protection his birth mother provided him was washed away as soon as she learned of his defect. I wonder if she thinks of him, thinks of him like I do. I wonder if she longs for him, longs for him the way I do.

I wonder if she lived here in the states, would she have kept him? Would she love him? I love him and I feel pity for her. I am on a mission to take her child from her---FOREVER. I want him, our family needs him. I cannot explain my connection to this child other than a simple calling to love him and care for him.

Money is not something my husband and I are blessed with. Sure, Shawn has a good job and we are good stewards with what has been given us--still we aren't rolling in the dough. I must admit, asking for financial help from strangers is humbling. VERY HUMBLING. If we had planned to adopt, we would have been prepared for this financial burden--truth is; we did NOT plan to adopt. God dropped this on our hearts like a bomb. We are praying God blesses us through the donations of those who are willing to support. We are working diligently to raise funds and this is our first BIG fundraiser. Will you help us? Will you help Alexander? If you cannot donate and you came this far...will you SHARE OUR STORY? Please? Alexander is already in an institution, he needs to come home.


So here is what our giveaway will offer:

iPad2 (choice of white or black)

16 GB with Wi-Fi

Your color choice of polyurethane sleep cover for the iPad2 (gray, blue, green, orange or pink)

Apple iPad2 Dock

THIS PACKAGE WILL NOT BE PURCHASED UNTIL AFTER THE GIVEAWAY CLOSES ON APRIL 17, 2010. WE WILL RUN THIS FUNDRAISER FOR ONE FULL MONTH. DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 21, 2011. THE iPad2 WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO THE SELECTED DONOR. APPROXIMATE SHIPPING TIMES (RIGHT NOW) ARE 4-5 WEEKS.  

The person selected as the giveaway champion will receive an electronic receipt of the purchase and delivery information as soon as we have communication as to where to send the information. 

Now, how do you get your option for this package? First donate at least $10 to our Family Sponsorship Page by clicking on Alexander's picture in the sidebar of my blog at the top. If you do not have a paypal account you can mail a check to Reece's Rainbow with "Alexander for the Taylor Family" in the memo line and send it to:

Reece's Rainbow

P.O. Box 4024

Gaithersburg, MD 20885

Then you can come here to my blog and leave a comment, your name and entries will be tallied and added to our bucket to select the winners. This fundraiser will be live ONLINE and we will also be doing direct-face-to-face donations as well. What that means is this, my husband will be gathering entries through donations to Reece's Rainbow as well around town. 

For $10 you will get 1 drop in the giveaway  (& 1 option for a freebie)

For $25 you will get 3 drop ins to the giveaway ( & up to 3 options for freebie entries)

How do you earn a freebie option?

Once you have made a monetary donation, PLEASE share this blogpost for another option. If you donate enough for one option, you can only earn one freebie option by reposting. BUT if you donate enough for 3 options you can earn 3 freebies too. Facebook it for another option. Tweet it for another . Blog it for another too. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. Momma said it was good to share, right? Come back here and let me know that you shared it and we will add to your entries for this giveaway. If you donate money multiple times over the weeks this giveaway runs--you will get options for that too.  YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR NAME and, please, do not post just anonymously because I won't be able to find you if you are the selected donor.

So keep coming back to see how many options are going in the "bucket" and watch the blessings unfold!!

Thank you!!!!!! You are BLESSING AJ and BLESSING our family too!!!!!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Have I got your attention?  LOL

Our iPad Giveaway is headed into day three. We have been so blessed by the support we are receiving and the blessing given by His hand through each and every one of you. Please share, share, share our blog and our fundraiser. In doing so, you will help change the life of an orphan--our son, Alexander Jacob. His birthday is coming up next month, he will be 6 years old. Can you imagine being 6 years old and not knowing where your parents are? Wondering what love is? Longing to be held and comforted from the shouts you hear at night from the strangers among you in the cold, dark room that envelopes you? Can you imagine living in an institution? Can you imagine the fear he must experience?

YOU can help change all that by blessing him with your donation to our Family Sponsorship Page and receive an option for our iPad2 giveaway. So, do you have $10 to spare? If $10 is just too much today will you please, please just share our story? Time is of the essence, we must be ready to travel soon. I am praying for a July travel date, I would love for it to be even sooner (are you listening God?).

So here is what our giveaway will offer:

iPad2 (choice of white or black)

16 GB with Wi-Fi

Your color choice of polyurethane sleep cover for the iPad2 (gray, blue, green, orange or pink)

Apple iPad2 Dock

THIS PACKAGE WILL NOT BE PURCHASED UNTIL AFTER THE GIVEAWAY CLOSES ON APRIL 17, 2010. WE WILL RUN THIS FUNDRAISER FOR ONE FULL MONTH. DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 21, 2011. THE iPad2 WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO THE SELECTED DONOR. APPROXIMATE SHIPPING TIMES (RIGHT NOW) ARE 4-5 WEEKS.  

The person selected as the giveaway champion will receive an electronic receipt of the purchase and delivery information as soon as we have communication as to where to send the information. 

Now, how do you receive your option for this package? First donate at least $10 to our Family Sponsorship Page by clicking on Alexander's picture in the sidebar of my blog at the top. If you do not have a paypal account you can mail a check to Reece's Rainbow with "Alexander for the Taylor Family" in the memo line and send it to:

Reece's Rainbow

P.O. Box 4024

Gaithersburg, MD 20885

Then you can come here to my blog and leave a comment, your name and entries will be tallied and added to our bucket to select the winners. This fundraiser will be live ONLINE and we will also be doing direct-face-to-face donations as well. What that means is this, my husband will be gathering entries through donations to Reece's Rainbow as well around town. 

For $10 you will get 1 drop in the giveaway  (& 1 option for a freebie)

For $25 you will get 3 drop ins to the giveaway ( & up to 3 options for freebie entries)

How do you earn a freebie option?

Once you have made a monetary donation, PLEASE share this blogpost for another option. If you donate enough for one option, you can only earn one freebie option by reposting. BUT if you donate enough for 3 options you can earn 3 freebies too. Facebook it for another option. Tweet it for another . Blog it for another too. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. Momma said it was good to share, right? Come back here and let me know that you shared it and we will add to your entries for this giveaway. If you donate money multiple times over the weeks this giveaway runs--you will get options for that too.  YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR NAME and, please, do not post just anonymously because I won't be able to find you if you are the selected donor.

So keep coming back to see how many options are going in the "bucket" and watch the blessings unfold!!

Thank you!!!!!! You are BLESSING AJ and BLESSING our family too!!!!!

S is for...

Slow.

It seems nothing moves fast enough in this process. I sometimes feel as though I am at a standstill. I want to send in all the papers I have to our connection for 'review' but I don't even have the most important paper yet. It is coming I am sure, but I am going bonkers in the meantime.

Crossing all of our T's and dotting all of our I's is certainly important--I know that. Today was a trying day, I sent my husband to work knowing he had to check HR for his employment verification and a notary. He had specific instruction to provide the information needed on the paper. Well, he thought he could give just his hourly wage amount and not what his salary would be provided he did not work overtime. Uhhhh, ya, no that won't work. He fixed it thankfully.

After he got home I had learned our state background check had not been filed yet, and the a lady who is not our social worker called to run those checks. Turns out she needed the kids' middle names and I only put initials on them. Then she said she needed Shawn's signed........WHAT? I gave them to our SW on Tuesday of last week and we just now are finding out they have not been ran, don't have the correct information, and one paper was not signed. FABULOUS.

Shawn drove in and corrected that by signing his form so we could get those submitted ASAP (since we needed them ran already).

I was hoping for my passport today...it is in the mail, at least. I cannot afford to dance the waltz here, I am ready for a foxtrot! Alexander's country of residency is always, frequently changing policy. The quicker we get this done the better off HE is going to be in the long run.

Keep the prayers coming. We need it.

R is for...

Rely.

Rely is defined as: to be dependent for support, help, or supply and to place or have faith or confidence.

I am learning so much these days. I am learning to be fully reliant on God and his provisions. I am learning to be reliant on the support of my friends and family. I am learning to be reliant on strangers.

I know some people will not be willing to help support our supply us with the help we seek. And that is ok, because at the end of the day if my reliance is on God--the rest does not matter.

Our fundraisers are still going well, I am so grateful for everyone that has helped so far and for those who will help us in the days to come. We will have a new fundraiser to start April 1st (thank you, Christy!), we have the scrapbook crop set for April 30th here in town (thank you Patty for all of your help), I have friends south of here trying to do a crop in their area too (thank you, Kacie!), the Burick family offered to help with fundraising, Deanna has told me she will be helping in April, Cathy has told me "your turn is next!".

It is amazing the support we have gotten, AMAZING. I hoping to be traveling in August and funding is so very crucial. We literally need to raise $2,000 each month to make our goal. Can we do it alone? No, I don't believe we can. I do believe if Shawn and I rely on God to provide and are obedient to Him and proactive--it will happen! I am clinging to His promises.

If 500 people can donate just $20 a piece (and that doesn't have to be all at once) just $20 total, we will meet our goal. That doesn't seem so bad. If I think about the $12,000 total, it seems sooooo very overwhelming. And maybe someone is reading this and thinking, "I don't have $20 to give because my babies barely have enough food right now. And I can barely afford gas right now just to get to work."  Then I have one request from you, PRAY. Pray for our family, pray for our financial provisions to be met.

Prayer is free to give and the reward is great.

I am considering becoming a Scentsy consultant myself and using commissions to put into our fund. I am not sure if that is what I should do or not, but it is something I am tossing around right now.

Thank you, again, for all your help---each and every one of your prayers are felt and every donation is so very helpful.

*since posting this to publish at a specific time---well, I have had lots of support hit my FB page with the offering of donations for an online fundraiser----YOU ALL ROCK!*

P is for...

PAPERWORK!!!!!!

And when I say, PAPERWORK, I mean PAPERWORK. I knew there was a lot of paperwork but, wowza!!   It's all good though, I would eat paper if it would bring Alexander home sooner. 

We are hitting minor snags here and there, the county assessors office won't fill our our paperwork. I am going to call the Mayor's office since that is one place listed on the paper work as well. Finding notary public's who will travel to destinations is proving challenging too. Shawn needs and employment statement that has to be notarized too--I am still figuring out the logistics on that one. 

So, pray that I can figure out all this paper work, pray for patience too because while today's post is "P is for PAPERWORK", I still need all the P.R.A.Y.E.R.S. I can get. 
*patience never hurt either*  

O is for...

Obedience

We, as Christians, are given many scriptures to reiterate the importance of obeying the Lord. And, for Shawn and I, obedience has a new dimension. We believe adopting Alexander to be in obedience with what God is calling us to do. There truly is no other way to explain it; no reasonably otherwise rational reason to do it. We are simply doing what we know we are called to do no matter how crazy it may appear to those around us.

1 John 5:2
We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.

Revelation 3:8
“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me."

Hebrews 11:8
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.

James 2:8
Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

1 Corinthians 13:7
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

We are on the journey of a lifetime. We are blessed to have wonderful prayer warriors around the world following us. Obedience is not always easy, but it is always worth it. 

N is for...

Need.

We need prayers. We need spiritual support. We need people to share our story. We need financial support. We need people to come alongside us in this journey and hold us up in prayer.

We will be interviewed by our local newspaper soon (this was scheduled for this afternoon at 1 o'clock but the flu has hit our home) in hopes that we can bring more awareness to our journey to raise money to adopt Alexander.

I know many people will read our article and think, "Why adopt if you cannot afford it?" Well, if we had planned on this we would have prepared for it. We did not plan on this, but God did.

I would like to have a motorcycle/poker run or ride to celebrate Alexander's upcoming 6th birthday. I would LOVE to show him pictures of bikers riding to save him.

I hope to hold a scrapbooking crop with the help of my cousin Patti. Anna has offered to donate some great items for a giveaway basket for the crop.

I intend to have a bake sale or two in the works also.

I have had one family offer to do a fundraiser for Alexander online.

I have had one woman contact me from Canada to send us a money order the end of March--she has been one of Alexander's prayer warriors and is so happy to see us bringing him home.

I have a friend from babycenter offer to make an afghan for a giveaway. Thank you, Dawn, I may very well take you up on that.

Katie has shared my story with several media outlets and that is how our local paper heard of us. Thank you, Katie.

The Guffey family of Guffey Acres here in town is supporting us financially and in prayer too, thank you, Jessica and Dan.

Stephanie is running a Scentsy fundraiser right now for us and it will last until March 31 and has already netted close to a $175 dollar donation to come in April.

I would like to do some 50/50 draws in Chrysler---so if you know a union rep that would be willing to help us out, let me know!! We will supply them with all they need. I would do it myself, but I cannot get in the place any longer since I no longer work there.

I cannot thank all of you enough for the help so far. It truly makes my heart smile
And forgive me, please, if I have left someone out already.

If you would like to get in on some action to help our needs, please leave a comment.