Monday, October 31

My heart is many miles away

It's no secret that I'm in love with a few babies in orphanages in the Ukraine and Russia.   I see their faces on Reece's Rainbow, fall in love with the shape of their eyes and melt into those pictures.  Knowing their hearts and bodies are trapped in a place of no love.  Knowing the joy and blessing of raising our son with Down syndrome and not understanding why so many are orphans.   

I pray for orphans daily.  Praying for comfort when they feel lonely.  Praying for food to appear when they are hungry.  Praying for someone to walk by their crib and pick up that child and love on them.

But praying is only one way I'm going to help them. 

After reading this mom's wonderful story of adoption:  http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/10/three-moms-with-six-angels.html  It's even heavier on my heart to help.

So I'm sending Reece's rainbow a message that I'd like to raise money this Christmas season for this boy:
http://reecesrainbow.org/4106/nicholas-25ha  in hopes that perhaps a family will find him and the monies raised will ease their way to adopt him.  I stare at his sweet face daily and pray for him. 

See at his age he will soon be transferred to an insane asylum where he will not make it much longer fending for food and probably fighting off other people.  What a sweet chubby cheeked boy who should be playing in the yard with rocks and finding snakes or snuggled up on mommy's lap reading a bedtime book and being asked if he has brushed his teeth yet. 

I'll put a linky up soon if you would like to send something his way at Reece's rainbow. 


Sunday, October 16

A new shopping experience

So this post is totally about me.

And being cheap.

So, you've got to be interested in both of those topics right?

I was at Fred Meyers yesterday looking at a new pair of shoes that I could wear to work.  Kinda dressy meets casual.  This was a definate 'need' for me.  I work in accounting so my feet aren't really seen by many, but my current few pairs were looking pretty sad. And my favorite pair had a hole in it, not cool.  So I found a pair for about $40.  They weren't really anything exciting, a suede pair of clog like keds that looked fairly nice.  I was pressed for time and needed to go pick Hannah up for work so I thought I would "think about the purchase" and passed on buying them that moment. 

Hannah said she had two hours to spend with me in between her work meeting and her actual shift at the DQ.  So off we went to Value Village.  Our VV is in a new spot and HUGE.  We had plenty of time to find that pair of shoes there, right?  Well, I did spend the $40, actually almost a dollar less than what that single pair of shoes was going to cost and I purchased:
  • A pair of black naturalizer shoes that look adorable and fit great, no 'wear' on them
  • Pair of brown soft cotton pants that kinda look like dressy colored jeans
  • Floral top that is so cute, blue
  • Yellow stretch shirt with three quarter arm length (I'll wear a camisole or sweater shell under)
  • Pair of khaki pants for Liam
  • Blue polor shirt for Liam
  • Yoga capri pants for me (gym bag is already in van for week)
  • Boardgame for Liam and I (trouble, teaches colors/counting/ turn taking) no pieces missing
I was giggling to myself that the purchase went so much better.  Value Village is a definate for my next purchase needs.  You really need an allotment of time though if you go.  Snooping thru racks and trying lots of clothes on is a must. 

Next stop was the Christian bookstore to get Hannah a new devotional and I was excited that she found two that met her interests.  So at the checkout I mentioned that I had their recent coupons in my email, but forgot to print the coupons (and they are 25% off good ones).  They asked for the codes off my email, which I found thru my phone, and wa-lah we got he whole purchase for $13.  Two great books for daily inspiration and a walk closer to God for an affordable price.


Renewal

Our family has always felt that a closeness to God didn't necessarily mean church attendance.  Daily devotions and prayer happen anywhere.  Yesterday Hannah read the daily devotion in our van while I was driving and we discussed.  But worship, obviously, is best in fellowship with many people.   But for awhile we have struggled because Tommy's needs and Hannah's interests weren't really being supported in the a way that we felt drew them closest to God while at church.  Sparked them.  Showed God's love in every action.  So today we visited another church with a friend.  The children's church program had many, many kids with Down syndrome in it which was an eye opener and made my heart feel so good.  Plus there were kids with all types of special needs receiving accomodations so they could learn the word of God easier.  The sermon that Hannah, our friend and I attended was amazing.  It. blew. me. away.  The sermon was on guilt.  And how we carry it around as baggage and it distances us from friends, spouses and God.  The pastor mentioned AA support for sobriety and the fifth step and talked about topics that hit so close to home.  Don't get me wrong though, our pastor at our church is amazing also and our family has such a connection with him.  It's just all the other pieces of hearing God's messages weren't really reaching a few of us so we wanted to try something new. 

The only drawback to the new church was that they lost Tommy.  Literally.  They have a fancy huge tracking system for kids, tags, electronic tracking and all.  But they lost him.  I checked Liam and Tommy into a preschool room, talked to the teachers and explained Tommy is a nonverbal gypsy runner.  They felt confident they could watch Tommy and met his needs.  I was 'encouraged' to attend the sermon.  Read that asked to leave and had hovered a bit too long, ha ha. 

After service, I told Hannah and her friend, we've gotta make a bee-line back to the children's room thru all the hundreds (thousand?) of church goers to grab the boys.  When I got to the room I had dropped them off in, there was a mom who said they were across the hall in a larger group to eat and worship.  My stomach fell.  I just knew Tommy would be lost in the shuffle.  And sure enough with two exits to that room and all the kids, plus teachers, plus parents coming and going.  No. Tommy.  None.  Glanced around the room and saw Liam playing but no Tommy.  Asked both teachers and each one pointed to the same area of the room, that's where we last saw him.  Hannah and I have a "glance" that means, you grab the kid you got and I'll run for the other twin.  And I ran.  Pushing past people and heading to the front of this new church to what I remembered with the glass doors that led to the parking lot.  Dry heaving.  Tears and all.  Geez, I'm such a crier.  And there, which seemed like 5 mins to get to it.  Was a dad standing with a VICE grip on Tommy and a smile on his face.  I just knew this lil guy needed someone and all his darting around meant he was looking.  Heavy sigh.  Tommy was fine.  Marched Tommy back to the preschool room where he showed some glimmer of remorse (hands over his face) and told the teachers I had found him at the front of the church.  Out of nowhere came another teacher who said she worked with special needs kids for the church and welcomed us to come to a different service where his needs could be more better addressed.  ugh.  That sounded great.  Now I'm getting a gps system even quicker than I've ever said before.

So.  All four kids, plus two teen friends and us are going to pick apples and make caramel apples this afternoon.  And I'm going to soak up the fun and sunshine and remember that God is good.  All our needs are met, and a few of our wants, and this is such a perfect day.

Tommy Adventures