Orphan Sunday

I'm going to link to a post that I feel that every Christian adult should read. It speaks of the conditions in special needs mental institutions in Eastern Europe. The images the words paint are difficult to wrap your mind around, but the photograph is heart shattering.

Alot of people have asked us, "Why Eastern Europe?" We have been informed that there are special need children all around the whole, including right here in our own backyard(USA). This is so very true. There are children all around the world, the United States included, that are in desperate need of someone to show them the love of Christ. They need to be shown, tangibly, what Christ's love looks like, in their desperate time of need. God is looking for Christian men and women to be his hands and feet to orphans everywhere. God is the one who placed Eastern Europe in our hearts. It is, by far, one of the more difficult routes to take, for a family of our size and financial standings and if it had been our choice, we would haven't picked it. But it is the road God called us to, and after choosing to follow him in obedience, we now see why this is what he had planned for us. His call to our family right is to a little boy in Eastern Europe, who is scheduled to be transferred to a mental institution this month. We are crying out to the Lord daily on his behalf, that this will not happen. Mental institutions are no place for four year old little boys. The Lord is mighty to save, and that is exactly what we are asking of him for Daniel.

While I am not trying to be a downer or ruin anyones weekend, I am trying to raise awareness of the plight of special needs orphans in Eastern Europe. If not adopted, there is no hope for them whatsoever. The statistics I have read say that between 80-85% of children die within a year of being transferred from the "Baby House"(orphanage) to an institution. While abuse and neglect do exisist in some of the orphanages and institutions(as it does all over the world, including in the homes of your friends and neighbors), the poor conditions of older special needs orphans in EE stems more from poverty, than from abuse and neglect.

Please read this post written by a mom and dad who recently returned home from Eastern Europe, bring with them a son whom they adopted from an institution in the same country where Daniel is located. Their hearts are so very full from what they witnessed while in the process of adopting their son. Consider it your duty as a Christian(and in honor of Orphan Sunday, which is today), that you will allow yourself to become aware. You may feel uncomfortable, sad, or down right broken hearted after reading it, but avoiding the truth would just be wrong. Just because you live the American dream, doesn't mean that you can turn a blind eye to people(especially children) who are not so fortunate as to be born middle class Americans. November is adoption awareness month, so be prepared to become aware.

*I may have some minors who have come across my blog via Facebook, or a link from another blog. If this is the case, please check with your parents before reading the blog post that I link to. As your parents, they should be the ones to decided if the article/photograph is appropriate for your viewing. Thanks for your cooperation in showing this respect to your parents.*

I'm Paper Pregnant!!!

I can finally announce it!!

This little fellow is going to be ours!!

Isn't he just a little cutie-pie?! I'm sure that 99% of you have already followed the links that I have posted, and therefore, seen his picture. But I just HAD to post it myself! I've been waiting on Reece's Rainbow to give me the go ahead to make my official announcement. But the director was out of town for several days, and then they have been completely updating their website, so our annoucement got delayed a little bit. Better late than never, right?! We just could not be more excited about our new little addition! While I don't think that Ray completely understands, she always gets excited to see Daniel's picture or hear us talk about him. Luke, on the other hand, totally gets it and is TOTALLY stoked! Daniel's picture is on our fridge and every morning when Luke walks in the kitchen he says, "Good morning, Daniel!" He is so excited! It truly blesses my heart to see how excited the kids are about adding Daniel to our family.

There are still alot of unknows with our adoption. We are moving as quickly as we can, but there is still a chance that he will be transferred. Prayer warrior, get to praying!

As for other adoption updates:
-we've faxed all vaccination records for our pets to our social worker
-official copies of all of our birth certificates have been faxed to our social worker
-we've complete the health checks needed for all family members for our homestudy
-Josh and his dad cut apart and hauled off our storage building that was demolished in hurricane Ike and has been laying in a crumpled pile at the back fence for the past 2 years.
-Josh and I re-assembled the dog/chicken pen on higher ground, and our little Chica now has quite a bit of stomping ground
-more faxing, more emailing, more errands, and email some more!


It's all worth it though, to get our little guy home where he belongs! There is a lady whom I met through the Reece's Rainbow yahoo group, that is adopting a little boy from the same orphanage as Daniel! Her and her husband are over there RIGHT NOW and I have been getting daily emails from her letting me know what is going on. She has gotten to see, observes, and even HUG my Daniel! I'm hanging on to every tib bit of information she sends me way! My Daniel and her Timothy even share a cubby that holds their shoes, coats and such. We we both get our little guys home we will definitely have to get the together at some point for a reunion!

Gotta run! As soon as our information on the Reece's Rainbow page is fully updated, then I will post a link to it. I'll also post soon on what life is like for Daniel in the orphanage, per Mel's descriptions. Until then, you are more than welcome to pray for speedy paperwork process and a smooth homestudy for us! Also, there is still a diamond ring raffle fundraiser going on for Daniel here. Check it out, donate, and maybe win a diamond ring!