A Boy named Nikolajs

I know I usually post about Sasha but today I'm sharing this boys face.

Meet Nikolajs http://reecesrainbow.org/47972/nikolajs-l15

Nikolajs is an older boy with Down Syndrome, his chances of being adopted in his own country are slim.

He deserves to be loved like any other child.

He is still far from his Angel Tree goal but I sure hope he will get there. Angel tree ends in 2 days!

If you have a few $ to spare click his link above to donate. 

Halfway there!

The final countdown is on, just 5 days left in the Angel Tree campaign! 5 days & $487.71 to go! It's been much slower this year then years past for my angel tree child reaching their goal but I trust she will make it. I was very excited to see her grant jump by almost $150 last night. 

I wish I had all the funds in the world to give to this sweet girl, if I could be her mom I would but since I can't I send sweet prayers & share her photo hoping someone will find it in their heart to call her daughter. 

Her beautiful ornament has been admired everytime I walk in my room. 

To me, everytime I think of the potential she has, what she could be doing in a family. I think of how blessed I am to have my beautiful sister.

Yes, my sister has that extra chromosome but she is a person first of all. Sasha deserves Love like Pink Princess & to be the daughter she was meant to be.

Not only is Angel Tree a chance to help raise these kids grants but it's main focus is to raise awareness. 
I shared most of these on Facebook but today I share them here to share the reality of what Love can do for a child & that FAMILY is better than even the "best" orphanage. 

And of course I will never forget my first Angel Tree boy that I met this past summer.

Love wins & this girl is gonna push til she has nothing left to give, when Sasha is in her new family. I might not have any fancy prizes to do a Giveaway, no extra american girl doll to sell, but I do have love & that's more than enough. This is what I wrote yesterday on my fb & that was before the donation.
It's been a nice quiet Christmas, but for me their will be no Quiet til after New Years Eve cause Sasha still has not reached her angel tree goal & I'm gonna try my best to shout for her til she reaches that goal. Two years ago at this point I got an early Christmas miracle of my other angel tree girl reaching her goal before Christmas & though that has not happened for Sasha I'm trusting she will reach her goal by the end of Angel Tree. I have one donation present from my Mom & I'm gonna add my spare change to that. I wish I had all the funds needed for her to reach her goal and/or be completely funded for her adoption but I don't, so I pray, donate what I can, & trust God will provide. I know I have "begged", sent out my plea on fb almost every single day since November 1st but this year I'm yet again reminded how precious my family is to me & I WANT To share that gift for another child. If I was old enough to adopt/other circumstances I would but til that day when I can call a child son or daughter I do what I can do cause GOD WANTS ME TO. It might only be a share one day or $5 donation but I know every little bit helps & it makes a difference to this one. Today, all I ask is that you say prayer for Sasha & all the orphans & share her sweet face.http://reecesrainbow.org/78127/sasha
$634.41 looks overwhelming, far from the $1,000 & to some might seem Impossible to reach but I know with God anything is possible! http://reecesrainbow.org/78127/sasha

Trusting God for the Impossible to be possible! While your at it could you pray for this little cutie to find a family too?

I have fallen in love with precious Clover & gah I so badly wish I could be her mama too. 
http://reecesrainbow.org/84595/clover

Lord, Please bring these girls families in this coming year? Amen.

Faith, Hope, & Sweet girl named Sasha!

Lately my thoughts have been just easier, somewhat faster to process, whatever you want to call it to just post to my Facebook page. Thing is I tend to forget that their are certain friends who are not on fb land & their are those who have yet to discover the plight of these kids. I know I probably have lost my readers of this blog & if you still read thank you for still reading my somewhat absent blog. It takes lots of energy & sometimes my thoughts don't quite come words like I wish they would. My girls grant has grown this week & this makes me a very happy warrior! 

All this girl wants is a family to call her own. 

It seems this time of year gets me into a mushball of tears. Every time I'm listening to Klove online a song that relates to Sasha & the other orphans comes on right as I'm sharing a post or doing something orphan related. December is always a hard time remembering two girls I love who are stuck in another country & spending another Christmas without families. Every year their stockings still hang with Hope that someday they will find a home.

Most of my decorations are taken down eventually but these stockings remain all year round. I still have faith & hope they will come home to families whether that's in their country or ours.

I have taken many leaps of faith & Hope in my advocating in the past & I still plan to trust God whatever the outcome. My words may not come easily but this Christmas I have faith Sasha will reach her goal. 

It might not be wrapped in a bow under the tree, but is a gift of love! Give her that Love! http://reecesrainbow.org/78127/sasha

Even if your not meant to be her family, share her face & story as you just never know who might be her family! Or if you can go donate to her grant. Most importantly PRAY! This girl, has prayed for you each & every night even if I don't think I have the energy left to do so. I blow kisses to my girls stockings & whisper I love yous to them even if they never know it then I have started the same routine with this picture I placed on cardboard hanging on my bulletin board.

Sasha, to be honest I was afraid like each year since that dreadful adoption ban to allow my heart to open to another for fear that something else would happen. A certain little boy found a warrior so what was I to do? I could have just said no altogether to you or to the Boy I was a warrior to last year but I did not. When I picked 3 girls for my picks I knew without a doubt the criteria of each girl I had chosen. My heart melted for each of them but none of them could truly relate to how I would feel starting with a girl about the age of my girls when I advocated for them. As each day has past since signing up to be your warrior I have fallen more in love with you. You have made this Angel Tree one to remember, you have helped me love again like never before, you have taught me to take leaps of faith once again, & lastly you have helped somewhat heal more broken pieces of my heart. I might still ache with every breath that my girls did not find families, the hurt will still be their at times, & though you will never replace that special spot/them I Love you dear Sasha & I'm ready to find a family for you!

Thankful

During Thanksgiving about half the time I was thinking of my Angel Tree Girl Sasha, fretting about fundraising, disappointed over a fundraiser that did not work out, & being truly thankful for what I have. I was a emotional wreck between that among other things, & honestly kept doubting myself saying in my mind "I'm failing her" and I was falling down on my job as her warrior. I know I tend to doubt so much when I should keep my trust in Gods provision but it's easy to fall back or think these thoughts when things don't always go according to planned. I was tired & worn out from the constant pleading which seemed to be heading no where. At some point after I changed my direction I was heading I feel at peace. As I traveled home from Thanksgiving, I saw her grant move little by little & it's still growing! An online auction ended which will bring her about $100 closer towards her goal.

I'm thankful for the life & family I have but yet I never can forget their faces & what they don't have.
3 yrs ago I met a mama who was hoping to adopt a sweet girl named Natasha. I quickly fell in love with this sweet girl & became friends with this mom.

2 yrs ago, my heart broke along with this sweet families as a adoption ban went into effect. Though I was not in the process to adopt from that country my heart was never the same & still holds many kids close to my heart.
My friend is still fighting for her girl & the others which I'm thankful that someone still cares for them. I want to share her plea here today in hopes that maybe somehow, someway it might help.

In honor of Natasha's 9th birthday and the 2 year anniversary of the adoption ban please join together with us to get 10,000 likes on the Parents United for Russian Orphans FB page by the end of the year.

https://www.facebook.com/parentsunitedforrussianorphans

Our goal is for people around the world to come together to help the children stuck in Russian orphanages by providing information and supporting groups that help the children have better lives. We are begging the Russian government to bring about change for the better and continue to ask them to work with our government to allow the remaining pipeline children to come home. If this is not possible, we pray the children will speedily find loving homes in Russia and that the government will provide the necessary support system for them.

Natasha was only 6 years old when a loving family met her and agreed to adopt her. She has spent an extra 2 1/2 years in an orphanage because of the adoption ban and most likely will spend the rest of her life without ever knowing the love of a family if changes are not made.

And the link to our blog and this beautifully written article by Russian journalist and volunteer for Downside Up Julia Kolesnickenko that has links to our documentary that will be shown in Russia on December 13th.

http://parentsunitedforrussianorphans.blogspot.com/

And the link to the documentary FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/childrenofthestate

I think of these girls every night still & their stockings still hung up

Today, I'm thankful that Sasha still has a chance for finding a family & I hope you join me in helping to reach her goal, http://reecesrainbow.org/78127/sasha