Renewed, Refreshed, Restored-The Reunion

Renewed, Refreshed, Restored

It's my happy place

The One I countdown the days til every year

Friends, I will be honest advocating can be just as tiring as adopting. I'm always feeling so worn out but after each Reece's Rainbow reunion I come back with renewed energy!

Because reuniting with friends you met before is WORTH IT

Because who wouldn't want to take selfie with a cutie?

Because seeing a former orphan that you played a part in their story smiling & having fun.

Because you treasure a moment with that child you helped & it reminds you that all the work you did was so WORTH IT.

You see all the beautiful treasures, some once neglected, unvalued, not loved & your heart remembers why you started advocating in the 1st place.

You might almost burst into tears seeing a special moment unfold between the founder of Reece's Rainbow meeting the 3rd child that came home through Reece's Rainbow 10 years ago.

You say aww everytime someone is taking a photo.

Your heart bursts everytime you hold a cute baby & yet you secretly wish you could take them with you. 

You make sure to show love & care & let every single child know they matter. 

You might be silly & go with the flow on the Jumping Pillow with your friend even if it is super hot outside.

You probably should take pictures of the chocolate wrestling fun

Because why not have movie nights?

Yogi Bear or as you have now nicknamed him "Jogi Bear" thanks to your friend & whoever the staff was on the Hayride.

Because Life is too short & why not be silly with new friends?

You think your friend is a genius recrafting this lemonade holder

You practically live at the pool everyday because why not?

Because we all like to have fun even "Super Lu" who represents an awesome person who lives across the ocean who can't come to the reunion.

And meeting new friends ones you have come to know so well. The Reece's Rainbow reunion always comes & goes by so quickly but yet I come away feeling renewed in my advocating for orphans & looking for new ways to further help the least of these. 

How did I come away feeling so refreshed & what is my next mission?
You will have to wait for Part 2 coming soon.

Faith, Trust, & Love Giveaway winners announced!

Sorry it has taken me awhile to get this post up but I'm going to keep it short.
First of all thank you all for donating, praying, & sharing! Best estimate of over $1,000 came in during the Giveaway period even if they didn't enter.

And the winners list is:
Christine S.-Kindle Fire which she has kindly donated back for future use. A bike to call their own book
Carol Miller-Natasha & the Christmas wish book that she kindly gave it to me, Bible audio cd will be sent to someone else, $25 Target gift card, 3 day trial pack of Plexus slim
Katrina M.-Blue Bible
Andrew M.-Cat collar
Anne-Dark brown bible
Sandy Searle-$10 Olive Garden Gift card
Rebecca K.-brown bible, purple bible
Julie Faulkner-Girls Jewelry box
Stephanie Lynch-Owl Bracelet set

If you see your name please contact me at singergirl15@yahoo.com with your address so I can get the donor(s) of the items to ship to you. thanks again so much! I can't wait til this girl is home with her forever family, the Nalle family.

Making a Difference, One Orphan at a time

When I first started advocating I was an 18 yr old who didn't think I had anything to offer. How could I make a difference when I couldn't adopt myself? It's this post that my friend wrote that ripped my heart out that changed my life for the better.

http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2010/11/sad-reality.html

I didn't have a job but knew I couldn't just look away from what God has called me to do. So I started small & Yes, every little bit makes a Difference to the life of an orphan.

Soon my life filled with change drives, yard sales & consignment sales anything I could do to help.

So you see you might think how can I help when I have no money to donate?

There are plenty of other ways you can help & it makes the difference no matter how small or big!

Right now I need all the help I can get to help Mary come home to her forever family http://reecesrainbow.org/117343/sponsornalle-2 whether that is sharing this post, saying a prayer, or donating.

We got a really neat Giveaway going on right now with some awesome prizes including a Brand New Kindle Fire! http://lifesbeautifulbutterflies.blogspot.com/2017/04/faith-trust-love-giveaway.html Here's a few of the prizes:

 $25 Target Gift Card

$10 Olive Garden Gift Card

Lovely Owl Bracelets

Beautiful Jewelry Box

And more! 
 JUST CHANGED THE ENTRIES!
So here's how you enter:
$5-1 entry
$20-5 entries
$40-10 entries
$50-15 entries
Facebook share-Free entry
Tweet this-Free entry
Instagram post-Free entry
Blogpost-Free entry

Just be sure to comment with how many entries you need on this post http://lifesbeautifulbutterflies.blogspot.com/2017/04/faith-trust-love-giveaway.html

Who wants to make a difference for Mary? Because every little bit helps!

We Love You Julia because...

Julia, My heart has forever been blessed by knowing you. Your adoption of Aaron, your posts of the Lost boys broke my heart, you changed my heart & helped me to find Gods purpose for my life. I may have not adopted yet but you have been non stop encouraging me along the way of my advocating. Leah H.

Julia is one of my dearest Ukraine buddies that came alongside my family in a VERY big time of need to raise financial support and have prayer over our family as we moved to adopt and bring our daughter Tania home from Ukraine, then Stopha and well then Bogdan, Kristjan, Angelica, Viktor, Vova......lol! I have no idea if Julia did not step up to be the hands and feet of Christ would ANY of my children named above make it home. The photo above is our family minus 1. 8 of our children would not be our amazing kiddos if it were not for Julia's listening to God and moving on behalf of our family. Nicole Dewberry

''Our family is very grateful for her. She helped us make huge leaps by sharing our family to her blog and donating items to our giveaways! She is very selfless and kindhearted'' Amanda Mcquinn

She was a huge help for us to bring our kids home! Kayleigh Bloom

Julia has been such a blessing to our family. We didn't know her when we adopted our 3 kids with special needs , but she inspired us to fundraise for other orphans and we've been touched by her blog and of course her own adoption journey. She says what's in many of our hearts When we moved to VA we were blessed to get to meet Julia and since then, she has shown love to our kids with special needs and has encouraged us. I have a couple stories.... When my daughter's were raising money for the Rodger family, they handmade lots of bracelets and crocheted items....which were accidentally taken to Goodwill after a yard sale! Julia shared about what happened and alot of people donated....which was a blessing to not only the family but to my girls. Then when our adopted son Joshua was in the ICU on a ventilator critically ill, Julia came to pray with us on one of his worst days when they didn't think he would make it. That meant so much to us (thankfully God restored his life). We are thankful for her friendship & how God helps orphans through her! Traci Adamson

Julia became part of Little B's Super Hero Team back when I was in process in 2012/2013. I was blessed to have so many have their name on his team wall, but Julia's was special. As I became part of RR and as I contemplated the process (as well as through the following years) I have watched as Julia has been a motivator, a cheerleader and a fundraiser for waiting kiddos and for families in process. She gets RR's name and mission out there. So truly just about every child who has come home with the support of RR has been blessed by Julia. She brought attention to the plight of these kids and showed families that people are willing to help raise funds if you take a leap of faith and work hard. I truly don't think anyone will ever know the actual number of kids whose process was touched by Julia. So many are home because of all Julia has done. Even if she never posted again, so many are now involved because she touched them in some way. These people will spread forth the mission that Julia has worked so hard to support and will get others involved. Great thanks to Julia for blessing so many. Her boys have blessed her and I am confident so will a certain little girl. Beth Baird

This is Aeson. We found him through Reece's Rainbow because Julia advocated for him on her blog. Aeson has been home a little over four months now. He is smart, loving, healthy, well-adjusted and has exceeded every expectation we had by a million light years. Without Julia , we never would have found our son. I can't thank her enough for all the tireless advocating she does. It truly does change lives. Mary Sanders

Before adoption

And after

Well she shouted for me on her blog, donated to me, and was a MASSIVE encouragement to me. Terri C.

Julia is a dear friend (local to me). We have helped each other through our adoptions. She was very generous to us with help. I haven't joined in your giveaway as I have another plan for my donation to her. Here is a current picture of my girls. She has taught them at homeschool co-op too!! Love Julia!! Julie Snell

Julia is an encourager, a warrior for children and families and just a whole lot of fun to be with!! She came to Ukraine help bring my 3 children home and our epic 16 hour overnight train ride to Kyiv will never be forgotten! God Bless your journey to Mary Julia!! Love from Carla and the whole Dobrovits family.

Julia, We have all been blessed by you & we wanted to share our thankfulness. Hope God continues to use you & bless you like you have done for all of these families.

Because we love you, we want to help you bring home Mary.

To Help Mary come home to the Nalle family http://reecesrainbow.org/117343/sponsornalle-2 I have a awesome Giveaway going here http://lifesbeautifulbutterflies.blogspot.com/2017/04/faith-trust-love-giveaway.html

You could win a brand New Kindle Fire 

Or other cool prizes so check it out! Giveaway will end May 18th.

WE LOVE YOU JULIA, & WE ARE GOING TO HELP YOU BRING HOME YOUR GIRL!

Go make a donation today! http://reecesrainbow.org/117343/sponsornalle-2 
And please don't forget to visit her blog http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/