Monday, December 31, 2012

FINAL PLEA FOR ANGEL TREE 2012!!!

YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, I SURPASSED MY $1,000 ANGEL GOAL AWHILE BACK SO NOW WHAT?? THIS IS MY PLEA TO GET ALL MY FRIENDS TO THEIR GOAL CAUSE ANGEL TREE CAMPAIGN ENDS TODAY!!!! LET'S BE SURE THEY ALL GET OVER!!!
Heres a few of my friends who need your HELP TO REACH THEIR GOAL!! My friend, Leah has done all she possibly can so now she is sharing all the babes she can hoping someone might see them!!
First she would like to share another gift of Love with you all. You recall she asked for donations for me right as her Christmas gift? Well, she had the pleasure of helping her sister choose a child to donate to today. When Leah pointed out a certain girl to Pink Princess, and she said she looks like her. This is a picture of Pink Princess when she was younger don't you think they look like twins?
Pink Princess, donated out of love of what her sister asked for Christmas. I'm sure she would love to see her donation make a difference for her "twin"!
I (Leah) would love to see her $5 donation turn into $200 which is what Emily still needs to reach her $1,000 goal!
Pacey, I have posted twice before is only $348.50 away from his goal!!! He is not even one years old & needs a family to love him!

WE NEED TO RALLY TOGETHER FOR THESE PRECIOUS BABES! THEIR IS A MATCHING GRANT GOING ON TO BUMP BABES CLOSEST TO $1,000 & THEN THE NEXT ONE WILL BE BUMPED TO THEIR GOAL! LET'S BRING THESE TWO & THE REST TO THEIR GOALS!!! GO VISIT THE ANGEL TREE PICK A CHILD TO DONATE $5 TO!! I AM CHALLENGING YOU TOO PRETTY PLEASE? IF NOTHING ELSE FOR THE KIDS SAKE? OH & IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENTER AN AWESOME GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY GO TO MY FRIEND, JULIAS BLOG!
Happy New year from me to you & thanks for continuing to pray for R****a! Also thanks for sticking with me as I blog. I'm always learning how I can write even better & make my words clear so thanks for being a reader whether your a official blog follower or a lurker. I know I said I would be taking a blogging break for a short while but I may check in if anything is new with R****a but probably brief & short so this is my last somewhat long blogpost for awhile til my Birthday Bash plans coming mid January. Thanks! 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Hopeful

I was not planning for the news to come today let alone be bad news. I had a bad headache when I woke up so I had not looked at anything online but when I turned on my phone I got a text from my friend asking if I was okay. My stomach did flipflops as I sent my reply asking what she what she was talking about. As soon as I heard the reply Putin signed the law my heart ripped into shreds for my girls & prayer guy I dearly love & all the families adopting from R****a. I did not want to rush to facebook anymore cause I knew thats what everyone would be talking about. My friend then told me their is hope that special needs orphans might be excluded from the law. Suddenly that gave me hope that God has a plan in all of this. I am at Peace for whatever he decides to do but I would like you all to be in prayer & fasting this coming Sunday for all those families & orphans in R****a for God's will to be done. If you have church prayer list or chain PLEASE I URGE YOU TO PUT THIS REQUEST OUT THERE!!! Many of these families have already passed court & their kids will be stuck there if something does not happen soon. Also pray for the families who have met their kid(s) that they know is their son or daughter even if they have not had court for them to be at peace. I ask prayers especially for the family I was set to go to R****a with that they will be able to complete their adoption cause they have been in this process a long time now & I want their girl to come home very badly! I am remaining Hopeful & having Faith that God will make this path clear! I'm not giving up on my girls either! I believe some of the orphans in R can still be adopted in Canada including the 3 orphans I love there so I will still continue on this path of advocating & fundraising for their sake so that when things are determined in R****a that they will have the funds needed to adopt either girl! So please don't let the news of R discourage you from donating to any child in that country! I am still planning on my Birthday Bash fundraiser for them both sometime in February so please look forward to that news! 




Friday, December 28, 2012

Purely Blessed

This Christmas has been far from normal for our family from what we are use to doing but still it has been such a blessing & a Christmas I will always cherish. It's hard for me to be on the recieving end when I know others need it far more than I do. I explained before how we were doing gifts of service & not many presents. Well I would like to share a gift I would consider an act of love. Though I can't share much of the full story I wanted to share this part of it. So my dad stayed up on Christmas eve & wrote us all notes of how proud he is of each one of us. For those that don't know my dad he typically does not write notes or letters at all except maybe Birthday cards. So for him to write us each notes meant far more to me then any present under the tree! Of course I was hoping for a year without crying on Christmas. Nope not going to happen for this family. Each gift given had special memories & some were meaningful ones too. Another gift I got was change for Reeces Rainbow wrapped in ducktape! The evidence after I got it undone. Luv ya dear brother!
I am purely blessed with an awesome God, a loving family, & dear friends!  Because of how blessed I am I also got to do something for others. Thanks in part to gifts of Love given to me for Christmas by friends & family plus some I have saved, $149.50 has been given/raised for Orphans still waiting & an additional $10 to orphans with families!
Is God not awesome for continuing to provide! I am praying my heart out for two little girls whose country of R****a is awaiting a certain persons veto or signature. I have worried my head off way to much & I want to BEG and PLEAD to ALL OF YOU to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for R****a!!! Please be praying for his heart to be open that these kids need families! Pray for the families in process that they will be comforted as they wait for news. Pray for the orphans still in country who don't have families that whatever happens they will be comforted in some way. 
Look who holds special spots on my Angel Tree? Celines ornament from 2010 on the left & hers from 2012 in the middle with Cora Lynnes from 2010 or 2011 on the end. 
Since Celine, was so blessed to reach her goal I would like to share these kids who have yet to reach their goals. Meet Pacey, only 5-6 months older than my nephew. 
He is halfway to his goal! I have donated to him already in my nephews honor please help him to get to his goal!
Next we have the gorgeous Sophia K. who is only $326.50 away from her goal! These are just two of the many who have yet to get to their $1,000 goal on the Angel Tree
PLEASE SHARE AND/OR DONATE!!! ONLY HAVE TIL DECEMBER 31ST TO HELP THEM ALL REACH THEIR GOAL!!!
I would like to thank God for giving us his son, & Giving us the gift of Love this Christmas. Cause truly who could ask for anything more? To my parents, thank you for your continuous example that it's better to give than receive! Without you I would not be the person I am! I am Purely Blessed that's for sure & so glad I got to spend Christmas with those I love most.


Monday, December 24, 2012

A Very Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!! Many blessings to you as you celebrate with the ones you love. Feeling very blessed this year to spend time with the ones I love. If you read my blog thank you so much for still reading! After the new year I will be taking a blogging break. I know I bet you will miss me right? LOL probably not that much but I feel the need to take a break for awhile. No worries I will be back soon hopefully with my Big Birthday Bash plans! So look forward to that hopefully sometime mid January!
Also if you can be praying for the country of R***a as many orphans lives hang in the balance of new law be passed that could potentially ban US adoptions from there? Supposedly its going to be signed December 26th. 


Friday, December 21, 2012

Gifts of Love

Gosh I have tried to sit down & blog for a few days now but it was nice to have a brief week break. It's been a busy time of year like usual. I have not had much to blog more than the same old thing since what I wrote last & have wanted to let that post sink in more. First of all I briefly want to notify you of what Sevenly is doing this week ONLY for Reece's Rainbow! See my new temporary blog button on the right? Well, you can get that gift for the man or teen guy in your life & $7 of it will benefit Reece's Rainbow! They have all sorts of neat shirts & hoodies for us Ladies too so be sure to check it out & spread the word!! This week the goal is to raise $25,000 in sales to give $1,000 each to 25 kids! The goal has been met for 14 kids now just 6 more to go! Even greater if it gets past the goal they will choose more kids to benefit! I'm looking forward to wearing my new shirt once it arrives! Thanks sis again! 

This year has truly been like any other Christmas. As with most of you know this economy has been pretty bad. It is a bit tight for a lot of people to spend money on Christmas gifts this year well since alot of my siblings/parents don't have much to spend this year those of us who could not buy gifts gave acts of service instead. As you already know my list was short of what I wanted this year anyway so I thought it was a good idea especially when your one of 6 kids, 5 still at home & an unofficial "adopted" brother living with us plus our parents. It was tricky to come up with gifts of service so when the opportunty came up to wrap gifts at a bookstore for Reeces Rainbow & my mom was unavailable I was lucky that my brother was coming home from college the weekend before. My mom suggested why not ask him? He said of course!
Wednesday, December 19th we wrapped gifts for 4 hours telling about Reeces Rainbow not expecting any certain amount of donations. Well, while there $42 in donations came in! It was such a blast hanging out with my brother chatting away & teaching him new gift wrapping skills for the corners. I did better wrapping than I thought I would! His gift of love I will always cherish more than a wrapped gift underneath the Christmas tree. Cause spending time with the ones you love is Important.

I am so proud to have a brother who is so willingly giving of his time to help his somewhat crazy sister raise awareness for the charity she loves! $35 of which was raised went to get an ornament of this love who has a family coming!


Another gift of Love someone gave to me was my new friend "L". She was my secret Santa at my Ladies small group gift exchange & gosh her gift made me cry a little bit at home later. First she gave me a recordable ornament with a photo slot which is perfect cause I wanted to get something for Cora Lynnes newer photo & I get to leave a special message for her in it. The 2nd you will see in the picture
I don't know if she will ever know that's all I asked for & brings me so much JOY to see New friends supporting what I love most. This Christmas 3 new friends gave me Gifts of Love for Reeces Rainbow & wish I could give them JOY like they have shared with me cause I know that's one gift God Loves us to Give! As much as I love presents I truly believe Gifts of Love shared with others is far better than presents under the tree! So Please go share his light with others this Christmas & remember the real reason for the season is Jesus!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

This Little Light of Mine I'm going to let it Shine!

There's a little flame inside us all
Some SHINE bright
Some SHINE small
The rains will come
And the waters rise
But don't you EVER lose your LIGHT!

In this life you will know
LOVE and pain
Joy and Sorrow
So when it hurts
When times get Hard
Don't forget who's child you are

This little light of mine 
I'm gonna let it SHINE
This little light of mine
I'm Gonna let it SHINE
Let it SHINE, Let it SHINE, Let it SHINE!!!!
I know I kinda took two versions & blended them together but I wanted you to get the idea. Yesterday, 12/14 was a tragic day for this country with mourning & death of many precious children, teachers, a principal, & other adults. I had not thought about how truly fitting this song is after several tragedies this past week my heart aches for all the families of yesterdays shooting in CT, what happened in China, & the shooting at the mall in Oregon this past week. 

My heart was broken at my news feed on facebook exploded with prayers & wishes to the victims but what got to me the most was what some of the students that survived said in the middle of when it was happening."I just want Christmas...I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas." 

For you see all these kids were about to celebrate & were looking forward to Christmas. 20 of them won't be celebrating this Christmas sadly but they are in the arms of Jesus thankfully.

We have much to be thankful for and want to squeeze our family members even tighter than before cause you just never know what day might be your last.
In light of this tragedy I want to share with you some kids who likely will not be celebrating Jesus birth or receive any presents this Christmas. 
These kids are typically cast aside in orphanages & Mental institutions cause society in their country has yet to accept them for who they are.



So in honor of the kids who did not live,
Can you make this their last Christmas without a family?
#1 Please visit Reeces Rainbow for more information on how to adopt one of these precious kids
#2 Not in a position to donate or adopt? Then PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!!
#3 If you can donate go spread some love to the Angel Tree babes!

Through the DARKNESS I'm going to let it SHINE!!!!
Will you??
Another way to help SHINE God's LIGHT is by helping to provide Warm outfits & sleepers as well as other needed items for Alternatives Pregnancy Center. I have decided since Celine has reached her goal if anyone else wants to give me something for Christmas I have made wishlists on amazon & target. But since I had a chipin on here I decided to change it up a bit.
So if you want to provide diapers for babies?
Or fun toys for Christmas?
Sleepers & warm clothes for the winter season?
If you feel lead to contribute this goes directly to my paypal account & is not tax deductible. All funds will be used to get MUCH NEEDED ITEMS for Alternatives Pregnancy Center. SHINE YOUR LIGHT TODAY!!!


Prayers

My heart goes out to all those that lost a loved one in todays tragedy. Please keep them all in your prayers. Their truly no words.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Journey of Advocating

Back in the summer of 2010 I fell in love with this precious grin her smile capturing at my heart strings.

She did not know that smile would capture many hearts.
A girl, 17 at the time found out about Reece's Rainbow thanks in part to another special girls journey to her forever family.
She thought wow I had no idea this was still happening in other countries & that these kids are unwanted there.
She thought even though she was young & could not adopt surely their was a way she could help. So she signed up to advocate & fundraise for two precious kids. 


Celine, almost 5 years old at the time the girl started to advocate had only a grant of $3,033.00. She had hoped that the precious girl in the pink shirt would find her family soon. A year went by then another the little girl now 7 years old with no family still.

She knew why this girl had waited so long even as her grant grew even larger cause her country had shut down for sometime then changed their requirements. You don't know how hard it is to see a girl you have fallen in love with still waiting & you can't do anything about it but pray & hope someone will find her. Still through discouragement of waiting she turned that sadness into Joy by doing everything possible by helping the one she loved & if she was older she would get in an instant.
My friends & Family rallied around me cause they knew how much Celine meant to me. By change drives, kids consignment sales, giveaways, auctions, & yard sales it truely was a team effort to help this precious girl.



For you see they may never meet this girl this side of Heaven
But they will know they showed Gods Love to this one & it Made a difference to her!
Please check out the auction going on for her & many other angel tree babes here which ends Saturday so hurry!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

You know how I asked for these Christmas wishes?
Well One of those just came true! Though I wish it was #1 or #2 it is #3 that CAME TRUE!!!! YEP, CELINE SURPASSED HER GOAL!!! Why am I not surprised? Merry Early Christmas to me & Celine!!!
Last night the New Years eve Warrior party came a little early. I was so busy I had no time to figure out truly what was going!
A Matching grant got offered if we got all the angel tree babes to $250 then $7,000 would be donated to get as many babes to their goal! AND AMAZINGLY WE DID IT!!!!
I WANT TO THANK ALL THE CHRISTMAS WARRIORS WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE & WHOEVER OFFERED THE MATCHING GRANT THANK YOU!!! I did HARDLY ANYTHING TO FUNDRAISE THE MAJORITY CAME FROM DONATIONS  OF STRANGERS LIKE LAST YEAR WHEN I WAS A CHRISTMAS WARRIOR TO CORA LYNNE so GOD GETS THE GLORY FOR THIS ONE LIKE ALWAYS!!!
So now what? The auction is still going on & I have money to send so I will still raise money for Celine. But now I want to help the others who have yet to reach their goal & perhaps Cora Lynne too even though she is not on angel tree! See the lovely ornament of Celine under the starfish?
You can have one of any of the kids on the Angel Tree for a donation of $35 or more! So go pick a child who has not reached their goal to donate to!
Also if you can pray for #1 & #2 on my list to still come true that would be awesome! Celine would love it if her Christmas wish came true of finding her forever family!


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

My Christmas wish

Though I have already mentioned my Christmas wish several times on this blog I wanted to tell you about it yet again. 
My wish would be for the orphans of this world to have families but especially this Christmas I wish for families for the 5 of "my kids" that remain as orphans. I had hope & prayed for Carmen now I will keep praying & have that same hope for Heath, Alden, Cora Lynne, Celine, & Brandi. Even when 2 of those are in a difficult region, even when their is no updates/new picture/donate button for Alden, even when 3 of them are in one of the most expensive countries to adopt from, even if I fret & worry about Cora Lynne & Brandi if they have been transferred already & if they are in a good institution or a bad one, or if I am afraid that Cora Lynne is stuck in a crib all day, even if I don't understand why Heath is still waiting when he is FULLY FUNDED I trust in Gods timing cause he knows when they each will find families & when they will come home.  

One of the best gifts I could ever ask for next to a family for anyone of "my kids" is donations to Celine so that when her family adopts her cost will not be an issue. I have started a chipin cause that's my Christmas wish & hope for her to find a family AND REACH HER ANGEL TREE GOAL. I have no fancy prizes to giveaway or fancy items to sell for her. Want to know something else? The two most hits I have ever gotten on a blogpost were the Giveaways I have done. Nothing against doing Giveaways, but is it too much to ask without expecting anything in return? Sadly, that's just not the way this world works apparently. To be honest I have yet to do another Giveaway since the Lost Get Found one back in January cause frankly I am exhausted from doing them & both times I have had mixups happen plus I want to reach out & spread the word in the local community. I wish that my Giveaway posts were not the top two read posts or the ones with the most comments cause I have done more meaningful posts & I wish those were read more than people checking out the Giveaway I did back in October 2011 or the one in January 2012 .I have already scrounged together stuff to auction off & if you wish to check that out you can do so here.
Please help my Christmas wish come true & bless This precious girl that if I was older I would adopt in an instant! There is nothing I ever could NEED OR WANT MORE then BLESSING ANOTHER OF THE LEAST OF THESE. So I ask instead of the candle I will never use or the yarn which I already have too much of (or any other craft for that matter!), or the gift card to Michaels as much as I love shopping there I don't truly NEED IT will you give me a gift of LOVE BY DONATING to this Pretty Princess? Even $5 can make a difference to this precious girl! Think $5 can't make a difference? well go back to read my post here
She is has gotten so far on her angel tree goal, but I can't take the credit for that one cause God has managed to bring about $490 through total strangers some of which thanks in part to my wonderful friend, Julia Nalle's Giveaway she has going on for all the Angel Tree babes! God managed to provide like that last year when I was Cora Lynnes warrior too cause I did not do that much for her. But she is still $272.50 away! Even though I have saved change (about $7) & have a gift still to donate from a friend it still leaves her short! Thus far $32 has been raised through the Auction & it ends Saturday so I am still hopeful it will raise more.
Will you make my wish come true?



Just look at this girls smile! Although this picture is older, I know from someone who has met her how bright she truly is & how she would be a wonderful daughter to someone! Won't you be my HOPE FOR CHRISTMAS PLEASE?

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Revisit:All I really want for Christmas

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need. All I really want for Christmas is a family


All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.



All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.



All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.



All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.


All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.




All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.
All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family.


                                       














All I really want for christmas is for them to find homes. There's not much I will ask for cause all I really want for Christmas is two families.
You may think why not ask for something else? It's Because God gave the gift of his son & I think its better to give than Recieve. Nothing better a gift to ask for then to help their future families be able to adopt them & them finding families would always be the best gift I could get. So all I ask my friends if you want to get me a gift please instead donate to Celine? Or Cora Lynne. I have underlined in on my list. Please ignore the others cause this is my wish list for my family. I just wanted to show how important this is to me.
That's all I will ask for Oh Lord please bring them families! 



Cause all I really want for Christmas,
Is for these girls to find families! 



Thursday, December 6, 2012

Another praise!

I don't know how or who but God is so awesome! Celines grant grew by $490 over night which means she is only $272.50 from her angel tree goal!! Thank you whoever you are for donating! I was frankly getting frustrated & discouraged but then God uplifted my spirits. This girl really means the world to me!
Check out the Angel Auction on facebook! I have 12 items benefitting Celine & their is tons to choose from to benefit all the angels on the angel tree!