What Happens When You Give | Reece's Rainbow Families

I want to share with all of you what God has done recently, and why I believe - no, I know that when we choose to give out of nothing, God multiplies our gifts back upon us.

Before the beginning of this year, I was essentially unemployed.  I worked odd jobs for friends whenever I could, but I wasn't even making ends meet.  As the new year started, I was blessed with a wonderful new job, which would not only make ends meet, but leave some left over.  It took me a while to catch up, but by the start of Spring, I had room to breathe.  Wise advisers told me to put at least one month's worth of expenses in savings, in case I fell ill or lost my job, but no matter how hard I tried, that didn't happen.

It didn't happen because of the faces.

These faces.

and these faces...

...all orphans, all seperated from their families by little more than money.  When I looked at their faces, and knew I had money to spare in the bank, I couldn't tell them no.

Especially not when I knew what love could do... love that they could only receive after their ransoms were paid.  (These pictures are all before/after adoption shots)

How could I let money sit in a savings account when it could be used to help produce these miracles?

So I gave.  Probably not as much as I should have, or could have, if I'd sacrificed a little more, but I never set aside that one month's expenses.  That need wasn't as real to me as theirs was.  And no, I don't expect an award for that - I actually struggled with how to tell this part of the story because I don't want to sound proud or self absorbed - but the whole story needs to be told to see the miracle.

But then I did get sick.  Really sick, actually.  I had two surgeries and lost count of the days I spent in the hospital.  One of them was my birthday, I do remember that.  I couldn't work for a long time and I stopped being able to make ends meet.

I still didn't regret the choice I made.  But I did wonder... how am I going to make things work?  My family helped me through the month of May, which was in other ways a dark time for me, while I waited for a paycheck that had taken longer than usual to come through.  Still though, I knew it wouldn't be enough to get me through June... and the whole time I agonized, not because I was worried about myself - I knew I'd figure something out - but because all the while I was watching Mamas and Daddies beg for the money needed to pay their children's ransoms, and I could do nothing.  That was worse than being broke.

Last night, I went upstairs in the middle of the night to find something to eat, and checked the unopened envelopes sitting on the counter.  So many of them have been medical bills lately, I haven't been particularly keen to open them.  But one caught my attention - it was from the surgery center where I'd had my wisdom teeth out in November.  I was puzzled because I knew I paid that bill - was there some expense I'd missed? So I opened that envelope to see what the damage was, and instead of a bill, I found a check!  It was then that I remembered that I'd actually overpaid and never collected my refund - but how much could it be?  Surely only pocket change.  Then I checked the amount.  Not only was it more than pocket change, it was probably enough to get me through June... and probably enough to have a little left over, maybe to finally give to one of the families I had been shouting for!

This is what God does when you give to the least of these, when you put them before yourself.

I have an amazing friend who is on a plane at this very moment on her way to meet her three newest children, halfway across the world.  They are the first three children whose pictures I posted, and they are in desperate condition.

Carson has hydrocephalus and had shunt surgery relatively recently.  He is vibrant and lively at six years old, but if he isn't taken out of that place quickly, his spirit will be quashed.  He needs to come home.

Presley is three years old and has severe autism.  There's no way to tell until she's in a family how much of her behavior is due to her environment, but right now she shies away from social interaction and self-stimulates instead.  There is no one to help her learn how to function any other way.  And she is small - weighing about as much as an 8 month old baby.  She needs to come home.

Thad is in the most desperate condition of all.  Though you can't see it from the picture, Thad is lying in a crib - where he spends all his time - and he is nine years old.  You couldn't tell it from looking at him - the poor boy weighs only 18 pounds and his joints are severely contracted.  He suffered a brain injury after being beaten into a coma at the age of four by his birth father.  He is terrified of even being taken out of his crib.  He really needs to come home.

Though she is traveling to meet them now, my friend Amanda still needs a significant amount of money to complete the adoption.  More fees will be due when she comes home and faces what is probably the hardest part of adopting from this country - having met and held your children, having seen first hand what their lives are like, and having to wait months longer to bring them home.  I can't even imagine what that must be like - and to have to try to raise funds for the rest of their ransom during that time - how does anyone do it?

If I could, I would lift the entire burden of getting funded from this family's shoulders - but I can't... not by myself.  How wonderful would it be for Amanda to come home from this trip to a significant bump in her fundraising efforts?

But I need YOU.  Amanda needs YOU.  Carson, Presley and Thad need YOU.

They need you to have faith... that when you give out of nothing, it will be multiplied back upon you.

I can attest to this.  It happened to me.

So who is with me?  Who is going to step up and help an amazing family - the same family, by the way, that made one of those transformations I showed you above happen.  This is their son Keith, home less than a year, who weighed only ten pounds when he was taken from the orphanage and is now a healthy little boy who is nearly walking.

With your help, soon we'll see similar transformations in Carson, Presley and Thad.

But only with your help.

Don't say it's too much to ask.  Don't let yourself believe that any harm or misfortune will come to you by giving to the least of these.  Trust.  Trust whatever you believe in - God, Karma... that the gifts we give are multiplied back upon us.

Oh - and did I mention you could win an iPad?  Check out an awesome fundraiser for this family here.

If you prefer a tax deductible donation, you can also give to their Reece's Rainbow Family Sponsorship Program account here.

You won't be sorry.  Trust me, for I have held in my own arms the greatest reward of this type of giving.

Me and precious Keith, March 2013

Go on.  Experience with me all the rewards of giving.

Edited to add:  The Unroes have been offered a $20 matching grant by the very family I blogged about last week who are trying to raise their own commitment costs - what did I tell you about giving from nothing?  Donate ASAP so we can turn $20 into $40!  And meet the amazing family offering the match here.

A Family in Need | Reece's Rainbow Families

I have been blessed recently to know a family who, though not planning an international adoption before, fell in love with a child on RR and decided to jump in with both feet.  This is amazing because they are acting on faith.  You see, sometimes families hesitate to commit to children because commitment costs can be so overwhelming, and not every child has a large grant already waiting for them.  Some children don't have a grant yet at all, therefore to even start the process to rescue the child, families have to come up with a large sum in a short amount of time.  This is one of those situations - where a family is taking a leap of faith to try to raise commitment costs in a short amount of time, knowing all the while that a child's life rests in the balance.

A Family Sponsorship Program can be set up with Reece's Rainbow, but not until after commitment costs have been paid.  The visibility and tax deductible status of the FSP has helped many families raise needed funds - but not before commitment.  Here we have a family who is ready to jump in and rescue a child, maybe two, and MONEY is the only thing holding them back.

We can't let that happen.  We just can't.

A lot of people will say that it's the family's responsibility alone to raise commitment costs - because if they can't come up with the initial money, how are they going to fund the rest of their adoption?  But there is a fundamental flaw in this logic.  Many, many adoptive parents were not planning to adopt, therefore they were not setting money aside for this purpose.  It's great when a family knows they intend to adopt and can set aside funds beforehand, but sometimes God taps us on the shoulder, and ready or not, families go.  That's what this family is doing.  It will take time to get further fundraisers in place, for the family to reassess their expenses to save as much as possible for their adoption.  But the kids - they don't have time.  Some children's files are returned after only two months with an agency if a family is not found for them.  Other children are in such desperate condition, that a family must be able to move as quickly as possible.

This is where we come in.  Those of us who can't adopt can still help.  We can help that family raise the initial ransom for their children, giving them time to formulate a plan for the rest of the adoption expenses.  We can donate, or do a fundraiser for them, or share their need.

Sadly, I have seen situations where families were unable to raise commitment costs in time and had to release a child.  This means more time waiting for those children.  We can't let that happen anymore.  If we're not willing or able to jump in and go get these kids ourselves, we need to rally around those who are.

So here I want to introduce you to my friend Amanda.  She and her husband are just starting out their adoption journey, hoping to rescue one, maybe two children from Eastern Europe.  These are children who do not have time to wait around.  They are also in a place where initial commitment costs are high, so a family's work is really cut out for them.  Amanda has started a blog recently to write about their need, their fundraisers, and hopefully one day their children.  I encourage you to visit her blog.  Note the paypal link on the right hand side.  Could you contribute just a little bit - maybe swap out Starbucks for a home brew, or skip pizza night, to help ransom an orphan?  In situations like these, every little bit helps!  Check out Amanda's posts too - she is also a 31 consultant!  I have to admit I have fallen for 31 bags recently, as have many people, and if you order through Amanda, her commission will go straight toward ransoming an orphan.  It's a win-win situation!

One day, hopefully one day soon, I hope to be able to post a picture to show you the face(s) of the child(ren) that this family is bringing home... but it can't happen without you.  Right now, right here, is where you can help.  So many of us have hearts for these children but cannot adopt.  This is our opportunity to DO something.  To be a part of bringing orphans home.

Visit Amanda's blog here.

And remember these faces.  Faces of children across the world who have no hope without you... as you do.

Donate.  Share.  Pray.  Do something.

Which group will you be in?  The one that steps up... or the one that walks away?