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?

I Bet You Won't Click This Link | Reece's Rainbow Waiting Child

If you've gotten this far, you've already surprised me.

But I bet most people won't click...

Because then they'd have to care.

They'd have to care about Della...

...a beautiful TEN YEAR OLD GIRL...

...tied up - tied to her crib, arms tied into a bundle...

...just because she likes to explore, and that's not allowed.

And if they cared, they might feel compelled to do something...

...and we can't have that, right?  Everyone knows we're all busy with our own lives.

But who then...

...is going to save Della's?

Be a part of the solution here.

Those Eyes | Reece's Rainbow Waiting Child

Look at those eyes.

I know those eyes.

I knew them the first time I saw this picture.

Those are my A's eyes.  Big and dark... with that look in them... that look that just pulls you in...

...and never lets go.

I know, because I saw those eyes, in a different child... years ago.

That's not Annie.  That's my A.  But those are the same dark brown eyes.

"Orphan eyes", my friend called them once, after seeing that first picture of A looking so solemn.

That's her at around the same age Annie is now.  Seven.


But there's a big difference.


My A has so many people who love her.  So many that sometimes it's almost like I used to joke with her - everybody's going to tug at once and see who gets the bigger half.


Annie needs you to love her.  Because although people love her - I became one of them when I looked into those eyes - nobody loves her like a Mama would.

She really is an orphan.

Those eyes really are orphan eyes.

Annie needs a Mama.

Could it be you?

Inquire about Annie with Reece's Rainbow here.

And hurry, before her file goes back to the government and it becomes that much more difficult to save her.

Those eyes need you.

Nobody's Child

I wish I could command inspiration to strike me when I needed it, but I can't.

I wish I could conjure up the most eloquent blog post ever right now, but I can't.

I'm actually pretty preoccupied by my health tonight, and I didn't really want to write a blog post.

But then it occurred to me.

While I sit in my warm bed in my warm house, not wanting to type on my laptop...

...a little boy sits, and maybe he's cold, having nothing that's really his own... not wanting to be an orphan.

And I owe it to him to write this post.

Around a year and a half ago, for some reason and without ever intending to, I fell in love with this little boy.

Back then, he looked more like this:

I don't know what it was about him.  Maybe his picture.  Maybe his story.  But I think, mostly God.

That little boy is Brett, and he lives in a mental institution in Eastern Europe, because he was abandoned at birth because he has down syndrome.

And when I say abandoned at birth... I mean it quite literally.  Most of the children in orphanages or institutions were born in hospitals or at home and surrendered from there directly to the orphanage.  Not Brett.  Immediately after giving birth, Brett's birth mother left him to lie in a field.  He became hypothermic and unresponsive, went into shock.  When a stranger came upon him and took him to the hospital, he was covered in bug bites.

Brett very nearly didn't make it through his first day on this earth.  If that stranger hadn't come upon him, for whatever reason, by whatever twist of fate... he would have died, a nameless baby who belonged to no one.

But that didn't happen.  He was saved.  Saved... and then taken to a hospital... and then to an orphanage.  At three years old, he was transferred from the orphanage to an adult mental institution.  Adult.  Three years old.

Saved... but for what kind of life?

This is the question I ask myself every day - and it can only have one answer.  Brett's story isn't over - not yet.  He was saved that day, on August 23, 2001 (yes, I have his birthday memorized), for something greater than the life he's living now... and all he needs to get there... is you.

You.

Yes, YOU.

If you've been waiting for a sign, this is it.  Brett needs YOU.

He's eleven years old now, still waiting in that mental institution, legally free and available for adoption and listed with Reece's Ranbow with a grant over $2,500 to aid with his adoption.  I can personally promise to help raise the rest of the money required for the family who adopts him.  His country is really a great one to adopt from - easy travel, inexpensive, very stable program, Hague country, I've heard nothing but good about the facilitators and agency staff.

What are you waiting for?

Recently, one of the adoption facilitators traveled to Brett's institution.  The report came back that he has some nonverbal communication skills, is extremely flexible (typical for kids with DS), and would likely do very well in a family and is not aggressive (something that has been seen in many institutionalized children).  Brett also has alopecia, which is why he lost his hair.  No big deal.  I shaved mine for him on New Year's this year!  There are all sorts of fun things to do with a bald head.  And this little detail of his appearance... should absolutely NOT be what stops him from having the family he deserves.  From my own limited experience with institutionalized children, I suspect he would be a wonderful and loving son.  Others with more experience seem to concur.  More pictures and videos of Brett are available from the agency.

There are two possible outcomes for Brett.  Only two.  He doesn't have the limitless opportunities we have in this country.

The first one, the one I want for him, is a happy ending.  A family.  A mom and dad, or maybe just a mom, to say YES to Brett... where others have said no.

Lately, there have been a string of older boys (the most at-risk group of orphans) appearing on the My Family Found Me page at Reece's Rainbow.  And every time a new one shows up, I rejoice for him, but my heart says, "Why not Brett?"  Fifteen year olds, aging out in a matter of days, have had the adoption community rally around them and been adopted just in time.  Teenagers, on the cusp of being fully grown adults.  By comparison, Brett isn't 'older'.  He's eleven.  I remember eleven.  We traded pokemon cards, danced to music, played dress up in our parents' clothes, loved board games, had sleepovers.  Brett is still a child.  And he has Down Syndrome.  His developmental 'age' is likely much lower.  He's just a little boy... in the body of an eleven year old.  So I ask again... Why not Brett?  Why, never Brett?  Why is he not one that people rally behind?  Because he doesn't come from the 'right' institution?  Because no adopting families have met him?  None of these things are his fault!  No more obstacles than have been overcome in previous cases.  

He's just another little boy, locked away in a place he doesn't belong... probably very rural, from what we know, which is likely to increase his hardship, especially during the winter.  Heat and food can be hard to come by in rural areas without reliable routes of transportation for all seasons... so while you're celebrating Christmas, instead of celebrating with you, eyes lighting up brighter than the Christmas tree, he's probably cold, and hungry.

'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'   ...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

If Christ our Lord was sitting in that institution... would you not save him?  

But He is.

He is in every one of us... especially the least of these.

Which group are you in?  Those who do, or those who don't?

Because, the second possible outcome of Brett's life is unimaginable.  I don't need a long paragraph to describe it.  He will spend the rest of his life in a mental institution with sub-par care, until one day, he dies there.  He will rock, chew his hands, bite his tongue, stare at blank walls, shiver, maybe starve... and then he will die.  He'll be buried in an unmarked grave, or maybe a grave marked only with a wooden stick and a number.  Again, nameless, and again, belonging to nobody... the same way he started out.

That is not the life he was saved for.  I refuse to believe it.  That can't be his future.  Not after all the obstacles he's overcome already.  Brett is a fighter - in a good way, of course - but there's only so much he can do for himself in his position.  Right now, he needs you... to help him fight... to get him out... to save him from fading away as alone as he started out.


They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so let me allow the pictures to illustrate the stark contrast between these two futures.

Here's the one he can have if you say YES to him.

And here's the one he'll have if you turn away.

I've been pleading for Brett since the day I saw his picture.  Like the day the stranger came upon him in that field, I believe it was fate that I saw him.  But I can't adopt him.  I'm too young for his country's requirements and I always will be.  The law requires parent and child to be at least 15 years apart in age.  I've posted his picture everywhere.  I've written countless blog posts for him.  I've done fundraisers for him.  I shaved my head for one of them!  Since that day a year and a half ago, his grant has grown by over $2,500 (although certainly not by my own hand).  But I can't save him.  Not alone.

I'm a realistic person.  I know not everyone can or should adopt... but I also know that people do, every day... and sometimes they choose older boys, just like Brett.  Why not him?  And if you're in that group, like me, who couldn't adopt him no matter how hard they tried, that doesn't mean you can't do anything!  Brett needs two things.  He needs money in his Reece's Rainbow account, to help the family who commits to him. You can donate to him here.  But more than anything, he needs to be seen.  So I beg you to share this blog post... far and wide.  If you never do anything I ask again, please, please do this.  Just this would be enough. And if not for me... do it for the abandoned little boy in the field, cold and alone and covered in bug bites.  Or do it for God.  Just do it... please.  This is our chance to get Brett seen... before it becomes an aging out emergency.

Donate.  Share.  Pray.  Adopt.

Be one of those who gives to the least of these... not one of those who turns away.

Please.  I'm begging you.  Don't turn away.  Don't let him stay the way he is right now... nobody's child.

Other blog posts about Brett:

• http://callmecrazycbus.blogspot.com/search/label/Brett
• http://crazy-arewethereyet.blogspot.com/search/label/Brett

Inquire about Brett at www.reecesrainbow.org.  

Do You Want...

All of us - well, okay, most of us - try to be relatively frugal most of the time... but don't you ever have days where you think, "Wow, it would be really cool if I could have a ___________!"  Because I know I do!  It would be really cool if I could have an iPad - or any sort of tablet-type gadget.  It would be really cool if an extra $50 or $100 dropped out of the sky for me to spend as I pleased.  Honestly, it would be really cool just to have a neat little trinket that makes me smile that I didn't have before - say, one of those things I pick up in the aisle at the store and then put back thinking, "I don't really NEED this."

So, what do you daydream about having?  Electronics?  Books?  Crafty stuff?  Gift certificates?  Something you can use to pay it forward?

Well, friends, I have good news for you.  I have a way for you to be frugal - more than frugal - generous... and still get a chance (a whole lot bigger than the one you have now!) of owning that 'whatever' that you want!  In fact, the only money you'll spend will be tax deductible donations (size is up to you) to go toward uniting orphans with their Forever Families.

The 2013 Mulligan Stew has arrived!

Do you want an iPad mini?  A Wii U deluxe set?  A Kindle Fire HD?

Do you want a $500 Visa gift card?  How about a Visa or store gift card of up to $100?

Or would you like to share the wealth even more and win the chance to give up to $250 to the Reece's Rainbow child/family of your choice?

And these are just a few of the amazing prizes available!

But the most amazing prize... is the one you get just by entering.  The opportunity to change the life of a child, a family, forever.  That prize is guaranteed when you enter.

For more details on how to enter, please check out the Mulligan Stew details here.  Earn extra entries by sharing!

Please?  It's my birthday tomorrow... do it for me?  And you never know... you could win big!

Adopted

This is by no means a new thought - in fact, the urge to write this post came to me after seeing someone else express a similar opinion tonight - but though it is not new, it bears repeating.

I am adopted.

No, I've never been in an orphanage, or even in foster care.  I went home from the hospital with the very same mother who gave birth to me, the very same mother who I've lived nearly 24 years of my life with.  I was not adopted by her, or even in this country.  In fact, you could perhaps call my adoption the ultimate international adoption.  I was adopted by someone out of this world.

As this Easter day comes to a close, I am reminded that centuries ago, when Christ died on the cross... it was my adoption that killed Him.  He gave His very life to bring me home.

Think about it.  In the act of adoption, a child who has somehow been deemed unworthy or too difficult to care for, is chosen by a parent who says "I will love this one.  I will bring her home.  I will be her family."  I, who am not worthy of His love or grace, who have sinned time and time again, have also been chosen by my Father in Heaven, who has said "I have made this one in my image.  I will give her love and grace."

When a parent sets out upon the journey of adoption, many sacrifices must be made.  Time and energy go into paperwork and homestudies.  Enormous sums are spent on agency fees, travel, various certificates and documentation, on and on.  The sacrifices start right away, and they never end - because we all know that being a parent certainly involves them!  And then I look to the greatest sacrifice in history - the one made by Christ for me... the sacrifice He made to adopt me.  He was beaten, mocked, ridiculed, tortured and crucified because He said YES to my adoption.

After all that sacrifice, all the struggles and pain and frustration and waiting, wishing, hoping, dreaming that is the adoption process, 'Gotcha Day' finally comes.  The day parent and child are united forever.  The day a child who was once cast aside by society, a person, a situation - is welcomed into a family for eternity.  This is a glorious day full of joy, a day when the fruits of that sacrifice begin to be seen.  I would argue that all of us who call ourselves Christians have a 'Gotcha Day'.  I remember mine clearly.  I've certainly considered myself a Christian my whole life, gone to church, read my Bible... but when I was 14, I went through my Confirmation ceremony.  That was the day I accepted Christ's adoption of me in front of my whole church.  In that moment I was filled with such a joy that I can not even describe... for that was the day I came home to Christ - my 'Gotcha Day'.

Then, when many people consider the adoption to be 'over', as a family settles in at home, the truly rewarding part of adoption comes.  Children who were ill, struggling, malnourished, unloved, alone, lacked proper care or treatment for their needs, are finally given what they need to flourish.  Remember little Katie?

 

Look at the truly unbelievable progress she's made in sixteen months!  And how about sweet Keith?

 

Home only 8 months and already such a transformation!  And countless similar stories, of children brought back from unthinkable circumstances and come to life... stories of redemption.  The same sort of redemption I will experience through Christ's love, through the grace He bestows upon me that absolves my unthinkable circumstances - my sins - and recalls me to life - true, eternal life.

I once read a quote that sticks with me, for I think perhaps no truer words have ever been spoken:  "My friends, adoption is redemption.  It's costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous.  Buying back lives costs so much.  When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him." ~Derek Loux

So yes.  I am adopted... and my adoption, yours too if you have chosen to accept Christ in your life, was the most costly of all.  On this Easter night, I simply want to say "Thanks" to the Father who adopted me, who gave His very life to redeem mine; "Thank you", to Christ whose resurrection we celebrate on this day.  I couldn't be more proud, or grateful, to have been adopted.

Touched

I've seen this happen before.  It's not a new thing to me.  But it struck me in a new kind of way tonight.  Touched me.

In the adoption community, somebody (sometimes it seems like *everybody*) is always fundraising.  Agency fees, deadlines, immigration expenses, travel, on and on, something new seems to be due all the time.  Adopting families literally have to fight tooth and nail to scrape together the ransom needed to collect their child(ren).  Not a day goes by that I don't see someone saying, "I hate to beg, but please... we travel soon and I'm worried we don't have the funds we need."  My heart goes out to every one of those families.  They have stepped out in faith that God will provide, they have sacrificed, scrimped, saved, scrounged, sold, crafted until their fingers (sometimes literally) bled... and then they've forced down their pride and asked for help.  With such a huge burden to shoulder, no one would blame them if they focused solely on their own needs until their kids were home...

But that's not what happens.

Instead, they make time between their desperate attempts to fund their own adoptions... to scream, shout from the rooftops, for other families in the adoption process.

Instead, they give - out of nothing - just to chip in a little bit to help a friend reach their goal and bring their child home.

Tonight I noticed one friend of mine on at least her third or fourth consecutive day, probably many more than that as I've had limited PC access lately, shouting for another family adopting from the same country as her children are in.  Listing items to sell or auction to raise money for that family, even as she struggles to fund her own.  That family is just short of funded for their first trip with travel dates in sight.  Both these families have children waiting in places that are beyond horrible.  Both these families need our help desperately.

Another day, I noticed a mom who just got home from a gotcha trip pledging money for a matching grant to another family who has yet to travel.  They have been encumbered with the many medical issues that come with bringing a neglected, malnourished child home from an orphanage, have barely had time to breathe, and yet, they're still turning around and giving more.

There are a few who haven't adopted yet... people like me, although mostly younger, which I find even more impressive... sometimes, young people not even out of high school... who save their babysitting money, make crafts to sell, ask for donations as Christmas gifts, blog, shout, scream, all to be able to give to 'the least of these'.  Teenagers, saving their money not for a designer bag or the newest iThing, but to redeem an orphan from a hell most of us can't imagine.  Putting the needs of others before their own, in an act of graciousness most people would think was beyond their years.

Then there are the families who, if possible, amaze me the most... I first came across this last summer when some friends of mine were traveling, spending over a month in a foreign country to adopt two orphans with special needs.  These friends are not the only people who fall into this category by far.  These families are on the ground, in country, right now... meeting their children for the first time, going to court hearings, securing legal documents, living in cramped apartments without many modern ameneties, dining on ramen noodles every night and praying to have the money to fly home... and STILL they give to families in need.  STILL they hear the cries of fast-approaching deadlines and unforseen circumstances, and step up to the plate, ready to help... ready to give even out of their own need.

How can I not be touched?

This is a kind of selflessness we rarely see anymore.  One that many people would have thought extinct.  But I know better, because I am part of an amazing group in which we see this kindness every day.  Seeing an adopting family cry out for another adopting family would probably break my bank account if I didn't give myself a budget... because it always makes me want to give to both families.

Sometimes I think, if we all took the time to learn a lesson from these amazing people whom I am so lucky to know, the world would be just a little bit brighter. 

If you, like me, are touched by the generosity of people giving something from nothing, I urge you to join them tonight.  I've known the place financially where I literally didn't have a single cent to my name, and if you're there, or if it's going to mean going without something you need to donate, please don't feel badly... but most of us have a little room to breathe.  I do, finally.  Give something, just a little something, to an adopting family, and help us all make the world a little brighter.

You can choose a family to 'sponsor' with a one time donation here.  Donate wherever your heart leads you.  Or, if like me, you need a little help (because you just want to give to everyone), I'll link a few specific families that are on my heart below.

The Unroe family

The Mitchell family

The Rosencrants family

Jack and Jensen

The Buhler family

The Roodhuyzen family

The Wingler family



And I'm going to have to stop myself there or I'll just list the entire 'Sponsor a family' page from Reece's Rainbow.  Instead I'm just going to leave this post open for anyone who is adopting or knows someone who is to link an FSP in the comments - so check there for links too!  Seriously, every one of these families is amazing and worthy, and you never know how even a small donation could make an expectant family's day.