Let's be the Hands and Feet

I stumbled upon a blog a couple weeks ago that tugged at my heart.  (First off, they are in WA, and well, lets face it....having been born and raised there it is "local" to me still.)  The Buoniconti family just adopted an HIV+ child a few months back.  It's been a hard road, but they are a close knit family, and they are leaning on God and following His calling to take care of Hunter.  His adoption was finalized on Dec 1st, but they still owe their adoption agency $10,000.

Last night, the father, Frank, was one of four killed tragically in a military helicopter crash.  On top of worrying about coming up with the money for the adoption, Kryste now is a single mother to 4 children.  I can't begin to imagine the absence that is left in this family.  My heart is breaking and I have never even met them "in real life".  Only read about them through their blog.  But that is part of being in God's family.  Because that is what they are.  They are my family.  They are your family.  We can't take the pain and shock and the rest of the hard stuff away from them during this season of their life they are now suddenly embarking on.  But we can lift the burden of the adoption fees.  And we can lift them up in prayer.  The hard road they were on just got a lot harder.  Let's be the Hands and Feet of  Jesus and do what we can to help them.

If you feel led, donate to the family via this link from Project Hopeful below.  Even if you don't feel led to donate or just financially are unable, please share this blog post.  Someone you know might feel led and might be able to.  And every single dollar adds up. (*all donations via the Paypal link below are tax deductible*)

Also, anyone who orders any custom Christmas cards from my design blog during this time, all proceeds from those sales will go to this family.

While we are lifting the Buoniconti family up in prayer, please remember the other families affected by this tragedy. There were 4 people who died in the crash last night. Praying for comfort for all of them.

Shop with a PURPOSE!!

This year it looks like we are off on a record-breaking-money-spending holiday season.  Retailers took in $7 BILLION in additional revenue over last year, for a whopping $52 billion for the weekend.  WOW.  Those numbers are staggering.

There are other numbers just as staggering..... the fact that there are around 147 million orphans in the world.  The fact that 1 billion people are hungry and malnourished.  How about that 30,000 children die EVERY DAY from completely treatable/preventable diseases.  Oh, did you know a child dies every 5 second from starvation?  Over 70 million school age children are not in school because they are out searching for food, begging for money, or even selling their bodies for money?

The list of numbers like that could go on and on.  I can't solve all the worlds problems.  Neither can you.  But we can help the ONE in front of us.  This year, shop with a purpose.  Celebrate the birth of Jesus by helping and loving on those whom are the "least of these".

Here is a small compilation of some great places to get Christmas gifts from where the money is used to help spread the gospel and make a difference in the lives of others.

~ Ugandan Bead Jewelry....Gorgeous stuff, hand made from recycled paper, and all proceeds help Ekubo Ministries and their work in Uganda.  The link goes to Christie's facebook pics.  Peek through the pics, comment on what you like and follow the directions to pay.  I wear my bead jewelry at least 4 out of  7 days a week.....and I am only a stay home mom!


~ African Sling Bags and Visible Grace T-Shirts... My amazing friend Ashby started Visible Grace a few years back.  They are currently in Nairobi Kenya having started to build a school and children's home for orphaned children.  (These are children NOT eligible for adoption....this will be their HOME).  The sling bags are gorgeous, and the t-shirts are fabulous and comfortable!

~Coffee, Coffee, Coffee...  Purchase fabulous fair trade coffee and $5 goes to helping bring a little boy home to his forever family!  I "met" Melissa during her blog makeover, and have come to adore her.  Her and her husband are in the process of adopting a little boy from Russia and need help getting him home!

~Sugar Scrubs, T-Shirts, and Necklaces....Darbi is another wonderful friend whom I "met" during her blog design.  Currently they are in the adoption process domestically, with the baby due next year.  Any of her goodies help fund the adoption to bringing their little one home.

Redeemer

God has been crazy at work in my family's life.  So many things I just still can't put into words, though I will keep trying.  Plus other things that aren't my story to tell.  Not yet, anyway.  But there is something that has been in my heart the last couple weeks, and God reinforced it loud and clear with a message from a dear friend, and I just had to share.

Without too many details, life has not been easy these last few years.  For years I would literally drop to the ground almost daily crying and begging for the Lord to show me the way out or to just end my misery.  But He never did.  When I was down and as broken as I thought I could be, He always gave me the strength to get back up.  I'd ask for a way out, and he'd give me a feeling of calm.  (For the record, NOT what I wanted from Him.  I was tired of the going on, I was just ready to be DONE.)  I figured when He stopped giving me what I needed to go on, then I could quit.

Now on the other side of the murky darkness, I wouldn't change anything.  Those years have made me who I am right now, today.  I am more patient, I have learned to bite my tongue before saying hurtful things, I am a better parent because of it, and most importantly, I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt, that God is there for me.  I might not agree with what He gives me, I might not want it, it might not be the answer I wanted from Him, but I KNOW He is there and He will give me whatever it is I truly do need.

It's easy sometimes to still mourn the lost time, though.  My husband lost time with the Lord and withdrew from his family, I lost time with my husband, I lost time being JOYFUL.  While at church a couple weeks ago, we sang a worship song with the lines "He will redeem the lost years, He will wipe my tears"  The second I heard that, I made a mental note to tell my husband as soon as I got home to NOT be mad over the last few years, but to rest in the knowledge that the Lord will REDEEM those years.  It's okay to just let it go.  As soon as that song was over, it was time for the Children's Ministry leader, Leah,  to come up to pray for the children and release them to go to the back.  But before the prayer, my dear friend stood up front and basically said  "I don't usually do this and talk to specific people from the front, but I really felt the Lord wanted me to do this.......Jenn, God wants you to know He will redeem lost years.  He will give that back and don't fret about that time you feel was lost." 

I started crying and felt PEACE.  He just told me basically Himself to rest in Him and not worry about lost time.  Leah didn't know what I was thinking right then, she was on the other side of the room....she also doesn't really know the depths of the darkness of the last few years.  But He does.  And He used her to tell me it's going to be okay.  And it was reinforcing to me that that message was what I needed to share with my husband. 

God is so good....and just rest assured He is there.  And if you are feeling guilt, remorse, anger or anything like that over lost time, remember that the Lord will REDEEM those years.  Just give it up to Him. 

Consumed with Guilt

Guilt is overtaking me.  It is a tangible presence right now.  For brief moments I can escape it, but then it slowly creeps back up to overtake me. 

Some people know, some do not, for I have not made a big official announcement, but we are expecting another child.  There is part of me that (after the shock wore off) wants to shout it from the mountaintops.  We were not trying, it definitely was not planned, and we were DONE having children unless we adopted.  My pregnancy with Isaac was so tough, as was the delivery and recovery that I gladly would of given my uterus away to whomever wanted it.  That is how done we were.  But this child is still a blessing.  I blessing that I am very happy about!  For just a moment.  Then the guilt takes away my joy.

I have friends who have struggled with infertility.  Some of them finally have a child of their own, but it was a very long, discouraging, painful road, and the wounds are still not healed.  Others still don't have a child, though they desperately want one and would make amazing parents.  Other friends thought they had a child only to have that child taken away from them.

Logically I know it is ALL part of God's plan.  But why can't it be them who is receiving this blessing?  Why me?  I have two amazing wonderful gifts from God as it is.  Don't get me wrong....I want this new baby.  But the guilt that I am expecting while so many friends are hurting makes it so hard.  I can't breathe from the weight of it.  When I can escape it momentarily, I'll happily pull out the ultrasound pic where I can already see an obvious head and hands though I am just now 11 weeks.  But then I remember.  I remember the guilt, I remember the friends hurting, and I quickly shove the picture back into the envelope and hide the envelope back in the pile of paperwork on the counter.  When I have friends who do ask me about the pregnancy, I answer politely but reserved.  Afraid to let the joy I feel when I allow myself to to slip into my voice. 

I know I have to get past this.  I know that I will only be able to get my peace from the Lord.  I know Satan is there with his lies telling me I am not worthy and I am believing him.  Praying I can drown him out soon and listen to only God's truth.

It's a Blog Shower!!!

I LOVE Lara over at the Farmers Wife Tells All!! Her dear friends hijacked her blog to throw her a Blog Shower since they are anxiously awaiting a court date in Ug*nda for their adoption of a sweet little boy. The Shower/Giveaway is to raise the last needed funds for plane tickets, lawyer fees, and in-country living expenses while awaiting adoption finalization. There is a Grand Prize for the giveaway of a brand new Canon Rebel T3i with stock lens and a zoom lens! Head on over to check it out! (yes, I randomly stop by her blog just to drool...hahaha...would LOVE to get my hands on that camera!)


If you grab this button below and blog about it, you can get an extra entry, too!

Autism Speaks Fundraiser

Can you imagine hearing the words "your child has autism"? In a split second, life - as you know it - has changed. For a different family every 15 minutes, tomorrow will never be the same.

My friend Lacy is walking in honor of her son in the Autism Speaks walk in Portland at the end of this month.  Her teams goal to raise for the walk is $1000 and they are at $60.  In an effort to help fundraise, we created a puzzle where she is "selling" the pieces for $5 each.  Upon buying a piece of the puzzle, your name is written on the back of that piece and the puzzle with the names of everyone who helped sponsor this walk will be displayed in the home.

Please consider clicking the donate button below and sponsoring a puzzle piece for $5!  For more information you can go to the 2011 Walk Now for Autism Speaks website also. 

Beautiful Things

Two posts in three days??  REALLY?!?!  Am I sick?  Nope!  I just have FABULOUS people and events to write about!!  <3

I have said it before, and forewarning, I will say it again,  I love the people I meet doing what I do!  One of them is Mitzi.  I just gave Mitzi's blog a makeover, and in the process started getting to know a wonderful woman with a heart for Jesus who knows that daily she needs Him.  Mitzi and her family are following the Lord and moving to Zambia with LifeSong soon, and with everything that has been happening in their life, she is hosting a giveaway in celebration!  (and I LOVE a good giveaway *almost* as much as I love the people I meet!)  She has some adorable items up for grabs, along with some credit towards my design site.  Head over and check it out!  And while you are there, read up about Mitzi, her family, and their heart.  I know you'll be glad you did!!

On Distant Shores

One of my favorite things in bloggy world has been the people I have been blessed enough to "meet".  Some of them have just been through finding each others blogs, and others have been through my designing blogs.  The following family I met when I did their blog.  Robert and Darbi are a wonderful couple in the beginning stages of a domestic adoption.  They just finished their homestudy and are in the waiting stage.  While they wait, they need to raise funds. 

They have these adorable t-shirts they have designed that they are selling.  You will notice on the tee's and on their blog the dandelion.  While Darbi and I were interacting about her blog, she explained to me WHY the dandelion.......  "I love the dandelions. They are so symbolic to me. There was a song that helped me so much through such a rough year last year that says "Dandelions, you (God) see flower's in these weeds". What is so fascinating about these is that through their weed state (their death) comes new life from the seeds. I think it totally symbolize what our lives are about and even more so what God put in motion to bring about this adoption."

Please take a minute and stop on over at On Distant Shores and say hello.  Maybe even buy a great shirt for a fabulous reason, or donate just because.  <3

 

Visible Grace

Today I wanted to inform you about a fabulous non-profit and my even more fabulous friend who started and runs it.  Ashby Rauch started Visible Grace a few years ago.  In Ashby's own words, Visible Grace is "a non-profit organization committed to providing faith-based education to children in need. Our goal is to help alleviate poverty by empowering children through education. With a holistic philosophy, we believe that children will best learn when they are cared for physically, mentally and spiritually."

Their first major project is to build a school and home for orphaned children in Nairobi, Kenya.  They have purchased 10 acres of land, have blueprints of the buildings, and just received their building permits from the Government.  They are hoping to begin laying the cement foundation this summer.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video and get a glimpse of Ashby, the country and people she loves and is trying to help, and learn more about Visible Grace.  If you would like to donate to this wonderful organization, head on over to the webpage. 

Recycle Love is also teaming up with Visible Grace this summer.  We are fundraising to send two people to Africa this July with Ashby.  Our goal is to send Pete Dryden and Jesse Beam to Kenya to document the work that Visible Grace is doing.  Pete and Jesse will be able to brig new light to the work going on there, and bring that vision back here to the States.  By sharing the documentary they make, we can educate and inform more people about Visible Grace and the home/school in Kenya.  

If you are interested in helping Recycle Love send Pete and Jesse to Africa, visit HERE.  And if you are local, we are having a FREE benefit concert here in town on Saturday June 4th, 7:00pm.  Hope to see you there!

Lots of stuff going on!!

I have been absent from blogging for over a month again, and it's from lack of time to just sit and write!  Things are kind of crazy around here with lots of different things going on, which I'll update on later.  For now I would like to point out two very very important things happening that are near and dear to my heart from two non-profits that I work with.

First off is the Love Feeds Raffle.  Love Feeds is a non-profit that's main mission is to feed and clothe people in need, both here in the US and in other countries.  I am directly involved in this non-profit, as I am their Oregon coordinator.   Entries in the raffle start at $1, but the more you spend the more you get.  A $25 purchase option will get you 60 entries!!!  There are 4 prize packages with fabulous prizes!!  Please go check it out!  :)  LOVE FEEDS RAFFLE!!!!!!   (here is a sneak peek at the Grand Prize.....rest of the prizes show at the raffle page!)

 

Next thing going on is for Recycle Love.  We are fundraising to send 2 people to Africa to work with Visible Grace and document the work going on there.  The goal is to show people here in the States all that is going on to educate them, get them excited about Visible Grace's work, and maybe get more financial supporters.  Our goal is 420 people each donating $10.  Check it out and see if you would like to help with our fundraising!  

Anyone who would like to repost about either of these two fundraisers going on right now, it would be GREATLY appreciated!  We are running out of time on both.  Thank you!!!!