How much difference a year makes

Last year (I believe it was summer or early fall), I noticed a beautiful little girl on Reese's Rainbow.  Her name was Darina and she just touched my heart. Mark and I had really not discussed adoption seriously at that time, but I wondered if she was meant to be our daughter. I began praying like you would not believe for Darina - praying that God would ready a forever family for Darina, that He would bring them to her and create exactly the right circumstances for her adoption.  I prayed that just as God was preparing her family, He would also prepare Darina to join this family - opening all of their hearts to this new phase in their lives. I had her picture in my office at work so I could pray for her throughout the day, I had picture on the desktop of our computer so I could pray for her while doing homework and on the fridge as another reminder to pray for her.

One day I was on RR and noticed that Darina's picture was no longer in it's usual place. As I kept looking, I found her picture with the caption, "My forever family found me!" I have to admit that while I was happy that she had a family, a part of me was sad that Mark and I were not meant to be her parents. Darina's mom has a great blog site and I have been fortunate to follow along on their journey. Michelle and Eric met Darina for the first time one year ago today.  It's hard to believe that she is the same little girl that I began praying for - does adoption make a difference?  You bet it does - the proof is right here!

Winning again? Trusting...

As I have shared, my friend Sarah has been doing a blog giveaway as part of her Christmas Warrior efforts for Duncan.  I was excited when I saw one of her weekly prizes that included some of her mom's awesome noodles and told Mark that I hoped to win that week's drawing. I am not one of those people who win things so I was thrilled when Sarah's blog announced that we had won the weekly drawing!

This week, Sarah has been doing a daily drawing as part of her "grand finale."  Yesterday, she was giving away a precious little tutu made by Olga's mom.  Olga is a sweet little girl with DS who will be coming home to Sarah's church family - mom is selling these tutus as part of fundraising efforts. They are adorable! I didn't give much thought to the giveaway because we don't have a little girl - besides, we had already won the other drawing.  But, I do have to say that there was a little "nudge" in the back of my mind saying, "What are you going to do with a tutu if you win it?"

Yesterday, Sarah posted a comment here on our blog telling me to check out her blog. Curious, I went to her blog and sure enough... we had won the tutu. My first thought was "Hmmm - is there someone we could give this to?"  I also thought that maybe I should tell Sarah to have an additional drawing and give it to someone else.  Neither of those felt quite right to me, but I wasn't quite sure what the answer was. This morning, I added Sarah's comment to our blog and really stopped to consider her words. "You just got something to put in your future daughter's room." The words "future daughter" echoed in my head and my heart!

I felt like God was asking me if I trusted Him or not. The title of our blog is "Trusting His Promise." All of a sudden, it was VERY clear to me that if I did not accept this gift from Sarah, I would be denying God's promise.  By receiving this beautiful present, I am again claiming the promise of HIS plan for our lives - an even more beautiful present - the child that God has chosen for us.

So yes Sarah - I believe that the tutu is meant to be in our future daughter's room - my heart is touched beyond words and I thank God for reaffirming His promise about our child through your gift to us!   

Thanksgiving - Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Mark and I are thankful for so many things..

Friends, Family, and YOU - Last night, Mark's parents came over for dinner (Mark's choice - ribs and oyster hot dish). It was nice to have some time together relaxing and visiting. Today, we went out for a turkey day feast with Jeanne, Ken, and Tasha. Life sometimes gets in the way of seeing them as much as we would like to so enjoying all the traditional yummy stuff along with their company was a special treat.  We'll celebrate with my family on Sunday (turkey is defrosting as we speak)! Our family and friends are an important part of who we are as individuals and as a couple. If you find yourself here on our blog following this adoption journey, you are part of the group - even if you are friends that we just haven't met yet!

What does today find you thankful for?

Get in on the giveaway!

Just a reminder that my friend Sarah is doing a blog giveaway party this week.  Make sure you visit her site by clicking here.  You can win some great prizes - it's easy and doesn't cost a thing!!

Does Down's Syndrome Limit a Life?

I hope that after reading this post, you will never consider a "no" answer to that question again!  First, I want to tell you about a very special woman that I will call "Hannah."  Hannah is around 30 years old and the daughter of one of my mom's friends.  Like other adults, she is employed (working for an insurance company) and has someone special in her life.  She loves listening to music on her iPod and talking with friends on her cell phone.  Hannah  is an athlete who has competed nationally and internationally.  She races sled dogs and is an advocate for others like her.  Hannah has done things I would never imagine trying - she is amazing!  The fact that Hannah has Down's Syndrome has not limited her experiences - perhaps it has even given her opportunities that most of us would be afraid to take.  I decided to share a little about Hannah after reading a story of another young lady with DS who is not limited by what society often expects of people with DS. I hope that Sarah's story (yes, a different Sarah) will touch your heart like it did mine and make you really think about your perceptions of people with different abilities - not disabilities. 

Listening when we are called

As I shared in my previous post, I had planned to tell you the story about our donation to Reese's Rainbow next week.  But, I woke up this morning with the strong sense that I was supposed to tell this story NOW.  So, I did... and went about my day.  I've been busy with schoolwork while waiting for my sweet hubby to get home from a very long work day (about 60 hours).  I decided to take a break from studying and look at my blogger dashboard.  Sarah (Duncan's Christmas Warrior) had posted this week's winner in her giveaway and guess what?  Mark and I won!!  I was so excited!  More importantly, I was incredibly moved by her post about us and especially the PS that she added.  Please take the time to read it by clicking here.  When we listen to God's call, He truly rewards us for being faithful. I have been blessed by my long friendship with Sarah and her family - they have been a precious gift to me, more than I can ever express to them!

Christmas Tree Angel Donation Story

I had planned to post about this next week, but when I woke up this morning - I really felt led to tell you the story today so here I am...

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about Duncan - a little boy on Reese's Rainbow who needed a forever family.  RR has a great Christmas Angel project to raise adoption grant funds to help bring Duncan and other beautiful children home to their forever families.  Many families would love to bring these angels home, but find the cost and required travel times of international adoption insurmountable. By helping with adoption grants, RR makes it easier for families to adopt children with Down's Syndrome or other special needs.

I had hoped to be a Christmas Warrior for one of the children on RR, but realized that it just wasn't feasible this year.  Instead, Mark and I decided that we would donate to Duncan's adoption fund through my friend Sarah who is his Christmas Warrior. If you click on the above link, you can find out more about Duncan.  She is doing some fun giveaways as part of this, too!!  I am happy to report that Duncan now has a family committed to bringing him home - YAY! 

Another blog I follow is raising money to bring Olga home for a forever family and I wanted to help Michelle out in her efforts as well.

Finances are a little bit tighter this year so I was wondering how I would come up with money to donate to these 2 children.  I asked Mark if he was ok with me cashing in our "change jar" and donating whatever amount was in there.  He readily agreed, but cautioned me that he thought there was only about $35-40.  Ok... I was a little disappointed but decided that was still something we could contribute. Michelle and her family were going to match funds if you donated $10 on certain days.  Plus, if you donate $35 to a specific child on RR - you get a porcelain Christmas tree ornament with a picture of the child whose fund you have donated to - and I was excited about having Duncan's ornament to hang on our tree! So, I figured that we could come up with $45 to give to both of these efforts.

Off I went to the credit union to get the change counted.  I stood there watching the "counter" as the numbers went up... past $45 - whew... past $55 - nice... past $65 - yay... past $75 - wow... past $85 - REALLY?  And still the machine kept going...  It finally stopped at $104.98!!  I was ecstatic - the lady at the counter probably wondering what the heck I was grinning about.  I also had some dollar bills from the change jar as well so all totalled, I had $114.98!!

My first thought was to donate $10 to Olga's fund and the rest to Duncan's fund.  However, the more I thought about it - the more I was convinced that we needed to make a difference for more children. We could donate $35 each to 3 children (Duncan and 2 others) plus still give the $10 to Olga's fund - total $115 - of which we already had $114.98!!  YIPPEE!!!  It was so fun to look at all the Christmas Angel Tree Children and decide who to select - I wanted to help them ALL.  Still had to choose, though so here are the angels whose adoption grant funds we are donating to.

Duncan

Jeffrey

Anastasiya

Such cuties!!  If you would like to see more about them or any of the other Christmas Angels, click here.  Would you consider "giving the gift of a family" by donating to their grant fund or becoming a prayer warrior for one of the RR children?  Every child deserves a family to call their own - parents to tuck them in at night, kiss their "boo-boos," and love them to pieces!!  And I believe that when we reach out to help others, God honors those efforts - how else would $35 turn into $114.98??