Waiting Children for 4-14-12

I am going to highlight some waiting kids today, but first I just have to express what is killing me.  See, the countries that these kids are from don't see them as worth anything.  Children with special needs there are not valued at all.  Sometimes they don't even go to the trouble to list children with special needs for adoption because "no one will want them anyway" is their thought.  Kids, like our little one, are thought to be "unworthy".  They receive little care in some of these places and are just barely kept alive.  Some orphanages/institutions try their best, though it isn't even close to having a family.  Others, are very neglectful.  They don't think it matters.  They don't think the kids are "worth" it.

One country rotates files and agencies choose different files, but only keep them for a limited amount of time.  So when a file goes back, I feel we are actually saying "Christians here don't want him/her either".  It makes me sick!!!!  I just can't bear it.  We are confirming the thoughts of those who don't think these kids are "wanted" or worth anything.  It is KILLING ME!!!  Please think about the impact that the inaction of Christians here is having on the orphan crisis.  Not only are we not adopting these kids at the rate that we should be as Christians, but doggone we are telling these countries that they are right!!!  God forgive us!!!  There should be a line up of Christians begging for the opportunity to give a child the same gift of adoption that we were given!!!!  Not everyone can adopt, but a whole lot more could and should than are!

So here is a little girl who Christians have so far in the past few weeks said "No, she isn't worthy it" to:

Sarah is in that "very bad place".  She is 5 and is blind.  Can you even imagine being blind in that horrible place????  She would improve so much in a family.  Don't let the fact that she isn't mobile and is laying down distract you!  She is doing wonderful considering where she is and the fact that she's never had a chance to do ANYTHING.  Please, please, please don't confirm for them that she isn't wanted!!  Please share her and donate to her and do something to get her in a family.  Most of all, ask God if this should be your daughter!?!


Kristopher is just a year old!  Yet no one inquires!  He's laying down, likely because it is an old picture.  It is also possible that he's never had an opportunity to do more.  Who knows and who cares!!!  He is a little boy in need of a family.  He has some eye issues that will maybe need more surgery and will likely catch up in all areas and just need glasses!  Do we really want them to think he isn't worth anything to us????  Come on people!!


Dalton was just born in 2010.  He has Down Syndrome and is healthy!  If he were a girl (which he isn't despite his shirt!), then he would have likely been snatched up before he was listed on Reece's Rainbow.  Yet, because he is a boy . . .   Do we really think he is unworthy of a family??  They will if we don't find him a family!  Come on Christians!  Someone go get your son!

Then there are so many new children listed just today who are older.  For years everyone had determined that they weren't worth anything.  They are living in institutions and are alone.  If they reach the age of 16, then all hope is GONE!  No sweet 16 parties, just hopelessness!


Leigh will turn 16 in June!!!!  She needs a family QUICKLY!!!!  Can you imagine her locked away for the rest of her life???  Come on people!!  Spread the word.  Let people feel the pain of what that means.  If you aren't paper ready to get her, then share her so someone who is can see her.  Then, go get yourself paper ready.  Go bring home a child, so that another child will never never be where she is!


Trina will be 16 in October, that birthday will mean hopelessness unless someone chooses to be God's hands and feet for her.  Is this a beautiful picture of a smiling little girl?  NO  It is the picture of a little girl who has spent most of her life in an institution and doesn't have one thing to smile about unless you do something!  I promise that God didn't overlook you for adoption, because of your condition!  Help her!


Jared will also lose all hope when he turns 16 in October!  He needs a family to step up and do what it takes.  God did it for us and now we all need to get off our rears and do it for these kids.  Imagine that little boy locked away behind the walls of an institution forever!!  HELP!!!!!!  He has no voice, so I'm yelling for him.  HELP!!!


Stefan only has until September for his hope to be gone.  He looks so full of life!!  Someone help him please!!


Can you tell if this is a boy or a girl?  Probably not, but this is a little GIRL who is 10 years old.  Her head has likely been shaved because of how life goes at the institution.  Oh how she needs a family.  She looks so sad and alone.  She has to be terrified!!  Rita just needs someone to love her and give her a chance, let her hair go long, and show her how it feels to be pretty.  She is gorgeous, you just can't see it because it is hidden away, as is she. 

Your eyes are open.  You have SEEN.  Now it is time to DO!!  Repost, share, donate, advocate, and please PRAY HARD AND ASK GOD IF YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO ADOPT!!!  The orphan crisis isn't going to get better until God's children (who were orphans before His sacrafice!) get up and show the world that every single child is loved and wanted.  When they see us lined up and ready to take the children that they cast off, then they can see that they are WORTH a lot.  Do something to change the world of one child today and you will also change the views of those who watch from their country.  Do it for the child and you will be the one who is blessed.

Large Family Post from My Our Family Blog

I didn't want to post this here last night (well early this morning), because I wanted everyone to see the waiting children.  :)  I thought I'd share it here too now though. 

Here is a link to get you to it.  It is just something that I think people need to think about.  There are some things about large families that are hard for others to understand.  :)

http://lifeofthemomofmany.blogspot.com/2012/03/large-family-prejudice.html

Go read it and see what large families have to offer and why the prejudice against them is unfair. 

Where We are with USCIS

I did not receive a call back from our officer today nor an email back from the lockbox email that I was given. 

I did call both of our Senators from Ohio today. 

Senator Brown's office had me call Cleveland, who then had me call Columbus, who then said the person that I needed to speak with was leaving early for the day.  That ticked me off to be honest, since I'd already called a couple places and it wasn't even 2pm.  They took my name and number and said she would call me back tomorrow.  I guess we'll see how that goes.

Senator Portman's office in Columbus was able to tell me where to go on their web page to get the sheet that needed signed in order for them to contact USCIS for us.  I was able to get Brent to fax it for me today from where he works and should hear something back from them tomorrow I hope.  The lady I spoke to said that the lady who does their immigration help there has been doing it for years and would be able to help me as soon as she had the sheet giving her permission. 

Please continue to pray.  We need this to move forward without any more wasted time.  I sit and slap myself thinking I may have messed up some "box" on the 120 pages of stuff I had to send, but I really don't know what the cause is.  I just keep thinking that it is the number of kids that they aren't use to and is throwing it out of the system, but there is no way to know that either. 

Just pray!  God can do it.  I appreciate all of you who've let us know that you are praying!  Whether it was my mistake, a computer mistake, or a government glitch - GOD CAN HANDLE IT!  I am trusting that He is going to move this in perfect timing and show His muscles for our babies during the rest of this adoption process.  :)

Don't forget ALL THE WAY AND OPPORTUNITIES to help us with our adoption right now.  :)  That link you just passed can give you lots of info.  There are also buttons on our side bar that will take you to the Mulligan Stew Giveaway (ends the day before Keith and Ahnja's birthdays) and the Hidden Treasures Auction (starts on Keith and Ahnja's birthdays!). 

Big Bully

That is what the devil is.  He is a big hateful bully!  He is bullying me which ticks me off, but worse than that is that he is bullying my children.

The ones of us here have each other.  We can stand strong together.  We are safe together. 

The 5 little ones over there are another ball game!

They are alone!
They are helpless!
I have no power to protect them or comfort them!

I just got back from a small whine fest.  I decided that if my children were being bullied, I would want them to come to me and tell me.  I'd want them to cry if they needed to.  I wouldn't want them to pretend to be tough and take the blows quietly. 

God is MY FATHER!  He wants to know and He doesn't expect me to be able to handle it.  I cried and whined and begged.  I did that until I fell asleep.  I woke up with a peace of knowing that HE is going to take care of it and mad as heck at the old devil.  I feel a tremendous sense of urgency and will nag the people at USCIS until they tell me what is happening or die from exhaustion.  I will fight even harder to see that old devil put back in his place.  He doesn't belong up here messing around in this adoption.  He has had a hold on Keith's tiny life and the life of my other kids for long enough.  They won't be small and meek and forgotten for long!!  They are going to be OURS and LOVED!  The devil will have to just get over his hold, because it is going to be gone. 

Don't be silent!  Post your name and say your praying.  Pray!  Ask God to remove him from our process and get these kids home quickly!  I'm not going to back down for even one second.  Those 5 little miracles are worth screaming for prayer over.  If I made a mistake on paperwork, there is a glitch in their system and our # of kids, or who knows what else . . . . GOD CAN FIX IT RIGHT UP AND KNOCK THE DEVIL RIGHT OUT OF THIS.    Please pray!  God has the rest!

PRAYERS PLEASE!

I meant to be working on a really great World Down Syndrome Day post right now, but instead I feel like falling into a heap.  Our check that we sent to the USCIS has never been cashed.  Tomorrow makes 2 weeks.  I called today to see what was going on.

They say there is an issue at the "Lockbox".  The only thing that they know is that there is an issue, but the computer doesn't say "what" the issue is.  The people I have to talk to are in MO and the lockbox is in TX.  There is no phone number, but I was given an email address.  I have of course already emailed to that address, but of course I've not gotten some immediate response. 

I feel completely sick!  All 5 of my kids are waiting for us to come back and get them and now another delay of some sort.  It was a lot of paperwork, but I went through each piece over and over.  I was sure I had it all correct.  Why doesn't the computer tell what the issue is like they say it normally does??? 

They say that there is a lady who goes over these things and tries to resolve them, but I've heard nothing.  The person that I have helping me here in the U.S. has heard of requests for more info, but not this.  I am at a loss. 

I hate every day that they have to be there instead of here for all 5 of them, but KEITH NEEDS OUT DESPERATELY!  I feel so sick thinking of him laying there all alone, hungry, wet, and in isolation. 

Please I am begging that you pray for God to fix this and move things along for him!!!  We've been getting hit by the devil from all sides lately.  I can't even name everything that has happened in the past 1 1/2 weeks.  I do know that we have a Father in Heaven who can fix all of this.  I know that the devil wouldn't be so mad if we weren't doing what God wants.  I do know that God is BIGGER and He can overcome all of this. 

PLEASE STORM HEAVEN and ask that the lady at the lockbox puts priority on this and gets whatever needs done, done quickly.  I told her in the email that we will do whatever needs done.  I just don't know what the problem is right now.  PLEASE PRAY for the paperwork and all 5 of the kids, but especially Keith.

He just shouldn't have to wait a day longer than absolutely necessary!

March 18th, 2012 Means . . .

In two weeks tiny Keith and Ahnja will both celebrate their birthdays.  They are our first two kids to have the same birth"day". 

Sweet and hillarious Ahnja will turn 10 years old.  Ten whole years without parents to love her at home with them.  I mean we love her dearly, but she won't get to feel it on this birthday.  :(  I hope that they have a party for her.  She is in a group home, so I have some hope, right?

Tiny little Keith will be 5 years old.  Sweet ,sweet boy will have been alone in that crib for 5 years, with the exception of 5 days when Daddy was there to love him.  Oh how I wish his birthday wasn't on a Sunday!!!  Sunday means less staff, no Baba, and little to no care at all.  Oh sweet boy, I'm so sorry that you are still there.  We are coming for you!  All I can do that day is pray that someone picks him up to feed him at least one bottle and that somebody changes his diaper for his birthday.  Oh how my heart breaks.  Why does he have to lay there???  We are ready to love him and take care of him every day, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, without a wimper unnoticed.  Why does the process have to take so long????  It is so much easier on the kids that are at least "ok".  The ones who are normal weights are hard to wait for, but the wait for him is heartwrenching.  My 12 lb, tiny boy turning 5 alone in a crib, in an isolation room is haunting me and the day isn't even here yet. 

Please pray that we have some progress between now and then.  Pray that God reaches down and blesses his day in some way.  Pray that some caregiver remembers that he is loved and takes care of him better.  Pray that his Baba at least sings Happy Birthday that next day.  Please pray that he is OK while he waits. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How my heart aches for what he is doing now at this moment!  Sundays are a miserable day in his orphanage.  It is early morning there.  I am heartbroken for what his day will be like.  Oh God, please take care of my tiny, almost 5 year old baby!!  Please give him the hope that love is coming for him and wrap Your love around him while he waits. 

The BIG Questions and Statements and NEW FACES!

Yes, there are those questions and statements that come over and over.  You know those BIG ones from the people who think they know it all.  (If you are adopting go ahead and laugh now, because you've heard them and know how it goes.)  I thought I'd cover those today. 

The first one I want to hit is the one that irks me the most at the moment.  Disclaimer:  I know that most mean it to be encouraging, but its NOT.

Drum Roll Please . . . . . .
                        "ALL IN GOD'S TIME" or "God's in control" - This is attached to so many sentences at the beginning or the end.  It is meant to mean that there is no need to worry, fret, rush, or. . . I don't know what.  I believe God is in control, BUT He gives each person on this earth free will.  That means that the people who have my paperwork, might not choose to do things in the fashion that He would have them to do it.  I can guarantee that God isn't the one who choose the condition that Keith is in right now!!!  It wasn't HIM who had to do with that!  He didn't choose for the world to reject children with an extra chromosome!  It all goes back to that sinful free will that we all have.  The fact that He know "when" doesn't make Keith any less in need, alone, or hungry!  It doesn't make the years without a family any less hard for any of the 5 who are waiting for us.  God is in control every day, but the fact we have free will means that orphans DIE.  I'd love to say that those words comfort me when people say them, but it DOESN'T.  I just want to say, "If your child was lying in a crib all alone on the other side of the world without you and in misery, would that do it for YOU"!

Next up . . . .
               "Why ?" - This is a question we get a lot.  The truth is that I know God intends for me to and I want to obey Him.  I love HIM dearly.  I love each of my children dearly.  I love the kids He intends for me so very much before I ever even know which one He plans for me.  See GOD ADOPTED ME!  He actually had His Son come down and die, so that He could adopt me into His family!!  WHAT A PRICE HE PAID!!  If  He went to all that trouble to adopt me, then I think He intends for me to share that love.  I'm therefore building my family through the same route that He built His!  Millions of children are waiting!!!

Which leads to the next one . . .
               "You can't save them all" - I always feel like saying "REALLY?  YOU ARE KIDDING RIGHT?".  I try to control my sarcasm.  I do know that I can't save them all, but does the fact that none of us can save them all, mean that we shouldn't help any of them????  I can't save every one.  I can love the ones that He gives ME though.  I can keep being a willing vessel.  I can keep yelling and screaming to anyone who will listen (or who won't lol) that they are out there ALONE.  I want to stand before God one day and say I did all that I could do.  I surely don't want Him to say " A child's name here" DIED because you didn't go!  Oh Lord, please don't let that happen. 

That's all the ones I am going to hit today.  I don't want to make the post two long.  There are two more little girls whose faces I want you to look at who just got listed on Reece's Rainbow and they are IMPORTANT!

Carissa needs a family!  She needs out of where she is and in a family who will love her and make up for all she's been through.  She is delayed, but has no diagnosis listed in her file.  I'd say considering "where" she is that she is doing quite well for the circumstances. She is walking and making sounds, but not talking.   She is only FOUR years old!!! 
She is a child that instead of asking "Why?" many need to ask "Why not?".

The last new face I want you to see is Sarah.  She is a beautiful 5 year old.  She can sit up and pull to a crouching position.  She is in a place that she REALLY needs out of.  She needs home in a family. She has CP and is blind.  There is other stuff in her info.  Go read about her.  Who knows how much of that is correct and really who cares.  What that little girl needs is out of "that" place and home.  Doesn't ask "Why" and "Why not".  You could even ask why not both! 

Share these girls everywhere!!!  Look here at all the opportunities to be rewarded for your efforts.  Sharing these girl will count for two entries into the Bulgarian Giveaway we are doing.  That means that because these girls need a family so badly, every day that you share them you can get to entries for Sarah and two entries for Carissa.  Come back to this post and tell me each time that you share though!  That same link has other opportunities for helping us out in other ways including being entered in the Mulligan Stew Giveaway that is going on and has HUGE prizes.

I'm Sick and in the Mood To Tell It Like It Is

I have the flu and so does Julianne.  She is puny and doesn't want to eat or drink.  Her stubborness is usually a very wonderful thing and usually I can reason with her about things she needs to take in order to feel better.  Her throat is sore though and it is a fight to get liquids down her to keep her hydrated.  I love that little girl more than anyone could possibly imagine and seeing her sick is so hard.

I also have the constant reminder of my other five Chromosomally Enhanced children who need to come home.  Four of them are fed and some are even in places better than we imagined they would be, but they need to be home with us learning and growing.  Keith on the other hand is not fed like he should be.  He is tiny and in need of medical attention.  He will be 5 years old on April 1st and wears a size 3 to 6 months clothes.  My heart hurts for him all the time.  I worry about him and pray that God holds him in His hands while we can't hold him in ours.  I beg God to make the process go quickly. 

I usually don't say too much about the struggles we go through with "other people".  Our household is wonderful and these people here are all that I need for everything to be ok.  God is in what we are doing and I have no doubt of that.  Besides that - no one else matters. 

That being said, I am so fed up.  When we added Keith to this adoption my sister (I use that word in biology only bc in our family love not biology forms families) made some horrible comments.  She made comments about adoptive kids not being the same.  How they shouldn't be able to get social security if a parent dies, because it wasn't their real parents anyway.  She then went into how she isn't for abortion, but we don't need more people here "taxing the system" speaking of Down Syndrome.  She made comments about how the kids shouldn't be allowed to come here because they will never "contribute".  My sister had made comments in the past when her kids were acting horrid about how my kids were the issue bc it made things crowded (even though my kids were sitting quietly around a table eating).  I forgave that and some other words that were very hurtful so that my grandparents could have holidays where everyone was cordial.  I told her then that another hateful word about my kids would mean I was done with her for good.  I told her that I understood her embarassment about her kids' behavior, but my kids had better not be the ones to have it blamed on them bc of her embarassment that my kids with "special needs" can handle get togethers better. 

When the comments about Down Syndrome and adopted kids not being really the same came out, I WAS DONE!  I let the rest of the family know that I was done.  My mother said that it was a difference in "Political beliefs".  I told her that was only accurate if my sister was a "Nazi".  Since then the rest of my family (with the exception of my brother and sister in law - much more my real sister- who purely tolerate her when necessary) have continued to say she is wrong, but I don't feel they've taken a "stand".  They will say that she is very wrong, but "her kids" can't help it.  I do understand that, because I wouldn't wish anything bad of her kids, because it isn't their fault that she is a  . . . . . .

It has made a huge impact though.  I know that if she had made a racial comment about Denzell, Precious, or Unique being African American and somehow "unworthy" then our family would have had a fit.  Why then is it ok for comments about Down Syndrome???  I guess it is because our entire world seems to devalue people with an extra chromosome.  It makes me furious though.  (Did you read the story about the parents who were awarded nearly $3 million because they weren't told their child had Down Syndrome in utero and they would have aborted her!!!!  GRRRRR!!!!!)  What my sister and our world don't seem to understand is that people with Down Syndrome contribute way more than my sister.  My sister has mooched in any way that she can and gotten any help that she can.  She leaves her kids with whoever she can.  People with Down Syndrome are so stubborn that they can accomplish much more than they are given credit for.  They make everyone around them better.  They can have careers when they become adults.  They make the world smile (well except those with a scowl that they were born to begin with).  They were PUT HERE BY GOD!!  Our world employs "teachers", but people with Down Syndrome are the "teachers" that God put here. 

All I know is that I would hate to stand before God some day and give account for in anyway harboring those thoughts, feelings, or condoning in any way those who have those thoughts or feelings.  Those (like my biological sister) who have the nerve to actually say such things to a parent who ADORES their children's extra chromosome, should beware.  She was very blessed that she had that audacity over the phone.  In person, I would have knocked her down!  For my family members who have the audacity to let her name slip out of their mouths in conversation with me, I pray that I can contain my thoughts, but I make no guarantees.  God even said that you can't serve two masters and you must choose a side.  Neutral sometimes just isn't really neutral.  I only need God to approve of me, so if people wonder why I don't have more to do with family, there is the reason.  Yes, many of them love my children.  Sometimes love with no action just isn't enough though. 

I hate to end a post on such a negative note.  I realize that many of you are going "what the heck", but it is something that I've needed to get off my chest.  I just got off the phone with a family member who was giving her "prolife speech" that she had given to someone at work.  All the while, I know that she still won't take a stand as far as my sister.  That conversation added to the story about the family suing because their daughter was born just sent me into rant mode and I had to let it out.  This is the result of all those things in combination with seeing my little girl the world thinks isn't worthy bc God made her special sick, while my little boy made in God's image but considered unworthy by so much of the world lays alone and hungry.  Sorry if it isn't "nice" or "politically correct" or "encouraging", but its truthful.

On a positive note, please go read THIS post for all the wonderful opportunities available right now to those who support us.  :)  For those in our church and those others who truly support us, we are truly thankful and thank God for you each day. 

A few quotes from Abraham Lincoln:
“Stand with anyone that is right; stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.”    Wow, how this applies to so many situations where those with an extra chromosome are being aborted, orphaned, and thought unworthy!

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."  Does this not apply to those with an extra chromosome world??

“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.” I guess the question is WWJD???  If He were walking this earth now, would those who call themselves Christians dare to do and say the things they do about children that He created???

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”  So very true?  If we deny the freedom to live and be valued to children and adults because of God giving them a little something "extra", then should we have it??? 

Then even more important, what does the Bible say:

Never take advantage of any widow or orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, you can be sure that I will hear their cry.

Exodus 22:22-23   

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Matthew 18:5
 

SO I THINK THAT MAKES IT PRETTY CLEAR WHERE GOD STANDS!
 Joshua 24:15 - "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”