"AND WHOEVER RECEIVES AND ACCEPTS AND WELCOMES ONE LITTLE CHILD LIKE THIS FOR MY SAKE AND IN MY NAME RECEIVES AND ACCEPTS AND WELCOMES ME" MATTHEW 18:5







Saturday, December 8, 2012

Jesus in Disguise

My eyes have been opened. I will keep them open. This adoption and the orphans that I now know of are the way God wants me to serve Him. The feeling of compassion and the deep desire I have to do something for these orphans is one that I could have never mustered myself.  I know it with all of my heart and I will say yes to Him. In the words of Adeye Salem, a rock star in the adoption world and a woman of amazingly deep faith, would say, “say yes to God with reckless abandon!” She is an inspiration. She inspires people to trust Heavenly Father entirely. Fearlessly. She is in process of adopting her eighth and ninth child, and you can read her awesome blog here. It is a very hard thing to do, and I am not there yet, but this adoption is a start! I am so far from righteous, we all are, but we can all choose to not turn away when God presents an opportunity to serve Him.
Mother Theresa quotes: “The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved they are Jesus in disguise.”
In the bible, they are referred to as “the least of these”.
Matthew 25:40 says ‘And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
So here is my plug for the plight of the Orphan. Children like Brock, are thrown away by their society because they were not born to their standards of perfect, they are the least of these. They long to be loved and to give love. They long for a family. They may not realize exactly what it is, but they know that something is missing inside. Some of these kids just long to be fed or to be taken care of when they are sick.  And no one ever comes to help them.
The least of these. Jesus in disguise. If Jesus came to your door dirty, sick, and starving and alone, would you turn your head, try to think happy thoughts  and pretend it wasn’t happening and go on with your life? No. I know you wouldn’t. But God is not going to make it easy by sending Jesus to knock on your door! He will disguise Jesus, in hopes that we will recognize and step out in Faith and Service to His children, our brothers and sisters, as a way to Honor and serve Him.
Jesus says “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35
Maybe, it is not right for you to go out and pursue an outrageously expensive, stressful, gut wrenching, nerve racking international adoption. That is OK. Jesus is in disguise all around us. I encourage you all to open your eyes and see. We can all, as children of God, do something to help the least of these, whether it is next door or on the other side of the world. The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved.  And we should teach our children to follow suit. When we find a way to serve others, we are serving God. I pray that you all will recognize “Jesus in disguise” and say “yes I will!” to our Heavenly Father. It is so lifting for the soul to lift up and help another, and that is one of the greatest gifts you can get! Happy Holidays to all of you and yours. God Bless all of you!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Peace, Love, and Starfish!!!

I am not going to lie. Things have happened to seriously slow down, and this adoption, and making things very difficult. Things from an unexpected medical bill, taking a few hundred dollars from Brock's bank account, to a paperwork debacle and extra training that has taken close to 2k out of our adoption money. For believers in the adoption world, these are calles Satan's attacks on our adoption. It definately feels like it too! But this mama bear will never back down! For some reason, I truly believe that it is God's grace, that I feel at PEACE that although it may take a bit longer than we planned, that all going to work out fine, as it is already is begining to, and we will have our boy home at the perfect time!

I think of Brock so much, I have his picture in my cubical at work, on my phone, and Michael has his picture as his desktop background! I imaging him here at home playing with Alaska, and I imagine how he is going to feel when he is in my arms! I am in crazy in LOVE with all of my kids, even the one I haven't met yet!! Right now, we are on the tail end of our (hopefully) last setback with paperwork for now, we are working on our new additional training requirements, and soon, we will have our paperwork in to submit to Brock's country to do just that!

     My Beautiful Starfish! It was such a special,   thoughtful suprise!
It is Brocks Birthday this month, as well as mine. We have a puzzle fundraiser going on for him, if you would like to know more about it, click here!  Most of you know that my "adoption theme" is based on the Starfish story, so the starfish has a very important meaning to me. My husband suprised me with an awesome STARFISH pendant for my birthday, hand made by Gentle Spirit Creations. I love it and I totally cried! Please keep  praying for Brock and for God to provide the means for us to sail through the rest of the process quickly!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Brock's Birthday Fundraiser!!!!

“Do you want to do something beautiful for God? There is a person who needs you. This is your chance.”-Mother Theresa
Brock will be two this month; I do not yet know what day. This is so heartbreaking for me that I cannot be with him. It is hard to bear that nobody will make any kind of a fuss over his birthday, for him, it will be just another day. No cake, no presents, no Happy Birthday and no one that cares that he is 2!  What he does not know yet is that it will be his last birthday that is just another day! His next birthday will be spent with his family! This month is the month we are also planning on getting our dossier shipped to Brock’s country so that we can be registered and receive an invitation to travel and meet him!
We are waiting for our USCIS approval, and we are getting our additional training done, since Brock’s country now requires 80 hours of training instead of 10! And we are also trying to raise the rest of the money we need for this first, and most expensive, part of the process.
Sooooo….. In honor of our beautiful future son’s second birthday, we are doing a puzzle fundraiser. His room is going to be done in owls, a “boy” version of owls, since he and Alaska will be sharing a room and her bedding is all “girl” owls. So I bought him two owl puzzles (800 total pieces) for his birthday. How this fundraiser works is that each puzzle piece is “sold” for $5 each, and the person who buys it gets their name put on the piece.  When all the pieces are sold, we will put the puzzles together, frame them and hang them on his wall, so he can see how many people care about him!!!! Just make a $5 TAX DEDUCTIBLE donation for each puzzle piece by using the yellow donate button or click HERE. I will get a donor list, so  no need to let me know, just DO NOT donate anonymous if you want your name on a piece!  Please consider being a “piece of the puzzle” in bringing our boy home!!!! I know that this is a lot of puzzle pieces, but if you will share our story, maybe others would be willing to spare $5 to be piece of the puzzle too! God bless you all and thank you!!!!
 
Here are the 2 puzzles we bought Brock for his birthday!! It would mean the world to have names on all of the pieces!!!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Summer is Over, a Little Update and Fundraisers!!!

Well summer is over, Yay and not Yay. I love summer with my kids and I love swimming and I love warm weather, but I was ready to get the kids back in school. We did have a good summer, although we didn’t do anything big due to the fact that most of our extra money goes into Brock's bank account, yes, I set up a separate bank account just for him! Since we are fortunate enough to have a pool, we spent most of our weekends out there, so I don’t feel too bad about not taking the kids on a vacation. You should see the tan lines these girls have!! Plus Alaska adores being in the pool, she could just be in her floatie all day long if I let her. I absolutely cannot wait until next summer when I have two littles in floaties!!!!! But, ya know something; our Homestudy social worker did approve us to adopt two kids. Hmmm……..!!!! Maybe three in floaties next summer!?!?


Watermelon Party Time!!!

Loving her Floatie!
With summer being over, I am looking forward to the fall and winter holidays. I do love all of them! October holds a new special place in my heart, because it is Brocks’ birthday month! I do not know what day yet, but I am hoping it is the same day as mine! We will be doing a special fundraiser to honor his birthday, and also to get us the last monies that we need for our agency fees that will be due when we travel to meet him. We just did our fingerprints for our FBI Background checks for our USCIS approval yesterday, so that is one more step done!!!  Our plans are to have our submission dossier ready and shipped by mid October. After that, it will be translated, and submitted to the entity in Brocks country for processing, approval and registration, and then our travel date will be given, Hooray! So, with how things are going with others adopting from the same region, and with the holidays coming, I am hoping we will be traveling right after the first of the year. Like seriously, my intentions are to be on an airplane Jan. 1!!! Honestly, today would not be soon enough. But I have been told over and over, and I know this, that God’s timing is perfect and I accept that, I really do! This is His mission that He chose me and Michael for, not ours alone!
We did pretty good selling Bring Home Brock T-shirts. We raised close to $500! Thank you to all who ordered one!!! Right now, we have a SCENTSY PARTY going on, so think about someone who you need to buy a gift for and get them scentsy! You can get a jump on Christmas Shopping and help our little guy at the same time! Also, may I suggest that you avoid the crowds and do your Christmas shopping through our AMAZON LINK!  It is so easy; just use the link, shop as you normally would do any online shopping. Super easy! Amazon always has a ton of stuff with free shipping too!
God bless all of you for your prayers and help with getting our boy home! It means the world to our family, and it literally means life for him!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

And The Winner Is....!

The vacation giveaway is over! We had 234 entries, and we raised……..$2295! That is so very awesome! We are blown away by everyone’s generosity, and so very blessed by the fact that you care about our little guy!!! THANK YOU ALL for making our fundraiser a success!!! The money raised will go towards our flight expenses and agency fees that are due when we travel for our first trip!!!! God bless you all!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Mrs. Jody Warren for donating this vacation to us!!!!
Random.org has spoken! And the Winner Is……Susan Vlach!!!! Congratulations! Please contact me via email at Lmbutterflylori@gmail.com so I can get your reservation to you!!!!

Susan, you were lucky number 81!!!
True Random Number Generator 81 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
You may want to visit Pleasure Pier during your visit....


Or maybe just relax on the beach....


Whatever you do while you are there, I hope you have a blast!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Where We Are In the Process, And A Few Thoughts About Brock

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16)

So, we had to do add some documentation to our home study, which is not out of the ordinary from what I understand, BUT it has put a delay in our getting our Official, certified write up! The good news is that the draft has been reviewed by our agency, and it is now in Brock’s country being reviewed by the facilitator there. What is wonderful about our agency sending it there to be reviewed first is that she knows what the judge in the region is looking for, so that way, we can make sure that everything is perfect and will be far less likely to have to do any updates or add any documentation when it is time for court! We are looking to have it in our hands by the end of the week! After that, we will send that, along with some other documents into Immigration (USCIS) for them to approve us to adopt from Brock’s country. While we are waiting on that, we will be compiling more documents for our registration dossier to send to the Powers That Be in Brock’s country so they can register us in country in order to receive our travel date to finally meet our little man! Oh my, I cannot wait to get my arms around him!
This is where we need loads of help and prayers everyone! When we send in our Dossier, literally $14,500 will have to go along with it! Then we will still have to buy visas, plane tickets, hotel and meals! We have a plan put in place as far as savings and such goes, but we also have Faith that God will help us along with the rest! I truly believe the saying “If God brings you to it, He will get you through it.” I do believe that He put us on this journey to finish it! Please consider our Beach Giveaway fundraiser; if that does not interest you, and you would still like to help we will be launching some new fundraisers throughout the next few months! Prayers for us in this process and our little guy are so greatly appreciated! Also, you can tell others about our story! You never know who you will inspire to help save a life, whether it is Brock’s or another waiting child.
Beautiful Beach in Galveston!!!!
On another topic, my littlest was sick yesterday. As I doted upon her, holding her, rocking her, rubbing her back, rubbing her down with a cool cloth while her fever was high, I let my thoughts slip away to Brock. I wondered if he gets held and rocked and really taken care of when he is sick. Sadly, I doubt it. Babies in orphanages are usually left alone in cribs for long periods of time, so they develop ways to sooth themselves and keep themselves entertained. They will rock themselves when they need soothing and play with their fingers and/or toes when they need to be entertained. Brock will likely display these behaviors when he gets home. Friends, I cannot wait to show him that he does not have to do that anymore! Also because he has not had a consistent care giver, he may also have trouble realizing that Michael and I are now THE go-to people when he needs something or may think that ANY adult he sees will help, which is not exactly a good thing either. Bonding comes naturally to babies who have loving parents, but for Brock, well, he was simply never given that chance! All this breaks my heart, but we feel we have enough love in our hearts and have also educated ourselves on how to help him learn to trust us and to facilitate that bonding.
My apologies for the sadness, but I feel like I should share the realities of his life with you all. I know that one day these posts will be filled with happy pictures of a little boy thriving! God Bless you all!!

Monday, July 2, 2012

BEACH VACATION GIVEAWAY!!!!


How would you like to have your next summer vacation all planned out!?!?

In order to raise the funds necessary to get our boy home as soon as possible, we have been so generously donated this wonderful vacation to giveaway!




For a tax deductible donation to our grant fund through Reece's Rainbow you can be entered for a 7 night stay in a two bedroom suite that sleeps 6 and has a full kitchen at the 4 star rated Silverleaf's Seaside Resort on Galveston Island in Texas!!!! 


Amusement Park on the Pier!!!




I am so excited about this fundraiser; it is a place that would be fun for families or couples or anyone who likes the beach! Galveston has a lot of fun things to do! We are running this giveaway until midnight central time on August 15th. Winner will be announced August 16 on this blog and Facebook. Vacation is booked for Saturday, June 8, to Saturday June 15th of NEXT summer (2013), to allow the winner plenty of time to plot and plan!!!!

So here are the "RULES"

1. $10 donation- 1 entry
    $25 donation-3 entries
    $50 donation-10 entries
    Share this post on Facebook or Twitter-1 entry (you must comment on this blog, email, or Facebook to let me know this!)
    

2. Here is how to donate:
  • You can make a tax deductible donation to our fund by clicking on the DONATE button on the RIGHT of the page. You must leave your name so I can assign a number to you!
  • OR you can mail a check (also tax deductible) to Reece’s Rainbow; just make sure to put Mulkey Family in the Memo and mail to Reece's Rainbow, PO Box 4024, Gaithersburg, MD 20885.*Pawnee people you can drop check off with my mom, Doris, at Armstrong Bank! *Stroud People, you can drop off check with my sister, Carissa! 

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR IF YOU PREFER TO DONATE WITH A CHECK, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT LMBUTTERFLYLORI@GMAIL.COM  OR PRIVATE MESSAGE ME IF WE ARE FACEBOOK FRIENDS!


I WILL BE USING A RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR AT RANDOM.ORG TO ENSURE THE WINNER IS IN FACT CHOSEN RANDOMLY!!!


THANK YOU FOR HELPING US BRING BROCK HOME AND GIVING HIM A CHANCE TO THRIVE IN A LOVING FAMILY!



Sunday, July 1, 2012

Why We Are Adopting

Adopting this sweet boy is no doubt a God thing. Looking back, there are things that make me realize that He has been preparing my heart for this for quite some time. I love kids and I totally have a seriously soft place in my heart for all children. And I love being a Mom as well! When my youngest daughter who has DS, was born, I received an information packet from the local Down Syndrome organization. In it was a brochure for Reece’s Rainbow. I still have that brochure. I looked at that website several times, praying, and crying for those little abandoned children, given up because they had Down syndrome, hoping that they would find families. I wished that I could adopt one of these children, and even told my husband, to which, at the time, he replied a resounding “NO”, so I figured that it would just never be an option. Couldn’t do it without the hubs on board! But, little did we know, it just wasn’t time. I had not visited the site for a while and one night, I was on a blog, noahsdad.com. They had a Reece’s Rainbow advertisement and I was inclined to click on it. I scrolled through the pictures, all teary-eyed, then, I stopped on one. There is a feeling that goes through you after you have given birth and see your baby for the first time; it is a rush of absolute pure love for your child. This was the feeling that came over me when I saw the picture of our boy, and I literally blurted out loud “Oh, I am your Mama!” It took a while and a lot of prayer to tell Michael, but, long story short, He agreed that we should adopt him!
Knowing that most (like really, most, we are talking 92%) mothers knowingly pass on the chance to raise their child with Down syndrome is heartbreaking to me now, though I realize and understand that the fear of the diagnosis is overwhelming. Unlike here in the U.S. expectant mothers in Eastern Europe do not usually have access to prenatal testing, so their diagnosis always comes as a shock after they have given birth. They do not have resources for support like we do here, there is no therapy or inclusion in school or Buddy Walks to raise money for research, and most mothers are simply told that they cannot raise the child and that it would be too much of a burden. I do not pass judgment on these mothers, if you go back fifty years or so, children born here with DS were commonly sent to institutions. It is most common to give up their child with Down syndrome to an orphanage, and then later when the child turns 4 or some actually wait until 5, they are sent to a mental institution. Many of these places do not have the resources to care properly for these children, so many just waste away and die, alone, in cribs, without anyone loving them. Look at our Alaska, if she had been born over in Eastern Europe, she would be facing a life hidden away in a crib in a mental institution.


Does it look like that is where she belongs!?!?  So we are not just adding to our family through the blessing of adoption, we are on a rescue mission to save a child in need! I cannot save them all, but I have been called to save one and that is what this is all about. Saving a child, and giving him a family, love, care. A chance at life. A chance to thrive, play, grow, give love and contribute to society, just like Alaska! His life has worth!
So the Lord commands us to care for the orphan and the widow. He has made it abundantly clear what my part is in His plan! But, does caring for the orphan mean that you have to adopt? No. Do I think everyone should adopt? Why yes! Haha! Not really! I don't believe that everyone has to adopt a child. I am just the type of person that wants everyone to experience the same great joy in their hearts as I do from my experiences! But, there are other ways to care for the orphan. You can pray for them, advocate for them, and support them financially. So, I leave you with this as food for thought. It is not meant to offend, it is just something to think about and shed some light on the situation:

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

God Bless you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Home Study Bound!

 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us…let us not love with word or tongue, but with action and in truth." (I John 3:16-18)

We have been so very busy getting ready for our Home Study.  This is the first “major” part of the adoption process. We had to hire a licensed home study social worker to do this for us. She collects a whole-lotta paperwork from us, all of our birth certificates, SS cards, marriage license, financial records, even divorce decrees, as well as employment, education and address history. The entire family has to have physicals, Michael and I had to write very extensive autobiographies that addressed everything about us from childhood to the present. Michael and I had to have background checks done; even our little doggie has to be up to date on her shots. Then, she comes to do the home visit, which will be about three hours long. She will ask all kinds of questions and inspect our home. This is all done to deem us acceptable to raise another child and our home a safe place with plenty of room for the child. This, my friends, is only step one! It’s getting more “for real” now and I am so excited! Woo Hoo!
Most everything has been done for the home study, except for the visit, and that is in a week and a half! The home study visit sends adoptive parents into a psychotic flurry of over-perfecting their home. We have been tirelessly finishing up all unfinished projects, painting, planting, trimming trees, organizing, hanging curtains, deep cleaning, and we are not done yet! Was our house in shambles? Not hardly. Is the social worker looking for our house to look like the cover of Better Homes and Gardens? No way. But, she is coming to “judge” us and our home in a sense and that tends to push people into doing WAY more than necessary to prepare for the visit. That would be us! It just feel like what we "should" be doing. To me, it is effort put forth to show just how much I want my little man home! I am willing to go above and beyond and further to save him!
Once the homestudy is complete, we get to move on to get our approval to immigrate a child and start gathering more paperwork and the funds together so we can submit it all to our little man’s country to get to travel to meet him. So getting the homestudy done is VERY exciting!
One good thing about keeping ridiculously busy these past few weeks has helped keep my mind from wondering to “that place”. That place that I feel helpless to get to my boy on the other side of the world in great need of love and proper care. I know this was going to take time when I started, but sometimes I find myself with this sense of urgency that is frustrating because I cannot make it go any faster.
But, we are actively doing everything we can; he is the main subject of our dinner time prayer. We have been saving, and praying, and saving some more and getting as much paperwork done as we can! We are organizing all kinds of fun and exciting fundraisers to raise the money needed to get him home ASAP!!!! Stay tuned, I will plugging the first of our exciting giveaways soon!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

A Surprise from an Unexpected Place!

To help offset the approximately $45,000 we are going to need to get Brock home, Reece’s Rainbow sets up funds for each child and their adoptive families for people to donate to. Brocks reached $461 in a short time, which we are so very grateful for!  Every dollar brings our little boy closer to his loving family and further away from a life in an orphanage, or worse yet, an adult mental institution where he would go when he turned 5.
I looked at his fund two days ago, and to my surprise, his fund made an incredible $2000 jump! Wow! I couldn’t imagine where or who it could have came from. Then, I found out, and I was floored! I simply have no words for how blessed we are feeling right now!
The fourth and fifth graders at Haw Creek Elementary in Cumming, Georgia do a fundraiser every year to raise funds to donate to Reece’s Rainbow.  They pick a boy and a girl to donate the money to, and Brock was the boy they chose!  I spoke with the teacher in charge, (I wanted to name her, but wasn’t sure if she would want me too!) to give her a big thank you! She told me that this is something they do every year. She gives the students 3 weeks to raise money. Many parents donate, but some of these kids sell things, have lemonade stands, and even give their birthday money! They raised over $4000 in those three weeks. Simply amazing!
To the students of Haw Creek, you all have literally helped save this little boy from living a lonely life with no Mom or Dad to love him and take care of him. He would have to live his life in an orphanage, most of his time would be spent in a crib, and he would never even have one toy or piece of clothing to call his own! He also would never get the opportunity to get to go to school! You all should be so proud to know how much you have helped to get him home to people who want to be his family and love him forever. We cannot thank you enough! You all are truly amazing kids! I hope you have a great summer!
I also want to say a great big THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the teachers, staff and parents who helped in this effort. You all have truly blessed us and have helped to relieve some of financial worry that comes with this process! I invite you all to follow us in our journey to get our boy home! God bless!
The Mulkey Family

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Paper Pregnancy- What????


I have had four children and I very well know the roller coaster of emotions that come with the changing hormones during pregnancy. But friends, let me just say this; the emotions I experienced during pregnancy have nothing on the ones I have experienced thus far since I found Brock and started the adoption process. They call this “paper pregnancy” and it is no joke!
At first, my heart was broken because though I had a very strong feeling that he belonged with our family; my husband had already given a very definite “no” when I had mentioned the possibility of adopting a child with Down syndrome months before.  Then of course I was overjoyed when I told him about wanting to adopt Brock and he agreed!
But through this time, I have been so worried about Brock, because he is in a region that does not update pictures of their children, nor do they release health information until I am officially registered (which requires PILES of paperwork and processes and lots of $$$) in his country. That I am working on steadily. We should have our home study visit within three weeks, and then start compiling our registration paperwork! But for now, I just pray that he is safe, fed, warm, loved and happy, and in an orphanage where he is treated well, which I have no idea.  This is a leap of faith that God has asked us to commit to, and we have faith that however Brock comes to us, we will be able to handle it. At this time, we know he is a baby calm in nature and has Down syndrome, and of course is an absolute cutie!
I have also cried because I long to have him home so I can love him and care for him and give him the life that he and all children deserve. I sometimes fear that he may not be in a place with good caregivers, and knowing that your son may be in a bad place is hard to deal with.  It is frustrating that it is going to take so long to get him home, and that so much money, bureaucracy, documentation, paperwork, and red tape to cut through stands in between us and our boy.
On the other side though, I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father has given me the heart for this, and the heart to care for the plight of the orphan. He has commanded that we all care for the orphan and the widow, in some way, and He has made it very clear what my part is in His masterful plan. I am so excited to be bringing a son into our houseful of daughters, and I am overjoyed and so very humbled by the support I have received so far from my wonderful husband and daughters, extended family, friends, even total strangers, one of which I now call a friend!
Then there are the connections I have made with fellow adoptive mothers. These women are wonderful, supportive and strong and they fully understand everything about the emotional toll this process takes on you.  They have faith like no one’s business and they have inspired me to deepen mine.  It is a great joy to share in their journeys, and pray for them, donate to their funds when I can, and celebrate when someone gets a step closer to their child.
So I am definitely feeling one child short on Mother’s Day.  I just pray that this will be the last one spent without my son!  Michael put his name on the card (along with our dog, Kaida) that came with my flowers, and that meant so much to me, and of course, tear up, as emotional as I have been. Thank you for putting up with me honey!

My sweet card that came with my pretty flowers!
So through all of this emotion, both good and bad, happy, sad, heartbreaking, overjoyed, and frustrating, there will come a little boy with a chance at life in a family that already loves him so much!  His life is without a doubt worth every ounce of emotion, energy, and money this process is going to take!  I simply ask for your prayers, and your support, in whatever way you feel led to do so. Happy Mothers' Day!!! 
 James 1:27 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.

Friday, April 27, 2012

One of many-by Daddy

So it begins. I made my deal with my beautiful wife to start the wordsmithing (blogging for all). So I start the journey of words, through trials and tribulations - with passion, strength, and committment, we begin our journey with God's guidance to save a beautiful little boy. A little boy who I will take into my family as my own blood. Through that bond, I offer my honor and love to my new little boy to give him the life that he deserves...............

Thursday, April 12, 2012

My Heart is Filled With Joy!!!

For different reasons, we have not told many of our journey yet, so I was so very overjoyed at seeing Brock's account move from 0 to $7!!! I cried tears of joy for that $7, no matter the amount, It meant someone out there cares about him and that filled my heart with joy! So today I looked and I was super suprised to see it went up to $37! It is so awesome the kindness of people and the blessings God gives each and everyday! So Thank you whoever you are, for filling my heart with joy! I am sending off agency paperwork with the full amount paid (yay!) on Friday after we get it notarized. Then the focus will solely be on our homestudy! God bless you all!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Our Little Starfish


Well, this is just the very beginning of our journey to bring home Brock! I  pray that the adoption process goes smoothly! I will post more pictures of our family as time goes on, and make this page a bit nicer to look at as well!

I was following another family's blog and "stole" the story below because it is just perfect!!!


Starfish Story

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”   

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley


Just a few starfish, waiting to be thrown.....
It will make a difference to him!! He is our little Starfish! We can inspire others!