Full of Thanks.

Today, and everyday, I am thankful of my many blessings. I have so much GOOD in my life.

• First and foremost, I am thankful for the relationship I am building with the Lord. I have always believed in God, but only recently have I begun to deepen the relationship I have with Him. I am so grateful to be raised in a country where I have the freedom to worship my Lord, and to do so publicly and without retaliation.
• I am thankful for my parents, who have raised me into the person I am and have supported every decision I have made. I am thankful to be confident that, when I decide to begin the adoption process, they will support me however they can. I have the best parents in the world. I could not imagine my life without them in it.
• I am thankful for my sisters. They are truly my best friends, and as we grow older, we only grow closer.
• I am thankful for my job, for a steady income, for the educational opportunities I have been given, and for having the option to go back to school at some point, if that is what I choose to do.
• I am thankful for having my basic needs met everyday, which is more than too, too many people can say.
• I am thankful for love, and the many types of love I have been blessed to know.
• I am thankful for Reece's Rainbow, and the fact that there are people in the world, good, WONDERFUL people in the world like Andrea Roberts who work so, so hard to find these little treasures loving homes.

I hope that each and every one of you had a blessed Thanksgiving Day, and that it was just a start to a joyful and glorious holiday season! I am blessed to have ALL of you in my life!

I have a feeling...

this little cutie is gonna go fast! :)

Put your eyes on this little bundle of absolute cuteness!





His name is Wilson, and he recently turned two years old. SINGLE MOMS ARE WELCOME! Oh, if only...

Ramblings, II.

When I picture my future, I see children. That's a no-brainer. I think I've always wanted lots and lots of kids. When I was younger, I was absolutely fascinated with the McCaughey septuplets. I would make my mom buy me every Ladies' Home Journal that they were featured on, and scoured the Internet for articles and pictures about them. I thought it was so amazing that people could have so many babies at once. I've had baby fever since I was about 8 years old, and it seemed like a dream come true to have a house filled with the blissful sounds of infants.

Now, being older and a little wiser, I know better that to romanticize the risks of multiple births, though they are still fascinating to me. I would never want to put my childrens' lives in danger by having so many at once (though I also don't begrudge those who have multiples, and commend them for not choosing to reduce), but the thought of having lots of little children at once is still something I would love. Crazy? Heck yes. But seriously, the time I spend with my niece and nephew, especially in their infant days, are some of my happiest memories. I just love everything about babies.

When I picture my future, it's easy to see children. It's easy to see a house full of toys and a backyard swingset and piles of laundry and cribs and blankets. It's the husband that's difficult to see. I always wanted to be a young mom, and I feel like that dream is slipping quickly away from me. I'm nowhere near marriage. I'm hardly even casually dating! I guess, because I'm still pretty young, it's hard to find someone who is ready to settle down and start having children. Not that I look at a husband just as a means to an end, a way to have kids. I want the right man. But in this day and age, it is so hard to even know where to look. I'm so busy, and so shy- how am I even going to find someone who wants the same things as me? Who would be willing to adopt? Willing to adopt a special-needs child? Someone who shares my love for the Lord, who understands my commitments as a teacher, and who loves me just how I am? I've tried the online thing- I hate it. And I certainly don't want to go looking for the future Mr. Teacher Girl in a bar!

I guess I should also say how thankful I am that there are agencies out there who allow single mom adoption. I can't lie, I've thought about it. I'm still too young to adopt, and that's probably a very good thing, because I can't guarantee I wouldn't be working towards committing to a Reece's Rainbow child, and I know that is something I'm not ready for. I feel like God is working in my heart, getting me ready for whatever He has planned for me. But I also know that I am not ready yet. Well, in a lot of ways I am. But in some very important others, I know I need to wait, as hard as that is.

Thanks for getting this far, if you made it through my jumbled thoughts!

Ramblings.

Sometimes I think that if I let myself get bogged down by all of the horrible things in the world, I would literally go insane. There are huge problems out there- poverty, homelessness, child abuse, animal abuse, murder, gangs- and then there are the problems sitting right on my kitchen counter, in my bedroom, in my heart. Things that, if I let myself think about too much, I start to break down.

Parts of me are broken.

The small things are small, but when they add up, they seem overwhelming. I've gone through a lot of loss and a lot of heartache. Who hasn't? It seems selfish to let myself feel sad because of the things I've gone through. I almost feel guilty about it. Yesterday I got some surprising news, and it just stopped me cold. It isn't a tragedy and it isn't even horrible, but to me it's like another little crack in my already shaky foundation.

There are times when I have to stop myself before I slip away. Away into my self-pity and guilt and general unhappiness. Because I AM a happy person. But there are things that have been done to me and things I've done to myself, little secrets I keep deep down, that sometimes try and creep up and surprise me. And sometimes they catch me off guard, and momentarily, I let them win.

But the thing is, God never leaves me. Sometimes I just have to allow myself to ask Him to take it all away, and allow myself to feel the peace that was always there, but that I didn't let myself see.

In the grand scheme of things, I feel almost whiny to even be posting this. There are things in the world, huge things, TRAGEDIES that I feel like I should spend my energy thinking about. How to get every orphan into a loving home. How to make sure the people in my sponsor child's family aren't starving. How to make sure my students aren't leaving school hungry and coming to school hungrier.

Sometimes it seems like too, too much. But I know that God never gives out more than we can handle, and that He has gone before us and knows the road we will take. Sometimes that just has to be enough.

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On a much lighter and HAPPIER note, Carson has a family!!!! I am so, so happy and thankful and cried tears of absolute joy when I read the news. I can't wait to share more! Congratulations, Carson! <3

You can help!

Because I have to rush off this morning, this is basically copy/pasted from Crystal's blog. She found it another blog, which is linked in her post.

Even if you don't feel the call to adopt, you can get involved in orphan care. And here's a simple way to get involved today...

By now, most of you have probably heard about the decision in Ukraine to go forward with a vote to halt international adoption until an inter-country agreement is in place. Please take a moment to write to your senators & congressmen, then encourage your friends and family to contact do the same!

Below you'll find a letter that you can use, or write your own.

To send a letter to your congressman:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

To send a letter to your senator just click on the state and follow the link:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Please help us get the word out!!

________________________________________________________

Dear (name),

I am writing to you today regarding a VERY urgent situation. Many families in the US are currently in the process of adopting children from orphanages in Ukraine. Most of these children are older or disabled. American families adopting these children offer them what may be their only opportunity at a normal and productive life free of crime, prostitution, or institutionalization due to illnesses that are treatable in the United States. I personally know one of these families.

On November 3, 2010, the Ukrainian parliament voted to proceed with voting on legislation that would halt all international adoptions until inter-country adoption agreements are in place (see the State Dept. announcement at http://adoption.state.gov/news/ukraine.html) . At this point, all that is needed for this to become law is one more vote in Ukrainian parliament and a signature by the Ukrainian president. This could happen any day. If it does, many families and innocent children will be greatly affected. I personally know one of these families.

I am writing to you to urge you to act quickly on this matter by 1. Contacting your Ukrainian cohorts and requesting a consideration of revision of the law to allow adoptions to proceed while the agreement is being drafted (as was done in Russia) and 2. Work with your colleagues in congress to begin drafting this agreement so that it is ready to go in the event the law passes.

Thank you for your timely consideration of this urgent matter!

Please take the time to write these letters. Please forward this to all your friends and families. Post on facebook or twitter or wherever else people may read it and help out.

You CAN do something!! Please help, spread the word, post this to your blog, write letters, and help the government see how important this is!!!

Big Prayers Needed!

Folks, we need to storm the Gates for this one.

There is a bill in Ukraine that is being voted on within the coming weeks. The goal of the bill, if passed, is to revamp the way adoptions are done in the country. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, the bill would cause all current adoptions to halt. For the children at Reece's Rainbow, this is absolutely life-threatening. Many of these children cannot afford to wait until adoptions are reopened- who knows when it would even be. Not only that, but much of the paperwork that families have worked to fill out may expire within that time period, leaving them to start from scratch, Meanwhile, lives will hang in the balance.

Please, please pray that they think of the children whom this will effect, should the bill pass. Children who have been waiting their whole lives for families who can fulfill even their basic needs, many of them medical needs as well- they should not have to wait any longer! 

Send up those prayers. I know that all of this is in God's hands, and He has gone before us. I try to remember that as I'm laying in my bed at night, thinking of these children who need so, so much.

Introduction.

Hello all, I just wanted to make a quick post about the intention of this blog and a little about who I am.

I am a 23 year old, second year teacher in an urban district. I'm the oldest of three girls, an aunt to three little ones, and am blessed with many wonderful people in my life. I am a God-loving Christian. I am a scrapbooker, movie-lover, cat owner, laughter-seeking girl.

This blog will serve several purposes. The two main reasons I've chosen to start a blog are:

1) To document my time as a teacher, both for personal reflection and to reach out to other teachers, especially those who are new and/or struggling

2) To share with others my interest and passion for international adoption through Reece's Rainbow to bring home children with special needs who may not otherwise have a chance.

Now, some of you may think it's odd that a 23 year old girl who has no marriage in her foreseeable future to have adoption in her heart. Well, let me just say that I have been yearning for motherhood since I was 15, and maybe even before that. Yes, I know 15 is far too young to plan having a child. And I've waited, and I will continue to. But God has begun a stirring in me to do something. What that is, I don't know yet. But I do know that the RR children rarely leave my mind. Maybe I'm meant to advocate for them. Maybe I'm meant to spread awareness, raise funds to help bring them home. Maybe I'm meant to pray for them, pray that they find mamas and papas and forever families. Who knows, maybe the Lord is calling me to drop everything, move to Eastern Europe, and care for them in an orphanage. And maybe, just maybe, the Lord is beginning to open my heart to tell me that someday I am meant to be the mother of one or more of these special children. Who's to say but Him?

For now, I'll continue to follow blogs of RR families, read and weep with joy as they bring their children home, and try to hear what God has in store for me.