Change for Change?

Wondering how many of my friends will stop whatever they're doing, RIGHT NOW, and clean out the change from the bottom of your purse, the couch cushions and the car. Then, donate it through the chip-in on the right hand side of the blog. It's tax deductible and will earn you at least 1 entry into our Christmas Cash Giveaway. Who knows? Maybe you're spare change will become a $250 Amazon gift card in time for Christmas shopping.

Go NOW or send your children on a hunt. It will make a difference. I know, you're thinking my change couldn't possibly be enough to matter, but it is! If you go on a change hunt and make a donation, leave me a message here or on the giveaway that you did so. There will be a little something "extra" in it for you. Take the time to be the change you want to see in the world. It matters to these two...

Today, is the last day of our Christmas Cash Giveaway. Help us finish strong, so we can bring these boys home!

Blessings,
Mandy

Forever Family Friday

Well, it's been quite a long break. I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and stories of our visits with Joseph and Samuel. As much as I'd like to just stay in this happy place, it's really not about me.

It's about the fatherless children who are waiting to be chosen. There are so many of them. I want to share some boys with you that many won't even consider. I'm not judging, we were there at the beginning of our adoption journey. We were sure we'd be bringing home a little boy, under the age of 4 years old. Everything you read tells you that who a child will be is determined by the time they're 5 years old and that you can't ever catch up on those first 5 years, if the early childhood education is missed. After spending a week with our Joseph, I can honestly say, "They're wrong." Those experts have obviously never been where we've been or held the precious child who is 6, 7, 8, 9 years old and still waiting to be loved, chosen, accepted.

Children are children. Age is really just a number. They want to belong to someone. So, here are the boys who wait, because they are boys, because they are "older" children. Under each boys photo you can click on their name to learn more about them on Reece's Rainbow. Please, join me in praying and advocating for these precious littles who just simply need families...

Oleg lost his family this week and is facing transfer to the institution. He has a grant over $7,000 and can be adopted with Shane (pictured below). They look like they belong together to me.

Shane also has a decent grant ($2500) and needs a family, now!

Samuel is 11 years old and only has $11 in his grant. Is he your son? If not, maybe you want to help Samuel by sharing his story and donating to his grant.

Andrue, who was taken home by his birth family until he was nine months old. At nine months old, he was abandoned at the hospital, when it was determined that he had down syndrome. My heart is breaking, is yours? Andrue has been waiting, in an orphanage, for over six years for a family to choose him.

Mitko is doing so well according to his report. He's only missing one thing...a family!

Please, take a few minutes and pray. Ask God to show you if one of these boys or another from the Older Boys page on Reece's Rainbow is your son. They're just children who need families. It's really not as hard as we make it. They need a home and we have homes. Let's be Jesus to these children. 

Pray, Adopt, Advocate, Support...

Hidden in Christ,

Mandy

Just pictures of the boys we miss...

Joseph hanging out with his Daddy. Such a tiny love...

Beautiful, blue-eyed boy...don't be fooled, he's about to get into something.

Missing our boys, today. Praying they're safe and warm. 

Thank you to each of our friends who have joined us on this most incredible journey.

We're in the homestretch and we have a feeling it's going to be the hardest part of the journey.

We need you all to be our intercessors and encouragers as we finish this race.

We love each of you and thank God that he sent you this way.

Blessings,

Marty, Mandy, Eli, Julie, Joseph and Samuel

What's Comes Next?

We're home from our first visit with the boys and guess what happens now? More paperwork! It's not nearly as much as the first time around, but it has to be done. I'm finally feeling awake enough to conquer it, so our goals for today are Christmas decorations and 2nd stage dossier preparations. We will have to submit with the USCIS (United Stated Citizenship and Immigration Services) and wait for their final official approval of our adoption. Then, a judge will be appointed, a court date set. At that court date the boys will become our legal children and we'll be able to pick them up within a month of court. This whole process should take 4 months, if we don't hit any snags. Please, pray we don't hit any snags. We want our boys home!

What else will we be doing in the next 4 months? Finishing up our fundraising. How much do we still need?$9,500. I'm going to find a new ticker and get it set up so everyone can watch as we knock this last $9500 out. Ways you can help?

By entering to win some Christmas Cash! We have $450 in gift cards, we're giving away, here. Enter for your chance to win and help bring home Joseph and Samuel.

By making a purchase through Ordinary Hero and using Rhodes, Amanda as the affiliate at checkout. There's a link on the right hand side of the blog. We have an additional giveaway going on with that. You can read about it here. Special thanks to Susan, again, for taking the time to write that post for me.

By praying and praying some more. Maybe you have no money to give, but prayer changes things. It moves hearts. You can also share our story with your friends and family. Maybe they're looking for someway to be a blessing to an orphan this Christmas season.

In 4 days, we're going to start a couple of really fun, fast giveaways. 24 hours each and you should have your gift by Christmas. Entries will only  be $5 this time around, so maybe some friends who haven't been able to participate in the past, we'll be able to win a nice gift in time for Christmas.

We'll also be giving away a small gift to random friends, family and strangers who have given, prayed, shared throughout this past year. You don't have to give anything else, we just have a list of friends who have participated in our journey and we'll be choosing some to give a little something extra to. We know that's not why you gave, prayed, shared, encouraged, but we want you to know that we realize we could not be here without you.

Blessings,
Mandy

They're more than numbers-Part 2

You can read Part 1 here. Now, where were we? Right, the unlikely candidate.

In a group of 20 children, a little girl, who we will call Lily-Anne (changing names for privacy) is around 8 years old. She is clearly the leader of this group. She is like the oldest child in a family, because really that's what this little group is to each other. They fight like brothers and sisters and they love like brothers and sisters. Lily-Anne is the caretaker. She settles their fights and has a true sense of fairness. She hugs the little ones and comforts them when they fall. Lily-Anne has a beautiful smile, tan skin, dark eyes and hair. She is Roma in her heritage (Gypsy) and in her country that fact alone is why she remains an orphan. No one will adopt a Gypsy child. Lily-Anne looks and acts just like any other child in her situation would. She seems so strong. She watches as parents come and choose her friends to be their children and she still loves.

I lost count of how many times we watched as Lily-Anne shared her snack with a younger child, broke up a fight, ran an errand for a teacher. She has such a helper's heart. Marty and I watched as this precious child smacked herself in the face with a toy one afternoon. She was taking it from one little guy to give to another and he let go faster than she thought he would. The plastic toy struck her hard in the face and caused her lip to swell and bleed, just a little. We've all been there and it hurts. I put my hand on Lily-Anne's shoulder. I wanted to be sure she was okay. Lily-Anne lifted her tear filled eyes and smiled at me. She would not allow herself to cry or to be comforted and she walked away for a few minutes by herself. Marty and I looked at each other over the tops of little heads and our hearts broke even more.

We only had just a second to think about Lily-Anne, because there were at least 6 others demanding our attention. We talked, later, about how sad it was and God just kept bringing Lily-Anne back to my mind. Lily-Anne's only special need is that she needs a family. She is the hands and feet of Jesus to the other children in that orphanage. She is mothering them. Yet, who holds Lily-Anne when she's hurt? Who is her safe place? When does she get to just be a child? Where is her Mama? God was asking, "Do you see? Do you feel what I feel? Is your heart breaking?"

God's heart is breaking for Lily-Anne. She was born into a broken world. She doesn't feel valuable or lovable or worthy of being held and comforted. You can point fingers at a society who doesn't except her because of her skin color (we aren't to far from that place in our own history, so I'd be careful) or you can point a finger at the church. While God's heart is breaking for Lily-Anne it is also broken I'm sure by the lack of compassion coming from within His own body to care for Lily-Anne and all the others like her.

God used Lily-Anne to show me that each child has a story. They are all more than numbers. They are little souls waiting on us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. They will wait and hope until the day they turn 18 and even then they will wish for a family.

Special needs, boys, girls, healthy, Gypsy, Black, White...they all need families. We all need families. They all have a story. They are all more than numbers. They laugh, cry, love and hurt the same ways that our children do. Please, do something. God is watching how we will respond to these children and their great need. We have the answer. We are the answer. The church has everything it needs to end the orphan crisis. We have enough beds and hopefully, enough love to go around.

Pray, Adopt, Advocate, Support...Do Something!

Please, pray for Lily-Anne, too.

Hidden in Christ,
Mandy

They're more than numbers-Part 1

The mission was clear. We were there to meet our sons. We knew the numbers, the statistics, the sad reality the orphans were facing and we were there to do our part. Then, we walked into an orphanage and the numbers stopped mattering. The mission changed, again. God said, "Do you see? Do you feel what I feel? Is your heart breaking?"

We were prayed up, prepared, ready to go and then, their little faces were in front of us. Not just "our" boys, but all of "God's" children, too. They were smiling and hoping for a kind word or a gentle touch. Some were shy and hung back, inching their way closer to see this American Mama and Papa who had come for their friend. Others came full steam ahead and planted themselves in our laps and in our faces. They loved with abandon, soaking up all that they could until the next Mama and Papa on a rescue mission came through the doors and offered a warm lap to climb in and it was heartbreaking and soul-crushing to see them there. They climbed into our hearts and now they won't let go. 

All of the children we met during our first week had special needs. They were the "least of these." There was no physical beauty that would make you desire them. There needs were great and our hearts broke a little more each day. Then, we moved on leaving one son behind and heading to another place to meet our next son. What we found here was different. Our child and one other were the babies and 2 of only 3 with special needs. I wouldn't even say they have special needs, really. And, we thought we could breath, again. The weight felt a little lighter, easier to bear. As we witnessed these 20 children, in an orphanage hidden away at what felt like the end of the world, play and laugh and love each other and their teachers/caretakers. 

It was different here, but God wasn't finished teaching. He said, "Do you see? Do you feel what I feel? Is your heart breaking?" These aren't just numbers either. God always uses the most unlikely people to change our hearts the most, but that's the rest of the story and you'll have to come back tomorrow to hear it...

In the meantime, Pray, Adopt, Advocate, Support...they're more than numbers.

Hidden in Christ,
Mandy

Day 4 with Samuel and a Guest Post

I told Marty when we walked in the door that I was exhausted and didn't feel much like blogging so he said, "Just post a few pictures." While I waited for my camera to load them to the computer I checked my email. My friend, Susan had written a post for me. How great is God? Every little detail covered. So, you read Susan's post and then you will find pictures at the bottom from today's visit. Susan is my friend who told me about Ordinary Hero's to begin with, so this is fitting.

Change the World for One Family

Ordinary Hero's slogan is "Change the World for One," but we have an opportunity to do more than that!  We can come together and help change the world for one family.  I've never met Mandy and Marty, but I've followed their story since this past May.  Remember when we were all waiting for Mandy to reveal the boys' names?  So much has happened since then and so much more needs to happen to bring their sons home.

Ordinary Hero has kicked off a grant contest with the top three sellers receiving a $500 grant.  There are 70 followers of this blog.  If we all use the button on the side bar to go to the OH store, we can make a difference.  If we all buy a Christmas ornament for $10, that would be $700 in sales.  Mandy and Marty would get $280 of that and most likely be a top seller (based on totals of past grant winners) and win one of the $500 grants.  That means you invest $10 and they get $780!  The ornaments are a perfect reminder that you helped Change the World for One FAMILY!

Don't need another ornament?  Go to the "Product Donations for Children in Africa" and you can change the world for a child in Africa as you help the Rhodes family.  Bibles and raincoats are just two of the needs.  If we all bought a bible, that would be $1746.50 in sales; $698.6 of that for the family plus the $500 grant would mean $1198.60 to bring those boys home!  There are shirts and jewelry and other items as well.

To be sure the Rhodes get credit for your purchase, you must choose Rhodes, Amanda from the long drop-down menu at check out.  It is located under your billing address, and labeled "Affiliate Name."

I'm going to kick things off with an ornament and a bible.  But, I'm going to do something else, too.  For anyone who makes a purchase before the grant ends on Sunday December 11th at 11:59pm CST, your name will be put in a drawing for a silver OH travel tumbler.  Check them out in the "On the GO" section.  Mandy will have to say weather she can see who makes a purchase or if you need to leave a comment below to be entered.

Are you wondering by now why someone who's never met this family would be so interested in seeing Joseph and Samuel come home?  Because that is a side-effect of adoption.  I have adopted two boys that were considered "special needs" and found that their biggest need was the love of a forever family.  That is what Mandy, Marty, Eli and Julie can do for Joseph and Samuel.  And they will get so much in return.

So, while Mandy and Marty love on their boys and travel home, we can do something here and now.  We can Change the World for One Family.

The link is on the right hand side of the blog. Thanks, Susan for doing the hard work for me, today! You were right on time.

Here's your pictures...

Happy to see Samuel this morning.

It was Mommy's day for squish your face off loving.

Which quickly turned to wipe your nasty green snot all over Mommy's face, so she has something to remember you by. It was hysterical!

What's not to love? I'll take whatever he's giving...

Blessings,

Mandy