Weary

It's hard to put into words the love you feel for a child you've never met. I've loved him since the moment I saw him.

Things were going fine. Slowly, but fine. We were doing great with fundraising. We were waiting patiently for our home study to go through court for approval. We were hopeful we would travel the first time in spring. To meet our beloved son. To hold him. To kiss him. To give him the love and attention he deserves.

And then it all came crashing down. The government in his country quickly passed a law that prevents Americans from adopting from their country and then went on vacation for the holidays.

We will not know for sure what this all means until after they return. Families are terrified. Families like my friends the Smiths and the Kelleys who have met and held their children and promised to return may not be allowed to. Families who have passed court aren't even sure they will be allowed to pick up their children.

It all hit me today. I'm tired of the evil in this world. Evil that always targets the most innocent among us. Unborn children, children with disabilities, and children in general. Always the target of evils. Treated like trash.

This world is hurting and most of us don't see it. Until we start respecting human life, it's not going to change. That includes unborn children. That includes those with special needs. Heck, it includes a typical child from a big family who happens to be the 7th.

Children are blessings not burdens. We do not need huge homes. Kids don't need their own rooms. They don't need designer clothes or shoes. They don't need vacations or fancy art lessons.

They need love. Respect. A home. A family.

And I'm tired of societies all over the world believing otherwise.

My momma's heart is so full of love for my sweet girls. But it also aches for my son. Who may not ever have the things he deserves. Who may just end up dead in a mental institution in a year and a half.

We will not give up. I haven't lost all hope. We will fight forever if we have to.

Lord Jesus, we beg of you to bring these children out of this darkness. Help us do your will and keep us strong as we fight for the weakest among us.

Merry Christmas

Some of you noticed that I took the blog down for a bit. I planned on keeping it down until after a certain country makes a decision about whether or not they will allow Americans to adopt their children anymore. I was scared, and I'm still scared. But since fear doesn't come from the Lord, I am making my blog public again.

Please pray for this country and their children. That their hearts will be moved and that they will continue to allow adoptions.

Please pray for the families in process. That they will be able to bring their sweeties home quickly and easily and that they will all be comforted during this time.

I am off to make some hot chocolate for my sweeties and enjoy our Christmas. I hope you have a blessed day.

We are praying for a Christmas miracle. 

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

I have been wanting to blog all week about a certain thing we are all worried about in the adoption community, but then I realized I can't because I can't say publicly what country we're adopting from. Just pray, please.

--- 2 ---

Lily's school had not one, but two Christmas celebrations this week. ADORABLE! There is not much cuter than little kids singing and putting on a play. Amelia's was last week and it was adorable too, and the communities at both schools are awesome. Love it all!

--- 3 ---

Hubby and I got to go out for our anniversary for the first time in YEARS sans kids. We had dinner and saw The Hobbit. I loved the movie. Kyle slept through some of it. haha. Oh well. It was neat to be out with my love and actually get to talk to him.

--- 4 ---

I don't think many of us realize how hard of a job being a Priest is. Imagine the job this young priest has in CT after the tragedy that happened last week. I love this plea, by his sister, to send him cards and support this Christmas.

http://email.vervemail.com/hostedemail/email.htm?CID=7788568865&ch=813F44E4069A081921BE427E2C5603EC&h=d5efc12f32aa9b2e189746653098247b&ei=JYQD6asmN

--- 5 ---

Guess what came this week!!! Fancy schmancy!!!

--- 6 ---

Check out www.sevenly.org this week!! $7 of every shirt sale goes to Reece's Rainbow waiting children! They are awesome and super cool shirts, too!

--- 7 ---

Random act of kindness request from Brenda:

Through The Looking Glass is a devout Catholic wife and Mother expecting her 6th child. One of her sons turned 6 yesterday. He is autistic. You can read about his birth story and his diagnosis in that post. Friends, TTLG is just stretched too thin. It's not anything we haven't ourselves had to deal with before, but she has reached the limit of what she can physically, mentally, and spiritually process right now at this moment. She is crying out for God to make her cross more manageable. And I am confident He will answer her prayers.

Not knowing her or having ever read her blog, I contacted TTLG and told her about my week and begged her to let me offer her some help. I told her I knew her inclination would be to say "no, thank you!" and I was right:) But she humbly accepted any help we could give her by way of prayer or donations. She had this to say in her email:
"I am standing in my bedroom in tears from reading your email. And you're right, my first inclination is no. However, I went to Adoration this evening with not much to say to Him because, as I said, He seems to be quiet. If this is His way of helping me, and if there is one thing autism has taught me, its to take help when it is offered (it is hard on my pride).

Our biggest issue is payment for D's medical supplements and his food. He has special dietary issues as well, and before this pregnancy I made all of his food from scratch. I am 21 weeks and have a history of preterm labor (was in the hospital for a month before delivery with the last baby), so its getting harder to keep up the demand.
At the end of this month we pay for his medicine and food. It's our bigger check, but its a big chunk to pay out, and we also pay for our 2 year olds speech therapy out of pocket (another long story).

I am in awe of your kindness and generosity. I will admit it is very hard being on the receiving end of charity.
It has always been the hardest day of the year for me. My son had a great day, but like I said in the post, the hurt is always there. It's easy to ignore the rest of the year.

Thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart, for even offering to help. I am not used to kindness, and when it has been offered it has been conditional. I am moved beyond words."

So now I ask, if you feel inclined to give, I am accepting donations at magdasmom@gmail.com. JBTC will also accept donations at gaudium77@gmail.com. We will take donations through Christmas and then disperse to TTLG. Bless you for reading and praying and donating. I know I ask a lot from you and you always deliver and never disappoint. Praying for each of you! God bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Wow - thank you!

It's very humbling to see the outpouring of support for our boy.

I never am sure if people want to be thanked personally or if they'd rather remain anonymous, so I am writing this post to make sure that people know we are grateful.

We are blessed and excited to see this all coming together. Please keep us in your prayers, but especially Nico as he waits.

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Phew! We just got over being sick, but now I have the sniffles and pink eye. What?!

--- 2 ---

Here's a sneak peek of a HUGE giveaway for Nico, coming up in January.

--- 3 ---

A friend of ours needed some Scentsy stuff, so she threw together afundraiser for us. So sweet! Scentsy is great, because you don't have to wait until the "party" closes to get your items shipped! You just order through this link, and they will be on their way. Love it!

 https://samheeran.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=123666821

--- 4 ---

Today is the feast day of Mary's immaculate conception. I've never seen this image of her before. I love it, so I wanted to share.

--- 5 ---

Hubby and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary on 12-12-12. So, we're asking for 12 donations of $12 to our FSP to help us bring Nico home. We only need 9 more to meet this goal! It would mean so much to me!

http://reecesrainbow.org/46526/sponsormcintee

--- 6 ---

Please pray for baby Dominic this week. He just had surgery and is finally doing okay, but he needs prayers that he will make it through.

http://www.dominicpio.com/

--- 7 ---

This family is in dire needs of funds. The boys are already theirs but they don't have the money to travel to pick them up! Please help if you feel led. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/3395/sponsorgodone-maresca

Happy weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Random Thoughts

As things start to come together with this adoption, my brain is starting to go into hyper-drive. We have a lot of things that will be added to our to do list in the next couple of months. I am hoping we can handle it all with grace and get through it all without too many bumps in the road.

We are probably going to have to travel to San Francisco to do our face to face adoption training. This will likely be in February.

We are going to have to figure out sitters for the kids when we travel for the training, and then the trips for the adoption. We very rarely leave the kids with anyone, so this will be interesting. We will likely have to separate them among family and friends, because I don't think anyone I know could/would take on 4 kids.

Once our homestudy is state approved, we will be working on grants and our dossier. I'm not even quite sure I know what the dossier entails, so I'm a little nervous on that one, and the grant applications are no walk in the park, either.

We have an amazing giveaway coming up for the New Year. I am SO excited, but these giveaways are also a lot of work.

All of this stuff on top of normal day to day life, and, of course, Christmas... we're going to be one busy family.

Text to Donate Amount!

Thanks to all who donated to our Text to Donate event on Saturday! We raised $170 for Nico!! It will go straight into our FSP on Reece's Rainbow in a few days.

Happy Advent!