God’s Angels. . .

What I am reminded of this time of year is how blessed we are. Beyond blessed actually.

We started a tradition in our home where everyone picks a Reece’s Rainbow Angel to sponsor and pray for during the holidays.

The kids LOVE doing this. They ask every day if the ornaments have come in the mail. Once they do they carry them around the house for the rest of the month. Avery still has hers from last year and hung it on her bulletin board. What a great way to glorify God and give my children a heart for orphans.

Savannah tickles me because she will adore the ornament every day. “My baby is so adorable!” “Look at my baby’s tongue sticking out! It is so cute!” She actually had tears in her eyes this morning as she looked at her ornament. She said they were happy tears because her baby was so sweet. She has such a tender heart.

Savannah has a paper to write on Christmas traditions and she wants this tradition to be her topic. :)

Here are the orphans we have sponsored this year…

 

Melody…Avery Grace’s angel.                                                                Nana….Caroline’s angel.

Justin….Brent’s angel.                                                                             Emilie….Savannah’s angel.

Aisha….Jackson’s angel.                                                                          Langley….my angel.

 

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 NLT

Would you like to help an orphan this Christmas?

Visit Reece’s Rainbow Angel Tree for more details.

Right of passage. . .

So Jackson had his first co-ed party last weekend.

Could I possibly be old enough to be the chaperone of my own teenager’s boy/girl party? Why are you laughing? Apparently so.

The initial plans started with a trip to the grocery store for major junk food shopping. It was supplemented the evening of with massive amounts of pepperoni and bacon pizza.

He had 8 kids come hang out…..4 girls, 4 boys. What a great group of kids they turned out to be! So pleasant and chatty, not to mention well mannered.

Of course Brent decided to go razz them a little bit…..they LOVED it! Seriously. They talked about how much fun they had on facebook the next day, even mentioning the way Brent gave them a hard time. I don’t wanna brag or anything, but we also got some teenage friend requests the next day. Yeah, we’re cool like that. hee hee.

Little did they know that off in the distance….there was someone lurking.

Taking notes. Hanging on every last word. Secretly smiling. Hoping to blend into the background….

She did not even realize I took this picture because she was so wrapped up in their conversation. Look at her face! She was mesmerized by their “teenagedom”. Yeah, I made that word up.

After a while they went upstairs to eat popcorn and play Wii.

Avery brought my point and shoot upstairs to take some candid shots. Here is what she came back with.

Be afraid, be very afraid….her “days” are coming.

*****

Mommy brag coming…

Jackson and some of his friends started a club at school for the sole purpose of raising money for charity. They named it, “Lion’s Heart”.

The first charity they chose was Reece’s Rainbow!!!! They all worked very hard making all types of baked goods to sell at lunch and after school.

Jackson even made flyers to hand out to their buyers hoping to bring awareness to this awesome charity. Who knows, maybe a seed was planted in someone's heart for adoption. :-)

They were so excited that they made $223 to donate to a child’s adoption fund.

Yes, my heart is bursting with pride at the charitable hearts of these awesome God-pleasing teenagers.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Be somebody's angel!

Are we blessed as American’s or what?

It is so easy to take it all for granted. My desire is to put a heart for charity and ministry into my children’s hearts.

Every chance I have gotten this fall to demonstrate to my kids the heart of Christ I have jumped on.

One of the ways I did this was to have the kids pick an orphan to sponsor on Reece’s Rainbow’s Christmas Angel Tree. The kids LOVED it!

Our ornaments came just the other day with the sweet children’s picture on it.

Sophia C.

9r30-14

Sophia C.
Brothers and sisters no Date of Birth: August 2008 Gender: Female Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde Character: sociable, calm

No further info available until a dossier is submitted, but isn't she CUTE!?

 

 

 Max 2H

Max-2H
Brothers and sisters no
Date of Birth: July 2005
Gender: Male
Eyes: Gray
Hair: blond
Nature: Quiet

Max is so cute!   He is already 5 and facing the institution soon.  Max has blonde hair and blue eyes.  He was born with a heart condition, and he also has strabismus.

 

Carlene 2H

Carlene (gypf)

gypf -2H
Brothers and sisters no
Date of Birth: December 2005
Character: Positive Emotions , happy, social, content

Carlene is just a little ray of sunshine.   She is almost 5 and facing the institution.  Her present diagnosis is: Down Syndrome, moderate mental deficiency, valvular disease of the heart, strephexopodia, squint, farsightedness of light degree, allergic dermatitis, systemic underdevelopment of speech.

 

Savannah giggled with delight when she picked out this little girl. She loved her smile and tells me every day that she hopes she finds a family to love her. She asked if she could bring her ornament to school today for show and tell. Of course I said yes! Maybe one of the teacher’s will have a heart for adoption or chose to sponsor their own child.

Leesia (5)

Leesia  (5)

Girl, Born January 18, 2008

I have $66 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

 

 

 

 

Brent and I even chose a child to sponsor!!! I pray God finds these sweeties their forever families very soon!

Here is Brent’s….don’t you want to SQUEEZE him?

Matthew I. 16rfg -14

16rfg -14
Matthew I.
Brothers and sisters no
Date of Birth: December 2008
Gender: Male
Eyes: Blue
Hair: brown
Nature: Quiet

Here is my angel, don’t you love her hair?

Phoebe 9HA

1d72i-9HA
Phoebe
Date of Birth: April 2009
Gender: Female
Eyes: Gray
Hair: light brown
Nature: Calm    Oh, look at the glow on this munchkin!  Too cute!  Wispy blonde hair and blue eyes, this one has a smile that can light up a room.  She is so young and at a perfect age for early intervention!   From her medical records:  Congenital heart defect: secondary atrial septal defect, additional chord in the left ventricle. 

Phoebe is described as a delightful little girl.  She is active and engaging.  She rolls over, follows an object with her eyes, fixes her stare, grabs toys, manipulates them (bangs, waves, etc.).  She smiles, coos, starts to babble, smiles when somebody talks to her.

*******

Another awesome charity we are supporting is Samaritan’s Purse , Operation Christmas Child.

The girls had a blast shopping for the gifts to put in the shoe boxes.

Here are the girls dropping off their boxes at church.

We pack meals for the kids of Haiti at church this Saturday. It will be the first time that Avery and Jackson have gotten to participate in something like this. We are all very excited to help!

And the season of giving has JUST begun!!!!!!

*Guess what? I just went on Reece’s Rainbow and the little girl that Savannah sponsored (Leesia) has found a forever family!!!! I can not wait to tell her when she gets home from school!!!! God is good!