$1000

Joanie has made her goal!  I am so happy!  There was a matching grant going on and we got to take advantage of that.  I was so worried we wouldn't make it.. I have had so much going on here that I wasn't doing a good job as her warrior.. But she still made it!  So THANK YOU so much to those of you that gave!!! Thank you! 

You can still donate if you want to.  She has made her goal and I'm sure her future family will appreciate the grant.  Thank you!

464.50

Joanie is almost halfway to her goal!  We only have about two weeks to get her to $1000... Help!  I had so many plans on how to help get her there.. But life can (and has) gotten a bit crazy.. I haven't forgot my commitment to Joanie.. But my plans to help.. Well.. You can tell by my blog I don't have her grant anywhere near what it needs to be.. :(  Can you help me today?  Or tomorrow?

You see tomorrow is my birthday.. Would you like to know what I want?  I would like her grant to be at $1000..  Could you all donate $5 to her?  If you don't have any money, then share her profile and ask people to donate?

For every $5 donated I will put your name into my birthday give-a-way... And if you share her profile on FB or on your blog, leave a message below and you will get up to two entries that way.  One for sharing her on FB and one for sharing on your blog.

What will be in this give-a-way?  A bag of Christmas coffee from Hawaii!  A hand knit scarf.. And a surprise. ;)  So please join me in helping Joanie!  Every child deserves a family.. Lets do our part to get her profile seen and to help her mama and daddy find her.

Thank you!

Just comment below with your donated amount (or donate through the chip-in so I can see it) and also whether you shared on FB or your blog or both!

I will pick a name on Wednesday!

"Joanie is a charming little girl with beautiful wavy brown hair. She is growing into an obedient and responsive girl. She is happy to help the nannies arrange the toys, water the plants and care for the fish. Her favorite animal is hamsters. She is a joyful and emotional girl who genuinely enjoys any attention, but when left alone she can play with toys by herself for long periods of time."

The above was copied from Joanie's Reece's Rainbow profile.  How sweet does she sound!  She definitely would benefit from a family.. A home to call her own.. Would you like to help make that possible?   You can!  By praying for her, sharing her profile, donating, or maybe bring her home yourself! 

Scarves for Joanie!

Isn't Biruktawit a cute scarf model! Lol.. Can you tell I got her up out of bed for this?  She is adorable I know..

I just recently learned how to knit these scarves!  So far I have 3 done, and am getting ready to start more.  If you donate $20 to Joanie, I will send one to you!  I have one in the blue, and one that is multi colored, orange green blue and purple.. I am going to make some solid red ones, and some tan/gray ones (that is my favorite so far, but I don't have a pic of that one yet)

If you want one, just donate $20 to Joanie's grant using either link on the right.  The cash goes straight to Reece's Rainbow for Joanie and it will be tax deductible for you.  Once you donate forward the receipt to me jennyh_97236@yahoo.com along with your mailing address and I will send it to you.

Thanks!!! And I will post more pictures of them later.. When it's not so late! ;)

Planning a give a way..

I am trying to plan a give a way.. Or 2.. I have been very behind so far in fundraising.. I don't want to let Joanie down!!!  If you want to enter the give a way, you can enter with the chip-in on the right.  I will post the information very soon for the give-a-way.. As soon as I figure out what I can give a way.. This post is mostly to remind me to figure something out soon.. Thanks! 

Nearly Thanksgiving

I love this time of year!  The leaves are changing colors.. And falling to the ground.. Thanksgiving is right around the corner..  Memories of growing up in a happy loving family.. Eating dinner at my Grandmas house.. I miss her..

There are so very many things here to be thankful for.. So many things.. As I write this I am looking around
my living room.. I see a picture of my grandma kneeling and praying with me.. Yetera's sitting at the table doing his homework.. I see family.. Love.. Security..

I have a lot to be thankful for.  It is because I have so much to be thankful for.. That I want Joanie to have this much to be thankful for.. I want her to grow up in a home with a family.. With Grandparents and parents and cousins and maybe even brothers and sisters.. With memories of Thanksgivings and Christmas..

I remember when I was younger waiting up on Christmas eve.. I remember spending the night at my Grandma's and she would let me sleep in the extra room where all our wrapped presents were.. I would wait till she was asleep and slightly unwrap all my presents to see what they were and then on Christmas day I would open them and practice acting surprised.. I wouldn't have these memories if I didn't have family..

Today I took my son to his counseling appointment and his counselor asked him what holidays he had celebrated before coming to America, and he said they didn't celebrate anything in his family.. Not even birthdays.. They went to church but never celebrated.  She asked him what he thought of his first Christmas and what his favorite part of Christmas was.  His answer.. "Christmas is awesome, the best part is being with your whole family!" 

Family is important.  If you have family.. It's something to be very thankful for.. And if you are able.. Help orphans that don't have family.. Pray.. Advocate.. Donate.. They need family.. Joanie and millions of other children.. We might not be able to help them all.. But we can help Joanie.. Help me help Joanie.. Together we can help her and her future family..

101!

Joanie's AT grant is at $101.  I am so happy about this..

Our family has been going through a lot lately.. It seems like so many things have gone wrong.. Especially the last couple weeks.. But there are many things going right too!  I've never really felt like I needed help before.. Until now.. But God has been so faithful.. Sending us more help then we could have imagined.. We are blessed with some amazing friends!

If it hadn't been for adoption.. We wouldn't have two beautiful wonderful adorable children to call our own..  God has truly blessed us.. Truly! 

Adoption is hard.. The whole process.. But especially financially.. We've been through it twice!  We know..

Joanie's adoption will be around $35,000.. That is a huge expense.. And that is what stands between her and a family.. That's what I love about Angel Tree.. It gives us a chance to get her picture out there.. And gives us the opportunity to raise money to help her future family bring her home..

Our goal for Angel Tree is to raise $1000.. If you would like to donate, it's tax deductible.. Any amount will help.. Plus all donations of $35 or more will get you an ornament from Reece's Rainbow! 

Since traveling to Ethiopia.. Christmas time has taken on a whole new meaning.. The fact that God sent His only son here.. To save us.. It's special.. And to know that Jesus went on to die on the cross for our sins.. And adopted us into his family.. It's so special.. And to have my children here.. Children the Lord has blessed us with.. Both with their different backgrounds and history.. But they have been adopted into our family.. And we are a real family.. Adoption is a huge blessing.. Presents don't seem important to me any more.. But giving back does.

So tonight I would like to thank those that have donated so far!  And encourage you all to pray for Joanie, that she will be safe and healthy.. That she will have a family to call her own soon.. And if you are able and feel led.. You can donate using the box on the right of this post.  Thank you!