Sweet.

Click here to watch a sweet video about donating to Reece's Rainbow.

Wah-hoo!

Jin Wu has over $1000.00 in his Christmas account!

Psalm 105

1Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

2Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

3Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4Look to the LORD and his strength;

seek his face always.

Thank you everyone for helping to raise this money and thank you for your prayers that the Lord might bring him parents and his own home.  So let's see how much our Papa intends to raise for this little boy through the end of December :D!

One of my best buddies donated the 2nd row of Christmas earrings in the photo below:

#4, 5, 6 & 7 are gone! (don't weep)

2 & 3 are still available!

They are sooo cute!  The top row are some I made. ($7.00 peeps)

Now here is where this gets tricky.  If you want a pair, e-mail me and let me know what number.

Sarah, foundinhisgrace@aol.com

 First Come, First Served. (just $7.00)

I will mark the photo so people know what is left.

Here's the 2nd tricky part...the snowman earrings I am donating for Kory, whose Christmas Warrior has cancer, the Lord has already sold four pairs of those for them!  Thank You, Papa!

Here's a picture and link to Kory:


Isn't he the cutest?

So we are asking for a suggested donation of $7.00 per pair.  These would make an awesome little Christmas gift or stocking stuffer!  This fundraiser will go through December 16th, otherwise, I don't think they would ship in time for this Christmas.

Blessings and Joy!

Courage.

cour·age

  [kur-ij, kuhr-] noun

1.

the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

Origin: 
1250–1300; Middle English corage  < Old French,  equivalent to cuer heart (< Latin cor; see heart) + -age -age

Synonyms 

1.  fearlessness, dauntlessness, intrepidity, pluck, spirit. Courage,bravery, valor, bravado  refer to qualities of spirit and conduct.Courage  permits one to face extreme dangers and difficultieswithout fear: to take (or lose )  courage. Bravery  implies truecourage with daring and an intrepid boldness: bravery in a battle.Valor  implies heroic courage: valor in fighting for the right.Bravado  is now usually a boastful and ostentatious pretense ofcourage or bravery: empty bravado. 

C. S. Lewis said:

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

       As Kathy Mounts came through the doors at the airport, her new son filling her arms.  I blink back happy tears that have brought her to this place and this time.  Her family had fallen in love with a little boy on Reece's Rainbow, pursued adoption & were bringing him home.  I look at son and daughter's glowing smile, happy to be back in the states.  Victorious in securing their new, little brother and bringing him home.

       I note it takes a type of courage, a type of bravery to travel around the world to adopt a little boy you have never met, never known...and all because your heart fell in love with a photo.  

    All because your Lord moved on your heart and filled it with such love that you had no choice.  None.  An overpowering love that is willing to face anything to bring home the one He has placed there.

The Fry Family

       I think of the Fry's, a family at our church.  I met Vikki many years ago.  She and her husband have trusted the Lord with the blessings He has chosen to give them, several biological and now several adopted.  Three of those have Down Syndrome, another is wheelchair dependent and needs total care.  Courageous.  Selfless.

       I think of the Parker Family who were called two adopt Bethany and Hannah, two little cuties  who have Down Syndrome from the Ukraine.  They have loved the Lord and were willing to display His love by going and getting these two little girls.  A family filled with courage as they face the terminal illness of their little boy, Joshua.  The severity of his illness not known at the time of the adoptions.  Kate is in the hospital with him right now.  He is our courageous little hero.  

The Parker Family

And I think of the truth of how Christ came here to do a work in us.  He died, taking the judgement we deserved,  the hammerings of justice, the blows of unrighteousness, the nails piercing his hands and feet, fixing Him until death.  Our sin placed on Him, our sweet Redeemer...then victoriously rising from death and the grave.

Courage.  Heart.  Jesus doing works in each of us, making us more courageous, conforming us into His image.  Making us like Him.

This necklace will go to the next five donations of any size.  Please leave a comment here letting me know, along with your e-mail address, so that I may mail it to you.

Hammered.  Pierced.  Struck.

Cross pearl with 26" leather cord.

His truths:

2 Corinthians 4:7-11

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. 

(NKJV)

Christmas Warrior Babies Video, Jin Wu

 

It's actually at $1096.00!  Thank you, Lord!  Money donated here goes straight to Reece's Rainbow and they will issue you a receipt!  Blessings and joy!

I will be filled with joy because of you.  I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

~Psalm 9:2

Grace's Giveaway

Even if you are not called to adopt.  There are a lot of great ways to help.

Grace has made five pieces of jewelry that we are going to give away to the next five donations to Jin Wu's adoption.  Just chip in and then come leave a comment here saying which  numbered piece you would like.

First come, first served.  $1, $5, $10, whatever you want to pitch in will get you whichever piece of jewelry you pick from the following photos.  Just use the pitch in in the post above this one!

1. steampunk earrings with larimar
2. upcycled souvenier spoon turned into bracelet (generous 7")
3. steampunk flower ring
4. gears earrings on sterling silver wires
5. steampunk tied bracelet with toggle closure through gear (generous 7")

All designed and made by Grace.

:D

My daughter Grace's essay on adoption

Grace wrote a paper for school ;D

Here it is:

Shepherd’s Grace Christian School

Jesus said go 

TAKE IN THE FATHERLESS

English

Grace Frantz

November 2011

CONTENTS

PREFACE, OR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS   ii

INTRODUCTION   5

Why should YOU?  6

Children waiting in the U.S  8

Children in other countries   13    

APPENDIX   20 



 

                                                                INTRODUCTION

  

 

 

 More than 135,000 adoptions take place in the United States each year, 15% of those adoptions are from mothers who, for one reason or another, voluntarily give their child away….59% is because the parents either couldn’t take care of their children or because they died and didn’t have any family, or none of their family would take care of them…that leaves 26% of people who adopt, adopt from other countries.  

   Three hundred and ten-million one-hundred and eighty-three thousand four hundred and sixty-three people(approximately) live in the United States, that’s over 200 million families. 

    In 2010 only 200,000 adoptions occurred, that’s counting cases where a stepfather, or stepmother  adopted their stepchild… 

   There are millions of children without mommies and daddies that live in poor conditions and aren’t getting the kind of love and affection they need to grow properly, mentally or physically. They need a father and mother to teach them things… 

   They need a chance, relationships, and kindness…more than anything they need a way to find salvation…who will show them that path?  

 

                                     

                                      Chapter One   

                            Why should YOU

 You could say the above as a question, an exclamation, a statement. Whichever way you read it says a little bit about how you feel about opening up your home and your heart to a child that doesn’t have a true place to call home. Why should we open our homes to these precious gifts from God? A simple answer is children need homes, they are helpless and they can’t take care of themselves, they need mothers and fathers who will love them and help them grow into responsible young men and women. They need love, they need to know about a love so big nothing can stop it from touching those that welcome it, and haunts those that reject it.   

Those children that are beaten and forsaken, lonely and forgotten, they deserve better lives, Jesus made it possible for them to live for a greater cause and how are they going to find out about that greater cause if they go from foster home to foster home. Or if they stay in a orphanage surrounded by people that may not believe, they might come across somebody that will tell them about the Lord every once in awhile, but how much is going to stick with them…will that little bit help them or will it confuse them even more into a hate of  a god that left them in a orphanage? They don’t know God’s ultimate plan…no one does, but we are ALL a part of it so jump in and help a child or mores life, build up the kingdom of God with His children take them in and show them how to be a part of something so big its incomprehensible!!!   

“whatever you did for the least of these you also did for me…matt.25:40” In showing kindness we are pleasing the Lord, so why not You? Children are gifts, sometimes they are gift in disguise, but precious no matter what.

Adoption is a symbol of  Christ forgiving our iniquities and accepting us into His family, making room for you and me. We should strive to be as close to Jesus as we can get, to live your life to the fullest here would mean being as close as humanly possible to how utterly perfect Christ was while on earth, and our best is still so far off…  

So if you are physically, and financially capable of adopting, and feel like the Lord is pulling on your heart to do it, even if you can’t do it now financially don’t let that be a setback, find a way. If God wants you to adopt he will provide the money and make it possible, he has done it before and I believe he will do it again and again and again until ALL of his children are safe.

 

 

 

  

I asked God ‘how much time do I have” and he replied “enough time to make a difference.” 

  

                                    Chapter Two  

                      Children waiting in the U.S

 What if  no one cared you had been born? What if no one saw your first smile or encouraged your first steps? What if  you never felt a mothers love or a fathers embrace? What if you longed for a family that never came and hoped for a home that lived only in your dreams?  Those are the feeling and thoughts these children live with. -unknown

             Meet Elijah, LaKiesha, Priscellian and Ameer W. 

(pictures of children didn't copy over)

 

   

They live in Oklahoma and are the ages 6,9,8,7(left to right). Currently the girls are in the same foster home, while the boys are in two separate foster homes, these children want a home where they can stay together, and don’t have to worry about the next time they see each other. 

  This is Leah…  

She lives in Oregon, and is three years old. Leah has a very strong personality and behavioral issues, evaluations are taking place to see the exact extent of her mental health, she enjoys helping to sweep and loves to play and sing. Because she needs special attention she needs a special home with one on one attention, and parents to love her.  

 

    Thses darling cuties are Navaeh and Cole, 

 

They want a family that will take them both along with Cole’s  8 year old twin Asher. 

 Asher was diagnosed with aplastic anemia when he was 5 years old, he had a bone marrow transplant when he was six, his donor was his brother Cole. Asher is now free of the condition but still has annual checkups to make sure he is healthy. Navaeh is nine years old, and is all girl, silly and bubbly. They also live in Oregon. 

 

What about girls like Desirea, being 16 and not having godly role models who you can call mom and dad does a lot, what will happen to this young lady who loves animals and playing softball and soccer, will anyone adopt her? Or in two years will she graduate the foster care program and be on her own in the world? 

   

Alyaa wants to be a firefighter when she grows, why? Because she wants to help people and save them. You can make that dream come true, and show what saving people really is, its showing them the path to Jesus, and walking on that same path. Alyaas only 8 and she already knows she wants to do something big.                                                           

These boys Devin and Calvin live in Oklahoma, they are 8 and 5. They just want a home, they want to be able to play football and look into the stands and see their parents there among all their friends parents, they want big brothers and sisters, they want a family. 

 

 

 Give them homes take them, help them…   

 

“having heard all this you may choose to look the other way…but you can never again say you didn’t know.” -William Wilberforce 

                                                   

                                             Chapter Three  

            Children in other Countries

There are many countries that will allow you to adopt out of.  Russia, Africa, China, Asia, Europe, Hungary, Thailand, and the Netherlands are just a few.  

Think about it in every country there are children that need homes. In every country there are people who either give them homes or turn away and ignore the problem. Why would you ignore the problem? We are selfish, we don’t want to worry about more mouths to feed, or getting attached and something happening, we look at all the bad things that could happen if we don’t walk away, but what about the bad things that will happen if you do…a child will have some sort of heart ache anywhere, that’s what this world gives us.  

In Ukraine if kids with special needs do not get adopted before they reach age 6 they are put in adult mental health facilities. Mothers carry there babies for nine months and when they find out there child has Downs Syndrome, or cerebral palsy, or some other high maintenance problem they put them up for adoption. Woman pass on HIV to their children and abandon them. People don’t want to have anything to do with them because of the risk of it being passed on.  

Reece’s Rainbow is a Downs Syndrome Adoption Ministry, “The mission of Reece's Rainbow is to rescue orphans with Down syndrome through the gift of adoption, to raise awareness for all of the children who are waiting in 25 countries around the world, and to raise funds as adoption grants that help adoptive families afford the high cost of adopting these beautiful children”-Reese’s rainbow site.

 

Jin Wu was born prematurely in February of 2007. 

                                

Jin Wu lives with a foster family in Korea right now, he was born with a vsd and a asd but he has had them surgically corrected. In Korea in order for you to adopt this little angel you have to be between the ages of 25 and 42, and have been married for three years.  

In Eastern Europe Trent was born in October of this year, he is missing two arms and his left leg.  



 Trent is a darling little boy, who will need lots of attention, and who will have to learn to do things quite differently, he needs someone to love him for him and teach him everything he will need to know. 

 

This is Lizzy, she lives in Russia. She has downs syndrome and might me HIV+, but since she is so young it might just be because her mother was that she is testing as positive, and she might grow out of it in time… 

                 

Adam is two years old, he was not given away by his mother, she died. Adam is HIV+ and has Hepatitis C. He is in a 'psychoneurological baby house” and if he is not adopted by the time he is 4 he will go to a mental institute, that is his future, look at his face and imagine the two very different lives he could have, a mental institute or a family.

 

   Zeke lives in Latin America, he is one year old, and has Cerebral Palsy, which for him means he cannot hold his head up, sit up, or move his limbs. Zeke loves to sit outside and laugh. Those around him are hopeful that with the right therapy he will gain more control over his muscles.  

                                

 

Sean was found abandoned by the river when he was four months old in China. He is now three years old and is doing wonderful, he just needs a loving home.  

   

 

 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. -Joshua 1:5”

            

   

 

Don’t let Kiersten’s picture fool you, she is TEN years old. From her medical records there is nothing to indicate why she is so delayed, she is very much a toddler, she cannot walk on her own, and she shows severe mental delay and congenital hypothyroidism, a ten year old princess should not live this way, and I’m sure God is building a beautiful place in heaven where she can sing and dance.

  

 

   “Life is to short to regret the things you didn’t do, because you were scared you would mess up the things that needed to be done.” -grace

                      

 

 

                      Appendix  

 Page 7……………………………................................enough time quote…unknown.   

Page 8.……………………………................................photo by Gay Larson…HGOA.

Page 9.……………………………................................photo from NWAE.org.

Page 10.……………………………..............................photo from NWAE.org.  

Page 11.……………………………..............................photo by David maybry…HGOA.  

Page 12.……………………………..............................photo by Megan Sippel…HGOA.  

Page 13.……………………………..............................photo by Ann Makda…HGOA.  

Page 14.……………………………..............................about Reece’s Rsinbow. 

   All photos of children not from the U.S were taken from Reece’s rainbow.  

  HGOA is Heart Gallery Of America.

I do not own the rights of any of these pictures and I do not claim them as my own.

(Photos didn't copy over)

Jin Wu's song to his Mama, are you her?

Thank You!

2 Samuel 2:6
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
6 Now may the LORD show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing.

Thank you, Papa!

Joy!

Nehemiah 8:10
New International Version (NIV)

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

5, yes 5. That is how old Jin will be on his next birthday.

So to spice things up and make them fun, I am going to do a giveaway!

I have spoken about the stone larimar before.

It is a beautiful pale, blue stone that comes from a certain volcanic activity in the Dominican Republic

After going through heat and pressure, it is tumbled downriver to the sea...kind of like Christ's work in our life. You have some heat and pressure, you get smoothed over and tumbled about and at the end you turn into something more beautiful and wonderful than when you began.

I am going to make 5 necklaces that have the word joy stamped on them and a larimar stone dangling with it. When I have it finished I will put a photo up. The next five people who donate will get one of these necklaces for free! Yes, for free! Any amount, $1....$5.....$10......Just make sure and post here to let me know that you gave along with your e-mail and I will e-mail you back to get your snail mail address! The pendant is hung on a 26" leather cord. Slips over the head easily.

Why joy?

Because it's just so, so happy!
The thought of the Lord bringing a home for Jin, makes me joyful!
The thought of His provision for Jin's adoption makes me joyful!

This life is full of scary and sad, so let's have a little glimpse of joy!

I don't care...

….how many orphans there are!  Because, each and every one of them matters!

And as I asked the Lord, “What would you have me do?”  He directed my heart to this program through Reece’s Rainbow.

(This is the same organization the Parker’s used in adopting Bethany and Hannah and it is the same one the Mount’s used to adopt Alexander…update about Alexander…they will be flying back into the country this weekend and I can’t wait to meet him!)

This is Jin Wu!  He was born February 2007.  He lives in Korea.  I have an awesome aunt who was adopted from Korea!  He’s just stinking cute…and guess what?

He needs a family.  Not a zillion, not a million…just one family to make a difference.

Just one family to fall in love with him and bring him home.  Just one.

Is it you?

I am a Christmas Warrior for Jin Wu.  What does that mean?

Will I be karate-kicking through my own complacency?  You betcha!

Will I be body slamming selfish pleasures & making some sacrifices?  You betcha!

Will I pray for fun ways to raise awareness and funds for Jin’s adoption?  You betcha!

I’ve always wanted to be a warrior!

My Christmas Warrior Oath:

• to pray for God’s provision for a family for you
• to pray for finances to get you to your family
• to pray for your happiness and growth

His adoption grants sits at $1930.45 today!  Let’s try and blow that out of the water!  I was told the possible total cost is probably 18-25,000.00

All sales from my etsy, flying heartstrings, will be going to Jin Wu’s account!

Here’s a song, may it stir your heart as it has mine!  It is by Casting Crowns, So Far To Find You from their new c.d. Come To The Well: