Teri Lynn Update

On No Greater Joy Mom, Adeye just posted an amazing message.  There has been $20,000 raised for the adoption of Teri Lynn.  Evidently there are some families working with the adoption agency.  Continue to pray for the right family with a home study to be matched with this special girl.  Over and over I see how amazing God is!

He knows their names . . .

My heart has been moved to aching for the second time in 24 hours.  How is this not a human rights violation?  How can we not step in for these helpless ones?  I read another hard story on a blog that I follow called No Greater Joy Mom about a little girl named Teri Lynn who is about to be transferred to a mental institution in Eastern Europe because she has Down Syndrome and no one has adopted her yet.  Did you know that 95% of children with Down Syndrome die after being transferred to these horrible institutions? 

Teri Lynn just weeks after being transferred to a mental institution.

Our Associate Pastor, Andrew Gretzinger, reminded us yesterday that we have been given much to be a blessing to others.  If you can't pursue adoption, could you help raise money to ransom this little one.  Could you commit to praying daily for her and the other children?  Help me brainstorm.  What can we do as the body of Christ to help these most vulnerable ones?  There are 1.5 MILLION children in Eastern Europe alone that have been abandoned by their families and there are almost 3,000 children languishing in horrible institutions with Down Syndrome and each of them has a name.

Refrigerator Wars

I don't know what draws me to the show Hoarders.  It's like a car crash.  It's definitely not edifying, and I should curb my viewing habits.  In some sick way, it gives me comfort.  Comfort that my house isn't "that bad", that I have my "stuff" together, that I'm not as sick as "those" people.  I had a little wake-up call as I tackled my refrigerator. 

I've been using an online organizer called Cozi that I found on one of my favorite cleaning and organizing sites, Flylady.  I have this neurotic need to have a checklist, and this site was a dream come true (How type A do you have to be to get excited about cleaning and organizing your house?).  One of the tasks assigned by Flylady for the day was to empty and clean out the fridge.  When we arrived home from the grocery store, I decided to tackle this task.  I anticipated it would take me 15 min . . . 2 hours later and I'm up to my neck in old salad dressing bottles, half eaten fuzzy somethings, and about 6 jars of jelly all while mini-people shouted, grunted, and begged for lunch. After soaking disgusting shelves in the bathtub with bleach, chipping away at some mysterious caramel colored congealed substance with a sharp kitchen implement, and scraping out (insert gagging noise here) old containers of who-knows-what, washing my hands at least 25 times in scalding hot water, I was done. . . until I removed the little vent cover underneath the fridge and discovered about 3 lbs of dog hair.  (We haven't had dogs for over a year!)  This was not for the faint of heart. 

I'm not going to make some profound spiritual connection between my dirty fridge and my dirty heart (though the parallels would be interesting) I'm just going to say that I now realize that I'm just a few bad decisions or circumstances away from the aforementioned show.  It gives me more compassion with those that struggle with a very visible manifestation of a hurting heart.  And it reminds me to take out the yellow gloves and do some hard work in my own life with the Spirit's help. 

(And yes, I do look that fetching while fetching from my Frigidaire)

She's got the fever!

I have been lurking on several blogs that highlight life as a momma of a child with Down Syndrome.  The most encouraging sites have been ones that are written by mommas who love Jesus.  I have been moved to tears, encouraged, educated, and entertained by life in all of the very different families all over the web.  My heart was moved recently by a story of a little boy named Kirill and his journey home to America.

Because my husband and I are passionate about adoption, I was instantly drawn to a site called Reece's Rainbow that advocates for children with Down Syndrome and other special needs.  What instantly drew me to the site was the fact that many of the children from Russia look just like my little boy:  our domestic, international, special needs adoption. You can read about our adventure at this post.

My best friend growing up gave birth to a little firecracker named Evan.  He is absolutely delicious and his extra chromosome makes him extra cute.

Amy was such an encouragement to me as we made the decision to bring little Knox home.  Lately, I was noticing my friend Amy was equally captivated by Reece's Rainbow and I began to sense that she had caught the fever.  I know the symptoms having been friends with many in the adoption community.  She kept commenting on the site, advocating, and even sponsoring a little friend from RR to help increase the adoption grant.  I was so excited to find out that Amy and her husband Mike are embarking on the adoption journey.  You can read about their story on their adoption blog.  I was in tears looking at that little girl that looks like she was made for this family.

 I am glad to say there is no cure for this fever.  I pray that our lives and testimonies of God's grace in ransoming these little ones will become contagious.  I'm hoping for an epidemic :)