Baby Shower! Anyone and Everyone can Participate! - Reece's Rainbow Cuties

This Sunday is Kaisa's baby shower. But it won't be your typical shower. I wanted to do something different, something special... and at the same time, I felt guilty about having a baby shower at all seeing as how this is my 4th child, and we really don't need anything for her! But my lovely friends Laura and Sara conspired to throw me a shower anyway. At first they suggested making it a Pamper Party for me since Kaisa didn't need anything. That was a very thoughtful suggestion, but I didn't really feel right about that either. Then I had a thought. What if we could celebrate Kaisa, AND do something good for someone in need? And I knew just the 2 little people I wanted to help out. You see, in September, Cana and I became prayer warriors through Reece's Rainbow for 2 orphans halfway across the world who have Down Syndrome. Caden and Ovalyn. We committed to pray for them every night, and every night we did pray. We put up a picture of their sweet faces on our wall map, and they would come up in conversation from time to time. Cana was particularly fond of little Ovalyn and asked more than once if we could bring her home. She's such a sweet girl.

So, my thought was that in lieu of gifts, a donation be made to Caden or Ovalyn's adoption grants on Reece's Rainbow. Yesterday however, I checked on both Caden and Ovalyn's links and neither were working. I didn't know what to think, so I hurriedly sent off a few messages to the wonderful folks at Reece's Rainbow and very quickly got a response that unfortunately the region that they are living in has recently closed to American adoptions, and therefore they no longer have open files, and there is no way to donate to their adoption grants. My heart sank. Not only because of my upcoming baby shower plans, but mostly because of those two sweet little faces that Cana and I have grown so attached to, and all of the other orphans living in their region. No longer accepting American adoption will drastically reduce the chance that they will be adopted. Which just makes my heart hurt for them. I can only console myself that our Father in Heaven knows them and loves them, much more than I do. I continue to pray that they find a forever family, even though, now I will likely never know their outcome. Here are their little faces. Please pray for them?





And so, even though I can obviously continue to pray for them, I was set up with new prayer warrior kids whose profiles are active and I can check in on them and donate to their adoption grants. Though I am sad that I cannot bless Caden and Ovalyn in a tangible way now, I am glad to be set up with two new precious little ones through the Prayer Warrior program on Reece's Rainbow, and I hope and pray that this baby shower can in some small way, bless them and spread awareness to the plight of the orphan. Now, I am happy to introduce you to Marnie, and Samuel!





Aren't they precious? Little Marnie was born the same month and year as Cana. Please visit their profiles here to learn more about them:

http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=Marnie

http://reecesrainbow.org/4586/samuel-3-2

These little children, who are so treasured in the eyes of God, are orphans because they were born with an extra chromosome. They deserve a loving family, just as much as my own children do, and it pains me to think of them spending most of their time in an orphanage crib, getting the bare minimum for survival, simply because they have a tiny extra chromosome. A little something special.

Friends and family, near and far, please consider these sweet faces. If you are so inclined, would you consider praying for them? Sending a tax deductible donation to their adoption grants on Reece's Rainbow? Spread the word about them, advocate for them? Know anyone interested in adoption? Perhaps you have a little extra room in your home and heart? Every prayer and penny counts. Anyone can easily participate in my baby shower by doing one of these things for little Marnie and Samuel. Donations can be made online, or sent in via check. Pray for them, or share their links on your Facebook or blog anytime! It would mean so much to me if my friends and family would take a moment and bless one or both of these little treasures. Kaisa and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts! :)

And just a last word on the baby shower. My local family and friends who were to be invited were supposed to be receiving invitations in the mail, but because of some planning mix-ups they were not sent. I am trying to fill in as many as possible through Facebook messages and texts. I fear very few will be able to attend the actual shower in person because of the short notice, but the great thing about this baby shower is that you can participate from near or far! :)





Edited to add:

Marnie also has an Angel Tree Warrior! That means if anyone wants to make a donation of $35 or more to Marnie, you can follow this link and get an Angel Tree ornament.
http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2012/

Just click the link and scroll down the the section that says "$100-$499 Raised" (so far her Angel Tree warrior has raised $306 for Marnie!), Find little Marnie's face and hover over the donate button just below her name. A box will pop up that says, "Buy Ornament $35" or "Just Donate".