Leaving on a jet plane...

It is so surreal. We have finally reached the point of travel! It has been a long time coming. In just 5 days, my dad and I will be jumping on a plane and flying to Eastern Europe to meet my boy! FIVE DAYS! What?! We've waited so long for this point that it almost felt like we were chasing the proverbial carrot, always just shy of getting a nibble. But alas, God was merciful and this first leg of the race is coming to a close. March 21st, we fly out, we spend nearly a full day in flight (or several flights, rather) and land in Levi's Eastern European countries capital on the 22nd. We stay the night in the capital and then the next morning we get a ride from our translator/guide to Levi's city. Our first visit with him is on the 24th. We spend 5 days in his city, visiting the orphanage twice a day. This has not been confirmed yet, but I think we may only get one visit on the 5th day, to allow enough time to travel back to the capital that night.
Just imagining that first visit and that last visit... sends me in a tail spin. I cannot wait to meet my son! So many questions and unknowns. So much joy and excitement! Love is practically bursting out of me! And then on the flip side, there will inevitably be a last visit. And my heart hurts just typing that out. It will be oh so hard to leave him. But, the phrase "last visit" also holds hope. Because the next time I see him, it will not be a visit. It will be forever. And forever suits my heart just fine.
So much has lead up to this point. And I have not done a good job of blogging along the way. I have used Facebook as a platform for sharing most often, but I'm trying to get better at tending to this little blog of mine. So bare with me. I've got 4 kids at home needing me all day long, and another child across the ocean who needs me just as much and I cannot be there for him yet, which is crazy making for a mama's heart.
We do a lot of praying for Levi throughout the day, because aside from adoption requirements and fundraising, prayer is the only thing we can offer Levi right now while he waits. I pray for him with Judah when I lay him down for nap. We pray for him at the dinner table each night. We pray for him with the kids before they go to bed. Cana especially likes praying for her brother. I pray for him before I fall asleep at night. And we pray for him at church or in our churches community group whenever we get a chance. Today I asked my 3 year old what we should tell Levi when I see him. In his sweet, impish way, he said, "tell him 'bout Nayna, Wowo, Judah, Yisha, mama, dada. Ok?" For those who don't speak Judah, he just listed his siblings and parents. :) I thought that was so sweet and simple and exactly the right answer.
5 days. There is a lot I need to accomplish in these last moments. It's a hectic time. My mind is constantly on overdrive, mentally going over to do lists for myself. Pray for me as I prepare to leave behind my family in search of another precious family member. Pray for my family as they live their day to day lives without me for a little over a week. Pray for safe travels for both my dad and I. Please pray for good visits with Levi.
I'm so thankful that my Dad is able to go with me on this trip. For a moment there I was afraid that I was going to have to travel alone. But Dad was able to make it work. He wants to meet his grandson after all! This will be an adventure of a lifetime for him and me. Some may wonder why my husband is not going with me, but for our family it just worked out better this way. My husband can only take off so much time from work, so he is saving his days so that we can go together on Gotcha trip. (Gotcha, or pick-up trip, is generally 4-6 months after first trip.) Josh will stay home and man the fort, with the help of his Mom and my Mom. And our church has been so wonderful in coming alongside us, and they will be bringing Josh and the kids a few meals while I'm away.
I leave the kids in good hands, but that doesn't make it easy. I know they will be fine though, and we have Skype to communicate with each other. It will be hardest for me to leave my baby, Kaisa. She is only 14 months old and has only recently stayed one night at a time away from me. We originally planned on taking her with us on the first trip, we got her a passport and everything, but then we found out that children are not allowed inside the orphanage. Which meant I was going to have to leave her behind and wean her earlier than planned. Which has been sad for me, and frustrating for her.
It's very late, and this blog is getting to be kind of jumbled. So I will leave you with a little fundraiser info. Currently we have a $500 matching grant from a beautiful group of people who are passionate about seeing orphans be placed in families. What a blessing! We are so close to matching it too. When our FSP reaches $8040, our match has been met and an additional $500 will be added!
Family Support Page

Also, a generous friend of mine has put together a HUGE scrap book fundraiser! There are dozens of scrap booking material lots (all new!) for a fair price, with FREE shipping, and all money spent on fabulous scrap treasures go toward our adoption, and another sweet families adoption. See more details here:
Scrap Book Treasures

PLEASE, please browse the scrap booking sale and share it with friends. My dear friend Rachel put an awful lot of work into getting everything organized, photographed and set up online for sale. Let's try to make all her hard work worth the effort!

Just a sample of the many items available! Please Shop!

New Name, New Life!

We were lovingly offered a $500 matching grant a few weeks ago and just now met it! Thank you God for blessing us with caring and generous people in our lives! I promised that once we met our match I would reveal the name we are giving "Donald". Donald is not his real name. It is a pseudonym given to him by the folks at Reece's Rainbow both to protect his identity and for identification purposes. And we cannot publicly share his birth name. But we have decided to give him a new name to go along with his new life! There is a lot to consider when deciding whether or not to keep or change your adopted child's given name. All arguments are valid and worth considering. I'm not here to argue why, just here to joyfully tell you that we have decided to give him a new name and share it with you. I like to think of it as being similar to how sometimes in the bible God gives someone a new name along with a big life change. A few examples are Saul becoming Paul, Abram became Abraham, and Sarai became Sarah. God had a new mission for their lives, a new purpose, and new direction. And it was so significant that it deserved being marked by a name change. And in those instances where a persons name was changed, the name was given by God, and we feel that God gave us our son's name as well. I will tell you a story...

When I became pregnant with our youngest daughter, it was a surprise to us. We had never been able to get pregnant without going on medication before. And we had to stay on this medication during the first trimester in order to help guard against miscarriage. So when we found out that we were expecting, we scrambled to get on the medication to protect the life of our baby. We had had two miscarriages in the past and did not want to go through that pain again. But things were not going smoothly and I was having my hcg and progesterone levels monitored to make sure everything increased as expected. But as I had feared, my progesterone level had started to drop, which should not happen, and usually means your body is getting ready to menstruate again. Not what you want to do while pregnant! So I was put on progesterone supplementation and told to come back for another blood draw in a day to see if it was working. I was a nervous wreck. After the next blood draw I was calling in for the results (because who asks an anxious pregnant woman to wait for them to call her?!) and I was on hold, so afraid that they were going to give me bad news. And while I was waiting, I had a thought pop into my head. "Levi. Find out what it means." It surprised me. Then the lady's voice came on the line and told me that my levels were increasing beautifully and that all looked good. HUGE sigh of relief! I immediately went to see what the name Levi means. The definition I saw was, "attached". In that moment I felt complete peace. My baby was attached. I no longer worried about miscarriage. I asked Josh how he would feel about naming our baby Levi if it was a boy and he replied, "well if it's God ordained, we can't really say no to that!" We pretty much assumed that the baby would be a boy after this. So we were a little confused when at our 20 week ultrasound we found out we were having a girl!

Months went by and our daughter was born and and was starting to grow and develop. And then God showed us "Donald". And we knew God was calling us to him. I remember saying to Josh, "Doesn't he look like a Levi?!" God is so good. Many months before we even knew he existed, God gave us a name for our future son. He gave us a two part message that day. Our baby would not be lost to miscarriage. And He had a beautiful little boy for us halfway across the world, whom we should name Levi. An orphan boy, lost in this world, but meant to be attached to our family with much love.

And we decided together that his middle name should be a family name. And what's better than to be named after your father? Levi doesn't know it yet, but he has a wonderful daddy who loves him very much. I cannot wait to see him blossom once he is home with his daddy, mama and siblings.

 And so our boys name will be, Levi Joshua. And the name Joshua means "the Lord saves". Can you think of a better name for an orphan turned beloved son? I can't! :)

*Our giveaway is still going until 11:59pm Monday. Less than 24 hours to go, so please donate and vote while you can! Giveaway post is here: http://insearchofpearls.blogspot.com/2013/05/operation-orphan-no-more-giveaway.html
** Giveaway is now over!

Operation Orphan No More Giveaway!!! - Benefitting Reece's Rainbow families!

UPDATE! We have a $500 matching grant right now! So every donation to our giveaway will help us 2 fold as well as helping the other families in our giveaway! So please donate and then tell me which adopting family you are voting for so I can add your votes! 

We now have $500 of $500 met! Thank you! 

I am SO excited about this giveaway! If you have been following us at all, you have seen that we are adopting a precious little boy with special needs from Eastern Europe. And I just KNOW you want to see his sweet face again! :)

 We are doing everything we can to raise the funds necessary to bring our son home. That's where this giveaway comes in! But there are so many other awesome families in the Reece's Rainbow community who are also in the trenches of adoption fund raising, and we really wanted to come alongside some of them while also working to bring our son home. Being a part of the Reece's Rainbow family means we support each other! Fund raising is hard. But we wanted to put the fun back in FUNdraiser!!! So this is how this is going to work. We are going to be giving away three different cash prizes, to 3 lucky Reece's Rainbow families in process! We have 11 lovely families nominated to be a part of our giveaway, and it's going to be your job to help the family of your choice stay in the running for First, Second or Third prize. (there will also be a small consolation prize for each family who has been nominated but does not win one of our prizes.) Your votes will make ALL the difference to these families. But the other great thing is, we have a lot of wonderful prizes for you voters as well! And for every vote you cast for the family that tugs most at your heart, you will also be entered into the giveaway to win some amazing gifts for yourself!

So how do you vote?

Vote by sending a contribution to our Donate button on our right sidebar (You cannot see our donate button while on your cell phone and will have to hop onto a computer to see and donate) or by donating to our FSP (Family Support Page) on Reece's Rainbow. Donating through our FSP is tax deductible, but if you donate through our FSP you have to send me a Facebook private message or an email (onemamasjourney@gmail.com) with a copy of your receipt for your donation, as well as the name of the family you want your votes to go toward. If you donate through our Donate Button, we will get an email automatically, so you don't have to worry about letting me know, but you still have to make sure to add a note for who the votes should go toward. The other bonus to donating through our Donate Button here on our blog is that you will earn DOUBLE votes! So this is how the donation to vote ratio will go:

$5 to our FSP = 1 vote

$5 to Donate Button = 2 votes

$10 to our FSP = 3 votes

$10 to our Donate Button = 6 votes

$15 to our FSP = 5 votes

$15 to our Donate Button = 10 votes

$20 to our FSP = 7 votes

$20 to our Donate Button = 14 votes

$25 to our FSP = 9 votes

$25 to our Donate Button = 18 votes

$30 to our FSP = 11 votes

$30 to our Donate Button = 22 votes

$50 to our FSP = 20 votes

$50 to our Donate Button = 40 votes

$75 to our FSP = 30 votes

$75 to our Donate Button = 60 votes

$100 to our FSP = 50 votes

$100 to our Donate Button = 100 votes!

 You can earn ONE free vote per day by sharing THIS blog post on your Facebook page and then letting me know by tagging me in your status, or leaving a comment here, that you shared. I'm also giving 10 bonus votes to anyone who buys Scentsy through our Scentsy party HERE! Just let me know that you did and I will confirm with my consultant. :)

Remember to let me know who your votes should go toward! This giveaway will go for 4 weeks, and I will stop accepting votes at 11:59pm (PST) on Monday June 3rd.

Now for the PRIZES!!!

$10 Bath and Body Works Gift Card! 

(Generously donated by Lauren DeStefano!)
Winner is Theresa Revilak! 

$50 Lane Bryant Gift Card

(This gift card can also be used at Catherine's and Fashion Bug)
Winner is Becki Little!

$50 Ulta Gift Card

Winner is Kelly Lee! 
 

$50 Home Depot Card

(Generously donated by Melissa Breen!)
Winner is Rachel Davis!

$50 Gift Card to Coco Rose Couture Etsy Shop

(Coco Rose Couture was featured in Parenting Magazine, The Knot, and Toddlers and Tiaras!)

Winner is Cindy Olson!

The Movie "October Baby" Brand New!

(Generously donated by Christy Ferguson!)

Winner is Christina Wolf!

A gorgeous Rainbow Rose Necklace

(Generously donated by Under Cover of Lightness Etsy Shop)

Winner is Katy Colbry!

A Custom Birds Nest Pendant- You choose the color and number of Eggs in your nest!

(Generously donated by Tammy McAninch!)

Winner is Angela (Our Lively Crew)!

Beautiful set of rainbow bracelets in cat's eye (left) and glass beads (right), a $30 value! On memory wire, one size fits all!

(Generously donated bu Christy Scott Ashby!)

Winner is Jessica Cooper!

Lovely set of bracelets, a $30 value, howlite and jade (left), and sodalite (right). On memory wire, one size fits all!

(Generously donated by Christy Scott Ashby!)

Winner is Katy Colbry!

Created canvas set can be made in any color scheme and with a different scripture verse or quote of winner's choice. More than one picture can be used for the two accompanying canvases they would just be done collage style. Includes stands or attached hardware for hanging. Alternately these can be done as 8X10 prints for framing (frames not included).

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)

Winner is Katie Evans!

 Flower bow set in winner's choice of color (red, pink, purple, teal, black and white and green available) and images. Choose from hundreds of images. Can be attached to partially lined alligator clips or barrette (Also can include a matching detachable headband).

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)

Winner is Rachel Davis!

Custom made cupcake picks in winner's choice of theme, includes 24 picks with or without embellishments depending on availability.

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)
Winner is Crystal Pettit!

 *****

1st place prize is $300 to the Reece's Rainbow Family with the most votes!

Winner is Jaclyn Mitchell!

2nd place family gets $150 to their FSP!

Winner is Angela (Our Lively Crew)!

3rd place family gets $50 to their FSP!

Winner is Grace Knuth!

Please go HERE to meet the families that you get to vote for and check in on their status! Don't let "your" family fall behind! And don't forget about all these amazing prizes! Have fun!

Giveaway has ended. 1st place prize money went to Jaclyn Mitchell, 2nd place went to Jon and Angela, and 3rd place went to the Knuth family. 

Why International Adoption? Why Special Needs? - Reece's Rainbow Adoption

So a few have asked us why we would want to adopt internationally. There are children right here in the United States who need families after all! And also, why special needs adoption? What makes you feel qualified to parent a child with special needs? These are my thoughts...

The first and most important answer to both questions is; God has set us on this path. Josh and I both feel confident that we have heard God's calling here, and after much prayer, discussion, research and more prayer, we decided to answer that call. It may sound trite, but that's honestly how we feel. Where God is leading, we want to follow!

The second most important answer to both questions is this; He is our son. And our son wasn't born in the United States, and our son just happened to be born with special needs. Period. If he was in the foster care system, we would pursue him there. If he was born in Asia, we would pursue him there. But he currently lives in Eastern Europe and therefor that is where we are going. And as far as his special needs are concerned we feel comfortable with them, and will work hard to help him in any way we can, just as we would with our biological kids. If someone gives birth to a child with special needs, do we take them aside and say, "Now wait a minute, what makes you feel qualified to care for that child? Do you have any experience?" No. Instead we pray for them, offer support, and just be a friend to them!

But here is another reason. First, my disclaimer. Foster care and domestic adoption is super important and is definitely needed. I respect anyone who is a foster parent or who has adopted domestically. EVERY child deserves a family. And every adoptive family is called differently. Some feel pulled to Haiti, some to China, some to Latvia, and some to the good old US of A. If God called us all in the same way, not only would this world be a really boring and uninteresting place, but there would also be a lot of unmet needs out there. All that being said, I have no problem with people wanting to adopt locally or become foster parents, and I hope more do so! It's definitely needed. But God has opened our eyes to the plight of the orphan internationally. Our eyes cannot be shut. Orphaned children in Easter Europe (EE for short) and other countries face a very different reality than those in the United States do.

In the US, children who are given up for adoption, or whose parents are unable to successfully parent them, are placed with foster parents who are trained how to care for them, they receive medical care, counseling and have social workers checking up on them. They have food, clothes, a home and they get to participate in a family unit.

Orphaned children with special needs in EE and many other countries are taken first to what is called a baby house. When I hear the term baby house, I imagine a home filled with loving nannies, rocking babies and shaking rattles. But that image would be false. A baby house is an orphanage for children age 0-5 with rows and rows of cribs where the kids spend the majority (if not ALL) of their time. The room with the smallest babies are often termed the crying rooms. The babies cry and cry and cry until, they learn that their needs are not going to be met, they are not going to get another bottle, they are not going to be rocked or held and they give up. They do not get adequate amounts of food and it is not uncommon to hear of toddlers and even much older children being bottle fed only. Less mess and fuss for the orphanage workers who are unable (or unwilling) to take the time to teach children how to feed themselves. Very often these kids will get only ONE diaper change a day. Many orphans in EE and elsewhere do not have language. This is not usually because of their special needs, but is because they are simply not spoken to. Many orphanages do not have any toys. Others have lots of toys, but do not allow the children to play with them unless an adoptive family is coming for a visit. Mostly these babies and young children spend their days laying or pacing in their cribs.

And what happens after the baby house? Transfer. Transfer is an ugly word in the adoption community. Little ones with special needs who are not adopted by age 5 (usually age 5, sometimes as early as age 4, sometimes a little later) are sent to an ADULT mental institution. The baby houses are Disneyland compared to these dark, despair filled institutions. Here, they get even less attention, less food, are often drugged constantly to keep them quiet and docile, their heads are shaved (both boys and girls), and they are often beaten and abused. A very sad yet real statistic is that about 85% of children transferred out of the baby house will die within the first year. In the baby house there is at least a glimmer of hope that they might be chosen, a family might come for them. In the adult mental institutions, all hope is lost. Take a look at these faces. The before pictures are when they still resided in the baby houses. After photos are after transfer.

 Sweet little Sonny lost his beautiful hair and the twinkle in his eye.

Kolya breaks my heart. Look how his charming smile has become a hardened frown.

 

Poor little Donovan is wasting away...

 

Darling Holden has clearly been mistreated...

 

And precious Ksenia...there are no words. 

And here is the memorial page on Reece's Rainbow. Many of these children had families coming for them. 

These are real children. And their reality is unfathomable. We cannot stomach the thought of our boy ever having to set foot in an institution. So we are working hard to raise the ransom needed. This is why we are going. For God. For our son. And for love. Please consider helping us bring our little one home...

Next post I will show a very different kind of before and after photo. Stay Tuned. And just a reminder that all contributions will added to our Guardian Angel wall. I will soon be posting a picture of what we have so far.

It's been a while! - Reece's Rainbow Baby Shower Update

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged! I've been very busy preparing for Christmas and also for Kaisa's arrival. Only a few weeks left!

I thought I'd give an update on my highly successful baby shower last month! I was worried that not many people would be able to make it on such short notice, but the party was hoppin'! I don't think another body would have fit in my friend Laura's house! Not comfortably at least. Three lovely ladies who are very special to me, Laura, Sara and Talia, worked together to make Kaisa's baby shower truly special. It was amazing to me how you 3, and everyone else who participated, were able to not only celebrate Kaisa's life, and make me feel oh so loved, but also bless 2 little orphans in the process! I'd call that a success, wouldn't you?! Before the shower Marnie's adoption grant on Reece's Rainbow read $306. After we sent in all your donations (along with online donations sent in) her grant read $437.50! Before the shower Samuel's adoption grant stood at $157. Afterward he now has $306.50! I find that completely amazing, and I am so thankful to all of you who were able to give. Look at how God took a small group of people and multiplied their pennies to bless these two precious ones. It never fails to amaze me how God does that! We often think we have so little to give, what is the point? But I think we are actually missing the point entirely. God actually calls believers to give generously to those in need, to defend the cause of the widow and the orphan, to embrace the little children and not hinder them... and even if we have very little in the way of money to give, God can use it! He can multiply it! Just like Jesus did with the loaves and fishes:

Matthew 14:14-21

¹⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

This same story is retold in John 6, and there it says the loaves and fishes were a small boys lunch, but he gladly handed it over to the disciples. One child gave sacrificially and Jesus used his gift to bless more than 5,000 people. And had 12 baskets of leftovers! I think we could all do well to remember that God takes our small gifts, and multiplies them. This also brings to mind these verses:

Mark 12:41-44

⁴¹ And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.^{[a] 43} And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

The Lord knows our circumstances, He knows whether we give out of plenty or out of poverty, and he blesses our gifts, donations, and tithes accordingly.

All that to say that I am so grateful for the generosity of all of you! You showed the love and generous spirit of Christ to me and to the "least of these", my sweet prayer warrior kiddos, Marnie and Samuel. Thank you all!

Please also continue to pray for them to find a family soon! The fact that they will spend another Christmas in an orphanage is heart breaking. I pray that by next Christmas they will be home with their forever families! For those who would like to see their beautiful faces again and read their profiles, here are their links:

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

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

And for fun here are a few pictures from the shower! These are all from my sister in law Talia, I didn't take any myself. If any of you have cute pictures from the shower on your camera or phone, please share!

[caption id="attachment_105" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Me after a shower game, where someone would say something about how we met, or something nice about me and then decorate me with a sticker or bow. :)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_106" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Another fun shower game where you have to draw a picture of a baby on a paper plate that is on top of your head![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_107" align="aligncenter" width="610"] My awesome sister in law and mother in law playing the paper plate game.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_108" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Debbie's (Mother in law) plate on the left. Talia's (sister in law) on right. Hehe.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_109" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Cana thoroughly enjoying her cupcake. Apparently she had 3.[/caption]

My favorite keepsake from the shower:

[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Filled out with help from Aunt Talia. I will keep this forever![/caption]



Several other guests filled out wishes for Kaisa, and I cried when I read them. They are all so sweet and beautiful. We will treasure them always! Thank you everyone!

Nature Exploration

My kids enjoy exploring nature, and I am continually impressed with what they discover in our own backyard! When rummaging around in the raspberry patch, scavenging for the last few berries of the season, Loyal discovered a large slug (he is always finding slugs!) and Cana found a snail! I've never seen a snail that large that wasn't contained in an aquarium of some sort! They corralled them into the kiddie pool and spent a long time observing them. Cana even drew them in her nature journal. Here are a few pictures of our little morning adventure in the backyard.

[caption id="attachment_38" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Contemplative[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_39" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Curious[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_40" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Judah brought a snack along for the show.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_41" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Ah, the simple wonder of childhood discovery.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_42" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] I must confess, I was pretty impressed with the snail myself![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_43" align="aligncenter" width="764"] On the move.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_44" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Up close and personal.[/caption]

My kids are never bored in our modest backyard. God's creation abounds! Thank you for the visit slithering creatures!

Us

This is us! The Parents; Josh and Chelsea. And the kiddos; Judah, Loyal and Cana.