A Forgotten Pretty Face

Over the the last couple of years or so I have watched one particular child wait and wait.
This is somewhat understandable for me, simply because she is an Asian beauty and almost all of them look similar in ways, but not her.. at least not for me.  There has always been something incredibly special about this one little girl, Fern.

She's unique.  Precious.  And well deserving of a wonderful family that will tend to her every need.  
Oh!  By the way..did I mention she's been an orphan her entire life?  Yeah, you read correctly.   This little girl has never known real love.  She has never been held and hugged, told she is a priceless little gem. 

Fern is a diamond in the rough.  Her hair has continuously been shaven, instead being grown out into gorgeous long locks of silky black hair. She's always been dressed in mismatched clothing.  She's never been properly cared for.  No one has ever been there to guide her, to walk with her through these precious first years of life. The things we all took for granted as young children, she has never felt or known.  

 Read this from an adopting mother that actually met Fern:

 "Let me start by saying my heart broke for this little one. She is unable to sit up or feed herself. She cannot walk. She was brought to me in the crib. She smiled when I spoke to her and she grabbed my hand when I placed mine in hers. She laughed when we tickled her and she seemed to enjoy my attention. The nannies say she can smile and laugh when tickled. She can chew and swallow food. She has a familiar caretaker and smiles when she is with her. She is described as a very content child. She is easy going."

...She is wasting away in an orphanage.  Her most wonderful toddler years have been spent rotting with no one that can give her a motherly love that she so desperately needs to help grow.
I want so much to lift her into my arms and tell her how adorable she looks, kiss those chubby cheeks and tickle her tummy just to watch her giggle.  She needs that.  She needs someone to care for her.


I get it!  Not all of us can hop on the adoption bus today and snatch her, but hear this: You  don't have to adopt to help!  Take it from someone who has spent four years advocating, praying and watching God perform miracles in each little one's life.
Prayer is powerful and you have the power to do that anywhere at anytime.  Take advantage of that and say a daily prayer for not just Fern, but all the many orphans in this world.  Whether you believe it or not, you are making a big difference. The Creator of the universe is listening to your prayers and will do what He knows is best. 
Unless someone has handed you a print-out copy of this post, then you have the power to share this and other orphan related things right now.  Copy the link and paste it onto your Twitter, Facebook, email and virtually anywhere.  Hashtag the heck out of it with things like #orphan #help #makeachange #pray #retweet #share...it helps!  You never know when someone that is following you on social media is the future mother or/and father of the orphan you're sharing. 
Almost every child listed on Reece's Rainbow has a donation button setup on their profile.  Through that you are able to make a donation towards that child's adoption grant.  Which makes a HUGE difference.  There are so many wonderful stories I could sit here and tell you about families who expressed how helpful the adoption grants are to their adoption process.  Since international adoption can cost anywhere from $14,000-$50,000.  Not so cheap, right?

Baby Fern..(SO CUTE)

Fern is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to overlooked orphans.  There are 147 MILLION orphans in our world today.  147 children that need a voice.  You can be their voice.  Speak up for those who can't speak.  Close your eyes and just put yourself in an orphans shoes, you would want someone to speak for you, wouldn't you?  And what words would you want someone to say, to save your life?  Think about those questions today. 

Fern needs a family.  She's 4 years old.  She doesn't need to wait any longer!  Share this post! Retweet, screen shot it for Instagram and hashtag is like wild!  She needs out!  And you can help! :)

If you would like to make a donation and read more information about Fern please click this link.


Thank you for reading and please don't hesitate to comment or email me with any questions you have!  And even comment and tell me about how you helped an orphan (It can be Fern too.. ;) ), I would LOVE to hear your stories.

.

5 Ways to Make a Connection with an Orphan

I've been thinking of ways to reach out to people that have an interest in becoming a warrior for an orphan with Down syndrome and other special needs.   As I was telling my best friend earlier, I tend to assume everyone already knows all the tips and tricks when it comes to advocating, mostly because the people I talk to on a daily bases advocate for orphans.  But I forget that so many people are uneducated and don't even know where to begin when it comes down to advocating/being a prayer warrior for a child.  And maybe there are some advocates out there that would really like to get a closer connection with their orphan.   So I thought that this might be a nice post to share some of the ways I've made connections with my orphan(s) in the past. :)


1.  Write Letters to them.

This one with either sound completely crazy to you or something you've done or heard about a hundred time before, but it's SO true!  Especially if you have a blog for the child you advocate for.  You'll find out quickly that you run out of things to post about on that one child you get little to no new information about.  And that's not a bad thing, in fact it's completely normal.  Trust me, I'm friends with lots of advocates and we've all discussed having this issue before, you're not alone! 
Writing letters will give your readers an insight on how you love and care for the child you're advocating for.  But the main reason I recommend doing this is because you will truly build a strong bond with this child when writing out your love and feelings for them!  They can't hear or read it in the moment, but when their forever family finds them you will have those letters to send them one day.  It shows just how loved and thought about they were when they thought no one was there for them. 

2. Print their Picture(s)!

My best friend, Alyssa and I have always printed out our child's photograph(s) and put them all over the house!  Why not?  Every single time you see their photo you automatically think of them and where they're at right now in life, which leads me to pray for them a lot more often than I would without the photographs.   This is a HUGE way for me to make a connection with a child!  I love seeing their photos everywhere.  And as Alyssa said, it makes everything seem so real.  They aren't just a virtual photo anymore, they're actually something you can hold and hang in different places!

 

This photo above is Alyssa's kiddos.  She has them hanging above her desk <3

 

When I advocated for Mick (who is officially home) I hung his photo in a shadow box frame above my bed. I woke up to his precious face every day.   This is a wonderful thing to do!  You just HAVE to! :)


3.  Give a Nickname

I naturally give the kids I advocate for nicknames.  I don't usually even have to think about giving the child a nickname in most cases, I just start calling them something and it sticks.   To me it makes them feel more personable.  Since you can't get to know them physically, all you have is that one photo and maybe even JUST a description of them to go on, take advantage and count it as a blessing to have whatever you have about them!  Study it in detail and then something will pop up that you will just know is "the" name. ;)   This really helps build that connection you're looking for! 

4. Create a Theme

Just like a mama makes a theme for her child's nursery or room, you should create a theme for your orphan advocating process!  Especially if you have a blog!  Make a fun theme that you think fits the child you're advocating for!  Whether it be Hello Kitty, Winnie the Pooh,  jungle theme, ocean theme or whatever just give it a try!  It also makes everything feel a little more personable I feel. :)  


5. Make a Keepsake Box

Our human nature usually tends to lean more to the doubtful side of things, but I encourage you to step outside of that comfort zone!  Don't think that the child you are advocating for *may* never find their family.  Don't doubt!  Doubt will be your enemy in advocating, always think positive and pray hard! Trust that the Lord will provide that precious little one with their perfect forever family!  Don't doubt.  Instead go buy a special box and little by little fill it with little special things that you feel fits the child.  Their mama and daddy may not have found them yet, but this is your time to prove one day to the orphan that YOU CARED and that YOU LOVED them before they were "found".  
You can don't have to buy everything, in fact you can make it all!  It's your keepsake box to make!

Get a little stuffed animal (make it go along with the theme you have for their advocating process like suggested in step 4) fill it with books that remind you of the child.  Write letters and stick them in the box too.  I even get the kids birthday cards and put them in the keepsake box.  They're going to get ALL of these things one day because when their family finds them you will send this keepsake box to the family. 
This is is a lovely and valuable way to make that connection stronger. <3 :)

And there you have it!  My 5 ways of building a special connection with a child (orphan) you advocate and pray for.  This isn't by any means the way you *have* to do it, but simply the ways I recommend trying.  If you don't have "that" connection it's harder to do anything for that child.  Trust me, I know.  I'm hoping that these suggestions and ideas will help you like they've helped me. :)


Thank you for reading feel free to follow or subscribe so you can keep up to date with my journey in advocating for "my" three cuties, Joe, Talia and Fern. <3

 

Gettin' Crafty...(Maybe)

It's funny how your whole life you're the same person, but not really.  I mean, I'm not exactly the same spunky eleven year old I once was.   And I'm not certainly not the same girl I was when I was thirteen.  Granted that I was never a wild child and did outrageous things, I'm still not the "same girl" I was.  But everyone goes through this.  When I was little my grandma tried over and over again to get me into sewing, but that was something I knew I never wanted to do.   It wasn't the "cool" thing when you're like ten.  It just wasn't.   I thought sewing was for old people.  It wasn't near as much fun as jumping into her swimming pool, riding a scooter or walking around the neighborhood.  Why would anyone even need to know how to sew?  There were plenty of everything we needed in our local Wal-mart.

However.  I have changed my mind over the last couple of years.
Now as an eighteen year old young woman, I find myself understanding why people do the things they do.  I think a lot about how I want my children to be raised and the kind of wife I want to be for my future unknown husband.  I'm learning more about what's really important in life and that I need to make good use of my time.
And I've even uncovered that I have a desire in my heart to become a little bit more..crafty.  

Silly little me, people don't sew because there isn't enough of clothes, and whatnot to go around, but because it gives them joy.   It gives someone the feeling of accomplishment and being proud of their own creation.

I remember a lot of how you sew, mostly because for the last two or three years I have been doing a little bit of sewing.  My grandma gave my sisters and I sewing kits one Christmas then later on taught us a few easy sewing projects.   

I love the feeling you get when you actually *make* a present for someone.  And I absolutely love the feeling of getting a gift that someone made just for me.  It makes it so much more special!   With a little advice and help along the way, I have decided that I will attempt to make one of my child's keepsake...on my own. I've yet to master the skills of using a sewing machine so I will be doing this by hand (which by the way, my grandma said was the best thing to do with this little project)  

I'm going to be making a little security blanket for one of "my" three chickadees!  
Now...take a look at the fabric and try to think of who this would be for! :) 

 

Pretty ribbon,

I tried so hard to make it all match up.

After seeing the fabric has a pretty butterfly pattern you must have guessed it isn't for little Joey. Correct. It isn't for him, or at least not this one. ;)

That narrows it down to Fern and Talia.  

If you guessed Talia, you're right!  This cute fabric reminds me of her spunky cute facial expressions.  I've also been told that it *might* be possible to send her a care package also, so I didn't want to wait! :)   I plan on making something for each sweet child of "mine" eventually, but Talia just happens to be the first to get something made for her.  Please be praying she finds her forever family soon!  I worry so much about each child I advocate for, but Talia makes me worry a little bit more.  She's so medically fragile and tiny, it breaks my heart.  I would adopt her as my daughter in a heartbeat if it were possible.  But to any family interested in adopting her, I will gladly become your family warrior!  I have every intention to help bring her home! <3

I'm pretty sad and pathetic when it comes to sewing (or anything crafty related...) so bare with me as I attempt to sew a very special security blanket. 

I will most defiantly be posting updates!  So be sure to follow or subscribe so you can see it. :)

Thank you for reading and I hope that you will stick around and learn more about "my" three cuties. :) 

(There's a tab page you can find above ^) 

 Click here to visit Talia's listing on RR or make a donation to her adoption grant. :)