living life in a different country, different culture, different experiences; being different
… a fellow orphan advocate hit on the wonderful idea of writing stories for the orphans we advocate for; writing stories of how it could be if they had a family…
i was so excited about it, i volunteered to go first.
So please head over to An Orphans’ Dream – Stories of What Could Be and read Wesley’s Story.
syc
First order of business is to say THANK YOU to all our very generous donors. We have raised US$460 in a week. Thank you very much for caring about Maya Grace enough to contribute to the Campbells’ adoption grant.
Second, THANK YOU to everyone who has shared this post and giveaway. Visibility and building awareness is half the work.
Although we raised only a small part of the US$5400 the Campbells needed, it is still a good amount and would go some way to help them defray those costly travel expenses. And while i know that many have contributed and shared, only a handful have actually commented and made their efforts and generosity known. So my third THANK YOU goes out to those anonymous donors and advocates.
Now onto the winners:
Winner of the Semi-Precious Bracelet is Beth Baird.
Winner of the Stamped 1″ Silver Disc is Kathy Wiehl.
i will be contacting the winners via Facebook message.
Once again, Thanks to everyone who made this Giveaway a success.
Please keep the Campbell family in your prayers as they travel today to go pick Maya Grace up. Pray for safe travels within country as well as for all paperwork to go smoothly and quickly. Pray also for them all to stay healthy.
If you have missed the Giveaway but have been led to give towards this adoption, please do. It is never too late to give. Go here to donate directly to the Campbells’ FSP (Family Sponsorship Page).
You can also keep up with them as they travel on their blog. i’m not sure how much access they will have but i know they will update whenever they can.
So excited for them to start to the new year together as a family of 5.
syc
Just very recently, i read a beautiful statement over at Make Something Beautiful:
What makes a family–a family??? Is it blood? Is it marriage? Is it friendships so strong…what is it exactly? Well, it can be a lot of different things that MAKE a family…and at the core of each of them–it’s always LOVE.
Yes it is indeed true. Love makes a family and a family is made to give love.
i have seen that so clearly as we have spent the last 10 years living away from our home country. We have made for ourselves a family here – the friends and neighbours we have come to know and love. And in the recent few years, the many international students we have had the privilege to befriend and sort of play host to. We have become their family – a family away from home. We care for each of them and do try to stay in touch and involved in their lives even after they leave because we love them; they have become family.
i have online families too. Most recently and most prominent at the moment is my RR (Reece’s Rainbow) family. i may never have and may never get to meet many of these families i pray for and these orphans i cry out for and all my fellow-advocates but they have become family. i love them and want the best for all of them.
i want the best for Sophia too, an orphan with Down Syndrome, living in an orphanage, likely facing life in an adult mental institution as she has no family.
Sophia was not chosen by her birth family to remain with them. Why? We may never know. But what is important is that this Christmas Sophia comes to know that love truly does make a family. She needs to be shown that people do care for her and love her. You and i can become the family she never gets to meet. You and i can pray for her; pray for her daily needs and for her forever family to come and bring her into the loving folds of a family. You and i can share her story so that her family might spot her sooner and come bring her home.
She has a virtual family member working hard for her now – her Angel Tree Warrior, working to raise awareness for her and to raise her adoption grant. Go over to My Journey Through Life and have a read.
You and i can also make a contribution to her adoption grant so that it would make her forever family’s journey to her easier. You can donate by clicking on her name or picture. If you make a contribution of US$35 or more, you will be given a lovely Christmas Ornament with Sophia‘s picture for your tree.
Do go over to Make Something Beautiful!: What makes a family? and read the very lovely post which inspired me.
Thank you.
syc
trippingdifferently 