Not Limited…

i read this amazing article about a family with 4 children with albinism; that’s right 4 out of their 6 children (including an adopted daughter) have the condition. But that in no way limited them in life and successes.

Their oldest, who was declared legally blind at birth, has beaten the odds and now is married, a mother of 2 and a successful photographer! All because she had parents who believed in her, who supported her, who loved her, who was able to get her the medical treatments she needed.

All their children have not let their disability stop them or even slow them down. Their mother’s motto is :

‘Your only handicap is the limit you put on yourself,’ … ‘You can accomplish great things if you put your mind to it.’

i wish for my sweet Wesley to have that kind of mother, that supportive family and all those opportunities and medical treatments which would enable him to get the most out of life and to show the world everything he is capable of doing!

My sweet Wesley thanks you for your very generous contributions to his adoption grant.
Help sweet Wesley find his forever family. Help him grow his adoption grant.

TODAY is my sweet WESLEY’s DAY on Forty to Forever, the Lent Fundraiser and Journey i am a part of. The aim is to give Wesley as much visibility (no pun intended) as possible and to raise at least US$400 for his adoption grant.

Didn’t i just raise money for him in November? Yes i did! Why do i keep raising money for him?

Because he has only 17 months to find a family! In August 2014, he will turn 14 and then become un-adoptable!

So what has money got to do with it? Well, in the country where he is in, he will have little to no chance of getting a family because he is already 12 years old and because his condition is not socially acceptable there. He sticks out like a sore thumb because of his fair skin, white hair and vision problems. So international adoption would be the way for him to have a chance at a family. BUT international adoptions are very expensive! There is a whole ton of paperwork to do and pay for, medical exams, travel expenses and compulsory donations to the orphanage, costing US$30,000 and up.

My hope and prayer is that if his adoption grant has a bit more, then his forever family would not be deterred by a lack of funds and also it would help them race through the process to get him without worrying extra over fundraising. It is indeed a race against time to reach him before August 2014.

Now i’m know i’m not going to be able to raise that US$30,000 for him overnight (although i know God can if that is God’s plan, for His Glory). But every little bit counts.

So would you please help? Please go over to Forty to Forever and give whatever you feel led to. There is also a fabulous giveaway you can enter with 40 different great items to choose from. See here for giveaway details.

Please also share this post far and wide so that we can truly give sweet Wesley the best chance of finding a forever family! You can read Wesley’s profile on Reece’s Rainbow here.

Thank you so very much.

syc

Tomorrow – Friday 15th March…

Yep, tomorrow is the 15th of March, Friday… and it is significant!

Sweet Wesley has been waiting so very long for his forever family.
Sweet Wesley has been waiting so very long for his forever family.

Because tomorrow is Wesley’s day on Forty to Forever, a Lent Journey and Fundraiser, which aims to raise US$20,000 for 40 orphans over the Lent period.

You can read more about the Forty to Forever project here.

You can read more about Wesley here or you can simply put in a search for Wesley on my blog and read all my posts about him.

Please please COME BACK again TOMORROW to see how you can take part and help Wesley reach out to his forever family!

Thanks so very much.

syc

Warm Thoughts… New Things…

i had already planned to write this post a week ago when the warmer weather (above 10 degrees Celsius) came around. But other things came up and now temps have dropped again… today we are down to 1… so i want to think some warm thoughts in hopes of hurrying Spring on. The second reason is that i sit here at the computer with my right ankle slightly throbbing… why? Cos i twisted my foot this morning at Zumba class now i want to cheer myself up, thinking of various new things we have gotten over the last month or so.

First up SPRING! Yep, there are signs of Spring everywhere now, even as temps have headed downwards this week. See these lovely buds from the tree downstairs?

This photo is a week old so these buds have now pushed through and would start truly blooming soon...
This photo is a week old so these buds have now pushed through and would start truly blooming soon…

We also saw some wild Spring flowers and Snow Drops. i didn’t get a picture but you can see it on my Spring post last year.

Second, i got a new phone about 6 weeks ago! No more irritating messages about not enough memory! It had gotten so bad that i was constantly deleting stuff and messages so i had space just to receive SMS. No i didn’t get the absolute latest model, just the one which was cheap and suited my needs 😉

i went from a Samsung Galaxy Ace to a SIII Mini...
i went from a Samsung Galaxy Ace to a SIII Mini…

Third, a new washing machine in the building! That’s right the old one, which i think is at least 15 years old if not older, finally handed in its resignation. We went almost 3 weeks without a washing machine. No, of course we did the wash. i just had to run around to the next blocks to find a free machine to use.

i like it's shiny silver buttons and flashing blue lights... hahahha... yes it washes good too...
i like it’s shiny silver buttons and flashing blue lights… hahahha… yes it washes good too…

Fourth, Tobias got a new violin! He had grown so much over the last 5 months that his teacher recommended he upgrade from a quarter-size to a half-size. When i made the appointment at the violin shop, the lady was very surprised that he needed to switch so fast. But he really did need a bigger one. He also got a shoulder rest which has helped with his posture when playing.

This new one is a rich dark orange-red-brown colour... his teacher thinks this sounds great but i miss the sound of his old one... still it is a good violin...
This new one is a rich dark orange-red-brown colour… his teacher thinks this sounds great but i miss the sound of his old one… still it is a good violin…

If you want to compare the two violins, see this post and this post for picture of previous violin.

So now that i have shared warm thoughts and new things, i hope you would share yours too.

syc