Inquiring Minds

My daughters and I were at the mall the other day when out of the blue my youngest daughter Kennedy asked me why some people are birthed and some are adopted. She always waits until we are in a public place to ask these questions. I told her that I would answer her as soon we got back to the car. We hadn't been in the car two seconds when she said "mom, remember???" Of course I do.
Of course every answer I gave her turned into another question. I tried to explain that we are all born or "birthed" as she put it. This lead to more questions. I felt like I was being interrogated by the Secret Service!

Then she told me she was tired of being the baby and could we get baby sister from Vietnam? Can I have a snack? a drink? May I get some new flip flops?  Can we go swimming? Can we watch a movie? Why would the store charge $34 for a shirt? Do they think people are rich?
Honestly, there are days I want to pull my hair out! Then I look at this little one that God brought into our lives a little over four years ago and I can't imagine life without her. On the bright side she is keeping my brain very active!

Coming Home!

I have been waiting to say this for four years...Our Marine will be home in about 13 days! He left home at 18 after he graduated high school to become a Marine. He will come home 22 years old. The past four years we have written, text, emailed or skyped when he could. And he has come home on leave a few times.  But the reality is he has been gone four years and we have missed out on a lot.
I will never forget when he told me he wanted to join the Marines. He was a junior in high school and wanted me to sign some paper that said he could enlist right after high school or something like that. I was so against him joining,  I wasn't going to sign anything!
When he was a Senior he came to me and said "mom in a few months I will turn 18 and graduate within a couple of days of each other and I am going to join the Marines with or without your blessings. I would rather have your blessings."
A few days later I was driving to work, praying and asking God for guidance in this situation. This was my baby boy and the thought of him leaving to fight and possibly die, well, I just couldn't deal with it. So there I am sitting in my car when I heard a voice say "Elaine, give him your blessings and I'll take care of him." I almost wrecked my car! I looked at my radio, it was off. I looked in my rear view mirror, no one was there. Then I heard it again. "Elaine, give him your blessings and I;ll take care of him." All of the sudden this peace came over me and I realized I had just heard God! I couldn't wait to go home that evening and tell Dustin that he had my blessings! And when I did he smiled gave me a big hug a kiss on the cheek and said "that's all I ever wanted mom."
The day we took him to the recruiters office was not easy...at all. When we pulled away the dam burst! I felt like my heart was breaking. I reminded myself of Gods promise and that made it a little easier. He went through some rough times but he persevered. Four years have passed and now he is coming home...for good! We are grateful for everyone who prayed for Dustin. I am grateful for a God who keeps His promises!

On leave!

Waiting for Dustin to come home for Christmas

Buses taking them to their planes for deployment

  

Skyping

Home from Iraq!



Ashley his sweet girlfriend! I know she can't wait for him to get home!



Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

America

I was watching ESPN with my husband the other night. They were talking about a salary dispute and how some player was only going to get like 20 million instead of some other crazy amount of money to play ball. I can't tell you how badly that upsets me! Seriously? We have people starving in America, not able to afford our outrageous insurance premiums so they can go to the doctor and we idolize a sports figure so much that they get paid millions of dollars a year to play a sport.
My youngest son is a Marine and he makes close to poverty level. On top of that he HAS to have a couple of 100 dollars a month taken out of his check for the chow hall weather he eats there or not. And he has to pay for other things I think the military should provide for them. Not just him all our men and women who serve in the military. Why? because America is broke! We can't provide for our men and women who choose to fight and die for our freedom but we can sure pay an actor or sports figure or a CEO millions of dollars every year because that is how as Americans we base our priorities. We pay ridiculous amounts of money to go to ballgames, movies and buy all the products that they sell so they keep jacking up the prices.
See, those actors and sports figures are thrown in our face 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But those who fight and die for our freedom, the unsung hero's are pushed way down the priority pole. Oh sure once in a while like Memorial Day, Veterans Day the 4th of July we will see a TV special to remind us they are still out there. And if the President or some higher up decides to visit them at a base or wherever in the world the are fighting to give them a 'atta boy' you will see them on the news. But how often are we reminded everyday that there ARE men and women fighting to keep America free? They are the ones who should be paid millions of dollars a year because without them you wouldn't have your actors, sports stars, freedom of speech (don't get me gong on that one!) freedom of religion and everything else we take for granted every single day of our lives.that we do every day.
My prayer is that America gets back in to the grace of the one true God. Our God is a gentleman. If He is not invited He will not show up. We have used our freedom we have to push Him out of our schools, our government, our homes and out of America. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look back and see how America has gone down hill since we began pushing God out.It is what it is.
 Yes, we have the freedom to choose our religion and the freedom to believe or not believe in God. And we have the freedom to do whatever we LEGALLY want to do. So why don't we as Americans stand up and do what's right? We have men and women fighting and dying every day for us. As I type this somewhere in a war zone there is a young man who just graduated from High School and he is scared! But he will not let any of the men he is fighting with know this. Truth is they are all scared, who wouldn't be. But they are doing all of this for America. They are doing this for you and for me.
We have been blessed, our son will soon be coming home for good! Sadly, there areto many families who can't say that. To those who have lost anyone in war or because of war I am so sorry for your loss. My heart breaks for you.  I can't even begin to imagine the heartache and loss you feel. I know it doesn't make the pain less but I want to say to you that myself and many others are humbled and grateful that your loved one fought for our freedom. We will never take it for granted!
God Bless those who fight for us and may God Bless America! 

 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
    Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.   Joshua 1:5-6

Our newest blessing!

Grand babies are amazing! This is #5 our newest blessing, Jameson!

Show them that they matter!

So my beautiful daughter comes home from Ethiopia last week. First, thank you God for protecting her and the teams that traveled.
She hands me a folder and I open it up and see updates of our 38  kids that have been waiting for over a year for a sponsor. Then I see numbers and pictures that don't look familiar to me at all. I keep reading and reality hits, she has sent me information on 45 new kids who need sponsors. I could tell a big lie right now and say that my first response was Yea!!! But like I said it would be a big fat lie. I thought "God I can't find sponsors for the 38 kids who have been waiting. What do you expect me to do now?" Yes, it's OK to tell God your overwhelmed and want to know what He's thinking. Seriously, I was almost in tears. Overwhelmed is a nice word to describe what I was feeling.

As I was waiting on His answer I decided to look through the information and pictures. And there laying before me in the pile of papers and pictures was His answer. These helpless ones, these hungry ones, these lonely ones,these scared ones, these forgotten ones, "these"  need a voice in this world. Now you can sit there and feel "overwhelmed" and use words like me and I or do something about it.
It's is so easy to forget about the "least of these" when we sit in our nice homes, have food, a car, go to school or work. I'm not talking about being well off, I 'm talking about the necessities of life to survive. Shelter, food & water. These kids don't have that. If their fortunate enough they live in a leaky shack at least it's some protection. They usually have no food or water. They desire to go to school but can't afford to. They don't want to beg for food, they do have their dignity, but they do what they have to do so they can survive. There is no "plan" for tomorrow in their lives, survival is one day at a time.
It isn't always fun or easy or comfortable when God calls you to serve Him, which by the way if you proclaim to be a Christian then you have been called to serve Him, but I promise you nothing in the world can bless you like stepping out of that box and doing for others.
So how will these 83 kids find sponsors who believe they are worth the $30 a month it cost to change their lives? Honestly, I don't know but this I know for sure we serve a BIG GOD and if we keep the faith and do our part then He will do His.

Jordan with some of our sponsor kids.

God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

8 year old boy has a home!

The 8 year old boy who was waiting to be adopted has found his forever family! God is good!
Now let's find Sadie a home!

Two precious kids waiting for thier forever families

I usually post this information on Hug Aways blog http://www.stillwait.blogspot.com/ but we need to find families for these precious ones as soon as possible!



Sadie

We only have Sadie's file for a few more weeks and then she goes back to the shared list where she may get lost among all the waiting children and forgotten--especially because she is an older child. She CAN move her legs and can move on her knees or with her wheelchair. She wants to be adopted so badly. I have many new photos of her. Please, won't you consider giving her a home!!!!
Sadie is one of the happiest little girls I have read about. She is post-operative for a cleft spine. She cannot walk at this time and we do not know if anything can be done for this but she desperately needs a home and soon. Sadie's caretakers say the following about her:
Sadie is 9 years old, she is pretty and clever, polite, and outgoing. All aunts and children in institute like her very much. Though she can’t walk, she can take care of herself without help. She isn’t dependent on other’s help. Every day she will sit on the children swing car happily and walk by it. She can put on clothes, have a meal, and make her bed without help every day. Because of her urinary and fecal incontinence, she often go to toilet to change paper diapers by the swing car without help, after that, she will wash her hands. Now she is studying in the Rehabilitation Center in this institute. She has mastered Chinese and Math of grade one, and her scores are always in the first in the class. In life she likes to learning English, sing and draw very much in particular, she likes to hear the story. She always asks the teacher to tell a story in the spare time, and then she will tell the story heard to the young sisters and brothers in the same room after leaving school; so the children in the same room all like her and are dependent on her very much.

Won't you please consider adding this delightful child to your family?

Singles - please note that you may not be more than 50 years of age. You may not have more than two children and the youngest must be six years of age or older.

Grant funding in the amount of $2500 is available for qualifying families.

For more information please contact Kathy@wiaa.org. You will be asked to complete a parent eligibility form before any information about the child is released.

I have information on a 8 year old boy who needs his forever family to bring him home. This is a domestic adoption. For more information email me at: hugawayfoundation@cox.net Please send anyone you know who might truly be interested in adopting one of these precious ones to my blog. Help spread the word!