This week is the last week of sharing the kids from orphanage 42. This week is Presley's week. As always, you can click on his name to see his profile.
Just look at this little cutie pie! Presley is 4 years old and he has leukemia. Here are a couple pictures of him.
Just look at his smile! Doesn't it just melt your heart? He looks so cute!
To be perfectly honest, I don't know that much about leukemia. I do know that it is a type of cancer, but please don't let that scare you away from him. There is a treatment (or treatments) for him.
Please pray that a loving family will adopt Presley. Also pray that Ivan, Darina, Chase, and Haven from orphanage 42 will be adopted by loving families.
I feel so bad for Carolina. Today I just found out that she was taken to an institution. It doesn't feel good to hear that a child you have been advocating for has been transferred to an institution.
But, there is still hope for her. Even though she was taken to an institution, she can still be adopted. My hope and prayer is that someone will get her as soon as possible. She needs that smile on her face instead of a frown. She needs to laugh and play like other children do. Most of all, she needs a mommy and daddy to love on her and take care of her.
Please, someone go and get this little girl out of the institution!
Please pray for Carolina and the other children on Reece's Rainbow.
This little girl is Marla. She is 5 years old and she has CP. I put her on my first blog post, but I never really talked about her. You can click on her name to see her profile.
Marla is in serious need of a family. Now when I say serious, I mean serious. She is facing transfer to an institution very soon, and I mean very soon. Here is a more recent picture of her.
These pictures just break my heart. Even before her profile was updated with this picture my heart was broken. She's so thin, and she doesn't need to be. She needs to be loved on and cared for by her mommy and daddy. She does not need to spend the rest of her life in an institution.
Mommy? Daddy? Where are you?
This is a desperate cry from a little girl who needs our help. From the bottom of my heart, I am asking for your help. Pray for her, advocate for her, help raise money for her account, and, if God is calling you to do it, adopt her. She needs our help desperately.
This verse in Matthew really stood out to me today. I would like to share it with you.
This is part of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.
Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
What is the first thing you think about after you read those verses? How do you feel after you read those verses? Do you feel reassured? Do you feel peace? I hope so.
The first thing I thought of after I read those verses was the little girl named Gabby. When she didn't have a family and was about to go into the institution, I was worried about her. I prayed and asked God if she could be on MFFM in five days or less. Sure enough, a few minutes later I look on MFFM and I see her on it! God is so good! He sure does know our needs even before we ask him! That how much He loves us!
Jesus knows that we worry about things. What are you worried about today? Are you worried about finances? Are you worried about trying to find a job? Are you worried about losing your job? Let God give you the peace and reassurance you need. He knows our needs, and He can help meet those needs if you will just ask Him.
Matthew 7:7-8
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
If you are worried about something, remember that God will always take care of you. And, if someone you know is worried about something, remind them today that God will always take care of them. : )
This little boy is Asher. He is 3 years old with CP. His profile says he has retinopathy and he also has spastic low paraparesis. You can click on his name to see his profile.
Oh, just look at how adorable this little boy is! If I was old enough to adopt, and Darina was adopted by another family, I would go and adopt him in a heartbeat! I wish I could pick him up and cuddle with him! He just looks so cute and adorable! He needs a mommy to cuddle with him and a daddy to play with him.
Could you be his mommy and daddy?
Please pray for him and for the other children on Reece's Rainbow.
Today starts the second week of sharing the kids from orphanage 42. This week is Darina's week.
Her profile says that she struggles with CP. You can click on her name to see her profile.
When she turns 5 years old she will be taken to an institution if she is not adopted. I keep praying that will never happen and that she will be in the arms of her mommy and daddy one day.
Last night my mom and I watched the movie Courageous. If you have never seen this movie, I would definitely recommend it. It's amazing. The main point of the movie is about being a father in your family. Not only that, but being a God loving father, spending time with your children, and teaching your children Godly principles.
Here is the first scene of the movie.
Fathers, wouldn't you do the same for your child? What about a child in another country? The man in the movie held on to the wheel as tight as he could to save his child. Even though he was being beaten by the guy in the drivers seat, he still held on.
What about Jesus? What did he do to save us? Wasn't he beaten, whipped, and nailed onto the cross to save us? He could have said, "No Father, that is to big for me to handle. I'm not going to be able to do this." He could have backed off and said "No way! I'm not going to risk my life to save billions of others!" What did He do instead?
Matthew 26:39 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus knew what was going to happen to him; yet He still did it even though it was painful.
What does the last part of the verse say? First He said, "If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." Then what did He say? "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Aren't God's ways better than ours?
Isaiah 55:8 says
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
If we know that God's ways are better than our ways, then why do we hesitate to do what God wants us to do? This is Almighty God telling us that He will take care of us in His Word. God is our helper and provider. He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)
Will you believe it?
The first time I watched the last scene of this movie, I cried. It really touched me. Here it is.
Joshua 1:5-9
5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.6 Be strong and courageous,because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
My sister Grace has asked me this question lately. If I was old enough to adopt, (from Reece's Rainbow) who would I adopt? I know for sure that I would adopt Darina from orphanage 42, but in reality, I wish I could get every child with CP around the world out of these orphanages. In my imagination, I can imagine opening up big buildings in these countries for the children who are about to go into the institutions. They would be taken care of and loved there until they can be adopted by loving families. They would still be connected with Reece's Rainbow, and they would still have the chance of being adopted in the United States. In reality, I know it wouldn't work. But in my mind, I wish it could work.
Okay, back to reality. I know that the best thing we as Christians can do is pray. And I have to be honest, for me, it really hasn't been easy to pray. After I saw Simeon on My Family Found Me I was hoping and praying that the rest of the children in orphanage 42 would be there also. I've felt kind of sad because they aren't on there yet, but even though it hasn't happened, I hope and pray that one day everyone in orphanage 42 will be adopted.
Here's where trust comes in. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." NIV
Not that long ago that verse kept repeating in my mind. "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart..." The word all does not mean part of your heart, half of your heart, or three fourths of your heart. All means all.
Now, I'm not saying that trusting comes easy. In fact, if you trust in God and that He will take care of you, you also have to have faith that He will do what He says He'll do for you and/or through you. If that means going into another country as a missionary, serving as a children's minister, etc, you have to have faith and you have to trust in God.
So, if you know that God is telling you to do something, don't wait! Many Christians wait for a sign from God telling them to do something. You have the Holy Spirit right? Won't He confirm within you what it is God wants you to do? If you know it's God telling you to do it, then do it! He'll take care of you.
Please keep praying for these children and that they will be adopted be loving families.
