Sunday Snapshot - Cherry

Remember sweet, precious Cherry????

Remember my plea for this child?

Sunday Snapshot - A Little Girl...

Sweet Cherry was just a file on the shared list

A file wwaayy down on the shared list

a file with a long list of special needs and a birthdate

Until the Lord brought her to me 

and...

to YOU!

God brought this file to me and she became “Cherry”

The Lord brought her to YOU and she became “a precious child”

 a child with real needs but also a child with real love and compassion

a child who never asked for help but so needed help

a child who was making the best of her situation, without complaint

a child who loved to help with the younger ones, despite her needs

remember this video?

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

This video touched so many of you

This video moved hearts

It moved hearts so much so that within a week, we had all the funds and the donated equipment we needed to help this child who is so willing to help others!!

YOU ALL ROCK!!

I just cannot thank you all enough for opening your hearts to sweet Cherry, for hearing God's plea for her and coming through in such an amazing way!

Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.

Job 29/12

With your generosity, we were able to provide sweet Cherry a wheelchair, braces for her legs and a walker!!!!!!!

Check out what, through you, the Lord has done!!!!

A dear friend was able to actually meet sweet Cherry and deliver all of her equipment

and a few little presents

just because!!!!

My friend said that Cherry is very sweet and while she is delayed, she thinks that this precious child would do really well with the love and support of a family. Read what my friend told me about this wonderful child:

Personality-wise, Cherry is adorable!  She kept smiling at me and calling me “ayi”.  Cherry was very patient during all the position changes I put her through for the evaluation, but did breakdown briefly once when I bent her legs up, saying that it hurt her knee, but quickly recovered.  I had the translator tell her that she had done very well and I had some surprises waiting for her at the end. 

 

I gave Cherry the two gifts I had  brought for her (pink stuffed bunny and outfits), then presented her with the Hello Kitty purse that another sweet friend sent which she really loved!  However, the biggest hit of the day was the Bitty Baby doll which she put down only to eat her lunch and then went right back to holding!!!  I had the SWI staff ask her if she wanted to be adopted and she said that yes, she would like a family with a mother and father.  I sure hope she gets one!  Cherry seems very well cared for and loved.  As we walked to lunch, the orphanage director placed Cherry on her back for a piggyback ride.

WOW!

Sweet Cherry needs a family, y'all!!!

This child would greatly benefit from physical therapy and perhaps some occupational therapy

She needs to be given the opportunity to learn and most of all...

She just needs love...

the love of a family...

and the knowing that God loves her...

and will always love her and that she is perfect and precious in His sight!!

Please help me to spread the word about this very special child.

Please pray that the Lord will provide the way for a very special family to bring her home!

Please email me at 5puppies@comcast.net for more info on beautiful Cherry and...

 

To read more Sunday Snapshots, please go here

A Second Opinion...

If you have ever hesitated to get a second opinion?

If you have ever felt funny about questioning your doctor's opinion?

If you have ever felt like you were betraying your doctor if you ask for a second opinion?

DON'T

Don't hesitate

Don't question

Don't feel guilty

ASK

Remember this post, Relapse?

We truly believed that Lizzie's foot was relapsing.

Lizzie's doctor thought her foot was relapsing.

We were preparing for surgery and casts

MORE CASTS

We were preparing for a wheelchair

We were preparing for NO soccer!

And then...

We got a second opinion

from a Ponseti approved doctor (go here for more info on the Ponseti casting method for clubfeet)

This doctor wasn't close

He was 3 hours away

and I don't like to drive in unfamiliar places

I guess you could call me directionally challenged

and I get REALLY tired

Funny how operating on less than 5 hours of sleep at night will do that to ya!

Go figure!

So, Lizzie and I loaded up REALLY early Monday morning

armed with coffee and snacks and coffee (heh) and directions

VERY detailed directions - sigh...

and off we went.

It was an adventure.

My girl always loves an adventure.

I love that about her!

It was the two of us against my lack of navigational skill the world

and we made it

and it was SO worth it!

This doctor...

This Ponseti approved doctor

doesn't think she is relapsing

This doctor thinks that she has a “drop foot” which means that her tendons are not strong enough to pull her foot up and over when she walks, causing Lizzie to drag that foot...

which means that if we had done the surgery, it probably would not have worked and Lizzie would have gone through an operation and weeks of casting and wheelchairs...

FOR NOTHING

This doctor did say that she may need surgery in the future...

that she still may be relapsing but that he would like to try something else first.

He wants to put Lizzie in AFO's – braces in her shoes

“special shoes”

Which means...

NO casts

NO surgery

NO wheelchair

(at least for now)

and

SOCCER!!!!!

Which makes Hubby Lizzie very happy!

Hehe!

Which makes this Momma very happy

 

Thank you to those who prayed for our Lizzie

The Lord used those prayers to direct us (literally – hehe) to the right place

to the right doctor

to our second opinion.

To read more Sunday Snapshots, go here

Sunday Snapshot - Change - part 2

So sorry to keep you all hanging...

I have been just a little bit busy the past couple of days.

getting ready...

for change.

If you need to catch up a bit go to my last post

if not, on we go!

So, about a year after we returned home with our precious Lizzie...

after the jet lag and the eating problems and the tantrums and the speech therapy and the OT and the PT and the 18 clubfoot casts and the hand surgeries

AND THE INDESCRIBABLE JOY....

that came along with our wonderful Lizzie

I began to slowly inch my way back into the adoption world

much to the dismay of my wonderful hubby – heh!

I knew that the Lord was doing something in my heart but had no clue what was to come.

It all started with one little advocacy post about one beautiful child who happen to find her family

and – I – was – hooked

it grew from there and now... 

here we are.

Where you might ask?

Well, I have to go back a bit first to introduce you to an amazing friend of mine who just so happened to bring home not one but TWO aging out kiddos within months of each other.

Angie R and her hubby Tom are just incredible.

Not only do they love the Lord but they TRUST Him and Angie knew that the Lord was leading her and she was following.

Again, after the jet lag and well...

um

hmm

huh

that is about it!

I know - she is just sickening that way! Hehe!

She asked me...

Angie asked me to consider what the Lord might be asking of us,

she asked me to contact an adoption agency

and not just any agency

MY agency

the agency that helped us to bring our precious Lizzie home.

I will never forget seeing Lizzie's sweet face on one of Lifeline's waiting child lists

it was love at first sight and through the efforts of my incredible and incredibly patient social worker, Karla and this wonderful agency

we brought our Lizzie home.

And now, Angie was asking me to contact them and not to bring another child home...

noooo

She was hoping to talk to Lifeline about the possibility of opening a satellite office right here

WOW

and she wanted my help

WOW

so I emailed their international director

and waited

but not for long

early the next morning, through bleary eyes

I saw his reply

YES

He would be very interested in talking to us about a satellite office!

WOW

So, after introducing Angie to Lifeline...

and before we could exhale

The director and the international director were here

exploring where they felt the Lord was leading them

cause ya see, unbeknownst to Angie and myself

Lifeline had been praying about where to expand and...

guess what state kept coming up????

yep

our state

so they wasted no time

after receiving our emails

and now...

Angie and I have just returned...

from Alabama and the Lifeline Children’s Services Office...

as official employees!

Angie as the Director of our state's new office and I as Lifeline’s National Adoption Advocate!

There is no way to describe in one post how much this is an answer to prayer,

a purposeful vision and provision,

a way for Angie to utilize the talents the Lord blessed her with while helping her family and the precious children who so captured her heart,

a way for me to be able to continue to advocate for those precious children and not just any kiddos but those who have my heart, those who have more significant needs or those who just happen to be older, those who are listed with Lifeline AND those who are on the shared list...

and all the while, helping to provide for my family,

a way to be able to give Him all the glory because only He could have been able to do something like this and do it so well.

So...

change

not always easy for me

but

this change...

I can do and will do because I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord has been working for me, He has been working for Angie and He is working for these precious children and the families in this community who have waited so long for a wonderful Christian agency...

for Lifeline...

and now it is time for me to get to work for HIM!

To read more Sunday Snapshots go here

Change...

Ok, so I am in the air somewhere over Georgia...

Yeah, not China – darn – but hey – one step at a time – right!

So there are some changes coming

Change isn't always something that I do well

However...

This change I can do!

As most of you all know, I have an advocacy site

a site that was born from our adoption of Lizzie

a site that was born from seeing the faces of those in Lizzie's orphanage who still waited

a site born from having my eyes opened and my heart broken

Now that I know, how could I not...

 

Wonderful Waiting Kids has evolved from just posting waiting kiddos on Cornbread and Chopsticks

to an actual advocacy blog – yeah big time – hehe

to the site that it is today

and while I have put a lot of my heart and soul into this site

I always left myself open to whatever the Lord had in store for me and for my advocacy

cause...

It is ALL Him anyway

As my site grew and the time I spent advocating grew and my time on the computer grew, my prayers never changed...

Guide me Lord

guide my advocacy

Show me what YOU want me to do

AND HE DID

More to come...

Jello!

The boy likes his Jello!

A LOT!

 Can you tell it had been a while...

since we made Jello?

I am surprised he left that much!

Sunday Snapshot - Happy Birthday Em

I know, I know - it is Monday!

My Sunday Snapshot is a bit, er...

late, but...

I have a good excuse...

We were having a party yesterday for a certain 6 year old!

 Oh my!

Even though her birthday was Saturday, we had planned on waiting to have her party until next Friday because well...

Yes, once again our crazy soccer schedule thwarts best laid plans.

However, there was to be an additional, last minute change of plans (more on that later - stay tuned - exciting stuff going on y'all)

So...

We were forced to throw together a party in 2 days!

Now, for those of you who have boys - no biggie - right?

For those of you who have girls - HUGE BIGGIE!

I have learned through the years that with boys, all you need is cake, chips, juice boxes, some sort of ball and 

BOYS!

Yep, that's pretty much it!  

Just add boys and you have yourself a party!

I swear these boys of mine could have fun with nothing but some friends, some woods and possibly some sort of projectile for pegging each other every now and again.

Good times!

Girls, on the other hand, are a bit more, um, complicated.

I was able to talk Em down from the Princess Party

thank goodness

but there had to be games, don't ya know

 

 Thank goodness for Christian

our party game planner, extraordinaire - what he does for his sisters!

 there had to be decorations

 

and, of course, not just any cake...

but a pink cake and it couldn't just say Happy Birthday...

nooooo

 Em's pink cake just had to say Ooh La La!

Girls!

Even though it was very last minute

and even though it required a bit more planning

and even though there had to be a pink cake...

it was FUN...

notice the smile and the cash - heh!

and I was so glad that we were able to pull it off cause...

I just love this girlie and she really wanted a party

and even though it was HER birthday...

my sweet child got up early to make ME...

breakfast in bed - all by herself - cause she is 6 now!

This is my Em!

Emmie loves with her whole heart and just loves taking care of others.

Just like her twin brother, Charlie, she is LOUD and funny and caring and so very affectionate.

She can be stubborn and hard headed at times...

I really don't know where she gets that from - hehe!

but she just melts my heart with her daily notes, of flowers and hearts and lots of "I love you, Mom."

She is my miracle baby

The Lord's answer to MY hardheadedness

and what a beautiful answer she was!

She and her partner in crime sister

have been quite the adventure for this family and 

quite the blessing

We love you sweet Emmeline

 

You fill my days with love and laughter and sometimes tears but I would not miss out on the adventure that is YOU, for all the world!

Happy Birthday my love!

To read more Sunday Snapshots, go here