God bless orphans and keep them warm. <3

"The LORD does not look at things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

My heart was really touched the other day when our son, Tim helped me get my blog button set for Show Hope that I sort of messed up sharing about in my last blog; Somewhere Over The Rainbow. When I tried to edit something, I accidentally deleted a part and had to rewrite the end. But God knows my heart for orphans and when Tim wanted me to watch the little girl sing (Lexi Walker - "Over The Rainbow"), it was right on time. Because I know somewhere, more orphans are waiting, and not just any orphan, "little Hannah" is needing a forever family! She's the one God placed on our hearts. For now, I'm happy she's living in foster care with her foster family and they have been doing a good job loving her for 5 years! Yet, for whatever reason, we have been told they are not her forever family. We know God brought this specific little girl to our attention and we are willing to adopt her. However, because she is in the foster care system, we need to follow the steps of becoming her foster parents first! We trust God has a plan and she is in His hands! Amazingly, she lives somewhere in our county! We are so close to her, but yet so far away....thank You Jesus for loving her! We wait to love her too! 

If you know me, you know I love Ukraine because that is where our daughter Lera is from. Last week, the Bible Orphan Ministry shared an URGENT need...one of the orphanages they care for had no heat and no lights to keep orphans warm. Can't imagine what they suffered being in the dark and shivering cold! Thank you to all my friends who prayed! If you were able to give, thank you! I know it doesn't matter how much we give as long as it comes from the heart.

Please keep praying for orphans! Thank you for praying for "little Hannah" and for God's will to be done. Glory to God! 

If you would like to help the Bible Orphan Ministry keep orphans warm or want to learn more, please see their blog. (bibleorphanministry.blogspot.com)  

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." - John 14:18 

This is a favorite song of my husband and mine: 

NEEDTOBREATHE - "Multiplied" (Official Video) http://youtu.be/fGF-MGGLpB0 

Lera and Hannah - Summer 2014 <3 <3 

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:19

Just a little update from Monday. I posted it on Facebook but not on my book page or here on my blog. We had our first foster care meeting to see where we are at. They wanted to know if we had any questions and told us there are no guarantees, as we already know. And they know we are interested in a little girl named Hannah. Which is why they said it. But we know already that God can do anything. He took us all the way across the ocean to find Lera. Even then, we knew God knew her before we did and if He wanted her to be our daughter, He could do it. So here we are again...they told us "so many" children are in need of loving homes when we went to our meeting for "little Hannah". Just the thought of it wakes me up at night! 

Just this week I read that Show Hope was looking looking for volunteers to blog for orphans, so I signed up! Just this morning, our son, Timothy helped me get this Show Hope button working properly that I added to my blog for awareness. If you would like to learn more about Show Hope and how you can help more orphans through their ministry, please visit their website: http://showhope.org/  

Steven Curtis Chapman and Mary Beth played a big part in our decision to adopt Lera in that they made it possible for us to do so with a helping grant. We know we wouldn't be where we are right now if it weren't for them and it's a privilege to give back and help advocate for more orphans and the Show Hope cause, which is our heart too!

Thanks, Tim, for helping me this morning and inspiring me with the video at the end. <3 

Tim Throwback ! - Christmas 2013 

...because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7) 

From Tim: "Now that's singing!" -

Lexi Walker - "Over the Rainbow" (Live at USANA International Convention 2013) 

http://youtu.be/FwptOivG7LE  

OhOctober: Forgive Me If I Still Cry

He slipped away on a Friday night. But he wanted to say goodbye first. I think he knew his heart might not make it when he called me from the hospital to say he was going in for surgery. I told him I would pray for him and felt his relief through his words when he said, "Then I know I'll be ok!" It was the last time I heard his voice... 

My dad believed in me like no one else. He believed as much as I did that a "little blond angel" from Ukraine was mine and he wanted to pay for her! It's hard to believe it's been 5 years! It's hard to be happy when he's not here. But I must! There's so much to celebrate in October! Just forgive me if I still cry. I didn't want him to die...

October kicked off with Down syndrome awareness month! <3 Lera & Hannah looked so cute in blue & yellow to represent the colors for DS and just so happen are the colors for Ukraine too! :) 

On October 15th our son, Micah turned 14! :) he's doing so good in school that his dad couldn't wait to surprise him w/ his gift! 

Our Irish twins, James & Michelle were both 30 on the 17th! James' birthday thru the 26th when Michelle turned 31! Xoxo

Little Myah, our granddaughter, just turned 1 on the 22nd, the same day Lera landed in the States 5 years ago!

Throwback: October 22, 2009 when Lera landed in the STATES. Look how little Lera was 5 years ago! 

Throwback: HOME: October 22, 2009 the night when Hannah and Lera first met! Xoxo 

Throwback: One more of my favorites! Lera's 1st Spring w/ Our grandson, Christian (now we have 4 grandchildren). Lera was holding him and look how little Micah, Alice and Hannah were too! :) 

Here I am with my birthday cake...Can you believe I'm 51 now!? (October 25th)

Then we learned on the night of my dad's 5th anniversary in heaven, on October 30th, our daughter, Rachel wrecked her car. Pretty sure she had an extra angel looking out for her that night! She's ok! Glory to God!! However, she has a concussion she's still healing from. (photo of Rachel saying goodbye to her car that was totaled 1 week later) 

We miss you dad! <3 See you in heaven! 

               David Robert Ezekiel 

                3/16/35 - 10/30/09

Sidewalk Prophets - Save My Life (Official Video) 

http://youtu.be/8_gJ68kksWE