How will you give hope to orphans this Christmas?

I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  (Mark 11:23-24) 

I can't believe it was 7 Christmases ago that God came to us with His plan to adopt a "little blond angel" from Ukraine with Down syndrome that needed a home. We are humbly blessed that she is home now safe and sound. But what about the ones we left behind? Who will welcome them into their home?

I'm so thankful Show Hope was there in the beginning and gave us a gracious grant to help bring her home. Not only that, they gave us the HOPE we needed to believe we could do it. Through their example and generosity we knew God would provide, and He did! 

If God is tugging at your heart to adopt, He will provide for you too! Just listen to your heart for the way...

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. (John 14:6) 

Without the love of a family, orphans will die without HOPE. I know because I have a special needs child that lived her first 7 months in and out of the hospital. I saw all the babies crying and no one was there. For that reason, I never left Hannah's side. I know she would have died without me. She was that sick and no one knew her like her mother. She was a fighter. I'm thankful for that. I'm glad she lived. She is the reason we adopted "little blond angel" AKA Lera. Lera made it 5 years without us. She was very strong and made it. But without us now, her life would look a lot different than it does now. Orphans with special needs that don't get adopted are sentenced to life in an institution. Not a pretty place. I saw where Lera could have gone with my own eyes. Walls lined up with beds; rows and rows of children crying, rocking, or too weak to cry and move. How could I ever forget what I saw? But my eyes have also seen the redemption of our child. I will be eternally grateful for what God can do if only we believe. Believe in the life of a child this Christmas. Many more are waiting! 

Via Show Hope: 

"How will you give hope to orphans this Christmas?"

For inspiration, visit our "Gifts of Hope" catalog for a number of different ways togive hope.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. (1John 4:7) 

God moved mountains to bring our little girls together. SEE what love has come to us!

Our little girls love to dance...

This was their "First Christmas Together 2009" - Hannah and Lera dancing, all ready to go see Santa! ;) 

...and they love to sing!

 

This is them today..."December 2014!" I love that they ran in our room and turned the radio up all loud and were dancing/singing/inspiring me with this song before they left for school that day (photo first seen on Instagram @debanorsworthy). May you be inspired too! - 

Jason Castro - Only A Mountain (Official Music Video)  http://youtu.be/1OWLs1G3q1o 

Wow Moments

Does it ever hit you? You know, times when you think, WOW! Those "Wow Moments" are such an encouragement when they come. And you know it is GOD getting your attention! 

One of those moments came to me when my husband, Jim was driving us to the APGFCU Arena in Bel Air, Maryland, Friday night, to be at "Joy: The Christmas Tour" to see Steven Curtis Chapman!!!! Earlier in the week, I saw a post on Facebook where Show Hope was looking for volunteers to help them out and the concert would be free! Of course I jumped on it and got all the details...who wouldn't want to go?! Then asked my husband to see if he could get away from work, early, and he did! On that night, as happy as I was to be on our way, it hit me that it was the 7th anniversary of a "little blond angel" coming to us by email. On December 5, 2007, an email was sent out by my now dear friend, Theresa Mitchell and traveled all over the U.S. from one Down syndrome support group to the next, until it landed in our email box, and I opened it, the next day, on December 6, 2007...

Then today, I got this email...the EXACT same email Jim and I got from Joni Eareckson Tada on December 7, 2007! It is the same Joni and Friends Daily Devotional God used 7 years ago to confirm a "little blond angel" from Ukraine was meant to be ours! Please read more about it in my book; Chasing A Dream Where The Sunflowers Grow. (http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000463730/Chasing-a-Dream-Where-the-Sunflowers-Grow.aspx) 

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Joni and Friends Daily Devotional   December 7, 2014

Dear Debbie,

Bold Love

"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly."          Luke 19:1-6

 

Why is it that Jesus singled out the little man in the sycamore tree, no one knows. But what is clear is this: The Lord stepped boldly into Zacchaeus' life. Out of the entire crowd, Jesus called him by name. He told Zacchaeus to scurry down from his perch. And the Lord not only invited Himself to his home, He hardly gave the little man time to think twice about it.

 

Some would say that Jesus was a bit bold to presume upon Zacchaeus. Telling a host he must open his home to you? Bold, yes. But it was the boldness of love. Jesus ensured that His command would be well received, for He inclined the heart of Zacchaeus to welcome Him.

 

The love of God is daring and courageous. But wait. When you consider that it's the Lord of the universe who steps up to the door of your heart and knocks for entrance, only a fool would refuse Him entry. Like Zacchaeus, Jesus invites Himself into your life, bringing His own joy and welcome. And just as He did with Zacchaeus, He tells you not to hesitate.

 

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

___________________________________________

 

I can learn something from Zacchaeus, Lord. I can throw open the door of my heart to You and say, "Welcome!" 

Blessings,

 

Joni and Friends 

(www.joniandfriends.org)

My sweet husband, Jim being a volunteer for Show Hope, Friday night, December 5, 2014, Bel Air, Maryland. 

I was so humbled and filled w/joy to be a part of the orphan care movement...God bless many more orphans! 

Joy: The Christmas Tour 2014 - Steven Curtis Chapman - "All I Really Want" (For Christmas)...is a family! <3 

http://youtu.be/m6W_tZlXwbc 

"Pure and lasting worship in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans..."  (James 1:27a)

"Help give lasting love and life-giving care to an orphan with special needs." (www.showhope.org)  

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

My Birthday Song 2014

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14 

I've known for about a week now that school isn't for me like I thought it was. I thought it was because I thought I needed to learn how to be a better advocate for orphans. Of course my desire to go all started at the Women of Faith Conference in Washington DC 2013 because Liberty had a booth there when I attended. And because I brought my book there (was invited to do a book signing), I thought ( I cried my eyes out for orphans at the Liberty station) I was supposed to learn something I didn't already know (but God already put in my heart) to advocate for more orphans. THAT is my dream. It's been my new dream ever since we landed on US soil with Lera. It's been my dream ever since we left Ukraine. It's been my dream ever since I waked behind the walls that kept so many orphans hidden from society, who called me "mama". I can't turn my back on them. And I may never go back to Ukraine ( though I hope someday I will), I want to remember them some how. So I wrote a book, "Chasing a Dream Where the Sunflowers Grow"- http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000463730/Chasing-a-Dream-Where-the-Sunflowers-Grow.aspx. But it wasn't enough. Hardly saw any fruit from it. ( at least none that I'm aware of). But God knows why I wrote it and what he put in my heart lives on. May he continue to stir hearts for the forgotten orphans, especially the abandoned, institutionalized, lost and loney orphans, sentenced to a life behind walls because of their diagnosis. So I write all that to say, my laptop broke end of last week, so I took it to our daughter in law, Amanda, and she said she couldn't fix it but I could use hers. Then this past Monday, hers broke  too. I couldn't believe how fast I felt the door shut. I felt lost. But now I know I'm not lost and God is just showing me, I'm already what he wants me to be, a mother. Yeah, I know it sounds small, but you should see my heart! And I thank God for the gift he put in my heart not only for my own children but for the orphan. In not so many words, God showed my husband, Jim a little girl who needs a home when he was at work about a little over a month ago. The same place he was when I called to tell him about "little blond angel" ( at work!). So maybe this is it, maybe God wants to bring this child into our family. ( I hope so!) but I don't want to get my hopes up. But I also want to test the waters. I already called about her and found out because she is in foster care that in order to make her our daughter, we have to become foster parents first. Our first meeting is on November 18 to get signed up. Then the whole month of January (30 hours) is the training. I still don't know if we will be able to bring this child into our home, but I know God already knows her name. We will see. This is the journey we are on and I will not give up on orphans! 

Newsboys (Stay Strong)

http://youtu.be/z8j-YLb37Yk

Throwback to last Saturday when we were at the bowling ally celebrating our son James' birthday. I love you Jim! <3 

Dreaming Again

Do you ever feel like you're dreaming with your eyes open? 

Numbers 12:6 - And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto him in a dream. 

Do I dare say, we are dreaming again! I will tell you! It was one evening when some of the kids (living at home; we have older kids that don't live with us) were in the same room with us, when out of the blue, Jim asked, "how would you feel about adopting another little angel?" Surprised is an understatement! He went on to explain that someone he knew at work (a new warehouse manager) heard we adopted a little girl from Ukraine and started asking Jim about it. Jim filled him in on our Hannah being born with Down syndrome and that we adopted our Lera from Ukraine, also born with Down syndrome. The coworker goes on to tell Jim that he was adopting an older child and that he knew of another child, a little 8 year old girl w/ DS that needed a home. That's how it all got started. We were curious but, Jim didn't know any more details than that.

 

So about a week goes by, when out of the blue, again, Jim hands me a slip of paper before work and says, "here's the information about that little girl if you're interested." Floored me again! Did he just encourage me to pursue this little girl? (If you know anything about me, or read my book Chasing A Dream Where The Sunflowers Grow, it was me God came to first when we were adopting Lera.) Because it was so different than before, I just had to know what God was thinking, so I asked Him, "I thought we were chasing a dream where the sunflowers grow?" God quickly reminded me, "There are sunflowers in Maryland." "Oh yes, God, there are sunflowers in Maryland!" True! I did see sunflowers in Maryland...our girls were photographed in them by our photographer, Michael Warrick Photograpy just two weeks before. (https://www.facebook.com/MWarrickPhotography?ref=br_tf) I was surprised then too. I never knew before that that we had sunflower fields in Maryland until our former neighbor, Michael Warrick asked me if she could do a photoshoot of our girls. They were beautiful! Here's one of Alice!

And Lera!

And Hannah! 

Before that, I never knew we had a sunfower fields in Maryland! Just Ukraine! 

Of course, hearing God's response, was all the encouragement I needed to pursue this new little angel! So I called about her but the voice message box was full. So I emailed about her, and waited. Then I got a call back! The lady was really nice! I found out a little about her background. She's 8 years old, comes from a big family, she's presently living in foster care, she's a real energizer bunny and her name is "Hannah"!

To be continued...