...Just Believe!

Child-like faith


"Do not fear, only believe." {Mark 5:36}

Have you ever had a Bible verse just speak to you? 

This one did. 

It's so short... only 5 simple words. Yet at the same time, it's incredibly inspiring.

How many times have you been scared? Unsure about the direction your life was taking? Doubtful that things would turn out right?

But what was there to be afraid of?

Isaiah 41:10 says, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

How many times have you said, "I can't do this!"? Worried that you weren't strong enough, brave enough, smart enough, pretty enough...?

But why didn't you just believe in yourself?

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."

How many times have you said a prayer only for it to never be answered? For God to not listen, and to leave you questioning His existence and doubting His goodness?

But didn't you have faith?

Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

You see what I mean?

So in Mark 5:36 we are told not to fear (or to cast our cares on the Lord, as Psalms 55:22 puts it.) but only to believe (believe that you can do anything, no matter how big or scary, John 14:12 puts it.).

Stop letting that fear or worry get to you, and start believing that you were given a truly wonderful and perfect, yes perfect, life by the One and only who can give life!

He'll never forsake you, and he'll always love you so much...

Just believe in Him, because He's got your back!

This Is Gonna Make You Stronger.....

Have you ever had a hard day?

A day where you just feel a little under appreciated, a little under loved, and just a little bummed about how your day went?

Have you ever felt like God doesn't care about you?

I know I have. Not recently, but over the course of my life there have been many moments when I felt like God could care less about me. I wasn't good enough, I wasn't worthy, He must hate me to make me go through such a touch experience right now...

If you've ever felt this way, then this post is for you.

Because let me tell you this: God DOES love you.

No matter what. He loves ever single person on this Earth, from mass murders to 2 day old babies.

We all make mistakes, of course.

We all go through trials.

God will test our faith in Him....

But True love endures any hardship.


So love God! Be faithful to Him. When you make a mistake, ask for God's guidance. When your at the end of your rope, hold on and pray.

God doesn't allow hardships into our life to make our faith weaker, but only to make it stronger. 

He tests us. But just believe, just hold out, and all will be well!

Hold steadfast under trial.


God doesn't allow any hardship to last forever.


No matter what your going through right now, no matter how hopeless you feel, know this: He is with you! Always and forever, no matter what.

Nothing can shake Him. God is your rock. Lean on Him when you aren't strong enough to stand up by yourself.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him." {Psalms 28:7}

Praise God in all things, good or bad. In the end, everything will work out for the best. God will put you through trials, but he'll always be right there to help you out if you get stuck in the middle of this crazy obstacle course we call life.

In the end, all of life's trials will have been worth it. Because

"Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" {Psalms 126:5}

Just believe in Him, and all things will work out for good. I promise! 

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." {Jeremiah 29:11-14}

Blessings to you, sweet friend! Whatever challenges your facing right now, you CAN handle.

You just gotta have faith. :)

YAY Phoebe!!!

Guess what?

Phoebe found her family!

For those of your who don't know, Phoebe is the 2 year old cutie who captured my heart way back in February.

I've been thinking about her for a few days, just knowing in my heart that she had a family committed to her.

I don't know why. it was just this feeling I had that I knew was true!

So today, when I finally couldn't take it anymore, I hopped onto the Reece's Rainbow website, did a quick search for this little girl, and lo and behold:

YES!!!

Even tough I already knew, my heart still lurched. Because it's AMAZING news!

I'm so excited for her. She's just barely 2, so she's going to get out of the horrible orphanage she's in an into a clean home with a loving family before she's even 3 years old!

She's a lucky duck, this girl.

Don't get me wrong, just because I knew it was coming doesn't mean I'm not freaking out. Trust me, I still freaking out!!! 

I'm just amazed my the way God opens the hearts of families. Almost all adoption stories start out the same way. "We didn't know we wanted to adopt, we didn't think we could adopt, but when we saw that face, we dove in."

No plan. Most of he time, no money. Just a rock solid faith in God and the willingness to believe that miracles DO happen.

No news, on who Phoebe's family is yet, which means her family has just found her, maybe even within the past week!! 

Adoption is just a calling. It can come to anyone and everyone. The journey is long and crazy. But the reward... is priceless! 

Go sweet Phoebe!!!

{Please keep Phoebe and her soon to be family in your prayers. They will need them!}

NO WAY!!! TAYLAH HAS A FAMILY!!!

Oh...My...Goodness!!! Can you tell how excited I am from the look of this post title? I'm psyched! On top of the world! Thanking God with all my strength!

TAYLAH HAS A FAMILY!!!

I can't adopt through Reece's Rainbow yet. I'm not 25. But friends, I've been "adopting" these little cuties in my heart, mind, and soul for a while now!

I first saw sweet Taylah on January 20th, when I did a big Wordless Wednesday dedicated to Reece's Rainbow. She was the cutest thing in the entire world! I was praying so hard that she would find a family. She had her 3rd birthday in February, and I was just pleading with God that she would  get a family committed to her NOW! Once these orphans reach 5, many of them are sent of to a bad place...

I can't tell you how many times I've stayed up way past when I should have, sitting there with my Bible praying fiercely for this little girl (and Phoebe!) I've spent many a day when I was supposed to be focusing, accomplishing goals, just thinking about Taylah and everyone else, not getting a single thing done.

I hadn't checked her Reece's Rainbow page in a few days, so I went to do so. I swear, I almost passed out when I saw the words MY FAMILY FOUND ME written under her listing!

Now, I'm all teary-eyed and slightly crazy about this news. This is the best day ever! (I know, I make it seem like I'm the one adopting her, but I'm just this excited that she's finally coming home to her forever family. It's about time!)

Here is what Reece's Rainbow has to say about the White's, Taylah's new family:

Sarah has always had a heart for adoption, and prior to getting into a committed relationship with Todd, she told him she could only marry him if he would someday be willing to bring a child home through adoption. He agreed that he could love a child through adoption just as easily as a bio child. Now, after eight years of marriage and with three little boys to keep them busy, Sarah came across Reece's Rainbow and realized in her heart that the time to adopt was upon them. Todd had reservations at first; after all, they are a busy household already, why would they want to create more work for themselves? But he realized Sarah's request was upon him, and decided he still felt he could love an adopted child just as much as he loves his three little boys. After much prayer and consideration, the couple agreed that they would follow God's lead and journey wherever he takes them. The family is blessed with open, compassionate hearts, so whenever fears of the unknown come along, they remind themselves that God is leading this journey to care for the orphans just as He commands. The boys are excited about the prospect of finally having a sister! Sarah is a special education teacher turned stay-at-home mom, and Todd works hard as a school administrator. The family is blessed with a large extended family, so their new daughter will be not only gaining new parents and siblings, but lots of grandparents, aunts, and uncles as well. It is a journey that started in the heart long ago, and they are thrilled to finally be moving along the road to bringing their little one home!

How awesome is that? I just have to say, THANK YOU, GOD!

So here's a lesson... GOD CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS! God is God. He can do whatever in the world He wants. A few days ago, He decided it was time to being Taylah's family to her. So He made it happen.

All I'm trying to say is... NEVER GIVE UP! Always have hope, because with God, there will always BE hope. We just have to believe. Have a little faith. Trust our amazing GOD!

I could seriously ramble for hours about Taylah, Reece's Rainbow, and God, but I'll spare you. I'll leave you off with this:

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16)

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Romans 15:13) 

Blessings!

Please keep Taylah and the wonderful, amazing White family in your prayers! They have a long ways to go... but they're GOING, and that's all that matters. :)

Visit Sarah White's blog to keep updated on Taylah, Here!

Even in Darkness, There is Light.

I'm sure most of you know about my complete and utter obsession and passion for Reece's Rainbow orphans. If you don't, read on. Even if you do, read on. We have big things to do for a tiny little girl!

*********************

Have you ever been completely moved?

Has your heart ever melted into a complete puddle at the sight of something?

Have you lungs ever been completely void of oxygen, out of pure shock and sadness?

Have you ever been motivated enough to want to drop everything and just DO SOMETHING?

I feel your pain.

No, I feel Carrington's pain.

Beloved Friends, meet Carrington:

Carrington's mommy brought her home on St. Patricks day, and not a moment too soon either.

Can you guess how much  Carrington weighed last Thursday?

Never in a million years.

11 Pounds!

And she is 3 years old.

Do you know how wrong that is? I'll show you. But be aware, it's shocking. It's horrible. It was a little 3 year olds fate before last Thursday.

OH. MY. GOSH.

I don't know what else to say.

A thought just occurred to me: Carrington has Down Syndrome. I've been pouring over her story for hours, and it never even crossed my mind.

Who cares? What I mean is, who could love a child any less, who could do THAT to a child...

Just because of an extra chromosome?

Now that, I will never understand.

I feel so strongly for all these orphans. Abandoned, kicked into a crib to literally disappear, never even given a chance...

I'm just SO THANKFUL that Carrington was given a chance.

Carrington's mommy, Shelly, has a sweet friend who has started blogging about Carrington's journey. You can get the latest updates on Carrington there!

Please keep Carrington in your prayers as she still has a long way to go before she is out of the hospital and home with her family.

The thing is, that through all of this sadness, neglect, shock, horror, and helplessness, there is hope.

It's in the eyes of this little girl who God decided deserved a lot more time on Earth than just 3 years.

Thank you, God!

********************

Another thing that happened last Thursday, was the proposal of my 'exciting idea'.

Remember that?

Well, I just want you guys to know that because of your sweet encouragement it's going great!

We are raising money for Olga, and also another little girl named Kameron.

Kameron's family is coming to get her on Sunday!

Thankfully, she is in a much better condition than Carrington, but she never got all the money she needed in her adoption fund.

So, over at Forever After, we are raising "emergency" money for Kameron.

Aren't orphans just the sweetest?

Pray, ladies.

********************

"Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." (Matthew 18:5)

 "Remember those…who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (Hebrews 13:3)



Encouraging Videos

Are you in need of some encouragement? Do you feel like no one cares? Like you are alone on this journey of life? If ever you needed encouragement, these would be the videos to do the job.

All three are very peaceful, yet powerful, videos with beautiful music. Please check them out, and be encouraged today!

Serenity. Warmth. Love. Affection. Peace. Comfort. Trust. Mercy. Compassion. Pure and Simple Encouragement.

God is Light

God of all Comfort

Love One Another


In other words of encouragement, jump for joy friends, because IT'S FRIDAY!

Blessings!


P.S: Don't forget to read about my new blog design idea and let me know what you think!

Remarkable Faith: Christmas Baptism

Instead of the usual Thoughtful Thursday, I'm spicing it up! For the next 8 weeks of Lent, I'm going to participate in Mary at Giving Up On Perfect's Remarkable Faith journey.

A Life-Changing Baptism
Nowadays, one of my favorite things is going to church. Seriously. It's crazy how much I enjoy church, especially with my history.

I haven't always liked church. In fact, I used to despise it. I cried when I had to go with my parents or grandparents. That really makes me sad today because I missed out on some awesome stuff.

Anyway, when I was 13 my cousin Hunter was born. His dad, my uncle Brian, was in the Navy. Normally, the church doesn't do baptisms in December because of all the business and excitement going on with Christmas, but because there were a few other military people in, they made an exception.

Needless to say, I DID NOT want to go. I cried, complained, whatever I could do to get myself out of going. Of course, my parents were never going to let me miss it, so I had to go. Plus, they were the Godparents.

"Ugh!!! I HATE church!!! Why?" I thought.

Luckily God would reveal this ever important WHY sooner than I'd ever expected. :)

I stormed into the church and promptly sat down with my head down and a fire burning in my heart. I'll show them. I won't watch, I won't listen. I HATE this!

The priest was asking all the families a few questions and then proceeded on with the ceremony. My little 2-month old cousin, Hunter, was up first.

Hunter's parents, my own parents, and the priest were all standing to together. My mom was holding Hunter, and as she passed him so that the official splash of water could be done, it hit me.

He's the one who did this.

He's the One who made it all happen.

It was Him.

You simply can't deny the miracle of life.

He is our father or fathers, our bane of existence, the one who keeps us going with each breath we take.

Hunter's parents and my parents were standing up there, but there was also another parent looking over us.

It was one of those moments... you know, where your parents are actually right about something, but you could never let them know that!

I pretended it was horrible and all, but it really wasn't. I've liked church ever since. It was a memorable step for me in my faith journey.The first step is always the hardest, right?

As I write all of this down, I figure out that there was a lot more to it than I thought. We don't get saved in just one day. It's a longer journey than that. Mine all happened when I was 13. I never really saw any of these things (especially this Baptism) as remarkable or life-changing, but they were.

And do you know when all of this happened? Only the day after our savior's birth (2,000+ years later) on December 26th.

"Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"- 2 Timothy 1:9

Blessings!

A Day to Save Olga

Remember this little sweetheart?

Or rather, this little heartbreaker?

Oh, Olga. I can't even begin to tell you how many nights and days I have spent thinking about Olga. About orphans.

Today is about Olga. If you haven't stopped by yet, visit Olga's family at Saving our Starfish. I am so overjoyed for them as they take this journey of courage and love. This journey of bring Olga to where she belongs, away from the image and emotions of orphanages.

We all know adoption is no easy process. We can't just exclaim, "I'm adopting! Let's jet over to Europe and pick up our next little darling!" I wish. It takes a whole lot of money. More money than any of us has individually. But together...

Our amazing Patti has already played a giant part in saving over $13,000 for Olga!!! Be proud, Patti. :)

Chris and Jenn are still in need of quite a bit of money, most importantly dossier money. $7,000 worth of dossier money.

Today is a Day to Save Olga. Donate whatever you can... $1, $27, $53, $101, really, whatever you can. 

So today, while I'm out and about, at work, at the grocery, right here in bed, I really won't be. Because my heart, my brain, my thoughts, my prayers.... are all overseas with Olga. I'm praying that yours are too!

The book I'm currently reading, Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman, does a great job of of explaining it all. Before they adopted their first little girl from China, Shaohannah, Mary Beth was down right scared. She had suffered from depression for years, and she didn't know how on Earth she was going to handle it. She was ready to call herself downright crazy. She was terrified. Terrified she couldn't live up to the expectations of an adoptive parent. But the thing is, there really is no adoptive parent. Parents are parents. And with that said, Children are children. Mary Beth had been afraid she wouldn't love Shaohannah as much as her biological children, but as soon as she laid eyes on her she knew that was false.She loved Shaohannah with all her mind, soul, heart, and being.

I don't want anyone to be afraid of adoption. When I read that part of the book, I almost cried because it was so sweet. I know I'm not afraid. I'm really, truly, not.

I'm 18 years old. I have a long way to go until I can adopt.  But I'm not scared at all. I know that when I am able to adopt I will. Why? Because in the end, all that truly matters is the moment when your child is put into your arms. And you realize that you could never love them any less. You realize that you have truly saved a life.

This isn't about me. though. No way. Today is selfless day. Today is all about OLGA!!!

Let's do some good today. Let's bring home an orphan. :) I smile just typing that.

In the end, we're all a little clueless. A lot clueless. WE don't know everything, we don't always do the right things, but there is someone who will lead us wrong. The One who deserves ever single morsel of credit for the miracle of adoption and saving lives. Just know that...

God is Good, ALL the time!!!

Rejoice, because today is the day. It's Olga's day. What a lovely day it is.

Blessings!

Alexander's Family News! (Trying to contain my excitement...!)

Okay, so I have seriously been DYING to post this all day!

I saw this awesome news on A Perfect Lily this morning. I wanted so badly to post it then, but I had to get ready because I was one of the few people not off today. Ugh.

No big deal, I thought, I can do the post from my cell phone! Well, it turns out that my phone was laying under a recliner chair in our living room (How? Why? Don't ask me!) all night and the battery was dead. Lovely, right? So I had to be patient and wait until now.

Go watch this video, now, before reading on... it's only 17 seconds! (I can't get it to post here!)

Yes, if you were wondering, that is ALEXANDER!!!

Alexander, the sweet little boy who captured my heart a few weeks ago... and subsequently got a family committed to him!

Apparently, I was not the only person who fell head over heels for this little cutie. Someone else, a lovely lady named Christie (Visit her sweet blog, T-cubed: 3 boys, twins, and Trisomy 21), saw him too. She was lucky enough to be part of the over 25 crowd, of which I am not, that is eligible to adopt, so she and her husband Shawn committed to him! (Read the full story here.)

I love her story. I love adoption. I love orphans! Funny(ish) story:

Last weekend I was checking out some cute photos at Dear Laura... Love Sissy, when my sister came into the room. She saw what I was looking at and said, "Why are you so in love with babies that have Down Syndrome?" I didn't really answer her, but I knew the answer. I love orphans because they don't have anyone else to love them. As for the Down Syndrome part, well I just can't stand that a simple extra chromosome would give parents cause to give theirs kids up and send then off the a life in an institution. It's a sad beginning for those kiddos... but I want to do all I can to make it a happy ending!

I'm just amazed by what God can do. He can save lives. He can answer prayers. He can do whatever he wants, people! I'm just so thankful to have seen Alexander, and I will faithfully follow the Taylor family on their journey of adopting him.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." -Luke 18:16

God is so good, everyone!

Blessings!


P.S: Alexander is not on my sidebar anymore, but it's not because I stopped caring about him (never)! I transfer all the Reece's Rainbow cuties that find families over to my Rescued Angels page. I still pray for them everyday! I would have kept them on the sidebar, but you know, room is limited...

NO WAY!

I just barely mention beautiful Alexander to everyone, and what do you know...

ALEXANDER HAS A FAMILY!!!

I guess that's just the awesome way God works!!! I'm so excited!!! I've expressed special interest in daveing two little boys (Max and Alexander) and like 2 seconds after I mention them here they get families!!! I don't understand that, at all, but I guess I'm catchingthem right when it's their time to be adopted? Again, I know I really didn't get the chance to do anything at all for either boy.

If this keeps happening, if every little angel I pick out of the mix get a family committed to them within a week of me posting about them, I'd be extatic. Bring it on! But I really do want to HELP an orphan.

I've picked 2 little girls from Reece's Rainbow for my next adventure. (They were both a part of my Wordless Wednesday, Reece's Rainbow edition, in mid- January and I totally fell in love. They are just too cute for words!)

TaylahDate of Birth : February 2008
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Hair: blond
Character: calm , affectionate, friendly   

FULL MEDICAL RECORDS AND MORE PHOTOS AVAILABLE    The girl is active, affectionate, easily bonding to adults. She can exhibit inadequately aggressive reactions to some stimuli. She is not picky at table. She eats well, but not very tidily. She falls asleep slowly and easily gets up in the morning.   Her hearing is good, her vision concentration is a bit lower (weak convergence, nistagmus).  The attention span is poor. She does not like to look through books or pictures.  Her motor skills: she walks, sits, walks over barriers, goes up and down the stairs, but her movements are not very well coordinated. She can build a tower of 3 cubes, collect a pyramid out of rings not observing the sequence of sizes. She does not scribble. She does not know even the concepts of color, shape and size. She performs tasks learning from her mistakes.  She understands what is said to her. She knows her name and turns to it. She knows the names of familiar adults. She reacts to different speech tones.  She repeats syllables, does not repeat words.

PhoebeDate of Birth: April 2009
Gender: Female
Eyes: Gray
Hair: light brown
Nature: Calm    Oh, look at the glow on this munchkin!  Too cute!  Wispy blonde hair and blue eyes, this one has a smile that can light up a room.  She is so young and at a perfect age for early intervention!   From her medical records:  Congenital heart defect: secondary atrial septal defect, additional chord in the left ventricle.  Phoebe is described as a delightful little girl.  She is active and engaging.  She rolls over, follows an object with her eyes, fixes her stare, grabs toys, manipulates them (bangs, waves, etc.).  She smiles, coos, starts to babble, smiles when somebody talks to her.

FULL MEDICAL RECORDS AVAILABLE, MORE PHOTOS ALSO

So there you go! I'm pretty excited to figure out what I cab do for them. I would LOVE to host a giveaway if I could get the resources!

Taylah and Phoebe would be such a wonderful addition to a family out there. Taylah is turning 3 sometime this month! Happy Birthday, Taylah! Phoebe is still one until her birthday in April!!! I'm excited to advocate for these 2 because they are a little ways away from institutionalization (the average age is 5). If I can help them NOW, then that will be 2 less orphans fighting time to get a family in a few years.

I'll keep everyone posted, but for now I'm just thinking and asking for an oppurtunity to help them to come around.

I may not know much, but one thing I know for sure is... GOD ROCKS!

God Bless,

Sydney

P.S: They look kind of like sisters, don't they? Same haircut! They aren't though: Taylah is from the 25th region in Russia and Phoebe is from the 9th.

God is SO Good! A True Miracle Story...!

I just watched this wonderful video on Yahoo, and I had to share!

First off, if you haven't heard of Kelly Gerken of Sufficient Grace Ministries, check it out right now. (Click here to read my post about it.)

So, here's the story. Laura Ballard and her husband Todd, got pregnant with twins. They were overjoyed! Then, at 14 weeks, they discovered that the twins had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (as did Kelly's babies, Faith and Grace, who are now living with God).

Anyway, Laura refused to just accept that. She searched high and low until she finally discovered a surgery that could save 1 of her twins. She looked at it like this: If they didn't do the surgery there was no chance of survival. If they DID do the surgery, 1 or, God willing, BOTH of the twins might survive. AS you might have guessed, the prayed hard and went through with the surgery.

Oh how glad they were that God had led them to do the surgery. Both babies lived! Kensley and Berkley Ballard totally defied all odds and and turned 6 months old yesterday. All I can say is... GOD IS AMAZING!!!

No doctors thought both babies would survive. No specialists did either. The Ballard's were hoping and praying, but they didn't know. You know who DID KNOW? God, of course! He has big plans for these babies. He drastically changed the lives of a wonderful family, for the better. How does He do this? Why does He do this? BECAUSE HE IS GOD!!!

I'm just really feeling His love right now. Miracles don't have to involve me for me to be encouraged by them. Basically, I get excited anytime I hear that God is working in another family. We serve a big God. Thank you, Father!

God Bless,

Sydney

"So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands." - Acts 14:3