The $10 Bridge Home

Today is Thanksgiving Day.

It's a day for family and friends to get together to share love and laughter with each other.

It's a day to thank God for all He has blessed us with.

It's a day to share those blessings with those who are less fortunate.


Today, a little boy in Eastern Europe longs for all of the above. His host dad, Bobby, is in the long process of fundraising and working towards adopting him ... but this little guy doesn't know that. He's not allowed to be told yet. Each Saturday, he gets a phone call from Bobby and listens to his loving voice on the phone and cries. Both hearts are breaking.

Bobby has multiple fundraisers going ... trying desperately to raise the necessary funds.

Today's fundraiser is outlined below and I really love it. I donated today. I'm praying many others will also.

In my mind I imagine each $10 donation from all the loving donors paving a bridge, one of those beautifully arched bridges, from Eastern Europe to America. As each donation comes in a new stepping stone is laid and the bridge arches higher and farther until it stretches across Western Europe ... across the vast expanse of the mighty Atlantic Ocean ... and touches down softly on the doorstep of Bobby's house. And then my dream continues as a little boy dashes out of his orphanage and dances across that bridge -- each footstep home lightened by the accumulated love of every $10 donation that built this bridge. Finally, I see that little guy take one huge leap off the last step and fly into Bobby's outstretched arms -- home at last!!!

Do you have $10 to help build a bridge home? Do you have $10 to make this Thanksgiving Day special for a little boy and his waiting Dad?

Read on...

"Thanks-By-Giving" Day!!!

Here's an opportunity to show "Thanks" for all the blessings in your life "By Giving" to help bless a little boy with a forever family.

$10 is all we are asking!

Our goal is by Thanksgiving Day to raise the remaining $4500 needed for the total $6000 foreign fees.

If we can get just 45 people who would be willing to each get 10 people to give at least $10 our goal would be met!

In today's social networking world this is so doable!!

Please pray that if it is God's will we will meet our goal!

Here's how it works…

First – donate at least $10 if you are able.

Second – share this post on your own Facebook page.

Third – private message certain friends and family who you think would be willing to post the message on their Facebook page and/or donate at least $10.

Together, with God's help, we can be part of a true Thanksgiving Day blessing!

JUST CLICK to donate!

Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Popping Back for a Quick Hello

Hello?

Anybody out there still?

I stepped out of blog world for about six months.

Can't believe it's been that long!

Read some old friends' blogs and got all teary-eyed.

Their kids are growing.

Their families are expanding.

They're sharing God's love in powerful ways.

So inspiring!

So wonderful!

Such amazing people!!!


As for us...?

God has been busy with us too.

I had so hoped we would have adopted another child by now - or three or four. I look at our friends' HUGE adoptive families and think to myself, "We've only adopted five? Really? Only five? Our family picture looks so puny compared to others."


Instead, God asked me to start an online Christian academy.

It has been an enormous, mind-boggling amount of work,

but it is growing ...

children are enrolling...

and families are being blessed.


I am also writing a book ... which also happens to be an enormous, mind-boggling amount of work. But, it's coming along too.


And, I landed a job working for my church. Wasn't expecting this one at all! But, ya'know, I wasn't really doing much else at the time...


Oh, yeah, and I'm still teaching part-time.


(On second thought, it's probably a good thing we haven't adopted anyone. We'd probably lose them or something.)


Last year at this time we were preparing to host a sibling set of four from Latvia. We wanted to adopt them but they said no. It's been a roller-coaster ride with them since then, which I can't really share the details of publicly.

This December we are planning to host a young lady from Ukraine. She is too old to be adopted, but we hope to be her long-distance family and be there for her as much as we can for as long as we can. Yup! We make long-term commitments with every child that walks through our doors -- just not always on paper.


So, this is where my crazy life is as of this moment. We're still walking by faith and not by sight! Still trusting that God knows what He's doing, even when everything to us looks so upside down. Still believing that God is good, even when everything seems so wrong!!!