A special family.

When we were in Kyiv waiting for Grace's visa, we met up with a friend who was also in Ukraine working to complete her adoption.

We've known her for over 3 years, but only online. We live states away from one another and had never met in person.

I was thrilled when we realized we might be traveling at the same time, and have a chance to meet her. To meet Shelly, the amazing mama of the Burman Bunch.

Shelly and her husband, Brian, adopted 3 kids from the institution I visited on my mission trip several months before I was there.

Then, two months after we adopted Elijah, they were back again, adopting Miss Carrington from Elijah's former orphanage, and Miss Reagan from the institution Elijah and Carrington would have been moved too.

Carrington is only 9 days older than Elijah. When Elijah's bio mom found out shortly before he was born that he had Down syndrome, she went to see Carrington in the hospital, who was also born with Ds.

Carrington came home near death (literally, she wouldn't have made it a more than a day longer), weighing only 11 pounds at 3 years old.

She is now a healthy and happy princess loving her life with her amazing family!

But the Burman's decided they had more love to give, and now, after several more adoptions, both domestic and from Serbia, they are back in Ukraine again, on a mission to make FOUR little boys a part of their forever family.

Shelly is still in Ukraine with a friend, and they have a court date, which means time is running out to raise the $7k+ they still need to come home. The boys can't come home if there isn't enough money to buy their plane tickets...

The Burman's have been through SO much. Without going into details, they have faced much opposition in this adoption and past ones. Things have happened that have left them short of thousands of dollars. All they want is to bring their children home, and they can't do it by themselves.

When mom and I were in Kyiv with Grace, we went shopping. Not just for a few souvenirs to bring home for our family, but for authentic Ukrainian items to put up for bid in an auction. An auction that would help bring the Burman's raise the money they needed.

That Ukrainian auction has been going on Facebook for two weeks, and it ends tonight. But there is still time to bid on these things and more!

So I am asking this. Would you head over to the Freedom Auction and place a couple of bids on these authentic Ukrainian items? If you are the highest bidder, every penny you donate will go to help the Shelly come home with her boys.

And if you don't want to bid, you can also make a tax deductible donation to their Grace Haven page!

Also, I want to say this. I know there is some drama surrounding this family, and I know that some may not appreciate me supporting them like this. But listen.

I've met Shelly, I've watched her children grow up in pictures, I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt, that she and Brian want what is best for their children, and they will do whatever it takes to bring their children home. They know children do not belong in orphanages, and they want to give them the LOVE of a FAMILY instead.

London and Carrington, former orphans, now loved and cherished sisters!

They need our help. Can we give them the love and support, both with prayers and donations, that they need? Let's set aside everything else for awhile and focus on what matters. Getting children out of orphanages and home to their family.

Let's do this. Let's bring the the Burman boys HOME!

My birthday. :)

Today is my birthday.

So three things.

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#1-

I had hoped and counted on mom and dad being gone getting my new baby sister for my birthday, but it looks like it will be awhile yet. :(

Read the adoption update here on my mom's blog here: Well, we have news...

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#2-

Me and my birthday Buddy, Aaron Nalle!

Aaron was adopted from a mental institute in Ukraine. He spent too many birthdays on his own, but now he is home and healing with his family.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

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#3-

I put out a plea on facebook today.

It's my birthday today, and can I ask you a favor? This is Sutter. Like me, he is also turning 15 this year, he has cerebral palsy, and he is waiting for a family in EE.

I was at his orphanage, I was at the institution he will end up at (when he ages out next year), and no person should ever have to live in either of those places. I'm also pretty sure I met him. He needs out ASAP before he runs out of time!

Would you be willing to donate just $15 to his grant? As a present to me, and as an effort to save his life.

And if you donate today, let me know and I'll enter you in a drawing to win a free custom hat of your choice (see here). Email me at forhisgloryhandiwork(at)gmail(dot)com or comment here.

The link to donate is: SUTTER and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

Saturday Night and T-shirts!

On Saturday night, our amazing church is holding another benefit for our family, this time to help us bring Grace home!

It will be a spaghetti dinner, and along with that, there will be a bake sale, auction items, and Rachel and I will be selling our items from Handiwork for Maria!

I know this is only for local people, but if you are not local (or even if you are!), you can still help! We have a t-shirt fundraiser going on right now as well selling these awesome t-shirts designed the talented Ashley Gibson!

Find all the details here - Love Makes a Family T-Shirt Fundraiser

Oh, and one more thing... :)

Feeding Casey, Simon, and Bobby

This morning I found out that sweet Bobby HAS A FAMILY!!!!!

Praise God! I can't wait for them to rescue him from that horrid place!!

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My friend Julia Nalle, is hosting the second Mulligan Stew over on her blog. And this year she is feeding three of the boys I've advocated for - Casey, Simon, and Bobby!

Casey

Simon

Bobby

Today is the last day of the stew... and there are still some goals to be met! (Even though Bobby now has a family, he is still part of the stew.) There are lots of amazing prizes and lots of families and children to choose to donate to. Go check it out, and be a part of something amazing!

Oh, and as an added incentive, if you donate today, you can be entered in a drawing to win this amazing piece of art done by the famous Aaron himself!

The Motorcycle

Aaron

Aaron has no real working muscles or tendons in his arm, he somehow manages to weave the pencil through his fingers and uses his shoulder to move it. Amazing.

Ok, now go help feed these children and families! :)

Tshirt Challenge!

Local friends of ours, the Hebbe family, are adopting twin boys from a country in Eastern Europe, Jonathan and David.

Mutual friends of ours and the Hebbe's, the M family, specifically their daughter Jenny have decided to do a tshirt fundraiser for the Hebbe's.

BUT it's not your normal tshirt fundraiser, because along with just selling tshirts to raise funds, they are doing a challenge!

Said challenge? Wear the tshirt for a month. Well, not at night, and you can wash it, but wear it everyday for a month.

Why? When Jenny went on a mission trip to Ethiopia, the bus driver there wore the same shirt and pants every day, because he couldn't afford to by more.

She wondered if people would be willing to wear the same tshirt for a month to bring an orphan home. And so she designed the tshirt and set up the challenge.

We have taken the challange... and I'm just over half way done with my month (I think).

My mom, my sister Anna, Jenny's mom and little sister Ellie, Jenny, Rachel, and I

Want to find out more?

Go to Jenny's t-shirt blog.

Go visit Hebbe's blog.

Read this article on CollegePlus about Jenny. (CP is helping me earn my dual credit, and Jenny is who we found about it from!)

And go read this story Jenny wrote about the 8th largest country.

PIE!!

This is Lilly. She is an orphan waiting for a family.

This is Owen. He is an orphan waiting for a family.

This is Rachel (with "little" Rachel). She is Lilly's Angel Tree Warrior.

This is me (with Jonathan). I am Owen's Angel Tree Warrior.

This is Michelle (with King Dax). She is the Reece's Rainbow donations coordinator, mother of 5 (including 2 girls with Ds, one adopted from Ukraine), and a friend in real life of Sarah and Rachel's.

And soon there will be one more thing that connects us.

PIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Once Lilly and Owen each hit the $500 mark (1/2 way!!) of their Angel Tree goal, Rachel and Sarah will be pied.

And once they both reach their Angel Tree goal of $1000, Michelle has agreed to be pied!!!

We will be pied by some special little Ukrainians (and one American!), and it will be video taped!

So do you want to see any of us get pied?? Then get Lilly and Owen to their goals! :)

Best part is Owen and Lilly will be another step closer to home! And that's our main goal.


(This chip-in goes straight to RR, IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE  and all donations will be split 50/50 between Lilly and Owen!)

Maxim - HELP NEEDED!!!!

I'm flying home today (Thursday). My laptop has not been working properly so I haven't had a chance to blog the past few days (I'm using Dave's laptop at the moment), but I'll catch up when I get home! If you think of me today, prayers for a safe and uneventful trip would be appreciated. Did I mention that I was late coming in when I flew here because the pilot FORGOT HIS BAG IN HIS CAR and had to go all the way back to get it!!! Yup. Uneventful indeed.

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This is Maxim.

Is he not adorable???

He lives in an institution right now.

I WAS AT HIS INSTITUTION.

I didn't see him, but it's NOT A GOOD PLACE.

It's an insane asylum. There are a few higher funtioning grouppas that get to go outside, but the majority of the children are left inside. Very little if any care, they are dying. (There is more info I'm not going to share publically, but it's not good.)

HE NEEDS TO GET OUT OF THERE ASAP.

His family is working very hard to bring him home, and they are doing an auction for him to help raise the thousands of dollars they need still.

PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT HERE!!! Lots of great items and some stuff hasn't even been bid on yet!!

THANK YOU for helping Maxim come home!!!

Puzzle Update - PLEASE HELP!

Repost from Handiwork for Lilly. I don't know when I'll be back to reg blogging, but hopefully soon! :)


Sixteen years ago today, a very special person made her appearance into the world. That person is Rachel. She has grown into such a mature, beautiful young lady and I'm proud to be her friend.

Here are some pictures (of pictures) I found in my mom's albums (our parents have been friends since before I was born), and while we were looking though her mom's albums at her house today. :)

Note: She's probably going to kill me when she see's I've posted these, so you'll know why if you don't ever hear from me again! ;)

Today, being her birthday, is also our goal for having the butterfly puzzle completely filled in. Here is what the puzzle looks like as of today:

Just over half way there!!! Thank you SOOOO VERY MUCH to each and everyone of you who has donated and sponsored a piece of the puzzle!! We are so very grateful!!

But, we still have a ways to go. We are at 275 304 out of 500 pieces right now, which leaves 225 196 left to fill.

If you have not already gotten a puzzle piece, or even if you have, would you PLEASE consider sponsoring a puzzle piece or more than one??

PLEASE??

This isn't for Rachel, although we have used her birthday as a goal. This isn't for me, although I am putting out the plea for help. This is for Lilly.

Lilly has been laying in a crib for 5 years, in a room with many other kids, staring at nothing. All. day. long. Can you even imagine???

No hugs, no love, no nothing. Just a grated bottled with mush or hot broth in it once or maybe twice a day. That is Lilly's life. That is why she needs your help to get out.

PRAY. GIVE. ACT.

Rise to the challenge, friends.

Lilly needs our help, and you have been COMMANDED to help! Not by me, but by God. That's right!

God has commanded us to take care of the widows and the orphans (James 1:27). Tare care.
That doesn't mean give a little or say a prayer and hope someone else will do the rest.
It means pray without creasing.
It means give as much as you feel led God tells you to give.
It means consider if you are able to adopt her.
It means adopting her if God has told you to.
It means spreading the word so many other can hear about her plight.

And this is not just for Lilly you are commanded to do this, it's for all the orphans. Think there are too many to help? Well, you may not be able to help them all, but you can help save one. And it will make a difference to that one.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!

We need your help to finish this puzzle, we can't do it alone.
We need your help to raise Lilly the money her family will need to adopt her,
we can't do it alone.
We need your help to pray, pray, pray for her, we can't do it alone.
We need your help to spread the word and her picture so her family will find her, we can't do it alone.

I'm begging you to help us help Lilly, we are worn out and tired from all this fundraising, and a little discouraged she doesn't have a family yet, but aren't going to give up. No way! But we can't do it alone.

Lilly was out of time several years ago, it's a miracle in itself she is still hanging on. She needs out now. Please help her!

Find the puzzle fundraiser here, or click the picture below.

Faithful Friday - The Spitz Family

Wow! It's been awhile since I've done a Faithful Friday post! Friday's are busy days for me for some reason! Anywho.... (Gosh, I love that word!)

You know who this is right?? You better if you read this blog!

It's miss Lyla. She has an amazing story! Here it is....

She has had a family fall in love with her and work to get her only to find out she was too sick to be adopted, and might not survive. Still praying for Lyla constantly, that family moved forward to adopt another little girl - Bellie.

While in country adopting Bellie, they tried to see Lyla, but were denied that request. After Bellie was home awhile they felt the call to go back and adopt again, and committed to a little girl who they were going to name Charlie.

Shortly after committing to her, they found out she was adopted by a family in her country. So the mama of that family let the daddy pick out another child. He chose a boy, who they were to name Gavin.

Unbeknownst to him, Gavin was in the same orphanage as Lyla! They worked through the process quickly, and shortly before they were to travel to get Gavin, they found out that Lyla had survied and was available to be adopted again!! They were heartbroken over what to do. They still felt in their hearts that Lyla was their daughter, but they knew Gavin was their son. Adopting both was not an option. Heartbroke, they decided to let Lyla find another family and continue with the adoption of Gavin.

I and several others yelled and yelled and prayed for a family for her, and finally one stepped forward! They started the process to bring her home. Then on Gavin's gotcha day, Gavin's mama, also Lyla's first mama, got to meet her princess and hold her. Whisper in her ear a family was coming for her. She took these two pictures which still make me cry every time I look at them!

Then awhile after they got home with Gavin, we learned Lyla's family was no longer able to continue with her adoption. Everyone, including the family that was going to adopt Lyla was heartbroken. So we all started yelling again, and this time had even more people yelling with us. Soon there 4 families that were serious about committing to adopting her. And one of them did. Guess what family that was! Lyla's original family! The same one that is now Bellie and Gavin's family!

And that family with such an amazing adoption story (did I mention that have also adopted two children through foster care?), is none other than the Spitz's!!

Spitz family minus Dave

I've blogged about them many times here, and I've blogged about them being Lyla's family, but I realized the other day I haven't posted about them for Faithful Friday with this adoption!

The Spitz's are USCIS approved already (they got expedited!!! :D), and just about to send off their dossier to Lyla's country. With this being a back-to-back(-to-back-to-back-to-back!) adoption, finances were the main issue. So the wonderful Colleen has been doing many fundraisers for them! She has two going right now.

The first is this awesome tshirt fundraiser! You can get one that says 'I love Lyla' or one with the Spitz's blog button when they first tried to bring her home that says 'Love will bring her home'. And they are only $15 each!

Click the pictures above to get yours (through Paypal only)! I have mine (I love Lyla) already ordered, and I CAN NOT wait to wear it! :)

The second fundraiser Colleen has going on is a scrapbook fundraiser where you can "buy" a page of a digital scrapbook Colleen is making and write whatever you want on it. Then the book will get printed and Lyla will be able to read it and look at it with her family when she gets home to see all the people who LOVE her! What an awesome idea! Click the image below to go to that fundraiser!

Lyla's family already loves her SOO very much, and her daddy (Dave) was willing to cut his hair into a mohawk and let his little ones put make-up all over his face when they reached a certain amount in their funding.

And Lyla's big brothers were willing to dress up like girls and walk the streets of their town when they hit another amount in their fundraising! Here's the proof!

**Warning... you might not be able to to breathe because you are laughing soo hard after watching this video!


But they need your help to bring her home where she belongs. She is not in good health at all, and needs medical treatment ASAP!

Here is a video that I found the other day that was made the first time they tried to adopt Lyla. I have to admit it made me cry, and not much should be changed if they remade it for now, besides adding 2 kids to their family picture! :)



I hope their story touched your heart like it continues to touch mine. And I pray you will do something to help this beautiful family out!

LILIANNA for the Spitz family — NY

Dave & Summer are a happy married couple that have been BLESSED with 7 children. Taylor, Conor & Nick are biological, while Owen, Belle, Gavin & Sara were chosen. Owen & Sara were placed as foster children when Owen was 4 months old and Sara was just a tiny newborn. The Spitz family was so grateful that they were able to adopt both of them in 2010. Then in June of 2010 the family committed to adopting Lilianna, the most beautiful girl with the biggest blue eyes. They were devastated when they were told in September that she was in the hospital, she was not expected to live and they were not permitted to bring her home. The news was the end to a dream. The family did not give up on the mission to save; they continued their adoption journey. Isabelle was adopted from Ukraine on December 30, 2010 and what a glorious day that was!! The Spitz family had planned to return to Ukraine in the spring if Lilianna had survived. They inquired about her but she was still not adoptable and still not expected to live. The family came to the realization that Lilianna would not be a part of their forever family. The family was heartbroken. The Spitz’s still answered the call to adopt and they moved forward to adopt Gavin. The Gavinator as he is now known was adopted on December 22, 2011. While in the process of adopting Gavin, the news of a miracle was revealed. Lilianna had SURVIVED and was adoptable. Since Gavin was in the same orphanage as Lilianna, Summer asked permission to see her. Summer explains that visit to be the most overwhelming emotional few minutes of her entire life. She told Lilianna how much she loved her and promised that her Mommy & Daddy would come for her soon. Summer left that room not knowing how long the sweet little girl she just held could honestly survive with a failing heart. It was a wonderful day when a family that loved her dearly committed to her. Finally it was Lilianna’s turn to be SAVED and she could have life saving surgery. Unfortunately, they were not able to continue with the adoption to bring Lilianna home. Little did Summer know that on January 19, 2012 the stunning little girl she held was actually her forever daughter!!! So now, 2 years later the Spitz family is working at lightening speed to finally bring home the little girl that they not only LOVE dearly but the girl that had led them to their newest amazing additions, Belle & Gavin!!! Only GOD!!!!!

5/9/12—DOSSIER EN ROUTE

Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/

$12687.52 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

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One more thing, not related to this post.... can I ask you to PLEASE be on your knees praying for the the Higbie family.. they are adopting a little girl with Ds named Lera, and their bio little girl with Ds was airlifted to the hospital with a life threatening case of pneumonia. She is not in a stable condition. For more info and more updates, please go here. And PLEASE PRAY!!!

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And as always... remember to go get your puzzle piece! :)