I was asked to send head shots of the boys to our Homeschooling Co-op for their yearbook.
These are the ones I sent.
I chose their pictures with care.
A loving Mom picking pictures that capture personality.
I am doubting that very few of you would look at those pictures and cringe. Instead you will smile and take delight in my three sons.
Though they were an option...I definitely didn't choose these pictures....
For one thing Ben and Elijah would have had my neck.
For another they are unflattering and do not at all capture the personality of my three sweet sons.
You look at these three pictures and you are are much more prone to cringe and to only take a very quick glance. While you take your time looking and enjoying the nice pictures, the bad pictures are skimmed or skipped altogether if you can get your eyes to move fast enough.
Pictures matter.
They tell stories.
Sometimes the stories are a lie.
Sometimes the stories are just bits and pieces of the truth.
Sometimes....
We often wonder if we would have adopted Aaron if his picture had looked like this....
instead of this..
The child didn't change... only the picture....
Aaron is still Aaron in the bad picture and the good picture.
But our perception changes.
Pictures matter.
Pictures that are unflattering are barely scanned. People tend to be drawn to what looks nice. The pretty. The sweet. The handsome.
That is one of the MAIN reasons why these babes have been passed over. Especially the ones in the first two rows.
$275.00 $519.00 $232.00
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$685.00 $746.00 $735.00
Danila's Warrior Spencer's Warrior- ME!! Meredith's Warrior
$2377.00 $1,116.00 $1,874.00
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$5,430.00
I wish I could cross the ocean and get better pictures of some of these babes. I wish I could capture them smiling. I wish I could provide for them a way to be seen in a way that makes you want to look again.
I can't.
We are stuck with sorrowful eyes, bad hair cuts and scowling faces.
We are stuck with some pretty bad pictures.
All I can do is ask you to look beyond the picture. Recognize that behind the 'Scowling Yegor' picture there just might be a really funny little guy with a ton of personality. And Arina with her horridly cut hair.... I bet there is a sweet little girl who would willingly wrap her little arms around your neck if given a chance. Paul. I bet he's a soulful little guy who would take such delight in just sitting on your lap. Nikita. My guess is he's a live-wire ready to run out the door as soon as it opens. Dimitry. Mark. Danila. Spencer. Meredith. Robyn. Jin Wu. Sergei. Artem. Each of them unique. Funny, sweet, soulful, energetic. All of them full of personality. All of them with the capacity to love and be loved. All of them.
Please. On this Monday. See them.
See the precious treasure behind the lousy picture.
Is your son or daughter on this page??
Can you see beyond the lousy picture and find the treasure just waiting to be opened????
FOR YOUR INFORMATION: In the midst of a frantic Christmas season...
73 people have NOT PASSED OVER these babes.
THANK YOU.
Thank you to all those in Blog land who have blogged about the Passed Over Babes. Each time I stumble upon one of those blogs I want to cry.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY KLEENEX BOX SMALLER!!
We have one more week on this Giveaway and Patti's Giveaway.... I'd LOVE to see ALL thirteen children with grants ABOVE $1,000 on the Angel Tree. I don't know if it is possible but I would LOVE to see it happen. FOUR of our babes are above $1,000.00. How many more can we get above that mark???
In Our Passed Over Babes Giveaway we have over $600.00 worth of prizes included....
Over at A PERFECT LILY - my sweet friend Patti has a Pure Love Giveaway going on that is worth $1,000.00 in prizes....
So if you donate.... LEAVE ME A COMMENT HERE so I know you donated (without a comment I can't put you on my list) and then CLICK HERE to let Patti know that you donated and she will enter your name into her Giveaway too!!
You give FIVE DOLLARS to TWO OR MORE kids above and leave me a comment - I will enter your name in our Giveaway - ONE ENTRY FOR EVERY CHILD!!
AND
AFTER YOU DONATE TO TWO OR MORE....
IF you BLOG about these kids..... you get another chance to win in our Giveaway.
AND/OR...
IF you FACEBOOK or TWITTER about these kids... you get another chance to win in our Giveaway.
Give FIRST, then share and share.....
Put their faces out there. Let people know these are the PASSED OVER BABES who have sat far too long on the Angel Tree. THEY NEED FAMILIES.
WHAT CAN YOU WIN???
1. A KINDLE TOUCH - (99.00 value)
2. FLIP ULTRA HD VIDEO CAMERA 8 GB 3RD GENERATION - Newest Model (150.00 value)
3. 100 DOLLAR GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE VINTAGE PEARL
Each and every piece is handcrafted from start to finish in the studio. They use sterling silver and freshwater pearls in their creations!!
4. A SIGNED COPY OF BIBLIOPLAN'S ANCIENT HISTORY BOOK (59.95 value)
by Rob and Julia Nalle
5. A set of 4 hand-carved wooden Christmas ornaments (50.00 value)
6. A 50 Dollar YOUR CHOICE Gift card
7. A 50 Dollar YOUR CHOICE Gift card
8. A 25 Dollar YOUR CHOICE Gift card
9. A 10 Dollar YOUR CHOICE Gift card
10. A 10 Dollar YOUR CHOICE Gift card.
These YOUR CHOICE cards are to ANY store, restaurant, mall etc. that you desire. You tell us what you want and we will deliver!! Amazon, Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Starbucks, Kohls, etc. etc.
Will you help the PASSED OVER BABES??
They have been on the Angel Tree since 2009.
THIS GIVEAWAY ENDS ON TUESDAY DECEMBER 13TH...
If you have trouble leaving comments in Internet Explorer - then switch to another server (Google Chrome works great) or FB me... JULIA NALLE
first if all- your boys are gorgeous. eek gads, lock them up! second- yesterday I was hatching a plan where you and I went on a trip exclusively to take better pics of these kids. Except we're both broke. next fundraiser? send julia and patti to EE with good cameras and lots of love. except we'd probably come home with four extra children to add to our families;)
ReplyDeleteI donated $10 each to Paul, Spencer, Arina, Yegor & Mark.
ReplyDeleteI will be sharing on Facebook.
You are right ~ pictures DO matter. I hope people will do as you ask and see past the less-than-wonderful pictures of these kids & open their hearts to the idea of adopting one (or more) of them!
I "chipped in" for Meredith and Danila through my Shabby Shae paypal. I know every bit counts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Julia got it figured out. Praying for open hearts now for these sweeties!
ReplyDeleteIt's so so true, the photo makes all the difference. and it's sad. blargh. can't I bring them all home?
ReplyDeleteSo sad but true. When I see Carlene's picture that is now listed on her country's data base I cringe. I cry over the loss of her cute blonde pigtails. I want so badly to hurry and get her home. I see the vacant look in her eyes now. But I know that once there was a spunky little girl there and am praying that it is just a really bad picture and that she still smiles and has fun sometimes. Otherwise it is almost too much for me to handle. I can't even look at the other little picture because it breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteBut our decision was not from a picture it had more to do with the information that was written up on her. I really wish that some of these places would provide more information. That would be so helpful too.
Katrina
Carlene's soon to be momma :)
www.operationorphannomore.blogspot.com
I donated $25 each to my own "passed over baby" (Daniel 3G) and to Yegor and Paul.
ReplyDeleteI donated to Yegor and Paul's accounts.
ReplyDeleteI also blogged about these precious kids.
www.thesorrellsblog.blogspot.com
Thank you for advocating! You are an amazing person.
Lisa Sorrells
I extended my iPad and Food Processor giveaway to Spencer and another little girl who has definitely been transferred. Details here: http://storilayne.blogspot.com/2011/12/death-sentence.html.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being a voice for all these little ones. My son chose to pray for Spencer and donate to his Angel Tree fund this year. My third son (with ds) is exactly Spencer's age and we can hardly bear to know that he is not in a baby house any longer. He is in our nightly prayers and we plan to pray him "home" to a loving family. We also added to Paul's fund as well. Thank you for being such a great advocate:)
ReplyDeleteI donated 5 dollars each to Yegor and Paul, and now im sharing on Facebook. Thanks so much for remembering these little ones, God Bless!
ReplyDeleteDonated to Spencer and Yegor on behalf of the Beaton family
ReplyDelete