Shadow Children

Do you ever have to make a hard choice when it comes to orphan advocating? The kind of choice where you have to choose one child over another? The kind that breaks your heart into bits and causes you to whisper desperate prayers that God will cover the child you weren't able to help?

 

Do you ever have to turn away from one need because the need in another place is so much greater?

 

I have.

 

Many many times.

 

Each time I am compelled to make a choice I am forced to my knees, praying for Holy Spirit wisdom.  Praying that those I have to let go will not be forgotten. Praying that somehow and in some way I can help them too.

 

 

Three years ago I did a Mulligan Stew Giveaway.

 

It was a MASSIVE Giveaway with tons of prizes and benefitted a host of families and 12 orphans.

 

Rob and I had to pick each of the families and each of the orphans.

 

Picking for me is the hardest, hardest part because my inclination is to help everyone.

 

But it's not realistic.

 

So after picking the families, we had to select 12 orphans out of thousands.  Looking back at that Mulligan Stew it warms my heart to realize that all but 2 of those babes are tucked safely in families.  One went to be with Jesus later on that year (Hanson) and one is still stuck in a mental institute. His chances of being adopted fading as the time goes on. JASON

 

One of my favorite boys on that Mulligan Stew was a sweet soul named Barton.  He was aging out and his chances for a family were pretty much slim to none. He was a boy hidden in the shadows.  Unnoticed. Who would want a mentally disabled almost 16 old boy who had spent all his life hidden away in institutions? He had been listed on Reece's Rainbow but had been passed over by just about everybody. I hadn't ever even noticed him until some missionaries began to yell for him and for others in his institute.  They had pictures of the life that Barton faced if he was left behind.

 

There was no way we were not going to yell for Barton.

Shed sitting and cage sitting breaks my heart into thousands of tiny pieces.

So sweet passed-over Barton was added to our Mulligan Stew and soon his family found him.  Every time I read his Mama's blog and see pictures of him I want to cry.  They not only adopted Barton but three other desperately needy sweet passed-over babes.  Oh how much they love their treasures!! If you want to read a sweet blogpost read THIS ONE written by their Papa.  Make sure to have Kleenex handy, especially the part about Barton talking.  Silent Barton who was written off by everybody.

Yeah.  Kleenex post.

Barton wasn't the only one at his institute who needed a family.

There was another boy.

Barton's friend.

 

The boy behind Barton in this picture.

Amos.

 

He too stole my heart. I had his name down as one of the ones I wanted in that Mulligan Stew.  But in the end... I had to remove his name.  He wasn't urgent.  He had time.  There were others who were too critical - too needy. 

I removed his name.  With a promise I would not forget him.

But other kids surfaced and other needs and other families and each time I saw his picture I had to push him aside. Later.  One day. Soon.

Time slipped and he grew older and all I could do for him was pray. Pray hard that someone else would see this child hidden in the shadows and would pick up his cause.  See him.



Last fall I had the opportunity to add him into a matching grant shout out.  He was on the list of boys to consider. He had only days left before he turned 16.  I had the flexibility of picking the boys for the grant.  But, after praying and talking to the donor we decided to focus all the grant money onto the boys at one institute where I had visited the spring before.  They too were shadow children.  Passed over and neglected. The choice was agonizingly hard. Amos was set aside. More promises.  More desperately whispered prayers. His chances slipping away and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

Well let me tell you I serve a God who answers prayers.

He hears the whispered prayers of the struggling advocate who can't find a way to yell for a shadow boy who desperately needs a family.


If you remember that really loud screaming coming from Virginia last December it was me... I was beside myself with joy that a boy I never really got to advocate for wasn't going to be a shed sitting, cage sitting statistic.

Instead he was going to be a son.  A brother. A grandson.  A nephew. 

A family stepped up.  A crazy, boy-loving, risk-taking family filed their paperwork days before Amos' would have been lost forever.

It's too crazy perfect.

The family that stepped up to get him... They are Barton's family.

Barton's family.

The family who stepped up two years ago to adopt the boy hidden in the shadows is going back to get his buddy. 

And not only Amos.

They are getting three more shadow children.

Three more children who have been passed over time and again.

I love this family. I love their heart. I love their passion for the older child.  Their hearts seek after the ones that most would render as unsalvageable, a drag on society. Two years ago they reached in and scooped up four treasures and they are thriving. 

And now they are going back for four more.

And Amos is one of them.

And I am going to keep my promise to Amos that I will yell for him. 

I'm doing a GIVEAWAY!

This family has a LONG ways to go to get fully funded and we are going to do everything we can to help them get there.

I already have some really really cool prizes but would LOVE to add some more to the pot.

I'm looking for gift cards or electronics or collectibles or anything you think people would LOVE to have!!

It starts next Monday so look around and see what you have to add to our pot so we can help a family get four Shadow Children home to their family...

But of course since I am a bit on the nutty side... I can't just pick one. 

Nope.

There is a sweet little boy on the other side of the world living in a hard and lonely place who right now has 0.00 in his grant account and that is just not acceptable at all.  So stay tuned because I have more stories to tell, a family to get funded and prizes to giveaway!!

Send me an e-mail  covenantb@yahoo.com if you have anything you want to giveaway in our giveaway!!

This is going to be fun!!

 

 

 

Happy 12th

 

Happy 12th Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

 

 

 

We love you all the way to the moon and back!!

 

 

 

Which One Would You Leave Behind?

Two little itty bittys from Reece's Rainbow went to be with Jesus in the last few days.

 

 

Both of these precious teeny little babes had families who were racing against the clock to go get them.

 

It breaks my heart.  They had families.  They were loved. They just never knew it.

 

Two little ittys.  Teeny weeny little babes so very loved from afar.  Now in the loving arms of their Savior. 

 

I need some Kleenex.

 

Thank you to each and every one of you who helped the Schultz family meet their 10,000 matching grant. They are now fully funded.  I am so excited for them.  Four babes are soon going to have the joy of being part of a family and you helped make that happen!!

 

Thank you!

 

I struggle each time I enter the Reece's Rainbow Facebook room. There are so many families who are working so hard to raise the ransom for their kiddos.  The cost of adoption is high. Most families don't have that kind of money sitting in an account somewhere. 

 

There are some who would say that they shouldn't commit until the funds are there but I look at the two wee ones up above and know that it isn't realistic or fair to make them wait even a minute longer.  Kids die. Kids age out. Kids rot.  They need out yesterday.  Not in two years. Or five. Or ten. 

 

Every child is precious and each one is worth fighting for.  Hanging out at the reunion last week and seeing all those precious babes I am even more convinced.

 

The sassy ones.

 

 

The future models of America.

 

 

The tender hearts.

 

 

The adorable beyond words.

 

 

Each one is worth the ransom.

 

 

Those who say wait... who would you pick to leave behind while you earn enough to raise the ransom?

 

 

The teeny one who spent far too many years in utter neglect in his crib?

 

 

 

The sweet boy who needed medical intervention?

 

 

The hurting little girl who wants with all her being to be loved best of all.

 

 

The boy hidden behind the locked doors.

 

 

Which ones are not worth the ransom??

 

 

All of them are worth it.

 

 

Every single hungry little soul!

 

They are worth every single one of our donations.

 

 

They are worthy of our prayers.

 

Precious in His sight.

 

 

 

Each one cost their families thousands and thousands to ransom them.

 

 

And I guarantee that every single one of those families would raise it again to bring them home.

 

They would do it again.

 

No babe left behind.

 

Not a single one.

 

If you are like me and get totally overwhelmed about how to help and who to help I have an easy easy solution.

 

You can do what I do every month.  You can GO HERE and give to the 5/5/5 families.  Every month 5 families are featured and all the money raised is divided up evenly between those five families.

 

Why 5/5/5...  because if everyone gave just FIVE dollars for 5 families then on the 5th of the month those five families would be blessed.  Five dollars doesn't seem like much, but if a whole host of people committed to giving 5 a month on a recurring basis then we could make a HUGE difference in the lives of 5 families... then 5 more.. then 5 more... and so on. Every single month.  That's 60 families in a year. 

 

In the last two years.... 115 families adopting 148 children have been blessed through 5/5/5.  $64,129.00 has been raised. 

 

Consider how fast that number would rise if every single person reading this blog today went to 5/5/5 and agreed to donate 5.00 a month. Hit the recurring donation button and you won't have to think about it again.

 

5.00.

 

For 5 families.

 

Every month.

 

Because every single solitary child is worth the ransom.

 

And families don't typically have ransom money sitting in their bank accounts.

 

 

And Owen.. who is one of the orphans on the 5/5/5 this month ... he doesn't have the luxury of waiting. He urgently needs surgery that cannot be done in his country.

 

Would you leave him behind?

 

CLICK HERE TO TAKE PART IN THE 5/5/5 FAMILIES PROGRAM. 

 

 

Pots of Gold

5 sweet, precious days surrounded by a whole host of little pots.



 Little pots of gold.



Little pots and their many brothers and sisters and Mamas and Papas.

 

All of us there with our precious pots to celebrate, refresh, renew.

 

All of us there because we found our pots through a ministry that has been around now for 10 years.

Reece's Rainbow

 

All of us there because sometimes we need to be around other Mamas and Papas who are walking the same road we are walking.

 

All of us there because our pots need to be surrounded by other pots who share their story.

 

All of us there to laugh and cry and rejoice and mourn.

 

5 sweet days.

 

So so many precious pots of gold.

We made new friends.



We caught up with old friends. 



We enjoyed the itty bittys.

 

 We shared our stories. We loved on each other's children.

One of my greatest pleasures was watching my two sons being accepted and included.  They were wanted. They were loved.
 

 

These pictures are just a tiny glimpse of our week.

It was such a sweet blessing to be surrounded by so many families and so many sweet children.

 

 

 

 

Each one so special. So precious. So incredibly unique.

 

 

 

Pots of gold. 

 

 

I am so thankful for every single one of these pots of gold.

 

I'm especially thankful for these two pots who are now counting down the days until next year!

 

My very own little pots.