Winner!! ~ Get the Word Out Giveaway ~

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card for the Get the Word Out Giveaway I held in May.  The winner who was picked by random.org is #11, Renee, the crazy cajun, Tam!  Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word about my T-shirt fundraiser!!    

 If you haven't gotten your T-shirt yet you can check out the designs currently available HERE.  And you have to check out my friend Julia's handsome son, Aaron, sporting his ability Tee!!  Too cute!.

Better Late Than Never - A Mother's Day Post

I was sick on Mother's Day this year.  Lucas and I spent the day on the couch in our jammies watching movies and playing Uno.  :)  So this post is belated, but I wanted to take a moment to say that being a mom is my favorite job!  I love my son so much and adore watching him grow into a man.  It is so hard to believe that he will be eleven this year.  So here is my toast to Mommyhood--the most challenging and rewarding adventure a woman can embark on.  Happy Belated Mother's Day to all of you. <3

Get the Word Out Giveaway!

I am working hard to get the word out about my Ability Apparel & Gifts fundraiser.  Would you help me?  Over the next few weeks simply helping me spread the word about my shop will enter you in a giveaway to win a $25 Amazon gift card!  Here is the breakdown of ways you can enter.


*  Write a Blog post = 10 entries
*  Follow Ability_Apparel on Twitter = 3 entries
*  Like Ability Apparel & Gifts Fan Page on Facebook = 3 entries
*  Share on Facebook = 1 entry per day that you share (total of 17 entries if you share each day)
*  Tweet = 1 entry per day that you tweet (total of 17 entries if you share each day)

Simply choose the way(s) that you would like to help spread the word and then come back here to this blog post and leave a comment letting me know what you did.  On Tuesday, May 31st, I will use random.org to draw a winner for the gift card.  Thank you!!!!!!

Ability

As a way to continue raising the necessary funds to bring Lucia Grace home I have had T-shirts (and a few other accessories such as totes, baby bibs, and baby hats) designed to sell.  My idea was to offer positive designs celebrating the abilities of those who normally are only seen in the light of what they may not be able to do.

 

The Ability logo design is a great way to advocate for those who are differently-abled by encouraging others to focus on ability rather than disability.


To celebrate the extra-special blessings that children gifted with an extra chromosome bring their families there is the "eXtra-" design line.

 Currently I have "eXtra-adorable" for girls and "eXtra-tough" for boys. The "X" in the design is a chromosome.

 There are a variety of shirts and products available in each design!  You can visit my shop, Ability Apparel & Gifts, here.  All proceeds go toward adoption expenses to bring Lucia home.  Would you please consider making a purchase from my shop and / or sharing this with your friends and social networks?  I need to sell approximately 5,000 items from the shop for my adoption to be fully funded.  Each purchase makes a difference in bringing my daughter home!!  I appreciate each and every person who is willing to come alongside me by making a purchase or spreading the word.  Thank you! 

**All my designs were done by Wendy Van Ryn of Adopted by Design. Thank you so much Wendy!**

Where 2 or 3 are gathered together in My name, I am there

I L.O.V.E. meeting like minded people! 

Linny at A Place Called Simplicity is one of those people.  Someone whose heart seems to beat in tune with my own.  Someone who seems to get it, and not just get it in word, but in deed.  When I read about her family I think ~ "that is who I want to be like when I grow up." 

When I read statements like:

"He has blessed us so that we would bless others.  Our wealth is not to hoard - not a chance!!  It's to give away."


and

 "We are to live to please Him by taking care of orphans, caring for the widows, serving the poor, giving our things away, living to meet the needs of others not our own personal wants."

and

"Friends, God did not put us on this earth to indulge ourselves.  He put us here to love Him first and serve others. Period. To care for the orphan and widow. To minister to the poor. To live selflessly."

I get SO excited!  So excited that someone else has verbalized the truths that God has been speaking to my heart over the last three years.  Today Linny has asked those in the process of adopting to share their prayer needs as well as their fundraisers so that we can support one another.  I am so honored to hook into the power of unity that she is rallying by employing the Matthew 18: 19-20 principle!! 

This is my precious baby girl ~ Lucia Grace.  I am adopting from Mexico as a single mom.  Currently I am finishing up my dossier, and getting ready to send off my I-800A to USCIS.  I still need approximately $15,000 to complete my adoption and bring my sweet girl home.  I would appreciate your prayers for my paperwork to continue to go smoothly.  Please also pray for Lucia's health as she has been prone to upper respiratory infections and ear infections. 

I have 2 current fundraisers going on right now:


Thirty-One Gifts Fundraiser:  You can shop my on-line party anytime between now and Thursday, March the 24th!  My generous friend Jacqui is donating her commission so 20% of all sales will go toward Lucia's adoption!  Also, the March special is one of the company's best EVER ~ spend $31 in merchandise and get ANY purse 1/2 off!!

Sarah's Treasure Box Fundraiser:  My fundraiser runs from Thursday, March the 17th through Saturday, March the 19th.  I will earn $5 for each pendant purchase through Sarah's Etsy shop during this time.  (Gift card purchases and custom orders do NOT count toward my fundraiser)  When you place your order you MUST put in the notes it is for Lucy for the Morgan family.  If you forget you can message Sarah to let her know.  Sarah's pendants are SUPER affordable ($7.99 - $14) and SUPER cute!

Tax deductible donations can be made anytime through my Reece's Rainbow Family Grant Sponsorship page here.

I am so grateful to each person that has come alongside me in this adoption journey and given so generously of their time, their prayer covering, their encouragement, their monetary donations, and their love!  My prayer for you is that "...it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." (Luke 6:38)

Consider the Lilies

'“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  ~ Matthew 6: 25 - 34

I have always liked this passage in Matthew.  Over the last five months, I have used this passage as a compass as I navigate the waters of international adoption.  I determined in the beginning that I would NOT worry about distant tomorrows, but instead focus on accomplishing the tasks that I have to do each day.  It is a daily focusing and re-focusing, but it has helped me to keep my eyes on God instead of sinking in the overwhelming amounts of paperwork and money that are needed to finish this journey and bring my baby girl home. 

And oh, how faithful God has been!  As each deadline comes and paperwork and money are due, He has supplied!!  He has shown Himself faithful through the generosity of friends and strangers.  I have had friends donate large sums and friends that have handed me $20 bills.  I know that God has ordained each $ that is needed to complete Lucia's adoption.  I may not know where it is all coming from, but He does.

I currently have two fundraisers running that I wanted to share with you.  Both fundraisers came about because of generous women who are willing to donate proceeds from their own businesses to Lucia's adoption.  Would you please consider making a purchase to help bring Lucia home?  Would you please share these fundraisers with your friends and family?  Each purchase makes a difference.  Thank you!!




Thirty-One Gifts Fundraiser:  You can shop my on-line party anytime between now and Thursday, March the 24th!  My generous friend Jacqui is donating her commission so 20% of all sales will go toward Lucia's adoption!  Also, the March special is one of the company's best EVER ~ spend $31 in merchandise and get ANY purse 1/2 off!!   Here are a few Thirty-One items that I really like.........

Sarah's Treasure Box Fundraiser:  My fundraiser runs from midnight tonight through Saturday, March the 19th.  I will earn $5 for each pendant purchase through Sarah's Etsy shop during this time.  (Gift card purchases and custom orders do NOT count toward my fundraiser)  When you place your order you MUST put in the notes it is for Lucy for the Morgan family.  If you forget you can message Sarah to let her know.  Sarah's pendants are SUPER affordable ($7.99 - $14) and SUPER cute!  Here are a few of my favorites.....

My word for 2011: Growth

I have always went over the top with New Year's resolutions.  I have approached them like some sort of do-it-yourself extreme personal makeover.  At the start of each new year I would think to myself:  I am going to eat healthier, exercise more, read my Bible everyday, be a more patient mother, and the list would go on and on.  And for a while I would, and then like most good intentions my resolutions would fizzle out and I would go back to my status quo.

So this year I have decided to do something different.  This year I have decided to pick a word to define my 2011.  The lens so to speak through which to view the next 365 days and all that they bring.  After some thought the natural choice for me was growth.  2011 was already going to be a year of growth for me because Lucia will be coming home this year, and my family will be growing.  And as I looked at other aspects of my life I realized that there were some other ways in which I am hoping to grow in 2011:


Financial Growth : My mobile home will be paid in full - no more monthly mortgage payment!!  (Yup, I am the queen of my single wide trailer -- I will be posting on that soon, and all that God has been working on in my heart through my anti-American dream home. ;)

Physical Growth: Well, in my case physical reduction. ;)  I am half way to my goal of losing 60 lbs.  So this year I want to keep going and reach my goal!

These are just some of the ways that I can see myself growing this year.  But the difference is this year even if some of these goals fall by the wayside, I can stay on track by simply looking for the opportunities I am presented for personal growth in 2011.  I am going to be on the lookout for ways to grow--in  my relationships, in my integrity, in my loving, in my giving, in my emotional well being.  Through the good, bad, mundane, surprising, and the ordinary I am going to focus on growth.

So, how about you?  What is your word for 2011?