One Of My All Time Favs!

On the lighter side, I just wanted to share one of my very favorite scenes ever! We love to do family movie nights and we like to have the kids watch some of the classics. We have watched so many Alfred Hitchcock classics and also a lot of old musicals. Since we are theatre performers, we love to be inspired. My kids love the show "Singin' In The Rain". You have to watch and be amazed by the Tap Dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Not just tap dancing, but they are triple threats. I haven't seen anything like this since. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the video from youtube, so just click on this link below and you just have to see it! It will make your day!! :) :) :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKlub5vB9z8

Consider Becoming a GAL or CASA in your county!

I hope to continue to post every few months about my volunteer work as a GAL (Guardian Ad Litem, also called a CASA Court appointed Special Advocate) in the foster care system.

I feel it is important to volunteer or do outreach, adopt, speak out or relieve suffering on a global level as well as right in our own community. There are so many ways we can help no matter what walk of life in which we may find ourselves. We always say, "I wish I could do something..." Well then, do something! Anything! Just step out and make a choice and do something. You will personally grow and change so much through your volunteer experiences.

Being a court assigned child advocate is a priceless opportunity. Every child deserves to have a voice. Not from the parents' point of view, not from the caregiver's point of view, not from the case worker's point of view, but from THAT child's point of view. Taking everyone's input consideration of course, but working solely for the best placement of that child who finds themselves in a lonely, vulnerable and fearful situation through no fault of their own.

Proverbs 31:8-9

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

DON'T BUY INTO THE LIE

There has been some buzz being perpetuated by a small percentage of people who believe they have the answer to the complex issues of the world's orphan problem. The lie is that adoption is only the drop in the bucket of a worldwide problem and that if we care so much about orphans we would just send money or mind our own business if it is not in our backyard. It may be a drop, but every drop counts. I actually had someone tell me, "there are too many kids, ONE can't possibly make a difference" and "let those countries with high numbers of orphans take care of their own problem, it's not our problem". I say we should consider adoption in addition to giving of our finances and time and work toward family preservation and national preservation goals first.

- I believe adoption is not only a blessing to both the family and the child, but I will take it one step further and declare that every well functioning family, who has an extra space for a bed and is throwing away food at the end of a meal, should highly consider adoption. Come on, think about your life... In the end wouldn't we want to say that we didn't hoard everything in our "circle", but that we had space in our homes and hearts for one more precious little soul? Wouldn't that be amazing??!!

- There are approx 550,000 children in U.S. foster care. Of these, 127,000 are available for adoption. Since we as "the church" claim to have a responsibility toward the orphan - I read that if ONE family from every ONE church in America would adopt ONE child from foster care, and the rest of that church's congregation would be willing to help that family with support in some way, there would be zero children waiting to be adopted from foster care! Awesome thought!

- Adoption domestically or internationally is valid and valuable! EVERY child deserves a home. YES, I AGREE and I will say it again.. preserving a national and ethnic heritage should be the first goal! But we have to look at the facts and the facts are, there are 147 MILLION orphans in the world. We have to put THEIR human rights first IF national ethnic preservation is NOT possible for that individual child.

- Can we properly parent a child of another ethnicity? Of course we can! It is 2011 and a multi- ethnic family is acceptable and beautiful. What is this, the dark ages? Why would we have to look at skin color in order to love? We are past that and can embrace and help the child learn of their culture and heritage.

- Adoption IS a ministry! We as parents often times would like to be involved in outreach or ministry of some sort. Many of us are average working families and missions may not be possible, yet, but you know what I can do? Be a MOM! I am good at being a mom and if that is the case, one thing I can do is parent another child. This is a sacred job and is beyond valuable.

- Why don't we just send our money to a feeding program or an orphanage? We do. And we will continue to do so! In fact I would venture to say that most families who adopt are also the very same families who give of their time and money on a regular basis to charity. And yes, adoption is expensive, but it is PRICELESS in view of the child's options. The investment is an entire human's life! Building a child who will be a productive part of society and will go out when they are adults and make a difference!

- Hadn't some children been adopted illegally? Sadly yes. This issue is constantly being scrutinized and the process has become extremely stringent now. This has to be considered and highly scrutinized. Corrupt practices must stop. But, we cannot throw out the idea of adoption because there are a percentage of evil-doers. That would be like never sending your child to a Dr because some Dr's were accused of malpractice. Adoption must remain an option. There are many very solid and dependable programs. It be a part of the puzzle.

Don't buy into the lie. Adoption is an option for ministry. A valid, giving, healthy, valuable option.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY XI HUA!

I was not able to get onto the computer yesterday, so first thing this morning I wanted to post:

Happy Birthday to our little Katie Grace Xi Hua! Yesterday was her 3rd Birthday. She has celebrated 3 birthdays without a family. That breaks my heart! The good news is that she will never celebrate a birthday again without us!

I pray that somebody remembered that it was her birthday. I pray that she got a hug. We asked, through our agency, that a cake be ordered for her and her group to share. I hope that happened!

As each week passes, my desire for her to come home intensifies. Every week, we miss out on a milestone. Every week, we are not able to teach her love and affection. Every week, she goes without the bond of a family. Every week, she learns a behavior that we will have to work with.

Everything moves so slowly! It will still be about 4 months until we can travel to get her. I should be able to post photos of her very soon. God keep her safe and prepare her heart.

JUST SOMETHING FUN! JOSHIE OUR SUPER LEARNER

Joshua is in Pre -K. He has always been what I call a "super learner". From the time he could speak, he had all of his letters, shapes, colors, and basic numbers memorized. He would point at them in his books and ask me to repeat them again and again. Sometimes, I would actually have to gently force and redirect playtime so that we didn't just keep looking at those shapes.

My other kids are smart but Josh is unusually advanced. The big kids love it and laugh all the time when he amazes us with a reading or an amazing Lego replica of the Burj Kalifa or the Taipei 101.

I don't sit and push him at all. He WANTS me to read to him A LOT and he asks a lot of questions and then remembers it all.

Jacob and I have this joke line "We're planning to call the institute". We have people i.e. family members, teachers, friends, etc. say to us all the time, "you know, he is very smart." And I will say, "yes, he is." Then they will say it again "no, he is veeery smart", and they will keep staring at me like, what are you going to do about it? So finally Jacob and I started saying just as a joke, "we are planning to call the institute". I have no idea what the institute is, but we are hoping that will please the person asking, LOL!

Anyway, I was reading an article the other night and Joshua was sitting next to me on the couch and started reading it out loud. So we video taped it.