CUTIE PIE, ERIN ♥

This is Erin...She caught my heart this morning as I was looking though the sea of the many, many faces still lost & waiting. Sometimes, certain children just jump out at'chya. They make this impression on your heart. Leave a stamp of their face in your mind. Then you start to pray for them, start to pray for the family that God would raise up for them. Sometimes God blindsides you as He gently whispers in your ear that this is your child...that your the family He's rising up. Erin is 9 and has no idea what 'family' is :(. Isn't that a sad concept to grasp? Imagine never having a family. No one to do everyday, mundane things with...like just vegging out in front of the TV with & sharing a bowl of popcorn while you watch a wonderfully pointless show to laugh at. Or running to the market for milk with mom or dad & getting a shake on the way home to share. She has no one to celebrate her birthday with so that when she wakes up everyone is yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" or no one to get frustrated with cause they don't want to let her borrow their shirt. How small all these things are. So small that they don't even seem like big deals in our lives. These are just the things families do in everyday living... the things that we just take for granted. We have our moments of joy & laughter, our moments of frustration, our moments of wanting to share our every moment with someone else & our moments of just wanting to be alone. But in the end...we have our family to do all of it with. How sad to not have those simple joys that most of us don't bother to count as blessings because their so common place in our lives.

This is Erin's info. found on Reeces Rainbow.

                                                                         1680b-1C
                                                                     Erin

                                                         Date of Birth: January 2002
                                                                 Gender: Female
                                                                     Eyes: Gray
                                                                Hair: light brown
                                                           Character: calm, social

***SHE'S ELIGIBLE FOR AN OLDER CHILD GRANT

Erin is in Russia, in a orphanage. Waiting. Simply waiting while we enjoy our mundane everyday lives with our families. While I enjoy MY everyday mundane life with MY family.

http://reecesrainbow.org/category/waitingbycountry/russia/1region

Please pray with me for her family...I KNOW & TRUST God has a family for her. He never intended  this life for any of His beautiful children.

                            "In you the orphan finds mercy."

                                        Hosea 14:3

Thanks all..& may you be a blessing & be blessed today with everything your doing with your family...Me? I'm getting ready to do our Saturday Clean sweep so our home is once again in order :)
Till next time, Lysh
*love you Nika ♥

From the Inside Out...

Sometimes the only words I can seem to articulate from my heart are ones that have already been spoken by another.

A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in Your grace
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting,
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control

                                                    Consume me from the inside out, Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord, my soul cries out

                                                           My soul cries out to You....
                                                             My soul cries out to You

And the cry of my heart is to bring you praise.. from the inside out and my soul crys out....My soul crys out

Prayers & A Plea of Help for The Warner's..

Proud new dad..Dave Warner with Joshua

**This full post is copied word for word for the Warner family adopting Joshua...it's taken from Welcome to Taylorville: WE MUST RALLY:
Lisa Warner is landlocked in the Ukraine. She and her husband traveled overseas to ransom a child and bring him home. Fundraising was ALWAYS a struggle for the Warner's. I am begging you now, for all you know, to share this story and donate ANY AMOUNT to their FSP.

*yes, I know their FSP looks good and hearty...looks can be deceiving. When they traveled they had less than $10,000 in their FSP (adoption costs more than double that). They have now paid for one round of travel, the adoption, and all paperwork to come home. They paid for return tickets and LOST $350 for having to cancel those flights. I personally would love to their FSP hit $15,500. Lisa has not asked for ANY OF THIS. This is on my heart alone*


Joshua, their son, is sick. The Embassy doctor will not release him for travel. She believes he has pneumonia--however, she will NOT treat him for pneumonia and neither will any other doctor they have seen because they do not believe he has pneumonia.

They contacted the CDC with the xrays and doctor's reports they have---CDC is giving the doctors a few options. Wait it out (6-8 weeks and retest) or surgically obtain sputum samples to test of TB and risk Joshua's life.


The Warner's are in a very precarious situation. Lisa's sister was found deceased in her apartment by Lisa's mother. Lisa's mother has been caring for their other young boy, Jacob, at home in Michigan.

It is very likely Lisa and Dave will allow the surgical procedure to test for TB and rule it out. This is not an easy decision, nor is it safe for Joshua. The doctor who refuses to let them leave has said she does not want to do this test because it puts Joshua in danger. The doctor is consulting with her team but will ultimately leave the decision up to Lisa and Dave.

They need funds. I would love to see $6,000 more raised for their FSP. Dave has been without income for over a month now. Dave could lose his job over all of this. I pray that does not happen; but it is a real fear and one that needs prayers.

I have nothing to offer you, nothing to entice you with. No fancy cameras. No iPad. No Kindle. Nothing except the comfort in knowing you have helped bless the Warner's in a much needed manner.

You can donate directly to their FSP here http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwarner

You can follow Lisa's blog at BUILDING OUR VILLAGE

Please do anything you can, share, donate, PRAY.

There are literally stranded in a foreign country with little assistance at this point.

~Christie~*writer of this post

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Our Fundraiser Has Ended Today And The Winner Is....

..dumm ♪ dumm ♫ dummm...Mrs. Naomi Woods from my homeschooling family!!! Yayyyy!! :D Thanks to all of you who showed your love & support to our family and for advocating with us for Levi....Such a humbling blessing indeed!! 

**Prayers too please for Giorgi, our faithfully fighting attorney in country as he prepares to have a meeting today with officials to find out our status & when we will be able to expect Levi's Article 16.
Your will be done Lord! 
***Little Mr., We lOVE you soo.  XOXO, Mama ♥

It Was The Count Down To Isaac....

Two years ago today we boarded this plan & were on our way to meet this cute little guy that we'd only seen a picture of. We carried his picture with us, had it hanging in our home, even used as our screen saver on our computer :)  I was scared & excited all in one. What would he be like? Would he like us? Would we bond with this little fellow that we were flying across the world for? Would it all go smoothly? What would his needs be? Would we be able to handle them? Would our other kids be okay while we were gone? What would my reaction be the first time I met him? Would our kids bond with him? The questions went on & on & circled in brain over & over. I felt dizzy with anticipation. It was such a powerful, peaceful, wow! flight. With my handsome by my side all was right in the world & we were doing this together....we were going to go get our son. ♥

 This is the plan that flew us across the world. We went from Los Angles to Germany....I had a massive headache, a really grumble tummy from hunger & was soooo thankful for those beautiful golden arches of Mc Donald's that we found during our 3 hour layover. In only about 6 more hours we'd be in our sons country & I need to fuel my self now to be ready for the big moment :)

 We faithfully practiced our Russian print off from Meridith so we'd be ready for our time in Ukraine. Boy did we fool ourselves!! There was so much more we should of learned to be prepared : P
*Note to self..keep practicing Georgian for when it's our time to go bring home our little Mr.  : D

Finally, after 17 long hours from the moment we left home we got off our plane in Kiev, Ukraine. Amazing how little time it takes now days to go around the world. In Ukraine we had a set of stairs that was pushed to the door of our plane & there we unloaded to get onto a little bus where a kind fellow traveler offered to capture the moment for us. This was it. We were really there & it was only the beginning of our grand adventure that still continues today.

Our sweet little Mr.,

   As our day comes to a close & your day begins I hope your able to feel the love we have for you. Your picture has been hanging in our home for a mighty long time now & it's your enduring face we see every time our computer is turned on. We pray that it won't be long now till we get to board a plane to travel for you...our next big adventure : D

Good night little love. Mama loves you.