Random Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar

I'm all about raising kiddos that look out for others and see beyond their needs/wants and I'm always looking for ways to nurture selflessness in their hearts! One of my absolute favorite bloggers is Laura Kelley of Pitter Patter Art, her blog is super fun to read, her kids are ADORABLE and Laura has a heart of gold, if you don't read her blog you should, you'll thank me, I promise!!!

When I read about her Random Acts of Kindness Advent I just knew it was something I wanted to incorporate into our Christmas traditions! It's the perfect timing coming off the heels of our Thankful Tree and I can't wait to get started!

I spent the whole day crafting and now we're ready to get started! I followed Laura's directions for assembling the envelopes but forgot to take my own pics so the first three pics are hers, she's great about remembering that sort of thing, me not so much:)

Supplies, mini envelopes, fun paper, number stickers, glue and clothespins. Photo courtesy of Pitter Patter Art.

Next, cover the fronts of the envelopes with patterned paper to dress them up. Photo courtesy of Pitter Patter Art.

Lastly, place number stickers on the envelopes and insert your random acts of kindness. Photo courtesy of Pitter Patter Art. 

I was having a hard time deciding how to display our little envelopes when I stumbled upon this unfinished frame at Michael's and an idea was born.

A little red spray paint and viola fancy frame...my model is pretty cute too:)

A little Christmas ribbon, some tiny clothespins and we're ready to roll! 

I think it turned out pretty cute, it took two frames to fit all 25 days!

We can't wait to get started! Feel free to join us...the world could use more random acts of kindness as far as I'm concerned and this advent calendar will make our family more intentional about seeking out opportunities to serve! If you're looking for ideas for your random acts just check out Laura's blog, was nice enough to share her list and there are more than enough to fill an advent calendar so you can pick and choose the ones that fit your family best!

Both Hands

Today is "Giving Tuesday". If you're looking for a way to give back today, or any day for that matter, I have a great project to tell you about!

Remember Borys from this post?

His family will be traveling in 6-8 weeks to Ukraine to bring him home forever and they are still about $17,000 away from being fully funded. Adoption expenses are a great undertaking and despite being advised by others to wait to submit their dossier (a fancy term for legal documents) until they had the majority of the money needed to complete the adoption, the Pierce family decided to step out in faith, submit their dossier and wait on God to provide! Adoption is a HUGE exercise in faith and I've seen God "show up" for these kids repeatedly! It's one of the things I like the most about working with New Horizons for Children, I get a front row seat to some of the most miraculous and amazing stories ever.

 

Borys' family has partnered with Both Hands Foundation which is modeled after God's command to take care of the orphans AND the widow! Both Hands mission is "to serve orphans, widows and adoptive families." Their purpose is to help people raise funds for orphans while serving widows through home improvement projects.

 

How does it work? It’s much like a 5K walk or golf fund-raising event. Once an adoptive family or project manager has been approved by Lifesong for Orphans, they enlist the help of their friends and form a team. The team then sends letters out to their contacts asking them to consider a one-day sponsorship as they work on a widow’s house.

The adoptive family or project manager is responsible for locating a widow in their community who owns her home and but is not in a position to manage its upkeep. Once they have identified a widow and her needs, the team gives local merchants the opportunity to donate supplies for the day. The team then spends a day working on the widow’s house.

100% of the money raised goes toward the cause – the cost of the adoption, church adoption fund, or orphan care initiative. Nothing is taken out for the operating expenses of either Lifesong or Both Hands. (Taken from Both Hands Foundation website)

This Saturday, December 1st, the Pierce family and their team of volunteers will join forces to serve a local widow named Ms. Karen. Each volunteer is raising sponsorship for their day of work. Most of the supplies for the repairs on her home have been donated so 100% of the funds raised will go directly to bringing Borys home forever!!

If you'd like to help the Pierce family "defind the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow." (Isaiah 1:17) you can sponsor their Both Hands project and donate via PayPal by clicking here or you can mail a check payable to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40

Gridley, IL 61744

 

In the memo line write: preference Pierce #3225

 

 

Let's join forces this "Giving Tuesday" and help make this family photo complete once again!

 



 

20 Days

20 Days until this kid steps off a plane and into the arms of his forever family for winter hosting!!

Let the count down begin!!!

Transformed

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12: 2

As we've journeyed farther and farther into November I've been witness to the many ways hosting Dzintars has transformed our family! This is most evident when it comes time each night to place a new leaf on our "Thankful Tree". If you missed that post you can read about it here.

Brennan, age 4 1/2, has blown me away with some of the things he's stated he's thankful for this year! I can clearly see the way his young heart has been transformed to think of others more than himself! He's learned he has so much more to be thankful for beyond "stuff"! The lessons he's learned because of our summer hosting experience are PRICELESS!

So far, Brennan is thankful for:

We're also sponsoring a 7 year old Latvian orphan this Christmas! We sent some money along with a letter, artwork from the kiddos and photographs of our family!

 

And my favorite leaf so far...

Hosting Dzintars and sponsoring Aleksis through the Latvian Angel Project have both fostered some really good conversations in our house this year! It's not uncommon for Brennan to ask me the names of the orphans he sees as I do my New Horizons work on the computer. He then usually asks if they can come live with us! Just yesterday as we were running errands Brennan said, "Mom! I want to host an orphan again! And I know we can't host Dzintars because he's going to another family so can we host a girl this time?" That last part made me crack up, if you've met my son, you know he's GIRL C-R-A-Z-Y!!! 

It's been 3 1/2 months since Dzintars returned to Latvia but the impact he's had on our family continues to this day! 

Freedom Day

I stumbled across this blog the other day and just fell in LOVE!

What a beautiful post!

Take a moment and read about the day two adorable Russian orphans were ransomed from their orphanages FOREVER!!!

Gotcha-Freedom Day

Host a Chaperone...P.S. It's FREE!!!

Have you been looking for a way to get involved with New Horizons for Children but just didn't have the funds to host a child? Here's your chance to be a part of this amazing ministry with ZERO cost!!

This winter, we'll have not ONE but TWO adult chaperones in the Southern California area and we need families to step up and host them!!

Hosting a chaperone is an excellent opportunity to have fun learning about a different country, culture and language.

These chaperones will be guests in your home and will need their own bedroom. A bathroom can be shared. Treat them as if they are a member of your family. You will need to provide meals for them. Don't be afraid to introduce them to new foods. Also, if they would like to introduce you to their country's cuisine, you can take them shopping and let them cook you a feast! You never know :-} All of them drink tea, lots of it, so stock up!!

You do not need to be with them constantly, a lot of parents work, but plan an outing or two with them. They cannot drive so yes, transportation needs to be provided for them. Depending on the concentration of host children in the area, the families of these children will probably take them for a day outing. Some chaperones are here to rest while others want to experience EVERYTHING. You just never know.

Some chaperone's speak English and some don't so have a handy translation program available.

You can host for 1 week or all weeks during the hosting period.

Lydia Rollins is the Chaperone coordinator and all hosting arrangements will be made through her. She will let you know arrival and departure time, provide you a picture and some information about the chaperone.

You can contact her at L.P.RollinsATcomcast.net (be sure and replace the AT with @)

This is Inga.

She is from Latvia and will celebrate her 33rd birthday on Jan 6th! She came last summer and loved the program so much, and is excited to visit the west! She shares about herself: I am a mother, a daughter and a granddaughter :) I've been working in the social work field with children, families and the elderly. My hobbies include: needlework, cooking, especially baking cakes. I like experimenting with new cooking recipes and running for fun. I speak some English and want to improve it. I've not often traveled outside the small country of Latvia. I've only been in America once and what I've heard about it: a huge country, ocean with fantastic blue color, The Big Apple -New York and I've seen a dollar bill! Thank you for considering hosting me during the winter hosting program and I am very excited to help the kids and NHFC!

This is Andrey.

Andrey is one of our Ukraine chaperones coming to Southern California! He is excited to see and do new things and learn English as well. Personal bio coming soon.

We need to find host families for both of them for the entire 4 weeks they will be here! If you are interested or know of someone who is, please send them my way or have them contact Lydia directly!

Inga will need a host family from December 16th-January 3rd. Andrey will need a host family from December 18th-January 15th. Please help spread the word!!

Six Months

Six months ago TODAY our lives changed forever!!

Six months ago my coordinator with  New Horizons for Children called to tell me about a boy named Dzintars who had just been given a full hosting scholarship and she asked if WE would host him!

Six months ago we said YES to the most amazing experience of our lives and now we'll never be the same!

It would take me all night to list all the ways our lives have changed in the last six months or all the blessings that have been poured out on us because we said yes but I'll try to list a few...

For starters I now have my "dream job" as a coordinator for New Horizons! Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for allowing me to follow my passion! I am part of the most amazing team EVER! Though we're spread out all over the country and I have yet to meet a single one of them we work as a team and together we've accomplished amazing things! We just finished matching families and kids for our Christmas hosting and we'll have 230 kids!! Our biggest Christmas yet! I'm daily amazed at the team the Lord has brought together and how selfless these ladies are! It's truly been an honor to be able to serve the Lord in this capacity!

Our decision to host Dzintars most definitely impacted our kiddos! Orphan is a now an "everyday" word in our household. Our 4 and 3 year olds use it almost daily. They have dubbed their stuffed animals "orphans" and tell us it's their job to take care of the orphans because they have no mommy or daddy. It's not uncommon for Brennan to see the photos of the kids I'm trying to find families for and for him to ask if they can come live with us :) I love all the ways their hearts have been softened towards the needs of others and pray this has a lasting impact on their hearts!

Hosting Dzintars and working for NHFC has allowed me to meet some incredible people that I otherwise would not have met! People I now count as some of my dearest friends.

Six months ago we committed to hosting Dzintars and sharing his story and the mission of New Horizons with anyone and everyone who would listen knowing that the more we shared, the greater the impact would be for other kids like him in the future. Somewhere around twenty kids are being hosted this winter because of this one child! We've grown so much in California that we now have kids flying into SFO and LAX!!! This Saturday I held my very first host parent training in Northern California, there were four families in attendance hosting 7 kids between them! Every single person in that room, me included, was there because of Dzintars! Seriously? I'm just in awe of all that God has done through this ONE CHILD!!!

Six months!!!

I wonder what God has in store for the next six months???

I'm hoping the twenty kids who are being hosted because of Dzintars go on to impact many, many more. I'm hoping that my Northern California summer host parent training will be so large that we'll have to find a different venue due to space constraints! I'm hoping my inbox will be flooded with new families wanting to follow God's call to take care of the fatherless!

When Things Don't Go As Planned

I'll start by saying I LOVE my "job".

Working with New Horizons has been a dream come true for me!

I've loved nearly every minute of it!

I say nearly, because this morning I had to call my precious friend who'd eagerly signed on to host this adorable set of four boys and tell her there'd been a change of plans (insert the kicking and screaming smiley face here). Apparently they'd recently been moved to a new orphanage, one that isn't in favor of hosting or adoption and denied our requests to let them come! And despite the fact that she already loved them dearly, despite the fact that her entire family was ready to welcome these kiddos with open arms, God has other plans for them!

Plans that aren't what we'd hoped for!

Plans that we don't understand!

And I find myself questioning him again...

How can staying in an orphanage with hundreds of children where they are merely a number be better for them then spending four weeks with my friend and her amazing family?

I want to kick and scream and beg God for a different plan.

But if I've learned one thing in this life, it's that God always has a plan even if I don't have a clue what it is. And someone it's always better than mine!

Resting in the fact that:

 "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."    Romans 8:28

 

$850

$850

That's how much money stands between this boy and Christmas in America!!

Can you help??? 

You have no idea how determined his host mama is to get him here! She's devoted all her time and energy into raising the necessary funds to get him here and she's nearly reached her goal!! What would our world look like if EVERYONE sacrificed as much as Artjoms' host mama has just to step out and love someone the world has forgotten??

$850

is all that Kim and her daughter need to show Artjoms what love is all about...

"Even with tremendous loss, and living in an orphanage without someone who "has his back", without someone to love him unconditionally, he still will laugh with you, he's friendly, he's very inquisitive, he's HOPEFUL, and he wants love more than most any child the interview team has met! He wants to come here so badly... Please consider a small donation to help us get him to our home for Christmas? We will show him he has an eternal Father that always "has his back" and that we love him so much that we stepped out in complete faith, with boldness, to bring him to us ♥"

Can you help? 

http://www.active.com/donate/winter2012/loveforartoyms

Latvian Angel Project

My beautiful friend Angie in Georgia is a part of a wonderful ministry called "The Latvian Angel Project"! In fact it was her involvement in this ministry that brought her to Latvia where she met and fell in love with Dzintars! 

Dz and Angie in Latvia when he was only 12 :) Ahhhh!

The Latvian Angel Project, a mission of Liberty Hill Church in Canton, GA, has been serving orphans in Latvia since 2005.  They work closely with the children's homes, their directors and other social workers to help bring a message of hope to the kids who live in the children's homes or who visit the day centers in Latvia. The Latvian Angel Project believes that the only way for these, or any, kids to understand the unconditional love of God through His son Jesus is to model this type of love for them.  So they pair each child in the children's home with a Christian sponsor.  

Could you, would you, consider sponsoring a child this Christmas season? For a one time donation of $30 you can bring hope and love to a child that otherwise would go without! It's super easy to sign up, I just did it and now a seven year old boy named Aleksis will KNOW that he's loved this holiday season. We'll write him letters and send him photos of our family and pets that he'll treasure! When Angie was in Latvia visiting the orphanages that the "Latvian Angel Project" works with, she found the kids had saved the photos and letters that their sponsors had sent to them. Some of the kids had years worth of photos that they'd been sent! Can you imagine? These photos are treasures to them because they know that they are not forgotten! They know that somewhere, someone is thinking about them and praying for them! Could you be an "angel" for a child this Christmas??

As a sponsor you simply agree to:

1.  Pray daily for your child for a year 

2.  Write a letter to your child (include photos of family & pets) and continue writing throughout the year.

3.  Make a one time donation (minimum $30 per child but more would be awesome) so we can purchase Christmas gifts for them.

4.  Pray earnestly about joining our mission team to go visit the children.

If you'd like to learn more about the "Latvian Angel Project" click here to visit their website!

Or email LatvianAngels@gmail.com.

Whirlwind

It was a whirlwind of a day! And I mean that in the very best sense of the word!! I LOVED every minute of my super busy, forget about eating lunch cause we've got a deadline, day!

I knew it was bound to be a good day when I got a call from one of my most favorite people EVER, yes I said EVER! She's pretty stellar in my book! Why was she calling?? Oh you know, to tell me that despite having three teenage sons she wants to host this good looking crew:

 

I pretty much floated through the rest of my day after that. Little sister is too young too travel so she'll stay behind and get some extra attention from their foster family but her four big brothers will be spending Christmas in California and I couldn't be more excited. These are some super lucky kiddos!! And I know they will be loved well!

As if putting four kiddos on hold before lunch wasn't enough I also got to assist in putting one of my favorite Ukrainian girls on hold for a family in Colorado...have I mentioned I work with the most AMAZING ladies?? Truly, amazing. I haven't met a single one of them YET but there's some serious teamwork that takes place on a daily basis and I'm so blessed to be a part of it!

Then I spent the remainder of my day (including two plus hours working from my ipad and cell phone while getting my hair done) working with two other California families who were trying to select kids to host!!

This super tall Latvian will now be coming to California as well. He's going to another fantastic family who has brought us two other host families already this Chrsitmas!

Our California count now stands at 18 kids (hopefully 19 by morning when the family I was working with today decides who to host)!!!!!

We had 5 this summer!

5!!

I set out to do all I could just to double that number, thinking that seemed like an attainable goal for a state with unusually low hosting numbers!

But with God's help we've now almost QUADRUPLED our summer numbers!!

Yep! I've pretty much been on Cloud 9 all day!! Just floating through life with a big goofy grin on my face!! I'm also kind of inclined to include a sibling set of four in our California numbers because they'll be flying into a California airport and are being hosted because their host family knows Dzintars' adoptive family...but they live ON the stateline between CA and Nevada...oh what the heck.

WE HAVE 22 KIDS BEING HOSTED IN CALIFORNIA THIS CHRISTMAS!!

 

Praise the Lord from who all blessings flow!!

Thankful Tree

Two years ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Babe of My Heart,  and came across a fall project I just couldn't pass up! Andrea and her family have a "Thankful Tree" they put up the entire month of November!! Every night each member of the family will write something they are thankful for on a leaf and hang it on the tree! Knowing we could use some more thankfulness in our household Peter and I jumped all over this idea and immediately got to work making our tree!!

This will mark our third year using our tree and I can tell you it's one of our families most cherished traditions already! Our entire family looks forward to it and I'm tempted to keep our tree up year round not only because I love the attitude of thankfulness it breeds in our hearts but cause my hubby rocks and we have one good lookin' tree!!

If you'd like to make your own "Thankful Tree" Andrea was kind enough to blog detailed directions so everyone can get in on the fun!! You can check them out here.

It's worth noting that a certain Latvian's family found him thanks to a blog post about him on Andrea's blog!! Since one leaf would never be enough to fit what I am most thankful for this year I'll post it here instead...

I am beyond thankful for all the many blessings that have been poured out on me and my family since we stepped out to host Dzintars. Not only do we have front row seats for one of the most amazing stories ever, we've also been blessed to meet and partner with some truly amazing people we might otherwise not have met!

 Making our tree...we cheated...but it was worth it :)

It helps to have a "detail oriented" hubby in times like these!!

Our tree the day we hung it in 2010.

We got a late start our first year and Kaelyn was too young to contribute much so our tree was sparse that year! 

 Our full tree in 2011.

2012! Can't wait to get started!!

Happy Halloween

Love these two goofballs!!

These two have more fun handing out candy than going door to door to get candy. Go figure!!