Reece's Rainbow - Miracle Makers, part 2

So a couple of weeks ago I shared the story of Lynda, the precious little girl I had signed up to advocate for during this holiday season. I still smile when I remember that she will be home with her forever family soon! (The Petersen family will be bringing her home!)

So now Lynda has a family. My second choice child was Clementine, another little girl from Eastern Europe. There is very little information on Clementine's page. She is about 6 years old. She has some delays. She has 2 blood diseases. But that's all that is listed. A few tiny sentences to sum up this little girl - that is so sad.

Adorable little Clementine -
look at that precious face!

This little girl drew me in with her sweet little smile, her precious pigtails, her dirty knees. She looks like any other child...but she is growing up in an orphanage. She lives every day with no family. No mama to kiss her precious cheeks, to brush her dark hair, to wipe her dirty knees. No daddy to read her stories, to snuggle her close, to tell her that she is a child of God. It breaks my heart to think about her having no one to call her own.

I reread the paragraph above & it brings tears to my eyes. I would love nothing more than to fly to Europe & bust her out of that orphanage forever & bring her home. Unfortunately we are not at a place where we can adopt internationally right now, so I am doing what I can. I am sharing sweet little Clementine with you right now. Can you share her, too? Share the link above & get her picture out there. Share my blog with her information. Give out my info to anyone who might be interested in learning more about how to start the process of adopting her (or any other Reece's Rainbow child) & I will get them connected with someone who can help them start that process.

Okay, so back to the actual point of this blog: I am raising money for Clementine between November 1st and December 31. My goal is to raise $1000 for her grant. Currently her grant is at $329.40. I will be posting a facebook album in the next couple of days with things for sale. All money from those sales will be going into Clementine's Miracle grant. I am also taking crochet orders - 70% or more of the price of ordered items will go to Clementine. I'd love to have your support as I work to support this sweet little girl! Please consider making a purchase or giving a donation to Clementine's grant starting on November 1st!

Reece's Rainbow - Miracle Makers, Part 1

Reece's Rainbow is a website you see a lot on my facebook page. They are a group (company?) who features kids who are available for adoption, most of which have special needs. Along with featuring children, they help support adoptive families through FSPs (Family Sponsorship Program). When you donate to Reece's Rainbow you can choose to support an adopting family or a child who is waiting to be adopted.

I can't tell you exactly how I became connected with RR, but I think it was through my friend Kami when she was in the process of the adoption of her precious daughter. (Read her story at https://forgoodblog.wordpress.com/ ) I was touched by the families, the children, & those who advocate for both. I got involved. I shared kids. I donated money. I did what I could. I became a family warrior, first for Kami's family, & then, once they were home, for the Adair family (http://adairfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/).

Since the Adairs came home, I haven't done much in the way of advocating. Honestly, I was overwhelmed with our move to North Dakota, our foster license, our kids, our foster kids, our new roles as the pastoral family. So many things were going on & I didn't feel able to do anything more than I was already doing. Along with my own stuff, I became overwhelmed with the kids available for adoption. I had seen so many of my favorites get adopted & go home to be with their forever families, but the number left just seemed like too much. So many kids - so much suffering - so many families trying to raise the money for their waiting kids to come home.

Then a couple of months ago I was reminded of the program that Reece's Rainbow does around Christmas every year. RR opens up a time to support specific children. In the past anyone who wanted to pick a child could do so & there were unlimited spots. If you were willing to try to raise funds for a child, then they let you do it! The goal is to raise $1000 for your waiting child. Being that everyone has some "favorites" that they are hoping get adopted, there are many children chosen & featured through the Christmas season. This leads to lots of kids being seen, but it is a struggle for some people to raise funds because the RR community is so saturated with everyone trying to raise their part.

Sweet little Lynda

This year RR changed things up a bit. The leadership decided to only open the program to the first 100 supporters to sign up. I had never been involved with this before, but my heart kept going to a little girl I NEEDED to see featured. Her name was Lynda & she was one that I have seen on the RR database for years, with no update to her information page & very little mention of her in the RR community. I would have brought her home in a second if we were able to. So I signed up to be a Miracle Maker this Christmas. I picked Lynda as my first choice, then I had to pick 2 more (in case Lynda had already been chosen by someone else). I received word in mid September that I was assigned Lynda for the Christmas season. I was SO excited! I started thinking of how I would raise funds for her & I started working on some projects, but since Miracle Makers doesn't start until November 1st, I didn't do too much.

About a week ago I got an email from a lady who works at Reece's Rainbow. The email was titled "Re: Lynda FOUND her family!!" Wait...what?! So in a frenzy, I open the email. It simply said, "Lynda has found her forever Family!!! Would you like to go with your second choice, Clementine?"

Again, wait...what?! I was so thrilled I almost cried! This little girl, whose tiny face has broken my heart for years, has a family? Her family will be coming for her! Unfortunately, that makes her unable to participate in Miracle Makers as it is just for kids with no family. I would love to be able to advocate for Lynda, but I would much rather she has a family & I am hoping I will be able to help them get her home, too! Her family's FSP should be up soon & I will share it then! (Her family does have a YouCaring account - https://www.youcaring.com/karleigh-petersen-551472 )


So back to the question in the email...would I take my second choice, Clementine? Um, of course!!! I emailed her back & told her that I would love to be Clementine's Miracle Maker this year.

So I will be advocating for Clementine. I will share more about her in my next blog. I will be sharing her soon - or if you can't wait, go to the Reece's Rainbow website & search for her name. I would love to get an email from RR telling me she has a family, too!