Gifts

"Every gift was given for a reason. We can't chose which ones we get, only what we do with them." How will you use your Christmas gifts to further the Kingdom of God this year?

Here are some of the gifts I got, and what I am going to do with them!

• a Walmart gift card - to buy yarn to raise money for Sergey
• tshirts - I requested tshirts that supported adoptions, and that's what I got! Part of the money used to purchase these shirts was donated to adopting families, and I will also use these shirts to advocate for the cause of the 147 million orphans around the world.
• My little brother! Yes, I count him as a Christmas gift! He is the second best gift I received even if he is a little late! - I am going to love on him and give all the love he didn't get from us in the three years in the orphanage!
• And the Best Gift of all - God's Son! Jesus came down to earth as a tiny baby on the first Christmas. He left all the splendor and glory in heaven and came down to a stinky old smelly stable to save us from eternal punishment in hell. For me, that is THE BEST GIFT I will ever get! He gave me the gift of life, so I am going to live me life for Him!

I love what one of my friends did - she didn't ask for any Christmas presents from her parents, but instead for money for an orphan on Reece's Rainbow. Now the hard part for her is choosing which one to donate to! :) Love you girl!

Remember that there are orphans who spent Christmas lying in a crib, with nothing for Christmas. Not even a family. They are just lying there, with no stimulation, in a room with lots of other cribs. No toys. No nothing. You can give them a present next year. The gift of a family. If you aren't their family, you can help their family bring them home. But, remember, time is running out for them. They soon will not be on earth anymore, they need YOUR help!

My God is Lord: Days of Elijah Day 26 - GOTCHA DAY!!!

Monday was the day we looked forward to ever since we started this process back in July. It was the day my mom busted my little brother out of the orphanage gates, never to return again. Never. AND, in 31 hours hours (yes, I'm counting!), I will meet my little brother for the first time... WOW... 31 hours... I CAN NOT WAIT!! Check back Friday for pictures!

(Actually it is 30 hours, and 32 minutes, and 30 senconds... hee hee)

My God is Lord: Days of Elijah Day 26 - GOTCHA DAY!!!: "WOOHOO!!!!!! Elijah is OUT! Out of that orphange FOREVER and EVER and EVER! :-) PRAISE GOD for His absolute faithfulness a..."

Merry Christmas

From our family (which now includes Elijah!) to yours!

Too Cute for Words

Rachel - 13 1/2 months

Craft Sale Pictures!

I forgot to include pictures with this post, so here they are! :)

This one was at the end of the day.

Craft Sale Saturday and Sweet Sergey

I posted a couple Fridays ago, on the 3rd, about my Craft Sale on the 4th. The Craft Sale went well! I didn't sell as much as I had hoped, but that's ok! I was able to tell quite a few people about Reece's Rainbow and show off pictures of my new little brother! ;) My friend (not little sister!), Rachel, sat with me, and also brought the awesome headbands and a scarf to sell! Thanks Rachel! All of the things we sold were dish cloths, but I luckily I didn't sell the one I wanted to use as a Christmas present! ;) (I "hid" it under the other ones!) All of the money I raised from this craft sale went to Sweet Sergey.

Meet Sergey...

Sergey is a little angel boy who is at Elijah's orphanage, and he has stolen my heart. I am now raising money for him on my other blog - Handiwork for Sergey. Below is Sergey's information from Reece's Rainbow -

Sergey (9)

Boy, Born October 15, 2007

This little monkey has a whole host of medical complications, but he is so darling and will surely perish if he is not adopted. He will end up in an institution, bedridden for his very short life. Please consider Sergey!


From his medical records: secondary post-hemorrhagic obstructive internal hydrocephalus, spastic tetraparesis, convulsive disorder, mental disorder as a result of organic affection of brain, additional chord of the left heart ventricle, partial optic atrophy, congenital nystagmus, crossed eyes, delay of physical development


Regrettably, this orphanage is one of the poorer ones, with very little outside aid and very little hope. All of the children are tiny and undernourished. These children are immediately transferred at 4, and have little chance of survival where they are sent. All of our waiting children need families, but these have a critical need. Please consider one of these children soon!!


I have $5000 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

If you would like to make a donation to Sergey's account, please click here, and click donate. Any amount will help, even if it is just $5, Sergey will then be $5 closer to finding a family! Also please feel free to go to my blog and browse the items I have available. I don't have very much on there right now, but I have lots of things made which I will be listing over the next week. Sergey is close to being transferred and once transferred, he has a 85% chance of dying with in the first year he is living there! Please consider helping him, or get the word out about him using the share buttons below each post on my blog.

Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas with your family!
Don't forget that Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Keep Christ in Christmas!
Sarah

One Last Christmas - Matthew West

This Christmas - Toby Mac

Be sure to listen to or watch this awesome video! When one of the adoptive blogs I follow posted this (Thanks Melissa!), I was suprised I hadn't heard this song before. I knew that Toby Mac and his wife Amanda had adopted domesticly, twins in 2002, but I didn't know he had any songs about it! This is now one of my FAVORITE Toby Mac songs! :)

5 Cajuns and a Fundraiser: Sinking

Please read this amazing post by an adoptive mommy...

5 Cajuns and a Fundraiser: Sinking: "For some reason tonight two things have been on my mind. Two things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other so forgive me w..."

Special Olympics Scarf Project 2011

Although I will not have time to participate this year, I wanted to let you all know about the Special Olympic's Scarf Project 2011! I took the information below from the website, so please visit it here to find out more! Along with my new little brother having Down Syndrome, and our family has a special friend, Corrin, who also has Down Syndrome, and has participated in the Special Olympics before! People with Down Syndrome are not people to be afraid of - they are very SPECIAL people who just were blessed with an extra chromosome. It would really mean a lot to someone if you made a scarf for them to keep them warm!

What is the Scarf Project??
Handmade scarves donated as a result of the 2011 Special Olympics USA Scarf Project will be a symbol of unity, support, compassion and empowerment, as the Special Olympics athletes, coaches, families, volunteers and supporters wear them with pride in knowing they have become part of the Special Olympics family.



The idea for a scarf project resulted from an opportunity to provide a gift of welcome for the athletes of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Boise, Idaho. A call went out for 5,000 Red Heart delft blue & white scarves, and by Games time nearly 60,000 scarves had arrived from every state in the U.S. and from 12 countries around the world. (watch the video)


Special Olympics Idaho, then, carried on the tradition with their own state scarf project in 2010, and again the knitting and crocheting communities opened their hearts and put their needles and hooks to work. Over 2,100 Red Heart cherry red and grey heather scarves arrived from 48 states in just five weeks for the Idaho State Winter Games, and the celebration of unity began as they were presented to the athletes, coaches, families, volunteers and supporters during the Opening Ceremony – for all to wear throughout the Games.

Now in 2011, the Special Olympics USA Scarf Project is spreading its wings and going national! You can now choose any of the 33 participating Special Olympics Programs to support! Our goal is to give knitters and crocheters the power to select which Program they want to support and help create an unprecedented sense of unity, support and community for the athletes and the Special Olympics Movement as a whole.

For more information on official colors, deadlines and participating Special Olympics Programs, visit the Scarf Project Guidelines page, or please refer to Frequently Asked Questions.

You can also visit their Free Patterns Page. Please make sure you use the two colors they want you to use though - Red Heart Super Saver 886 Blue, and Red Heart Super Saver 512 Turqua! Deadlines will differ by state but I do know that there isn't much time left so go find your hooks and needles!

Thank you for considering to make a scarf or two or a hundred!! :)

Help Please??

I need help from all the crocheters and knitters out there! My hands, especially during the winter when I am wearing warmer clothes, get sweaty, and that makes it hard to keep a good grip on my crochet hook or knitting needles. Normally I just wash my hands and hook/needle with soap, and that works pretty well. But, does anyone else have this problem?? And does anyone else have any good solutions or ideas to prevent it? I would appreciate your input, and hopefully you can help not just me, but other crocheting (and knitting)  maniacs like me! :)

Block Party 2011 Report #2!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Rachel and I got together and sewed together 2 blankets with the squares I have already received. We then layed out another one which she took home and sewed. A few days later I layed out another one, and she also sewed that up for us!! Thank you Rachel!!!! And great job!!!

P.S. You can see the first Block Party Report for 2011 here.

All the squares from my great aunt's friend before we started sewing.

 

The first one we layed out - all the short seems were sewn in this picture, I just has to finish up the long ones while Rachel started on the next blanket.



The second one we layed out, still in progress.

I can't exactly say I like this picture of me and Rachel... but it shows us with our work. :)

The last one I layed out for Rachel.

And... The finished product!

Here is the one we sewed together

Sorry bad picture (and yes, that is my foot...), but here is the other Rachel sewed! Good Job!

  

The other one we both sewed

PANEL PARTY!!!

Awhile ago someone from our 4-H club gave me these knitted panels, I have no idea what from, and told me to use them for whatever. There were six so I sewed them together to make blankets.

Sorry for the bad picture again - the brown in the bottom left hand corner is where I had to crochet ion the gap where there was no knitting. The loops were still hanging there when I got it, the needle was just pulled out, and that panel was shorter than the others.

The other blanket - All the panels were a really pretty design.





Thank you to - Dorothy for making all the squares!!!

Rachel for helping me make two blankets, and making two more!!!

Whoever donated the panels that I used for the block party!!!

These blankets went over to Elijah's orphanage with my mom, and all of the other ones will also go there!

My God is Lord: ONE LESS ORPHAN!!!

I have a new little brother now!!! Please go visit my mom's blog for pictures!!! :) Today I became a big sister for the 5th time!! This doesn't even seem real that my parents are on the other side of the world and I have a new little brother! YEA!! SO happy!

My God is Lord: ONE LESS ORPHAN!!!: "We are extremely grateful to tell you that this beautiful boy... IS AN ORPHAN NO MORE!!! Introducing ELIJAH JOSEPH BIRSCHBACH Born Septe..."

Craft Sale Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, I have a craft sale that I will be selling my items at! It is from 9am to 1pm at the Municipal Building (same building as the library, across the street from the post office) in the town I live. I will have Christmas dish cloths, and lots of other dish cloths, along with other things I've made. And I will have these awesome headbands that my friend Rachel is making for me to help raise money for orphans! (I'm hoping I get one for Christmas... hint hint...) Please consider stopping by and helping one of the many orphans in the world find a family! This is the same craft sale that I did last year which I posted about here and here. Ok, now that I have this post done, off to make more dish cloths!!! :)