This is a something that is near and dear to my heart, which for some reason makes it very hard to blog about. A little over a year ago I learned about Reece's Rainbows and began following several blogs that different families made that chronicled their foreign adoptions of children with Down Syndrome through Reece's Rainbows.
There is so much I want to explain about these poor little children who live in orphanages with slim chances of ever being part of a family. I think the best way to understand it is to read some of the blogs that were started by different families while going through the adoption process.
http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/
http://anextraleaf.blogspot.com/
http://ahomefordarya.blogspot.com/
http://fillmoresjourneytoanna.blogspot.com/
http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/
You may have to go back a little to find most of the stories of their adoptions, but I promise it will be worth your time.
Over the last year, Ryan and I have discussed this organization and these children over and over and we have both felt it impressed upon us that one day we will adopt one of these children.
The biggest obstacle for people who do want to adopt one (or more) of these children is money. It can cost between 25 and 30 thousand for one adoption. Each year, Reece's Rainbows has their Angel Tree fundraiser. The money that is donated to each child goes to a fund for them that is able to be used towards their adoption.
Ryan and I decided that instead of buying our kids presents this year, we would donate money to a child waiting to be adopted. I thought the kids would be okay with the idea, and they were. They were actually thrilled to be part of it and had a very tough time choosing which child we would donate to.
We finally decided to donate to Liliana. Her story can be found on the first blog I linked...they call her Lyla. She is a special little girl and her story is so touching that our family really wanted to help her out.
http://reecesrainbow.org/22487/lilianna
After we donated to Lyla, we received an email from my parents saying that instead of buying them presents this Christmas, they would like us to do something for something else this year. It could be anything. We decided to pick another child to help. Jackson chose Jonas because he is Griffin's age and looks like Griffin. It breaks my heart to think of him sitting alone in a crib day after day.
http://reecesrainbow.org/2806/jonas
When you donate to a child, you will receive an ornament with the child's picture on it. We got our two in the mail today. As I hung them on our tree with my Lila, I was so sad for those children, but grateful to be able to teach my children. Grateful that my children care as much about these orphans as I do, and grateful that they are willing to take action to help others.
Please, if you can, consider donating to one or more of these children this Christmas season. They truly are, "The the least of these." If you can't donate, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/
http://anextraleaf.blogspot.com/
http://ahomefordarya.blogspot.com/
http://fillmoresjourneytoanna.blogspot.com/
http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/
You may have to go back a little to find most of the stories of their adoptions, but I promise it will be worth your time.
Over the last year, Ryan and I have discussed this organization and these children over and over and we have both felt it impressed upon us that one day we will adopt one of these children.
The biggest obstacle for people who do want to adopt one (or more) of these children is money. It can cost between 25 and 30 thousand for one adoption. Each year, Reece's Rainbows has their Angel Tree fundraiser. The money that is donated to each child goes to a fund for them that is able to be used towards their adoption.
Ryan and I decided that instead of buying our kids presents this year, we would donate money to a child waiting to be adopted. I thought the kids would be okay with the idea, and they were. They were actually thrilled to be part of it and had a very tough time choosing which child we would donate to.
We finally decided to donate to Liliana. Her story can be found on the first blog I linked...they call her Lyla. She is a special little girl and her story is so touching that our family really wanted to help her out.
http://reecesrainbow.org/22487/lilianna
After we donated to Lyla, we received an email from my parents saying that instead of buying them presents this Christmas, they would like us to do something for something else this year. It could be anything. We decided to pick another child to help. Jackson chose Jonas because he is Griffin's age and looks like Griffin. It breaks my heart to think of him sitting alone in a crib day after day.
http://reecesrainbow.org/2806/jonas
When you donate to a child, you will receive an ornament with the child's picture on it. We got our two in the mail today. As I hung them on our tree with my Lila, I was so sad for those children, but grateful to be able to teach my children. Grateful that my children care as much about these orphans as I do, and grateful that they are willing to take action to help others.
Please, if you can, consider donating to one or more of these children this Christmas season. They truly are, "The the least of these." If you can't donate, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
