Please Meet...Two Toby Heroes!!

I'd like to introduce you to some Toby heroes:

Pete and Aaron

These dear brothers had a combined birthday party yesterday! Long in advance they told their mom, "We don't want to have people bring presents for us...instead we want people to bring donations to help Toby come home."

Wow.

Speechless.

Mom said it was fully their own idea.

These boys gave up their birthdays...for the sake of an orphan they'd only seen pictures of on the other side of the world.

They found us in church this morning with big smiles on their faces, "We had our party yesterday," and they held up a wadded white envelope. 

Inside, $289.

That's right.

Two hundred eighty-nine dollars these brothers collected to help bring Toby home.

Tears welled up in my eyes, "So you boys had no presents at all?" my heart aching as I realized their sacrifice.

"Oh we had cards!" Pete piped up. "Lots and lots of cards!!"

They get it. I love that they get it.

Children with hearts bigger than mine. Children who walk away from me at church with the joy in their steps from giving sacrificially.

My heart swells with joy as I watch God bring a far off orphan into our family. He amazes me daily.

:)

Toby, come home.

Guest Blogger--My daughter!

I have loved being a mom...been at it now 11 1/2 years. I don't know about your experience, but the child God has given me has blessed me abundantly. Her heart for others is incredible. She is ONE determined, passionate child. When she had a chance to name her autobiography she chose this title:

"The Determined Life of Jensi Shaw."

She is passionate about horses and owning one herself one day. Soon. Like go check in the garage, is it here yet? But, she also has a growing passion for the poor, the orphaned and the destitute. 

With her permission, I am going to share with you her persuasive speech she wrote this week for her 6th grade assignment:

Pets or People?

Let’s say you have some money you have decided to donate. What would you do with it? Would you spend it at the animal shelter where it could help animals who need a good home? Or would you be writing the check to help impoverished people around the world? If you said the animal shelter, perhaps I can change your mind. I believe that we need to support people before animals.

Everyone wants to make good investment. People live longer than animals, therefore your money goes to something long term. People need to have food, water and shelter. They need it much longer than animals. Wouldn’t you like your gift to have a longer impact for a more important cause? I do.

The need of people is huge. 4,500 children will die today because of water related diseases. I understand that animal shelters are important and I am not against them, but human life is more valuable. Does it anger you that people desert their animals? Doesn’t it anger you that people desert their children? 15 million children under age 5 die each DAY because of hunger. We are the ones deserting the needy, the unloved and the poor. We open the cupboard wanting a snack and complain that there is nothing “good enough” to eat. Ring a bell? We are overlooking the hungry people of our world and crying about the homeless animals.

Source: maximsnews.com

People are most important because we are created by God. And yes, I agree, animals are too! However, only humans are created in God’s own image. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in His own image.” Because of this, we have the desire and ability to make a difference in our world. How do you do that if you are living in the slum? How are you able to make the right choice if you are only taught to steal in order eat? These people need our help. 1.3 BILLION people live on less than ONE DOLLAR PER DAY. God didn’t make us to sit there and be a couch potato. He wants us to care, because He cares. Proverbs 28:27 says, “Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing but a curse will come upon those who close their eyes to poverty.”  Proverbs 19:17 says “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord and He will repay you.”  Proverbs 22:9 says, “Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.” The Bible does not tell us that we will be blessed by saving animals.

[Play video from Tear Fund.org “What is Poverty?”]

Now are your minds changed? Giving to the poor is the right thing to do. Although giving and caring for animals is a good thing too. But I strongly feel we need to make people our first priority and then animals.

She was  pretty stressed working on this and was alarmed that she only had 2 days to get this done. Why? Because she wanted to not just change people's minds, but she hoped that by her giving this speech that kids will go home and ask their parents to donate to organizations that bring clean water or help the poor. She saw it as something greater than just an argument to win or an assignment to get done. I quote, "I want to get an A, and that's great and all, but what I really want to do is make a difference!"

I was also incredibly proud of her research. She did that herself! 

Sorry...

              am I being a boastful mom? 

I'm okay with that! :)

You, the Multi-tasker: Shopping and Rescuing Orphans!

I have been humbled once again. This journey of adoption has blessed me so much already and I haven't even gotten our referral yet!

So, it goes like this, I have a friend from high school who was very much taken by our adoption process and was moved so much she sent her family to our blog. Her sister, sweet woman that she is, decided to not just read but to get involved! :) I like when people don't just read but DO SOMETHING! (Have you heard me say that before? haha) She has her own business marketing Uppercase Living products and has generously offered to donate 20% of her sales to our adoption fund!

"But what is this business, 'Uppercase Living'", I wondered. I tentatively clicked on the link that was sent and spent the next ten minutes in awe of the catalog. Truly I loved the things inside! Classy, creative, and full of options. I was sold. Let's do it.

So here I am today opening up a catalog party for anyone who would like to purchase these beautiful creations for their home. I have seen several companies that create vinyl clings for your home, but this company goes the extra mile. You can design plates, frames and signs and other things in their "off the wall" section. (Cute name, huh?) :) The "party" will be open until February 19th.

Here's the specs:

Amy Shaw invites you to be a part of an 

Uppercase Living Catalog Party

through February 19th

to help give orphans a home!

20% of all the sales of this Catalog Party will be donated directly to the Shaw family to help with adoption fund-raising!!!

Uppercase Living believes in the power of words and how they can transform your home.  We offer decorative vinyl expressions that can enhance any space in an instant with no messy stenciling!  We offer both pre-designed and custom vinyl expressions!  On my website you can view our online catalog and customize your own custom expression using our 50 fonts and over 40 color choices.  

http://kstewart.uppercaseliving.net/OnlineCatalog.m

2 ways to order:

For guests who live near Amy (your order will be shipped to her):

Email or call me (Karrie) with your item number, item description and color choice(s).  If you have created a custom expression, be sure to save it so I can access it

I will provide you with your total.  I accept checks or can send you a credit card invoice through paypal.

If you spend more than $50 in product, you qualify for free customer expressions!  Check out the customer choices of the February monthly gifts...http://kstewart.uppercaseliving.net/MonthlyGifts.m

For out of town guests:

Shop and create directly on my website...http://kstewart.uppercaseliving.net/OnlineCatalog.m

Add items to your cart and when checking out, choose to "associate" your order with Amy Shaw's party.

Amy will receive credit for your order and it will be shipped directly to you!

Please have orders to me or online by February 19th.  Contact me if you have ANY questions!

Check out my website to learn more about becoming an Uppercase Living hostess yourself or learn more about the business opportunity!!!

Karrie Stewart

Independent Uppercase Living Demonstrator

My Website: http://kstewart.uppercaseliving.net

614.557.8676

karriestewart@yahoo.com

***THIS JUST IN!!!***
New February deals for any shoppers who spend more than $50! Extra "expressions" will be available to you at no cost! Contact Karrie via email (above) if your order exceeds fifty dollars to receive your list of free things from which to choose!

From the first page of the Uppercase Living catalog. See that cool clock? Isn't that nifty?

And how cool is this? You can have your OWN PHOTOS become clingy thingees! (Probably not their wording)

This page gets my wheels turning for how we'll decorate the "boy's" room! WOW! We are going to have at least another son! :)

So that's probably enough to whet your appetite for some online shopping! Remember, when you shop you are multi-tasking: decorating, maybe getting ahead in your gift-giving AND helping us bring our children home from their orphanage! Go you! ;)

The 5 Minute Snapshot

It's amazing to me what all happens across the world at the same time. I remember coming home from Haiti (my first long visit out of the United States) and being in awe that while I was ordering food at a restaurant while the people I just left were literally starving to death. I went into an anti-American funk for an entire year. Now that I'm older and hopefully a bit wiser, I realize that my hating America and not singing "God Bless America" on the 4th of July did nothing to help anyone in Haiti.

In his book, The Hole in Our Gospel, Rich Stearns talks about Former President Jimmy Carter and his take on what was the biggest global challenge facing us as we began the  new millennium. Carter wisely answered, "the disparity between the rich and the poor." It wasn't the fact that there were so many poor, or that so many died of preventable diseases but the problem he identified was that so many of US had so much and were ignorant or doing nothing to help out those who were so desperate in need. Part of my life-curriculum that God has for me is to become AWARE of the needs of the world...but not to stop there. All that becoming aware alone does is to make me feel guilty. I need to ACT upon my knowledge.

We were just saying this two weeks ago to our 5th and 6th graders whom we teach at our church. How awful that so many are in need! So many are hungry...we have more food than we need! What can we do? We waited to hear their answers. One of them raised a tentative hand, "We can give money to organizations?" YES! We don't have to necessarily buy a plane ticket and fly our leftover casserole to India and find a hungry person to give it to, but we can do smart research and pray about where we direct our resources to. Organizations already have the infrastructure in place and the connections with which to do SOMETHING for these needs.

I am not a proponent of any particular organization. I have many that I really love though. And I know that there are so many more that I have yet to encounter. I also know that corrupt organizations exist and that the need for smart research before giving is an important step. I want to encourage you (especially if you are taking the 3% challenge!!) to not just watch a video like this and walk away shaking your head at all that just happened while you watched it. DO SOMETHING!! Even if it's just $5. If you want a list of some of my favorite charitable organizations, I'd be happy to provide them, but my guess is, you may have some of your own. The important thing is to not walk away without action. This verse is coursing through my mind:

James 1:22-24 

 ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

(And just so you know, I can't hit "publish post" before I go make my own donation to a favorite cause!! Here's where I just gave: 60 Feet)

Liftin' up the roof with PRAISE!!!

Just wanted to announce what a GREAT BIG GOD we serve!! Our spaghetti lunch fundraiser that our church held on Sunday created a wonderful chance for people to enjoy one another's company and was a great success! Many people have wondered how it went so I wanted to post a quick update. Thanks to the generosity of so many people, the fundraiser brought in a total of $3,500! This blessed amount will be shared between our family and the sweet Bailey family who are also adopting from Africa. Praise be to the name of our God!

(You can always see our progress toward our goal of $40,000 by looking at the thermometer down the right side of our blog. I keep it up to date with all the different ways we are raising money. Thank you for all you are doing to become part of what God is doing in the world, in these children's lives and in our lives as a family. Blessings!!)


*****Amendment*****
I wanted to add that our church has set up a fund called One Less Orphan to which you can also donate if you so choose. This would make your gift tax-deductible and would be split between our family and the Bailey family. You can see their blog here.  You can also contribute to our adoption needs directly by using the ChipIn on the right hand side of our blog. These funds will be delivered into our PayPal account and will be used strictly for our adoption only (we won't take a quick trip to Disney or Jamaica!)

Three Percent

It's after midnight and I've just woken up from a dream. Not a very powerful one, really, something about eating mushrooms and my mom returning an old childhood book on butterflies. So that's not it. It's the something that lies just under the surface of my conscious rolling around constantly all these deep truths about the world we live in. The reality that while I sleep in my pretty flanneled bed, people around the globe shiver on the streets. The reality that while I get up and stumble a few feet to my indoor bathroom and turn on the faucet and drink a small cup of water, this is impossible to a good percentage of the world. And then I remember.

3%.

And the actual number that it would take is lower. It really works out to be less. It's only 2.5%, but guessing that many Americans won't do it causes me to increase it a little. (My math skills are a little like my painting and cooking skills--I do A LOT of estimation. (Enter snickers from my brother.) So I'm really only guessing three percent.) Okay, back up, I'm in a half-awake state and no one knows what I'm talking about. Sorry. I'm typing quietly to not wake up my sleeping husband, but let me click a few more keystrokes to explain.

Americans spent $450 BILLION on Christmas. Yes, that's right. 450,000,000,000 hard earned dollars. And we're in a recovering recession!! And did you know that it would only take $10 billion to permanently fix the world's water crisis. That's right. Take just a minute here to let that sink in. {pause} If we took $10 billion of our $450 billion from one year of Christmas spending and gave it to a reputable water drilling organization(s), we could end the water crisis forever. {pause again} The 1 billion people who don't have access to it would require simply 2 1/2% of what we self-righteous "Christian" Americans spent on ourselves at Christmas. This makes my stomach turn. It keeps me awake at night! Since the number 2.5% would require every American household sharing their Christmas and I know that is unrealistic, I've bumped up the number to 3%. What if WE all gave a simple three percent of what we spend on our loved ones at Christmas to help stop the water crisis of our globe?

And then I wondered, does each American even keep receipts for what they spent at Christmas? Do we even realize what we are doing? It's only been 24 days since Christmas. Do we even remember the gifts we gave? Are they now a distant memory because we are so swallowed up in that project at work or the latest gossip? What if we had all given just 3% of our spending to an organization that could responsibly use it to help solve the global water crisis?

So I challenge you: this year in 2011, in another 11 months from now, I want you to give 3% of your Christmas spending to provide water to someone on our planet you'll never know. (Yes, I realize I'll probably have to remind you. I'm willing to do that.) I really don't care through which organization you do it, but I can certainly suggest a few that we use. Will you do it? Will you take this challenge? Will you step up to the plate in this way and allow me to fall back asleep this cold night in January? I've got four kids to be alert for in the morning you know! Seriously, this is true, but something deep within me compels me to write. (Just might be the Spirit of God!) I am literally compelled to motivate you to understand the real life-altering HELP you can be to these far off distant people.

Here's a verse I'm going to sign off with from Matthew 10:

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Yeah, I know I already posted this picture from Charity:water...but it is perfect again and I want to go back to sleep! ;)

Christmas UNshopping!

Yippie!!! We have done something that will impact us mildly this Christmas and impact certain people on our planet MAJORLY over the next twenty years. That's a pretty lofty thing to claim, so let me unpack it for you.

Brian and I did all of our Christmas shopping for our family back in October. We were feeling mighty fine about that!! DONE! Smiling over a cups of hot coffee at Panera we felt so happy that we had made all our Christmas purchases in one morning and stuck fairly close to something I can loosely refer to as a "budget." And the kicker? The kids will LOVE this big gift and all the trimmings--for sure!

Enter a few chapters from The Hole in Our Gospel sprinkled in with a few podcasts by Erwin MacManus and another chapter or two from a book called Radical. The undoing of our lives had long ago begun, but it was about to unravel a bit more.

I would like to say that we decided to go Christmas unshopping because God had just moved our hearts and we obeyed, but that wouldn't be the whole story, and I feel pretty certain it should be told accurately. We became painfully aware that we really didn't have money for these gifts that we so jubilantly tucked away in their hiding place. Several times over the next weeks Brian suggested we simply take the whole kit and kaboodle back. I wasn't married to the idea of giving it to the kids, but certainly did NOT feel like starting all over again! What would we give the kids in its place??? Brian boldly suggested nothing in it's place. "WHAT!?! We can't do that to our kids!! They wait all year for Christmas!" He suggested maybe we take Christmas morning and serve someplace so we are busy rather than feeling the loss of presents. A good idea that I really liked. We prayed and God indeed did provide the $ to cover the gifts. We had them paid off by the time the credit card bill came due. Hooray! Keep the gifts! But the idea of serving on Christmas morning really appealed to me.

Well, because of this discussion, we realized that perhaps we could go and serve somewhere on Christmas morning and then give our children these gifts in the afternoon (God had provided, after all!) We began to look for places to serve. It wasn't looking good. The kids have to be 14 to serve in a soup kitchen, men are not allowed in the battered women's shelter, the elderly in the nursing home do not wake up early on Christmas (or any) morning and wouldn't be available for a Shaw production until the afternoon. Something wasn't quite right.

I am so blessed to know some really amazing sisters in Christ, one of whom has gone before me in international adoption and is blazing trails left and right. She had just blogged about her own family giving up their Christmas tree and giving the money to purchase a flock of ducks for a needy African family. You can read her inspirational blog post here. That in the back of my mind, I went to pick up my children from the bus stop. We got into a discussion about body fat. "Some people are fat because they eat more food than their bodies need at the time, so their body simply stores it for later. The problem is that when "later" comes they have plenty to eat and so they do. More and more gets stored on their bodies and they become fat." (You didn't expect a Beachbody coach mom to not teach her children this did you?!) "Compare that, " I continued, "with a person living in Africa who only manages to eat one meal a day. Their body, if they had stored extra food for later would have used it up when no food was eaten. They are not fat. In fact, their body is so hungry that it eats away at the muscle and they become very malnourished." From that comment I kid you not, my 10 year old says, "You know what would be great? If people had chickens! They could eat the eggs and also grow some up to be meat chickens!" And *BLING!* an idea suddenly sparked in my mind! I immediately asked them, "Okay, what if we had a dramatically smaller Christmas this year and we gave chickens to families in Africa who really needed them?" I had not even gotten the question out of my mouth before my 8 year old piped up an enthusiastic, "Oh YES!!!" Then two more enthusiastic affirmations followed. (Darrah Kate remains wordless at this point!)

I spoke with Brian on the phone once we got back to the house, "The kids are willingly choosing to have a small Christmas so we can bless people on the other side of the planet!" He too was thrilled. We made plans and the next morning I drove the 45 minutes to the back to the store and returned all but a $20 gift that we'll give to all the kids together. I was Christmas unshopping and it felt SO GOOD!!! We decided later that night to give to a group called Charity:water that is bringing clean water to people who are literally dying for lack of it. Our donation is going to give people clean water for TWENTY YEARS!!! WOW! How is that for an excellent trade? :)

{I am inserting a paragraph to illuminate why we chose to go the water route rather than the chicken route as a family. Feel free to skip over this if you don't need to know every detail!} Incidentally, I came down with the flu while I was out returning the gifts. After I was home, I was lying on the bathroom floor between heaves and thinking, "If I lived in Africa as an impoverished person, I would have no clean toilet, no clean floor and I would feel like this often without much hope for getting better." Later as I thirst for water while I was in bed and some family member graciously delivered to me a whole Nalgene full of clear, filtered water I thought, "Now what if the only thing to slake my thirst while I was this sick was contaminated, dirty water? I would have very little hope of getting well." It was like a very practical, personal wake up call to the need for clean water around the world. This pushed our decision to give to a non-profit to build wells in places that desperately need access to clean, unadulterated water.

Jensi (our 10 year old) has decided to take on the chicken giving project on her own. I'll probably come back and write more about her venture later. We also are still planning to do something on Christmas morning, even if we simply wait until the elderly wake up to bring them some kid-hearted Christmas cheer. For now, I am just feeling so thrilled to have gotten an idea, allowed God to tweak it just right and then to have moved on it!

Jesus said to His disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambitions, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life." Matthew 16:24-25

It will be a small Christmas that will be remembered...for many reasons. Hopefully it's just the beginning of us all learning to give our lives away for the sake of obeying Jesus.