A Special Child

You weren’t like other children,
And God was well aware,
You’d need a caring family,
With love enough to share.
... And so He sent you to us,
And much to our surprise,
You haven’t been a challenge,
But a blessing in disguise.
Your winning smiles and laughter,
The pleasures you impart,
Far outweigh your special needs,
And melt the coldest heart.
We’re proud that we’ve been chosen,
To help you learn and grow,
The joy that you have brought us,
Is more than you can know.
A precious gift from Heaven,
A treasure from above,
A child who’s taught us many things,
But most of all- “Real Love”

Dedicated to Sam! Sam has taught us so much in his 7 years. I thank God for him! He has changed my life around, got my priority's on track & made me more happier than you could imagine!

If you would have told me 10 or 13 years ago that I'd have a blind, mentally delayed child & I would be the happiest I've ever been in my whole life...I'd probably not believed you! But it is the truth! Sure we've cried some tears, we have some regrets for Sam but not for us! He is a joy! Pure Joy! And he keeps my look towards heaven. I'm not satisfied with this life, I have a hope that is eternal. And one day I'll hear my little man talk & see clearly and understand. So for now we enjoy the heck out of him & look forward to THAT DAY!!!!

Thank you God for sending me the son You promised to me! He has changed me & opened my heart to love other kids that aren't "perfect" in the world's eyes but perfect in our eyes!

Seth Job Clanton

Seth is officially on the Reece's Rainbow page "My Family found Me" so I can now publish his picture!!!!! We are looking forward to day that we can hold this little guy and take care of him! Please pray that all the paperwork moves quickly for these two precious children!!!!!

Paper chasing.... still

Sitting here waiting for our notary friend to come by and redo the last 4 pages on our dossier:) Still waiting for my homestudy, which is waiting for Jon's medical (for some reason they didn't check the paper for an HIV test and it had to be redone) Then we still wait on the USCIS (homeland security/immigration) background. As soon as I get my homestudy in hand, I'm going to be calling my senator to ask for the paperwork to be expiated!

We sent in the commitment pledge of $1000 for Dmitiry/Seth Can't wait until we are officially matched on Reece's Rainbow and are able to put up his picture too!!!


We are working on all the funding, have some letters/emails out, knowing that the God of this Universe will provide for these kids!!!!

This is the most emotional thing I have ever done in my life. We didn't have to be vulnerable and love these kid but we made the choice to and it hurts. It hurts because we care for them and want to take away their hurt and give them love and a full belly, and we can't yet. We have a son like them, we know their vulnerability and needs, probably more than most. It's hard because we know how loving we've taken care of Sam since his first breath. We've taken him to every specialist and tried to meet all his needs and anticipate his wants as he doesn't communicate verbally. So it hurts to think of two children, lost in a dark world with no one to be their parents. Oh God protect them until we can be there for them!

Please pray for them whenever you think of them.

For all you who thought I was a saint...I ain't LOL

Today has been crazy...got LOTS of work done on the adoption. I'm trying to make sure everything is in for the homestudy, do the USCIS/Homeland Security stuff & the "pre dossier" and the dossier....and raise money ALL at the same time. All are inter related yet separate... Then today the "pre dossier" (for lack of a better term) changed. Well I hadn't done it yet anyhow, I was waiting for the change BUT there came an urgency with the change to get certain documents in. Just so you know getting an adoption document in, doesn't just mean signing it and mailing it...OH NO that would be TOO easy! It means signing it, getting it notarized, faxing it to the agency for approval, getting approved and then sending it to Tallahassee for it to be "apostilled" a fancy name for the notary's seal to be verified ON EACH SHEET OF PAPER!!!! For a charge of course! Then it has to be sent back to us, mailed to the agency and sent to the country!! So I'm stressing!

Then to finish up the paperwork for our homestudy that might be finsihed by Monday I had to drive to Tampa, find the Dept of Children & Families to get our child abuse clearance...(to make sure we haven't been abusing our kids. My son threatened me and told me I had to get him pizza or he'd tell on me lol since he is way bigger than me....)

So I FINALLY find the place and as I'm getting my documents out of the van, a older lady pulls up and tells me "you are in a handicapped parking spot" I said "i know" and just continue getting my stuff. She then told me to move. Ok I sorta lost it at that point and I told her in a slightly louder than normal voice that I have a handicapped child in the car & would she like to see his Florida ID????? THEN she says "lady you don't hae to get all huffy & be rude to me" At that point I reminded her who began the conversation..... She moved. Then I saw her come in the office I was in and go in the employee door....don't you LOVE state workers like that? Reminds me of bratty girls who loved to tell on other children to get them in trouble (and yes I have someone in mind as I write LOLOL)

Anyhow just wanted all my new readers know I'm not always a saint:) What a day!!!!! And I still have stuff to do tonight, I feel like I have a paper to write (even tho it's not that bad) Then Jon & I have early medical appointments in the morning, then I'm sending in our commitment promise on Seth, Steve has to get his bottom braces, we have a ton of stuff to get notarized, faxed and checked. I'm going to wait to over night it to my friend in Tallahassee who is going to walk it through the appostille process and send it back the same day, till I get the homestudy so it can all go together. so many things to come together in the next few days.....

BTW, we did get pizza tonight in Tampa, a Pizza Hut right next to an adult bookstore....what a day!!!! But we are doing it all for two little ones so it's worth it!!!

Good News

Just a short blog to let you know how things are going. On Monday a dear couple gave us a gift of $1000 towards our adoption. Then on Tuesday a close friend & her hubby gave us a gift of $1000! So today is Wednesday and I'm still waiting for my daily $1000 gift to our adoption:) God is good and so are His people!!!!

Reece's Rainbow has given us permission to commitment to the little boy! They are not confident that we will be approved but we are going to do all our paperwork and pray that the country will grant us favor! I'll be sending in our commitment fee & then I can officially post his picture on here!!!!! We are willing to be his parents if God will grant us the favor of the government !!! Please pray, he's been listed for over 3 years, is in the same mental institution as Sarah and only 5 yrs old. We want to give him a wonderful life with lots of love, something he has never had. We've seen a few pictures of him and he is never smiling...Jon said he can't wait to tickle him till he laughs a belly laugh" We want to bring laughter into his life...pray that we will be able to!!!!!


Doing paper chasing every day. I write a 3 day list at a time and make sure I can mark all the things off on a daily basis for example my list thus far has been....
Monday-
Set up Physicals
write & print the adoption appeal letter
get a copy of deed on property

Tuesday-
Go to Bartow pick up birth certificates & marriage certificates
Balance & enter all transactions on the adoption gifts, make copies and file receipts

Wednesday
Talk to Social Worker
email RR
fill out INS

As you can see somethings require many steps but thankfully I've met my goals for the past 3 days! And still have done all my other chores like laundry , cleaning & eyedrops! Please pray that I can stay focused and get done what I need to do!

Tomorrow I am going to Tampa to find the children & Family office to get our Abuse clearance backgrounds done. I think it will be faster to hand walk it through!!!!

So right now this is my life....can't wwait till the paperwork is done!!!!

Contacts

I LOVE getting comments from so many of you and I really want to comment back but for some reason I can't put a comment in my comment section!!! so if you'd like a reply please post me your email address with your comment:) Thanks

To set the record straight.....dedicated to Mr or Ms Annymous

Mr or Ms Anonymous,

I want to set the record straight for you.....

Adopting a child is not buying a child! Yes there are fees that must be paid to government agencies, there is travel for the family, there are document fees...but it's not buying a child. It's no different than having a child and paying the hospital. It's about the same amount of money. So is birthing a child "buying a child"? Guess so since there is money involved. Guess no one should have a baby then??? Nothing in life is free...there is no free lunch OR FREE child! just remember that!

Adopting can be a wonderful thing for everyone involved. I'm so very thankful I am basically an adopted child. It was a "in family" adoption, my great aunt & uncle took me as a newborn and raised me. We are the proud parents of an adopted child from China. A little boy who was left on the side of the road because he was blind in one eye! He is now a happy, well adjusted , straight A 8 yr old who is so glad we "bought" him! In fact he told me just today "Mom I'm so glad you came and got me!" So put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!! Makes you think about what is important.



Mr or Ms Anonymous, have you ever walked into an orphanage and seen babies lying in one crib after another? Seen your breath because it was so cold in that baby room in January? Maybe if you get off your self satisfied behind and see some of the horrible things in this world, then you might, you just might be moved with compassion to want to rescue a child.

Heck I don't even like going to the pound...should we not have more respect & compassion for a life of a human than an animal??? (And I'm quite the animal lover & rescuer!Pretty sure I've got you beat there too)

Are we glad we "bought" him, glad we chose him over buying a new car? YES!!!! What is a human life worth?


The Bible talks about how Jesus came and bought us, He paid our redemption on the cross. The term "bought" is used throughout the Old and New testament. I'm so glad that Jesus "bought" me out of sin....

So no we don't have $25,000 lying around but check back on my blog in a few months and I can promise you the God of the Universe will provide what we need to go and bring those kids home! And it will be to HIS glory. You can have a hard heart but guess what? One day we will all stand before God and he will ask us what we've done "to the least of them" And that is quoting Jesus.... I want to say I did what He laid on my heart to do and was obedient to it. What about you???

BTW, if you're ever going to post on my blog again, you will have to have a name to do it! Don't be a wuss, if you want to post something nasty, have enough backbone to put your name to it!