Spend yourself in behalf of the hungry

This morning I got an email from the director of Life 2 Orphans, the ministry that cared for my girls in the institution.  The heating system in the institution is broken and will cost approximately $1,500 to fix!  This is a desperate need!  Winter is coming & they have HARD winters, often with snow up to the 2nd story of the orphanage.  Can you PLEASE help out with this????  There are 90 bed ridden children like Sarah was and another 150 delayed/physically challenged children like Selah was....plus another 100+ mentally & physically delayed adult women there!  You can give through  http://www.life2orphans.org/cms/  just put on your gift what it is for and they will make sure it gets to Torez as soon as possible!!!!!!  Thank you for considering giving to this!!!!!!  And if you have a spot to mention, that you gave in honor of the girls I would LOVE to hear that!!!!!!  

Another need is this sweet family...    http://reecesrainbow.org/41836/sponsorpatterson-2
they only need about $2000 more to be fully funded and they have a travel date!  http://hiskindness.wordpress.com/  this is their blog!  Their son Igor has physical handicaps and for awhile it was thought that he was at the girls' institution.  Read their blog and see this families heart!!

I want to tell you about the Basas family, thanks to you guys and others they are fully funded!!!!  They have not opened their blog yet but I'm sure they will soon and I'm sure they will have a story to tell!  But thank God and you all who helped in any way, there will be one less orphan.....   http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=Basas+family   if you keep checking back here on their site, when they open their blog it will be shown on there. 

I just have to testify about giving...I hesitate to share this because I don't want someone to think we're so spiritual or that we're trying to get brownie points or something...  BUT I want to tell you how God works.  A few days ago, we felt led to give some money to a family here.  We gave it and today someone gave that same amount back to us!   I'm not trying to say God will always give you back to the penny exactly what you give away BUT God is faithful and He is the one who keeps the books....  I know this is a cliche' but you can NOT out give God.  Especially when you are giving to the needy...

We have always tithed, we have to, my husband is a minister and it is required in our denomination.  God forbid if you don't...and I have NEVER liked it.  I will just be completely honest...I still don't but I love to freely give.  I don't mean I don't like tithing but I don't like being required to give to our headquarters, I'd rather give to my local church.  I believe in tithing and giving above that.  I feel it is a great discipline to have in our lives.  But this has always been a sore point to me!   We've never been "well off" even when I worked full time but I will tell you a paradox, we now live on less than we ever have before and have FIVE kids  and yet we have more....isn't that funny?   We have to depend on God and we try and listen to Him and be "opened handed" and God has blessed us more than ever in our lives.    Our "joke" is forget the "name it claim it" forget sending in money to big ministries, forget all that and give to orphans or better yet, adopt a few and God will blow you away!   We don't really understand it and we certainly don't try to make a doctrine about it but it's been true in our life.  There are many scriptures that talk about giving to the needy like this one:

" If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, Then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."
Isaiah 58:9-11

I don't know about you but I want to "spend myself on the behalf of the hungry"  That is my heart's cry.  I'm so over the fluff of this life....I want to live real and to spend myself, my life for others.  I have a dream of doing that full time, I don't know if that will ever happen given the circumstances we are in right now but I pray that one day we will be able to do that....  I have a dream....

So I just want to encourage you to give to good things, good works...both of the needs above are good things to give to.  If you give to the orphanage, then you will be a part of keeping orphans and disabled adults warm through a bitter bitter Ukraine winter.  If you give to my friends  the Pattersons, you will a part of bringing home Igor, a child who is disabled, who has no future where he is now....those are good works!!!!  Between the two needs we only have to give $3,500.....that's nothing in the scheme of things here in the USA.  We are still the richest nation on earth.  Our poor in America are richer than about 90% of the world....  we are a blessed nation but we need to be a blessing!!!!

Thank you for all you do....

Happy Thanksgiving! Day 18 fish Oil study

 

Selah with daddy!!

 

Mommy with Selah.  There are her animals that we heat in the microwave to bring heat to her knees

 

 

Well last Thanksgiving we had just committed to Sarah.  I had cooked a big dinner (with the help of Publix) and we had some family & our closest friends over to eat.  All we talked about was the adoption and Ukraine.....I certainly had no idea what the next year would bring.  We were giddy about Sarah but awfully worried about her too as we had learned alot of her situation and condition prior to Thanksgiving.  I remember crying, wondering if she was hungry....

 

Fast forward a year.....what a year it has been for our family.  We have seen the faithfulness of God as we have walked through unknown territory.  But God has been faithful!

 

I only remember a few Thanksgivings that have stood out to me...I can not really remember one specific one growing up.  I do  remember one Thanksgiving where Jon & I were staying in a mission's house in Honea Path SC doing fund raising for Brooklyn Teen Challenge and we ate frozen mini chicken tacos....we were young, newly married and quite happy:)  I remember Steve's first Thanksgiving in New York City and the one after that having just lost the twins.  The last two Thanksgivings stand out to me because I did what I wanted and cooked by myself and had folks over.  THIS one will probably be one I never forget! 

 

I've learned Thankfulness in a whole new way this past year....I've learned to give thanks "in any circumstance" whether I was in another  country or whether I was in a hospital room.   I've learned that tragedy doesn't change who God is, I've learned that our family is the most important thing I could ever have.   God has taught me to be content, not just with what I have but in my circumstances. 

 

We had brunch this morning (thank you couponsaremycash.com )  And a church is bringing in a dinner tonight.  Right now Jon & I are up at the hospital.  Our friends Diego & Sandi came by and now Selah and Jon are both asleep LOL  The kids are over at the RMH....  This is not the way I had planned on spending Thanksgiving.  I'm not a huge holiday person....I'll tell you a secret, we haven't had a Christmas tree in YEARS because we were afraid Sam would pull it down on his head.   BUT this year I had planned on a BIG celebration for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We were even going to do a tree (at the church) for our family.  I was going to get all the ornaments out and everything....    So now I'm thinking that isn't going to happen....but that is ok!   We don't even know where we will celebrate it...but just like today, it may look different than the one I had wanted but that's ok:)  We have each other...

 

While it's been hard, it's been sweet....God's presence has gone before us, He has been our Shield, He has been the lifter of our heads. 

 

Honestly I do not understand HOW anyone can get through life without God, without that hope of eternity.....

 

So this Thanksgiving, sitting by my daughter's hospital bed, not knowing what the future holds, but knowing "it's ok" , I'm thankful. 

 

 

NBC news story on Thankfulness

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2842861.shtml?cat=566


Hope you enjoy this.  We always enjoy talking with Ms Adams.

Day 17 fish Oil study

This morning Jon planned on taking Sam to the park for awhile since we didn't think Selah had therapy.  Then when he got back, the NBC channel here in Rochester had called and asked if we'd do a segment on Thanksgiving.  It will be on the NBC station tonight at 11 pm.  After they left some friends who are adopting stopped by and then our van wouldn't start again....so it ended up he didn't go over to the hospital till after 5 pm.  I don't think that has ever happened before.  BUT when he came in the room, Selah lifted her head and shoulders off the bed and moved towards him!!!!  She was ready to see her daddy!!!!!!  He called me on cloud 9 that she responded like that to him!!!  She has had a good day and did end up with OT and Speech with some other therapists so that was great too!   Isn't that great how she responded to Jon????  Everything going good, she  just has  a little bit more gunk as this cold works it way out of her system.  I'm so proud of our little fighter!!!

Today was a very sad day at the RMH, a family who is here with another child, lost their toddler to an accident at a relative's home.  Please pray for this sweet sweet family. Their other child had heart surgery today.  Please Please pray for them!!!!  Our hearts are broken for them. 

Another mom that we met here years ago just got the news that her son, who has fought leukemia two times before has had a reaction to the chemo and he is fighting for his life.  This young man has endured so much and was facing a bone marrow transplant.  Please pray for this family that has gone through so much.  The outlook is not good for him and I know they would appreciate your prayers!

Our hearts are heavy for these families that we know, that we have laughed with, ate with, and talked with.  Please pray that the God of all comfort will be with them tonight and give them comfort!  Tonight I am thankful for the comfort of God....sometimes that is all you have.

Day 16 Fish Oil Study~ Good day!

So a really good day:)

Selah has a cold, just a cold not pneumonia and the great thing is I picked up on Saturday that something was off.  It's not bad, she has never even had a fever but they are watching her.  Her lungs are clear, no issues.  I'm just happy that I picked up on it and so did her therapist as soon as she saw her yesterday.  That was what had her "off" and it a relief to be honest that that was all that was going on!!!

Selah did lots of good stuff today, she coughed some and the nurse thinks.....she may have gagged some when she was suctioned out!!!   We are going to look for that more.  She did all her usual things and did them well.  Her therapist actually stood her up for the first time and her feet flexed some.  She probably will need surgery & botex in order for her ankles to be normal again but they all feel it is doable.  I don't want to quote the doctor but.....there is hope that she will get to the point she will walk!  There are so many good things that happened today, it's hard to remember all the little points...today felt like Christmas to me:) 

I was able to talk to the doctor some today about her blood work.  She had very high levels of inflammation which is what the fish oil targets.  She was at 15 and needs to be at 5.  Selah had her blood drawn yesterday and we hope to hear by Monday if the level is down.   The doctor feels that she is waking up more.  There are alot of small signs that point to that!  I also asked her how we will know when she is out of the coma since she will probably come out of it with some issues still.  She said for us to look for "purposeful" movement.  We are getting some and today we got quite a bit!  She will have the after affects of the accident, for awhile, even if she recovers completely. 

A VERY big thing is she has had NO storms now for TWO weeks.  I can not tell you what a blessing that is.  If you have never seen "storming" I can promise you it is awful to watch.  I get the impression that people are amazed that they are gone.  As I've said before we were advised that the meds would eventually stop working and she would storm over them.  What a blessing that that has not happened and that they are gone!  This reaction to the fish oil alone maybe a huge thing for other people with neurological injuries.  All I can say is to watch someone you love have a storm is an awful awful experience.  I am so thankful they are gone!!!

Selah is accepted into the Brooks Rehab in Jax Fl.  Our plan is to leave next Tuesday.  But who knows with the weather and this cold if we will leave then.  All the plans have to come together just perfect for this to happen.  I'd be fine being here longer to give Selah more of a chance to improve before we leave.  But I've learned to say "whatever the Lord wills"!

We still are looking for housing for our family in the Jax area, if you can help, let me know.  We are too large of a family for the RMH there.

Thank you all for your prayers!  We have just really struggled the last few days with our emotions.  It was hard because she had been doing so good and then things stopped sorta, and she seemed far away again.  I'm glad that there was a reason, her being sick, that makes sense in the whole feeling of her being "off" and that she seems to be better today.   We were both really struggling with our emotions and some real worries about the future.  Today was like a breath of fresh air in our souls to see her more responsive and to have others point out somethings....it was great!  Please keep praying!!!

Thanks to all who have nominated us for Extreme Home Make Over!!!  I just sent mine in today.  I was not able to download any pictures or videos!  Hopefully they will look on here!!  We are keeping our fingers crossed:)  It would be fun and it would be great to have everything done so our house was ready for Selah and more handicapped accessible for all of the children.

How you can help our family .....

We've had many people who have given to our family during this time and others have asked how they could give.  We've never mentioned our needs and yet God has supplied them all.   We have actually discouraged some folks from giving and just asked them to wait till we got something set up for Selah.

So we  think we have decided the easiest way for us to handle gifts would if you'd like to give, please feel free to give through our church, Grace Church, 7060 Berry Road, Zephyrhills Fl 33540  just mark on it attn: Clanton Family gift and it will go into a fund for our family.  It can then be dispensed as there is a need.  We thank you all and we thank God for His provision through His people.

Another way you can help our family is by nominating us for Extreme Home Makeover!  Evidently this show is back on and some friends have nominated us.  We live in a very small house and it we will need to do some remodeling or move after we get Selah home.  At this point, she will have to have a nurse almost 24 hours a day and a room just for her and the nurse.  We have very little privacy as it is in such a small home.  We have had several offers of help to remedy this and frankly have been too focused on Selah to really pursue anything, although we appreciate it.  Maybe all the folks who wanted to help would be able to get involved in helping through EHM if we are chosen.   So if you'd like to nominate us this is the link  http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fabc.go.com%2Fshows%2Fextreme-makeover-home-edition&h=kAQGvYp21  it's a short process to nominate us.  Our basic info our names....Jon, Yvonne. Steve. Shad, Sam, Selah and Sarah, our address is 7060 Berry Road, Zephyrhills Fl 33540  (don't worry burglars we have an alarm system and a neighbor across the street who is a Vet and he has plenty of ammo!!!   He watches our house for us!   Plus we have nothing to steal LOL)  Phone number is 863 712 1734    our email is   
 theclanton5@aol.com  If you don't have all the details that's ok. 

So I feel a bit uncomfortable sharing about our needs but I am humbled by people's responses to want to help even when we were focused so much on our children that we didn't even think about the future.  This situation has taken all the planning out of me. But now we are realizing some of the things we will need to take care of Selah in the near future and we're thankful for the folks who have wanted to help us.   I've just gone through it one day at a time knowing that God would take care of us.  God has been so faithful to touch hearts to do things for our family.  Honestly as I am reading the book "The Hole in the Gospel" I feel we have so much in a world that has so little.  We've always done our part to do what we can to reach that hurting world and now when we have needed it, others have reached out to us.  That in turn only makes us want to do more for others!! 

But the most important thing you can do, and what you have been doing is to pray for Selah and for us!  You may not believe it but pray is really really what has carried us through!!!   Thank you all. 

Day 15 Fish Oil Study

Another roller coaster of a day.  We've felt since Saturday something was "off" with Selah.  Her nurse & therapist thought the same today.  She was more grouchier than normal.  She did do everything that she has been doing and she opened her mouth as soon as she saw the syringe of chicken soup!  She did some good drinking/swallowing but still just a little bit.  We don't know if maybe she may be "waking up" and that is why she is grumpier or if she is getting sick.  She doesn't have any other issues but something is different....

I get really worried about her today.  Jon was over with her and I just had to go over too.  That helped me alot just to see her.  I trust my "gut instinct" and I had to see her to know she was ok.  She seemed really alert so I'm hoping she is just waking up more.

We also found out that Selah hasn't been accepted into the rehab yet!  We hope to hear tomorrow for sure but everyone thinks she will be accepted. 

We got back to the Ronald McDonald House right in time to be on tv again LOL The PBA had given RMH a $13,000 gift and they asked us to speak and thank them as we came in the door, on tv without even brushing my hair or fixing my make up after crying all day.  LOL  But we LOVE RMH and will do anything for them:)

Some good friends of ours whose daughter has Peter's Anomaly are here for their daughter's eye exam.  Please pray for Abbi tomorrow morning as she is having some issues with her vision and they don't know what is causing the problem and what has to be done.   Abbi was so sweet and prayed tonight for supper and although she is facing surgery tomorrow (at just 7 yrs old) she prayed for Sam, Sarah and Selah that they could all start talking!  How sweet!!!  It is nice to have our friends here!!

Well our wifi is not working here tonight at the RMH but thankfully  our friends have a "my fi" and I'm using it so I can update! 

Please continue praying for Selah and for us.  Jon & I are having a hard time right now.  Please pray for us too.  We're just worried about her.

I'm reading  "the Hole in the Gospel"  and have lots of thoughts for a great interesting blog coming up.  That book has helped me to take the focus off of us and realize how blessed we are even going through this time. 

Sorry this is so disjointed but I'm trying to hurry.  Thanks again for your prayers!!  It means so much to us!