Landon

Are you my mommy?

Click HERE if you want to learn more about me.  I've been waiting for you!

I have similar heart diagnoses as Chrissie, and I'm almost her same age, too!

And aren't I just adorable, too?!?

Remember how happy Chrissie was and how much her family loved her?

I want to experience that, too.  Please pray for me.  I know God has already hand-picked my forever family.  I'm just waiting for them to come get me.  Waiting for my mommy and daddy, just like Chrissie did.  One day they will come for me, I just know it, just like Chrissie's mommy and daddy came for her.

My Daddy promised me he'd send them to me.  I believe Him.

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."  John 14:18

Name: Landon
Age: May 2006


Landon came into our care in 2008. Initially, he was placed in the Special Care Unit because of his young age and heart condition. When he turned three, he moved downstairs to the Residential/CP Unit to be with the bigger children and he thoroughly enjoys the variety of activities that are now available to him.

Landon is a little ray of sunshine and has a smile that is positively contagious. He is very active, loves to ride the bike, scooter, and jump on the trampoline. He is never far if there is some sort of helping job to do, as he likes to be right in the middle of the action.

Landon is participating in an activity class in the mornings with other children from the Unit. He works on activities to develop his fine motor skills, and educational games, all activities that he enjoys. Brad, his roommate, has been helping him to learn how to play badminton lately. And slowly but surely, he’s getting the hang of hitting the ball!

Christmas Warrior!

Our family is excited to announce that we are the Christmas Warriors for Dariya (13) through Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree Christmas fundraising program.  Dariya has Down Syndrome and needs a forever family...more than we'll ever really fathom.  (Special needs orphans in Eastern Europe who aren't adopted by age 4 are usually sent to adult mental institutions to perish.)  We are hoping to raise lots of money to go toward the cost of Dariya's international adoption from Eastern Europe during the once a year Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree project.  Would you please consider donating toward Dariya's adoption, praying for her forever family, and spreading the word about Dariya's needs?  You can read about Dariya by clicking HERE.  All donations made to Reece's Rainbow are tax-deductible, and what could be a better Christmas gift than saving a life?   Remember, God gifts us temporary finances so that we may use them for eternal purposes.  We won't have U-Haul trailers behind our hearses...everything on earth is temporary, but lives are eternal when we accept the Good News of His gift of salvation.  (Unfortunately, many orphans and many others in most other countries never get to even hear the Good News, much less live it.)  Let's work together to ransom Dariya and bring her into the Promised Land, giving her God's gift of a forever family.

Remember, all donations are tax-deductible.  And a $35 donation will get you a beautiful RR Christmas ornament!  You may donate by clicking HERE (on the Reece's Rainbow website...look for Dariya (13) and click "Add" under her name.  Or you may click the ChipIn below and donate.  Or you may mail a check to the address below (mailing a check avoids extra fees that RR incurs for your paypal donation):
Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885




I'm a Christmas Warrior for DARIYA

Here's a little more info about the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree project:

• The average cost for a family to adopt one of our children is $25,000.
• Our goal during the Angel Tree is to raise $1000 or more for each of these waiting children.
• The more each child raises, the faster they will find a family! This is the ONLY thing keeping each of them from coming home!
• The goal is to find families for (50) children in 8 weeks!
• Donors of all nationalities and faiths are welcome!
• Donations of $35 or more are eligible for a photo ornament of your chosen child (but any amount is appreciated and adds up! To donate less than 35.00, add the child to your cart. In the checkout, you can remove the ornament and add any donation amount.)
• For those sponsors desiring an ornament, $5 of your donation goes to our Voice of Hope fund and the remainder of your gift will go to your child's grant EX: If you donate $35, $30 goes to the child and $5 goes to VOH….if you donate $100, $95 goes to your child and $5 goes to VOH, and so forth.
• If you need more than one ornament of the same child, for example three, you would donate a minum of $105. $90 goes to your child, $15 for ornaments
• If you do not want/need an ornament, please indicate this in your shopping cart/Paypal transaction, and the entire amount of your gift will go to the child
• Each child has a separate "waiting child grant fund" (listed in their site profiles) and an "Angel Tree" grant fund. These will be COMBINED on January 1.
• Should you have any difficulties, try clicking on the child's NAME, this will take you to their individual profile on the site and you can try your donation again there
• If you need gift cards, please contact Andrea (bamaroberts@comcast.net)
• Should you have any questions/difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact Andrea (bamaroberts@comcast.net)

Giveaway from Lifesong for Orphans!

How fun that Lifesong for Orphans is giving you a chance to win one of their new fall shirts!  Thanks, Lifesong, and look at what Lifesong has to say about how you can win:

GIVEAWAY!

This week, you have TWO chances to be entered in a giveaway for a FREE Lifesong for Orphans t-shirt! Lifesong will be debuting 2 new colors (chocolate brown for men and red for women) and are offering to give away 2 shirts before they are available for sale!

Here’s how to enter:
#1: Go to the Lifesong blog posting from Monday and guess how many children are no longer orphans that Lifesong helped to bring home through financial assistance.

#2: Leave a comment on Friday’s posting about how we can creatively work together as the body of Christ to care for orphans around the world! Here's what you do... share with us your ideas.  Leave a comment... maybe about a ministry your church is involved in... or a family you helped support financially to adopt.

 Maybe you have this aMAZing idea that has been just waiting to get out and be put in action.  Here's your chance!  Let's inspire each other to rise up on behalf of orphans!

“With this in mind, take some time to walk through your house and ask God what he would have you do with your part of the 200 million orphans worldwide, most of whom may never hear the gospel, much less have it lived out in a loving family of their own.” – Greg Lucas

Our Halloween Lovies

L-R: 

The 3 Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens:  Meribeth (13, Colombia), Mattie (12, bio), Naomi (18, Haiti)

Parker (14, bio) dressed as a rodeo champion (himself) :-)

Sawyer (10, bio) dressed as a "chick magnet"

Asher (8, USA) dressed as a Texas Tech football player

Kiefer (2, Haiti) dressed as a cowboy

I feel so blessed to have these 7 lovies in my life.  So, so, so very blessed.  Thank you God for my precious blessings.  I know these precious ones are Yours, but thank you, God, for sharing them with me!

Quack, Quack!

Chrissie was the cutest ducky you've ever seen!  Last Halloween, Chrissie had only been a part of our family (our entire family at our home in Texas) a total of 14 days.  Chrissie received such a warm welcome from everyone, and she was invited to one of our friend's birthday parties, who was the same age as Chrissie.  We were blessed to attend a fun party with a children's band last Halloween, and the memories of Chrissie dressed up as a little duck with a big fat belly will be forever treasured. 

I'm quite sure Chrissie had no clue why in the world we were putting this stuffed duck costume on her, but she sure was the cutest ducky we've ever laid eyes on!  Being home just 2 weeks, Chrissie didn't yet speak or understand a lot of English, but she was a trooper!

Chrissie chose a pink flower to have painted on her face at our friend's birthday party.

If you'll look closely, you'll see that Chrissie insisted upon wearing a necklace with her ducky costume.  She always adorned herself with jewels!  Christyn "Jewelry" Patterson!

Below is a video clip of Chrissie's first "Hokey Pokey" dance, on Halloween, at the birthday party.  It continues to amaze me how securely attached Chrissie was in such a short time.  (If you're reading this post in a reader or by RSS feed, you'll need to click on our blog to view the video.)

I'll try to post pics of our other kiddos this evening upon our return from a fall party.

Happy Fall Y'all!

A Night With The Chapmans

On October 4, 2010, our family drove to Houston, Texas, to spend "A Night With The Chapmans".  Steven Curtis Chapman, his wife, Mary Beth, and their sons Caleb and Will Franklin are on tour as a family this fall.

As I posted HERE, our family was able to meet Steven Curtis Chapman and his sons back in May, just before Chrissie went to live with Jesus.  This back stage meeting was a tremendous source of encouragement for our family back before we even realized that Chrissie would be joining Maria Sue Chapman in Heaven, and little did we realize that Chrissie would dance with Jesus just 3 days after our meeting with Steven Curtis Chapman.

So, as a birthday gift to my husband, I purchased tickets for our entire family to attend A Night With The Chapmans on the eve of Chrissie's 5th birthday, which was a tremendous blessing to us all.

Our 7 kiddos posing in their 147 Million Orphan gear in front of the Steven Curtis Chapman gear at the concert.

We were able to attend a special Q&A session before the concert started.

This photo is of Steven Curtis Chapman singing Cinderella.  If you look on the screen in the upper section of the photo, you'll notice the video footage that showed up when I snapped the photo of Steven Curtis Chapman dancing with his cinderella.  Matt and Chrissie danced to Cinderella on her last night in our home.  It's so hard to listen to the Cinderella song now, but I love the new ending that SCC wrote to this song.  Instead of saying, "When the clock strikes midnight, she'll be gone.", it now says, "the dance will go on."  Yes, the dance goes on.  Chrissie is dancing with Jesus while we learn this new dance on earth without her, but we are forever grateful for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ who freely gifts us the promise that one day we'll dance with Chrissie again for all eternity.

If you haven't already purchased Mary Beth Chapman's book, Choosing to SEE, I HIGHLY recommend it!  It's one of the top books on the NY Times bestseller list, and I know why!!!

After the concert, we met with Will Franklin Chapman.  He's the one who was driving the vehicle when his baby sister, Maria Sue, went to live with Jesus.  This boy is a real hero.  I cannot imagine walking in his shoes, but he's done it with such amazing grace and integrity that comes through Him.  He is a walking testament of Jesus' mercy.  Will Franklin is an amazing encouragement to our children because there are not a lot of support groups out there for kids who are grieving the loss of their adopted little sister who they loved with all their hearts.  Will Franklin was so sweet to our kids, especially to our 10-year-old, Sawyer, who has such a tender heart.  Sawyer's face was swollen and blotched with red from all of his tears, and Will Franklin just reached out and grabbed him and hugged him and encouraged him.  Thank you, Will Franklin, for who you are and your sweet, sweet, compassionate heart; for living out life with integrity for His glory after such tragedy.  Satan would have loved to take your life in a different direction, but through Him, you are victorious and will always be a hero in our book.

PS  The Chapmans have a ritual of doing "rock face" photos in memory of their Maria Sue.  Will Franklin suggested we do a silly photo, which was just what Sawyer needed, and somehow Will Franklin knew that.  Well, I know how he "somehow" knew that.  Thank you, again, Will Franklin.  (Sawyer is the boy right next to Will Franklin Chapman in this photo.) 

And this photo has Caleb Chapman front and center.  Caleb is so kind...he was instrumental in connecting our family with his dad back in San Antonio at the Seaworld concert.  And, BTW,  Caleb's band ROCKS, and he seems to be carrying the torch of his father with his music.  Will Franklin is the drummer in Caleb's band.  And both Caleb and Will Franklin played in their dad's band during the concert.  How cool would that be...to have a band with father and two sons?  God is so good.

Thank you, God, for using The Chapmans in so many amazing ways.  We have been blessed by not only the awesome music of Steven Curtis Chapman, but also Mary Beth Chapman's book Choosing to SEE, and the testimony that they so freely share for your glory, in their grief.

Thought for Thursday

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."  ~Mark Twain

Matt (my hubby) and Parker (our 14-year-old son) are returning from Haiti tonight after a week-long mission trip to an orphanage there.  Can't wait to see them and hear how God moved in their lives as they cared for orphans in their distress (James 1:27).