I’m so excited to feature “Hope For Korah” on my blog this week! As you know, our daughter, Zoie Senait was born in Korah and we are thrilled to dedicate our time and resources helping her community thrive and grow in the Lord.  We sponsor, Mercy with Project 61 and can’t believe the outpouring from the blog community spreading the word about sponsorship. This special project, “Hope for Korah” will not only help provide for basic needs of the sponsored children who are now permanently living off the trash dump and going to school … but allow you to bring a piece of Korah straight into your own homes.  Read more …

About Jenn and Wynne:
This summer, Jenn Verme and Wynne Elder, visited Ethiopia with Visiting Orphans. Although we traveled with different teams, the impact the people of Ethiopia made on our hearts is the same. Ethiopia will be the birthplace of our children. Wynne and her husband, Stephen, are in the process of adopting an infant boy from Ethiopia and Jenn and her husband, Chris, are in the process of adopting an infant girl. We met through the wonderful world of adoption blogs. Through our love for photography and adoption, we quickly became friends. Together, and with your help, we desire to impact the lives of the beautiful children from Project 61.

About the “Hope for Korah” Print Sale:
After walking the muddy streets of Korah, holding the joyful faces of children in our hands, and seeing their needs – we knew we had to do something. To find a way to use the gifts God gave us to help our friends in Korah. We had to find a way to get our friends from home involved, to make people aware of their situation.  Because we love God and because He has made me aware and now we are responsible.
What birthed from those thoughts and prayers was this!  A “Hope for Korah” print sale!  Wynne and Jenn have teamed up to offer you a variety of images from our time in Korah, Ethiopia this summer.  The images you see will not only be a great reminder in your home or office to PRAY for these children and this place, but they will allow Project 61 to purchase much needed school supplies for the 250 children that are sponsored to go to boarding school!
Your purchase of a 11×14 print ($55 + shipping/handling) will help provide one child with 2 uniforms & all the books they need for the school year!  Your purchase of a 16×20 print ($110 + shipping/handling) will help provide two children with 2 uniforms & all the books they need for the school year!
It’s our prayer that these images will tell the stories of our friends in Korah & remind you of the hope that we all have in Christ.  We are so thankful for your support!  Please email if you have any questions!

For more information about Project 61, go to: www.p61.org
Wynne’s Adoption blog, go to: www.elderadventures.blogspot.com
Jenn’s Adoption blog, go to: www.pureandlasting.com

You can purchase the prints here-Hope For Korah

I was with Zoie on “Moms and Muffins” day at preschool and she brought me a book to read to her. I started reading A Mother For Choco and a few of the other kids jumped up on my lap, too. As I read to Zoie and her friends, I realized I was in big trouble. I can’t read this book without weeping, but I kept on going. I made it to the last page, but they all caught me red handed.

“Why are you crying?” they asked.

“Well, this book is so special.” I blubbered to the kids. I squeezed Zoie extra hard and reminded her how much I loved her. The teacher handed me a tissue and I made it without making too much of a scene.

What is your kid reading?

Look what I found- the cutest set of adoption books!!

 

 

You ask … what is a babaholic? Well, it’s a child who is addicted to her bottle after the weaning years are long gone. Don’t judge me, but yes, we still give Zoie a bottle of milk for a good-night nip and snuggling in the morning. It’s hard to explain, but when Zoie was in the orphanage, her bottle was a sense of comfort and our bonding time with her as new parents. I have started telling her lately she has to give up the bottle when she turns 4. Her response was so sweet “Ok, Mama!”

We are in no rush to see our baby grow up, but she keeps moving forward at rapid speed. We are thankful to have three amazing kids and can testify that the teens are NOT babaholics!

Do you have anything in mommyhood that’s been hard to let go of?

Thanks for your vloggy cheers! The past month, I’ve receive some great emails from you asking for tips on fundraising. In my vlog today, I will share some important steps to help you fundraise for your mission trips.  I also want you to hear about my new partnership with Visiting Orphans. I hope ya’ll feel the stress melt away and gain understanding on why visiting precious orphans can change the life of a child. (Men, this is for you, too!) If you normally read, I encourage you to watch the vlog today and let me know your ideas, too. I even got choked up sharing about visiting Sixty Feet in Uganda.  I’m really loving this crazy vlogging!

If you want to fundraise with Simply Love tees [featured in two documentary films) email me for information or click on the Kit button.

This is your personal shout out for your adoption or missions projects!  My Crazy Adoption Blog is dedicated to bringing the craziness straight to you- sending readers to check out your links every Saturday.

If you have a special project, fundraiser, or blog post you want to share with my crazy readers click on the “Inlinkz” at the end of this post and include your link with an eye catching title for your project. If you want to HELP others who are fundraising for a purpose … please check out their sites in the Linkz.

How do I add my link?

1.  Add your URL permalink.
2.  Add the NAME of your project- come up with something eye-catching!

You can also leave a comment including all your project testimony and permalink (example: http://tinyurl.com/3t4fxbo: ) to take readers directly to your site.

YOU INSPIRE ME!!

1.  About the “Hope for Korah” Print Sale:
After walking the muddy streets of Korah, holding the joyful faces of children in our hands, and seeing their needs – we knew we had to do something. To find a way to use the gifts God gave us to help our friends in Korah. We had to find a way to get our friends from home involved, to make people aware of their situation.  Because we love God and because He has made me aware and now we are responsible.
What birthed from those thoughts and prayers was this!  A “Hope for Korah” print sale!  Wynne and Jenn have teamed up to offer you a variety of images from our time in Korah, Ethiopia this summer.  The images you see will not only be a great reminder in your home or office to PRAY for these children and this place, but they will allow Project 61 to purchase much needed school supplies for the 250 children that are sponsored to go to boarding school!
Your purchase of a 11×14 print ($55 + shipping/handling) will help provide one child with 2 uniforms & all the books they need for the school year!  Your purchase of a 16×20 print ($110 + shipping/handling) will help provide two children with 2 uniforms & all the books they need for the school year!
It’s our prayer that these images will tell the stories of our friends in Korah & remind you of the hope that we all have in Christ.  We are so thankful for your support!  Please email  if you have any questions!

For more information about Project 61, go to: www.p61.org
Wynne’s Adoption blog, go to: www.elderadventures.blogspot.com
Jenn’s Adoption blog, go to: www.pureandlasting.com

{UPDATED WINNER}

**Congrats Andrea** Email me your sizes!!!

Are you ready to be a real-life super hero and take the oath to protect, love, and defend the fatherless? Well, every super hero needs a tee shirt to stand tall and boldly testify his commitment to live James 1:27.  I’m giving away 4 tees (2 adult + 2 youth) to a family (singles, too) that faithfully dedicates to simply love orphans together – minus the cape. You can go Up, Up, and Away with NEW super-hero Simply Love tees.

You Pick One to Enter:

(Let me know what you pick)

1. Leave a comment and share who your (or kids) favorite super-hero is.
2. Add My Crazy Adoption button to your blog or blogroll for daily feeds.
3. Share the Super-Hero challenge on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter.
4. Le me know how you would use your super-hero gifts to make a difference?

This is a 3 day GIVEAWAY!  I’ll announce the winner [here] on Monday with an **UPDATED POST**

Check out My Crazy Adoption Store.

You can purchase tees, hoodies, prints, beads, coffee mugs, and more!

Be A Super Hero!!

Today kicks off “Be A Super-Hero” project on My Crazy Adoption! A few months ago, I was with my best friend, Julie and her adopted son, Cruz who loves loves loves Superman. Cruz was decked out in full costume and zipping around the house, much to his mommy’s delight. He gently tossed his Superman figurine and it smashed with super power against a beautiful glass artwork hanging over the fireplace. The frame KA-POW exploded in a million little pieces, narrowly missing princess Zoie who was mesmerized by the feat. Thankfully, our little super-hero was not hurt, but it planted an idea in my head. Every child needs a super-hero to love. The idea grew into a plan to challenge fathers, mothers, brother, and sisters to be a real-life super hero dedicated to protect, love, and defend the fatherless!

When I was a little girl, my favorite super hero was Wonder Woman. She was a princess with special powers to take care of people and to keep the world safe. She used her golden lasso to make people tell the truth, with magic bracelets to protect her. I can’t imagine the things I could accomplish with her cape and bracelets for children all around the world.

It is NEVER about us … it’s about the children we serve who are desperate for a family. I hope you grasp the crazy idea behind my project …. in NO WAY am I saying we are heroes for loving orphans. They need you, just like Metropolis needs Superman, Gotham needs Batman, to make a real-life, long term commitment to use your special gifts from the Lord to protect, love, and defend!!

“As children, we look up to heroes. We look to our heroes to be our role models. Heroes “save the day”. They give us a sense of security and wonder. That’s part of the appeal of superheroes. It’s a big world and kids are just little things.” Lawrence Rubin, Ph.D.

I found this great list of 10 Things We Can Learn From Super Heroes. I want you to apply this list specifically to James 1:27. We are all called to protect, love, and defend the fatherless.

#1 We can embrace faith- Superman

#2 We can accept responsibility- Spiderman

#3 We can make a difference- Batman

#4 We can sacrifice for the greater good- The Hulk

#5 We can champion justice- Iron Man

#6 We can overcome prejudice- X Men

#6 We can become more powerful- The Incredibles

#7 We can change human character with compassion- Wonder Woman

#8 We can help others- Aquaman

#9 We are more powerful in Teams- Batman & Robin

#10 We can accomplish huge feats- Hawkman

Taking your super gifts on the mission field:

When I started researching for this post, I found a lot of comparisons to real-life and super heroes. We have the opportunity to go on mission trips and make a real difference in the lives of orphans. I read a post recently about the impact of hurting not helping on a mission trip. I am standing strong (like Wonder Woman) with passion that there IS a place for short term missions.  I’m speaking up and challenging you to gain greater understanding before you make any judgements. If your goal is to GO and simply LOVE one another, you get massive opportunities to do that on a mission trip.  Don’t let fear or doubt keep you from going on a mission trip and serving. I encourage you to pray about it and allow the Lord to guide your steps. [I'll talk more about THIS next week!]

Being a super-hero on a “Simply Love” [Visiting Orphans] Mission Trip – is to awaken the body of Christ to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the 163 million orphans by visiting them, loving them, and sharing the Father’s heart.

• Superheroes Never Give Up- protect the fatherless at all costs!
• Superheroes Always Get the Job Done- give 100% of your love, energy, time, resources!

• Superheroes Are the Best at What They Do- bring your gifts, passions, and talents!
• Superheroes Are Crystal Clear of their Mission- Go big. Love big.

• Superheroes Are NOT Flawless- God uses the ordinary for His extraordinary purpose.
• Superheroes Do Not Seek Glory- We believe that God has blessed His people so that they may be a blessing to all.

• Superheroes’ True Strength Comes From Their Character- we believe God desires and gives us the ability to live pure and holy lives and defines this as visiting widows and orphans in their trouble and refraining from worldly desire.

Taking the Super Hero Oath:

Will you take the “Be a Super-Hero” oath to protect, love, and defend the fatherless? You can purchase the new Simply Love tees and make a bold statement to others as you live James 1:27.  The two projects I’m raising funds for with the sales of super-hero tees, is formula for Pignon, Haiti and the Pirates Digs A Well event on October 29th to complete the well in the village of Chuko Wayama, Ethiopia.

What is something you are doing to make a difference in the life of an orphan … I want to hear? (really I do)

1 tee = 3 cans of formula

1 tee = contribution to the Pirates Digs A Well event Oct. 29th

BUY HERE – SIMPLY LOVE SHOP (youth sizes too)

 

{GIVEAWAY COMING SOON!!}