Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Gratitude

Finally!  A chance to write!

Last night about 9:00 Brian and I were sitting on the couch together, waiting for the kids to finally fall asleep.  I was browsing the Reece's Rainbow website, and remembered that I wanted to show Brian a family who was adopting three children together because I thought their story was so neat.  I clicked on "sponsor a family, new commitments" and my stomach did a huge leap!  There we were, at the top of the page, "Arnold, for the Preece family, Nampa, Idaho".  We both shouted out loud!  For some reason, finally seeing our name with his, right there in front of us, seemed to "seal the deal" in our minds that this was really happening.  We probably stared at that page a dozen times before we went to sleep.  Neither of us slept well as we couldn't stop thinking about our boy and all that lay ahead.

Before we went to sleep I checked my phone and had already received two emails from people I didn't know, congratulating us and making connections for us with other people who played important roles in getting Arnold his grant money so far.  I just felt so grateful to once again be introduced to a community of people so loving, kind, and willing to share with us.

I just started getting this blog together, and it's still a work in progress, I really didn't think we'd be on RR so quickly!  But it is a blessing and we are so thankful to be on this journey.

One of the links a new friend sent me last night was the story of how Arnold got such a large grant.  I will post the link later (I have to get my kids to bed soon), but basically a woman dedicated a week of her blog to educating her readers regarding the abominable circumstances these orphans face when they are "transferred".  It is horrific to see these small human beings cast off to a place with such deplorable conditions.  Her belief was that people aren't doing anything about it because they just didn't know what happened to these kids.  She is right.  I consider myself an educated woman.  I graduated from college.  I'm an avid reader.  I stay current on news and world events.  But I had no idea that there were still places in the world who cast of children, treating them as numbers instead of human beings, the asylum workers helpless to help because of poor funding.  It is almost too much to bear.  But when we know, we know, and God knows we know, and we have to do something about it.  Anyway, one of this dear woman's readers read about these conditions, these defenseless children, and they did something grand.  Something life-changing, even life-saving.  She donated $15,000.00 to Arnold's grant!  FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.  I don't know their circumstances, whether this was their whole life savings or just a drop in the bucket, but it doesn't matter.  The gesture is beyond kind, beyond generous....I just don't have the words.  I hope that they will find this blog and see what a difference their donation has made.  It, along with the other donations so generously given on his behalf, has saved Arnold's life.

You see, Brian and I own our own business, and we don't have any employees. Between his day-to-day stuff and me keeping the books, taking care of our small children and home, we just didn't see how we would be able to come up with the time to fundraise $35,000-40,000 for a foreign adoption.  We looked into domestic adoption, which seemed such an easy course of action compared to foreign.  But something in my heart just knew that saving one of the children from the fate of the Eastern European asylums was what my heart wanted more than anything.  How often do we have the opportunity to truly save a human being?  Because of this generous donor, we were convinced that we could actually pull this off.  We could actually do the rest.  We were getting a good tax refund this year.  We could raise the additional $10,000.00-so much less than the total $35,000.00 required.  So I want to say thank you, to whoever took a leap of faith to save a child.  You did it.  He will be saved.  He will be loved.  He will be cherished.  He will grow up like a little boy should-surrounded by his family and friends and community who love him.  Thank you, ALL of you.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Becky!

    So glad to finally see your family page, too! We have been following Arnold's story for a while. There are so many people praying for him and who love him.

    When I first discovered RR, my daughter was sitting on my lap as I looked through the listings. I stopped on sweet Arnold's picture to read about him. We are not at a place in our lives where we can adopt, and we wouldn't have met his region's requirements, but my daughter loved him so much. She said I should be his mommy. I told her I couldn't, but that his mommy would find him soon and we have been praying for him ever since. It is our hope that Arnold can feel the love that we send through the Holy Spirit and that it will comfort him while he waits.

    Now we can pray for you too. And I'm so happy for you guys.

    Hope this wasn't a bit much for your first blog post, but I just wanted to share.

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  2. We've all been holding our breath for Arnold. So glad to see him getting the family he deserves. Join the face book group and meet some like minded people!We all prayed for him for so long, I wanted him, like chocolate cake(bad) but we would not have met the requirements for his tough region. I feel like all of us who donated had a tiny part in helping him home, but the 15,000 was what did it!Congratulations!

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  3. Thank you so much for the sweet comments! Melissa, I was typing so fast I didn't even mention the other donors, and I am SO GRATEFUL for each one, no matter how "small". To me, there is no "small" donation. When I have donated small amounts I pictured it added to many other small donations to add up to one big prize in the end! It just warms my heart to hear about people out there who have been praying for him!!! Kara, don't you just love the photo of him reaching out of the play structure? Did you notice he's signing "I love you"??? (I'm sure not intentionally, but it's so sweet anyway!) Honestly, this little boy will have many "mothers", all those who have loved and prayed for him, donated for him, shared his story, etc.

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  4. Yes! We definitely noticed the "I love you" sign. I think he may have been taught that for the picture. ;) I just love him. I'm so thrilled he'll be coming home. Can't wait to see your whole story.

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  5. I've been watching Arnold, too! You - and he - are so lucky! I also didn't qualify for him, I am so glad he will come home soon!

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  6. Hi Becky! When I first saw Arnold's picture on RR, I showed him to my husband and began praying that his forever family would find him. I even passed his photo along to my sister and was encouraged when she emailed back a week or so later with the blog link showing that someone was raising money for him. It is so exciting to know that you have found each other and that he will be joining your family soon. I will continue to pray for your journey as a family.

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