Angel of the Week

Meet Sophia C.!

Isn't she the most beautiful little baby girl?

Sophia C. is sociable and calm. She has beautiful blue eyes and is just gorgeous. She is waiting for her forever family! She is in Eastern Europe and is not yet 2 years old! What a wonderful birthday present it would make for her to have a family commit to her! If you would like more information on her or any of the other children, please contact us!


Sophia C. has $0 currently in her adoption grant fund. So even if you aren't able to adopt a child presently, you can still help her find her forever family by donating towards her grant fund. 

Please scroll down to grab our Child of the Week button

She can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/eelittles.html

9r30-14
Sophia C.
Brothers and sisters no
Date of Birth: August 2008
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Character: sociable, calm

  

No further info available until a dossier is submitted, but isn't she CUTE!?

SINGLE MOMS WELCOME!

I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

 

Please grab our Child of the Week Button for your blog. Each week this button will change to show the current week's child (you only need to add the button once to your blog). The children that will be featured will be ones with $0 or very low adoption grant funds. By hosting our Child of the Week button we are hoping to not only raise awareness for that particular child but also to hopefully raise the amount in their fund. These funds have proven to help families who would otherwise be qualified and able to adopt them, except for the cost of an international adoption, feel able to commit to bringing home and giving the precious gift of a family to these angels.






Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

<center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childoftheweek.png" /></a><br /> <a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="75%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childweekgrab.png" /></a><br /> </center>

Thank you for all you do to support and help Reece's Rainbow!

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Angel of the Week

As One We Can..

With so many families in need my heart feel so pulled each week!
I'm not going to post much on why I've chosen the Shupp family this week....I think Lyndi's posts on the Shupp's family blog do it best. A year ago they brought home Patrick and today their praying to bring home Freddie.
Please keep Freddie in your prayers..
Prayers for God to pave the way for this young man to come home & that all roads to it be smooth.
Some of what you'll read abut on the Shupp's blog:
"We learned that our Freddie was not born in the country we are travelling to, but instead, he was born in Russia"..."How does this affect the adoption?Other than adding a few steps, it does NOT affect his ability to be adopted! Praise Jesus for this, we were very worried until we got our details!!!What does this mean financially and to our timeline?It DOES affect these 2 areas!! The cost of this person to go get his birth certificate is an additional $3,000. It also prolongs our stay by about a week"..."
So as you can see, we..the RR family are needed to save Freddie & help get him home! What's a mere $3,000. for us? We can pull together & raise it! Then we can reap the rewards as we watch a young mans life change forever. Please visit the Shupp's blog to read more & to be able to follow along on this adventure God has this family on. http://lyndishupp.blogspot.com/
We serve an Awesome God! He is faithful & just..he knows each of the children's needs & He cares as He sees them in distress. Thank you all...the families who adopt, the families who support financially, & the families who support through prayer. You all play such a huge roll in all the kids coming home! :) You can grab Freddie's button from their blog & post it to your blog to help spread the word & you can click here to give your gift of love :D http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorshupp.html Blessings to you all!

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As One We Can..

A Friend Needs Help

Although I don't generally post about specific adoptive families on here, this one is not just ANY adoptive mom, but one that spends about 20 hours every week helping OTHER adoptive parents through the process! She is one of my "team mates" for the Ukraine program of Reece's Rainbow. We have 100 kids in the process of being adopted right now and in addition to raising her 6 kids (one of whom was adopted from Ukraine last year and happens to have Down syndrome) and helping these families home, she also has been making her own dossier up and pursuing a 15 yr old boy with epilepsy from Eastern Europe!

Now with 7 days left before they fly to EE, they received some news about their adoption which led to the following post. Please read and PRAY, and consider helping the Shupps to make Freddie a part of their family! He is 15 years old already, and international adoption law says that after his 16th birthday a family cannot begin the process to adopt him if they don't already have specific papers filed before then. This is his last chance!

Lyndi and Bill Shupp's family profile is available to be viewed at www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorshupp.html and donations are tax deductible. They WILL receive these funds "in time" to use them if donated this way. You can also visit her blog (linked on the header below) to see their other fundraisers you can participate in if you'd like to give in that way.

(From Lyndi's blog)

There's been a bit of a Hiccup

A few days ago, I got an email, one I had to sit on and wait for more details, but one that I thought was devastating at first. Well, now that I have details, we are a bit more optimistic, but still in a "panic".

What did we learn?
We learned that our Freddie was not born in the country we are travelling to, but instead, he was born in Russia.

What does that mean?
That means that in addition to attending court in the country he lives in, we will have to have a country lawyer go to Russia after court to obtain his original birth certificate.

How does this affect the adoption?
Other than adding a few steps, it does NOT affect his ability to be adopted! Praise Jesus for this, we were very worried until we got our details!!!

What does this mean financially and to your timeline?
It DOES affect these 2 areas!! The cost of this person to go get his birth certificate is an additional $3,000. It also prolongs our stay by about a week.

What are we doing now?
Well, for now, our plan is to move forward and get Freddie, he has been the child on our hearts for the past 2 years and we feel that with the help of EVERYONE, we can still make this a reality. A friend offered to take Patrick while we travel, this was offered before, but I originally turned it down, but have now accepted, so we now have the money from his plane ticket to help with some of the expenses, but we are still gonna need YOUR help!!!

What am I asking from you?
I am asking EVERYONE to PLEASE PLEASE help us bring him home. I know many of you have already helped, but this is such an unusual situation that I need your help now more than ever. I ask that you each post on your blogs, on your FB, spread it by word of mouth, however you can, please help spread the word!

Does Freddie know you are coming?
We honestly do not know for sure...what we DO know is that the other children from his orphanage have been sent to a summer camp in Italy (this is very common for older children in this country to go to these camps) and he was not sent, since his director knew we were coming. I can only assume that Freddie has figured out why he wasn't sent, instead he is at a local camp. He's been around long enough to figure that one out. So, has anyone flat out told him? Probably not, but I assume he has figured it out on his own.

For fellow adopters, this is NOT the norm, this is HIGHLY unusual and you should not worry about this with your child/ren. So, please do not panic because of what is happening with us and Freddie right now!

Thank you,
Meredith

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A Friend Needs Help

Angel of the Week

Meet This Week's Angel!

We only have this little one's file for 2 months. If you are considering adopting this child, please do not delay in contacting us!

This little boy is such a cutie and is just looking for his forever family! He is only with us for two months so if you are his forever family please let us know soon!



Currently there is $0 in the older boys' adoption grant fund. So even if you aren't able to adopt a child presently, you can still help them find their forever families by donating towards the older boys' grant fund. 

Please scroll down to grab our Child of the Week button

He can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/olderboys.htm

(B# 657)

Boy, Born July 26, 2001

Main diagnosis: Down Syndrome.  Deafness. Converging strabismus. Obstructive and reflux nephropathia.
Lagging behind in his neuro-psychical development.

I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

We only have this child's file for 2 months.  If you are considering adopting this child, please do not delay in contacting us!

 



Please grab our Child of the Week Button for your blog. Each week this button will change to show the current week's child (you only need to add the button once to your blog). The children that will be featured will be ones with $0 or very low adoption grant funds. By hosting our Child of the Week button we are hoping to not only raise awareness for that particular child but also to hopefully raise the amount in their fund. These funds have proven to help families who would otherwise be qualified and able to adopt them, except for the cost of an international adoption, feel able to commit to bringing home and giving the precious gift of a family to these angels.





Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

<center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childoftheweek.png" /></a><br /> <a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="75%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childweekgrab.png" /></a><br /> </center>

Thank you for all you do to support and help Reece's Rainbow!

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Angel of the Week

our family..the carmichaels

I just want to start this post with a big "Thanks" to all of you who are praying for our families and reaching in your pockets to help them out. You all are a huge blessing in their lives. I love how God works & how He opens doors. I love, love, love seeing His hands at work in these adoptions. What a true testament to Him! I'm so glad to be privileged to be doing this. I know I'm off to a late start this week..Had a wonderfully busy weekend celebrating my husband & the great dad that he is; But..I haven't forgotten the need here! :)Well..let me start with telling you all that not to long ago we had the Carmichael family listed as one of our 'As One' families back when I was listing two at a time. Sadly, at that time the giving had really slowed down. I mean REALLY slooowwed down & this family didn't receive much in way of gift givings :(Now their at their soon to travel time (Yay!) with their dossier submitted & real life has kicked in & some unexpected expensise have crept up not having to do with their adoptions, but certainly taking the funds needed for it. They need our help.Their working hard & have taken as much overtime as they can..not to mention mom's going to school on top of all the hustle and bustle! Anyway, long story short..this family just really needs our help. I'm listing them again because I know we can help them..Remember~all the love in the world won't bring our kids home..Money is needed & without the funds the children suffer the loss of forever families. I don't want this to happen to any family! I know none of us do. If your like me, all these children hold a special place in your heart & to see them have families & come home!~Oh, no words can express the joy :)The Carmichael's don't have a button to post, but they do have a family blog where you can go to give words of encouragement, meet them & follow them on their road to their sons, Cole & David. You can do that by clicking here http://www.carmichaeladoption.blogspot.com/. You can click here to be able to give a gift of support http://reecesrainbow.com/familysponsorshipalmostthere.htmlLet's pray together for this family..prayers of peace & that all falls into place in Gods perfect timing for them. Thank so much you guys!
In His service to you..

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our family..the carmichaels

Connecting The Rainbow

I am so very pleased to announce that Connecting The Rainbow received a donation of $5,000!!!!!

If you are not familiar with CTR, it is an outreach of Reece's Rainbow that provides support, materials and education to families in Eastern Europe that have chosen to parent their children with Down syndrome. The ultimate mission of Reece's Rainbow has always been
for there to be no need for Reece's Rainbow to exist.
Connecting The Rainbow is one of the many ways that we work to help make that happen, by supporting families that are going against the "norms" of their society and choosing to raise their children with Down syndrome as members of their family and their community.

The money that was given to CTR will be used to buy the remainder of the items requested by the families in Bulgaria. It will be used to purchase speech therapy supplies, educational toys/activities and a math curriculum! We have been invited to return to Bulgaria in March to conduct a mini-conference for families and professionals in Bulgaria and the beginning stages of planning this are in the works. There will be more information about this coming later this week, along with a list of all the volunteers that we're going to need to go with us in order to accomplish everything that we hope to do in March.


So, big things are happening with Connecting The Rainbow! Though the CTR blog has been silent, please don't think that the work has stopped behind the scenes. We have several things going on to continue to assist the families in Bulgaria and several new opportunities in UKRAINE that we will be sharing soon too. If you haven't, please make sure to subscribe to the CTR blog so that you can stay up to date on what's going on and ways that you can help. You can also join us on facebook.

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Connecting The Rainbow

Reece's Rainbow 4th Anniversary Ministry Video

This month marks Reece's Rainbow's 4th anniversary. In four years over 250 children have had committed families and nearly $500,000 in adoption grants have been dispersed.

Initially Reece's Rainbow was just one Mum trying to find families for a handful of children but since that time those countries have seen that there are people who want these children and have opened the doors to many many other children who are waiting for families.

There are many who volunteer and advocate for Reece's Rainbow and there are new programmes that have sprung up under the Reece's Rainbow umbrella. Connecting the Rainbow seeks to support those families in those same countries who make the brave choice to keep their child.

There are also several support ministries within Reece's Rainbow. All of these programmes started by people who when they realised the fate of the children in these countries could not just sit by and do nothing.

The following video is our updated for the 4th anniversary ministry video. This video has many of the families that have gone and brought home these precious children giving them a family. Since last October when the video was first made by our Director, 80% of the children in it needed to be updated since those children are now home with their families!

So there are new faces of children that need families and your prayers and donations, there are new photos of our families now home with their child and even some photos of some of the Reece's Rainbow families whilst in Ukraine at the same time during their adoptions!

Please share the video with people you know, your family, friends, co-workers, church. If you are one of the families in the video, especially!

Thank you to all of you who support Reece's Rainbow through prayer, donations, advocacy and so many other ways. And in our Director, Andrea Roberts' words, "thank you to the true heroes who are out there braving 12 hour intercontinental flights, foreign customs officials, crazy high heels and insane drivers, smoky trains, bizarre toilets, air drying your clothes, cold showers, and the sad eyes and broken hearts of all the little ones who come running to you, wishing you were there for THEM."

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Reece's Rainbow 4th Anniversary Ministry Video

Meet the Families of Reece's Rainbow - The Browning Family

I want to introduce you to the Browning family. They are adopting from Eastern Europe! You can follow their adoption journey on their blog!






I've asked some questions to help you get to know Phillip and Charrissa Browning!

Please, meet the Browning Family!

The Browning Family 2009

  Matthew and Ivanna

Tell me about yourself and your family.  Our family is truly blessed. Phillip and I have been married for nearly fifteen years and also have six children, all of whom are treasured. Our youngest child was born with Down syndrome and a heart condition known as Tetrology of Fallot. This has been a reminder to our family of just how precious life is.

Phillip works full time in the computer/software industry, while I stay at home with our children and homeschool. I can think of nothing else I would rather do.

We love to do things as a family and truly enjoy one another's company.

What can you tell me about the children you are adopting?
Matthew turned five in February and is in great danger of being transferred to the institution. He had an open oval window in his heart, but the suspicion is that it no longer is an issue since he seems to be quite active.

Ivanna is four and a half and is also in great danger of being transferred. She is a bit more needy as far as we can tell with medical issues. Her muscle tone is low and she has ASD, which may be attributing to her not being able to walk yet.
We plan on having both children seen by a cardiologist once home.

Tell me why you decided to adopt a child with special needs?
After our youngest son, Justus, was born with Down syndrome and a heart condition - we were reminded of the preciousness of life. We were also made aware of how others may not place the same value on Justus' life that we did, merely because of his special need. Our hearts became burdened to testify whenever possible of just how blessed we feel having Justus apart of our family.We had also, always had a deep down desire to adopt, or foster. God was doing a work by marrying the two desires. One day, unintentionally, I clicked on a link to Reeces Rainbow. Our hearts were heavy and we began to pray that night that God would direct our path. He did, and that is why we are choosing to adopt Matthew and Ivanna; in accordance to His leading.

What would be your advice to anyone wanting to adopt?  I would say that praying for guidance is most important. Next I would suggest researching the following: international adoption requirements, the particular special need you are interested in, and join the yahoo group - this was very informative and helpful.

What made you decide to adopt internationally versus domestically? Isn't there a wide base of children with Down syndrome needing homes in America?
We did not seek to adopt, internationally or domestically - God laid this particular adoption upon our hearts. Once He did that, we started doing a little research and found that there is actually quite a large waiting list here domestically to adopt children with Down syndrome. We find this sadly ironic, given that the abortion rate of those with possible Down syndrome is upwards of ninety percent. That aside, it seems that many people across our nation have been made aware of just how sweet and precious these little ones diagnosed with Ds truly are.

This is where the tide turns however, when talking about people's perceptions and international versus domestic. In other countries worldwide, children with Down syndrome are sometimes looked down upon, not worthy of lifelong investment and often sentenced to a life that most would consider torture and hopeless. We cannot ignore this. James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the father! less and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world." We feel strongly that we as Christians, need to visit these fatherless in their affliction.

Yes, there are many children in need domestically, but the truth is that the grotesque treatment of those with special needs in other countries that happens commonly is not the typical treatment of those same types of children here in America. We praise God for that, but we also know that He has directed us in adopting those who are not considered worthy of investment, "the unlovley". We believe this adoption is a reflection of Christ's love toward His people in loving the unlovely. It is a picture of God's redeeming grace.

The Brownings are hoping to travel late Fall or early Winter 2010!  Please keep their family in your prayers and if you have a blog will you put their button on it?  If you can help in any way, thank you!




For other ways to help the children from Reece's Rainbow, please read the How You Can Help page on the Reece's Rainbow site! If you are looking for a gift idea for someone, your donation can be your gift!


Are you adopting? If you'd like to be featured on the 'Meet the Families' segment, please CLICK HERE. We'd love to feature your family!

If you have a blog, we'd love for you to put our Meet the Families Button on it!



Grab This!


Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.


<center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Meet%20the%20Families"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/MeetTheFamilies.gif"><a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/2010/01/meet-families-of-reeces-rainbow.html">Grab This Button</a></center>

Click to share this family on twitter!

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Meet the Families of Reece's Rainbow - The Browning Family

Angel of the Week

Meet Celine!

Updated pictures and medical information!

Celine is a beautiful little girl! She has blonde hair and bright blue eyes! She is quite self-sufficient and she likes to read but also enjoys the attention of adults. She'll do brilliantly in a family setting. Maybe yours?




She has $0 in her adoption grant fund. So even if you aren't able to adopt a child presently, you can still help her find her forever family by donating towards her grant fund. 

Please scroll down to grab our Child of the Week button

Celine can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/atriskwaiting.html
jf77 -2H
Celine
Brothers and sisters no
Date of Birth: October 2005
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Hair: light brown
Character: sociable. Calm

So happy to have updated pics and medical information about Celine!  She is a pretty little girl who is blessed to still be at the baby house.   She is facing transfer soon.   Celine has blonde hair and bright blue eyes.     She is quite self-sufficient and independent physically.  She very much enjoys the attention of adults, and likes to read books and engage.

From her medical records:  Down syndrome, moderate mental deficiency; hypertrophy of tonsils of the II-III degree; farsightedness; adenoids the II-III degree; allergic dermatitis; hypostatura.  Celine also has talipes valgus and congenital chord anomaly.

Celine will do very well in a family setting.  Lots more photos available, along with FULL MEDICAL RECORDS.  Married couples only at this time.

I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

 
Please grab our Child of the Week Button for your blog. Each week this button will change to show the current week's child (you only need to add the button once to your blog). The children that will be featured will be ones with $0 or very low adoption grant funds. By hosting our Child of the Week button we are hoping to not only raise awareness for that particular child but also to hopefully raise the amount in their fund. These funds have proven to help families that would otherwise be qualified and able to adopt them, except for the cost of an international adoption, feel able to commit to bringing home and giving the precious gift of a family to these angels.





Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.

<center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childoftheweek.png" /></a><br /> <a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/search/label/Child%20of%20the%20Week"><img width="75%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR/childweekgrab.png" /></a><br /> </center>

Thank you for all you do to support and help Reece's Rainbow!

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Angel of the Week

As One..The Nance family for alec & Zenyah

As this week came to an end I started praying about the next family I'd love for us to be able to help. It's so hard because (blessing here) there's so many! I wanted to let you guys know how I choose who to pray over. I'm a huge blog reader. Part of how I look into who may have a need is by reading about their real life situations & needs. The other part that I take into consideration is how much is in their family fund now & how active are they on their own in trying to bring in the needed cash. Sometimes, like in the Nance family, there's such a rush to move quickly because the little one their wanting to adopt is about to be transferred that a whole lot of fund raising time just isn't a real option. Some families frantically move quickly through all the paper work & then come to realize that now that the paperwork is done their at a stand still because the funds just aren't there yet..that's when real PANIC sets in! Sometimes lack of time steals the chance to fund raise. Let's face it..Jobs, family life, and gathering paperwork all are very time consuming. Sometimes time for submitting grant applications, garage sales & such can't happen. Sometimes, other family finacial needs arise. Anyway, I just want you all to know that I know real life can make it hard to be a really active fund raiser. But I do like to see families making an effort...if time allows. Being a blog reader & following many of the families on their journey's I've learned who has the time, & who, not because they don't want to, don't. I also know for a fact that if the families aren't really active in their own fund raising it isn't a reflection AT ALL of their love or desire for thier children to come home. Soooo..With all that being said...that's how I choose. :D

I read, take in info. & pray, pray, pray. This week God lead me to the Nance family.I'm so thrilled to see these two boys finally have a family!

I think Stephanie (the boys soon to be mom) expressed the need so well on her blog post titled 'You don't have to give big..' Where she expressed her thanks to those who've helped...

"You have made us feel so loved! You have helped us to get this far and we won’t forget it.But, we could use some more help. We have so many generous friends! Like hundreds! I’ll bet they think that $5 or $10 wouldn’t help. It would only be a drop in the bucket, right? Wrong! I’ve seen God multiply every gift that we have been given so far. I can’t explain how much that has boosted my faith. You don’t have to give big to make a big difference."

Hey, Stephanie...Bravo! Well said! :)

So as you can see, we..WE..can make a differance! Please consider not only giving a gift of love to help Alec & Zhenya get home, but prayer is very powerful tool as well. WE can all be a part of the Nance families journey by following thier blog here http://psalmsixtyeight.blogspot.com/, posting thier button on our blogs (found on the left of the 'As One' blog or on the Nance family blog), and giving a gift of love here http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsornance.html.May you week be blessed by His peace, His grace, His wonderful love & May we bless our Heavenly Father with our praise & thanks for who He is & what He has done in each of our lives,
In His service to you,

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As One..The Nance family for alec & Zenyah

Featured Special Need: Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Jake Grys

Little Alexandra has been on my heart lately. And then wouldn't you know it, I saw Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and here was a little boy with similar special needs. I couldn't help but think maybe this show would spur a family into action to adopt little Alexandra! Extreme Makeover: Home Edition feature

For more information on this condition check out the OIF, http://www.oif.org/site/PageServer

And for more about Jake Grys, who btw is ADORABLE, check out these links!

HERE

HERE

HERE

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Featured Special Need: Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Jake Grys

It's Your Birthday!

Happy Birthday Reece's Rainbow!

Today, 9 June 2010, marks the 4th birthday of Reece's Rainbow. In the last four years there have been 250+ children with committed families and Reece's Rainbow has dispersed nearly $500,000 in adoption grants!

I'm so thankful for all that Reece's Rainbow has done to raise awareness for the precious children waiting for families in countries around the world. I'm also thankful for all of the families that have also done an amazing job of raising awareness through the testimony of their adoptions of children with Down syndrome throughout the world.

Today is Reece's Rainbow's birthday but the ones who have received the gifts have been the wonderful families that make up the rainbow. The gift of a child. The gift of a life rescued. The gift of being so close to the Father's heart that they can feel it beating. Sharing His heart for the fatherless is a blessing.

Also, those who have participated in their testimonies through giving of their time and money and through prayer have also received the gift of that same blessing of sharing the Father's heart for the fatherless.

We'd be honoured to have you celebrate with us. You can put our birthday grab button on your blogs! And you can also put our button on your facebook pages as well!

Thank you, again, for all you do to support Reece's Rainbow! 

<center><script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi" type="text/javascript"></script><br /> <script src="http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/slideshow/gfslideshow.js"   type="text/javascript"></script><style type="text/css">       #picasaSlideshow {         width: 90%; height: 200px;         margin-bottom: 5px;         padding: 5px;       }     </style><br /> <script type="text/javascript">     google.load("feeds", "1");     function OnLoad() {       var feed  = "http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/PoppiesBloomingShop/albumid/5396675369469631745?alt\x3drss\x26kind\x3dphoto\x26hl\x3den_US";       var options = {         displayTime:2000,         transistionTime:600,         numResults : 50,         scaleImages:true,         fullControlPanel : true       };       var ss = new GFslideShow(feed, "picasaSlideshow", options);     }     google.setOnLoadCallback(OnLoad);     </script><br /> <div id="picasaSlideshow" class="gslideshow"><div class="feed-loading">Angels on their way...</div></div></center><br><center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/Happy4RR.png" width-/></a><br /> <a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-your-birthday.html"><img width="50%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR4Grab.png"></a></center>

Just the button, no slide show:
<center><a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/Happy4RR.png" width-/></a><br /> <a href="http://reecesrainbow.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-your-birthday.html"><img width="50%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/RR4Grab.png"></a></center>

Here is the jpg for facebook

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It's Your Birthday!

Angel of the Week

Meet Wade!

Wade is new to Reece's Rainbow!

Wade was born with a heart condition, but has already had corrective surgery. He needs a family soon! He can be adopted with Nikita or any of the other children from orphanage 3. It is imperative that these children find families soon!

Wade can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/eelittles.html

Wade (3) Boy, Born December 11, 2007 Little Wade....new to Reece's Rainbow, we are so glad to be a voice of hope for him!  He is in need of an adoptive family!   Wade was born with a heart condition, but he has already had corrective surgery.   This orphanage has a history of medicating the children, so many of them look sleepy and zoned out in their photos.  It is imperative to find families for all of these children quickly.  Wade can be adopted with Nikita below, and or any of the other children listed in orphanage 3. I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

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Angel of the Week

Our Family...The Smiths for Yana

I prayed really hard over several families and Yana's seems to be the one the God just laid on my heart in a heavy way. I don't know if your familiar with her story or that of her adoptive family...but it's an amazing one. This little lady has had some major barriers in front of her making her adoption a difficult one. Her adoptive family has worked hard to be able to make it possible. Beautiful Yana is in Russia, in a region with restrictions on referrals. With all the hoopla over a very dumb choice made by a women not happy with her adoptive son (yeah, you know the one I'm talking about...) things got even a little more tough. Like most adoptive families..love is the driving force behind our adoptions and funds are something that we really have to work hard for.Yana's family hasn't yet been able to submit for requests of grants due to not having their copy of their Homestudy back yet. Their a family living on a single income with 3 great bio. children, 1 who lives with the Lord..she was born with DS and many complications..God took her home 37 days after her birth :(Well, I think it was this little lady who paved the way for the adoptions of the Smith's next 3 children. 2 with DS and 1 with Autism. Now their a family of 7 wanting to be a family of 8 :DThe family has been told that the Region Yana is in is requesting they have their first travel date at the end of this month. Their hearts are fully ready to go...but the funds just aren't in place and they're terrified of losing this chance to bring their daughter home. I've chosen to only feature one family a week from now on in hopes of raising more money for each family in need. The Smith's are running all kinds of fund raisers on their blog...you can visit them and learn more about the fund raisers here: http://www.savinganangel.blogspot.com/ . I know they'd love to have all the support they can get right now. The harsh truth about Yana's situation is that this may really be her only chance of being adopted due to the difficulty of navigating her adoption. Not only are funds needed, but prayers. No amount is to small...every cent takes them one step closer to Yana. Please be prayerful in your giving & know that all your help, well, it's appreciated. Her mom & dad..and her brothers and

sister thank you for all your support..You can grab her button found on the As One blog http://asonewecan.blogspot.com/ on the left of the page & help spread the word about her adoption by placing it on your blog too. Your loving gifts can be given here http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorsmith2.html
God bless you all, and know that no situation is to big for our God Almighty :)

In His service,

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Our Family...The Smiths for Yana

What Siblings [of children with special needs] Would Like Parents and Service Providers to Know

The Sibling Support Project facilitated a discussion on SibNet, its listserv for adult siblings of people with disabilities, regarding the considerations that siblings want from parents, other family members, and service providers. Following are themes discussed by SibNet members and recommendations from the Sibling Support Project:

Read the rest of the article HERE!

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What Siblings [of children with special needs] Would Like Parents and Service Providers to Know

an as one we can update...

BECAUSE FAMILY IS TO BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER TO CARRY EACH OTHERS BURDENS...& HERE WE'RE A FAMILY KNITED TOGETHER BY GODS HANDS...FAMILIES ARE IN NEED...TOGETHER WE CAN BE GODS HANDS & FEET...

*This post is copied from my 'As One' blog, found here http://asonewecan.blogspot.com/ . If your not familiar with this cause, please go to he blog site to find out what it's all about.

I started this blog (my As one blog), this cause, because when we were going thru our adoption of Isaac I would see so many families come to their time of travel & they'd still be in need of fiances. We ourselves were in the mist of a second adoption from another country & let me tell you, money wasn't coming easy. Unfortunately, if the funds aren't there, the children don't come home. Well, after much prayer God laid it on my heart to do something. This was that something. I was diligent to post two families a week that we're near their travel time in hopes of all the other RR families to pull together as one to help these families bring their child or children home. It all went quit well for a time. Then our travel time came & our Isaac came home. Life became hectic to say the least as our son adjusted to us & his new life & we to him. Little by little I started to become less & less involved with keeping tabs on all the new RR families coming in. I also became really discouraged when I noticed that donations..even small ones..just weren't being given to the families of the week. With the economy being so bad we all kinda gripped our hands tight onto what we had instead of giving it away for someone else to use. In my discouragement, I became less & less involved with the new adopting families. Most don't have a clue as to who I am. I still follow many of the journeys, I love it. But that's about the gist of it. Well, long story short, God's weighed in on my thoughts of all this & He's basically let me know that it's time to move forward. The children are waiting & time isn't on their side.

So with that being said I'd like to re-introduce myself. I'm Alysha. Our family adopted our son Isaac almost a year ago come July from Ukraine. We're still on our second adoption journey & only the good Lord knows what the outcome of it will be. Our second son is in the Republic of Georgia & we've been on this ride to him for 2 years now. My passion is for the children. I'm a servant of the Lord & I long to be His hands, His feet in any way He sees fit. I'd like to encourage you all with this thought...

Are you a cheerful giver?

Do you look for opportunities to share with others? God's heart goes out to the poor and needy. Through His Word we are encouraged share His love and goodness with others. When we donate, when we give faithfully, we reap the joy of sharing...and God pours out His blessing! We can't out-give God, but it doesn't hurt to try! Here are some verses to bless our hearts & remind us of our calling:

Deuteronomy 15:10
"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."

Deuteronomy 16:17
"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you. "

Proverbs 3:27
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."

And my personal favorite...

Mark 12:41-44

"And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Remember that the Lord knows where we're each of us is at financially..& He knows our hearts. He knows it's not easy to sacrifice the little that we may have for another, but He also will reward the willingness to do so in the mist of hardship. I'm guilty too of not giving the way that I should be. Forgive me for being such a slacker?...In all areas. On Sundays I'll be posting the family that I feel God is laying on my heart. I'll be posting both here & on the As One blog site. For those of you who don't yet know me..you will :) God is bigger & He is our provider...we are His vessels, lets let our selves be used. Blessing to you all...

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