Rachel & Bob

The girls were outside having ice-cream and Bob-The Wonder Dog-
stopped to hang out with Rachel.


She was so excited because Bob wanted HER to love on him
and not the other kids.


Sadly, It was the Fudge-cicle Bob was after.


So what did my little animal lover do?
She let him have it and got herself another.
She said,"Dogs get hot, too. "


Fun in the Sun.


Peace.

"Don't Forget To Floss"

3 of our 5 children had dentist appointments this week
at THE SMILE CENTER.


They love to go to Our Dentist because he just happens to be family.
He loves my kids like they are his own and they know it.


Once, when Caleb was loosing his first 2 teeth, we had to have
them extracted.
Mr. David refused to do it and sent us to another friend of ours.
He said, "There is no way I am going to pull these teeth and have
him scream and run every time he sees me! I'll let someone else do
it and he can run from them!"


Today Rachel was the "dentist" and Mary was the
"teeth cleaner".


All the dolls and stuffed animals got a good cleaning.
Only a few had cavities and Rachel even had time to
check out her brother, before lunch. She told him, " Your teeth look good.
You have no cavities, Just don't forget to floss! "

David is going to be so proud.

Peace.

Southern to the Core.................

Mary came into the kitchen and saw the watermelon
sitting on the counter.


After studying it for a few seconds
she said,


"Mama, will you open the Worlla-Mella so I can eat it with my face?"


How in the world do you say no to that?!


Neither could I.


Peace.

People Magazine Photo Shoot

This week SCC & his boys rolled back into town after 3 days of concerts.

On the day that the family celebrates Maria's Gotcha Day, they had a photo shoot.


People Magazine is doing a story on the Chapman's.
These were taken at the family's home, in Franklin.

I cannot imagine how hard this must have been for them.


Please remember to pray for them.

I stand in awe of their faithfulness to live out God's plan for
their lives.

Peace.

Funny of the Day!

Daddy is on vacation this week, so we decided that it would be a good time to teach the kids some "Life Skills".

Caleb is getting some driving lessons....from his DAD!

Hannah is learning to write letters and thank-you notes. She is also doing some cooking(she doesn't know that ,yet.)

Ben is going to learn to unload the dishwasher and do laundry.

Rachel and Mary are learning to sort laundry, load the washer and dryers, and turn them on.

Rachel and Mary are very competitive and will not be outdone by the other.

They both love to be the one to sit on the washer / dryer and push the buttons for the settings.

There have been several arguments over whose"TURN" it is, and if they even see me walking toward the laundry room-they follow right behind me.

After lunch, I had managed to sneak into the laundry room to sort a few loads and I hear Mary running into the kitchen.

She turns the corner into the laundry room , and as soon as she sees me she starts squealing," I want to PUSH PLAY! I want to PUSH PLAY!"

O.K......Guess who spends a little too much time in front of the DVD player?

Peace.

Remember Little FEN?

Looking For a Family To Call Her Own...........


WELL GUESS WHAT>>>>>>>>>>>

Friday, July 11, 2008

A Dream Come True
We want to thank EVERYONE who advocated for sweet Fen to find a forever family.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, we are so happy to be able to report that a family has chosen her to be their newest daughter.
What a dream come true for this very special little girl who has been waiting so long to be adopted.
There were actually two girls from this orphanage who came out on the shared agency list at the same time.
We were so grateful for the outpouring of support for Fen that we hope the same blessing can be given to her friend Meigan.
Here is a photo of them together from Children's Day.
Fen is on the left in white and Meigan is in red.
Some of you might remember my post from many years ago that talked about us sending a beautiful scrapbook back to one orphanage, with photos of all of the children who had been adopted.
We had worked so hard on the book, and we thought that the aunties would love to see each child, now home in a loving family.
I was making a visit to this orphanage at one point, and the staff finally shared with me that they were concerned about me coming because of this book.
You see, they had put the book away and hidden it from sight because of the deep pain that it caused to all of the older children in the orphanage who had NEVER BEEN CHOSEN.
They knew we had worked so hard on it, but they just didn't want to cause any more pain to the older children who had opened the book and saw the friends they once knew in the orphanage now riding on merry-go-rounds, being hugged by their new siblings, and being dressed in princess gowns with bows and barrettes in their hair.
Oh my heart. I couldn't believe that I had not thought of that, and I was so sad to know that I had caused any of them pain.
Lesson learned in a very hard way.
I just learned something else that has made my heart sad, and it involves Meigan.
I made the mistake of asking if she really wanted to be adopted, since she is now 10.
And I was told that she wants it more than anything.
In fact, since this orphanage now has done adoptions for many years, several families have returned on homeland tours with their older daughters.
Meigan's eyes have followed them the whole time, with a longing that the whole staff could see that she wished SHE could be the one holding onto a mama's hand, and that she could be the one who someone had chosen as their own.
Each time an adoptive family has returned, there is a deep sadness in Meigan's eyes and a feeling that she just isn't good enough to be chosen.
During normal days, she is a happy girl with a smile to melt any heart, but close to the surface is a feeling of, "Why did no one want ME?"
Meigan is ten years old and has the sweetest personality.
She is a loving and gentle little girl, who loves her baby doll and who has the voice of an angel when she sings.
She loves music and playing with her friends.
Meigan was born with a spinal tumor, which was repaired as a baby. She has full range of motion with her legs and is a beautiful dancer.
However, due to a complication with the surgery, she has one health issue that might make her adoption more difficult.
However, many parents have helped their children successfully overcome this issue with treatment by a specialist such as Dr. Pena at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
It absolutely does not have to stop her from having a full and productive life.

LWB has decided to offer a Tuan Yuan adoption grant for Meigan, in the hope that it will help allow someone to bring her home.

Please help spread the news that this beautiful young girl is waiting, as we know that somewhere out there is the perfect family just waiting for such a sweet daughter.
Meigan has so much to offer this world with her loving and sweet spirit, and we are all praying that her family will soon be found.
Thank you so much for your help!

Amy Eldridge
Executive Director

WEEK 1 OF "NO T.V." and Look what we can do......

We can read books about FAR AWAY PLACES!


We can play board games!


We can be thrilled over $500 worth of fake money!


We can be estatic over a beautiful island we just purchased!


We can even find joy in "rolling the dice".

We also spent an hour writing letters and drawing pictures
for 2 little girls that left for summer camp today

Who would have EVER imagined?!

Peace(ful).