In the Valley of our God

We are in the valley

Our court date will be issued next week

It will be for the first week in July

That means we will leave for Ian's country in

FOUR WEEKS

and in six weeks, Ian will be home

the legal fight is over because of a miracle little boy just like Ian

the financial mountain remains

PLEASE PRAY FOR US

PRAY FOR US TO BE FUNDED

PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF ADOPTION GRANT

PRAY FOR IAN

as of this moment, Memorial Day at noon EST our

Family Support Page at

Reece's Rainbow reads

$12,220.00

it MUST read

$25,000.00

in order for us to complete our adoption, to rescue Ian, and to bring him home

this is it

we are in the valley

Something Big

Something big is on the horizon for Ian

It is something that we ask your prayers for

It will be revealed on June 1st.

We cannot do this alone

ONLY GOD CAN DO THIS

Please start praying now for the

"FINAL PIECES"

...more to come next week as we are prayerfully and meticulously putting together what has to be the very last fund raiser to bring Ian home because time is fleeting as we approach a court hearing in a country that has denied the adoption of a child with Down Syndrome to a family in the US, and where Ian is, a judge has declared that no longer will they hear cases involving children with special needs as those children are not suitable for life outside of institutions

We humbly ask you to pray specifically for:

• Gretchen to complete the emotional putting together of THE FINAL PIECES, by Wednesday night of this week...

• God to do something outrageous in the hearts of people, so that all of the final pieces to get Ian home will come together in a rainbow that glorifies God...

• The ten shining lights that will pass it forward for Ian, that they make a God connection to just one other person because of Ian, and for Jesus...

• Attacks from the enemy show themselves plainly, because we know that if it isn't something God directed, then it isn't worth the enemy bothering to mess with it. Let our friends and the strangers who will show up for Ian, face any attempts to halt the success of this undertaking by conquering all with LOVE.

In Jesus' name this we pray

...and, while we ask you to pray for us, we are in prayer for many...

• Donnie and Carrie Cannell that they find peace in the process and that God show up in a big way in the next several weeks so they may rescue Carson and John, two orphans with Epidermolysis Bullosa
• The family of our sweet friend Ellie Tavani as they live daily with EB, and as they pray and raise funds for dEBra of America to find a cure for EB, the morst horrific condition you have never hear of. Ellie needs a cure.
• Lorraine Patterson, on the first year anniversary of the loss of Chrissie, that she be warmed by the literally thousands of people that her daughter touched in just seven months of life with her forever family. We found Ian because of Chrissie
• Barb Miller, the mother-in-law of Amie and Jeff Miller of Wisconsin, who had major surgery this week to determine the extent of cancer in her body. Amie is a warrior for Ian, and we wish Barb total and complete healing, which is possible by the hand of God
• Jennifer and Priestly Williams of Virginia, for the pain of loosing a child that they may find refuge in the arms of Jesus, and do good things in Will's name
• For a journey that someone I know will take in the next few months, that it have every impact God intends for it to have
• For our son Ari, that he remain seizure free, most especially when we depart for court and to bring Ian home

Shine a Light: Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance

During the wait until we start hearing back from our agency and our in-country adoption facilitator regarding our court dossier, which we expect will be another week and a half (it was sent to Ian's country yesterday), I would like to shine a light on some of the people and GOD connections that have played a major role in helping us raise the insane amount of money we need to bring Ian home, and erase the possibility of him perishing, very soon, in a lifeless mental institution.

Our sweeet, smart, beautiful little boy, Ian

One thing I don't think I mentioned about our little man Ian is that the doctor at his orphanage told us he is "mildly" developmentally delayed. While we have made a concerted effort to not have expectations about his physical or developmental conditions, it is really hard for me in particular to do that, because special education is my career.

In the short time we got to spend with our new son Ian, and watch him process so many things he has never encountered in his entire life (like individual sustained attention towards him, parents, a brother, technology like an iPod, cell phones, affection, etc...), we believe that is more on the mild side of cognitive impairment. He learned how to use the iPod (generally, how to activate it and use his finger to slide the lighted bar to "unlock" it) in just two exposures to it, of less than 10 min. each.

We also watched Ian distinguish his left from right shoes, and follow EVERY direction he was given (in Russian of course).



So, this boy is SMART! He is capable of learning, and he is every bit of a typical boy who likes to rough house and run around with daddy...a bleak, cold, inhumane institution is NO PLACE for Ian, nor any other child.

Ian also showed emotion, lots of emotion. I have not written about this until now but I think it shows something tender about our son. When it was time for him to return to the groupa on the first day, when we got to get a glimpse of where he spends most of his days, he cried. He was fine until he was told to go and sit down in a chair that was in a semi-circle, facing an old, small television that was playing some cartoon. He sat in the last chair near the door, where we were peering in. He began to cry. He was clearly distraught, and he was looking at us with this look on his face like, "please don't leave me."

We know that the children are made to sit on those chairs for HOURS and HOURS watching the SAME CARTOON OVER and OVER again. That in and of itself, would drive even the most sane person, nuts.

Craig and I have talked at great length about what might have been happening in Ian's mind at that moment he was crying in the chair, looking at us. We have concluded that he knew, even in that short amount of time, that we were there for him, and that we were something different, and maybe he even realized that we were something better.

He did not want to go back to the groupa, that was clear at that moment. It was really heart breaking for me to look at him cry. His out of control cry is different than what i would call his, "realization" cry. That realization that we were leaving him there, or even if it wasn't him realizing we were for him and we were leaving...it was the emotion on his face and the manner in which he cried that was so desperate, that replays in our minds everyday as we battle to bring him home.

...and it is a battle to be sure. The forces of wrong never sleep, and one orphan boys tears do not deter things from happening that push us back and try to make us think that it is impossible to make Ian "one less."

As I write this, our sweet baby Ari is in the hospital. We have been here for two days now, and while we hope to be discharged this evening, we could be here longer. In addition, our fight for the waiver of the 10 day wait after our court trip is more that likely going to be in vain, which means thousand of more dollars for a return, peak season in terms of airfare and hotel, trip to bring Ian home. We are certainly weary. We will have been in this process for more than a year before Ian is home. In the mail today came too, a "note" from the President an organization that claims to support parents of children with Down Syndrome, basically stating that they can't help people adopting from Reece's Rainbow and that families should not ask them for help...and no, I am not kidding.

Yes, still, we rise. We will bring him home, and we are not without deep, deep thanks to those organizations and individuals who have come to stand by our side, armed with hope, love, and generosity...and without judgement and cynicism. We know that God see's what they are doing to help us save Ian and we know that Jesus comes for us, we will have lived as best we could to be a blessing to other people, no matter their need, intellectual capacity, skin color, "station", or any other thing that mankind creates to divide us.

When we returned from Trip 1 to meet Ian, we knew we had to raise a bunch more money to get him home. We thought we had time, in terms of Ian's health, we though he was "healthy." As you know, we refused surgery for him in his country, because the chances he would pass away are much greater than if he were home, had the best care possible, and a FAMILY, to care for him in his recovery. With Ari in the hospital for the third time in his life now, we are sharply reminded that children are fragile beyond what we can see. Ian is our SON, and to imagine him having surgery without ANYONE there 24 hours a day with him is - sickening.

Our sweet Ari, never alone in the hospital, ever

So, we press on with the ever changing paperwork demands (and the ever stricter), praying for God to reveal the final funding we need. We applied for grants, and we did not get several. If you know anything about adoption grants, you know that the need greatly surpasses the availability of granting organizations to help all the families that need help to save kiddos. We are not bitter about it, in fact we are thankful that somewhere, someone is getting help to save a child's life. 147 million orphans in NOT RIGHT.

Still, there is never a reason to be without hope. That is what Jesus did for us, he gave us eternal hope, even in death. In 2004, a sweet little girl named Karissa Dawn Smith, died in an accident. She had been adopted into the Smith family. Her family made the journey to her in Viet Nam in 1999. She was, and still is, very loved.

In her death, her family rose to give hope to others. They started "Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance." The "golden" part of the name of Karrissa's foundation is a dog named Tilli. Tilli is a Golden Retriver.

Tilli Noel

Tilli has, since 2008, bore 45 adorable little purebred puppies, which when sold, generate the funds for the Golden Dawn Adoption Assistance Grant. This grant is up to $2,000.00 for families adopting orphans.

One of the precious pups that is helping to bring orphans home

(shhh...don't tell Craig but we may be adding one of these to our family too!)

Ian has been gifted a Golden Dawn grant, and it was exactly what we needed to pay the remainder of our US fee's due to our adoption agency. Praise Jesus. We did not find this grant via an internet search. We were led to it because of Anya. Anya, home in March 2011, was in Ian's groupa, and she was Ian's best little friend in the orphanage.

Anya Fillmore, home in March 2011 from Ian's orphanage
pictured here on Easter 2011 with her new big sister

Anya's family, The Fillmore's, told us about Golden Dawn after they too, received this special memorial gift to help bring Anya home. After not getting some of the grant's we had spent hours and hours applying for, to receive this one, was and will forever remain, very special to us. This one, small, but powerful family, who lost their own child after working so hard to complete an international adoption and bring her home, through their grief, has found a way to be intstrumentatl in rescusing TWO orphans with Down Syndrome from the same orphange, thousands of miles away.

When I applied for the grant, I said nothing about Anya because I didn't feel like it would be fair to the other people applying (they give only one grant per cycle). They chose Ian anyway, and we are SO incredibly grateful!

This little light....Karissa Dawn Smith, and her dog Tilli...are lettin' it shine for Ian, they let it shine for Anya, and they are no where near done playing a significant role in rescuing God's children! Amen.

BRING IT!

I was NOT a BIG 10 CHEERLEADER for nothing!

so to all that would

stand in our way

of saving Ian, I say

Gimmie an I

Gimmie an A

Gimmie an N

Let's go I-A-N!

******

court dossier - COMPLETE and IN TRANSIT!

homestudy update - all paperwork COMPLETE!

funding - NEED $12,000.00, IT WILL COME!

change in the hearts of many - PRAY WITH US!

WE BELIEVE IAN WILL COME HOME

and we

will

BRING IT ON

until he does!

Tie a knot...

and hang on.

That is what I have always been told to do when you are at the end of your rope.

*****************

I don't have anything profound to say, I just have a splitting migraine and I need to go to sleep.

We sent our dossier today.

Incomplete.

The President of Wells Fargo Home Mortgages is still working on a letter we need, and it is a problem. I have no idea why, it just is.

Our documents are starting to expire, one by one, starting with our FBI clearances, as we approach an entire year that we have been working, every day, to rescue our sweet baby boy.

This is not our fault. They halted all adoptions in Ian's country in November of 2010 and did not re-open the process until Feb. 1. Then, they changed the process and demanded more and new and difficult to obtain paperwork from us, delaying us again.

Today, the one judge left in our region who will even consider hearing a special needs case, is demanding a whole new Homestudy update, which will cost us $1,000.00, lost time from work, 500 plus miles of driving, and various other in sundry time and energy draining things to get it done. The word "update" is deceptive. It is the Homestudy ALL OVER again, save a few parts that have nothing to do with document production.

We are totally exhausted.

I am out of sick days and leave time at work, so getting it done means taking unpaid leave. Great.

We still need $12,000.00, on the conservative side, to save Ian.

and finally, while I sulk in my own puddle of tears over this seemingly never ending adoption process, and the emotional wake it produces each day....

Our Hero of Hope for Ian, a young lady who made it her mission to raise more than $3,000.00 for Ian, Amie's mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer - an agressive one, and the family is devastated, and so are we.

I don't even know what to do.

I will never give up on bringing Ian home but today is the first day I have ever really felt like the process in and of itself, could possibly keep him from coming home.

and that feeling is horrible.

When Mother's Day brings a Tear

I could never bear the loss of my son Ari

HE IS THE JOY OF MY LIFE

Yes, I believe GOD is always with us

Yes, I know that my children are his, just given to me for a short time

STILL, reality is that, having seen the pain of

other mothers

who have lost their children

I KNOW I WOULD CRY EVERY SINGLE DAY

*****

Today, as we who still have our mothers,

and us mothers who still have our children

celebrate the love,

or even us who may have lost our mothers

after they lived a long and wonderful life

*****

PLEASE PRAY and UPLIFT those who do not

(if you are reading this and you have lost your child or mother,

please know I am sending up prayers for

ALL who may face this day with some manner of heart break)

THESE PEOPLE are MY FRIENDS and FAMILY

and I will cry today, thinking of them while I uplift them in silent prayer

**************************

This lovely woman on the right is Mrs. Ann Buran.

I met Ann in 1997, when I took my very first teaching position at the Whittier Community School for the Arts, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ann played the baby grand piano that was in the foyer of this very special school for the Arts. She is an accomplished classical pianist. Ann and her husband David, gave much time and talent to Whittier and our students.

They volunteered in my classroom too, on a regular basis.

One day, a story splashed across the news one evening as I lay awake planning my lessons. A young woman had been shot to death in her own home. Her children were at home. Her son found her. That young boy also found his father, dead. Something went very, very wrong that day, when Ann and David's beloved daughter was killed by her husband and then he turned the gun on himself, with his two young boys at home at the time.

I was simply mortified for this family. Ann and David, already retired, took full custody of their grandchildren on that terrible day, and have raised them up to be what I am sure are two caring and wonderful young men.

My heart aches for Ann and David and the boys, who lost both of their parents

What a difficult day must it be for Ann and David, and the boys.

Please pray for peace for them.

***********************

Recall the school I just mentioned above, Whittier? This lovely young girl attended Whittier from the first day we opened, and she was well known because she had energy!

Her mother, Molly Remington,

was a fixture in our school, and one of the most dedicated mother's I have every seen in my 15 years in public education, perhaps the most dedicated.

Sofia Buxton-Anderson passed away suddenly on December 17, 2005 from an unexplained virus. She was just 13 years of age, and it was just a few days before Christmas.

Here is what Molly wrote about the moment she lost her only daughter, and her only child:

On the morning of her passing we were told by a Dr. that her condition was grave and we would only have a small amount of time before she would be gone. I could not believe it, just 12 hours after we had rushed her to the hospital and we were about to lose her. I went to the window crying and thinking NO this is a bad dream this is not happening. As I stood there I saw two Eagles soaring above. I remembered how I heard about Eagles being guides to take the souls back to the Creator, as I stood and watched the beauty of these big birds as they perched high on a tree. I suddenly realized that this was the time. I ran in to the ICU and they were doing chest compressions, she had gone into cardiac arrest. I ran back to the waiting room and told her Dad, Step-Mom and the friends that were there come quick this is it. We all got to her as they told us they had brought her back but it was only for a short time so we had time to say goodbye. We prayed and told her how much we love her, I held her feet as she passed away. I told her that the eagles were here for her and to be free and fly. That night I had been praying and hoping for her to make it, but what ever it was that she was fighting was to unknown and strong for even the best doctors to be able to beat. It was a bacterial infection in her abdomen that spread so fast. Still six weeks later they don't have any answers for us as to how she may have gotten it.

She had only been sick for a few days and it just seemed like stomach flu, until she fainted that Friday night, by Saturday morning at 8:10 she was gone.

I think of sweet Sofia a lot. I can see her smiling face running through the halls of our school. I cannot believe she is gone. My heart weeps for Molly.

Please lift Molly up today in your prayers.

She is devastated by the loss of Sofia.

*****************************

I don't have too many words about this request for prayers today

It hurts me to write about her

This is our beautiful cousin Lynzay Marie Legois

an only child, and an only and first grandchild

Please pray for Richard Legois, her father & Denice, her stepmother

Please pray for the entire Legois family:

Wayne (her grandfather), Rose (her grandmother), Shirley (RIP- her grandmother).

Please pray for Lynzay's birth mother.

She died in an instant, a tragic and horrible death.

There is little else to say. She was 14 years old. I was December 12, 2006, just a few weeks before Christmas, and almost an exact year from the day Molly lost Sofia.

She was this girl (as she said to my mother once):

"...the other girls at school tease me, a lot. They are mean to me...but when I get on the bus for school, and I see someone sitting alone, I go and I sit with them. At lunch, when I see a girl sitting alone, because no one will sit with her, I go and sit there. I make friends with kids that other kids won't talk to."

We lost a very special child of God that day.

Lynzay was in my wedding.

She threw the roses down the asile in front of me.

I miss her.

My heart breaks over and over again.

Please lift Lynzay's memory up today in your prayers.

*************************

and there are more....

Please life up the entire Patterson Family, who lost Chrissie a year ago, just shortly after Mother's Day

**

Please pray for mom Jennifer Williams, who lost 6 year old Will. Will is going to be Ian's middle name, in memory and honor of Will Williams.

Today, there are 147 million little souls,

GODS little children

WITHOUT MOTHERS

I weep for them to know the love that the mother's have for their children above, all gone too soon, and all beloved and cherished, even in death.

PLEASE SAY YOUR MOST FERVENT PRAYERS TODAY

FOR THE ORPHANED CHILDREN OF OUR WORLD

THAT THEY TOO, WILL KNOW THE

LOVE OF A MOTHER

SOMEDAY

SOON

Thank you so much and to all Mother's everywhere,

and especially to my own, who was told by many people to give me up to the

Catholic adoption agency, who sat there in the adoption agency office with me in her arms, and who then walked out and never looked back,

with me in her arms.

Happy Mother's Day