I made a decision a while ago not to write about any kind of fundraisers on my blog within the internet unless it was something I was directly involved with. It's an ongoing battle I have between my heart and my head. My heart wants to help everyone and anything I can but my head and my eyes have seen a lot of things that weren't what they seemed. I just don't feel comfortable asking y'all to give money to anything on the internet.
I AM going to write about this one thing. For some reason it just struck a chord with me. Maybe it's the postpartum hormones. I recently was introduced to a blogger who has adopted several special needs children (including one named Harper!) She wrote me about a little boy and I'm just going to share what she wrote (maybe it will strike a chord with you too):
I have taken on a massive mission of advocating for the darling little boy in Eastern Europe. Vanya is 8, has been an orphan since he was young, and carries the HIV virus in his body. He is soooooooo sweet. He has suffered more rejection in his little life than I have in my 39 years on this earth. His mom led an immoral life and his dad refuses to even acknowledge his existence--chooses to leave him in an orphanage.
This little guy has one dream in his life...to have a family of his own. Each and every day he asks when it will be his turn? When will someone come for him? Why do only the little kids get adopted? Ugh, having adopted an older child, I know it is hard. Not many people are willing to take on the older children....especially those who have HIV :( Sadly most people just don't know how do-able the disease is these days with the anti-retroviral drugs. They live very healthy and normal lives. Thankfully there are ministries like Project Hopeful who are slowly but surely changing the perception people have by doing an enormous amount of educating.
Vanya is about to be transferred from his current orphanage and put into an adult facility. These places are not a place you would put your dog into. They are heinous. Most are mental institutions. Vanya will go to one of those places. The problem is that once he is moved, he can NEVER be adopted. They will put him in an undisclosed place, where he can never be found. Oh my goodness. I can't stand the thought.
The ONLY way that Vanya will be adopted is by advocating for him. Right now he is sitting on a waiting child site and no one has ever inquired about adopting him. I have started a HUGE fundraiser on my blog. We are trying to raise $20 000 to cover most of the adoption expenses a family will have. (Yes, adoption costs are insane). I have more than 100 prizes up for grabs that amazing readers of my blog have donated.
We're trusing the LORD for a family (who we know is out there--they just need to find him) AND a large grant.
http://www.nogreaterjoymom.
I love blogging and the ability to share my family and faith with such a large audience but I've had some unfortunate very ugly incidences. I've struggled with whether I should take my blog private or continue to keep it open many times. I often wonder why I have so many people reading my blog and I know 100% it has nothing to do with me - and everything to do with God giving me the opportunity to have a platform to write about Him to more people than I could ever talk to in my lifetime. I'm thankful for that - but I also want to protect my family.
For now - I've decided to start watermarking and protecting my pictures. I've had a few people send me code to protect and ways to watermark. I'm going to try those out and then I'm going to share them with you - because we all need to be careful and protect our pictures especially. Also - I know so many of you have "friended" me on facebook - but I have to keep that to people I know in real life. It's not personal - but it's important. I probably will be cleaning up my facebook this week so if we are no longer friends - TOTALLY not personal - we just don't know each other in real life. I would hope everyone would understand. We are probably all smart to do the same!
