Christmas 2014

As one side of my family gathers together today to celebrate Christmas, I am spending some time remembering the events of my Christmas week. The kind of Christmas I never pictured when I was younger, away from my family, but still so thankful for everyone and everything that surrounds me. 

For several weeks now, we have been receiving Christmas gifts for our kiddos and staff. We are beyond blessed by how many people care about our babies and decided to send these toys, clothes and books - it was a fun several days of wrapping and sorting and labeling as we prepared gifts for each child! 

By Christmas Eve, all of the mail was received and we had every present wrapped and ready to go. We attended the Christmas Eve service with the other staff here at COTP and went to bed ready for a full day in the morning. 

On Christmas morning, we got everything ready for the party and the kids quickly noticed something was up; they couldn’t wait for their turn to come in and experience Christmas. We spent the next several hours celebrating in small groups with our kids, reading the Christmas story, decorating cookies, unwrapping presents and exploring new toys. Even when the kiddos were napping, we were still busy handing out the nanny Christmas presents. :)

It was a fun day that ended with happy kids and a roommate Christmas dinner, complete of course with fudge and a Christmas movie!

Our Christmas Whiteboard.

The stocking (ornaments) were hung by the (whiteboard) with care.

Gifts ready to be unwrapped.

The Nativity Scene we used to tell the Christmas Story.

Trying to sit still long enough for Tori to read to us.

Ready to open presents.

Professional cookie decorator... she took the task very seriously.

Excited to open presents... and possibly toss the paper everywhere in a minute.

Waiting very seriously to find out what's inside.

Unwrapping his new books was a tough job.

Everyone had to check out the fancy new car.

She loved the new trampoline that everyone gets to share.

He was excited for musical mats and bows this Christmas.

She loves her new stuffed kitty.

And she's pretty sure her very first Christmas was a success!

Children of the Promise has given explicit permission for the posting of photos on this site.  Photos taken of children in the care of Children of the Promise are not be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Fifteen

15 for 15 for 15. The theme for this year’s annual telethon. It is COTP’s fifteenth year. We exceeded a fundraising goal of $15000 in one day. We highlighted fifteen of our Haitian employees. But the number 15 is also very personal to us for another reason.

Fifteen is the number of kiddos with special needs who are here waiting for their forever families. Most of these kids have faced abandonment by their birth families. They have watched other kids go home with their adoptive families. They have heard us pray for families to find them. But still they wait. All fifteen of them.

From our human perspective, fifteen is a huge number. We realize that kids with special needs are harder to find families for. We realize that their needs can be intimidating. We realize that special needs adoption is a huge commitment. We realize that the older they get, the smaller their odds of being matched with a family. And these facts discourage us. Can we ever find fifteen families to love fifteen kiddos?

And yet, we believe in a big God. A God who is not at all intimidated by the number fifteen. These fifteen are his babies, designed by him, to bring him glory. We believe that he can speak to the hearts of fifteen families. We believe that a forever family is God’s design for the lives of our fifteen special kids that we love so much. 

We believe that fifteen is nowhere near too big of a challenge for our God, and we are begging him to lift up fifteen amazing families who are willing to overcome the challenges and intimidation. Fifteen families who are willing to step out in faith and commit to our fifteen kiddos.  

Will you pray with us for these fifteen kids and their families? That God would completely overwhelm us with his goodness as he brings them together. That the waiting for these fifteen little lives would soon be over. That fifteen waiting kids will no longer bring discouragement to our human hearts. That instead fifteen kids can be matched with adoptive families and become a testament to the goodness of God and his ability to place the orphaned and abandoned in families.

15 years.

15 thousand dollars.

15 highlighted employees.

15 kids with special needs waiting for 15 adoptive families.

Children of the Promise has given explicit permission for the posting of photos on this site.  Photos taken of children in the care of Children of the Promise are not be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

A Happy Ending

My last blog post was about one of our shortest admits. An admit that did not end how we hoped it would. This post has a different sort of ending, and tells the story of another baby that spent only a few days with us.

Jodelin came to us in February, when he was only five days old and weighed just over 5 pounds. He was born at a local hospital and placed on oxygen. His teenage mom, frightened and overwhelmed, left him there alone. The hospital called his grandma and she came to pick up the baby, discharging him early because she could not afford any more hospital bills. The night before coming to us, Jodelin spent time with family members and neighbors, including one of our nannies. They told us that his breathing was shallow; they didn’t know if he would make it through the night. But he did. And they brought him to COTP.

First Day at COTP

We agreed to admit tiny Jodelin for the weekend so that we could observe him and encourage the little guy to drink regularly. They agreed to bring his grandma back on Monday to determine a plan for him. Over the weekend, Jodelin did really well. He stayed with volunteers, who fed him around the clock and encouraged Jodelin to continue drinking. His grandma agreed to take him back that Tuesday. He was enrolled in our formula program.

He arrived just in time for a photo shoot with Emily. :)

Jodelin has been coming to see us every two weeks since being discharged. At two months old, he is up to 9.5 pounds and doing great! All it took for this little guy was four days in our care. Four days to observe his fragile health. Four days for him to start fussing when it was time to eat. Four days for his family to figure out a care plan for their tiny baby. Four days to reunite Jodelin with his family.

Children of the Promise has given explicit permission for the posting of photos on this site.  Photos taken of children in the care of Children of the Promise are not be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.