Need ideas for Christmas-maybe this will help...

Top Ten Toys and Games 2014 – 2015

This girl...

Was born on an unknown date, in a house that no longer exists

 somewhere in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...

Was sent to an orphanage around the age of 6 or 7,

 along with her younger sister and brother, when her mother died...

This girl was sad...

                      This girl was afraid...

Became their constant guardian and protector, comforter and "mother"...

was separated from her baby brother because,

'it is too hard to find families willing to adopt more than two children at a time.' ...

This girl was broken...

                             This girl was loving....

                                                                               This girl was courageous...

Was adopted and brought to America when she was almost 9 years old...

did what she had always done...

 faced the challenge with all the courage she could muster!...

 threw herself into every struggle with the will to win...

and determined to find the good...

even when the pain came in floods and  threatened to drag her under...

This girl was hurting...

                             This girl was confused...

But she pressed on...

Never willing to let the pain that the past created,

 become the only future she would know...

This girl was determined...

                                   This girl was forgiving...

This girl is amazing...

                  This girl is strong...

                                                                This girl is wise beyond her years...

This girl is a woman I am so proud to know...

This girl is our daughter!

Not Our Problem?

The most recent government statistics give us the hard truth that we are not making progress... or if we are, it is not nearly good enough, fast enough, or thorough enough!
When you look at these numbers, can you take a minute and soak them in?
Can you put a face on each one, or better yet, a name?
Do you see that these are neighbors, cousins, sisters, brothers...ours?
We like to say that it is not our problem, that someone else was irresponsible and failed.  Made bad choices and fell, taking their children down in their own destruction.  But the hard truth is, that we are failing.  Society is failing them, and if we consider ourselves one of the human race, we must take responsibility for our part.  If we have a part, what are we doing with it?
Its true that we can't fix it all.  But can we do more than place blame?  More than turn away?  More than nothing?  Maybe just one small thing?
Here, I will help you do one small thing...

Watch the video, ReMoved

And then,

If you are really courageous, post it to your site, or facebook with the same challenge.

or...

look away.


Here are the numbers---

There are currently 402,378 children in foster care!

                                                  31,498 of them have been in for 5 years or more!

101,840 are waiting to be adopted!

Almost, 20,000 age out of the system every year-that means they are booted out at age 18 with no where to go!  Of these, 40% had been homeless, 60% of the men had been convicted of a crime, only 25% got a diploma, and 50% were involved in illegal substance abuse.

Still don't think this is our problem?

ReMoved