How Many Aggies Does It Take?

UPDATE:  THE WINNER IS TRACI SAMFORD!  THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU HELPING TO GET THE WORD OUT!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this post.  I'm excited on so many levels.

1.  Because I love people who step outside the boundaries of comfort to relieve the burdens of others.
2.  Because I have an obvious heart for orphans and the people who help them.
3.  Because I have gotten to watch this couple's story unfold in real time.  And it's awesome.

A little background.  I met Matt Hemberger a LOT of years ago at a church where he was serving as an intern.  During that time, he talked about a girl he'd met that he was pretty sure was "the one."  I remember thinking, "Oh Matt."  But sure enough she was "the one" and they not only married, but have since had a baby and gone on to do some incredible things in the world.

A few months ago, I started noticing this organization, Ags for Orphans, on all my friends' walls on Facebook.  Then I saw a picture of Matt with a sweet little Haitian boy, and something about Ags for Orphans.  Really, I didn't give it much thought, just thought Matt must have taken a mission trip to Haiti or something.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that Matt Hemberger and his wife, Meghann, were not only the Executive Directors of Ags for Orphans but that they were the FOUNDERS.  Seriously, have I mentioned that I love it when people step beyond the boundaries of comfort to relieve the burdens of others?  This is a young couple.  And even though I'm not all up in their personal business, I know this.  They are young.  They have a baby.  They have a mortgage and cars and jobs and the stress that comes from all of that.  Managing that alone would be enough.  But it wasn't enough for them.

Because there are orphans in this world. ORPHANS.  

I asked Matt why they started Ags for Orphans (which he totally downplays the part where they are the FOUNDERS) and he said, "We started it out of a simple desire to adhere to God's call to care for the orphan - and make a lasting impact on the world we live in. "

Yeah, they started an organization that is BLOWING UP (for my older friends, that means getting big in a hurry) because they, you know, just had a simple desire to adhere to God's call to care for the orphan.  That blows my mind.  I'm sorry.  It does.  Heck, they could have just gone on a mission trip.  But NO.  They founded an organization, leveraging the strength and the passion of the Texas Aggies, and are partnering with Coreluv International.

Did I mention how EXCITED I was about today's post? 

There is plenty, plenty, plenty of information about Ags for Orphans on their website.  You know you're going to be on the Internet clicking around for awhile, so instead of wasting hours deciding what to pin next, click on over to their site and read about what they are doing.

But before you do that, I want you to read about a few simple things that you can do to help.  (Keep in mind that "simple" to Matt and Meghann was to start an entire organization . . . this is way simpler than that!)

• Go to their facebook page and like it.  (For real.  You probably "liked" Grumpy Cat.  This is way better!)   Do this right now.  But come back.            I'll wait . . .

           Awesome.  Welcome back.  And thanks.

• Go get you some gear!
• Donate.  $1, $10, $10,000  Whatever you have that you want to give.  But give something.
• Go on a trip!  There are three or four to choose from.
• Check out their site for all the really great ways you can get involved.

And lastly, just to really entice you to get on board with something that is totally awesome, I'm giving away one of these.  (Yes, there's a catch.  Deal with it.)

 

Here's what you have to do to enter:

• First off, pin this.  If you aren't on pinterest, I forgive you.  But get someone else to pin this to their board.

• Secondly, go to facebook and "like" their page.  I told you to do that already, but some of you were so anxious to keep reading my incredibly well written post that you skipped that little step earlier.  I forgive you.  But do it now.  (I'm incredibly forgiving today).

• Thirdly, Tweet something about Ags for Oprhans and use the hashtag #AgsforOrphans  If you aren't on Twitter, I forgive you.  But ask someone you know who is on Twitter to tweet this for you.

• And finally, comment on this blog and let me know that you did all of these things.  And just because I'm being so incredibly nice today, I will give you an entry for EACH of these things that you do. But you HAVE to comment or you won't be entered!

All that to say, how many Aggies does it take to help an orphan?  One more.

Now go on.  Help an orphan.  Even if you're not an Aggie. 
(And don't forget to comment!)

Day 70: What Really Matters

It's quiet in this little space I have carved out to be my home office.  Quiet is a rare commodity in our home these days.

I have one little twin off at Preschool, and her sister is in her room, finally sleeping after an excruciating 5 days of mouth pain.           


Babies should not have to endure that kind of pain, especially babies who have already endured so much.  (I guess technically  she's not a baby; she's a great big 4 year old, but she's our baby.)

Funny, just writing that out.  She's our baby.  Ours.

Some days, when I'm bogged down in the tornado of chaos that threatens to overtake my mind, I am reminded of the storm we lived in for over two years, and the beauty on the other side of that storm.

The adoption process is incredibly, incredibly hard.  And while our process was probably atypical in its origins, I doubt that the overall process was that different from most.

There were days when we lived with the threat that at any day their birth mom could come and take them away from us.  There were days when we were overwhelmed with paperwork and legal ease and court proceedings gone wrong. 

There were days when we wondered if we were doing the right thing, were the right parents, were too old, too set in our ways.  Would we have enough energy, enough time, enough love?

There were many long days and nights and weeks and months of trying to solve the psychological distress of our girls.

So many unanswered questions.  Truth is, there are still so many unanswered questions.

But the one thing that mattered all along . . . the one thing that matters today . . .

We were called to be their parents.  God created us for them.  Our hearts and lives are so deeply knit together that you would never know they were not born into our family. They are indeed, ours, in every conceivable way. 

It's easy to think these things when it's quiet.  And easy to forget them when life gets crazy. 

All that to say, a little quiet is good for the soul.  It helps you remember what's important.  It helps you remember what matters.  And what doesn't.

Photograph Courtesy of Chip Gillespie Photography
www.chipgillespie.com

Day 47: Celebrating

I will confess, I am not very politically savvy. I'm that girl, the one that Jay Leno would make fun of in his "man on the street" interviews. For example, I was in the doctor's office the other day reading an article about Hilary Clinton. In the article, they kept referring to her as Secretary Clinton. "Secretary Clinton?", I thought. Why do they keep calling her that?

Yes. I'm THAT out of touch! I remember her being offered the position, but I don't remember her accepting it. I remember her turning it down.

It's not that I don't care about political things, or world events. I guess I just pay attention to a different set of things. Some people are zealous about global warming, some about rescuing sex slaves, some about having clean water in the world, and some pay attention to political and world events.

They are all important.

Anyway, I find that I am somewhat unsure of how to respond to Osama Bin Laden's death. Perhaps I just do not understand the political ramifications of it.

I find it easy to believe there is justice in his death, but I find it difficult to celebrate his actual death. What set me on this path of thinking is that I called a family member this morning and when I asked her what she was doing, she said quite jubilantly, "I'm drinking coffee and celebrating Osama's death."

I've had many friends tell me that if I had lost someone in 911 I might not find it difficult to celebrate his death. But I just don't know.

All that to say, I think my struggle is in celebrating that someone, really ANYONE, would be spending eternity in hell. I just cannot find it in me to celebrate that.