These sisters need YOU!!!

Name: Dame'a W
Child ID: 8423
State: CO
Birthday: 10/2001
Grade in school: 3
Special Interests:Cheerleading, gymnastics, dancing
Ethnicity: African American/Black
Listed On: 6/2010

Sibling Name: Kevonda W
Child ID: 8424
State: CO
Birthday: 6/2000
Grade in school: 5
Special Interests: Gymnastics, dancing, music
Ethnicity: African American/Black
Listed On: 6/2010

Look at those smiles!!!!! Dame'a and Kevona need a family to open up their hearts and home to give them a forever family - Could that be you?

Contact the Adoption Exchange at: 303-755-4756 for more information. :)

Kevonda and Dame’a will have you turning cartwheels for joy as they dance their way right into your heart! The older of the pair, Kevonda is a great leader/teacher in the making. She excels at gymnastics, and enjoys music and dancing. Kevonda is in fifth grade where she benefits from an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Many activities interest Dame'a; this bright girl is especially fond of gymnastics, cheerleading, and dancing. She is in the third grade and benefits from an IEP. These sisters thrive on structure and benefit from counseling, which may need to continue following placement. Their caseworker prefers a two-parent or single-female family; however, all family types will be considered. Financial assistance may be available for adoption-related services. For Colorado children, both homestudied and non-homestudied Colorado families are encouraged to inquire; only homestudied families from other states should do so. We only accept inquiries on the sibling pair, who will be placed together.

Heart for Orphans in Haiti Opportunity

FRIENDS, FAMILY & ANOYONE WITH A HEART FOR ORPHANS IN HAITI..... come join us for an awesome evet to raise some Money for the Son of God Orphanage in Haiti! They are in need of food and water for 126 orphans. It will be held on Thursday, July 29th 4-9pm at the Island Marine. If you haven't been to the Island yet, you are not gonna want to miss this! It is $25 per person (2 and under free). Dinner will be served. Only 300 tickets to sell so don't miss out!

Check out our facebook page for more pictures!!

CO Brothers need a family!!

These brothers need a forever family. Please pray that they are united with their forever family very soon. Also, pray that they feel God's hand of protection in their lives while they wait. :)

Andrew is in the 5th grade and Chandler is in 2nd grade. Contact the Adoption Exchange for more information at: 303-755-4756

Here is a brief description of Andrew and Chandler:

Meet Andrew and Chandler. These two charming boys will have you playing outside with them in no time! Andrew enjoys listening to music, being outside, playing video games, watching TV, talking to adults and even vacuuming! Move aside weather reporters; learning about the weather is one of this guy's favorite things. Andrew loves attention and gets along well with adults. He is in the fifth grade and is an inquisitive youngster. In addition to his love for the outdoors, Chandler enjoys riding his bike, rough-housing and playing most sports. This organized kiddo is fun-loving, likes to be busy, and prefers having a plan for his day. Chandler is in second grade and is doing well academically. He has a great sense of humor and gets along well with peers and adults at school. Chandler is currently involved in equine therapy and enjoys it. Both boys are in counseling, which will need to continue after placement. They would like to maintain contact with their foster parents. Their caseworker prefers a two-parent family; however, all family types will be considered. Financial assistance may be available for adoption-related services. For Colorado children, both homestudied and non-homestudied Colorado families are encouraged to inquire; only homestudied families from other states should do so. We only accept inquiries on the sibling pair, who will be placed together.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!! :)

Happy Fathers Day to all you Dad's out there!! On those days you don't feel like you have won "The Father of the Year" award - you have in the eyes of your child.

One thing I appreciate about my husband so much is that he is quick to humble himself and apologize to his children or me when he has not responded or reacted as he would have liked. It blesses me too!

A daddy's hugs and words of encouragement are priceless. You are leaving a legacy that will carry into every branch of your family tree.

When I saw the video below it reminded me that God did not call us to be perfect - He called us to be humble - to say I am sorry and to extend the grace and love that He has extended to us.

:)

Respite Care Training

Respite Care Training is coming to Northern Colorado for people who want to help Foster and Adoptive families. Sponsored by: Colorado Post Adoption Resource Center.

When: August 10, 2010 9am - 4pm

Where: Lifebridge Christian Church

10345 Ute Highway

Longmont, CO 80504

You can register online at: www.adoptex.org

email Tanya at: tanya@adoptex.org

or call Tanya at: 303-755-4756

Respite Care is very important in supporting foster and adoptive families. Even a couple hours of respite for a family can be a huge blessing!!! :)

A mom's poem on attachment :)

Summertime can be tough on families with attachment challenges and behaviors. My friend Amy wrote this little poem (Dr. Seuss style) last week. It brought a smile to my face, I thought it might for you too!!

:)

I do not like this kid of mine, I do not like them at this time.

Kicking, hitting, screaming “I hate you!”- oh the awful things this kid will do!

Love them, hug them, help them trust? Some days I think my head will bust.

Stealing, lying, hoarding food….can this kid do any good?

Love them, love them, don’t dare stop! Even when your heart might pop.

Wounded, broken, heart torn in two. Heal their scars? What can we do?

Hugging them ten times a day, will it make it all okay?

Be consistent, stay the course….could things get any worse?

Pray, pray, down on your knees! Beg the Lord to help you please.

I do not like this kid of mine, I do not like them at this time.

But, I will love them, yes I will! I will love them each day still.

I will love them every day, until they know they're here to stay!

Yes I will love them, yes I will! I will love them each and every day...

Until they know our love will never go away!

http://www.justamomofseven.blogspot.com/

Believing God for More

ADOPTION/FOSTER CARE SUPPORT GROUP

June 6, 2010

The Power of a Praying Parent

Keep the details of your child’s life covered in prayer. It is the power of God that penetrates a child’s life when a parent prays. - Stormie Omartian

There’s Joy in Believing – May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing with hope. Romans 15:13

When joy and peace seem to be gone – check your believing – usually it is gone also. - Joyce Meyer

BELIEVING GOD FOR MORE

When we were expecting Hannah, I experienced a complication at 30 weeks that risked both Hannah’s and my life. I was able to carry Hannah for another 6 weeks. I was in and out of the hospital. When I was home, I was on bed rest. During those 6 weeks many tests were ordered and every test came back the same. Our daughter was unresponsive in utero and would be born with many disabilities. It was decided that a team from Children’s Hospital should be at there for her birth and ready to transport her immediately after she was born. During that time I chose to “believe God for more”. While I didn’t argue with what they said, in my heart I chose to “believe God for more”.

Delivery day came sooner than we anticipated and the staff from Children’s was called to attend.Hannah was born with an apgar of 1 and only had an apgar of 4 at 5 minutes. She needed a lot of help the first hour of her life. Praise God for trained medical staff who deligently worked to get her to breathe. After a couple of hours the staff from Children’s Hospital decided that Hannah could stay with me at the hospital. They had stabilized her and she was out of danger.

The next day the High Risk OB that had been caring for me those last 6 weeks stood in my room shaking his head. He said “Every test we did showed that your little girl would be born with multiple disabilities. Medically she shouldn’t be presenting as she is right now”. Only God!

We took Hannah home 4 days later weighing a whooping 4 lbs. She wore preemie and newborn clothes until she was 9 months old. She didn’t walk until she was a year and a half. She was a sick little baby the first 2 years of her life. So when I began telling our pediatrician that Hannah didn’t seem to hear me – he attributed it to her preemie status and said to give her more time. Being the persistent mom that I am I made an appointment with an ENT. He did an examination and then moved behind me and proceeded to drop a heavy book on the floor. It scared me to death and Hannah didn’t even flinch – she didn’t even know. After more tests the ENT told us that Hannah was profoundly deaf in both ears and that we should look into the home down the street from the hospital for kids that are profoundly deaf (this was a live-in home). I said “No Way”. At that moment I chose to “believe God for more”. I chose to believe that God would do a miracle in Hannah’s life. We took Hannah to our pastor at the end of the church service the next week and asked him to anoint her with oil and pray for her. He called the elders to pray with him. The next week during his sermon he stopped right in the middle of his sermon and said “Sister Stewart, you don’t stop praying for Hannah because God is going to heal her”.

Hannah was fitted for hearing aids and began taking speech and sign language. At this time she was 2 years old. We moved to Colorado shortly before Hannah turned 3. She began a pre-school in the district that was especially for kids that were hearing impaired. She learned many skills on how to be successful in the classroom setting. Since Hannah was significantly behind in her speech skills we decided to hold Hannah back 1 year from starting kindergarten. When she entered kindergarten she too made her own choice. She no longer wanted to wear hearing aids and she no longer wanted to sign. She purposefully left her hearing aids at the public library and they were never found again. The cost of a hearing aid is pretty high so you can imagine that Jeff and I were not happy about the sudden loss of her hearing aid and her teacher felt awful.

During this time she was seeing an ENT in Fort Collins and had regained enough hearing in her right ear that she could function without an aid in her left ear. The doctor asked me what I attributed Hannah’s hearing improvement to because this type of hearing loss does not improve on its own. I told him I believe that God was healing her. He just smiled at me!

We were told:

Hannah would not be a good reader, she would never play an instrument, she would struggle in school because of her disability – I chose to “believe God for more”.

Through the years Hannah learned to advocate for herself. She knew exactly where she needed to sit in the class so that she could hear and most of her teachers never knew that Hannah had a hearing impairment. Hannah asked to quit the yearly staffings that were required by the school district when she was in middle school.

God did work a miracle in Hannah’s life. She recently graduated from UNC with high honors and received her teaching degree. She plays the violin beautifully.

This past weekend she married a wonderful young man named Nathan. Hannah asked the pastor if she and her attendants could be on his left side instead of the right so that she didn’t miss anything he said.

“Believing God for More” in Hannah’s life has helped me to believe God for more in all of my children’s lives. Nothing is impossible with Him!! We need to pray and then move forward in ways that help our children. We may not see healing right away. Keep “Believing God for More” even when you can’t physically see it.

Sometimes we don’t know how to pray. For me, sometimes I am so frustrated that I don’t want to pray – that is when I need to pray the most!!! Using a written prayer and the word of God can help me get on the right track. Then I am able to add to that prayer specifics needs that need to be covered. I am often the one who needs an attitude adjustment.

Don’t let any disappointment over unanswered prayer cause you to stop praying. Make a decision to “believe God for More” in your situation even when you don’t see it happening.

Faith is not just something you have. Faith is something you do!!!!

Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. James 2:18

What are you “Believing God for More” in your life?

Adoption/Foster Care Support Group

Is this Sunday June 6th - 5pm at Timberline Church in Room 208.

Our topic is:

The Power of a Praying Parent. Have you ever found yourself in the position of needing to Believe God for More - believing him for more than you see as face value? Maybe one of your children has been given a diagnosis that you want to "Believe God" for more in your child's life and you wonder if it could be possible. It is possible!! God's word says that all things are possible for those who believe in Him (Matthew 19:26).

If you are registered for childcare and will not be able to make it please let me know. If you are not registered for Childcare please do that at:

http://fs8.formsite.com/timberline/Childcareenrollmentform/index.html

Under leaders name put:

Jeff and Kari Stewart

Under Group name put:

Adoption/Foster Care Support Group