So blessed

The turkey has been eaten and I got my fill of stuffing and sweet potatoes.  We celebrated this day of blessings with family.

While our entire M6 isn't together just yet, I have pictures of ALL FOUR of my kids taken on Thanksgiving Day!  Three here in the beautiful NC mountains where we celebrated the holiday with extended family, taken with my camera, and one taken across the sea.  Sure made me smile to see that my youngest shares a love of sweet potatoes with his sisters and me...

And as I think about my youngest, I'm reminded of how grateful I am that he was given a second chance at life.  He was in serious condition and his orphanage reached out for help.  He was flown across his country to have the heart surgery he desperately needed.  It was the generous donors to his foster home's emergency fund that allowed his surgery to be performed by skilled doctors in a top hospital.  Then it was the tender care in the foster home that brought him back to health.

Anyone who knows me knows that while I'm here in the states physically, I left a good sized piece of my heart in the country of my children's birth.  For some time Ian and I prayed that I would find a way to use my spare time to do something to make a difference, no matter how small, in the lives of the children left behind.  Just before Daniel entered our lives, that wish was realized.  I enjoy blogging, and through a connection I've recently made in the international adoption community, I was invited to volunteer with a wonderful foster home in southwest China.

An Orphan's Wish is a relatively new organization, founded in February 2008.  Children are provided medical attention, therapy, education, and plenty of tender loving care.  Because it is run by volunteers, 98% of all donations goes directly to the children!  In the short time that I've been volunteering, (perhaps why things have been more quiet overall than usual here as I learn the ropes and 'get to know' the kids at AOW)  I've seen several kids go from frightened, untrusting, timid souls to confident, trusting, bold children.  There has also been a miraculous recovery of one very fragile beautiful baby girl, appropriately named Hope.

In this time that we sit back and celebrate our blessings, I am certainly thankful that the emergency medical fund at Daniel's foster home was fully funded when he needed it most.  And now I plan to pay it forward and help restock the medical fund at An Orphan's Wish.  While you are considering Christmas gifts for those in your life that have everything, would you consider giving a gift in their honor that may mean EVERYTHING to a child?

click on the picture above to go to the donation page