It takes a village

Our sweet friends celebrated their daughter jaymi's birthday today with a carnival party to celebrate her birthday and benefit baby brother. 

They suggested that people make donations to baby brother in lieu of gifts for Jaymi and we were so humbled by it all. 

Jaymi stole my heart when we found Mia's picture on Reeces rainbow and I prayed she would find a family, 

what a blessing it was that her family was here near us and would become some of our best friends . 

Jaymi and Mia have always had a sweet connection as mias story led jaymi's parents to find her

And Bree and jaymi look like twins ! 

As I put our crazy running around and packing on hold today to be a part of this wonderful event I was overcome with gratitude and love thinking of the many, many , many people who have been part of this journey , and who have done so much to help this one little boy know what love is. 

Raising the funds for adoption is one of the scariest and hardest parts , 

But it is also one of the most sacred, touching, and life changing aspects of the adoption journey.

Not a day goes by that I don't feel deep gratitude for the village that has blessed us as we have embarked on this road to Noah . 

We have known from the beginning that the Lords hand was directing the path to this special child of his and every step of the way we are reminded of that .

Each donation , each act of service, each prayer for our boy, each share of our story, each kind word of encouragement, feels like our Heavenly Father's arms are being wrapped around us assuring us this path is his and I am sure they are also being wrapped around our boy as he waits. 

He has no idea the village that has surrounded him already! 

He has no idea that people of all ages are filling up baby bottles with spare change for him ,

Or that profits from jewlery and book sales are going to him, 

Or that a news story would touch a man to have his daughter find our blog and donate.  And the generous donation amount would be the exact amount his parents had needed for their flights they would book the very next day. 

Or that a man would contact his soon to be momma saying " I started a blog called That Dad Blog to help raise awareness for Down Syndrome and to share about the joys of having a large family. Last year I started a calendar project called Wil Can Fly about my son Wil who has Down Syndrome. Im not sure if you’ve heard of it but it basically celebrates that kids with special needs can do anything they set their minds to as long as we don’t place limits on them.

We have been selling these calendars for a few months now and are donating half the proceeds to a couple of DS foundations one of which you are working with, Reeeces Rainbows. After reviewing many families on Reeces Rainbows we feel strongly about choosing your family as the recipient of that donation. "

And that generous donation amount would also be the exact amount that was needed at that very time .

Or that his parents would receive letters, messages and comments from so many individuals, families , and even a charitable foundation all giving and supporting an orphan boy and his soon to be family . 

He has no idea that friends have held babysitting events for him, are gathering for a yard sale to benefit him, his dad's co workers are rallying around him and youth are making blankets for his orphanage , 

He has no idea that for the past few months people have not stopped rallying for him , 

But that's about to change 

Because soon he WILL know ...

Soon he will KNOW that his prayers have been answered through the efforts of so many people. 

"If you question whether miracles still happen , try falling in love with an orphan"

 The miracles keep coming for baby brother and having front row seats is an honor and a blessing.