The Darya Project and a Wish

So, I heard such an amazing story the other day about a little girl who is eleven years old and fell in love with this sweet little face:
Isn't she a doll baby? This is Darya. She's an orphan in Eastern Europe. Can you believe that once she turns four years old, she was going to be put into an institution and left to die? As it is, nobody picked her up or gave her attention. The reason? She has Down Syndrome. That's it. That's the only reason. Once children age out of their baby homes in these Eastern European countries, they're sent to institutions and forgotten. Most die within a few years. How horrible!

Back to Darya's story. Eleven year old Lydia fell in love with her. She already has two siblings with DS. She asked her mom that if she could raise $20,000 dollars--the cost for an international adoption-- (yes, twenty THOUSAND) in EIGHT days, if they would adopt her. Her mother agreed to it, thinking it would be impossible and if she raised the money, it would be obvious that it was what God wanted. Not only did Lydia raise $20,000 dollars, but she raised another $6,000+ by Thanksgiving morning. Now the extra money is going to fund another adoption for another family. Wow!!! :)

You can read the whole story HERE at Reece's Rainbow Blog. I can't get enough of this. God's pretty amazing. I've also been following Renee's blog as they've been trying to bring little Kellsey from Eastern Europe. She's almost home! :)

Which brings me to something that I want to share with you all... I know family reads this. I have felt that I've been called to adopt since I was very young. And I feel that I should adopt from RR. I'm not sure if I'll adopt a child with DS... other children with other special needs are on Reece's Rainbow. There are blind children, children with HIV, children with CP, children with missing limbs, Little People, etc. I'm not sure where God will lead me, but it's pretty exciting. As it stands, we cannot adopt. We are far below the required income, but since we're both in college and working hard, that time will come eventually. And when eventually comes, I hope to bring another little face into our family through a Paper Pregnancy.

Pictures: Anna & Family

My sister's kids. The oldest boy is Tell. He's autistic and didn't like the attention from the photographer and the lights. Poor kid. He's going to be 14 in January! That makes me feel old! The next oldest boy is Cade. He's a bit of a monster, but I love him like you wouldn't believe. :)
Alayna is a love bug. She has attitude issues, but I always want to kidnap her and keep her as my own lol. Anna loves her and asks for her constantly when we're in Oregon.
Case is the youngest boy. He's a sweetheart and a cuddlebug. We cuddled for a while when we visited them yesterday. :)

Anna a few days after her 3rd Birthday! She's my dollbaby... my Shirley Temple! :)