My Overthinking

Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption

My Adoption Treasury

I’ve been, oh, just a tad bit busy this week with Mark being a rock star on the other side of the world. But, I haven’t forgotten about Building the Nest this month.

I’ve received some fun packages in the mail this week with a few things I ordered–Ashlyn is super in love with her flip flop ribbon belt from Chesapeake Ribbons and her ponytail holders from Between the Buttons. My cards from Red Letter Ink are here, and I can’t wait to use them for some special families. And, I’m eagerly anticipating a fun package from Red Pajamas which will include that awesome tie for my homeboy Drew-man.

Many of the partners this May have a connection to adoption. And, some of them sell adoption related products or photograph adoptive families in particular. Since many of you reading these words are sorta into adoption too, I thought I’d share some of my favorites I’ve found as I’ve surfed through our partners’ sites.

It may be more closely associated with adoptions from China, but the red thread story is one that touches all adoptive families. Jaye’s Red Thread art at Thirteenth Story is so unique and simply sweet. You can even order notecards that come with bright red envelopes–which would make great adoption announcements or congrats cards. 
(sigh) A beautiful image of family as a little sister arrives home from China captured by Donna Page Photography, one of our photographer partners based out of the Atlanta area.
I guess what I like about this piece from Peace of Mind is that it sort of looks like a stork and just seems perfect for the waiting mommy to where as she endures perhaps a very long paper pregnancy.
Maybe you prefer a more obvious adoption themed accessory from Peace of Mind like this one–“You were born not under my heart but in it.” 
So love this picture and the moment captured in it. Laureen Burke is one of our photographer partners in sunny Florida. And, she’s an adoptive mama herself. 
The first time I saw this at Agape Love Boutique, my heart took pause. It struck me as the perfect gift to give a birth mother. Just perfect. Read more about it here. 
Brother and sister captured by Cydil, a beautiful spirit and sweet friend, really couldn’t be much sweeter. And, she can work that lens like nobody’s business. Near Kentucky? Book her soon before she heads to the mission field in Albania, people. 
If you’ve noticed that I’ve been stalking the images over at Red Letter Ink, here’s some more reasons why. Her African adoption print, her China adoption print, her Korea adoption print, and her miracle print. And, guess what? In honor of her twin brother and his wife who are in the process of bringing home adopted child #3, Aimee is donating 25% of her sales to The Sparrow Fund this month. Sweet.
Can I come over to your house, Karin? She’s the mother of TEN children and still manages to have a successful photography business in MA and do super fun things with her girls like Chinese tea parties in the backyard. I seriously need to be schooled by her.
This is such a neat idea. At Marvielles Jewelry, you can choose your necklace or bracelet and then customize it with charms to tell your story. Each charm can symbolize something significant in your adoption journey. I bet children would love seeing their mama wear this and talking about each charm. And, it would be a great mother-child activity to sit and design it together.

Maybe you saw that I included this book, A Family for Eve,  in my reviews of adoption related children’s books. Since then, I actually got to meet Kristan the author who just exudes a big big heart. Love that. Go check out her book.

Jillian is fundraising for their Russian adoption with t-shirt sales in addition to her jewelry sales at Embody Jewelry. It Takes a Village is so cute. And, for Russian adoptive families, this Russian love shirt is a must have.

(keep your eyes open, Jillian is a contributor on WAGI tomorrow)
Sharla is one experienced mom (she needs just a few more paper dolls on this book cover if it’s gonna look like her family of 9). She wrote this little handy book called Shield: A Framework of Self-Care for Foster and Adoptive Families–60 pages, totally readable, good reminders and hints for families from someone who knows. My favorite quote from it? 

This time will not last forever. Give yourself permission to get through it without doing everything perfectly. Allow yourself grace and give the same to your spouse.

Word. You can download it for only $5.99 from Amazon or download the pdf here for the same price. Sharla is giving 50% of all sales this month to The Sparrow Fund.

Julie from Lifeverse has a great store with images so uniquely her own. Her huge heart for adoption led her to create some pretty special art for adoptive families or people who have a passion for orphan care, and they are selling like hotcakes.

Wouldn’t this be a neat gift? The missing piece from Junk Posse with the words “I found you.” Take it as the words of a mother to her child or of the child to his or her mother. Either way, love the message that we fit together just perfectly and belong together. She’s got loads of adoption related, gotta-get-me-some pieces at her store too. 
Crystal at The Canvas Heart is so talented. Her art and her use of Amheric are perfect for families with children from Ethiopia. Or, you can have her leave off the Amheric–that’s what I’d do with this piece below. I am so attracted to world maps lately (ooo…there’s us! there’s China!). This one with the Scripture verse is going on my “please, pretty please order something like this for me someday!” list.

I’ve got a charm like this with Lydia’s hometown and where we were when we met her. I love mine. Visit Never Too Far to order one for yourself. It’s such a great way to celebrate your family’s story.
My cheerleader and friend Kimmi at Hermia’s Wishes created this printable with The Sparrow Fund in mind. Please check out her store, she’s giving ALL of her profits (yes, 100%) this month to The Sparrow Fund. I kid you not when I tell you that her designs make me want to throw a party just so I can send out some of her invites. I’m particularly partial to the firefly jar one presently–oh, those thank you cards are so stinkin’ cute. 
Now, go shop in peace.

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Day 7: I’m a Peacock

My man.

The one who would tell you he’s quiet and shy, prefers a few rather than many.

I found this in my inbox today from Frank who works with my parents and is our godson’s father.

He sorta stands out in a crowd…just a little bit. 
He taught about 400 college students about success. 
Before he left for China, he got his Power Point slides finished, had me look them over, all his points about what success really means. It was good. And, he emailed me yesterday to say he decided to change it. Rather than his points about kindness, generosity, friendship, he focused on truth and how to be truly successful, you need to seek truth and live it out. 
And, I know he was awesome up there–and my mom confirmed that yes he was.
ooo…that’s our family picture up there…I’m sorta in China.
Mark emailed me –

Really fun night. Everything went really well. . . . They were so quiet and listened to everything. One girl came up front and wrote down every word from the power point and asked me all kinds of questions.

Yeah, he’s pretty much a rock star apparently.

Love you so much and wish you were here to share all this. You would love being with the kids as well. They would love you so much. 

He’s killing me.

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Day 6: Overthinking and a Plea for Alea

I got what seemed like only a few moments this morning to talk to Mark. But, I was so thankful for it. Every little story he shares makes my heart ache for China and makes me long to be there with him.

He told me of one student who didn’t want to share her Chinese name with him. When he asked why, it was because her name is a boy’s name and she’s embarrassed by it. She told Mark her father had wanted a boy not a daughter. She lives day to day embarrassed that her name itself communicates that everyday of her life.

He told me about another girl who sat beside him during “club” where they sing songs and have fun and laugh with the students. She couldn’t see the screen with the words of the song in front of her though she was in the front row. She borrowed a boy’s glasses but still was squinting. Mark watched as she used her phone to take a picture of the screen so that she could hold it up close to her eyes to read it and sing along. Mark asked her why she wasn’t wearing glasses; she said she had some but she was too embarrassed to wear them. She felt ugly and old looking in them. So, she’d rather be nearly blind.

I hear these and other stories from him, and my heart aches to be there and pour into these girls.

I look at the picture emailed to me today.

Mark and our godson Caleb, the first and only child of Frank and Helen. He is clearly so loved. All their parental love poured into him. 
My heart longs to tell him how special he is, how prayed for he is, how he is thought of from across the world.

As I am thinking today about my husband across the world totally out of his comfort zone but thriving and the college student ashamed of her name and what that means about her and the college student willing to live with blinded eyes when clear sight is possible and a baby boy who is learning about love from two very faithful, devoted parents, I find myself also thinking about another little girl only about 2 hours from where Mark is now.

Her name is Alea.

I’ve found emails in my inbox about her recently, emails I confess I’ve wanted to delete–somethings seem too hard to think about. But, I can’t escape. I’ve read blog posts about her and seen her picture online. And, I can’t not think about her especially knowing that right now as I am ending my day and Mark is starting his day teaching, she too is starting her day so close to where he is.

And, she’s sick. Very, very sick.

Unlike Caleb, she is not with parents who consider her the apple of their eyes. She lives at New Day Foster Home with other orphans, all children with medical needs of some kind. Alea, born with hilary atresia, can only live about 10 months at most without a liver transplant. Her precious little body will begin to shut down, and she will die. The New Day staff is doing all they can for her, pouring into her everything they have. But, their resources are so limited. She’s in the hospital in Beijing now. Pre-op is done. They now wait for a liver in a country where organ donation is nearly unheard of. And, they are praying for money. A lot of money. $65,000 in fact. That’s how much Alea’s surgery will cost, and that amount is astronomical for New Day. They’ve raised $7,500 so far, leaving over $55,000 to go.

And, here I am. In front of my Macbook. Overthinking.

Wondering how God will provide for this precious baby. Thankful for those who are working so hard on her behalf, advocating for her. Wondering how the staff there handle living with and caring for children hurting as she is–it has to be only by God’s grace.

Thankful for Caleb and the light he brings to his parents. Wondering what his future will be like. Wondering if he will follow in his parents’ footsteps.

Wondering about the life of those two girls Mark mentioned quickly to me. Wondering about all the other stories, each student of the 500 in that hall where Mark and the team have “club” and give lectures.

Wondering how those stories will change my husband.

Wondering what my daughter’s life would have been like had things been different in some way.

Wondering if we will go back there together again.

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I encourage you to visit the Hope for Alea blog. I know it’s hard; but don’t avoid her story. Consider being a part of the Red Envelope Fundraiser taking place right now to raise the $65,000 needed to pay for Alea’s life-saving liver transplant. And, watch what God does.

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My China Treasury

When we left China in April 2010, we left a piece of our hearts there.

And, we can’t seem to forget that.

So, while Mark is actually in China again–this time to teach and love and serve–I’m finding myself drawn to all things Chinese.

Here are a few of my favorites from a few of the partners of The Sparrow Fund this month.

Adoptive mom and grandmother, the heart behind Junk Posse knows what we mommies need to wear and the hands behind Junk Posse forms it. This necklace says in Chinese “A wish come true.” (sigh)
Donna Page‘s image here stops me in my tracks. If you are in the Atlanta area, you are blessed. Get her to take pictures for you.
Carla Blakenship‘s amazing photo of the Great Wall is officially award winning. So obvious why. Can’t believe Mark will be seeing this again in a few days. If you’re Alabama people, you will be in excellent hands if you let Carla photograph you. 
We have Just Children’s Books, an affiliate of Barefoot Books partnering with us this month. We are huge fans of Barefoot Books, one of our sponsors for our May 5th training event for adoptive families. They have many multicultural titles that we really like. Little Leap Forward is one of them. We have a copy, and I cannot wait to read it myself with my children. It’s a great introduction to learning about China’s Cultural Revolution and tells the story of a young boy growing up in the hutongs of China who learns the heartache of loving and letting go when he captures a bird but finds that the bird cannot sing in confinement. 
As the parent of a little girl who lived in a city along the silk road, we’re big fans of We’re Riding on a Caravan. 
And, The Great Race is a fun fable about the Chinese zodiac animals. And, you know I’m all into Chinese New Year books. 
I had no idea that jade wasn’t always, well, jade green until my parents started working in China. This necklace from Mei Faith Studio made out of Chinese yellow jade is absolutely stunning. I’m finding myself so attracted to this color lately. Go check out her other Chinese jewelry and prints. 
Huh? Don’t think this fits in? My husband just hand delivered one in blue to our Chinese godson. So, to me, it totally belongs here. 
Just got this picture emailed to me. Totally love this tee (and the kid wearing it) from Babee Crafts as well as her other creative designs (gotta check out her baby gifts–so stinkin’ clever). 
And, Jiayin Designs, of course. All Chinese. All purposeful. All the time.
Don’t forget to go shopping–Can you believe May is almost over? Support these businesses as they give 10% of their total sales this month to The Sparrow Fund.

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