A good reminder

We give glory to God by simply being ourselves.

-Brennan Manning

Shopping

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

-Winston Churchill

Tis the season to start shopping.  I am really trying to not even go into stores to buy Christmas gifts for the ones I love this year.  I know I won't be able to totally avoid the Christmas frenzy but I'm going to try.  What can be better than giving to our loved ones and knowing that someone else has benefitted from the gift we bought?  These are some of the websites and opportunities that I have found that not only provide great products but also help others.

Right now there is a great online auction going on at www.achildsvoiceauction.wordpress.com.  Each dollar earned from this auction goes directly to A Child's Voice.  A Child's Voice is an organization in Uganda advocating for vulnerable children and families.  The proceeds from the auction will be used specifically to set up a benevolence/emergency fund for families and children in Uganda and to help start a chicken farm. This chicken farm will be a self sustaining funding source for ACV and will be creating jobs for parents.  So go check out the auction...incredible items to bid on and so many great Christmas presents!





Freeset Global is working every day to help women in slavery break free.  Their bags are listed at   www.freesetglobal.com.  Freeset is located in the most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India.  Within a few miles are 10,000 women who sell their bodies every day.  Many of the women are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India and for some, poverty has left them no choice but to sell their bodies.  Freeset is working to change the lives of these women stuck in slavery.  They are providing these women with jobs making bags.  I love their tag line...In Business for Freedom.  I bought one of these bags and I cannot wait for it to come.  Please join me and go buy a bag or a couple! 

There is a brand new shop that has just launched.  It is called She Does Justice.  I love it.  You can go here and check it out www.shedoesjustice.com.  Megan has beautiful scarves, headbands, prints and bracelets. All proceeds from the sales each month go to an organization that is working to help others. 

Another great bag company is working with folks in Clarkston, Georgia and it is called Plywood People.  You can check them out at www.plywoodpeople.com. They work with a large refugee population from Burma and hire them to make bags, wallets, tshirts, sketchbooks and laptop and iPad sleeves.  This organization is unbelievable.  They use the billboards that the advertisting companies throw away, use them to create jobs for the refugees and create the coolest bags. What an incredible mission to a huge community of people that can easily be overlooked and forgotten.   



If you live in Charlotte then come to the 5th annual Cookies for Kids' Cancer bake sale.  It will be on December 8th and 9th at Park Road Shopping Center in front of Blackhawk Hardware.  I got the best baked goods and cookie mixes last year, plus all the proceeds benefit cancer research for kids.  You can check out the national website here.  I will be working the sale this year. I hope to see you there!

Happy Shopping

Love

Tracy







Jonathan

It's been three weeks since we landed in the U.S.  Our family is doing well and taking one day at a time.  Some days I feel like I have it all under control other days it is just a mess, but it is a good mess! Jonathan has the biggest smile and a laugh that is contagious!  But despite the joy in this little boy, everyday I see the evidence of the trauma he has experienced in his short life and I am reminded that this is not the way God intended it to be. As a dear  friend  (who has also adopted) wrote to me this week...what a conflict that for us to experience such joy, he had to experience such loss.  I am thankful that God is the one who is doing the healing and that we are just his vessels!

Every week has been a week of firsts and this one was no different.  Jonathan got to experience his first college football game.  We went to the Arkansas/South Carolina game.  He had a great time and  is becoming a pro at calling the Hogs.

This week he went to his first doctor's appointment.  I knew after our Visa medical check up in Uganda that going to the doctor would be tough. It was.  It took Jason and I and two nurses to hold him down while he got his shots.  Poor boy!  The good news is we won't have to do that for another two months.  We also completed our first social worker visit this week.  We are required to do three visits with our social worker during the first six months of being home.  The adoption paperwork and requirements don't stop when they are home! :)

Have a great weekend!
Love
Tracy







Happy Thursday!

Jonathan and I  have been home from Uganda for about two weeks.  The last two weeks have been a blur and we are still in a fog but life is good!  We are so blessed to get to be Jonathan's family.  The mamas at Jonathan's orphanage taught them many songs.  J has two favorite ones that he sings every day.  His very favorite is Baby Jesus! I wanted to share our sweet boy singing it...it doesn't get any better than this!  Happy Thursday!

Love

Tracy