Silas' "Crazy Love" adventure!

The following post was written by Silas, our eldest, who has a love for painting/drawing and a heart for orphans. Please read his post and pray about being a part of his "Crazy Love" adventure....

"Hello. I'm Silas Snead. I'm 8 years old. I have decided to raise money for the orphan village my church is building in Haiti. I will be selling notecards made from pictures I have painted. This is one way that I can use my talents for God, even though I'm just a kid. I have been to the orphanage where my brother and sister used to live in Rwanda. I wished I could do more, and now I can.

Here's what God says we should do: 'Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphans.' (Isaiah 1:17) All the money I make will go to help the orphans in Haiti, and to help me be able to go there with my dad this spring to help as well. The money will help them have a school to go to, food to eat, a home to live in, and to learn about Jesus. By buying my cards, you will be able to help these kids too.

Please cklick on the "buy now" button to the right to purchase with a credit card, or email my mom at shellys1216@yahoo.com if you would like to order by check.

Also, your prayers can be powerful and effective, so please keep not only this endeavor in your prayers, but the orphan village as well, as the cholera has finally reached Jeremie. Two of our orphans there have died, and 8 others are sick. We are sending out an emergency medical team this week to help. Having the clinic there has already been a huge blessing! Thanks again!

"Gotcha Day" one year anniversary!

What a fun day! "Gotcha Day" is the adoption word for the day we "got" our two newest family members, Savanna and Samuel. Today was the one year anniversary of that day and we set out to make it special and memorable!

We began our day by wearing matching shirts that proudly displayed the Rwandan flag...

Though we "stuck out" at church, we were also congratulated by so many in our church who love, support and participate in adoption. Then we came home for lunch and enjoyed Africa-shaped cookies.....with a "heart" right on Rwanda (or close to it, anyway! Its a pretty small country!)

We had a relaxing afternoon preparing a Rwandan meal (Rwandan Beef Stew, prepared by Art and the boys, and Rwandan Honey Bread prepared by Shelly - Savanna slept through most of this...hence the "relaxing afternoon"! ) Then we played some games and read books and began dinner! The only thing we regret is not having Orange Fanta bottles, which is what the kids drank with every meal while in Rwanda! ...on the list for next year...

Finally, we watched videos of our first meeting with Savanna and Samuel, and some of our time in Africa. We also enjoyed a FABULOUS slide show put together by one of the other moms who adopted from Rwanda when we did. It was great to see how everyone's Rwandan babies have grown so much over the last year in so many ways!

This has been such a whirlwind of a year, and it was so good to slow down today and take a look at all the progress that has been made, the bonds that have formed between parent and child as well as between siblings, and the positive changes that have occurred due to time, growth and God's amazing faithfulness. We look forward to this new year with great expectations and anticipation over what God will do next in our family to draw us closer together and make us more like Jesus. If you have the time, sit back and enjoy the following slide show of our first gotcha day, today's celebration, and some favorite photos of the last year! Thanks for all your prayers and support!