{bcs}

i have so many thing to blog about, but, another crazy day preparing for an 'extra' crazy week.

and, i need to return and post more on the following...
*my dad's birthday this past week! i think i miss him a little more every single year. how has he been gone so long? and, what i would give to have one single day with him to meet my boys. tears flood my eyes even to type that. but, you know...i know...that one day would not be enough. so....i'll wait for my someday. :)
*the boys and what they have been up to lately. snippets of sno-cones, popcicles, building the never-ending patio project with daddy - tape measures and all (will fill you in later;), lots of swimming, thus lots of ear infections, summer evenings, summer meals, back to school heartache, etc.
*the thank you's for the outpouring re: our recent family loss. my conversation with my fil last night had me in tears all the way home. heartbreaking.
*fall plans
*unknown vacation plans...will we or won't we??? not one single out of town trip this summer. not even a weekend. ridiculous...

BUT, the point of this post is this....as i was going through mail today that had been pushed aside because 1) it was not a bill or 2) i actually wanted to sit down to really read it....this is what i read.

all of you know how very near and dear to our hearts...bethany christian services is.....it changed our lives in a million ways....

these are excerpts from what we received:

"Dear Friends,

You can always rely on Bethany to honestly share the needs of our ministry with you. We will tell you about opportunites and challenges and will invite you to participate as you are led.

Given today's economy, the financial situation at Bethany is tight. In response, we have cut programs and expenses, and the Lord continues to provide. Although gifts are down comparted to last year, Bethany is financially sound.

What is interesting is that even amid these difficult financial times, the Lord continues to challenge Bethany with the needs of children.

Let me tell you a bit more.

Since the beginning of the year, Bethany has received information about 250 children. Each is an orphan living with pronounced special needs and each needs an adoptive family. I've included three pictures below to give you a better idea of who these children are. [take my word if i could post them here, PRECIOUS!!!]

Honestly, our first reaction was to think, In today's financial situation, finding families who can afford the cost of adoption will be difficult. Neither families who might adopt, nor Bethany, can afford what it will cost to make this possible.

But, then we stopped and remembered that, while governments are making Bethany aware of these children, it is the Lord who is challenging and inviting us to care for them.

Governments around the world send us information about children in need because they know Bethany has succeeded in the past. So, we decided that saying, "No, we can't help these children" would have been a terrible witness.

Instead, we said, "we will do our very best with God's blessing and the help of our friends!"

Join us and participate in the first-ever national day of service, National Serve-A-Thon! Consider joining thousands of other Bethany friends and families from coast to coast on or around August 15 in an unprecendented day of service to help people in your community. You and your family can experience the blessings and lifelong memories of serving others in the name of Jesus Christ."


So..I'm not certain at this time in what capacity specifically our family will be involved with during this campaign - but, we will be involved. We may not have that third child through adoption that we had always hoped for because of the circumstances and life changes related to the accident, but, maybe we can be involved with that in other ways.......

excited!