The Forgotten Initiative (TFI), foster care ministry of Lifesong for Orphans, is bringing joy and purpose to the foster care community by LEARNING the needs, SHARING the needs and EQUIPPING the local church to meet those needs. 

Check out what TFI is doing to serve the foster care community...

PROJECT SUNSHINE: FOSTER HOME EDITION

Project Sunshine: Foster Home Edition is a fundraiser & service project all in one!
After foster children are removed from their homes, they often wait for hours in agency rooms. These same rooms are also used for weekly visitation between the birth parents and their children while they are in care. Project Sunshine was birthed out of a desire to create friendly spaces for kids during this dark time in their lives.

Project Sunshine: Foster Home Edition simply takes the Project Sunshine concept and applies it to a foster parent's home and at the same time raises funds for The Forgotten Initiative!
Check out this video to meet the families we are serving this year in Peoria, IL on May 17-18 and click here to see how YOU can play a part in serving the foster care community!

How can YOU help Project Sunshine: Foster Home Edition?

Volunteer
Participate "in-spirit"
DonateLearn more about Project Sunshine: Foster Home Edition>>

WHAT WE DO...

Watch our new vision video to get a better idea of how The Forgotten Initiative, as a whole, seeks to minister to the local foster care community by bridging the gap through Forgotten Advocates. 

Learn more about Forgotten Advocates & how you can help >>

UPCOMING FOSTER CARE MENTORSHIP TRAININGS

Mentors Needed: Step into the lives of children of vulnerable adults affected by foster care through relationship building, tutoring, job/life skills training, etc.

Register for the next Mentor Training>>

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
6 - 9 PM
Richwoods Christian Church, Peoria, IL

Read more from The Forgotten Initiative... 

Project Sunshine: Foster Care Edition 2012 - "My home looks so beautiful. The impact of being gone and coming home to see this is almost unbelievable. I just don't know how to say thank you enough." Watch the Video

American Orphans - "Only a life contemplating the love of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ. And love always moves. Loving first and foremost Christ. And loving others." Read Full Story

Perspective from Foster Care Caseworker - A caseworker's job is heart-breaking, challenging, and can be extremely overwhelming.  Read as Jenna shares her heart with us! Read Full Story

Impact of Journey Bags - "Last night at midnight three precious little beauties showed up on my doorstep. They each had with them a blanket, a stuffed animal, and a book bag, their Journey Bags of course..." Read Full Story

Medical Update On Maya

We had a phone call today with Dr. Jennifer Chambers with the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. It was so good to talk with a professional that could really decipher everything we were reading in these two pages of Bulgarian-translated-into-English-and-hope-its-right blabber. Here's what we've found out . . . Her heart condition is a little more complicated than we first thought. I had a gut feeling about this when we were in Bulgaria after talking with a pediatrician there. However, more complicated doesn't mean less manageable. Her condition has improved greatly over the past couple of years, since she had surgery to correct her Tetralogy of Fallot. You can read the specifics on this if you'll follow this link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tetralogy-of-fallot/DS00615/DSECTION=causes.

  As of now, the general plan once we get her home is to meet first with a pediatric cardiologist at UAB. We intend to use Dr. Colvin because of our pleasant experience with him when he saw me during my pregnancy with the twins. He'll perform an ultrasound on her heart, and she'll also undergo a heart catheterization so that he can see exactly how her heart functions. That will determine what kind of treatment she'll require from that point on. She's currently taking two medications for her heart, and Dr. Chambers is encouraging us to be pretty insistent with the orphanage about being able to take away a month's worth of medicine when we leave the country. This is because of the variances in dosages when converting from European medicine to American medicine. Once we get her home and know better what we're looking at, we can then make the necessary adjustments in dealing with medications for her.

  Because I'm such a 'big picture' person, I asked the question that I wasn't sure about asking. But, I wanted to know. I asked Dr. Chambers what effect this would have on her life expectancy. As of right now, with what information she has, she doesn't expect a drastic change in how long Maya should typically live. However, we won't know anything for sure until this ultrasound and heart cath is done. That will tell us so much that we're not sure about right now. She did say she would expect that, at some point, Maya will probably have to have her pulmonary valve replaced, but no other specifics are going to be know until we begin her treatment.

Most other things we talked about dealt with her development. Straight up? She's underdeveloped. She's mentally and physically at the point of a 9-month-old. That doesn't scare me, though. Once we get her home, I have no doubt that things will begin to change for the better very quickly. The scariest part to me was what to feed her, especially while we're in country. Because she's never had solid food, Dr. Chambers suggested keeping her on whatever disgusting stuff she guzzles down with that bottle. Or maybe even taking American formula with us, thickening it with a bland rice cereal. Yes. Remember my post about the non-identifiable nastiness from that bottle? Once we're home, we'll hit the feeding issue pretty hard so we can begin to get good nutrition in her little body.

If you saw my Facebook post earlier this week, you know that we're excited about where things are in the process right now. We know that things could slow down at any given time, but we're very encouraged and pleased with the speed of things. God has given us sweet patience in knowing that his timing is perfect in all things. Continue sending prayers for Maya, that she stays healthy, safe, and strong until its her turn to feel the arms of her mama and daddy again.

Love,

Paige

In The Throes Of Waiting

Not a whole lot going on to speak of. Since we returned from Bulgaria, we've gone back to our everyday this's-and-that's, and we're talking occasionally with our people in the adoption world. We received our i800 approval this past weekend. That was the first step of a few that need to be taken in order to travel back to Bulgaria and bring our girl home. From here, we wait. I have learned to
 wait . . . and wait, and wait. However, I have to say that I'm actually surprised in how quickly this process has moved for us. We started this whole shindig last August and here it is being April. So, in eight months, we've gone through what I THINK will be the most time-consuming parts of this. Not only that, but we made our first trip almost a month ago. I fully expect to have this over and done with (meaning she will be HERE) by August of this year. Crazy. I really can't complain about anything. Our social workers with Lifeline have been super-duper about handling all of our questions (and there have been many) and they've really worked to get this thing going, too. Just love them.

Today I've been working on some paperwork for her appointment she'll have with the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. The doctors there are specialized with adopted children coming from other countries, and they know what things to look for in aiding with diagnosing and treating common issues that these children have. We're getting ready to send them our file that has all of Maya's medical information, along with some of the pictures and videos we collected while we were there. Another benefit is that when we travel back, they'll provide prescriptions for whatever medications she is currently taking for us to take with us, along with a 24-hour number we can call directly with any questions or concerns about her health we have while we're there. We weren't sure that we were going to utilize the referral services, which is what I just explained, but I think we'll feel much better about doing so once we're there. That way, if something happens that we're not sure about, we have somebody looking out for us that will be just a phone call away.

 The next thing we wait for is our court date. That's really the only big thing scheduled to happen next. She comes home when court is over. We're really, really, REALLY hoping this will happen sometime in May. It may be a teensy optimistic, but none of the professionals we've spoken with seem to think there's any reason for delay, despite the government troubles they're having right now. I could go into the explanation, but . . . it's really kinda boring. If we can get court in May, we're pretty sure we can get her in June. Which would be FANTABULOUS, because she could start RISE in August. That is, if there's a space for her, and we're praying hard that there will be a space. She needs that school and the therapies they could offer her tremendously. Pray for that.

The other kiddos are hanging in there. The boys are counting down the days until we're done with school. We don't have just a whole lot left, because we usually kick it into high gear when the county schools are out. We push through with our tunnel-vision on the prize that May brings of summer vacation. Ryan goes to his first formal this Friday night. He'll be all dressed up, and might even cut a little rug at the par-tay. When did my firstborn get this old?

So, that's it. I just felt that my blog had been a little lonely, so I figured I could type a few words in here to make it feel loved and wanted again :). Take care, peeps, and enjoy SPRING!

Love,

Paige

See this from Lifesong:

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" Matthew 25:40

One Child. One Life. One Soul.
An ongoing theme of our ministry is the power of ONE. Not to ignore the often overwhelming 147 million orphan statistic, but to focus on making an impact on ONE child. As Andy Stanley says, "Do for ONE what you wish you could do for every one. And when do you for ONE, you often end up doing for far more than just one." 
Please enjoy these ONE child stories...

IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS // Lifesong Zambia

In Zambia, like many parts of the world, witchcraft is very prevelant. At Lifesong School in Zambia, we teach the children that God is more powerful than witchcraft and the witchdoctors that practice it. They can have power through Jesus Christ to fight off evil, through HIS NAME! Listen in as Paul shares the experience that he and his friends had with a local witchdoctor...

Pray that God will continue to show himself to Paul and use this experience to build his trust and faith in our Father God.
Learn more about Lifesong Zambia >>

GROWING THE NEXT GENERATION // Lifesong Liberia

Thomas grew up on the streets without any parents to care, protect or provide for him. A missionary brought Thomas to Lifesong's Master's Home of Champions, knowing he would be cared for. Listen in as Thomas shares his heart for the people of Liberia and the role he sees for himself to bring Christ's name known!

Pray that Thomas will continue to grow in His relationship with Jesus Christ and with boldness, share the gospel to others. Learn more about Lifesong Liberia >>

Read more ONE child stories...

Katie Rescued from Orphanage -- Katie, born with down syndrome, was 9 years old and weighed only 10 pounds when Joe & Susanna traveled to adopt her. Read Full Story

Natasha Breaks the Cycle -- "I was looking for someone to understand me, to love sincerely...I received all this!" Read Full Story

"I am your mommy!" -- Beautiful account from one of our Lifesong Adoptive families, sharing their first moment they met their son Cohen from Congo. Read full story

Back To Normal

We've been home for almost three days now, and I'll tell ya . . . it feels good.  It was a teary reunion at the airport between us and our family, and we've settled back into routines.  It feels good.

Ryan, Gavin and myself headed back to Birmingham today to do a radio interview with John Walden at Revocation Radio.  Ryan has become a regular listener and he's been pretty interactive with the guys that run the show in the mornings.  A few weeks ago, he mentioned to them that we were adopting from overseas and they gave him an invitation to come to the studio and talk about where we were in the process and provide some advocacy for adoption in general.  It was a neat experience for him . . .

 

Unfortunately for me, I was warned immediately as I walked into the studio that I would have a mic, too, in case of emergency.  Ryan did a really good job, but there were definitely times that he needed a back-up.  I ended up talking a little more than I probably would've liked, but all in all, I think we got our point of the importance of adoption across.  Ryan said he was both nervous and excited about being heard all over the airways, but in the end I think he enjoyed himself.  If you'd like to hear the interview, you can shoot me an email at paigestewart0120@hotmail.com and I'll send you the audio.  I'd put them on here, but I don't know how, and Craig isn't here to flex his technology muscles.

 

We're in the process of filling out more paperwork for Maya's arrival home.  Here's our next big prayer request for you:  we think we need a court date by May 15th for her to be able to come home by (hopefully) June.  The government in her country is going through some 'stuff' right now, and they're holding new elections on that date.  So . . . pray that things go through and we get something before then.  If we don't, there's a possibility that we could experience some delays.  WE DON'T WANT DELAYS.  We just want to get her home yesterday (did I say that?), so we want things to go through as quickly as possible.

 

So there ya go.  A quick little update, but that's all I've got.  Just remember to pray for our girl!

 

Love,

 

Paige

 

 

 

Heavy-Hearted and Homesick

I'm writing tonight with the feeling I knew would eventually arrive.  Its here, and its coming a little stronger with every passing hour. 

I want to come home.  I want to hug my kids, give my parents a monster hug for the help they've been in caring for them while we've been gone, I want to drive my own car, and I want to blow the doors of Taco Casa clean off their hinges.  What I wouldn't give for a hot tacoburger right now . . .

However, you know exactly what's coming.  I don't want to leave my daughter here. I want to somehow sneak her into my suitcase until we get past all of the official people at the airports,  and bring her home to a warm bath and lots of Baby Magic lotion and hairbows.  I want to bring her home to a big village of people that love her, and I want to rock her to sleep at night while she sucks her little thumb.

I told Craig a few hours ago that he was on emotional alert.  That means that at any given moment I could burst into tears for any or all of the reasons listed above.  We don't have to make a big deal over it when it happens, but its coming, and I think tomorrow, especially, is going to hurt.

When the staff handed her over today, her clothes were leaking from her own waste in her diaper.  I'm hoping that they just didn't notice.  I'm hoping that this isn't a common occurrence.  I wanted to give her a bath right then, but they wouldn't let me.  I'm hoping that she doesn't lay there for hours, sometimes, covered in stuff that makes her skin hurt.  I'm hoping that God will pour his mercy over her for the next few months until we can return for her.  I'm hoping . . .

Tomorrow completes our stay in Bulgaria.  I'm so ready to see all of those that I love and cherish so much, and I'm ready to look into the eyes of our church members, our family, and our friends that have loved on us so and tell you all how worth it your support, in every way, has been.  Maya saw Jesus this week, and for that, we're thankful.  I pray that in the time she's left behind, she'll continue to see and feel him in a way that only a precious child can do.

I love you, my baby girl . . .

Fun Post :)

After yesterday's heavy, maybe even 'TMI'  post, I thought I'd lighten the mood a little bit.

Tuesday night, our attorneys here took us and our Lifeline team to an authentic Bulgarian restaurant.  It was an hour away.  I can't tell you how bad that was.  Not the restaurant, but the drive.  People drive CRAZY here.  I mean, I think there may be traffic laws, but nobody follows them.  I don't even know why lanes are marked, because I have yet to see one of these huge electric streetcars actually stay in its lane.  There's more jerking around than a bumper car ride, and more stopping and starting than and game of red light/green light.  So . . . all that to say that I've been car sick a lot this week.  When we left for the restaurant, we just thought we were going somewhere in the city.  But we kept driving, and driving, and driving, until we started going up the mountain.  By this time, we'd been going for 50 minutes strong, and I felt like I was on a tilt-a-whirl for the 5th go around. 

After another 10 minutes of going up the mountain, we made it.  Snow was everywhere.  From the outside, you could tell we were going somewhere that was very Bulgarian-ish.  The waiters were dressed in authentic attire, and the food was as Bulgarian as you can get.  This made us kind of nervous, but to my surprise, it was actually very good.  We all shared these huge platters of food that had roasted peppers, chicken kabobs, some kind of chicken meatballs (can't tell you much about those . . . I don't eat unidentified ground up meat), pork steaks, and different sauces and breads.  The real treat was when the waiters and waitresses, along with the Bulgarian band, broke out in song and dance.  For a minute, I felt like I was in the lower-class section of the Titanic with all of the pan flutes and violins and drums.  You've seen that part where Rose slips down there with Jack when she's not supposed to be hangin' with him?  She has the time of her life, and I seriously felt pretty in-the-moment when they started all of this jivin'.  I didn't think it was gonna get any better, until one of the dudes came and got Craig and took him up to the stage.  People, Craig now knows how to do a Bulgarian dance in front of a lot of people.  I wish so badly that I had a picture or video to show here, but unfortunately I left my phone in the car and didn't take it in.  Craig took some pictures of the inside, though . . .

 

 

Before it was all over, he and I both were up dancing in the big circle with all the others, and it was just lots of fun.  I guess it was good to let go for a bit and be a little goofy.

 

 

Today we got to take Maya out of the orphanage for a little while to take her to get a picture made for her Visa.  Car seat?  Nope.  I don't even think they use them here.  I haven't noticed one in any cars, and I've looked.  Maybe they do, but we weren't even offered one.  She hung out with Craig in the back seat on the way . . .

 

 

 

It's obvious she hasn't been in a car much.  She got a little sick on the way and upchucked a tiny bit.  No biggie, though.  We cleaned her up, and she was good as knew.  We took her back to the orphanage and played for the rest of the visit.  Our afternoon visit was really sweet.  We introduced her to music.  I had some worship music on my phone that she listened to, along with a 'Les Miseables' song or two.  She seemed to really like it.  She'd get still every now and then and just seem to listen. Be sure to watch the video that's on here.  Her laugh is PRECIOUS. 

 

Before I get to the pics of today's visit, I wanted to show you where she spends her time when she's not with us.  This is her crib . . .

 

 

 

And here's the happy pics and the video.  I'll leave you with these.  But first, keep praying for us about our leaving her on Friday.  With everyday that passes, we realize a little more how incredibly hard it will be to walk away without her. 

 

Thanks, again, for all of the support and encouragement from blog comments and Facebook comments and messages.  We cherish every one!

 

 

 

 

Love,

 

Paige