One more week!

Hello friends,

It has taken me a while to write once again. :o) The last few weeks have been slightly insane with my normally busy schedule and getting everything prepared for Ukraine. Our team is fabulous! I am looking forward to ministering together. Everyone has worked so hard on their parts and the preparations will soon pay-off. It will be great to see the children's and caregivers' faces when they see all the great things we are bringing for them. Donations have really started to pick-up this week! We have a huge box full of bright colored toys, exercise balls, teethers, pacifiers, etc. Then we have another large box of items for the NICU. Thanks to those of you who have given so much! Although there are still items we need, and our funds are still below our hopes, we feel great knowing we have a lot to give away now. Our presentations and photo albums are almost prepared, clipboards for all of the attendies (with milestones chart in Russian), Bibles (child and adult), and devotionals are ready to go! I will try to take pictures of all our bags of donations once they are packed. Now just one week left, whew. Dear Father, please bless us with what your children in Ukraine need. We ask for your guidance every step of the way.

I have to admit that while I am getting very excited, I am completely drained. John Michael has had a very unusual work schedule, I have had three nights of after work obligations, and now JM is at an overnight men's retreat. I don't want to complain about that. I know he needs fellowship with other men. I just hope that Lance can tolerate my craziness for one more week. :o) Tonight, I have chosen to finally stop for a moment to update everyone on the trip. If you have any questions, I would love to talk about it. I feel completely blessed to have the opportunity to do just that. This trip I will also get to brag on Lance to all of his former "moms" and show them how much he has grown. That should be fun!

If you can see the light yellow line by his shoulder that was marked a month after we were back in the United States. He has grown quite a bit as you can see!

Jumping like a pro

Lately, Lance has been working hard to trace his name and say the letters. Before, we would throw a huge fit when we tried to get him to write anything.

Please join me in praying for:

- Wisdom when teaching the caregivers/doctors

- Safety

- Ease for John Michael and Lance while I am gone

- To be filled with the Holy Spirit and that it would radiate throughout the orphanages and hospital, so that others may feel Christ's love and want that relationship

- Change for the orphans

Thank you so much!

I am going to try to get to bed now. There is no telling what time Lance will be bright-eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow...almost certainly before the sun comes up. Goodnight!

Just kidding...

Okay, so I guess the trip to Ukraine was just too luring. :o) John Michael and I have decided that we can work out the details around his work for me to be able to travel to Ukraine once again. I am really excited! The crazy thing is that we only have one month to prepare. There are five of us going (3 physical therapists, 1 speech pathologist, and our trip coordinator.) I think it will be a fabulous team. We have been meeting at least once a week to get things in order. We will be fortunate enough to work in the orphanage where Lance is from (as well as 4 more of our kids), an orphanage for children above the age of four who where not sent to the institution, and the NICU! We are hoping to start making positive changes earlier in the development process to prevent the common delays we see in these children. Please be praying for our team's safety, wisdom from our Heavenly Father, that the orphanage and hospital staff's hearts and minds will be open to our teachings, and that we will be able to gather necessary items for these children.

I have attached the information from a flier we made to be distributed. Unfortunately, I was unable to attach the 'real' version with pictures and pretty font. ;o)

Therapy Mission Trip to Ukraine

March 7-15th, 2009, a group of Children’s Therapy TEAM therapists are traveling to Ukraine to train orphanage and hospital staff in how to improve the life of special needs orphans in Ukraine.
Any donations would be greatly appreciated and will go directly to orphans in Ukraine.

We would appreciate donations of any of the following items...

Exercise/Therapy Balls
* All different sizes: 45cm, 65cm, 75cm, peanuts
* These can be purchased at Wal-mart, Target, etc.
* Also available at various websites such as www.isokineticsinc.com ~ Caddo brand seems to be
the most reasonably priced

Basic Hardback/Board Pictures Books
* Simple pictures of basic objects, animals, numbers, colors, and shapes. Minimal words as it will have to be translated to Russian.

Pacifiers and Teethers
* A variety, must be able to sanitized and must be in original package.

Children’s Music CD’s and DVD’s
* Instrumental music and Baby Einstein type DVDs.

Flashcards
* Simple pictures of colors, numbers, shapes, animals, and basic objects. No alphabet please.

Crib Mirrors
* Unbreakable with washable surfaces.

Small Toys
* Minimal batteries, washable surfaces that can be sanitized.
*Rattles, crackly toys, noise makers, stackers, shape sorters, nesting blocks, pop beads. More examples at http://funandfunction.com/infant-early-learningc-7_29.html

Therapy Equipment
* Seating systems, positioning, medical equipment, sensory integration tools, adaptive feeding supplies, and orthotic equipment will be purchased with any monetary donations.

Monetary Donations
*Any monetary contributions are 100% tax deductible.
* Please make checks out to New Heights Church with “Ukraine Therapy Trip” in the memo.

Donations may be mailed or delivered to:
Children’s Therapy TEAM - 2474 E. Joyce, Blvd., STE #2 - Fayetteville, AR 72703

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27