Please Pray!!!

Hey everyone!

The Berzenji family hasn't received their invitation to go and bring Bing home from China yet. Their adoption agency's next trip is in September and we are all hoping and praying that they will receive their invitation before then. Please pray for them!!!

I have exciting news! My mom is planning to go with Mrs. Berzenji to China to bring Baby Bing home, so she won't have to go by herself! I'm very excited for her, because she has always wanted to go to China and cuddle babies. She might not be able to this time, but it's a starter! She's going to basically help Mrs. Berzenji with whatever she needs. Because Bing needs to learn who his mom is, Mrs. Berzenji will be the only one holding him, feeding him, bathing him and comforting him.

I'll post immediately when they get their invitation! And again, please pray!!!!!

In case you haven't watched this music video, I'm posting this in honor of Bing.

We can't wait for you to come home Bing, your parents are trying so hard to get you here!!!!

Birthdays and Celebrations

Hello everyone!

I took a break to finish off my school year, but now I'm excited to start blogging again!

First off, I just turned 13! (I was born on my Dad's b-day in June). To celebrate, my Dad and I had breakfast in bed with the 'Red Special Plate'. We had apple crisp! (Well, what else is there when you have food sensitivities to dairy and eggs? :) My mom made it with: spelt flour, coconut oil and maple syrup. It was really good! After the delicious breakfast and fun presents, we went swimming as a family at the pool. After that we went out for dinner with some of my Mom's side of the family. It was all so much fun! Thanks Mommy and Daddy!

A while back on May 14, my mom and dad held a very touching blessing celebration to celebrate my first steps into Womanhood. It was amazing! I literally cried for an entire day. (And yes, I went to bed with a headache, and my eyes were puffy and red the next day :)

When I woke up in the morning, my mom took my two best friends (one of them is my cousin:) and I out to get up-dos. I loved getting my hair done! What a treat! Before I knew it, my dad was putting a corsage on my wrist and taking me out for a special lunch at the beach- Sushi!! It was so delicious, and very special! While we were at the restaurant my dad gave me a very beautiful ring. He said that it's a promise ring, but he's the one making the promise. He promised that he will always be there for me, and be my protector and provider, until God brings the right man for me to marry. (Thank you so much Daddy, the ring is so special to me, and I will treasure it forever!)

When I arrived at the celebration, I was greeted by (30!) very special women and girls who are a very big and special part of my life. They all brought letters and gifts, and one of them even wrote me a song and played/sang it on her guitar. (Thank you so much, Mrs. St. Pierre!)

My Mom showed a slide show of pictures of me that she had put together. Then one of her friends who traveled all the way from Winnipeg, gave a power point presentation. She was encouraging me to keep God's opinion of me as the most important (instead of other people's opinions and messages from the media.) She also talked about making Jesus 'the fairest of them all' to me, as I am to Him. (Thank you, Mrs. Peter!)

After the presentation, everyone read an encouraging and touching letter. Each letter had such kind and beautiful words. (Thank you everyone!) I have never felt so blessed in my entire life! And like I said before, I cried through the whole day!!!! It was amazing and I will never forget any of it! Thank you everyone!!!!!!!

Just an update about Bing - His parents are still waiting for an invitation to go to China. We are praying that that will be soon. You can read their blog here.

I got my haircut!!!!

I got my haircut yesterday!!!!

It was a very last minute decision, so that's why I couldn't let everyone know beforehand. The Berzenjis received their Canadian approval this week. :)

I was relieved when I saw that it was an inch or two beneath my shoulders! This time I wanted to wait until it grew long, because I really wanted it to end up a little longer then last time.

Okay, I won't leave you in suspense any longer:) Here are the pictures:

If you were just waiting for my haircut, feel free to donate any time before the Berzenjis leave for China (of course I will let you know when they receive their travel dates! :). Even though the ChipIn seems stuck, they are still receiving money that is donated through the ChipIn button. Thank you to everyone who donated money to this fundraiser even before I cut my hair!!

After this long weekend, we will drop my ponytail off at the Cancer Society.

I just want to mention that since I decided to cut my hair and donate it, someone very special to us has begun cancer treatment. Our Pastor, Mike Roth, has been battling with cancer since March. Here is a link to his family's blog. Please pray for them!

Here is a photo of Pastor Roth baptizing me two years ago with my dad...

Easter is about Adoption!

I've had this post idea in my head for a week or two but wasn't able to get my thoughts together until today...

There is a big difference between what our society says Easter is about, and what the Bible says Easter is about. Perhaps it is all about the money in our culture, since stores try to sell us chocolate, Easter eggs, and adorable stuffed bunnies. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Easter egg hunts and all that other fun stuff (we've done it before), but there are so many other important things that we can miss when we have our eyes mostly focused on Easter dinner, chocolate, and Easter bunnies.

Last year we did something really special, we had a Seder Passover meal on Good Friday (I know, a little late:) with some friends. This gave us all a chance to stop and remember what Jesus did for us! We enjoyed it so much we did it again this year with some of our family. (In case you are wondering, we DIDN'T have lamb, and not exactly because I won't have it - it was because my Dad won't even touch it....... so instead we had chicken:). My mom prepared a Seder plate, and my dad printed out booklets so we could follow along with the readings. I enjoyed learning about the symbolism.

Now, You are probably wondering what this has to do with adoption and baby Bing. I wanted to share this because it is because of Easter that we can all be adopted into God's family. We are all orphans without God. When Jesus died on the cross, he not only died for our sins, but He lovingly made a way for us to be adopted into His family. This is really what Easter is all about. When we become Christians and believe with all our heart that Jesus died for us, God literally adopts us so we can live with Him for eternity!

I also wanted to share this very special video called 'Children of God' I really encourage you to take a moment and watch this video! It is a beautiful song about being adopted by God!

I Love you Jesus!

By the way, the Berzenji family just got their Ontario approval! (So now they are just waiting for their final China approval.) You can read about it on their blog. :)

Mother and Daughter Getaway

Hello everyone!!!

Just last weekend, my mom kidnapped me and took me on a mother and daughter getaway to an island off the west coast! (No, actually, I was looking forward to it for weeks!!) We went through the 'Passport2Purity' material that some really good friends gave to us. (Thank you Gledhills!) You basically listen to CDs and do work in the workbook. It walked me through what I'll probably face in my teenage years, what to expect, and how to get through it. I'm so glad we did that material! I'm also very excited to choose, with God's help, to live a life of purity, and to honor Him.

It was sooooo much fun! Like I said, we went to to a retreat centre on an island (which was very nicely organized by some other very close friends who volunteer there).......It worked out perfectly!!!! Aside from the material, we went out for lunch, built two Thomas Kinkade puzzles, and walked in and around the town. We loved looking in the shops, and even went to a Chocolatier (a chocolate cafe that makes their own unique and organic chocolate, yummmmmm)! Again, It was so much fun!!!!!

I am so thankful that I have parents who have taught me about God, and how to live His way. Again, I was thinking about Bing, and how he is so blessed with a Christian family that will be able to guide him throughout his life, and teach Him about God's love for him. Every child should have someone to turn to, and God intended that to be parents. Every single child is loved by God. God's design is for children to grow up in loving families. I am so glad that Bing will soon have one.

A Birthday Party

Just about two weeks ago, my youngest brother, Brennan, had his 4th birthday! We threw a monkey party with our extended family (he has this thing with monkeys.... and yes, I mean he loves them:). We decorated our dining room with green streamers, monkey pictures that the boys drew, and a palm tree with coconuts that my mom created. We printed out monkey colouring sheets, coloured them and cut them out. And last but not least, we printed out the letters: BRENNAN IS 4. (We had his party the day after his birthday.) We had his favourite supper, chicken drumsticks! (We also had my dad's famous Pad Thai). Brennan was really excited to 'decorate' his own cake. It was my mom's first attempt to make a gluten, egg and dairy-free cake. (Darn allergies ): Actually, it wasn't that bad.....the peanut butter icing helped :) Everything was so yummy, and so much fun! Even though, it was a pretty simple party, I could tell that Brennan felt loved, and enjoyed every second of it.

The party made me think of Bing. I am so happy for him, that he will get to celebrate all his birthdays, for the rest of his life, with a wonderful, loving family - the Berzenjis! I am going to start praying for Bing though, because it will probably be very traumatic for him when he is adopted. Being taken away from his foster family, the only family he has probably ever known, and taken in the arms of a family he has never met. It will probably be scary and hard at first for Bing, but I am going to pray that God will give him peace in his heart and let know how much his forever family loves him!

I think it is great that Bing is living in a foster family, because that means he knows what it is like to live in a family, rather than an institution. The difficult part is that he is too little to understand what is about to happen. There is no way he can understand that the family he's living with, is not able to be his forever family. Leaving them will probably be very hard and frightening. I just read a blog post yesterday by Tara Livesay. She said something that really jumped out at me. You can read the post here (and watch the beautiful music video!), but I am just going to quote a sentence from it. She says: “I wish it was a perfect happy world where the need for adoption did not exist, but we all know that we're a long way from that world.” It's not fair that any child should have to lose two families before he finally meets his/her forever family. So please pray for Baby Bing. Pray that he will not be scared, and that the adjustment to his new family will be easy for him. I know that his story has a happy ending because the Berzenji's are such a great family. I can't wait until Bing knows how very much they love him.

A Special Song

I would like to share a very special video created by two sisters, Annaka Koldyk Cowieson and Krista Koldyk. (When my mom and dad were dating, they used to babysit them when they were little girls). A couple of years ago, Annaka went to volunteer for a month at an orphanage in Haiti called God's Littlest Angels, to love, and cuddle baby orphans! This slideshow is made from the pictures from Annaka's visit, and Krista is singing a song that she wrote.

Even though this song is dedicated to the Haiti orphanage, I really wanted to share this because it shows how much God loves his little orphans, and how much He cares about them.

When my mom and I first watched this video, I was very teary and filled with happiness because it tells us that God is watching over his littlest angels! It reminds me of Hebrews 13:5. “I will NEVER leave you, nor forsake you”. I love that verse because God promises never to leave us.

Just recently, I remembered this song when I was thinking about Bing, and how he is soon to be adopted! I thought it would fit perfectly because God is watching over Bing right now, even though he doesn't know that his new family is already making plans to come and take him home. I am including some pictures of Bing's orphanage or Social Welfare Institute/ SWI. (Actually, he is living in a foster home supported by this SWI, and the money we raise will be going to this specific Institute.)

Also, I should let you know that even though the Chip In button says that $726.86 have been donated, the total is actually closer to $1300!* So thank you again Everybody!

* The Chip In button isn't working properly and the totals haven't been updated, plus, lots of people have been sending money and cheques in the mail, which we have been sending on to the Berzenji family.