There is a wonderful post here.

Please check it out. There is also a great article written by The Tennessean here.

I have always had tremendous respect for the Chapman family. As members of the adoption community they are tireless promoters of adoption and family. They have donated countless dollars to help others adopt. They live their lives as examples for others.

Please check out Shaohannah's Hope website. If you feel led to donate you may do so at Maria's Miracle Fund.

Footsteps in the Sand

With all of the recent tragedies I have been thinking. My time spent reflecting on the earthquakes in China, tornadoes in the US and the death of Maria Sue Chapman brought a story I have heard several times to mind. I am sure many, if not all, of you have heard this... but I just wanted to share.




One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him
he looked back, at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you,
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
Author unknown

Earthquakes in China

If you are a prayerful person, please consider praying for all of those effected by the terrible earthquake in China. The devastation is immense.

If you would like to make a donation to the earthquake relief, please consider using Half the Sky or Love Without Boundaries. Make sure you note that your donation is for the earthquake relief effort. Both of these organizations do tremendous work in China on a daily basis.


http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Direct+Contributions




http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/earthquake.cfm



Riley and Madeline are not from the areas effected by the earthquake, but there are many, many orphanages... some of which still have the children outside due to aftershocks.

Please feel free to visit the Rumor Queen's blog at:

http://chinaadopttalk.com/

She is doing an amazing job with updates from agencies as well as people in China. (You may need to scroll down to get to the updates.)

Jury Duty Scam

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously y, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning con consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

Mastectomy Bill

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient Procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important... please take the time and do it! Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill - Important legislation for all women. Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number. http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women.