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Monday, January 31, 2011

1 Week Left To Enter...Kids!!

Last Week For Kid's T shirt Contest Entries!!
Kids, get us those T shirt ideas. Your art will be judged on February 14th. One lucky winner will have his/her art featured as the new kid's t shirt design for our new spring kid's shirt. All voting will take place on February 14th only. More info on that to come. 
Many thanks to Helen, Julia, and Isabelle......all from Tennessee! You all are beautiful artists and little world changers!!! Thank you for entering our contest :)

 #12. Helen ~ age 9, Brentwood TN


#13. Julia ~ age 7, Brentwood TN




#14. Isabelle ~ age 9, Franklin TN


GREAT JOB, GIRLS!!!!


Shirt Sightings!!
Look at these cuties!!
Kristy writes....."I just wanted to share a few photos of our picture shoot we did today in Wisconsin...We brought home Joscelyn from Hannah's Hope Ethiopia in 2009 and Caleb is my nephew but the two are like brother and sister!  She has changed our lives and these two sweet children are so passionate about others at such a young age that we thought the pictures were very appropriate for them...we hope they do BIG things in this world like YOU!"


Thanks, Kristy, for sending us these adorable pics! If you just HAVE TO HAVE ONE OF THESE SHIRTS then we are are selling what we have left in them. We are not ordering any more, but what we have left are sizes XS, fits 2-4, size M, fits 10-12, and size L fits 14-16. We have a few of each of those sizes left if you want to grab one while supplies last. You can order from the right sidebar.

Next we have CUTIE BOY, NOAH, FROM FLORIDA!!
How adorable is he!!
Thanks, Christy, for sharing his pic with all of us. 

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Some GREAT Little Artists All Over the US!!

 More entries have come in for our Kid's T Shirt Contest!  These kids are so talented!! I love it!!
Great job and beautiful artwork, Maggie, John, Calvin, Rebekah, Carter, Aubrey Anna, Lauren, and Mallory!! Thanks for entering and best of luck to you! You are all great artists!
 #4. Maggie~ age 7, Fort Knox, Ky                                 


#5. John G.~ age 9,  Murfreesboro, TN


 #6. Calvin (also named himself Pablo Candy-Finger) ~ age 5, Wichita, KS
Mom says...."his name is Calvin, although he named himself Pablo Candy-Finger when he was 4.  That was about the same time he wanted to do something to have money for orphans, so he started drawing and selling hand-drawn notecards to earn "orphan money".  He's raised over $1000 with Pablo Candy-Finger Cards since then!  He's partial to aliens and robots...hence the alien theme for his t-shirt idea. :) "


#7. Rebekah~ age 9, Ashburn, VA
Mom says...."She is waiting for her 2 brothers to come home from Rwanda and made a similar picture awhile ago...she altered it for this contest!"


 #8. Carter~ age 9, Murfreesboro, TN

 #9. Aubrey Anna~ age 10, Murfreesboro, TN


 #10. Lauren~ age 6, Hopkinsville, Ky
Mom says..."Lauren was excited to be able to draw something for your tshirt design.  This was a great project for a snow day! "




#11. Mallory~ age 9, Franklin, TN


Keep the artwork coming, kids. Show off your talent and Speak Up loud! This brightens our day!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Little Ordinary Hero Artists and Shirt Sightings!

#1. Maddie ~ age 8, Morton, IL

We have our first Kid's Tshirt Contest entries!! How cute are these!! I have a feeling these kids are going to make us all smile over the next couple of weeks. There is nothing better than seeing the true expression of a child who wants to help others. How do kids express themselves best? ART!!! It is so heartwarming and refreshing for all of us grown-ups, who sometimes so easily get entangled with the stresses of life, to see the simplest truths come from the heart of a child :)

#2. Sera~ age 8, Morton, IL

#3. Bella~ age 10, Morton, IL

GREAT JOB, MADDIE, SERA, & BELLA!!! YOU ARE WONDERFUL ARTISTS!!

 Next I must point out there have been some OH Shirt Sightings!!!


Morgan, from Atglen, PA, wrote to us and sent some pics of her little cutie man....
"We love your shirts!  As a parent, I love that I can use something as simple as a t shirt to motivate and empower my child to 'change the world'."
 How adorable he is!!

Next we have April from Ohio!!
"We had our sons court hearing to finalize his adoption and then had a party to celebrate and then sunday had his baby dedication! I wore one of your Ordinary Hero shirts for his party and wanted to share with you a few pics! I love this shirt and most of all i love its message!"

Oh my gosh, so cute!!

Thank you kids, for the contest entries......and thank you, grown ups, for sporting our Tshirts... on you and your kiddos!!  Can't wait to see who sends us our next piece of artwork!!
Have a great day!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Kids Tshirt ART CONTEST...

Calling all kids up to age 12!

We want YOU to design our next Kid's Tshirt! Put your creative hats on and show us how you want to
 CHANGE THE WORLD FOR ONE
by being an 
ORDINARY HERO!
Let your heart shine through in your drawing.
When you think of helping someone,
what comes to mind?
Draw it.

Here are the rules.....
1. Draw your design on a standard, white sheet of paper.
   2. Use three colors or less.
   3. Please include our logo, or our name, or our slogan, somewhere in your drawing.(slogan is Change the world for one...or I'm gonna change the world)
   4. Make your drawing appropriate for a boy or a girl.
   5. Parents, make sure child's first name, age, and what city and state they are in, is on the back of their drawing with your contact info.
   6. Scan the drawing and email it to Kelly@ordinaryhero.org with your contact info, or mail it to us at P.O. Box 1945 Brentwood, TN 37024 (I would love a pic of your child holding the drawing too if you want to email that to me.)
   7. You have two weeks to get it to us! 
Deadline is February  7. I will post the pictures as they come in over the next two weeks, and assign each picture a #. (Feel free to leave the artists comments of encouragement as they come in.)
  8. February 14th is V-DAY...Valentines Day and VOTE DAY! I will repost all of the pictures with their assigned numbers in one post at 12:01 on the 14th. You will then vote by leaving a comment, on that day only, with the artist's first name and # in the comment box. One vote per household, please. We will make the big announcement on February 16th of who the LUCKY WINNER IS with the most votes!!

The winning child will have his/her artwork proudly featured on our new kid's spring t shirt! The winner will receive a free t shirt for the whole family to show off his/her art proudly :)

If your child participates, feel free to repost this along with your child's art, when I get it up, and encourage your friends to vote on Feb. 14th

Let's show our LOVE on VDAY by encouraging these kids to pour their heart into helping someone else.....We have little world changers on our hands!! 

Get us that artwork, kiddos!! Good Luck!!



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

A Special Hero Has Gone to Be With The Lord....

IN LOVING MEMORY....

I received a very sad phone call today from Oscar, sweet little Mary's husband. He said Mary had gone to be with the Lord today. 

Many of you will remember Mary. She was a flood victim I met in May. Her daughter, Clemmie poured her heart's cry out for her mother and their living conditions, and so many of you stepped up to help them. Mary went blind over three years ago. She is known in her east Nashville, inner city neighborhood as the mother of all mothers. Her whole life she took people in, fed them, let them bathe, sober up, sleep, whatever they needed. She never judged anyone, but she helped everyone she came in contact with as much as she could. Her heart is for her family. The first time I met her it was like a movie. I walked into this room that was floor to ceiling with pictures, newspaper clippings, notes, whatever she had that meant something to her, went on her wall, as she proudly showed them off, for all to see. In the end she couldn't even see them anymore but she could describe and tell you about each and every one. When I was introduced to her by her daughter Clemmie, her home was not fit for them to live in. I came in with my OH team of volunteers and some great help from Samaritan's Purse and other people willing to give of their time, donations, and money, and we completely transformed this house in 3 months. It took my whole summer but in the end it turned out so beautiful for them. Clemmie called me at Thanksgiving and told me what a blessing it was to have their whole family at the dining room table for the first time ever. They had not had a dining room table before. It brings me such joy to know that Mary spent her last months in her home knowing it was transformed for her family to enjoy. She loved her family more than anything. We gave them some special moments with Mary, for the first time in a healthy atmosphere, that can never be replaced. We even got Mary in with Dr Wang to have her eyesight checked a few months ago, but they said there was nothing they could do. I am sad for all of us who will miss her but I am rejoicing that she can see and dance and run with her spunky little spirit again. I only knew her a few months but she impacted me greatly. I will never forget her. She is an itty bitty, blind woman whom I never would have had the pleasure of meeting if it had not flooded the greatest flood in history in Nashville, and I happened to be on the side of the street in east Nashville, trying to help where I could. Up walked a woman with a clipboard in her hand and introduced herself as Clemmie. She was out trying to help as well. I asked her if she knew of some flood victims. She took my #. Swallowed her pride and called me the next day and said "Yes....my mother. She is blind and needs help." It was Clemmie's love for her mother that transformed her mother's life in her last months when none of us knew that the Lord would be calling her home so soon. God blessed His child Mary, once more in this life, before He called her home. He also blessed her in her death. They said she was laughing and enjoying the family and talking about grandkids one minute and the next thing they new she was just gone. They said the Dr's could not even explain it. What a gift that was :)

Watch this video that will show you why we love this family. Hear Clemmie's heartcry....Amazing things happened during this project! Hear their story!



if you have not already. You will see the results of a lot of hard work and hear Mary's words of thanks.
SILENCE THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM

Ordinary Hero~ Nashville Flood Victim's Home Restored from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.


If you took part in this project at all or have been touched by their story and would like to send Clemmie a note of condolence or a story about what this project and her family meant to you, you can email me at Kelly@ordinaryhero.org and I will forward them to her, to respect her email address on my blog.

What a special family they have with such a strong little lady that started it all. She is now dancing with Jesus. WE SEND OUT ALL OUR LOVE TO THE FAMILY.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Restocked on Shirts!

 We have some of our OH shirts available for purchase again. 

I first want to thank Carrie, from Indiana, for  sending me the above picture of her adorable kids! She explained in her email....

p.s. I've attached a pic of my kids on Christmas Eve. We have a christmas eve tradition that our whole family gets new p.j.'s. This year my kiddo's got OH t-shirts and pajama pants and we explained that even though they are little God has great plans for their lives and He has entrusted us to teach them to be "world changers"! Love getting to share OH passion with our kids - who often get it so much easier than we do!

Some of you have asked how you can get some of our shirts....well we have a few available now and more on the way!!
We are launching some new product soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to allow you to purchase our original shirt designs which have sold so well!
We have our kids shirt in heather gray, in sizes from 3month up to 4t. This shirt doesn't get much softer than this! You can show off your little world changer in this adorable tee shirt with a great message! Find your child's size on the right side bar.





We have also had requests for this same design in adult sizes.....so here ya go!!
This shirt is in the heather gray, ultra soft, unisex, and comes in adult sizes XS-XXL. The shirt pictured below on a teen girl is the XS. You may purchase your size on the right side bar.

Our Ultra soft, Africa shirt is back in Eco Black!! You may purchase on the right side bar.
This was our mission team shirt design for our trip to Ethiopia in July. It is a great shirt which represents Africa everywhere you go! It also says...Change The World For One...on it.


 This shirt is great for either men or women.

I also wore this shirt on this last trip to Ethiopia I just took in December. I have on the medium for the looser fit and I can wear a small for a little tighter fit.


Ok, more product to come soon. We will also let you know when our new cart and fund raising option is available. We are not doing fund raising at this time, but plan to start soon. It is coming.....
Thank you for your t shirt purchase!!

I HAVE A DREAM.......

"I HAVE A DREAM.....that little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." Martin Luther King, Jr August 28th, 1963 Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC

What an amazing time in history we are witnessing with our children in 2011. This is a day that stands for a time in history by a man who never gave up on his dream for freedom...and even gave his life for it. I feel like we are living in a portion of history, no matter what your political views are, that we are seeing his dream carried out by having a black president. It is amazing to see "the Dream" that Martin Luther King dreamed so long ago come to pass. It is yet, more proof that the seeds that we plant in this world for the kingdom of God never return void, even if we don't get to see them in our lifetime. Martin Luther King's words ring true louder today and tomorrow than any other time in history.

"I HAVE A DREAM deeply rooted in the American Dream...that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of it's creed and behold these truths to be self evident."

Other quotes:
"Now is the time to make real the promises of justice."
"America has defaulted on the promisory note of freedom. I refuse to believe that the Bank of Justice is bankrupt."

"I HAVE A DREAM that my children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. "

It is almost unbelievable to think that only 48 years ago in this country there stood a man who had to give his life blood for freedom in this country because of the color of his skin. He had to believe by faith that one day there would be freedom of things like freedom to vote and freedom of police brutality...freedom of segregation.

What a wonderful time in history to be able to bring my son home from Africa, his native homeland, and show him the true meaning of America. My prayer is that he will live in a nation that lives up to every one of the dreams that Martin Luther King fought so hard for. That he "will not be judged by the color of his skin but by the content of his character", like MLK so nicely put it.
The simple fact is that we all bleed RED....blacks and whites alike. It is that life blood that so many have given for freedom in this country. They have given their lives as seeds that will not return void. Many of those lives that were taken sacrificially and many of those that were taken unjustly will see justice come to pass in the sight of America at last. We are then left with the task ahead and that is to live it. Live it like never before. Become and remain sisters and brothers like God intended.

Martin Luther King Jr said it best as he ended his speech in the very same place that Obama stood and carried out the dream...
"I wish to speed up the day that all God's children, black and white, Jews and Gentiles, protestants and catholics, will join hands and sing the words to the old Negro spiritual song...
Free At Last, Free At Last, Good God Almighty, Free At Last." Let Freedom Ring


Unbelievable speech if you have not seen it.  (Silence the music at the bottom to listen)
Even more unbelievable....His last speech



Friday, January 14, 2011

Answered Prayers for Some and Keep Praying for Others....


Again, I must thank you all for praying for some of these prayer requests that i have put out on this blog. It is probably the most important thing we can do to change things around us and it is so easy to forget to do for some reason. I find myself getting worried about something sometimes before I take the time to pray about it. Then when I do pray about it, I feel much better.
Here are some updates from my last post....

Keep praying for the Shrock family. They did not pass court this 2nd time around. It seems to be a different paperwork issue that should be easily resolved for their next court date of January 23rd. So keep the prayers coming their way and giving them encouragement.

Prayers answered for my sister Kasey!! Looks like they got all the paperwork they were waiting on and their case will be submitted to court next week! She is soooo thankful, you have no idea! Thank you for praying! It has been a long wait.

My sister, Kristi's little one she is in the process of adopting seems to be doing better. He was taken to the hospital. She received pictures and he was actually taking a bottle (for the first time) and had a little smile in some of the pics. Sooo Sweet!! Keep the prayers coming his way for him to fatten up and get the nutrients he needs to grow.

NEW PRAYER REQUEST!!


Please pray for the Cottongim family. They are adopting an 8 month old precious baby girl from ET. They passed court on Dec 3 and are still waiting for an Embassy appt. The appt they thought they would get came and went. They are asking for prayer for the next Embassy date of Feb 1, which would have them travel at the end of this month.  They are down the last step and the wait is agonizing!  Please pray for a speedy embassy appt for that little girl's sake as well as the family.

OTHER NEWS!!

I want to thank Precious.org for currently sharing OH as their focus on their blog. They are a great website that shares our heart for advocating for waiting children. They have had much success in advocating for children waiting for their forever families. Check them out!
www.precious.org

Can you help?
We have a couple of needs I wanted to throw out.
1. We have a sweet 19 year old single mom whom I have known for the past 4 years. She is a brand new mom trying to take care of her new son. She currently is unable to work because she does not have a car. She is living with her sister, trying to make a life for her son. Soooo, if anyone has an extra car just sitting around that you would want to donate, please email me at Kelly@ordinaryhero.org.  That sounds funny to even say, but that is what we need :-)
2. If you are local and have the ability to donate warehouse space....we need it! We have the opportunity to take in LOTS of much needed clothing donations to be shipped to Africa (we need a crate too)  as well as used locally, BUT we need a place to put it for now.  Please email me if you have access to warehouse or storage space.

Many thanks to all of you for your continued support in all of these things that I mentioned.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Some Exciting Answers to Prayer and Other Things in the Works!!

First of all..... PRAISE REPORT!! We have some answered prayers, people!!


I put the word out about the Shrock family contacting me needing prayer. She was at her wits end. What had happened was that the courts could not find her Dossier! Can you imagine? She worked that hard to get the dossier sent, flies over for her 1st court date and then gets the word. "Oops! We seem to not be able to find your papers." from the courts. Wow! Well, stranger stuff has happened :) You are dealing with 3rd world here. Sooooo, she flies home, emails me and asks for prayer. The wait was killing her. So I put the word out on my blog early that next morn and by 3pm that afternoon she got the phone call she had been waiting for. "We found your papers!"Now that is some answered prayer!! I LOVE IT!! Her next court date is tomorrow I think. They don't have to be present at this one since they were already there. THANK YOU all who prayed for this family and also encouraged them through your comments. PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!  Let's all continue to pray this next court date through to passing for them so that they can be on the road to bring their next two home. You can read her updates on the Shrock family blog.

Remaining on the subject of prayer.....Please keep both of my sisters in your prayers concerning their adoptions. First, my sister Kristi is asking for prayer for her little guy she is in the process of adopting, named Wes.

 She was told that he has been so weak that they put him in the hospital. Sue, the director, has brought him back from the country into the city now in order to get him the treatment he needs. This child is precious. We met him last month. He is just a case of a child who has been starving for way too long. He was brought into the orphanage for the first time in Dec, the day before we arrived. He has some other needs as well, that we are certain the Lord will take care of. So everyone add little Wes to their prayer list. We have to get that little guy healthy and fattened up.

Second, my sister Kasey needs prayer for her paperwork to be complete in order for her to be able to travel for her 1st court date to adopt little Lincoln.

 She has seen people who were referred their children at the same time as her already fly over for their 1st court dates while she still waits. There has been a hold up on the paperwork coming from the orphanage. So let's pray for speedy paperwork to land in the hands of Sue, the director while she is there so that they can get this adoption to court.
THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS! As you can see with the Shrocks, it is powerful! If you have a prayer request, don't hesitate to email me. Kelly@ordinaryhero.org  Adoption is sometimes a roller coaster of emotions. It makes a difference to have others standing with you in prayer as you wait it out :)

Other news....we just had an amazing OH meeting to kick off the new year! We are gearing up for a great year! We have some exciting new things in the works to help you fund raise for your adoptions, mission trips, etc. ! This includes new product, which we are working on a whole new cart system for right now. That will be available in about a month. We are also offering OH as an avenue for people to directly donate towards your adoptions and get the tax write off. We will let 100% of their donation go toward your adoption, which we will pass on to your adoption agency. We want to allow our organization and our 501 c 3 status be a blessing to your adoption.

I am also opening myself up for speaking dates this year but I would love it to benefit your adoption as well. If you are adopting and you belong to a church that you feel supports your decision but could use some inspiration in the adoption department, then I am open to coming and speaking about OH and how we got started through local outreach and adoption, as well as bring awareness to the orphan crisis, in order to open the eyes of the believers who might not otherwise know about this orphan crisis and other children in need in the world. My hopes are that from me helping to bring awareness in this area, that it will bring light to your own adoption within your church and encourage those around you to help support your adoption. You can always email me with ideas or thoughts on this and we can share ours as well.

Also, I have gotten several emails from some of you wondering when our shirts will be for sale again. We are in the works! We will have some original designs available before the end of Jan as well as a new launch (hopefully in Feb) when we get our cart system up and running :) Super excited about that!!

Our OH July trip is maxed out and closed right now!! Wow!  We are considering a second trip that will run back to back with that one so I will let you know more about that if/when we decide to do that.

Exciting stuff in the works! We are looking forward to a GREAT year!!

Blessings,
Kelly

Saturday, January 8, 2011

A Young Ordinary Hero Wants to Change The World In Africa

Well.....we have learned from my last post that HEROES come in all ages. Now I must tell you about an 8 yr old girl whom I met that has my heart. She is not only the cutest thing ever, she happens to have a GREAT BIG HEART for the orphans in Africa. Her name is Cordelia. ( Cori for short )

I want you to watch the following video. This video will show you how easy it is to make a difference by taking what you have seen and experienced as you serve, and simply by sharing it, can inspire others to action, no matter what their age.

An elementary school teacher traveled on our OH team trip in July. She came back with her passion bubbling over and some of it spilled over onto this 8 year old little girl. I received a call from Caitlyn (Miss Cooley) and she told me someone she knew wanted to learn more about Africa. When I asked a few more questions, I realized that this someone was one of her students and was only 8 years old. She told Caitlyn that she wanted to talk with me to learn more. I couldn't imagine how much interest an 8 yr old would have but I hopped over to the school to meet with her and find out where her heart was.

Well......she blew me away with her heart, her passion, and her ideas at such a young age. This little one truly will CHANGE THE WORLD one day.

May we all have a heart as big as this little girls when we grow up.

You may leave Cori a comment of encouragement on this blog post, or if you feel called to help Cori achieve her dreams you may email me at Kelly@OrdinaryHero.org

Silence the music at the bottom of my page to watch the video here.......or 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE DIRECT LINK.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Little Hero, An Adoption Story....and a Few Prayer Requests

 Want to hear an amazing adoption story??
Well....let me tell you about my friends, Rick and Amanda. Not even one year ago...actually last April, they came to our OH benefit dinner because they were invited by some friends. We did not know each other that well, and I had not ever discussed anything we do with them. They just showed up for a free dinner, compliments of their friends. The benefit was awesome. We shared our heart and vision for OH and I got up and told some stories of what had been happening with OH up to that point. We had a great turn out and were so pleased with the evening. What I didn't realize was how that evening had impacted this couple. She called me the next day and told me who she was and that she had been to our dinner. She said she wanted to get more involved with OH and that she was really moved by everything she had heard. Well....what do you know....but only two days after that dinner, the big flood hit!! Nashville's biggest flood in history. Well these two were some of the first responders with us at OH to jump in and help flood victims. They took on a grandmother and her 4 grandchildren that we had found, who had no help at all. Amanda not only completely organized the remodel of the house, Rick picked the boys up for church every Wed and brought them to youth group. These boys had not had parents in several years, as they are incarcerated. They were being raised by their grandmother. They developed a wonderful relationship with this family that has continued after the flood. The boys have been forever changed by the love this family has shown them.
Then.....Amanda started asking me more and more questions about adoption. She and Rick really felt that God was laying it on their hearts. I went on my July team trip and Amanda's sister went on the trip. Her sister, Ashli, came back forever changed and talking about all the orphans she had seen and visited. Well Ashli was so moved by the trip that she ended up moving to ET, and Rick and Amanda were so moved by everything they had heard that they quickly signed up to adopt. Then they prayed about who God would lead them to. Amanda scoured over the waiting children and kept coming back to these two precious, scared little ones.
Here is the picture that she kept coming back to. She said, "I don't know, I just keep coming back to these two. I am going to find out more about them." I had not met them, as they came into the orphanage the day we left.
When she called me back and told me their story, she was in tears. You see the confusion and the look of sadness in their eyes....well, it is for a reason.
These two had been found completely alone and abandoned camped out at the door of a church, almost lifeless from not having anything to eat for days and days. Evidently their mother left them with someone because she could not feed them and they ended up on the streets somehow. They said that people saw the little boy carrying the baby girl around by himself, just wandering in the streets, looking for food. They said he never put her down or let her out of his sight. He was very protective of her. That brave little 8 year old boy never let go of his 11month old sister. He eventually went from church to church until the state heard about them and brought them to the orphanage. The orphanage workers said that the little girl would not let anyone but this little boy care for her. She was glued to him, and him to her. She did not want anyone but him. He was all she had. They only had each other.
I can't tell you what bravery and maturity beyond his little 8 years, this little boy must have had, to endure the streets in Ethiopia and protect his sister at the same time. He is a HERO in every sense of the word.

Well that is all Amanda and Rick needed to hear. They signed up for these two precious children who had been sitting on the waiting list because no one else had chosen them. I just wonder how many people would have been so quick to overlook them had they known their story. So Rick and Amanda and their two children prayed and committed to these two new additions to their family. Their family of 4 was now going to be a family of 6!

I actually met these amazing children before they did on my trip in December. They knocked my socks off! They were no longer the scared little children that I had seen in the picture. I saw beautiful children with such destiny on their lives to have come this far.


Rick and Amanda flew through their paper work and not even two weeks ago they flew over for their first court visit to meet their kiddos for the first time. Amanda said when they pulled up they saw their little boy stick his head out the door first. She said she just couldn't stand it, she was about to bust with excitement. She said she went to him first and got on her knees and hugged him. He knew she was his mom and he hugged her back. Then Rick walked in. She said he took one look at Rick and recognized him from the pictures. She said he just lit up and yelled out "Daddy!" and then ran and jumped into Rick's arms and laid his little head on his shoulder and started crying. Then Rick started crying and they just stood there holding each other, weeping together in that special moment that God had given them as they met for the first time, although it felt like they already knew each other and were just waiting to see each other again. Amazing!!
 The connections with everyone were instant. They were no longer alone in this world.

 This family was now complete and whole! These two scared little children who had wandered the streets looking for a Mom and a Dad to care for them......had been given their heart's desire by a Father who loves them enough to steer them to the church that night, to the right person, who would lead them to the orphanage, who would lead them to their family....who would lead them home. These children and this family are now transformed! It is true that adoption changes your life forever. They will never be the same.....and that's a great thing! All things become new! You can see it in their eyes! How precious!!


They completely bonded on their trip like they never imagined.
Then it was time to say goodbye for now. They had to fly home and wait for the embassy appointment. Oh my gosh!!! What a hard day and a hard thing to make their little minds understand. They will be back and they had to make sure they understood that as they had the translator explain that they had to leave.

So they said their goodbyes...

And left them with their love until God brings them together again. Next time it is forever!! Please pray that they get their embassy appointment soon so that they can bring these precious babies home to their sister and brother who anxiously await their arrival.  If you would like to visit their journey, check out the Flores Adoption Blog.



Please remember that every one of these waiting children that sit on the list has a story. This is just one story. There are waiting children right now that have similar stories and they are getting over looked. The two sisters, Bethy and Mahlet, have a similar story. I met them in July, and then again in December. They were street children just like these two. They have no parents. They are double orphans. They had each other and they had one uncle who desperately tried to care for them until he just couldn't feed them anymore. They lived a long time on the streets and then they ended up in the orphanage. They are precious! Just like these two children. They wait, and they wait. On my trip we prayed and the oldest of the sisters just wept as we ended the prayer and she gently wiped her tears afterward and just hugged me. I looked in her eyes and told her I would help her find a family. I would bet that she might just cry when she meets her new family just as this little guy did. It is all they want in the whole world....A Family! Please step up the prayers for these two sisters. They have waited a LONG time.  It is no different than Rick and Amanda's kids.....if someone could meet them like I have and just see the hope and the love in them, then they wouldn't be overlooked anymore. I am believing they will find a family soon. They are listed in some of the first pictures on my waiting list if you are interested in looking at the list. You must email me for the password. Kelly@ordinaryhero.org

I also have ONE MORE PRAYER REQUEST!

I have been asked by an adoptive family to put this prayer request out about their upcoming 2nd court date on January 13th. The Shrock Family has had their two referrals, Ben and Stella, for 7 months now and have endured some set backs. They did not pass court last month and have been enduring the nerves and emotions that lead up to this 2nd court date on January 13th. Please keep the Shrock family in your prayers that they will pass court on January 13th in Ethiopia and will officially be able to add those two precious children to their forever family. We pray that the Lord will give the continued peace that passes all understanding through this process as well. I got to know this family (via email) during our adoption fund raiser in November. They ended up being a top seller and receiving a matching grant from us! Thank you for your support of this family and for keeping them in your prayers. You can hop over to their blog to let them know you are praying for them. Also, if you have a prayer request you would like me to put out for the body of advocates and blog followers to pray for, then just shoot me an email at Kelly@ordinaryhero.org. I'm tellin ya....prayer changes things :)

Have a great night!