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Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday SALE!


BLACK FRIDAY SALE GOING ON NOW!! 
Don't miss out on your chance to get awesome OH gear at 40% off!
Discount taken at checkout, no coupon code required.
Be sure to check out our 3 NEW kid's shirts! Great for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas...
Have you registered yet for our Pancakes with a Purpose? Click here to register today!


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Join Us On "The Chat With Priscilla" TONIGHT, 10pm Eastern

The Chat with Priscilla "Mothering the Motherless" - Ordinary Hero from LifeWay Digital Events on Vimeo.

Priscilla Shirer interviews Ordinary Hero founder, Kelly Putty, on "mothering the motherless". 

Cra Cra Adoptive Mom! The Balance Between the Norm and the WAIT!


definition: cra cra
a shortened word meaning crazy

This is for all of you adoptive moms out there that feel like people just don't "get it". You feel like they all think you are a little bit cra cra! You have a jumble of emotions going on inside your heart and head that could explode on any given day, and the worst part is, you don't even feel like you can talk to anyone about it. Why? Because they don't get it. 

There is something powerful that takes place in the heart of a mother during the adoption process. You start out like any normal human. You pray about it, you weigh all the pros and cons, you doubt yourself about a million times, and then you decide to go for it. 

You are still normal at this point! You are excited and nervous all at the same time...
BUT STILL NORMAL. 

You start filling out the endless trail of paperwork and sending things off in the mail....
and then it slowly starts to happen....

THE WAIT! 

So what's wrong with "the waiting game"?

FOR ONE, 
IT TURNS YOU INTO A CRAZY PERSON!

And God forbid if you actually get a match, or know, or have met the child....
AND THEN YOU STILL HAVE TO WAIT!

I'm telling you from one adoptive mom to another...
THAT WAIT can down right get the best of you! 

It's like someone has taken a part of your heart and mind (the part that controls all of the normal rationalization and controllable feelings), and has placed it on the other end of the world. 

You feel like you can't think straight, or even relate well to people until you get that piece of your heart back. In reality that piece of your heart is missing because it was stolen. 

This child whom you may or may not have met yet has completely STOLEN YOUR HEART!

I'm talking, like taken it, and ripped it out, and turned it into mush!

YOU, YOURSELF, DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE 
SUCH DEEP EMOTION HAS COME FROM.

Your heart is with the child and as soon as you can just get your arms around your child, then all will be normal in the world again! You will have that functioning part of your heart back because you will have your child and your family will be complete. 

Until then....well...

I'M SORRY...BUT YOU ARE JUST A MESS! 

Your mind is consumed with all of this. 

There are days that are good and you can daydream and think of all the fun memories that are to be made and the things you will do with your child.

That makes you smile...to yourself of course. 

Then you catch yourself smiling and you look around to make sure no one is watching because it will just confirm that you are cra cra. (which they think you lost your marbles a long time ago, anyway)

Then there are days that are NOT GOOD! 

Your mind takes you to this place, imagining your child that is alone in the world. That does not have a mom or a dad and who is waiting and waiting....
WAITING FOR YOU TO COME!

You long to be with your child so bad that you feel this ache in the pit of your soul. You actually feel like your heart hurts and it may pop out at any minute! 

Well, I get it! Your heart hurts! 

It hurts!

It hurts! 

 Your heart hurts because of that piece that is missing. That piece of your heart that not only was stolen, but that you gave away. If you were to cut out a part of anything on your body it would hurt.  

Right now you have a hole in your heart...
 and it hurts. 

AND I'M SORRY! 

THE WAIT STINKS!

It causes you stress and it brings out emotions that you sometimes stop and question yourself...
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?"

Psalm 6:3 states
My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?

Let me just tell you, dear sister, THAT is the power of a mother's heart!

THAT IS THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE STIRRING IN A MOTHER'S HEART!

I have seen so clearly how adoption, along with the emotions, the sweat, and the tears, is such a beautiful picture of God's love for us. We are all adopted into His family. 

All of the hurt in our heart and this longing to be with our child....

THAT IS HOW GOD FEELS ABOUT YOU. 

Although the wait hurts, it hurts because God is pruning and shaping things in our lives...in our hearts! 

Through the wait he molds us and perfects us into what He has called us to be. 

His timing is perfect. We know that and we say that, but we still question it 
at times during the long wait.

Yes, you question God!! We all have at times. It's ok.

But what that does is something powerful! 

It strips us of our own strength. We get to the end of our rope! We throw up our hands and say, 

"God, I give up!" 

"I can't do this anymore!"

Then God says, "FINALLY, I HAVE YOU WHERE I WANT YOU." 

"BREATHE, MY CHILD, BECAUSE YOU CAN NOW WALK IN MY STRENGTH." 

You see, we were never meant to carry this load on our own. He has called us, so He carries us through the wait. And along that journey He shows us His heart. 

WHAT IS GOD'S HEART? WHAT IS HE TRYING TO SHOW US?

Ephesians 3:16 ~ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


So through this wait, if we discover how wide, how long, high and deep the love of Christ is, 

Isn't that the point? 

Aren't we called to be HIS HANDS AND FEET  for this child that waits for us?

So through this wait, this ache, this longing, and this love....

It is what God is intentionally showing us...

so that we "may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God". 

WHY DO WE NEED TO BE FILLED? 

Because we will pour that fullness of God out to this little child that needs us. 

So if you are  in the middle of the "waiting game", if you feel that you have gone a little "cra cra" and that you really just can't think straight anymore...

I FEEL YOUR PAIN! 

I haven't felt the "cra cra" since five years ago when we adopted our son, Nathan, from Ethiopia. 
We went through 3 different countries and 4 years before we finally brought him home. 
You talk about "cra cra", haha! 

I have been able to look at children that I come across and say, "I will find you a mother." while in my mind peacefully saying, "Because it is not me." now for four years since we started Ordinary Hero. :-) 

NOW, I MUST ADMIT.... IT'S BACK! 

I have kids that are waiting on me again! That's all I'm sayin. :-) 

I'm back to the days where my husband thinks I'm a complete psycho and I have lost my mind over these kids half the time.....

BUT

THIS TOO, SHALL PASS! :-) 

God is faithful to complete what He has started and in the meantime we must draw from Him when we find ourselves walking in our own strength. 

There is only one journey that will bring you to your child. 

The journey is all a part of the plan. 

God Bless all you cra cra adoptive mama's out there in the middle of the balance between "THE NORM" and "THE WAIT". 

I've heard three times this week from other adoptive mom's who have said, "I don't feel like I can talk to anyone else because they just don't get it." 

I just want you to know. I GET IT! :-) 








  








Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Join Us In Prayer For Maria and Dr. Ming Wang And His Team TOMORROW, Thursday 11/7 at 12pm central!

Blind orphan from Moldova takes long trip 
around the globe for a chance to see again.


Ordinary Hero was contacted personally by Dr Wang with a request for prayer for Maria's eye surgery. Please join us...

"Appreciated if you could pray for Maria, and also, if you could forward the Maria’s info (below and attached photos), to friends, so more people will be able to pray for Maria and for her upcoming very difficult and extremely challenging sight restoration surgery on 11/7 Thur 12pm noon (it will probably be the most difficult eye reconstructive surgery that I will ever have done as an eye surgeon), thank you so much!"



WKRN, Nashville News, Nashville Weather and Sports


(Nashville, TN, 11/1/13) It has been a little over a year since the doctors at the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration first learned of a young, 15-year-old blind girl named Maria, who has been living in a special needs orphanage in Balti, Moldova. In the fall of 2012, Maria’s story became the inspiration and primary focus of the foundation’s annual fundraiser, the “EyeBall”. At this gala event, over 500 attendees heard Maria’s story and were touched by her photo, which was projected across the big screen. Since then, many kindhearted citizens began a project to assist Maria in obtaining her visa so that she can come to America and be seen by the foundation, which could provide the opportunity for her to receive surgical treatments with the latest sight restoration technologies that may possibly allow her to see again!

Born prematurely, weighing only 2 pounds and having no access to proper medical care, Maria became malnourished and her physical development suffered significantly from neglect, both which affected her vision most of all. Maria’s ocular history includes an advanced, blinding cataract on her right eye, chronic inflammation of both eyes, a retinal detachment on her left eye (which has left her totally blind in that eye), and partial atrophy of both optic nerves. Even though Maria has been blind most of her life, she is kind and has befriended all the children at the orphanage. They know that if they are sad or need something, they can come to Maria for help because she will smile joyfully and do her best to help them. But Maria wants to be able to see her cherished friends. At age 15, when a teen is typically excited and looking forward to a lifetime of happiness and possibilities, Maria has been forced to live in darkness and misery, and up until now has been told that she will have to remain there for the rest of her life. This is where the Wang Foundation comes in.

Established by Ming Wang, Harvard & MIT (MD, magna cum laude); PhD (laser physics), the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration (www.wangfoundation.com) is a 501(3) non-profit charity, which to date has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge. The foundation doctors have published 7 textbooks and a paper in the world-renowned journal “Nature”, they hold several U.S. patents for new biotechnologies to restore sight, and they performed the world’s first laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation. Upon hearing Maria’s life story, these doctors decided unanimously that Maria should be their next foundation patient.

However, the road to bring Maria to the U.S. to be seen by the foundation has been a challenging one. Maria’s biological mother had to be located, and then many attempts were made to convince her to allow Maria to come to America to receive the necessary treatments. Dr. Wang himself has written many letters to consulates and embassies, asking for help in obtaining Maria’s visa. Due to the combined efforts of many caring people throughout the course of the past 12+ months, Maria finally received her visa and came to America.
 
Maria arrived at the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration on the morning of Monday, October 21, 2013, where she underwent a full eye evaluation. Dr. Wang and his team discovered that Maria has lost 100% of her sight in the left eye (due to a retinal detachment), and 99% in the right eye (she can only see light at this time). She has to use a cane and be led around if she wants to go anywhere.

Dr. Wang has planned a complicated and high-risk cataract surgery for her right eye. The reason the procedure is so risky is because she has multiple eye diseases and issues, including a small, scarred pupil, a dense cataract, uveitis, the unknown status of lens and zonular stability, and the possibility of retinal and optic nerve diseases.

 Therefore, Dr. Wang and his team have 10 barriers to overcome, each which could cause the surgery to be a success or a failure. If even one step along the way is not successful, the team may not be able to continue to the next step, and all 10 barriers must be handled successfully in order to have a chance to restore even a portion of Maria's sight.

 The odds of this entire process being successful would be similar to a person tossing a coin in the air 10 times, but he can only do the next toss if the previous toss resulted in “heads”, and he would have to stop tossing if the previous toss resulted in “tails”. Therefore, ten “tosses”--i.e., all of them--have to result in “heads” in order for the team to complete this surgery successfully.

 So with such high risks at stake, why does Dr. Wang want to do this surgery? Because Maria is blind, and her sight has gotten progressively worse due to the continual maturing of her cataract. So if she has nothing done, she will certainly lose the 1% of sight that she currently has in that eye, and she would then be completely blind. So the foundation decided to take on this challenge, and will embark upon and travel through a very difficult journey with Maria, praying throughout the process that God will step in and bless Maria with an ultimate success and bring Maria out of darkness and into light!

 This can only happen through prayer and teamwork, so Dr. Wang thanks all of you in advance for your pray and being a part of this life-changing process for Maria!


For information about Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration and Dr. Ming Wang, MD, PhD, www.wangfoundation.com,  1801 West End Ave, Ste 1150, Nashville, TN, 37203, 615-321-8881(O), drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com



Saturday, November 2, 2013

Orphan Sunday ~ Asfaw's Story

In celebration of Orphan Awareness Month and celebrating Orphan Sunday 
we are honored to share with you
Asfaw's Story! 
Thank you, Ordinary Heroes for your heart for the orphan! 
You truly are changing lives!