Adoption. It's A Beautiful Thing!

 We are celebrating in my family this week over the homecoming of my nephew, Lincoln Teddy. This has been long awaited and is very much celebrated. You see, i found Teddy in the orphanage in July 2010 when I took my very first OH team over and we visited this orphanage for the very first time. I saw this beautiful boy walking down the steps with his unmatched clothes with some kind of onesie hanging out that he was wearing for warmth. He had on pink shoes and he was just beautiful. It was so weird. As soon as I looked at him I immediately saw my sister, Kasey's face, in his. He just looked like he was meant to be hers. He reminded me of her other two children and even looked like them to me.

 I immediately scooped him up and just had this feeling that I was holding my nephew. I emailed Kasey and told her about him and sent her a picture. She immediately said yes! And so the process began. She waited a long time for his paperwork to be complete and things looked doubtful all throughout the process but we kept praying and never gave up hope that God would see it through.

 In the meantime, he met his cousin Collin on this trip and his Uncle Shane.

 That trip came and went and then my sister, Kristi and I traveled back over in December of 2010. We went to see him at the orphanage so he could meet his Aunt Kristi.

 In the meantime my sister, Kasey is just praying and waiting for her turn to meet her son, herself.

Time came and went  while my sister and her family waited.....

Exactly one year from the time I first saw him, I was back again with another OH team. I showed him pictures of his family he had never met. 

 My sister's friend, LeAnne was on our trip and gave Teddy lots of love too. But still, my sister had not been to meet him yet.

Finally the day came. She had a court date and could travel to go meet her son in March. What a long awaited visit. But the hardest part was saying goodbye. It seems as soon as they got there they had to say goodbye and go home and wait for their Embassy appointment. She said it was the hardest thing of their lives....to have to wait all that time to meet your son, and then have to say goodbye. 

But FINALLY the day came. She got the email. She could go pick up her son! So off to Ethiopia Kasey went last week and just arrived home with Lincoln Teddy this past Sat. 

 Along with her hubby and two kiddos, there was a mob at the airport in Nashville. Not only was Teddy arriving home, but baby Jude, another little one adopted from our area to the Whitfields was arriving home on the same flight.

 Everyone stood around anxiously awaiting them to walk around the corner. It was a very exciting time.

 And then, Wow! Here both families came around the corner, with their prized possessions in tow.

 What a beautiful site it was to see my sister finally bringing her son home. 

 The crowd went nuts as you can imagine. 

 Daddy, sister and brother were the first to greet him. It was so precious. 

 He remembered his Daddy and went right to him. He finally has a Daddy!

 Big sis couldn't take it any longer and had to scoop him up. 

 Another one who couldn't stand it any longer was Ashli. Ashli is home for a holiday break and has helped take care of Teddy in his orphanage for the past year.

 She met him for the first time as I did on that team trip in July of 2010. She since moved to Ethiopia and has been watching him wait for a family ever since. To see him finally come home was so special for her. She just cried as she held him.

 She spoke to him in Amharic and he answered her. He was glad to see such a familiar face :-)

 Kasey's adoption makes 4 Ethiopian cousins adopted to me and two of my sisters. How special is that?

Special thanks to Kasey's friend support group for coming out to see Teddy home. Friends are an important support during the wait time of an adoption. 

 One more beautiful family complete through adoption! What a beautiful thing!!

I want to take a moment and show you some sweet faces who have also come home this year from Ethiopia whom I had the pleasure of meeting and advocating for and then the absolute joy of seeing them get adopted! God is good. What a great year it has been!

First my sister found her son in Ethiopia in December of last year. He was sick and in need of surgery. 

 She had this immediate connection. 

 Now he is home, healthy and a beautiful boy enjoying his Mommy, Daddy, and 5 siblings. 

 I'm so thankful to have been able to be a small part of bringing joy to these little ones who finally made it home this year also.

I had the pleasure of meeting the Culberson family at the airport. I had advocated for their daughter for a long time as I watched her sit on the wait list. I was so thrilled to see little Miheret again (I think they named her Lucy). She is simply beautiful. They are blessed. 

 I have blogged about the Flores fam before. They are doing great with their two new little ones. 

There are more but these are the pics that I had handy at the moment.

I want to leave you with one of my favorite little guys. I also met Getu in July of 2010. He had been on the wait list for a couple of years. I immediately started advocating for him in our waiting children to try to get him a family.  

 He had many friends at the orphanage and was always such a joy. 

 His smile could light up a room. I wanted him to find a family so bad! I took the pics below on my trip in July of 2010.

 Then again in December as he still waited....

 Then, FINALLY this July while I was in Ethiopia on my team trip I got to tell him HE HAD A FAMILY! HE HAD BEEN CHOSEN!! My beautiful friend, Crystal and her family knew that God was calling them to adopt Getu. You can watch this video and at the end you can see me tell him that he has a family. It was the highlight of my trip and such a blessing for this little boy who had waited for what seemed like forever for a family.

 Crystal, her husband, and one of her sons traveled to go to their court date and meet Getu for the first time in October. They first stopped at his uncles house.

 His uncle just hugged them and sobbed and said since Getus parents had both died he had prayed so hard for Getu to find a family as he was too poor to care for him. Crystal said she just sobbed.

 They then made it over to the orphanage where they met their son for the first time. She said he was standing there waiting for them anxiously with a great big smile on his face. He just ran into all of their arms.
                                                              Finally he had a mother....

 A father....

And a brother...

 The family he had dreamed of. And it doesn't hurt that his Dad used to play for the Tennessee Titans :-)

 They had a great week introducing him to so many firsts. 

 He got to Skype with one of his best buddies who had gotten adopted from his orphanage and gone home several months earlier. He just loved it!

Then there is the dreaded day that his family has to go back to America and he is left there to wait for them to return. I REALLY don't like this part of the adoption process. It is so hard on the children and the family. You can already see the look of uncertainty in his face as he has to prepare to say goodbye.

 Crystal said it was the saddest moment of their lives. They all sobbed and just held him. They assured him that they loved him and that they would be back for him soon.

 We now pray and wait for the day that they get that word..."Go get your son!" They are anxiously waiting for that day to come. We pray it comes quickly. You can read the full story on their blog HERE. Thank you, Archie Family, for stepping up to the call of adoption of an older child. We can all see how much it means the world to him to have a family. 

We also remember all the children who are left behind and most are not adoptable. 

We also are so thankful that Betty and Mahlet have found a family, as well as a sibling group of 4 I had advocated for and many others. We pray them all home to their forever families very soon. 

ADOPTION. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING!

Blessing Bags!!

Well, our Blessing Bags idea is taking off! So many of you have sent them our way after we got the word out about them. Thanks to some of the organized girls on my last visit to Ethiopia, they came up with the idea of these pre-packaged zip lock bags filled with basic items sorted in sizes for the children we run across that are in need. We used to show up with mountains of clothes and donations that we would have to sort through and then never end up having the right size at hand that we needed. Now I LOVE this new idea of having them already sorted by size and labeled by boy or girl!! If you missed my post which shows our visit to the country in Ethiopia to pass out these blessing bags, CLICK HERE to see why they are so greatly needed.

We find these kids in the country wandering in rags or sometimes nothing at all.

 Do you have any idea how excited they get, and what a blessing it is to them and their mother struggling to provide? We show up clear out of the middle of no where and start handing them new outfits, snacks, shoes, and a toy, all in a bag just for them.

They come running from every direction. It is like Christmas for them. It is God showing them that they are not forgotten. It is God showing them they are loved.

These simple bags are GREATLY needed. 

We have five teams traveling to Ethiopia in the summer and are probably about to add a 6th team in April. We will be passing out these Blessing Bags to the kids in need there.

Some of you have helped us get the word out about our Blessing Bags and we want to say THANKS!! You all have had some GREAT ideas that I want to share.

The Give1Save1 blog in Houston, Texas, put the word out about the Blessing Bags and got a great response. Here is a blurb about how they did this.... "I had alot of fun doing this. In fact I’m having a little party with my girlfriends this weekend to make more. Here’s the mission. Blessing Bags. We’re going to mail them to Ordinary Hero and they’re going to take them out to the country. It’s really that simple." 

Thanks, Give1Save1 for helping spread the word to get these kids a bunch of Blessing Bags!

I also got an email from Danae in Kansas, who had a great idea to host a Blessing Bag party in honor of her 30th Birthday. What a great idea!! Check out the results of her party HERE. WOW! That little party produced 130 Blessing Bags!!

Thanks, Danae and to all your friends,  for blessing the kiddos with these bags in honor of your Bday!! Happy Birthday!!

Next, I have to share Elizabeth's great idea from Knoxville, TN . "I have a small group for my PEP MOMS ministry at my church, meeting at my house next week for a mom's night to make some "Blessing Bags" for OH.  :)" She just emailed me the pics from her girl's night. Wow! What a group of fun, crafty women coming together for a FUN night, and a GREAT cause!!

Thank you, Elizabeth, and your small group! You guys showed us the JOY and FUN that can be found in giving.

I have a couple more folks that have contacted me saying they have Blessing Bag parties scheduled in the next month. I also heard that a Brownie Troop just stuffed some Blessing Bags.  I will be posting pics when I get them :-)

If you would like to host a party or simply send in some Blessing Bags, this is what we need:


We need items from baby all the way up to small adult for the teens and moms. So pretty much any size is welcome. We need the items packaged in Gallon Size Zip Lock Bags according to Size and Gender (Boy/Girl). Please label the outside of the bags with either Boy or Girl and the Age/Size. Slightly used clothing is acceptable as well. 


We spend most of our time in Ethiopia during the raining season which is cold. Suggested items to be placed in the Blessing Bags are:


Pair of pants, and long sleeve shirt that fit as an outfit of the same size. 
Pair of underwear and socks to fit that same size child. 
Small toy, or something fun for the child. (stickers, small doll, toy car, etc) Give age appropriate small items that are not heavy. 
Small Toiletries
We will pass out snacks ourselves at the time we give them the bags so that we don't run the risk of them going bad between now and when we deliver. 


You may also include a note of encouragement to let them know that this hand-delivered gift is showing them they are loved all the way from America.  This is something fun you can have your kiddos do as well. 


Also, if you want to include your own signature on the outside of the bag or the name of your party, etc you may do so in order to let them and us know who it is from. This is what they will see first when handed the bag.  The inserted notes will also serve this purpose as well.


Please mail your pre-packaged and labeled Blessing Bags to: 


Ordinary Hero
c/o Amy Bealle 

105 Keeton Drive.
Hopkinsville, Ky 42240

These bags will be taken with our OH teams to Ethiopia and passed out to many children in need. We will always try to take pictures to show you where your donations are going and who you have blessed. Speaking of Mission teams, there is still room on our trips if you want to jump on board and help pass these bags out with us :-) Check out our Mission trips page for more info.

Trust me when I say that these items are greatly needed and appreciated :-) Thank you for being an Ordinary Hero!!

Our November Grant Winners!!

Yay!! We love giving grants!! Ordinary Hero has an affiliate program in which we help those of you who are fundraising for adoptions or missions, raise funds. We give 40% of everything sold in the store to our affiliates when their name is checked in the drop down menu during check out. It is that simple. We also average about one grant giveaway per month. We just wrapped up our grant giveaway this month which ended last night. The top three affiliates with highest sales ($ amount) credited to their name during our grant contest from 11/4- 11/13 are getting an extra $500 each on top of their 40% they earned in commission to be applied toward their adoption or mission trip expenses. Yay!!

Soooo......our winners are......

#1 seller is Lizzie Barrett!! Congrats Lizzie, you blew this out of the water with 38 of the highest sales credited in your name. That, with the $500 grant, earned you over $1400!! Lizzie is from Utah and this grant will be applied toward her adoption. You can see her blog HERE.

#2 seller is Kristen Williams!! Congrats, Kristen!! Kristen had 25 of the highest sales credited in her name. That with her $500 grant earned her over $1200!! Kristen is adopting two kiddos from different countries. This grant will be applied toward her adoptions. Kristen is from Ohio and you can see her blog HERE. 

#3 seller is Rachel Edwards!! Congrats, Rachel!! Rachel jumped to #3 spot with 13 bigger sales credited to her name. That, with the $500 grant, earned her over $1100 which will be applied toward her adoption!! Rachel is from Indiana and you can view her blog HERE.

Congrats Ladies!!

Honorable mentions go to two other affiliates which both had over $1000 in sales credited to their name but did not fall in the top three spots. We would like to offer Amy Eatherly and Ladonna Powell a $50 gift certificate to our OH store for doing such a great job at getting the word out during this grant contest and having some great sales. Ladies, you both earned great 40% commission during this contest.

Also, a few others worth mentioning that had over $500 in merch sales credited to their name were
Bealle Family
Libby Bolesky
Sharon Wilson
Heather Kelley
Ashley Rippke
Kasey Hauret

Way to go!!!

You all earned some great commission during this contest. Many thank you's go out to all our affiliates for participating in this grant giveaway!! Also, many thank you's go out to all of you who purchased on behalf of our affiliates. Every single purchase credited to our affiliates puts money into their account which will be applied toward their adoption or mission trip. I have been on their side of fundraising with my own adoption before, so trust me when I say, it is GREATLY appreciated!!

Be ready for our next grant giveaway scheduled to start Thursday, December 1 and run through Sunday, Dec 11. Yep, $500 each will be given away to our TOP 3 AFFILIATES with the highest sales ($ amount) credited to their name during that time period. So if you are adopting or  raising money for a mission trip, be sure to get signed up as an OH affiliate. Just spread the word and you could win a grant!! Orders will be mailed in time for Christmas so plan on some Christmas shopping.

We have some exciting new items that will added to the OH store soon in time for Christmas orders so be on the look out!!

Again, CONGRATS to our grant giveaway winners and all of you who raised funds during this grant giveaway. You are all winners!! Also, a special thanks goes out to Gina, our OH fundraising coach, for doing such a great job as always with giving out fundraising pointers and tips during this grant giveaway. Thanks, Gina!!

Let Us Not Forget ~ Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday. Let us not forget the orphan.


Ordinary Hero~ The Orphan from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.


Click here to go to the direct link. 

Grant Giveaway Starting Tomorrow, Friday, Nov 4th!!

3 Chances to Win $500!!! Don't Miss Out!!

Ordinary Hero is giving away THREE $500 grants! 

The top three selling affiliates with the most sales beginning Friday, Nov 4th at 12:01AM through Sunday, Nov 13th at 11:59 PM will each receive $500 on top of the 40% commission that OH Affiliates receive. This is a GREAT way to fundraise for your adoption or mission trip. Have you been thinking about joining OH on an upcoming mission trip but don't know how you will pay for it? Sign up as an OH Affiliate and start raising your funds now. Our top sellers usually make over $1000 in about 9 days!! Even if you don't get in the top three you receive 40% of every purchase made in your name from the drop down menu at checkout. It is that simple!! 

For instance, if someone buys our new GO BASEBALL TEE for $39.99 and clicks on your name in the dropdown menu, you receive $16 into your account. Look how simple that is. To find out more about signing up as an OH Affiliate, CLICK HERE.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the new items that we will be adding to our store before 12:01 tomorrow. We have some great new stuff!! Look for it at the start of the grant contest. 

If you are an affiliate and did not receive an email from Gina, please email her at Gina@OrdinaryHero.org. She will be giving you pointers on how to do your best throughout this grant giveaway.You may also email her if you have any questions. Hope to see you all get signed up and win big! We are excited to help you adopt and travel on missions!!