Shoe designed for people with special needs!

This is a great article on a new shoe designed by Nike for those who have difficulty putting on regular shoes. Could be really helpful to a lot of people!





http://www.kptv.com/story/29582869/nike-creates-shoe-specifically-designed-for-people-with-disabilities?autostart=true

Steps

Mr Sweetness and Light took his very first steps with two legs! He got to try it out for about 15 to 20 minutes. This first leg is a rough one so changes can be made to suit his uniqueness.  More work will be done on it since it couldn't be adjusted any further for him. Our prosthetist said to expect more adjustments as he learns to walk because his gait and stance will change over time. At his next appointment, the leg will get fine-tuned even more and then he will meet with the physical therapist who will help learn to use it.





I cannot begin to describe the joy I felt watching his first few steps. Since I didn't have any of my children as infants, this is the first 'first step' experience I've had with any of my kids. I wasn't sure whether to make a fuss--after all he is 15 years old and boys that age don't really want that kind of fussing since they're 'grown up now!'

National Step Forward for Orphans Day

May 16, 2015 will be the third annual National Step Forward for Orphans Day. Both Ends Burning will be hosting activities in at least 20 cities across the nation on that day including showings of their award-winning movie Stuck. Links to their website are on the Positively Paying Forward page. I will be hosting a viewing of Stuck in the Portland Metro area earlier in the month--time and location to be determined at the moment.

Ginger on a Mission

So incredibly grateful for this support! You have got to go check out their designs! So beautiful! Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Ginger on a Mission is feeling lead to help a specific family racing against time and would like to donate 75% of our sales to the Terry Tomaszewski family as they need to get their aging out boy by January 1st! This is a desperate situation as in Immanuel's country, he will lose his chance to be adopted on that date!

Please consider donating or purchasing from our site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GINGERONAMISSION and specify the Tomaszewski family. Read their story here: http://reecesrainbow.org/67597/sponsortomaszewski

 

 

Calling all superheros!

You don't need a cape, the ability to leap tall buildings, or a special automobile. This t-shirt will make you a hero and empower you to give Immanuel a family,  enable him to walk, and inspire others to become superheros too! This shirt will only be available for a short time so hurry and get yours today! Quality short, long, and hoodie styles available. More information at the link below. For every shirt purchased, $15 will be donated to Immanuel's adoption. We must order 50 shirts for Bonfire to print them up and make a donation. Oh, and for every 10 shirts on an order, they will give you one free!

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/find_a_fund?s=Immanuel





This week we celebrate Halloween, All Saints Day, and El Dia de los Muertos. There's another current running through this coming Sunday, Orphan Sunday. While we wouldn't be celebrating that 153 million children worldwide are orphans, there has been a movement among some church groups to dwell on support of orphans and orphan care together as a body on a single day. Here's the URL to their website http://orphansunday.org/

Since many liturgical churches celebrate All Saints Day this coming weekend, a friend of mine suggested we do Orphan Sunday on an alternate Sunday, St. Nicholas' feast day in Advent. Among other things, St. Nicholas is patron saint of children so it would be very fitting. What do you think?

Children in Families First 2013

When I created this post there wasn't a badge I could use to set up a connecting link to the CHIFF website so I shared their infographic regarding orphans and adoption which turned out to be much larger than I wanted on the front page of my blog roll.

In a nutshell, CHIFF or Children in Families First looks to improve children's lives world-wide by focusing on reducing the number of children world-wide who live without families. It's aim will be to build child welfare systems that reunify children with their biological families or see them adopted into extend family, their community of origin, domestically, or internationally. You'll find news and information on legislation, impact of living without a family, stories about orphans and other vital information.  I'm including the badge here and in the sidebar so it doesn't get lost in the archives.