Operation: LOVE

I try and find one good picture to use for each of our projects. I was looking at a lot of pictures to use for Opearion: Love (sending valentines/cards to orphans around the world). Many of the pictures I considered using were just beautiful and would have worked well...but I really felt like I should keep searching. I wanted to use one that really symbolized LOVE. I found among some of GABI DICKENSON's photos, images where kids were hugging each other and thought, "That is PERFECT for Operation: LOVE!"...but then I would change my mind. I saw some of people loving on orphans and thought THOSE would be perfect...but something just wasn't right. SO, I totally did a dorky thing and I "googled" images of Chinese orphans. I know. Lame. BUT... I came across this picture. The second I glimpsed it, it took my heart away. I clicked on it and read the story:

A man in rural China worked as a scavenger. He was quite old for the job, and should have retired. In China (as everywhere, I would assume), scavenger workers don't have a lot...they don't have a lot of money, food, clothes, a lot of space in a house. One day, he was out working and he saw a group of people all gathered around something. He was curious and went to see at what it was they were all gazing. He worked his way through the crowd and saw in the middle of the group a small baby wrapped in a thin sheet. The man was so sad that no one was doing anything to help the baby. They were just looking. Well, this kind old man, I imagine with calloused and wrinkled hands, lifted the small baby. The man said the infant was frozen stiff. He brought the small bundle home and he and his wife wrapped the little girl in a burlap bag and fed her soup broth. Soon, she warmed up enough to move. The wife felt sad for the girl and said she pitied her. She said that no one else wanted to touch the baby. "She is human", the wife expressed, something I think many people forget about orphans.

The years have passed and the man is now more than 80 years old. That first little girl he brought home was not the last. Over the years, he has taken in all of the abandoned children he has found and now cares for over 40 little ones. Everyone knows where to send abandoned children, and even the local law enforcement knows to bring abandoned babies or children to this man and his wife to care for.

This story absolutely broke my heart...and healed it at the same time. This man who had NOTHING, sacrificed EVERYTHING for that little girl. This man has a deep sympathy and a Christ-like love for his fellow-man. He does not judge those abandoned, or think they are less than him! He and his wife see them as deserving children. And although Christianity is illegal in China, this man is the greatest example of how to live a Christ-like life.

So, I chose this picture. It SCREAMS "love" to my heart. The picture is of one of the children he has taken in. You can see the boy is holding and LAYING IN the hands of this kind old man. It is so touching and so powerful!

May we all love as he does! Let us all perform this small act of sending a valentine so we can be like this man and show love for those so starving for it.

A Short Update

I can't sleep, so I decided to post! Our great friend, and someone who has really helped SSS so very much, delivered her valentines/cards to us today! They are beautiful, each with a picture of Christ (so we know they are going to Africa, not China). THANK YOU, C! Many people have said they would donate valentines. Each told me how many they could provide, and guess what the total is? 225! I kid you not! We serve such a GREAT God! Thank you to everyone who is donating valentines! If you still want to donate some, don't hesitate! We still need MANY more! Please continue to pray that the orphanage in China (where T and I spent time with the children) will allow us to send some valentines to the children there. I know it would mean so much to T, as he really misses the children there, and he loves them so much. I admit, I, too, miss those little munchkins. I became especially close to one little girl and I really miss her hugs and her laugh. Unfortunately, they would not allow us to take pictures of the children, so I can't share her picture with you. However, her face is imprinted on my heart, and I will forever be able to see her smiling face in my mind. Is it time to go back to China yet? :)

Three New Projects!

It has been a crazy few months! It has been overwhelming going through the, what I call, "Reverse Culture Shock". That is the shock of going from China to America. Going from typhoons to temperate weather. Going from cement floors and walls, to carpet and wallpaper. Going from random power outages, to consistent electricity. Going from shower over the bathroom floor to a bathtub and lots of hot water and a "western" bathroom. It is that panic that comes from having TOO much, and not being able to forget the life you have lived, and, even harder, the things you have seen. Having Reverse Culture Shock, severe jet-lag and Christmas all within the same month has been a bit hard to come through. I have appreciated the patience of my family and friends as Taiger and I have "gotten back in to the swing of things". With the settling of the chaos we have been able to reflect on our time in China. Taiger is really starting to miss China, and we can't wait for the day when we can go back. In the meantime, we will occasionally share stories on our other blog, manygrandadventures.blogspot.com, of our adventures there. We hope you will stop by our other blog and enjoy hearing our stories and seeing our pictures. Now that we are back and things are calming down, we have all decided it is time to get Sixteen Small Stones started with some new projects for 2011! We are really jumping in with both feet and have a few new projects already underway! To kick things off, we are having our annual OPERATION: LOVE, sending valentines to orphans around the world! We hope you will want to be a part of this project by making (or purchasing) valentines and sending them to SSS. We will collect all of the valentines and send them off! Let us know if you are interested in helping with this project! The deadline for sending in your valentines is March 1, so get out the glue and glitter and get going with the fun! We are also raising money to purchase beds for some very special little girls in Africa (Racham Ministries, Uganda, andthenloveon.blogspot.com). (Don't forget! Even ONE dollar helps...and you can donate via Paypal using the button on the left hand side of this blog!) OPERATION: Fuzzi Bunz is returning from last year for an encore run! Thanks to two very generous women, we had great success with this project last year, and we hope this year is just as successful. Many children were greatly blessed with these cozy, cloth diapers, and we hope to bless many more little ones this year! If you are at all interested in helping with any of these projects, please let us know! We would love to have any help with these fun projects! We also are so very thankful for anyone who feels so compelled to donate money, diapers, valentines, time, prayers or love! :) Thank you all so very much!!

What Child Is This?

"What Child is This?"

What child IS this?

Or this?

Or this?

What child is this?

Back From China

WE ARE BACK!!!!! Taiger and I have returned to America. We are still trying to get over jet-lag, but I wanted to post and let everyone know we are back! I want to post a HUGE THANK YOU to the members of our Sixteen Small Stones board who kept things going while I was gone. It was a rough journey and we had a lot of time where I could not access the internet, and therefore was completely out of touch with everyone in America, including members of our board, our partner homes, etc. I hated being "out of the loop", but I never worried a second that things would be taken care of in my absence. Thank you all for your hard work! You are amazing! Also, THANK YOU to EVERYONE for your positive thoughts and prayers. They were truly felt and appreciated more than you can imagine. There were some really hard times and times when we were in less than safe situations. Your prayers brought strength to push through the hard times, and safety in times of danger. Thank you all so very, very much!!

The first update of many

From China, to Me, to You. Hey! It's Bryttan, I'm going to be posting updates for Breclyn until she returns home from her adventure in Chinaland. Sorry, you are going to have to put up with me and my craziness. I don't write nearly as well as Breclyn, nor do I know as much as her, but I'll do my best, and keep you all updated on what she is doing and want's to say. So Sixteen Small Stones followers, Breclyn and Taiger are living near the Hai Nan orphanage and have been going over once a day for hours to help and play with the Children there. She has yet to take pictures, but She has told me that they do take care of the kids, it's just, the china way. Whenever they go over, the kids run over to Breclyn, and wait patiently for their turn to be held by her. Taiger has told me that he loves to play with the kids, but their teachers are mean to them. He has also gone on to tell me that he has told the kids that [I] am very nice and can come take care of them. Thank you Taiger for volunteering me, haha. Wish I could. Glad they couldn't understand what you were telling them. The kids over in that orphanage do not get the attention and care that they need, and Breclyn has told me what goes on inside, and it makes me want to do everything I can to help those kids. I wish I could go over, but someone has to stay here and keep everyone updated I guess. Also, I don't have the money or time unfortunately. The "Aunts" (caregivers/teachers) in the orphanage are trying to take care of so many kids, that they don't have time to be gentle with each child and they change them on a wooden counter top that is very hard. They do not lay the babies down softly, and they cry in pain. Their diapers are cloth, but they are not nice and what they do is tie them around their waists very tightly and it rubs against them. Breclyn said that they all have rashes and bruises. I want to try to do another Fuzzy Bunz type of fundraiser again, only it does not HAVE to be Fuzzy Bunz nor does it have to be called Fuzzy Bunz. I don't know much about cloth diapers, but if anyone out there does, let me know and maybe we can get some nicer softer kinds for these kids. What do you all think?? Next thing, They have a room for the children with disabilities. I did not quite understand, but it sounded like they have many different rooms with a lot of kids in each one. Maybe it's easier for them to take care of the kids this way. I'll try to get more accurate details, I'm sorry. Anyway, it sounds like they only have ONE doll for all the kids (yes, girls AND boys) to share. Breclyn told me that they have to take turns and the little girls especially hate this. They love walking around holding their dolly so much. I am going to sew some dolls to send over, and if anyone else wants to do the same and or send some to me instead of DI, I think they would love it. Breclyn and I have been talking about other things we would like to do, but I'm going to wait to bring that up. We don't actually have permission from the orphanage to do this, but Breclyn said we don't need any. She has been going over and has met with many of the Teachers and She says if we send them, she can just bring them in and they will be happy. The problem is, with me here doing this alone, I don't really know where to start to get money. So, if you do send some dolls, try to make them those softer light dolls....do you know what kind I am talking about? Just because right now I don't have a lot of money to send a very heavy package. I'm sorry. I need to talk to Breclyn and ask her a lot of questions. I just don't want you all to be lost, or think that Sixteen Small Stones is no more. We're doing what we can with her over there and me here :) Heavenly Father will help us if we have faith that everything will work out. I believe that is true. So, I will keep boring you all with my posts, updating you until I get things worked out and going again. I really think that the diapers and babies are a really good place to start. I'll post her stories from the orphanage a little later, they are so amazing, i want everyone to hear them. I had surgery and have been going through a long recovery. Posting a short blog is about all I can do right now, I apologize. I'll leave you with some pictures that She has sent to me. I know She is doing what She can right now while she is there to help anyone and everyone and still study and take time for her dear sweet Taiger. She is grateful to all of you who support her and have helped 16 Small Stones so much. I know I am as well. Being on this end, I have seen how much help and support you have all given, from money, to prayers, it's all appreciated. It's been amazing. Thank you. Keep praying, and things will all work out for everyone. God blesses us in many ways, we just have to be patient and have faith. Thanks Everyone!! This is their way of transportation. Taiger sits on the back seat and Breclyn peddles. She's going to come home with some super strong calf muscles, haha. Aaaaaand, when you take a 4 year old little boy to China to help the people, he prefers to help the Turtles. Taiger caught this tiny turtle, and is crazy for him :)

God Is Love

Today, I am giving a little, quick lesson in church. I am teaching the song, "God Is Love" and I wanted to give a little lesson about it. The problem is, I don't really understand that phrase, "God Is Love". God is made up of flesh and bone. So, what does it mean that "God IS Love"? For the past few weeks, I have been trying to better understand this concept. I still don't understand it with my mind, but I have started to comprehend it in my HEART. A few experiences I have had these past few weeks have helped me feel this idea that God Is Love. I felt God and was overwhelmed with this realization of how HUGE His love is. I saw beauty in Earth and felt warm inside like a testimony of God's love. I felt Love, and in that love was God. I wish I were an eloquent writer, like Bethany P. Haily, or Gabi Dickinson, or Katie Davis. But I am not. All I have is my testimony and my heart.