Vampires for Africa

This post is written all-in-good-fun and is in no way meant to offend. The party specifically mentioned has given her express permission to be poked fun of.

If you have known me any length of time or have ever been around me when the topic of the Twilight series (sorry - "saga") comes up, then you know that I am vehemently opposed to reading those books. Ever. It's not that I think the books are evil or amoral. I don't have something against vampires or teen romance (well, maybe a tiny bit on that last one). I simply refuse to be associated with the crazed fans of Twilight - neither the screaming teenage girls or the age-inappropriate, not-so-secretly-swooning grown women. Nothin' doin'. Not now, not ever.

Well. Cue the exception to the aforementioned declaration: I love orphans more than I hate Twilight and I have a very devious best friend who just happens to be one of the crazed fanatics mentioned above. So, when I sent out a letter telling my friends and family that I would be looking for creative ways to raise money for my Uganda mission trip, unbeknownst to me, my fate was sealed. 

For two years, my "best friend" (hereafter refereed to as "The Devious One") has badgered me with pleas to read Twilight. My response was always, "Not gonna happen." To which she would respond, "Will there ever be anything that could get you to read it?" 

Knowing that, while devious, my best friend is not likely to cause me bodily harm to get me to read a book, I would reply, "If I am ever on bed-rest, I might-maybe-could-possibly be talked into reading it, otherwise - forget it." 

Then one fateful day, The Devious One laced her pleas with guilty-ridden whispers of, "If you were really my best friend, you would read this book. It would mean so much to me and I'm asking you to do me this one favor - as my friend." This went on for fifteen straight minutes until the desperate entreaties ringing in my ears had to be stopped at all costs. In a frantic huff, I agreed to read the first five chapters - one for each year of best-friendship. The Devious One however, was only momentarily satisfied and I could see in her eyes that she would not settle for only this.

Then, before I knew what had happened, The Devious One was offering me financial support for my Uganda trip if I read the entire Twilight book. (How's that for creative?) Now the whispers rang with words of, "How much do you really want to go to Uganda and work with those orphans? Enough to read Twilight???"

The Devious One's schemes have worked and after two years, she has finally discovered a way to force my hand into reading Twilight. However, before I start this venture, I am looking for a few more Twilight die-hards to join in The Devious One in sponsoring my reading of this much despised book. I know there are a number of you who know exactly how deep my distaste goes (J.S., S.H., J.D. - you know who you are), so this is your chance to prove to me how wonderful this book is. Any takers?

If so, leave me a comment saying you'll sponsor me on this devious challenge of madness, then go to www.visitingorphans.com and click “Donate” in the upper right hand corner. (Specify the donation for my trip – “March 18-27, 2011, Uganda Trip” and designate the funds to “Jennifer Hanson”). All gifts are tax deductible.

Check back here for an update on my progress - I'll let you know when I start and what I think once I'm finished. 

It's on.
 

A Thanksgiving Julia-ism

Julia-isms: funny saying from my baby sister

In honor of "Turkey-Day," I will bestow upon you this little gem...

On the way to church one Sunday, Julia was sitting in the back of the van singing "Hush Little Baby" to her doll. However, her rendition of the classic nursery rhyme was a little... well... unique:

"Hush little baby don't you cry,
Mama's gonna buy you a turkey.
And if that turkey doesn't die,
Mama's gonna buy you an oven." 

Laughter - something I'm thankful God has blessed us with. 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy those turkeys, but I do not recommend given them to your babies.

What if Christmas is more than we've made it?

In light of the fact that many people will be running out to hit all the post-Thanksgiving sales this weekend, I thought I'd share this video. I saw this for the first time two years ago and still get chills every time I watch it. Something to think about as you brave the Black Friday crowds this long weekend...

(For some ideas on meaningful gift-giving, check out this post.)

"Two"

It always amuses me to hear my dad explain how he became the father of five kids. He likes to say that he started out wanting two kids and that my mom talked him into a third and then God talked him into adopting a forth... but then God dropped two little girls "temporarily" into our laps instead. (read that story here)

Today, my family joyfully celebrates my sisters' six-year adoption anniversary. For the occasion, I thought it would be fun to share some thoughts I wrote shortly after my sisters were adopted - a little glimpse into my mind as I processed the new additions to our family.

Two
by Jennifer Robison
January 28, 2005

My parents are adopting a little girl. I can’t wait! I’m the oldest and only daughter- I’ve always wanted a little sister to spoil. I’ll dress her in pretty dresses with bows and frills. I’ll buy her dolls and do her hair…

Then again… maybe I like being the only girl. It after all, has its benefits. There’s only so much room on daddy’s little finger.

Less room. Let room in the house, less room in my parent’s hearts, less room in the car on cross-country road trips.

Less time. More stress. Less money. More noise.

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.

What? Two? Two! There are two of them now?

Two little girls. Two under the age of two. Twice the time, half the space. Two times the diapers, two times the work.

Wait a minute! I’m twenty-one years old! I’ll be over the hill by the time they enter high school! Let’s look at this logistically- I’m away at college. I’ll never get to know them. I’ll be known as “that’s sister of ours far away in college.” That hardly seems fair. Perhaps we should send them back.

But back to where? They have no other place to go. When I imagine what their lives would be like if they did go back… No pressure or anything, but the fate of these little girls lives lies in your hands!

Life might be less complicated without them…but would it be better? It would be a lot quieter without their constant chatter, without their contagious laughter. 

This would be easier if they weren’t so darn cute!

What harm would it really do if they stayed? They need us... and maybe we need them too.

We’re their second chance. And they’re our chance to make a difference; to do something really worthwhile with our lives.

Less room? Less room for selfish motives.

Time? More time to put someone else before myself.

Two? 

Two. Two more hugs in the morning, two more kisses at night.

Two little girls.

Two precious lives that I have the opportunity to influence.

Two precious hearts I have the chance to fill with love.

Two precious souls that I have responsibility to impact for eternity.

How could I say no to that?

Christmas 2008

"Uganda or Bust" Garage Sale

Garage sales are an interesting breed ain't they? You never know what you'll find or the types of folks who will show up. The "Uganda or Bust" garage sale that Devin and I had this past weekend was no exception.

The generously donated items given to us by our amazing friends and family

Thank you to my brother and sister-in-law for allowing us to invade their always pristine garage for two days.

It was interesting to sort through the collection of items that people donated for our sale - clothing styles spanning (at least) two decades, workout tapes that - despite the best of intentions - never seemed to make it out of the box, brand new books and some well-loved, along with all sorts of odds and ins - all with a story. There was one particular set of male unmentionables that certainly must have had a story behind (ahem) them and I was glad the family member or friend whom they belonged to remained anonymous. 

The variety of people who show up for garage sales are even more interesting. I think we met the best and the worst of the garage-sale junkie bunch during our sale. One sweet lady didn't buy anything, but gave us $5.00 for our trip anyways. Another gal, after talking us down $8.00 in price, returned almost immediately and paid the full price when she realized the sale was to fund a mission trip. People are so nice sometimes. Other times however... $20.00 microwaves go missing and Tasmanian devils disguised as middle-aged women tear apart all of your neatly organized clothing piles, buy one shirt and leave the mess all over the garage without a second glance. ::HUFF::

But then, sometimes God shows up and puts things in perspective while teaching you a lesson on provision...

The missing microwave incident had just been discovered and Devin was trying to re-organize the clothing disaster when a lady showed up and began chatting with him about our trip. He found out that she just happens to be an advocate for Compassion International. And of course, a huge part of the reason we are going to Uganda in the first place is to meet our Compassion sponsor children! How's that for God dropping some encouragement in your lap just at the right time? But it gets better (as it often does with God-stories), she gave us a $45.00 donation for our trip just because she was so excited that we get to meet our girls. Wowzer  - what a blessing! And what a cool way for God to provide for the stolen microwave and then some!

All in all, we raised nearly $700 through the sale. Which means that the extra travels costs for our Compassion girls to meet up with us are more than covered, along with the supplies we'll be bringing for the orphanages. God is so faithful.

Thank you so much to all our generous family and friends who donated items for our sale. We appreciated this blessing so much! (And thank you to my dear, sweet husband who did the majority of the work planning and running the garage sale! You are amazing.)

Happy National Adoption Day!

Katie (3), Julia (2)

On November 22, my family will celebrate the six-year anniversary of the adoption of my little sisters Katelyn and Julia. The girls were two and three years old when they were adopted and they remember the day quite well, so their anniversary is celebrated much like a birthday in our family. I am so grateful that God brought my sisters into our family! I can not imagine our lives without them.

I remember when my dad first called a "family conference" to discuss the possibly of starting the adoption process. Together the five of us (my parents,my two younger brothers and I) weighed the "pros and cons" of adoption. The pros were easy - we'd get a cute new sibling and give that child a forever family. The drawbacks were less time, less money, less space, more work, more patience, more sharing... that list just seemed to go on and on.

After we spent a while laying out these challenges, my dad very gently asked us one simple question. A question that still comes to my mind when making a decision that requires me to sacrifice something for another. He simply asked, "Can anyone think of an unselfish reason not to do this?" We could not.

Then seven and a half years ago, my mom got a call from our caseworker for an emergency placement of two baby girls (6 and 19 months). They were to be dropped off at our house within a few hours, but would only need a place to stay for two weeks. One and a half years later, our whole family (and a number of our extended family) went to the courthouse and made the "temporary two-week placement" officially-official-forever.

I am so glad that my parents followed God's command to care for the orphans in this way. Adoption -  the wonderful and the difficult - has been such a blessing in our family. Thanks to my parent's example, adoption is now something that my husband and I also plan to make part of our family story in the future. 

Julia (6), Kate (7)

Julia (7), Katie (8)

Our Forever Family

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27

Letters That Make a Difference

I started Goal #57 this week - Write my Compassion sponsor children once a month for a year.

Compassion International started an initiative that I stumbled across recently (perfect timing I'd say) that asks child sponsors to write their children on the second Friday of every month. I have been a sponsor for four years, but I never truly grasped how deeply important sponsor letters are to a child in the Compassion program. The letters these children receive from their sponsors are often the only words of encouragement that those children ever receive and you can not believe how deeply wounded they are when they do not receive a letter on delivery day. Yes, there is a delivery day. Which means that all the children line up at the Compassion centers and hope (a word so foreign to most of them) that their name will be called and that their sponsor has remembered them. When their name is not called and they walk away empty handed... my heart aches just thinking about that kind of disappointment. (Read a beautiful story about delivery day here.)

I was the kind of sponsor that wrote my kids when they wrote me, but never really made a huge effort beyond that. I loved getting letters from my two girls but was really challenged recently to invest into their lives even more, so I committed to Second Fridays as a way of engaging Goal #57. Wouldn't you know that just days after I made that commitment, I received a letter from my oldest sponsor child that just melted my heart. Here is a little excerpt:

"I have written this letter to thank you for paying my school fees and to tell you about my school because I love it. I greatly thank you for my schooling because if it wasn't for your paying, I don't know anybody who would have done it. I do even thank God who joined us together because it was because of the love he has for me. Most of the young people going to school are in Compassion because most of the have no parents like me and others are abandoned by their parents when they are still young so they live hopeless, not ever thinking that there is someone thinking about their well-being. They don't even know that just a prayer for them can make a change, so I do really thank you and God who have loved me. You are trying to make me be somebody in the future." - Nazziwa, 19 years old

Wow. Just... wow. 

So here is my challenge for any of you sponsors out there:  Write your kids. It means more to them then you could imagine.

If you can't afford to be a sponsor, but your heart aches for those little empty hands on delivery day, consider being coming a Word Sponsor. You get to write to children who have financial sponsors, but whose sponsors can't write them (example, I know of a guy who has 60 sponsor children through Compassion, I'm guessing he would need to take advantage of the help of Word Sponsors).

Lastly, I saw this video about the impact sponsors can have on a child. It interviews past sponsor children who are adults now. Incredible. Watch it. (pretty please)