THE BENEFITS OF BLOGGING!

I think I have already confessed that I had never blogged until I met Rob and Dede while they were traveling to Moscow to adopt. That chance meeting allowed Ron the opportunity to spend some time with Karyn and Norm who introduced us to Becky and Keith, Dana and Aaron, Lea and John. Later we both met Michelle and Ian and the rest is blogger history. Blogging gave us the opportunity to meet 17 adoptive couples from Jan to August of 2008, and our lives were changed forever as we shared Moscow and a small part of their adoptive journey.

When we left Moscow I thought I would stop blogging as not much exciting happens here in Alabama:) I think I discoved today the reason I have continued to blog. Like us many others I have been reading little Stellan's story on My Charming Kids, and today I was blown away by the wonderful idea McMamma had. Their family supports Sufficient Grace ministy and McMamma came up with the idea of donating $1 for every comment left in one day on her blog to this cause. My interest was peaked so I surfed on over to their website and decided this was something to get behind and support. If I was computer talented I would link this blog to the site, but I am too excited about this idea to take the time to fiqure it out. So I cut and copied a description of what Sufficient Grace does.

Sufficient Grace Ministries for Women, a 501 (c ) 3 non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization, was founded in 2004 by Kelly Gerken with the purpose of reaching out to women and families to offer comfort, encouragement and hope. The Dreams of You division of this ministry was created specifically to provide comfort to women and families who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. Kelly has experienced the loss of twin daughters (Faith and Grace) at 26 weeks and the loss of an infant son, Thomas…who died shortly after birth from Potter's Syndrome. From her own family's journey of grief and healing, Kelly has created the Dreams of You Memory Book and other beautiful support materials to help families form a precious memory for their babies who leave this earth too soon. Her mother, Kathy Rutter, created the Comfort Bear in 2004 for grieving mothers to have something to hold to comfort the ache of their empty arms. (Although Kathy went home to heaven in October 2006, the bears are still made with a grandmother's love and prayers by the Helping Hands Ministry at Harvest Fellowship Church.) Over the years, Kelly has shared her testimony of God's comfort and sufficient grace and her gift of song with churches and women's groups. She has also given hospital seminars encouraging caregivers on the importance of creating a tangible memory and understanding the grieving parent's perspective. The Dreams of You Memory Book and Baskets are currently available at 5 local hospitals: Lima Memorial, St. Luke's, St. Charles, Henry County, and Defiance Regional Medical Center as well as Rodenberger Funeral Home. Many individuals have come to us as well through our website and word of mouth. Bereaved parents are never asked to pay for our materials. We are supported through donations from individuals, hospitals and other organizations. Sufficient Grace Ministries also provides a quarterly newsletter, The Women's Edge, which encourages more than three hundred women in eight states, through biblical truth. Our memory book is now featured in a national catalog (A Place to Remember). We are also working on expanding and completing more projects to serve grieving families.

So in honor of our grandson Wyatt we will be making a donation to this ministry plus a donation of $5 per comment left on this blogpost in a 24 hour time period.

I leave you with a picture of our grandson napping with his Poppa.