Last year was a vulnerable year for me with writing on this blog.  Consequently my most vulnerable and hard to publish posts were also the ones that received the most responses.  So even though theses were challenging posts for me last year, this time around I can post them quite easily. 🙂  This week I will re-post the two most responded to blog posts from 2013.  Once again I hope you are encouraged and blessed…. Happy New Year everyone!  I’m excited to see what God will do in 2014 as I chronicle the adventures God has in store for me (and my kiddos in India).

Note:  I’ve gone back and forth whether or not to post this since it is very personal and also involves what another said but in the hopes that it will help or encourage one person…

We sat on the the bench side by side at my favorite park as the light turned all golden and we watched the turtles, imagining their conversation, and debated whether or not the duck was chubby or fluffy.  And then we talked.  It was a hard conversation anyways but then I saw it.  As if time stopped and I could see the words coming out of his mouth.  Unintentional daggers, like a movie slow motion shot, hung mid air ready to pierce me.  “She said I could find lots of girls WAY better than you.”  Even now I see the scene in my mind as an out of body experience.  For one split nano second I wanted to jump to my defense but that feeling was instantly replaced by the realization that what had been said was true to some extent.  He could find a girl way better than me.  There are so many women who are more talented, beautiful, smart, accomplished, hardworking, and Jesus loving than I am.  But also in that moment I graciously saw another picture come up in defense of the arrows aimed at me.  I saw a shield put up in front of me.  A shield ready to take all those arrows.  I saw Jesus.  And I knew that while there are women (and men) who are everything better than me or everything worse than me that it didn’t and it doesn’t matter.  My identity isn’t in those things (i.e. beauty, intelligence, talent, determination, or even how well I love Jesus).  My identity is set by the One who who whispers stars into dancing, dawns into song, and who spins planets like tops so well they never fall.  The One who did all that declares that I am perfect, holy, and righteous, not because of what I have done but because of what he has done.  When HE said, “It is finished!” it was.  My identity may have been put to the test by those words spoken on the park bench but it doesn’t set my identity.  I don’t have to listen to the lies spoken and the words that say I’m not good enough.  You see Jesus already declared that I’m not good enough (my sin) when he had to die on a cross to rescue me!  He has also spoken the most beautiful words over me and said, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isa. 43:1).  It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks about me.  It doesn’t matter what anyone else says about you.  You are a beautiful child of Christ made in his image and declared perfect because of what Jesus did for us.  And if you haven’t put your faith in Christ alone as your Lord and Savior you can and he will declare the same precious words over you.  Let’s walk confident.  Let’s be the people Jesus has declared us to be.

I’m wishing 2013 goodbye and watching eagerly for what 2014 will hold.  Regardless of what it brings I pray I will have open hands to let go of what God wants to take and receive what he wants to give.  What a year I’ve had!  I’m not sure how to even write this post.  If I had the time I could tell you about the joys and the sorrows but that would take far too long.  Instead I want to tell you something else.  Tonight I listened to David Platt recite from memory chapters one through eight of Romans.  Somewhere in the middle I started to weep.  Not one cute tear but mascara-all-over -my-face-making-for-a-wet-sweater-catching-rain-from-my-eyes type of weeping.  My heart was gripped again to the core by Jesus.  This has been a crazy year but through it all I have seen God’s faithfulness and love, both to me and my 545 kiddos in India.  He has given me himself which is a gift beyond compare.  It’s staggering really.  If He has so freely given to me how can I not follow in the same manner towards others?  “Oh Jesus help me” is my cry.  So as I wrap up the present of this year with both its ribbons and ripped paper I am grateful.  I want to say thank you.  Just the other day I received a $3,600 anonymous donation for my kiddos which made me exceedingly happy.  Yet the $20 left by a friend with a note reading “For your kiddos! Merry Christmas!” meant the world to me as well.  No matter how much the amount it always blesses me when people care about me and my 545 kiddos and give what they can.  This past year you have generously given and we’ve been able to raise over seventeen thousand dollars!  THANK YOU!

Praise the Lord, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Psalms 117

UPDATE! $86,418.19 We’ve made it past the $86K but can we at least push it to $90K mark?  If you give even just $10 dollars then that will make a huge difference.  I believe we can reach that goal! DID I MENTION IT’S A TAX WRITE OFF??  BECAUSE IT IS.

These pictures are a story.  A story of waiting and looking.  I was inspired by Anthroplogie’s Christmas catalog of coming home for the holidays.  Christmas can be such an interesting time of the year.  Maybe you’re happy that you get to be with family and friends but maybe you’re breaking inside because you don’t really feel like you have a home to return to.   Might I suggest to you the best present of all?  It is hope.  We’ve been waiting to celebrate Jesus’ birth and we are looking forward to him coming again.  He is hope.  When he becomes our hope he also becomes our home, our true place of rest.  He becomes the place we want to get back to.  He came down and lived among us so that he could live the life we should have lived and die the death we deserved in order to then rise from the dead and prepare an eternal home for us.  A place of joy, happiness, peace, security, and love.  Are you longing for those things?  Well they can all be found in the babe who came 2,000 years ago in a manger.  Jesus is those things and coming home to him is the only way to have true life.

Merry Christmas everyone! I’m so grateful for all your support and encouragement this year both to me and my kiddos!  

Soooo, I have one thing smack dab at the top of my Christmas list (pretty much the only thing on my list…).  I want to see my kiddos in India taken care of.  Will you consider giving them (and me) the best present by donating today on their behalf?  Will you support these orphans staying in loving homes this holiday season by giving?  Please consider donating $25 dollars or whatever you can give to children who have so SO much less than we do.  That is the true spirit of Christmas.

UPDATE!!!  80,633.19

UPDATE!!!! $86,293.19 So can we push it to the $90k?! 😀  You all are incredible!

Also  a HUGE thank you to my dear friend and second “mom” Karen Davis for being AMAZING.  Not only did she let me borrow her dress and necklace but she also let me use her house and she took the pictures when my first photographer backed out and the sweetheart that took her place got violently sick….

Last night I drifted off to sleep thinking about…wise men.  Here were grown men who had traveled from a distant country seeking a baby.  This baby was not in a palace, oh no, this baby was born in a barn, most likely a stinky one.  A mere child had captured the attention of these men and not just any men but intelligent and wise ones.  They knew that something was special here because the sky declared it and because they were wise they sought it out.  Coming before him they laid down gifts that signified what his future would be.  This Child was the Christ yet he came down as the least of all.  Wise men were not fooled by the surroundings or the distance and giving the gifts that they had was the only reasonable response.

Lying there all cozy in bed a revelation and correlation illumined my thoughts.  Are we going to be wise people?  The sky still declares something of great importance.  God said this to Abraham in Genesis 26:4 “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”  The stars in the heavens are numerous but so are the people on the earth.  Their abundance makes them no less important.  Yet there are an estimated 153 million orphans in the world.  All across the world there are children that are abandoned, homeless, and helpless and if we were wise people we would help them with what gifts we had regardless of the personal sacrifice and arduous journey it required.  Why?  Because of this:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matt. 25:31-40, emphasis mine)

The wise men brought baby Jesus gifts that had implications for his future.  I sit amazed to think that my gift or your gift to orphans, these little ones, have implications for their future.  I believe that one reason Jesus came as a weak and helpless baby in an ugly setting is to remind us that he cares about the weak and helpless.  That there are precious lives in unlikely settings.  Will we see?  Will we give to orphans and those in need as a way of giving our gifts to the King?  Will we be wise?

Please consider donating $25 dollars to orphans in India today by clicking on the Give Now button in the upper right hand corner of this page.  Don’t have that much to give?  Well then please consider giving what you can.  It all makes a difference!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!! 79,979.75 Who is going to push it over to $80K? 😀

(I snapped this photo a few years ago of my nephew, our Christmas miracle.  Today is his second birthday. 🙂  Happy Birthday Judah! Auntie loves you SO MUCH!)

Tis the week before Christmas and despite a flurry of events later this week tissues are my best friend right now along with steaming cups of tangy lemon and the sweetness of honey.  I’m swathed in a quilt by a glittering tree whose points of light are twinkling and winking at me.  My heart is full of gratefulness.  Two apple Macs and two girls (me and a friend) are sitting side by side.  My gaze turns towards her as I contemplate what I should write here.  Her response is to say I should write about something random, like vinegar.  We dissolve into giggles.  This week I’ve been reminded of the beauty of friendships both near and far.  Those people that let you in and love you for you and accept you where you’re at.  I’m grateful for them.  I’m grateful for the college girl who has stacks of homework and is an RA and still manages to take time to hang out with me.  I’m grateful for the mom of four who on her one day a month to herself took time to drive with me to get my weekly shot and who texts me to say she’s praying for me.  I’m grateful for that just married gal who comes and sits on my couch and talks real with me over mugs of hot apple cider.  I’m grateful for the young “sister” of mine who texts me daily and sends me encouragement and makes me laugh silly. I’m grateful for my other “mom” for speaking truth and love into my life.   I’m grateful for that little girl, my niece, who likes to sit in my lap and look at pictures and take a ridiculous amount of selfies together.  I’m grateful for that seventeen year old who comes and works with me and is ever so sweet and helpful.  I’m grateful for a spunky and sweet older woman who sends me letters in the mail saying she’s praying for me and gives me the warmest hugs.  I’m grateful for my sweet mum who’s my best girlfriend and for how she takes time to have breakfast with me several times a week (and is a million other wonderful things that makes her irresistible).  Oh how blessed I am to have women and girls in my life of every age and season.  How thankful I am that they care, invest, and take time for me.  It’s not something to be taken lightly.  Each of these dear ones are a gift to me.  I only pray I can in return be a good friend to them even though I know I will fail at times.

If you have even just one woman you’re grateful for this Christmas season would you consider donating in their name to sweet orphans in India who need our help?  We’ve been give so much so let’s give to those who have less than we do and spread some gratefulness and Christmas cheer!

(Photos by: Christa Taylor)  A BIG thank you to Christa for not only shooting these pictures but styling them as well!  The dress was a tad bit big but our motto was/is make it work! 😉  Also Christa is amazing and so talented and made my hair look like this is 5 min flat while we stood on the sidewalk and evening rush hour traffic looked on.  She’s cool like that.  Even the lady tending the flowers thought it was impressive.  🙂

Dear Daddy,

I don’t tell you enough all the things that I’m grateful for in you and this letter will hardly do it justice but it’s your birthday today and for that I’m so thankful!  You’re pretty amazing and I can’t believe that I not only get to have you as my father but also my best friend.  It’s so easy to go about the everyday missing how wonderful someone is just because you get to have them around all the time but here are some things that quickly come to mind when I think about you.

You’re so wise!  Maybe it’s because you listen well.  You have some of the best advice to give and I think it’s because you’ve leaned in close to Jesus and been faithful to study his words of life and truth.  Your counsel is priceless and has steered me right many a time.  Thank you for being a good student and teaching me to never stop learning.  You’ve done that by example.  Not only do you learn but you work hard.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever met someone who works harder than you do.  More remarkable is that you don’t complain or lose your joy even when the pressure of life is rolling steady and thick.  Your faithfulness to provide for our family is remarkable.  Thank you.  Lately as I’ve had the privilege of starting this business with you I’m reminded again and again what a diligent worker you are. Watching your rough, large, calloused, yet gentle and precise hands patiently guide my own slender, delicate, inexperienced, and eager hands as we create art is a gift.  You dear daddy are a creative genius.  Most people don’t get to live with a brilliant artist but how thankful I am that I get too! It has colored my world with so much beauty and challenged me to see things in a different light.

When you’re not hard at work or designing you’re serving others and caring about them in a way that leaves me amazed.  I don’t know how you do it but you make everyone you come in contact with know that they are valued.  At a recent wedding I looked over to a near empty table save for one little boy just six years old perched up on his knees animatedly telling you something and you there leaning in to catch every word and asking for more.  You were there genuinely interested in his life and caring.  You’re the first one to say let’s meet this need or that need.

If someday I can be half the person you are daddy then I shall be quite delighted.  Thank you for showing me what real love looks like day in and day out.  Thank you for taking out the nasty compost and walking with mom in the dark of morning and for going to work in the freezing cold.  I admire and respect you so much.  You’re the best!  I’m crazy thankful you’re alive and we get to celebrate your life.  I love you daddy.  Happy Birthday!

Always and forever your little girl
~elaini

Every day is an adventure.  Some days just happen to have a little more adventure than others.  Take this past Saturday for example.  All week I had been looking forward to hunting for our Christmas tree with my dad.  When he came home to pick me up I was more like the Grinch trying to figure out online shipping and gifting (I love giving gifts! I do! but really online shopping can be crazy) and only had a moment to stuff my feet into boots, bunching pants and all, grab my cherry red coat and squash my beret from Paris on my head to top it all off.  As soon as the biting air pierced my lungs at a cool 23 degrees I felt like a true adventurer…the five year old types.  Scrambling up into the high seat of my dad’s work van we drove out to the country to this small tree far in the middle of nowhere.  We enjoyed seeing car after car pass us by with trees bundled and perched topside.  Up before us rose the mountain cloaked in a true powder pink sunset rosiness.  Five minutes before we reached our destination I looked over at dad and casually mentioned that I sure hoped this place was opened since we’d driven a good 45 minutes to get there.  Sadly when we drove up it was closed.  Hmm.  The adventure had just turned into a mission: get a tree before the sun set and be able to cut it down ourselves.  We were racing against the winter light sinking and filtering through the trees.  “Hey dad I saw I sign for Leo’s trees back that way.  Maybe we could try there?”  We turned around and headed back the other direction.  Finally we came upon the driveway that was marked for Leo’s trees.  Small problem, there was no one there even though we checked and doubled checked the time was before five like the sign had indicted.  Other wandering adventures looked just as lost (ahem I mean seeking a new route) as we were but they drifted off as I hopped out to find a person to help us.  Folks, we had a tree to get and I wasn’t about to go home with one harvested and sitting in a lot.  Thankfully a pretty gal had just pulled up to the house and so I asked her if we could in fact chop down a tree.  “Let me get my brother to help you.”  While waiting we wove our way through the maze of greenery sizing up branches, needles, girth, and stature.  Soon not one but two brothers marched out armed with a saw. That nice young man sawed…and sawed…and sawed.  His face became red and his brother offered to assist but he dared not give up with us three standing around.  “Need a hand?” my father offered.  Our noble tree didn’t care to be cut down and moved to a warmer climate apparently.  Meanwhile my nose was keen to match Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’s despite my protests and jumping up and down…I couldn’t suppress my laughter at the situation any longer.  I  was dying laughing at the stubborn guys trying to fell a frozen tree (again I do feel bad for the poor chaps…) and me wiggling around to keep warm and probably ending up looking like I had to pee my pants.  Eloquent I know.  Eventually after a decent amount of time and a lot of laughter from all of us the two very kind and wonderful gentlemen were able to chop down our choice piece of forest.  Packing it away we drove off with a Merry Christmas floating in the air and a feeling of mission accomplished.  I am happy to report that I am now sitting be side a twinkling tree all bedecked in ornaments and finery.  Not everyone celebrates Christmas but if you do what are your Christmas traditions?  Do you have a tree story to tell?  If so I’d enjoy hearing about it in the comments below. 🙂

Also for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas my attire, styled and shot by the amazing Christa Taylor, will be a bit dressier.  Hopefully you will be inspired for any parties you may attend and if you don’t have any get fancy anyways!

UPDATE!!! 78,528.73  Who wants to help push it over to $79K?

Also I’m still looking for some willing people to be a part of the 2013 fundraising team.  Do you want to help sweet orphans in India?  Now is your chance!  Email me at misselaini @ gmail.com (remove spaces) if you’re interested!  Or if you need an end of year tax write off this is a great option.

I’m so excited to have one of my amazing team members, Amber, guest blog today.  I have to admit I’m a bit jealous of this sweet lady! She’s gotten to hold hands, play with, and love on the darling orphans in India.  While I’ve never even been to India Amber has been a few times!  I hope you enjoy this and are as encouraged and inspired as I am.  Thank you Amber for sharing your heart with us.  Also please note that CCH is the on the ground organization that Warm Blankets partners with to help these kiddos.  100% of all funds you give through this site go directly to these sweet children!

I never wanted to go to India.

I like to say that India picked me. And I’m so glad it did.

A crazy series of events led me to spend three weeks in India the summer of 2011. I enjoyed my time there, but I left with no intentions of ever returning. It was great, I loved the kids I met, but I just didn’t feel a real connection.

As time went on however, India picked me again. I couldn’t get the faces and stories of the sweet children I had met out of my mind. Doors opened, and I found myself headed back to India for a month in 2012 and I knew that India would forever be on my heart.

It’d be hard to find a more challenging, yet rewarding, experience in my life than spending a month living in “rural” India working with Covenant Children’s Homes, the on the ground ministry that Elaini’s fundraising directly supports! I got to help run the first year of summer camp and spend time in several CCH church homes, loving on children and sharing the love of Jesus with them!

In the book “Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration” by Amber Van Schooneveld, Dr. Wess Stafford (president of Compassion International) made a statement that summarizes a real problem in fundraising for ministries around the world. He said, “If you don’t know the poor, it’s hard to serve them.”

We all have needs directly in front of us. Children to feed, school bills to pay, cars that break down, medical emergencies…the list goes on. And if there aren’t immediate needs, we are taught to save as much as we can for when these unexpected needs flare up. So why on earth would we want to take money away from that to give to children in India of all places? Children who are nothing more than pictures and words on a screen to most of you. Children who you’ll probably never meet. Children who “someone else” can take care of.  If you don’t KNOW these children, it’s hard to really care about them. It’s hard to want to give money to take care of them. It’s hard to serve them.

So, my goal today is to introduce you to the kids of CCH in India in hopes that maybe it will be easier for you to care about them! I wish I could pack you all up and take you to India to meet each one of them personally, but that is just not very practical unfortunately. But I can do my best to introduce them to you through my experience!

Each CCH child I met exhibited hope in the purest, most innocent form. Children who have virtually nothing, who have been orphaned or abandoned, children who have fought for their lives with smiles on their faces, talking about their dreams and goals to be doctors, teachers, and pastors. Children who have a reason to look forward to waking up the next morning. Children who KNOW and LOVE Jesus Christ. In a culture full of darkness and evil, these children worship the living God and find hope in Him and what He has done for them!

These precious kids are full of joy. The laughing, giggling, tickling each other, playing, running after one another, excitedly talking to one another and any visitor who will give them attention type of joy. The contagious type. Spending time around these kids, you wouldn’t know the terrible lives they have had to get through to get to the point they are at now. You can’t help but join in with the giggling and tickling as your heart fills with joy to the point where it could burst.

I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it with this. These orphans in India are simply kids. They have been stripped of their childhoods in many cases, but they are being given the chance to regain pieces of it now through CCH. Think about your own kids or kids in your life. You would do anything to put a smile on their face and make them feel loved. These kids in India are JUST the same. They have the same wishes and desires as your six year old niece or ten year old son. The difference is, they don’t have someone to meet their needs and put smiles on their faces. Thankfully, CCH can do that, but not without your help. YOU can be that person for a sweet child in India. The one who makes them feel loved. Who meets their needs. Who opens up their wallet just a bit to make a world of difference for a child who otherwise may never know the feeling of what it is to be loved.

It’s my hope that you feel like you know these kids a bit better and that you maybe feel led to be that person who will take it upon themself to make a difference for these sweet children. I can promise you that the blessings and rewards will be eternal – for you and the children! May you choose to care about children in India who can do nothing in return for you. May you choose to be part of something bigger than yourself and just see what it does for you in your heart!

Thanks for helping me love these kids!

Winter white, it’s so pure and so crisp.  When Christa handed me this outfit I just decided that I might as well go along with it and have fun.  Because let’s be honest…head to toe white and this glamorous fur and heels is so far outside of my comfort zone.  There were only two options: be terrified or have a good time.  The latter is always the better choice.  Maybe it was uncomfortable because people stopped and turned to stare and the stories I made up in my head were ridiculous.  After the first few moments of wanting to go crawl back in the car and change I decided to own the look and walk confidently like this style was the most natural thing in the world to be wearing downtown on a Friday afternoon.  Yet this silly story points me to something deeper.  I was a mess of a life before Jesus came in and clothed me in his pure white righteousness.  I believed a tangle of crazy lies (and still do at times) before he made me his.  More than anything though I see how standing out isn’t a bad thing if you learn how to stand out for the right reasons.  Stand out because you’re redeemed.  Stand out because you love well.  Stand out because you’re humble.  Stand out because your life is messy and needs a Savior and you recognize that.  Stand out because you listen.  Stand out because you’re pointing back to Jesus.  I can be terrified that people are looking at me as an example for either how to live or not how to live or I can cozy up even more into the softness of Christ’s heart and show the world Him.

Also today is #GivingTuesday 🙂  While Black Friday and Cyber Monday celebrate spending Giving Tuesday is all about… well giving back!  It’s a time to encourage people to give to others that have less and help charities and non-profit organizations.  So will you do just that?  Helping sweet orphans is as easy as clicking that red Give Now button in the upper right hand column and donating just $10.  It makes such a difference in these children’s lives who are without parents.  I’ll thank you in advance for having generous hearts!  😉

UPDATE!!! 77,445.73  Who wants to push it over to 500?

(Photos by: Christa Taylor)  A big thank you to Christa for not only shooting these pictures but styling them as well.  Behind the scenes side note:  I totally had to change in the car into this outfit and there were people everywhere walking by or having coffee!  Trying to be discreet was a hilarious challenge but I somehow managed to do it.  I now have new found respect for nursing mothers… 

Also I’m still looking for some willing people to be a part of the 2013 fundraising team.  Do you want to help sweet orphans in India?  Now is your chance!  Email me at misselaini @ gmail.com (remove spaces) if you’re interested!  Or if you need an end of year tax write off this is a great option. 🙂 

Praise the Lord!

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 106:1, ESV)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m looking forward to spending time in the kitchen with my mom cooking this afternoons spread as well as just being with my family.  My own personal tradition is to watch the Macy’s day parade so that’s what I’ll be enjoying in my pjs curled up in a quilt during the morning. 😉

Let’s be a people who don’t just give thanks one day out of the year but also the other 364 days too!  Also if you’re ever so grateful for all the blessings in your life would you consider today giving to some orphans who have much less than we do?  Maybe even take up a donation from around the dinner table if you’re having a feast?  Donating is easy and you just have to click on that red Give Now button on the right side of the page.  Whatever your plans are for today I hope you are able to see the gifts in your life and enjoy the day! See you back on #GivingTuesday!