Day 25 of 31 for 21 - the Garcia's

For my friends who don't know Renee at My Special K's, I just want to share a bit about their family (I hope you don't mind, Renee... I just think you're super cool). They're getting closer to their adoption date. That might not sound very unique, but here are some tidbits about them that I find to be great:

1. They're a military family.
2. They live in TN (we used to live there too!).
3. They have 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls) whose names all begin with K and have 7 letters.
4. One of their girls has Down syndrome (she's their 3rd child).
5. That same girl has conquered leukemia and had major surgery to repair her atlantoaxial instability.
6. They're very close to bringing home girl #3 through an international adoption (Eastern Europe).
7. This little girl also has Down syndrome.

Did you know that in many countries, many children with Down syndrome are orphaned and institutionalized and basically left to die? I think it's incredibly cool that families like the Garcia's take a leap of faith and bring a child home who might otherwise die young, nevermind receive a mother's love.

There is an amazing organization called Reece's Rainbow that enables you to help save some of these children. Not everyone is called to adopt , but we've all been encouraged by God to care for orphans (James 1:27 - "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.").

If you feel led, you might be interested in the following video (be forewarned... it's 12 minutes long... and you'll need some tissues). I couldn't get it to link well, so you'll have to click here.

And it you'd like to help the Garcia's bring Kellsey home, please visit their adoption blog and contribute (though I think they have to make their blog private soon since they're leaving soon for Eastern Europe).