Help build an orphanage in Ghana

This is the school we visited on our trip to Ghana. It is in the fishing village where Kofi and CompaAfricare along with Kingdom Cares International is organizing a fund raising campaign to help start the 1st phase of the orphanage home. They expect to raise 20,000. That is such a little amount that can have such a huge profound influence on the lives of so many in Ghana....

When we visited this school we were struck at how positive the kids were to be able to go to school... and they had so little. Look at the mud floors, the old benches some of the kids had... It reminded us of a barn... a barn where children go to learn ... imagine if they had a real building that housed them, they would be able to eat nourishing food and get medical help when they are sick. They would know that someone cares... someone wants to help them. It would have an everlasting affect on the people in this very poor village if you can help raise the funds for this orphanage.

I was recently at a Carol Kent conference at my church. She was excellent and encouraged greatly. Her son has been incarcerated for over 11 yrs now for commiting a murder. She shared what a loving and accomplished yg man he was and then he killed his wife's former husband and now her only child serves life without parole in a Florida prison. She spoke of her pain and then shared she knows we all have pain and agony that we live with....She did not want to minimize anyone's pain ... but it became very clear to me during her talk that all of us have pain but all of us there have someone to share our pain, grief and loneliness with.....But an orphan does not. They have no one who cares, no one who will hold them when they are crying, no one who loves them for who they are, no one who will wipe their tears away, no one who will help them if they are abused, no one who even cares that they die.... and certainly no one who visits them. Of all the ladies at the conference and there were lots of women there - they all have at least someone....PLEASE IF YOU CAN THIS SEASON HELP TO START AN ORPHANAGE FOR THESE CHILDREN IN GHANA...then they will know someone cared.

I know even just a little will go a long way here.

Fund Raising in aid of the construction of orphanage home

Click here for more information how to donate.....

Even little Mady is turning into a football fan :)

Opps you caught me watching football....Go Ravens ! I just love Michael Oher but he got hurt :(

We celebrated all day....Cate turned 18

Paul and I took her out to breakfast... we all loaded up in 3 vehicles to get our Christmas tree...out to lunch for Chinese buffet...Home to decorate our tree... we ate a "snack supper" of keilbasa, cheese, crackers and apple slices...then Cate opened her presents and we sang happy birthday....We sure do love this yg. woman and it was lots of fun celebrating her life today .

I shared when we lit the candles that she was born to a teenager of 13 yrs....She came home to us at 13 ( we were in Ukraine to celebrate her 13th b-day ). While there we were told , "She is a hard worker...she loves to work"- meaning work her hard...Actually one day before we picked her up to visit for the day they had her take down the very large oriental rug that was hanging on the wall in her group"s room... We brought her back and they had waited for her return to put it up...She is a strong and able yg. woman and can do lots of work. Our carpenter friend, Jeff who has done all the addition and kitchen work for us says, "She is the best worker even compared to her brothers." I know she is tough and can dish it with the guys but the one thing I love the most about her and that she has discovered about herself is, : She has such a tender heart for children. When Mary Kate had Ava, Cate was the 3d momma and she was so patient and loving towards the baby. She is that way with Andrew. He adores his sister- Cate more than anyone here. He knows and feels her complete and pure love for him. She is the most patient and puts up with all of his negative issues and loves him for who he is.... I am so proud of this yg. woman and so blessed to have her as my daughter and friend and sister in Christ.

A fire burning, a Christmas movie on and family all around....

Even Andrew thinks that it does not get any better than this...Of course Jacob went out with Joseph at midnite on black Friday and then both had to work at 3:30 am... so when Jacob got home he crashed...We have had a great wknd so far. All the girls including Ava and me went to see the movie Tangled. I enjoyed it .... the boys stayed home and played video games with daddy. The weather is very cold here now... We have had a fire all afternoon... which has been enjoyed by everyone but especially Gracie and our dogs Katy and Willi.

Introducing our son....from Ghana

We passed court today for our 3d child...Our son Stephen Briggs. I am way over the top in joy this am.....Our agency -AboutAChild - coordinator, Carla emailed us this am and Kofi our in country coordinator fb us... Carla shared and then said," Enjoy the rest of your weekend" and I replied back, "You bet we will". It does not matter that these 3 are number 25, 26 and 27- my heart is filled with so much peace and happiness to welcome these precious ones into our family.

Kofi has been approved to begin building an orphanage on some property. Please consider opening your hearts to the needs of these children in Ghana. We feel a real connection with his work and the hope for the children in this village to have a safe, healthy place where they can grow up in. I will share more about this in a future post.....

I am so thankful that next Thanksgiving we will have 3 new faces around the table.

Thankful for these 2 blessings this year !

This was Gracie and Andrew's first Thanksgiving... Andrew even ate some of what we had and of course Gracie loved all the dessert :) I am very grateful to have these 2 precious children in our lives this Thanksgiving as I am for all of our children and their families.... I look forward to the next one with our new children from Ghana....We also have 2 new "Grand" babies who joined us this year- Eli and Mady....Thank you Lord for each blessing that you have given us in each life we have the priviledge to love on.....

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone !

Just some of our Thanksgiving day....

We had lots of family around... lots of yummy food and dessert ( thankful for my new kitchen) , a morning watching the parades as the smell of turkey cooking was in the air, a holiday breakfast.... playing lots of games, even some online Thanksgiving games ( there is so much really good things on the computer), Lots of memories made....Thank you Lord for your love and provision.

Sisters 3 playing in leaves...

Gracie home 11 months tonite ( Christmas Eve 2009 ) and she is completely and fully a sister here :) She was not very interactive with others and certainly not playing and look at her now :)