Picture Guess & Winner Revealed

It's time to reveal the picture of my favorite Christmas gift that I received!!

I must admit that this favorite gift of mine was not a fun gadget to play with... and it even took hubster by surprise at my reaction! {In fact, in seeing this picture and guessing on it himself, he couldn't figure it out and got it wrong at first too!}

Drum roll please............

It is a necklace with the word 'hope' on the front, and a pearl.

Congratulations to 'heartofmusic' who guessed it right! Unfortunately, I ended up deleting the comment because they'd guessed it correctly but there wasn't a name or email address, and I had no idea who it was. Their blog link only went to a profile that was not publicly accessible. Later that day, they contacted me directly and it's a person I know {friend of a friend--and no they didn't already know the story behind it}. Whoops! So indeed, they do win, and I apologize for having deleted their comment! Congratulations Megan {and again, sorry for deleting your comment}!! Megan, you will have your Bible very soon! :)

Thank you everyone for your guesses - this was fun! I wish everyone could win!

More specifically, the necklace is called the Hope for Orphans necklace from the Vintage Pearl, and proceeds from it go toward helping people who are adopting. Which I just think is so amazing.

And the necklace is perfect. I absolutely love it.

And the fact that my husband, who doesn't feel quite the same way about adoption/orphan ministry as I do, got this for me made me feel so blessed.

I'd heard about the Vintage Pearl from another blogger's giveaway {sorry I can't remember which one}, and had found this and added it to my wishlist earlier this year. But I'd forgotten about it, and certainly didn't expect Tim to get it for me.

So that made the surprise all that much sweeter! I literally stared at it for a long time and just ran my fingers across it over and over for like half an hour. It really means a lot to me!

Please check out The Vintage Pearl website and blog. It's some really cool stuff! I especially love this from their About page:

why we do what we do

The Vintage Pearl works closely with several non profit organizations, Christian Ministries and orphanages. We have a heart for people in need, and the success of the comany allows us to give. We have several pieces for a cause where monies are donated for each sale, but we also give in other areas (missions, church needs, etc.) as we feel led.

Isn't that just SOOO great!?!?!

~~~~~~~~~

The best gift we feel that we were able to give to someone else was for Tim's mom. Her wish each year is to have us do something in her name to help someone else. So many neat ideas come from this... whether it's buying a goat for someone in a third world country, or what not... but this year we were able to help people we know personally. It was such a great blessing and experience to be a part of. We are so thankful.

You've heard me mention our friends Don & Sara before. They recently had a t-shirt fundraiser to help with some of their adoption expenses.

Tim's mom has a real heart for adoption and foster care. She & her second husband (Tim's dad, now in Heaven) both had a passion for caring for hurting children. They adopted 3, fostered 1 her entire life who is very much part of the family, and fostered 30 plus others over the years.

We wrote a letter to her explaining what she was getting before she got to the section of her present with the shirts. She read it aloud to everyone who closely listened in to what was going on. {It was very exciting!} :)

The letter {edited} read:

Merry Christmas Mom!

We were praying about what to do for you in your name for Christmas. We decided we wanted to help people we know. And given your passion for adoption and helping children in need, we think it's the perfect combination! 

Some friends of ours--a coworker of Roe's and his wife--have started the process of adoption. This September they sent in the paperwork and are now on the waiting list for a boy from Ethiopia. 

Don & Sara recently had a t-shirt fundraiser to help cover their costs of traveling to get their child upon adoption finalization. So in your honor, we purchased two t-shirts for you, and a t-shirt for each of us. Our idea is to take a picture of the three of us together in our shirts, send it to them to show their son someday, and also post it on our blogs to help spread awareness. 

For more details & updates, visit their blog at http://donandsarajones.blogspot.com. Love you lots, Merry Christmas! Tim & Roe :) 

Several in the family came up and asked us more about it and were clearly very interested and supportive, and it was soooo neat!

We are just so thankful to God that we were able to help in something like this, in Tim's mom's honor. It was really special... and really neat to see the reactions of all of the family!

Doris wore her shirt proudly the rest of the day, and again on New Year's Day. We are so glad she likes them!! We are so thankful for Doris and the role she's played in touching so many lives and hearts for the gospel! And we are also very thankful her cancer radiation treatments are over and she appears to be doing superbly, praise the Lord!

So in Doris's name, we want to help spread awareness about adoption, foster care, and orphan care. But honestly there are SO many ministries and organizations out there that need your help and prayers, I don't even know where to start! Just google "Christian adoption agencies" or "Christian adoption ministry" for starters, and you'll find a ton. Check with local communities or your church for other ideas. Pray. Give. Reach out. 

I heard a statistic recently somewhere that indicated all of the orphans in America versus all of the Christians in America. If even a small percentage of us Christians housed and cared for the orphans here {and that's nothing to say of across the globe!}, the orphan need in the U.S would be non-existent. Kids just need people willing to step up, step out of their comfort zone, and love them. It doesn't matter your age, race, income, or what you think you are or aren't capable of. They just need you to love and care for them. If God leads you to adopt or even just to give to ministries caring for orphans, then you better get on it. Let your heart be radically changed. I know just thinking about it and opening myself up to it has altered my heart forever. 

For those who missed it, here's an important video on this topic. It is not for the faint of heart. If your heart is sensitive to the needs & plights of others, be ready to weep and reach for the kleenex. I've watched it 10 times and I still bawl like a baby every time. 

I am truly so thankful this Christmas to have been blessed with such great, caring gifts, and in turn to be able to help support others with great gifts as well! What a blessing! 

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!