Mary Kay Fundraiser

One of Jeremy's co-workers has generously offered to give up her Mary Kay profits till Nov. 15th to help us fundraise!! Please check out the info below. If you have never tried Mary Kay products, I urge you to try. I have been using them for over 11 years and LOVE them! (BTW - the acne treatment gel does miracles overnight on those stubborn and annoying zits!!) The products are wonderful and last a looooonngg time! :) Check it out!
Please pass on this info to anyone you know. If you only need and order a little, that's ok - it can go a long way if everyone orders a little! Thanks so much! Oh yeah - and if you order, you will be entered into a drawing for some free stuff! :) Yeah!

Thanks again!
Lori :)


Dear Friends,

Please join me in an exciting opportunity to help the West family raise the funds needed for the expensive process of adopting a child from Guatemala. I am a Mary Kay™ Independent Beauty Consultant in the Virginia Beach/Tidewater area. I am donating the profit of sales through this fund-raising endeavor to the West family’s adoption fund. You can treat yourself, shop for Christmas gifts and help them at the same time! The West family will receive 40% of every purchase you make with me between now and November 15th.

To help just go to my website: marykay.com/donnarussell. Be sure to check out all our new products and seasonal gift items. They’re awesome! I can even gift wrap or package gifts and take care of shipping them for you!

When you check out please register as a new customer if you’ve never shopped with me before or simply log-in if you’re a returning customer. *Use the “comments” feature to note that your purchase is for the West family adoption fundraiser.* (If you already have a consultant but want to help with the fundraiser—let me know. I can work something out with you and your consultant so you can help the West family adoption. )

As a THANK YOU I will give you:
Complimentary Extreme Makeover (skincare, micro-derm abrasion, color) in person or virtually.
2007 Coupon book with monthly discounts for the entire year— including major savings on skin care products that will keep you beautiful all year long!
Register your name in a drawing for a free Timewise Anti-aging Day/Night solution (a $60 value).

Share this fundraising opportunity for the West family with a few friends through a no hassle on-line skin care class and receive extra coupons and gifts.



Sincerely,
Donna Russell
Phone: 757.227.5655
Website: marykay.com/donnarussell
Email: donnarussell@marykay.com

Ana Julia has found her family!

Nope - not with us! :) My friends have prayed over her for a couple weeks, and God has answered all their requests for confirmations! One of the coolest confirmations came right after my friend had prayed.

They had received a call last year on Sept 10th in the middle of the night from someone in China (twice I believe). It was so strange that they prayed about it and felt that that date held significance - maybe their little Chinese daughter's b-day?! They have scoured the special needs lists for any little girl with a Sept 10th b-day. They never found one. Well, just this past week, after praying, they got a call from Lucy at KAS and she had more info on Ana Julia. Her b-day was . . . . . . Sept 10th!!! Can you believe it? Also, God had told them that their next little girl's name would mean "grace" . . . which is what Ana means! :) Isn't God cool?! Had they received their Chinese referral before now - they wouldn't have thought twice about this little girl, I'm sure, and if WE had accepted a referral sooner, we would not have heard about Ana Julia at all!! God sure works in mysterious but perfect ways!! He has opened door after door for our friends - but they have one last hurdle to cross- getting the blessing from their current agency. Please pray that their agency will not have a problem with them pursuing this adoption while they continue to wait for their chinese daughter. Also pray for Ana Julia as she is severely chronically malnourished (18 pounds at 2 years old!). The ES orphanage caregivers also do not like AJ much as she is mixed racially with curly black hair and they think she is the ugliest child there. :( She's FAR from ugly!! Very cute - but sad and timid looking. Pray for her protection and that God will send someone who can love on her and protect her! I know God is watching over her - but someone in the flesh can do wonders for a child! Pray that her case is able to move at a quick pace withought problems! And pray for the finances to afford this second adoption. 1 income - 2 adoptions!! Thanks so much!

So, as for us - we are still waiting. Pray for Lucy as she is down El Salvador (and Guatemala I think) this past weekend (?and into this week). Pray for her safety and for divine appointments.
Pray for our daughter - whoever and where ever she is! I know God's timing is perfect! I just want her to be safe until we can go get her!

Pray for our finances still. We are having our garage sale on Nov. 4th (pray for warm weather!!) - and we still need donations and volunteers (and shoppers). A co-worker from J's work has also agreed to host a Mary Kay fundraiser for us (till Nov. 15th only). I will list the details in a separate post for you! Consider helping us out - or pass on the fundraising info to those you know! The more the word gets out, the better!

Blessings to you all! We are so appreciative for everyone who has supported us (in every way) during this exciting adventure!

Lori :)

ps - for those that have been praying for Tyler (our oldest son) - he went up for prayer at church at the beginning of October, and we had launched an all-out prayer attack on the enemy (who has been causing many of Ty's problems). I can honestly say - I am seeing a different kid!! I don't recognize this much more mature, kind, and more stable 11 year old - but I like it! :) He has been playing sooooo nicely with his siblings (esp. 4 year old Jacob, who he couldn't stand before because "he gets into my stuff") and his anxiety attacks have lessened tremendously! He's had almost 2 solid good weeks at school!!! Yeah! PTL! I even debated on whether to start him on the medicine - but decided to go ahead as it is a low dose and it might help some as he is learning to use the new coping skills we are teaching him (and while we are praying!). Praise God for the miracles he's doing and the ones to come!! Keep on praying for God to complete the healing and transformation in Tyler! In church they prayed that he would have the strength of Sampson and full of compassion!! I'll claim that! :)

Another referral - El Salvador?

Yes - I now firmly believe that God is just trying to keep me entertained! What will he think up for next week? I'd be happy if it had something to do with winning alot of money! :) hee, hee. Or maybe a tropical vacation?! As for this week's adventures . . . . .

On monday, I got an interesting email from my agency director asking if we would be interested in looking at and considering a little 2 year old girl from El Salvador. Her name is (get this) Ana Julia. :) It would require a new dossier, a longer stay in country (Hey - I'm ready for a vacation!), and some added time, but cheaper costs. It would take 9 -15 months from the time our dossier got down there till we could bring her home. Hmmmm . . . . this definitely wasn't on my radar! Nor did it seem to go along with the picture God had given me of floating down a river. When you float - there's no work involved there (unless you are going down rapids and you're trying not to hit the rocks!!). My first reaction was "I don't think so". We had to pray about it. My director said she would send the info and pics that day - but I never got any. I didn't know if she just forgot or what. I didn't want to ask, as I really wanted to hear the Lord on this little girl before seeing her pic and getting attached (that seems to be easy for me to do!).
J and I prayed and talked about it, and I just wasn't sure. I was open to whatever God might have for us - even if it meant switching countries (esp. with all the craziness in Guatemala last week and the FALSE rumor of a possible shut down on Oct 1st). I decided that I would lean on J for the confirmation on this one. My heart is too empathetic to the plight of so many orphans.
J didn't get a peace about it. Not that he really got a check against it - but just had more peace about staying with Guatemala. I kind of felt the same (I think?). Anyways -
I knew a friend of mine had talked about El Salvador and possibly looking into adopting from there - so maybe I could tell her about it all. Maybe that was why we got this info. Instead, I was talking to another friend, and the minute I mentioned E.S. she just lit up with ohh's and ahh's (before I even told her about the little girl). They are in the process of waiting for a referral for a little girl from China, but lately God has been tugging on their heart towards El Salvador (for a sister for thier Chinese daughter-to-be). I gave her the little info I knew and told her I didn't think we were going to pursue it.
The next day she called me back and said she couldn't get this little girl off her mind - and her hubby was really interested too! :) I gave them our agency info and she was able to get ahold of them today. :) Maybe God was using us to bring this girl to her family (I'm starting to feel like an adoption agency myself - finding lost mom's - referring children to others . . . . . when will I find MY daughter? hmmmm .. . . ).
Well - I finally got to see pics of little Ana Julia tonight. She is a cutie - sad and timid looking, but definitely cute. I am praying that God will show my friends if this is to be their daughter. How cool would that be! :)

On top of that adventure - we are starting to see some progress with Tyler this week. On tuesday he had an "A" day (according to him)! PTL!! Wed was a rough day at home with me. He did well on thursday till 1pm. That seems to be his hard time - after 1pm, till 4pm. If you think of it - please pray for him during that time. God is doing some good things in him and I am so proud of how he has taken on the challenge of changing some things in his life! I actually saw quite a bit of a responsible 11 year old today! :) He was very fun to be around. :) We are seeing the nurse practitioner on monday to talk about a possible med for the anxiety and attnetion problems. We'll see.

Well - it's late, and I need some sleep. We had to cancel our garage sale for tomorrow due to a lovely Nor'Easter that came through town. I'm kind of relieved as this week has been exhausting in many other ways. Always an adventure here at the West household! :)

So - what kind of adventures did you have this week? Keep us up to date on what God has you doing! Thanks so much for your prayers and support! Keep it coming! Continue on with my previous requests. They are still needed! Also - we have been applying for grants and will be trying to sign up next week for a program to accept tax-deductible donations. It's alot of forms to fill out! But on the praise side - we've had a few people just hand J a check (or cash) at work to support our adoption! God bless you guys for doing that!!

Blessings this week!
Lori :)

Attack!

Hello all! Hope you are having a great day today! Just know that God is beside you everywhere - all day long! :) PTL for that! He's always there to help and comfort! I, for one, have turned to Him many times this last week! I have felt an increase in attacks on our family as we have determined to pray harder for many things and are getting closer to God. You know you are on the right path when the enemy starts taking aim! :) The sad news (for the enemy) is that I am not backing down!!! AND - I have many warriors on my side as well!! Thank you all who are walking in this battle with us - daily and weekly! I need you! Thanks!

So - here are my prayer requests (battle plans!):

Tyler - We want to see breakthrough and transformation in his life this year! He has battled anxiety, depression, attention/focusing problems, over-emotional reactions to things, and possible Asperger's Syndrome (some days I doubt that diagnosis, and others it seems to be in full force). It has been affecting him at school, and they are tempted to not let him come back (it's a small christian school that doesn't have the resources for "special needs" - including Ty's anxiety attacks, I guess.)
We want to see healing, deliverance and a "re-training" of many bad habits. I KNOW that God is going to - and I know that He is helping us! I also KNOW that the outcome will be good - but the process is just challenging (imagine having to retrain the hair on your head to grow/fall a different direction?! God is putting on some hair gel to help us out - but we still have to comb it every day in the direction we want it to go!). Ty did go up for prayer today at church (he wanted to!), and I know that God is working in him! Keep praying with us and for us (esp for patience and discipline to go the distance). And pray that he will be able to still attend his school!! :)

Juliana - Keep praying for her situation. It's still not resolved. I found out more info this week, but can't really share it online. Just pray that she will be fully "released"! We want to see her get out of the court system down there and to be brought home to the US. Keep praying!

The mom of 2 girls - that you've been praying for . . . the lawyer did not follow through with the DNA approval! :( There are other (crazy) issues going on there too. Please continue to pray for the release of her girls! Pray for her - that God will carry her through this "fire"! I know He can and will - but it's still hard to go through. Please lift her and her family up in prayer! Thanks so much!!

Those are my main concerns right now! Thank you to all who are willing to pray with us! We will see miracles happen!!

God bless you all! Please let us know if we can be praying for you too!

Blessings!
Lori :)