Beautiful Life

It's my body.

It's just a ball of cells. It's not even a baby.

It's my choice.

This child will never have any kind of quality of life.

These are some excuses that women use to justify an abortion. They use these excuses because they don't want to admit to what they are really about to do......{murder their unborn child}.

I so wish that abortions didn't exist. People use abortions as a back-up plan if they happen to get pregnant "on accident" or find out that their child isn't going to be what they expected when an abortion shouldn't even be an option.

I honestly believe that abortions also give teens an excuse to have sex whenever they want because if they get pregnant, then they can just get an abortion. That will make everything better, right? Wrong!

Abortions are an "easy" fix to getting rid of a child that you don't want....a child that will be different......a child that will "burden you:...a child with Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, etc. Right? Wrong!

Young girls (and even women) sometimes don't realize how traumatic an abortion will be on them. You have to live the rest of your life knowing that it is because of you that your unborn child is now in Heaven and not with you. Every year, you will calculate how old that child would have been that year, and you will ponder about all of the things that you are missing.

If you don't want the baby, why not give it up for adoption? You will still miss that child, but at least you will know that that child is alive and well and taken care of.

Life is not ours to take. The Lord gives and He takes away. We have no right to. It is not our place to take a beautiful, precious life out of this world. If God didn't want you to have that baby, He wouldn't have given him/her to you.

Please. Choose life.

Kids Say The Darnest Things {Easter Edition}

On Easter night, I gathered my two little brothers, Cody (10) and Landon (5), along with my little cousin, Spencer (4), to read them Bible stories about what Easter was all about. After the stories were over, I decided to ask them a few questions. I wanted to share some of their answers with you because they had me cracking up! Enjoy :)

Me: "What did Jesus yell right before He died?"

Landon: "Help?"

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Me: "What did they put on Jesus' head?"

Spencer: "A cross?"

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Me: "What did they put Jesus in after He died?"

Landon: "A toon?"

Spencer: "A coom?"
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Hahaha I love kids <3

It's not just a word

It's a word I hear all too often. This word comes up casually in a conversation between friends. My heart drops suddenly when I hear this word. This word gives me strong feelings of anger and sadness whenever I hear it. This word makes me want to grab my baby sister, and hide her away from this cruel world we live in.

What's that word you may be wondering? The word is "retard" (or as I refer to it as "The R Word").

I think alot of people don't truly know what this word means. For some reason, people think it is a word to use lightly, and that it is okay make fun of people who are associated with this word. They feel the need to call their friends "retarded" when they are acting stupid.

Retard means "to be delayed".

Retarded refers to someone who is "delayed".

My baby sister has Down syndrome. Her name is Laura, and she's 2 1/2 years old. ( I have a blog for her that you can find HERE.)

Down syndrome (also known as Trisomy 21) occurs when a baby is conceived with one extra copy of the 21st chromosome. An "average" person has 46 chromosomes: 23 from their mom and 23 from their dad. People with Down syndrome have 47 chromosomes.

Down syndrome causes people to be delayed in their speech, motor skills, etc. People with Down syndrome have distinct features that sometimes include creased palms, spaced toes (also referred to as "sandal toe"), curved pinky fingers, absent nasal bones, etc.

People with Down syndrome have a higher chance of:

-Being born with a heart defect.

- Getting childhood Leukemia.

- Getting early Alzheimer's.

and some other things as well.

In the medical world, individuals with Down syndrome used to be referred to as "retarded".

When people these days use that word, they are referring to someone or something that they think is stupid. When you use the "R" word, you are insulting my baby sister and every other individual with special needs even if "you don't mean it that way". If you call someone or something that you think is stupid "retarded" then people who are supposedly really "retarded" are stupid? No, absolutely not!

People try to excuse using that word by saying, "Oh, well, I don't think of Laura as retarded.", etc. Well, that's good because I know she's not retarded! Even if you don't mean it "that way", it hurts all the same. I try to be gentle with people when it comes to the "R" word because I know that most people don't mean it in "that way" or towards Laura or individuals with special needs. When I hear someone say the "R" word, I ask them not to use it and tell them why it hurts me. I educate them. It would be cruel to be mean to someone who didn't even realize the word was hurtful in the first place.

I admit.....I used to use the "R" word back before I knew Laura had Down syndrome. I am so ashamed that I did. It makes me sad to think of all the people I probably hurt by saying it. Now that I know how hurtful it is, it is my job to educate people on it.

Some people still choose to use the "R" word even after I educate them on it, and that hurts. Once you have been educated, you have no excuse anymore.

March 7th is "Spread The Word To End The Word". We, in the special needs community, are spreading the word about the "R" word to end the use of the word. This is something that is so very important to me. Will you please help me spread the word to end the word?

I would appreciate it. The special needs community would appreciate it. Most of all, Laura would appreciate it. Because it's not "just a word". It hurts. So come on.....

Let's spread the word to end the word!

The longing in my heart....

Where is my heart and mind right now? It is thousands and thousands of miles away in Bulgaria. There are so many orphans there with special needs right now who are suffering, starving, fading away slowly. I wish so badly that these orphans didn't have to suffer. I wish they knew what it feels like to be loved, wanted, accepted. In Bulgaria, there are 9 year old orphans with Down syndrome who are the size of a one year old baby. Why are they like this? Because they have been fed nothing but liquids their whole lives. Humans can't grow off of liquids alone. Therefore, they stopped growing at the age of one because their bodies couldn't grow anymore with the small amount of nutrients that their tiny bodies were getting. These things break my heart. It makes me wish that I could fly right over to Bulgaria right now and just bring them all home. I wish that I could cradle each and every one of them in my arms, rocking them as I whisper into their ears that everything is going to be ok. I wish that I could promise each of them that they will find a family, come to America, and get the medical care that they NEED. But....I can't. I can't hold them like I long to. I can't promise them that they will get a family. I can't promise them that everything is going to be ok.

I can only sit here on the other side of the world and pray for them. Pray that they will find families and that everything will be ok. And for those who have families waiting for them, I can only pray that God will keep them alive long enough to be able to come to America to get the help they need so they WILL be ok.

I have a longing to go to Bulgaria one day. I want one of those precious orphans to be my son/daughter one day. I want me and my husband to bring him/her home, take our precious baby to the hospital, give them the love and family and home that they deserve. I want to tuck them into bed each night as I say their prayers with them. I want to take them to church every week, and teach them all about the amazing God that me and my husband serve! I want to kiss every boo boo that they will ever receive. I want to show them what loves really means.

It's crazy to think about, really. The kind of child that people are scared to have.... the kind of child that most people will abort.......the kind of child who is looked at as unworthy of life and love in most foreign countries is exactly the kind of child that I LONG for. People probably think I'm crazy for longing for a child "like that". Do you know what though? I think those people are crazy for NOT wanting a child "like that". Every single person in the world is made in the image of God. Did you catch that? EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON! Yes, even the children who look different and act different than you are still made in the image of the same God that you were made in the image of.

It only costs $20,000 to save a precious orphan from Bulgaria. You may wonder why I say only......cause who in their right mind would use the word ONLY right next to $20,000? I say only because most adoptions cost $40,000. Yes, that's right! $40,000! People from places like Bulgaria and Russia don't want their children who are "different", but yet they don't want us Americans to adopt them so they make it really expensive for us. So, in reality, $20,000 is really cheap for an adoption. My family is in the process of adopting a little girl right now from Eastern Europe, and I know how difficult the process of adoption can be. I have seen both the ups and downs of the adoption process. The worries of "Is our child alright?" and "Where will all of this money come from?" are plenty. Believe me. But do you know what? Every single worry....every single penny......every single second of stress is worth it. It is worth it because you are SAVING a precious life!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. James 1:27

Like royalty

Tonight, as I was sitting on my bed listening to music, I was thinking. I was thinking about relationships. I was thinking about how so many girls (young and old) are being mistreated and disrespected by guys these days. I know this because I used to be one of those girls. I was mistreated and disrespected by several different guys in my lifetime. Each guy disrespected and mistreated me in a different way. As I was sitting here thinking, this blog was born. Every once in a while, I think of something that I really want to let out. Something that I want to write down somewhere, but I never have anywhere to write it down at. Usually what I have to say is too long for a Facebook status or a tweet. So, I made this blog to write those thoughts down at. I'm praying that through my writings, God will use me to speak to whoever is reading this. Whether it be a young Jr. High girl, a woman in her 40s, or even a guy! Anyway, onto the blog post.....

Every little girl dreams of being a princess like Cinderella or Belle. They watch the Disney movies and hope to find their prince charming someday and live happily ever after. As girls get older, that longing to be a princess never really goes away. When girls are little, they long for that fairy tale. The kind of fairy tales that happens in Disney movies. As girls get older, they still long to find their "prince charming", fall in love, have a fairy tale wedding, and live happily ever after. So many girls never give themselves what they truly deserve though. Even if a girl longs for that fairy tale lifestyle of being treated like a princess, they become desperate and settle for less than what they have longed for their whole lives. When I speak of being treated like a princess, I'm probably not thinking of the word "princess" in the way that you may be thinking of it. When I think of being treated as a princess, I don't picture material things. The princesses in Disney movies have beautiful dresses, big castles, and things like that. I have never longed for those things. I have always longed of being treated as a princess and finding my prince charming, but I have always wanted to be treated as a princess through the way that my prince charming treats me....not through the things that he buys me or gives me. If you have a guy who gives you all of the material things that you could ever hope for, but treats you horribly, then are you really being treated like a princess? No! So many guys today do not realize what it means to be a prince to a girl. They don't know what it truly means to treat a girl like a princess.....God's princess.

God wants us as girls to be treated and loved and respected by our future husband in the same way that He treats us, loves us, and respects us. He wants a guy who will look at you like you are royalty. He wants a guy who will treasure you for the beautiful jem that you are. He wants a guy who will respect you. Someone who will be focused on touching your heart.....not your body.

While you are waiting for your future husband, fall in love with God first! As the saying goes, "Dance with God. He'll let the perfect man cut in." Make sure the guy that is trying to pursue you asks from your heart from God first.

"A woman should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him to find her."

I've ALWAYS loved that saying! Fall in love with God, and everything else will fall into place. Don't rush things. Don't become desperate. Don't settle for less than what you deserve!

When you find the perfect man that God has for you, you will just know. He will be EVERYTHING that you have always prayed for in a future husband. He will be a true man of God. He will be a man with dirty knees. He will fear God. He will be more in love with God than he is with you. He will treat you like a princess because you are a daughter of the King of Kings. Girls, don't settle!