Thursday, January 15, 2009
A special Family...
If you saw the post before, you know that I have asked you to pray for Linn & Dwight and their family. Yesterday, Linn woke up not knowing that later that day, her house, and all their belongings would be gone. Everything. Gone. I know whenever we hear something like this, one of our first thoughts is, how can I help? She has so many wonderful friends who have come up with some fabulous ideas, which I will tell you about in a few. First I want to tell you a little bit about this family.
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The whole Gang ( sans Abigail & her husband Ryan, Tyler & Jubliee.)
Linn and Dwight are the proud parents of 10 amazing children. That was not a misprint. 10. They just recently brought #8 and #9, Mr Elijah & Miss. Elizabeth home from Uganda. They are currently waiting to bring home #10, Miss Jubilee from China. These darling souls are on fire for the Lord, and have such a passion to help all children find their forever families. They are such a fabulous example of how to be "Jesus" to others. Inspiring does not begin to describe these two. In their Journey to Isaiah in china and to Elijah and Elizabeth, several glitches were thrown their way, but never once did they waiver in faith. They clung to HIS promises, rallied all the prayer warriors, praised God every step of the way, and trusted in and relied totally on God to pull them through, And HE always did.
Some of her closest friends have posted on their sites ideas of how to help. Linn and Dwight are pastors at a church and the church is accepting donations. I know they have many friends who are stepping up to provide. One of her friends has suggested that anyone who is not in their area but wanted to help could donate using a chip-in account on their blog. They could also send in gift cards as obviously there is so much they will need to buy.
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The whole Gang ( sans Abigail & her husband Ryan, Tyler & Jubliee.)
Abigail & Ryan( Aren't these two adorable ?)
Tyler (An American Hero. )
Jubilee( Waiting in China. Is she sweet or what?)
Tyler (An American Hero. )
Jubilee( Waiting in China. Is she sweet or what?)
Linn and Dwight are the proud parents of 10 amazing children. That was not a misprint. 10. They just recently brought #8 and #9, Mr Elijah & Miss. Elizabeth home from Uganda. They are currently waiting to bring home #10, Miss Jubilee from China. These darling souls are on fire for the Lord, and have such a passion to help all children find their forever families. They are such a fabulous example of how to be "Jesus" to others. Inspiring does not begin to describe these two. In their Journey to Isaiah in china and to Elijah and Elizabeth, several glitches were thrown their way, but never once did they waiver in faith. They clung to HIS promises, rallied all the prayer warriors, praised God every step of the way, and trusted in and relied totally on God to pull them through, And HE always did.
If you take a moment to read anything on Linn's blog, you will come away blessed in one way or another. She just has a way about her. She just loves Jesus with all her heart, and she loves people and has a desire to love and "touch" everyone she "meets." She is just such a dear, dear soul. As is Dwight. To know them IS to LOVE them.
This sweet soul had to face a fear yesterday, that every parent prays they will never have to come face to face with. Early in the morning, she discovered that a fire had started in the laundry room, the room right next to Elijah and Elizabeth's. She had to compose herself and figure out how to call 911, while deciding if there was a way she could put the fire out, while calling all the kiddos (who were still tucked snugly in their beds), to get up and get out, while remaining calm enough to remember to put coats on them as it is freezing where she is, while trying to remember where her keys are so that she can get the kids in the car and warm it up so they have a place to wait while the fire engines come, while worrying if her water heater would blow up with the kiddos in the house, while trying to call Dwight in between calls to 911 of which she wasn't even sure they were getting the point that she needed someone there ASAP.the list goes on and on. Thank God, with the help of the older kids, she got all the kiddos out safe and sound. Only to sit outside, helpless, watching everything she owned go up in flames.
She walked out in her nightgown and robe. Her kiddos had their pj's on. That is the extent of what they were able to take out of the house with them. Everything else. GONE.
Their Log Cabin in the Mountains.
Gone.
Some of her closest friends have posted on their sites ideas of how to help. Linn and Dwight are pastors at a church and the church is accepting donations. I know they have many friends who are stepping up to provide. One of her friends has suggested that anyone who is not in their area but wanted to help could donate using a chip-in account on their blog. They could also send in gift cards as obviously there is so much they will need to buy.
Another friend has come up with the fabulous idea to apply on their behalf to Extreme Home Makeovers. She has set up a blog here with details, and information about how we can help make that happen. The more people who contact ABC on their behalf, the more likely their story will get noticed. There is also a place to leave comments on their behalf encouraging EHM to consider their story. If you would like to help in this way, please head on over here to find out how you could help. Anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.
And as always, your prayers are always needed and appreciated. This family has been through so much, they are going to need all of us to lift them up. Along with the obvious, I know they would want you to include in those prayers protection and peace for Elijah and Elizabeth, who have undergone so much change already and who are probably going to be very confused by all of this. I pray they don't miss a beat and they can continue to focus on bonding with their forever family.
One other thing to include when praying are thoughts for their son Graham. As if they weren't going through so much already, they are in the hospital with him now as he has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will need to have surgery. As you can imagine , this family is being pushed to their limit right now, and can use every good thought, every prayer that you can muster.
Thank you dear friends for your prayers, your thoughts, and acts of kindness that you will extend toward this family. If you don't know them already, please take the time to get to know them. You will be touched, as those of us who have had the privilege of coming to know them have been many times over.
Hugs to you all.
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About Me
- Amie
- I am wife to my high school sweet heart and best friend and blessed mom of many, all of whom keep my arms filled and my heart full. We have been blessed with 10 kiddos...SO FAR! Our lives are CRAZY, and we LOVE it that way! We are crazy for Jesus, crazy for our family, and crazy passionate about the 147 million orphans who have no one to call their own. In our "free time" we help little ones home to their FOREVER FAMILIES, through our Non-profit LOVE THEM HOME. We also help others on their journey to HEALTH and FINANCIAL FREEDOM , as well as help Families Fundraiser for their adoptions as we "wrap others in love" through our home based business with IT WORKS GLOBAL! We are BLESSED, Indeed. And we LOVE being used by GOD to BLESS IT FORWARD!
David 16
Katie 14
Matthew 11
Samuel 10
Allie 8
Grace 7
Hannah 7
Johnathan 5
Caleb "Kai" 2
Sophie Lu 23mos
The Gang
WILD OLIVE TEES
WildOlivetees.com
Help Them Home
147MillionOrphans.com
Amazima Ministries
Johnathan's Announcement Video (Pause Music )
An Orphans Wish
13 heart smiles:
Praying God will see them through in a BIG way!!!! Come on, EHM - we need mountains to be moved for this precious family..thanks for posting about them!
Already got this fam covered! Thanks for getting this out! I just didn't have time today to do an AMAZING post like what you did-maybe I will just do a quickie and link to you!
HUGS
DD
Sara- Amen to that.
DD... (man I love our nicknames...lol)... feel free to steal my post. just copy and past it and go girl.
Love you guys!
What a great idea about contacting EHM! Praying for this precious family...Praise God they all are okay!
Oh my...I can't even find the words to say how truly sad I am for them. Amie, they will definitely be in my prayers. I can't even imagine what they are going through....xo Keli
Hey Amie,
Found your site thru a mutual friend Angie at Davisix, and glad I did. I was also adopted.
Yes I knew already about Linn and Dwight since I follow their blog. Truly devestating. We will do all we can to help.
Feel free to stop by and visit us as well. We love followers because they become friends.
God Bless.
Amie,
I've read about this precious family! It's just horrible! But, what a great idea to contact EHM!! I'll try to send an email. Also, if you want to do a blogover give away... I would be more than happy to donate my time! Just let me know of what you think.
Thanks for sharing this news and passing it on so that we can send up prayers for this precious family in their time of need!
Huge hugs to you!
Keisha
keisha-
FABULOUS IDEA!!!! I will contact you. Let's brainstorm!!!
you are a dear!!!!
hugs~
Amie
I have been following as things have unfolded for the Saunders. Goodness, it has been so heartbreaking. Such an incredible family. I love the makeover idea. Let's pray God moves on those who make decisions for the show!!!!
Thanks for your beautiful post.
Adeye
Amie,
I don't know if you've been to Linn's blog lately, but now their dog has died. Bless their hearts....how much more can they take?
Monica
I read this quickly yesterday before heading out for evening. My heart sank. I cannot imagine the grief this family is experiencing right now. Thank you for sharing their story and all the ways to help.
Amie thank you for posting this, I am praying and will continue to do so. You are an angel.
Love, Kristy
Aren't they simply amazing? We have been praying for them, lifting them, when their son went into the hospital, I thought I would have an anxiety attack, cannot imagine how they are feeling. But Praise our awesome Lord, they are safe and will reveal the truly good will of our human spirit by bringing people together and perhaps even leading others to Christ through this. Not that I would ever want to see anyone go through that, but their conviction stands strong!!
My grandmother died in a house fire, so I know well the loss of history and sentimental "things". Prayers for them that even parts of things can be saved.
On our knees with you...
Heather