Happy 1st Birthday to our boy "Jeevy"

Jivenson 6 months

Jivenson weighed 5lbs @ 3 mo. Within a few weeks, he was a chunker!

Back in January, just weeks after the earthquake hit Haiti, Mallery (Thurlow) Neptune flew home to share with our church what desperate need the Haitian's were in. She showed pictures of the destruction along with several children that needed urgent help. As pictures flashed up on the screen of some of these children in need, one in particular brought tears to my eyes. His name was Jivenson and his mother walked miles and stumbled upon Haiti Foundation Against Poverty's home just days after the earthquake. He was lethargic and literally dying. He weighed 5lbs and was 3 months old. His mother couldn't feed him and he was slowly dying of starvation. Mallery was on her way to the US when his Mom approached her.  Noone had a place to stay (as it was not safe for anyone to seek shelter) so she left this Mama outside her house with just enough formula to last her 2 weeks- the timeframe Mallery was going to be in the US. She explained that she drove away in tears...she really didn't think he was going to make it. BUT, by the grace of God, not only did he make it, but he's thriving. Jivenson's picture stirred our heart, so after the service we walked over to her to ask about sponsorship. We wanted the kids to be involved in this, so we let them choose the child. It was cute to see their eyes wander through each picture. I'm glad they were the ones choosing, because I wanted to sponsor them all. So after much deliberation, they all agreed. They wanted Jivenson. They thought his name was hilarious and they loved that he had a "soothie" pacifier in....something that was very near and dear to our kids hearts. I was elated as that was who the Lord put on my heart in the service...ok, he put them all on my heart, but he stood out to me. Since then, there have been many teams from our church going to Haiti -including some Mom's from my Mom's group. So the kids have been having fun sending presents each time one of them goes(-:  Kai will make cards, Aria will collect random objects from her room and Becket, he's just shouts "Jeebenson" Jeevy's first gift included a "lovie". Of. course. They have spent countless nights praying for him and rarely miss his name in our nightly prayers. He truly has become a brother to them. This month he celebrates his 1st birthday.  We feel so blessed to be a part of his life. When we receive pictures like these, it touches our hearts. A little food and God's love can truly go a long way. There are many more kids out there waiting to be sponsored. Haitifoundation.com is just one of the organizations that facilitates this. World Vision is also another great organization. I would encourage everyone to consider helping in this way. We may not all be called to adopt, but we are called to take care of the orphans and the widows, so sponsoring a child is a very tangible way to do that(along with countless others!)  We've decided that our next sponsorship will be in Ethiopia-we'd like for each of our kids to contribute to sponsoring a child (once they start earning an income(-:) who is their sex/age so they can "grow" up together. And it will give us another good excuse to go back to Africa in a few years(-: