Teaching James 1.27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Anyone who knows our family knows we embrace the concept of adoption completely. It is biblical. Although we have physical limitations to bring in all orphans, we certainly hope to practice James 1.27 in some capacity. When I asked Makana to think about what kind of people she wanted to help with the money we raised from our yard sale, it was almost a "no-brainer" for her. "I want to help children who don't have mommies and daddies." Later it expanded to "children without brothers and sisters" as well. We watched some videos online to see how the money could tangibly help children, and she decided to help adoption agencies (one international and one domestic) and fill two shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

She went through her toy and clothes collection to select things that could go to the sale. :)

By mid-morning of our sale, Makana got the hang of asking people to place their donations in one of the two piggies, "This one is for adoption agencies, and this one is for Christmas children." :)

Hopefully, her heart is being nurtured to love God and others. :)

Brownie Fun

Carrie, Makana's 11 year-old wonderful friend, came to help Makana with her part of the yard sale. Makana had her friend sleep over (a first!), and had a fabulous time. They made brownies to sell with cookies at their store to raise money for "children without mommies and daddies." (See next post.) We're thankful for Carrie, who is so good with Makana as a friend; they played for hours on end. Stephen got in on the fun a bit, too! :)

Swing Time! :)

Stephen and Makana love to interact with each other, especially while playing on their swings. It's as though the swings are their happy places.