Valentine’s Day Cards for GiGi

It’s been a crazy busy year already & time is flying by!  The adoption is moving forward & GiGi will be with us before we know it!  Things got delayed with our holidays & China’s holidays so maybe we are back on track.  It still looks as if it will be a few months before we are headed to China.  We Cannot wait to hold our daughter & to bring her home!!!!!!  With time approaching quickly, we need to get on the fundraisers for adoption fees/traveling fees/medical fees/etc.   

Today I posted on my Facebook 2 Pictures of cards.  This will be our fundraiser for Valentine’s Day.  It will be here in 13 Short days!  We have the following card types:

* Valentine's Day to wife designs
* Valentine's Day to husband designs
* General Juvenile Valentine’s Day designs 
* General Valentine's Day designs (includes sweetheart & to the one I love)
Basically, we have something for everyone; I think there are 50 designs.  The cards have a retail price printed on the back of $2.50.  These cards are thick and of nice quality.  We also mail them to the name/address you provide with a note saying that you have helped support an orphan home with this card.  The shipping stamps are Valentine stamps & they will have cute return address labels with a return address from Cupid’s Castle.

I know most of you purchase cards so please consider getting them from us to help pay fees for GiGi.  Adoption is not cheap & adoption fees are expected to cost us between $35,000-$40,000.  This does not include GiGi’s medical expenses.  This is something we were called to do & we believe it is our mission.  We know if God has called us then He will provide the way!

You can get cards on a donation basis.  You can mail your check to:

Phil or Niki Smith

P.O. Box 332

Rienzi, MS  38865

We hope to have another PayPal address set up tomorrow so you can send the donations through PayPal  Please, please help pass the word along & share this message.

Tell:

Friends

Church

Co-worker

Classmates

Neighbors

Etc. 

 Would you help this fundraiser be a success & help bring GiGi to her forever home?  Everyone LOVES getting a card in the mail to feel special -even your children & spouse(Please make sure not to forget our service men/women).  We also have religious card & will post more details on them soon.  We are very grateful to each of you for your support! 

So, NOW I WANT MY GI GI!!!!

Wow, it seems like forever ago that I sat at this desktop and wrote about what was going on with the adoption! Truth be told, there was a large block of time that the wheels of progress seemed stuck in the mud. When that happened, the craziness of life seemed to continue (as it does), and I was carried away by the thousands of things that seemed to always need doing. Somewhere along that road, I l...ost focus on what I was doing and my calling. Gi Gi was lost in the shuffle, as were other people that I love.

Luckily, my eyes have been opened. God has little reminders for us along the way. When Niki Suitor Smith told me she had found Gi Gi on a website, I thought she was reaching! LOL! I mean, there are countless orphans in China. Couple that with the number of orphanages, and what are the odds? Plus, I hadn't seen an anywhere close to recent photo. How could she even be sure? Well, to get to the point, when she showed me, I knew. I was knocked off my feet! It was a feeling like nothing else! I don't believe that us finding her was a random thing. I need my inspiration back and when I saw her, I remembered what I am doing. It is easy to get a little lost but God will bring us around if we do a little searching. Niki, never lost faith or forgot what we were doing. She was always searching, reading, praying, working. God is using her as a light for me to find my path. I forget how much I have been blessed. I wish every guy could know what it is like to find the one God made for him. I take that for granted. I got the trophy wife the first time around- so, I'm a little spoiled.

So, NOW I WANT MY GI GI!!!!

Phil

If you love someone, you let them go. If they don’t return, they weren’t a Boomerang!

How many times how we heard the saying?  Well, it’s not exactly as mine, but you all know it.  If you love someone and let them go, but they don’t return was it REALLY Never meant to be?

You love your dog but live in an apartment.  You couldn’t provide the adequate room for it to run & play - would you give it away?  If you did and it didn’t return to you, was it never meant to be your pet?  Didn’t you let it go because you loved it and wanted better?   No, a dog isn’t someone but keep following my random thoughts.  Maybe there is some kind of point in here somewhere, but who knows with my gibberish. 

If you love (_____) and let it go, but it didn’t return. Was it never meant to be???

What about when I loved my grandmother/father, etc. and I had to let them go?  I think we can probably all agree that doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be.   For the 12 weeks, I carried my Landon and had to let him go, but I believe he was meant to be.  Even though I had to let them go, I still love them!  As much as it hurts, they will not return to me. 

My daughter’s mother had to let her go…..maybe she couldn’t afford to feed her, maybe she was forced by her parents, husband, etc. or had no choice for any unknown reason.  If my GiGi doesn’t return to her biological mother, was it never meant to be?  GiGi will always be my daughter, but I cannot deny the fact that she is only mine because her mother had to let her go.  Does that make me second best?  I hope not!

And I guess I’ve been studying too much Chinese:

The Invisible Red Thread 

"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." 

 -Ancient Chinese Proverb

I think that we have so many red threads, whether it is the pet you let go, the love you let go, the loved one that passed before us, the child we never met, or anything you wish to fill in the blank.   I think that we were supposed to cross paths with these people and that we are connected together.  No matter how tangled or far they go, we are still connected in some way. 

Have you ever thought about standing in God’s shoes and putting yourself in the blank? 

God:  I love (name).  He/she loves me and I let him/her go…………..

Do you think He ever thought about what would happen when He let us go and gave us free will?   God gives us all free will and has let each of us “go” to live our lives as we wish.  He could have made us puppets, but we have choices.  He didn’t let us go because He did not love us.  He sacrificed everything to be with us!  He let us go, but what we do is our choice!  He loves each of us and wants each of us to return to Him!  For the ones that chose not to return to Him, my heart breaks, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t meant to!

When you love someone, you may need to let them go.  All will not return.  No matter if they return or not, you still love them.  If they don’t return, I believe you were supposed to meet – it was meant to be!  With some, you know they will never return to you.  With some, we may never know when or if paths may cross again.  With some, we may be privileged enough to visit even if they don’t return as we had hoped.  However, I believe the red sting will not break nor stop the love!

If you love someone, you let them go.   If they don’t return..................................  you still love them and want the best no matter how much it hurts, but to me that doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be!

Think about my rambling for a bit……what do you think?