a cause dear to my heart and other ramblings

Yesterday I got out of the house and finally ran some errands. I did not feel like making a big production for dinner so we made French toast and bacon. I call that a win. We watched the Hogs when a thrilling OT game (why do we have to play down to the wire so much?!)

Today, I had no plans. I was on Facebook this morning and I had a notification that my name had been chosen and I had won a book for a page that I like getting over 500 likes. The page is for a non-profit called Feed their Tummies that was started by my friend Jenny and her husband. It focuses on helping feed children in orphanages in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have adopted a daughter from the DRC and God has opened doors for them to be able to have this ministry and continue to help children there. 

It is tough right now in the DRC. There is political unrest and they have closed international adoption. There are around 500 children that are already legally adopted but the parents are not allowed to take the children from the country. So many people have been working tirelessly to implore our government to help get the children out of the DRC. If you would like to help, you can sign this petition asking Congress to help with this situation. You can also reach out to the White House by going here. There is also going to be a day of prayer on Sunday for the situation in the DRC and the children stuck there. You can find out more about that here.
Jenny personally came by my house to deliver the book to me. It is a book written by a man who was born in the Congo and now lives in America. About the book:

In his compelling travel narrative, Yenyi details his return trips to Congo, his subsequent charitable work, and the heartbreaking stories of the country's victims of war. While providing the voiceless a chance to speak through him, Yenyi reveals the humanitarian challenges of Congo and combines his life experiences with journal entries-creating an introspective glimpse into a world where child soldiers, rape victims, street children, and AIDS orphans are the realities of life. Trésor Yenyi has a dream-that the troubled land of his ancestors will find peace once again. It is with this great hope for the future of his homeland that Yenyi remembers Congo's forgotten.

When Jenny and her husband were in the process of creating this ministry, his name was mentioned to them since he has contacts in the Congo. Interestingly, he lives only an hour or so away from here! These contacts actually take the food to the orphanages that is bought through Feed their Tummies. It is amazing how God works! 

I received a two letters this week from my doctor. The first was to inform me that some levels in my blood work were consistent with a flare of Crohn's. The second was a go ahead for starting Humira for treatment - we were waiting on some blood work to make sure I could take it. I was telling Jenny today that it has all been so strange coming to terms with this disease. One thing I told her was that before when I was in pain, I didn't feel like it was okay that I felt bad. I always felt like people probably wouldn't believe me because I didn't have any solid reason for not feeling well. I also felt so guilty for days that I didn't feel well. Now that I have a solid reason, I feel no guilt. Everything just makes sense and I feel like it is okay to feel bad now that I know why. I know that probably sounds completely crazy.

Well, I'm just so happy that it is the weekend and that we are going to have some pretty nice weather! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!