Meet Suzanne!

Do you see that overly adorable little girl in the picture above?

Her name is Suzanne.

She's 5 and a half, and she just so happens to have Down Syndrome.


Does that make her any less cute, or any less worthy of life?

Suzanne is an extremely lucky to be a part of the wonderful organization,  Reece's Rainbow.

Every year, Reece's Rainbow (this is the International Down Syndrome Orphan Ministry, for those of you who didn't know!) holds many fundraisers. You can be a Valentines Warrior, an Easter Warrior, and this year, in celebration of the 5th Anniversary of Reece's Rainbow, they even had the 5/5/5 Warrior fundraiser. I am a 5/5/5 Warrior for Nasira and Niles, by the way.

The biggest and most important fundraiser  though, by far, is the Angel Tree fundraiser.

The fundraiser goes on from November 1- December 31st. Anyone can become a Christmas warrior. A Christmas warriors job is to fundraise and pray their little boy or girl home.

This year, {you guessed it!} I am so thrilled and blessed to be a Christmas Warrior for sweet Suzanne. 

Now, maybe you're wondering, why Suzanne?


Well, I would have loved to be Niles' Christmas warrior, since I have already been fundraising for him this year. However, Corey from The Family Stone, got to him first! And that's totally okay, because I know she will love him just as much as I do. While Niles and Suzanne are both down syndrome kiddos, Nasira actually has cerebral palsy. Unfortunately, that makes her ineligible for the Christmas Warrior program. 


So, since I couldn't be a Christmas warrior for any of my previous boys and girls, it was time for me to find a new little girl to fight for. 


As I browsed through all the girls {okay, so I'm a bit partial. I looked through the girls first...}, I passed by so many precious faces. So many precious lives. Of course, a lot of these children had already found their Christmas Warrior's. 


Suzanne caught my eye. The first reason was the money in her grant fund: $25.20. 


Only 25 bucks to help get this baby girl home to a family who will love and cherish her in a way she deserves? 


Most of the girls had a least a couple hundred dollars, some a thousand. 


As I read the brief description provided about Suzanne, I stumbled upon the 5 words that both broke my heart  and convinced me she was the girl for me.

HELP! I HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED!

Oh no.

Because kids in {most} "baby houses", as they are called, are treated fairly well. But once these kids turn 5, they face the institution.
 Eastern European mental institutions are horrible, awful, scary, heart wrenching places. This video {which to warn you, is very disturbing... but at the same time, very necessary} gives you an inside look to what it's like.

And friend... there aren't words.

NO ONE should ever have to live in conditions like those. But they do. And everyday, more kids are transferred into places like that.

This isn't a happy thing to talk about at all... but it's an important one.

Since it's November, everyone is focusing on giving thanks. Which I absolutely love.

I have so, so, SO much to give thanks for. I have such a blessed life. I have everything I could ever need, plus so much more that I just "want". And while I sit around on my laptop or cell phone everyday complaining about how I don't have an iPhone...

these children would just appreciate being able to go outside and get some fresh air. That's not something those in mental institutions get the chance to do very often at all. They stay in their cribs, all day everyday.

They don't have the opportunities you or I have. They don't have anyone to love them. They don't have anyone who even cares whether they live or die.

And that, right there, is why I am Suzanne's Christmas warrior.

Sometimes you just have to take action. Not tomorrow, but today. Realize the power that you have. I myself can't save Suzanne's life alone. But with God, anything is possible. So I'm taking the first step, and I'm doing everything in my power to save the life of this precious girl.

It really is life or death.

I'm so excited and ready to take action here and put my 110% into raising money to get Suzanne out of the horrible place she's in.

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

{Micah 6:8}

You can donate to Suzanne's Christmas Angel Tree fund here. It would mean the world to me if you could donate anything at all to help Suzanne. A dollar, $5, $14, $27... and if you donate $35, Reece's Rainbow will send you an ornament for your Christmas tree with Suzanne on it. because you will have had made a difference in her life.

Blessings!

Sydney