Ornament Fundraiser - Week 2

Ta Da!  Week two's ornament is unveiled.  A beautiful snowflake for your tree.

There's nothing like waking up early after it snowed all night and the world is blanketed white.  Everything seems so peaceful and still.  This is just a fleeting moment until to realize you have to trudge to work in the stuff.  And then it snows again the next week and next week and you wish you owned a house in the Caribbean.

Blizzard of 2010, in case you forgot about last winter

After last week's freak snowstorm, I started to wonder if this is what we have to look forward to this winter.  Time to refer to the trusty Farmers' Almanac.  This year's Farmers' Almanac says a "very active storm track will bring much heavier-than-normal precipitation from the Southern Plains through Tennessee into Ohio, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast. Because of above normal temperatures, much of the precipitation will likely be rain or mixed precipitation, although, during February, some potent East Coast storms could leave heavy snow, albeit of a wet and slushy consistency."  So perhaps not too many snowflakes this winter.  Personally, I prefer my snowflakes on a Christmas tree.

Thank you so much for the donations last week!  I was absolutely blown away by how many of you ordered the entire set. Hugs to all of you for helping our dreams come true.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

If you'd like to donate $5, I'll send you an ornament.  I still have a few week one ornaments left as well.  To donate, click on our fundraising page - Christmas Ornament Fundraiser.

Who Do You Think You Are? Steve Jobs

A People magazine came across my desk recently with Steve Jobs on the cover. Being the Apple fan that I am, I was curious to see how People honored Steve Jobs after his death. I was surprised to read that Steve Job was ADOPTED! Wow, this extraordinary visionary that changed millions of people lives was adopted.

He was placed for adoption at birth by a young unwed mother, whose family would not accept an inter-racial child and feared scandal. Jobs was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. Paul Jobs was a machinist for a company that manufactured lasers and Clara was an accountant. His father spent a lot of time with Steve teaching him how to build things, take them apart and put them back together again. Jobs always emphatically said that his adoptive parents were his parents a 1,000%.

His birth parents did eventually marry and had a daughter. He met his birth mother in the 80's and learned of his biological sister. Jobs described his biological sister as his best friend and remained close after meeting. He never met his birth father and was always somewhat dismissive of his biological parents. 

You can read more about his story in the People magazine article - Steve Jobs – the Private Man Few Knew.

This made me wonder what other notable people were adopted. Nature vs. Nurture is a big thing you think about when you are going to adopt a child. I am giving this one to nurture. It is interesting to me to see how people turn out and how adoption influenced their lives. This begins a series of posts about interesting people that are adopted.

♦ Check out the Christmas ornament fundraiser page. Stay tuned, a new ornament will be available next week!  Fundraising

The Christmas Fundraiser is here!

I am excited to announce the Christmas Ornament fundraiser had begun for our adoption.  Each week for the next 5 weeks, I will post a new ornament.   I'll send you an ornament for a $5 donation. For a $25 donation, I'll send you the whole set.  The ornaments will range from religious to whimsy.  All ornaments will be available while supplies last.  Supplies are limited.  Get yours here - Christmas Ornament Fundraiser

Week 1

I am starting with the shepherd's staff ornament.  Being a "Sheppard" myself, as this is my maiden name, I have always been drawn to the role shepherds have played throughout history.  I am waiting for a Tudor's episode with some kick-ass shepherds!  From House of Names, the Sheppard name is Anglo-Saxon and comes from when its first bearer worked as a shepherd, the guardian of sheep.  I did endure a few baaaas growing up, but I didn't mind.  From Wikipedia, Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations.  There are battle axes on the Sheppard coat of arms because ancient shepherds were employed to dig sod around the embattlements of a Saxon village as means of defense, hence the term "the shepherd's ring".  Now if you google shepherd's ring, you'll get information about The View's Sherri Shepherd's, engagement ring.  Anyway, other cool Shepherd tidbits are:  Shepherd Moons are moons which literally shepherd the contents of a planetary ring, giving it a crisper edge and more definition.  And you can't forget about Shepherd's pie.  Here's a good recipe from the Framed Cooks blog - Shepherd Pie.  Yum!

The shepherd Biblical references are probably the most common.  Many Biblical heroes were shepherds, among them the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, the twelve tribes, the prophet Moses, and King David; and the Old Testament prophet Amos, who was a shepherd in the rugged area around Tekoa. As from the verse on the ornament, angels announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds.  The Good Shepherd is one of the thrusts of Biblical scripture. This illustration encompasses many ideas, including God's care for his people and his discipline to correct the wandering sheep. The tendency of humans to put themselves into danger's way and their inability to guide and take care of themselves apart from the direct power and leading of God is also reinforced with the metaphor of sheep in need of a shepherd.  

From  John 10:11-18:  

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn't own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn't care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father. 

That's some pretty powerful stuff.

I am one of those types of people that like to figure things out for myself, which makes it hard for me to ask for a helping hand.  It also sometimes takes me down the long, less travelled road.  Adoption is one of those instances that you need support from your family, friends and maybe from people that you didn't even know. Our adoption will cost about $25,000.  Now that's a whole lotta sheep, but worth every penny.  So I ask you to consider donating $5 and I'll send you an ornament.

The Sheppard motto is Fide et virtute, by fidelity and valour.  It's still a good motto to live by.  Who knew a little printed verse on cardboard and a plastic staff could hold so much weight? That's worth 5 bucks, right?  

Donate here - Christmas Ornament Fundraiser

Sources:  houseofnames.com; wikipedia.org, and of course The Bible.