Birth Mom's on Mother's Day!

As I sit here on Mother's Day relaxing and enjoying the sun.  I was browsing Facebook and saw a post from a adoptee that really hit me.  The post was....

 Do you think my birth mom thinks of me on Mother's Day!

As I read through some of her post I was touched by some of comments and upset by others.  For me, well it just reminded me of my childhood and who I always wondered if my birth mom did think of me on my birthday or even on Mother's Day.  My thoughts would be Does she remember me? or Does she think of me on this day?  I would always say Happy Mother's Day to her.

I can only imagine what Mother's Day must be like for a birth mom.  The heartache and pain she may be experiencing as she sees other mom's being celebrated by their children.  And she is wondering where her kids are.

There are those people in this world who will belittle birth mom's for giving up their kids.  I actually how selfless they are.  Now at the moment of their kids being removed from their care it may not seem that they are being selfless.

Now I will share when I found my birth family, and read all of the court transcripts I was rather mad at my mom for being so selfish.  But over the years I have learned to be able to look and see that actually she  was being selfless. As, I see it she wasn't not wanting to be her addiction at that time.

So yes, adoptee I do believe birth mom's think of her child on Mother's Day.

So before judging a birth parent for their decision to give up their parental rights, put yourself in their shoes.  Ask yourself,  How would you feel in their place. 

Happy Mother's Day! 

Famous People Who Where In Foster Care or Adopted

Most people think of Foster care and Adoption they think of kids with all kinds of issues and who are drug and alcohol children.  Well some are but there are some who go on to be famous. Can you name a few.  Some have said Dave Thomas, Steve Jobbs, Micheal Oher and Patrick Willis.  And yes they were.  Well, below is a list of Celebritys you might not of thought of or known about.  

Entertainers: 

Marilyn Monroe- Actress 

Tina Turner      Singer

Willie Nelson - Singer/Activist 

Carol Burnett - Actress 

Jimmy Wayne - Singer 

George Lopez - Actor/Comedian 

Angela Shelton - Director/Actress 

Ice-T - Actor- 

Earl "DMX" Simmons - Rapper/Actor

Ray Charles - Singer/Pianist 

Sylvester Stallone - Director/Actor

Frank Stallone - Singer/Actor 

Cher - Actress - 

Eddy Murphy - Actor/Comedian 

Charles Murphy - Actor/Comedian

Ray Liotta - Actor 

Cassidy Mack - Actress 

Leonardo DiCaprio- Actor/Director

Frances McDormand- Actress 

Eartha Kitt - Actress 

Michael Bey - Producer/Director 

John Lennon - Singer/ Beattles

Billie Holiday - Singer 

Rachel Crow - Actress/Singer 

James Hetfield - Singer/Metallica 

Louis Armstrong - Trumpeter 

Jack Nicholson - Actor 

Faith Hill - Singer

Victoria Rowell - Actress

Kristen Chenoworth - Actress/Singer 

Melissa Gilbert - Actress 

James Brown - Godfather of Soul

James Dean - Actor 

Jamie Foxx - Actor/Singer 

Snooki - Reality Television   

Gary Coleman - Actor

Richard Burton - Actor 

Charlotte Ayana - Actress/Model

Priscilla Presley - Actress 

Rajesh Khanna - Actor

Sarah McLachlan - Actress(

Lee Major - Actor 

Little Richard - Singer 

Eriq LaSalle - Actor

Esai Morales - Actor 

Public Figures: 

Bill Clinton 

Steve Jobbs

Thomas Monaghan 

Dave Thomas

L.L. Bean

Gerald Ford

Vidal Sassoon

Herbert Hoover

Malcolm X

Nelson Mandela 

Tom Vilsack

Eleanor Roosevelt 

Jesse Jackson

Percy Spencer 

Rhonda Sciortino 

Kate Adie

Bruce Oldfield

Athletes:

Scott Hamilton

Bill Mills

Mike Tyson

Babe Ruth

Alonzo Mourning

Jimmy Grahams

Colin Kaepernick

Michael Oher

Patrick Willis

Tyrann Mathieu

Scott Fujita

Jim Thorpe

Darold Williamson

Daunte Culpepper

Lopez Lomong

Yes, some of these were just adopted by step parents but it is still an adoption. Some were just in Foster Care for a short time.  Some were cared for in Kinship care. 

Alot of people only see the ADD, ADHD, Autism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, Sensory Issue Disorder, and the list can go on. But we are more then that.  We are doctors, dentist, nurses, famous people, teachers, business owners. We are so much more then just our pass.  

Think Positive

  Monday evening I got a text from my husband that he had just wrecked our car.  Now to give you some background. Just a week before my husband’s car quit. So he was driving my car as he was in search for a new car for himself.  So when he texted me that he had just wrecked my car.  I was full of different emotions and not sure what to think.  Now we were going to need to buy 2 cars.  Well, he got home 3 hours later and filled me in on all of the details and we talked for a bit.  I then went to bed but wasn't able to fall asleep as I kept thinking about “What were we doing so wrong in our life that this was happening to us.”  I could name a thousand negative things that came to mind, but was struggling to find the positive. 

Well, I finally just got up and grabbed my Bible and thought I would go ahead and get the days Bible reading done.  Well, on Sunday I was searching through my You Version Bible app and searched different plans. Well, I came across the Chronological Bible reading plan. So decide this was going to be the year I try and read through the Bible. Well, I ended up reading 3 days ahead.  So I was in the book of Job. Never would have realized that the story of Job came after the story of Abraham.   

As I read I thought of our own family situation.  No we haven’t lost our kids, or all of our flocks or been given boils. Yet we have had health issues, car problems, and financial problems. Maybe God is watching us to see how we are going to respond.  The Bible says God won’t give us more then we can handle.  I know that is hard to believe because we have difficulty hit us and we think the end of the world is here. How will we ever get out of this?  What have we done so bad that God is punishing us? (I know I asked this same question Monday evening.)

 How do we know that God doesn't bring trials and tribulation in to our lives to see how we will handle circumstances?  Are we going to whine and complain, or are we going to trust God and let him use the circumstance to reach a lost person.  How do we not know that there is a lost person just watching to see who we will react?  Just like with Job, I think everyone around him was wanting to see “would he curse God?” and they probably would have thought he had every right to.  Last night I was finding myself question God with questions like, what are we doing wrong? Why would God let this happen to us? Doesn’t God know our circumstances?   Then it dawned on me that maybe God lets things happen to us so other people in our lives can get the blessing of helping us. Be encouraged to know God has a plan.  Stay positive in your thinking because Satan would love for you to become Negative Ned or a Negative Nadine. Satan was hoping Job would become Negative Ned. 

   

How do you respond when things do not go according to plan? Do you trust that God’s plan is better? If you haven’t done it in a while read the book of Job. It is very inspiring. 

Below are pictures of what my van now looks like. Sad 

Blessings,

Angela

The Christmas Story

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year.  Love the movies, the songs, the decorations, and the baking.  While I am writing this I am baking Chocolate Chip Cookies.  My favorite Candies I can't bake to save my life. The Pecan Sandies, or the Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls.  They just never turn out. Anyway enough on that.  Growing up I remember laying under the Christmas Tree and reading or looking (depending on if I could read or not) at my book about the birth of Christ.  I would then either draw a picture of the stable and the manger or I would write my own version of the story.

The past four weeks at church we have been studying about each of the characters of the Christmas story,  Ya know Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Shepherds and the Wise men. Which is your favorite character.

Zechariah & Elizabeth had given up on having a baby of their own.  Then one day an Angel appears the and said " Do not be afraid." Then the angel told Zechariah that they would have a son.  He would be bring back the people of Israel to God.  Can you imagine the responsibility of raising a son who would be bringing God's people back to him.  Or maybe you can relate more to Zechariah, of not being able to talk for 9 whole months because you had questioned what the angel was saying to you.  Honestly I totally would probably been doing the same thing as Zechariah. "God are you sure you have the right people".

Or maybe you relate to Joseph.  He also saw an angel and heard the words "Be not afraid." The angel was there to let him know it was Okay to take Mary as his wife. That he was going to be the step dad to Jesus the Savoir of the world.  I can not even imagine what was going through his mind.  He could of easy of just dumped Mary and not trusted God that he was the right person to be the step father to the Son of God.

The next character in the Story is Mary.   Angel also said to her "Do not be afraid."  Maybe she thought  she was dreaming or that maybe the Angel had come to the wrong house.  She was going to be the mother to the Savoir of the world.  What a responsibility!  There is a song called "Mary did you know?"  I think she knew he was going to be the Savoir of the World but I am not so sure she would know about all the miracles he would preform.  

Next are the Shepherds. They also heard "Do not be afraid"  Yet,  I can just imagine. You have the sheep all around you, You are huddled by the fire trying to stay warm. And all of a sudden there is an angel standing before you telling you of a baby that has been born and that He is the Savoir of the world. I can just imagine they were all looking at each other like "You do see this. I am not the only one seeing this, right"  Then after the angel left can you imagine they are like. Was someone playing a prank on us, was the coffee bad?  Or was it like all boys Curiosity that got to them.  They had to go see what these angels were talking about. Was it true.  Then I wonder how  they knew what stable to go too. Or was  there only one is the town of Bethlehem.  Or did the go check them all out.

Finally we come to the Wise Men.  They saw the star and followed it for 3 years.  I am not sure I could follow a star for 3 years.  Can you imagine not knowing where you are going. Just packing up your camel and heading out. No GPS or Google maps to show  the quickest or fast way to get there.  Then to get to the city of Jerusalem  and meet with King Herod and realize you are at the wrong house.   But finally coming to the house where Jesus was. Delivering their gifts of Frankincense and Myrrh and Gold.  They did not hear a angel say "Do not be afraid." But instead in a dream an angel told them to go a different way home.

In this Christmas story all of the characters were willing to follow God and go a way that may have seems scary, unsure, fearful.  Are we willing to go when God tells us to go?

Making Ripples

Many years ago there was a couple who couldn't have kids of their own. They really wanted to be parents and so they decided to adopt. They adopted a little baby boy who was six months old. They were so excited to be his parents. They raised him and over the years they had fostered another little boy whom they had considered adopting. Later in life they decide to work at a Boy's Ranch. The man worked on the grounds at the Boys ranch and the woman was a cook. Their son whom they had adopted was now in college. He was going to college to become a Pharmacist.

The son had met and married a wonderful woman. While in college the were blessed with a son. A couple of years later they were excited because they were having another baby, but were soon hit with disappointment. The son whom they were so excited to have would be going onto heaven. They would be hit with disappointment 3 more times before they would get a blessing. After two more miscarriages they decided to adopt. In January of 1979 they applied to adopt. They had decided on a little girl if possible. Well, nine months later on September 20th they got a call asking if they were still interested in adopting. The answer was a resounding YES. The person on the phone then asked them if they could make it to Oklahoma city the next day! So on September 21, 1979 they added a little girl to their family. That little girl grew up to have a strong desire to help foster families and kids.

The people in this story are my grandparents Alvin and Nadine Martens, who made the first ripple and adopted their son Michael Martens. Michael Martens got married to Jolene Martens and they made the second ripple by adopting their daughter me. Now both of these ripples took place in Oklahoma. The third ripple was made by me here in Washington where I work with foster kids through Abe and Sara's Kids and also Orphan Sunday and many other ways.

One life touching another life and another.

Angela Kienzle

My Adoption Story

I have been asked many times why I am so passionate about foster and orphan care. So, I thought would take a moment and share my story with you. I grew up in Oklahoma, Texas and Washington as a preacher’s kid and to look at me you would have thought I had the perfect life and it was except for one thing. People would often comment by saying, “You don’t look like either one of your parents.” Which I would reply, “I am adopted,” the usual response was, “OH!” or “Why didn’t your mom want you?” I usually replied with some story because I really didn’t know why my mom didn’t want me and it left me wondering why.

As I grew up I knew I had to find out who I was. I started looking on the internet for my mom, but didn’t know anything but her name. My searches usually ended as quickly as they would start. One day I met a woman who said she had the resources to find my mom and had helped other adopted children find their parents. I turned her down numerous times, I had become too afraid, or nervous I would find her. I think I was more afraid of hearing her say “I just didn’t want you.” One Wednesday evening she asked me again, this time she said she could find my family and I would never have to meet them. More than anything, I just wanted to see a picture of my mom, and a baby picture of me. I asked her if she would be able to find things like that, she said yes, so I gave her the little bit of info I had. I honestly didn’t have high hopes she would find my parents with nothing more than a name to go on.

The next day she called me and said she had found my dad and possibly one of my brothers. WHAT!!! I hadn’t even thought about whether or not I had siblings. She called a little bit later to say she had found an obituary for my grandma with MY birth name in it. Now I was interested. Someone knew I existed!!! It also listed my siblings. So I now had their names. Later that evening she called and asked if I was sitting. I told her I was (I really wasn’t), and she told me she had found an obituary for my mom. She had passed away when I was 16 years old. The weird part was that when she told me, I wasn’t surprised. For some reason I just had a feeling I wasn’t going to find her.

Over the next few days I spoke with family members and heard how I had ended up in Foster care. In another post I will share that story. I still have a brother out there who had been placed for adoption at the same time as me whom I have still not been able to locate.

This is me in foster care 

Me  at 18months old

Donna Wensel- My Mom

Mom visiting Me and Tad in Foster Care

My Siblings Ted Jr., Tiffany, Fanci, and Dusty

I have always felt a strong desire to work with foster kids and the foster families that takes them in. For the past year I have worked with Abe and Sarah’s Kids as their Community Outreach Coordinator. I have had the privilege of speaking at High Schools and Girls Scout troops. I have also had the chance to work with the Refresh Conference at Overlake Christian Church. Refresh is a conference that focuses on helping the foster and adoptive parents understand their children. Every foster child has the right to be loved and cared for and the families that care for them deserve our support. My favorite verse (I believe this speaks God’s heart for orphans) is “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.” James 1:27

Are you passionate about responding to God’s call to His people to look after orphans and widows? Are you already caring for them? If so, how are you doing? If not, would you like to learn more about how you can get involved? Please respond in the comments below or email angela@abeandsarahskids.com. I would love to talk with you about your story and how you fit in His plans for orphans care.

Orphan Sunday!

Orphan Sunday

Did you know there are over 15 million orphans who have lost both parents and 10 million who are fatherless? In the USA alone there are 500,000 in our Foster care system. Do you know what all of these kids all have in common?  They all want someone to love them.  They all want someone to care for them. It takes ONE caring person to make a difference. 

In Scripture we see where God commands us, Isaiah 1:17-Defend the cause of the fatherless, again in Deuteronomy 10:18- He defends the cause of the fatherless, and gives him food and clothes.  In the New Testament we see in Matthew 25: 40 …whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.  My Favorite verse is by far 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.  God COMMANDS us to take care of these little ones.  These are HIS children, and he is saddened by what has been dealt to them.  They didn’t ask for this to happen to them.  It is not the government’s job to take care of them.  It is our job to care for them. 

There is a song by Matthew West Called My Own Little World and I love the Lyrics to it.  If you have never taken the time to listen to the words of that song you really should.  Hear is just few lines of them that really hit me. 

“In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world
population me”

On November 4, 2012 is going to be the 10 anniversary of Orphan Sunday.  Orphan Sunday started in a small church in Zambia, Africa.  A pastor was burdened there for the orphans there who had been affected by the AIDs and disease.  He challenged his church that it was God’s desire for true religion to care for the Fatherless and widows.  There was a businessman there that night that witness church members getting up and giving what they could and for some members it was just the shoes on their feet.

This businessman was soo moved by this that he brought this idea back with him to the USA. And now we have Orphan Sunday in the USA and in 24 Countries. Our God is the Father to the Fatherless.