Anderson and more

As Halloween approaches and you buy candy and decorations, consider these specific pumpkin colors and their meanings:

for food allergies — place a teal pumpkin on your porch to signal that you have non-food items for any children with food allergies. I suggest small toys, stickers, note pad/pencil, etc.

for — anyone (children, teens or adults) carrying a blue jack-o-lantern bucket may be on the autism spectrum. Be aware that they likely won’t say “Trick or Treat”, answer any questions, say anything at all or make eye contact with you. Please be kind. STOP DEMANDING THAT KIDS SAY TRICK OR TREAT TO GET CANDY 🍫

for epilepsy awareness — your flashy decorations or strobe lights might be too much for someone suffering from epilepsy. Try supporting the cause and putting out a purple pumpkin instead.

for families who have lost a child — write the name of your child (or children) on your white pumpkin so that they may celebrate along with the trick-or-treaters coming by. We will always remember the life of a little one, no matter how brief their time on this earth. God bless.

Mark your calendars for February 25th!
The Valley Mills Youth Baseball Association has generously allowed use of their fields for a fundraiser on behalf of Brandon Wilson.

This privately hosted event will be a home run derby, and everyone is invited to attend and even participate. (Contact info below)

From 12pm-5:30pm, anyone is invited to pay $20 and receive 10 attempts to hit a home run in the qualifying rounds. You can attempt to qualify for the derby as many times as you like for $20. Different age groups will have a different "home run" distance. All pitches will come from a pitching machine at a set 40ft distance and speed (speed based on age). The top 5 qualifiers in each age class will be invited back after 6pm to participate in the actual home run derby. This will happen at the fields just North West of town on Hwy 6.

Gate entry for the home run derby will be by donation only with no set amount. Anyone is welcome to enjoy the fun! There will be music, food trucks, all under those Texas baseball lights. This is meant to be an evening filled with laughter and competitive spirit all while benefiting someone who poured into our youth in so many ways.
At the end of the day, all proceeds will go to Brandon Wilson's family and to a scholorship fund in Brandon Wilson's honor.

We will need volunteers. If you're interested in participating as a food truck vendor, or simply volunteering, please email [email protected].
Otherwise, please share this post. We want a continuous fast moving line of qualifiers from 12pm-5:30pm.

Wonderful wishes granted for foster kiddos ❤️ what a blessing!!

OMG! An awesome human just contacted us to clear the site! That is over $31,000 worth of love to our kids. Join us in this extra special moment as the whole team celebrates all the wishes being granted!!! More to come on this very special someone very soon!

Today is Day 10 and I’d say the end!
This round of covid was far better than the 3 or so months I had it in 2020-2021! The cough was terrible at first but quickly improved after starting Paxlovid. Finished the Pax yesterday and tested negative for covid this morning so I’d say it’s worth it. Having 3 vaccines on board helped as well. But ultimately I’m thankful to God for getting us through all this. And thank you again to everyone that brought food or ran errands while we were stuck at home ❤️

Today is day 5
18 months after my first experience with covid (or novid since I never actually tested positive), my husband and I both had our first positive covid tests.

After the initial panic of “this is happening again??” I am confident this round will be much shorter and more mild. I’ve had three vaccines and my body has fought this before. Given my previous experience and underlying medical conditions, my doctor recommended paxlovid. So o definitely have more working in my favor this time around.

For those that don’t know, I originally had covid at the end of 2020 but never tested positive for it. I had every possible symptom except loss of smell. I couldn’t get out of bed for a solid week or two and was unable to drive or leave the house for about a month. My husband had to take off work for the entire month of December to care for me and our 5 kids under 5yrs old (2 biological kids, 3 fosters). It took nearly 3-4 months before I felt “like myself” again but never fully “back to normal”. I learned a new normal and have managed to make the best of it for the past year. With all that in mind, it was traumatic for me to hear that I had a positive covid test this weekend. Covid put our lives on hold and suspended many dreams just out of reach. Covid is not something my husband and I take lightly after what we have experienced.

But we have seen that much has improved since our last battle with this beast. And we have faith that this time is different.

How fitting that they would put us right in front of the CPS office 😂

is up and running! Come out and see us along Austin Ave in

is in just a few days!!!

Come to downtown for a celebration of art and creativity! So much to see! Check out some of my personal favorites brought to you by .market .stories

Mother’s Day can be difficult. Motherhood is not every woman’s desire. Motherhood is very demanding and it is impossible to give more of yourself to a tiny, helpless human when you have no support.

Women have a right to feel supported in motherhood. Yes, it’s a great choice to bring a baby into this world — now let us celebrate that choice and support these women, not doom them and their children to separation and trauma. We have to do more for these families that need help the most. A study at Duke found that states with more restrictive abortion laws tend to see a rise in children entering foster care. Why?? Because they condemn one behavior without offering solid alternatives. These women at risk of getting abortions need more affordable housing and childcare so they can work to provide for their families. They need more coverage from food stamps and other stipends. They need more support in order to keep their children and provide for them and to not feel so stressed they can’t bond with their children and love them. We have to do more than just say “make the right choice” we have to support them through their choice.

“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

Opinion | The GOP roars about abortion. Then they abandon the children. America without abortion is no longer an abstraction.

Sending hugs to those who need them ❤️

Y’all I am so excited to see this house becoming a reality! We raised $551,000 last night at our fundraiser! How amazing is that?? Our community desperately needs this home.

Did you know that all over Texas there were children sleeping multiple nights in their local CPS office building? And what did the state do to “fix” this problem? They said “let’s make that illegal and boom! Problem solved!” But not quite… you see, when kids have no relative to take them in, no nearby foster family with an open bed, and no office to sleep in… where do they go? Several CPS offices around Texas now have to reserve hotel rooms or rent an apartment specifically for these children to stay at temporarily. But with Waco’s booming tourism and housing market, finding an affordable local space is impossible. These kids are having to move out of town just to stay in a temporary apartment away from their families and schools adding unnecessary trauma during an already tumultuous time.

“Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights or widows.”
Isaiah 1:17 (NLT)

What could possibly make bluebonnet season any better? Raising money for a good cause!

Ditch the Dress Up is a fundraiser for Isaiah 117 House. Instead of buying fancy new clothes for your whole family for Easter Sunday, purchase some tshirts from Isaiah 117 House where proceeds go towards changing the way foster care begins. Why not use this idea for bluebonnet photos too? Family photos in fields full of the state flower of Texas are a time-honored tradition! Share your favorite photos with me in the comments 👇🏻