Oh, I've got to get one of these.

I'm working on a story about a Down Syndrome orphan that was adopted out of Ukraine. After hours and hours of research (procrastination) on reecesrainbow.com, I've decided I'm going to get me one of those babies one day. I have to. I highly recommend you go to that web site. There are 12 families in Tuscaloosa adopting internationally right now. Their blogs put mine to shame. I suppose Momma's just have the best words for describing their children.

Also, it's stories like these that remind me how much we take for granted in the U.S. The kid, Xander, was 16 pounds on his fourth birthday. He lived in a closet with five other children. I'll spare you the tears, and there will be tears when you hear the whole story, but we forget that babies live through that.

I have to get me one of those babies one day. One day after I've worked hard, of course.

I'll post the story on here later. It's going to be a profile on this child's life almost told through his eyes. He's had Down syndrome and autism, but I'm going to try my best to put things in his terms.

Suggestions welcomed.

Your poker face.

I'm so tired of hearing about gambling in Alabama.

There are some stories I can hear for days and never get tired, but I never want to hear about electronic bingo again. So, I'm weighing in.

One hand: It's in our constitution that it's illegal. End. Shut them down, put them in jail, capital punishment, whatever you want to do. Just do something.

Other hand: It could help our economy. Let's vote on it. What could that hurt?

DO SOMETHING.

I'm on a few hyper-conservative email lists and I keep getting email that say "Sister Grace met ill fated words at the steps of the courthouse."

Maybe Sister Grace shouldn't have been damning people on the steps of the courthouse. Let's get to the bottom of this. I'm sure Sister Grace is a lovely woman, but nobody is just going to randomly spit on a good Christian woman.

Just, do something Alabama.

Awe-struck.

I'm stressed. Real stressed. But the thing is, I could not ask for more right now. I'm stressed about these amazing opportunities I've been giving. No more complaining. The stories will get done on time, the research will be done, I have a post-grad job in case nothing else opens up. I have family and friends who will drop anything when I need them.

I've been blessed.

We're supposed to keep a blog about newsworthy things, I suppose. I try, but I'm not good at that. I don't want to judge people. I want to write about them, but I always feel like I'm shooting my opinion in when I write blogs. Hm.

I was writing a story the other day and asked God this, 'How do you see these people?' That's what I want to capture. I want to describe how the creator sees them. He knows we aren't perfect. But what characteristics does he see when he looks at us?

Something I read in The Shack was God saying that nothing bad ever comes from Him. We think he 'let us go through it to teach us a lesson,' but I don't think it's like that. We screw up. Other people screw up. We do go through it by His grace, but he didn't cause it.

I've been blessed. I just needed to take a minute to realize that today.

Sometimes, it just can't get any better.

jg