An article and shoes for sofi

Dear Life,

We have been blessed.  When I think of the amount of love and support our journey has received, I KNOW that God's hand is in this journey and no matter how hard it is, we will see it through.  Today we had a pizza fundraiser at our local Lamppost Pizza.  The owner is an amazingly giving man, who generously donated 30% of sales towards our journey.  So many of our friends and family came to support us, coworkers, bloggy friends, friends that have only found us from facebook, really amazing and FUN night.  And then there is the shoe drive.  My friend Edie writes for the Orange County Register and she wrote this article that came out today.

Giving old soles is good for the soul

By EDIE CRABTREE

   FOR THE REGISTER

   What do you do when your dreams are big and your heart even bigger? If you are Fountain Valley couple Stuart and Tracy Jensen, you open up your heart and your home to a beautiful brown-eyed girl who needs a place to call her own.

   The Jensen family, already busy with five boys ages 6-18, thinks there is room in their ranks for one more special addition – Sofi Rose, a little girl born in Eastern Europe with what Tracy likes to call “extras.”

   Sofi, like the Jensens’ youngest son, Kumaka, was born with spina bifida, a congenital defect that can cause a wide range of both physical and neurological complications.

   Over the last six years, Tracy has learned to navigate the medical world, fight for what her child deserves, and fill out countless insurance forms. Most of all, however, she has learned as she has watched her child blossom into a confident, spunky young man, that people cannot be defined by their limitations – that the sky is the limit, even when you reach for the sky from the confines of a wheelchair.

   Now, the Jensen family hopes to take this hard-earned knowledge and use it to give this little girl the life they feel she deserves. As is often the sad truth, there just aren’t resources available to help Sofi. She has spent her entire life lying in a crib, despite having just turned 3 years old.

   When questioned as to why the family would want to take on the challenge of a second child with special needs, Tracy replies:

   “We are not delusional or eternal optimists. We know what we are getting into. We understand the challenges both she and our family face. We also know we have more than enough love to give this sweet angel and are anxious to give her the opportunity to smile. She hasn’t smiled yet. She hasn’t spoken yet. We can give her that gift.”

   As you might expect, while the Jensens’ abundance of love comes without a price tag, the adoption does not. The family is currently holding several fundraisers to help offset the costs of the adoption, estimated to be around $25,000.

   This is where shoes enter the story. The Jensens are collecting gently used shoes, which will then be turned over toan agency distributing shoes to people in need. The best part? They will pay them for the shoes – $3,500 for 5,000 pairs.

   They currently have roughly 1,600 pairs and are desperately looking for additional “shoe fairies” to help them meet this goal, and get one step closer to bringing their little girl home.

   Any style of shoe is welcome, with the exception of slippers, so long as they have no holes and the soles are intact.

   If you have shoes to contribute, please contact Tracy at fivejensen  boyz@gmail.com  . In lieu of shoes, you may make a cash donation straight to Sofi’s account by visiting youcaring.com  / adoption -fundraiser/bringsofirosehome/29572.

   You may also read more on Tracy’s blog. To read Tracy’s blog, visit fromamomofboy s. blogspot.com  .

The Jensens are collecting gently used shoes, which will then be turned over to an agency distributing shoes to people in need. The best part? They will pay them for the shoes – $3,500 for 5,000 pairs.

We already have had amazing support and love from EVERYWHERE.  Literally!  We have shoes from all over California, and we have shoes coming from all over the United States.  People are gathering their shoes, and mailing them to us from as far as Pennsylvania.  There is a huge shoe drive in Arizona and someone is bringing them here.  People are sending them from Ohio and from Illinois.  There are shoes coming from so many places I can't even keep track.  And the minute this article came out, I started receiving emails from people.  It's so amazing and wonderful to see people come together to bring our sweet girl home.  I see His hand in all of this.  

We are working hard to finish our paperwork for our homestudy, and the social worker is coming next Saturday.  Things are moving forward...we are getting very busy.  We appreciate everyone...every single person who prays for us, donates shoes, money, or buys a raffle ticket.  We appreciate all who have bought a cupcake or a pizza slice.  We appreciate ALL of God's angels....we know our angel will be here with us soon.   I can't wait to share pictures of Sofi with all of you.  Her journey is your journey.  You are all a part of her story.  I will write it....you will all be in it.  She will know how many people love her.  Thank you.  We have no words that can say how much thanks we have.