Hope for Anton Online Fund-raiser

“Hope for Anton” Necklace & Earrings

The story behind the jewelry

The donations of these pieces are part of a fund-raising auction for a family who is adopting an overseas special needs baby.  Designed by human hands, inspired by God, three themes emerge in the necklace and earrings. Read and see the stories of Hope, love lost and love found, and woven throughout, faith in a loving God who if we allow Him, will provide for the emptiness in our life and fill us with uncommon love! 

Anton was born with Epidermolysis bullosa making his skin delicate, unreliable, and as fragile as a butterfly's wing. The slightest brush, bump, chaff, or fall causes his skin to blister.  Born under unusual circumstances, to a surrogate mother, Anton is a twin! Although Anton was conceived by parents who had Hopes and dreams for their child(ren), the discovery that he has this skin disorder must have been too much for them to bear as they took home the healthy child and left Anton in an orphanage.  ... A strand of this necklace is inspired by Anton’s country of origin, the separation from his brother, and the pain his mother must endure. Moreover, how God has consecrated him and set him apart. Set apart by EB, by rejection and abandonment, by the direst of circumstances at almost losing the safest home he has ever known.

Meanwhile, almost on the other side of the planet, there is a family whose twin children were also born under unusual circumstances, irreparably conjoined.  While the life of their twins was brief, the love they brought with their birth remains part of their parents and helped confirm that ‘special needs adoption’ was in their future.  … This special family, the loss of their own twins, their hearts softened by love and faith that God is with them and seeing them through their grief, and their desire to adopt, inspires another strand of this necklace.  

There is a third strand to this necklace, but it is conspicuously missing to honor and remember Anton’s brother, the conjoined twins, the missing genetic component that causes EB.  More importantly the third strand is there to remind the owner that, if we allow Him, God will provide for what is missing in our lives, just as He is providing for Anton and his "forever family"!  There is another trinity found in these pieces in the sterling silver links in the necklace and earrings.  They each have a word inscribed on them … faith, hope and love.  Faith and Love adorn the earrings and Hope, adorns ‘Hope for Anton’.   And a final trinity exists at the clasp of the necklace.  A decorative dangle made from the Hope link and two 4mm garnet rounds, one for each twin as it is their birthstone.

This weekend our pastor gave an entirely different Easter message and taught us how God is a "God of the third day"!  Abraham set out with Isaac to do as God requested and on the third day God provided the sacrificial lamb … Jonah set out in direct opposition to God’s request, was swallowed by a ‘big fish’ and on the third day spat out on dry land, now willing to obediently follow God’s request … Christ, obedient unto the cross, rose from death to life on the third day.  For many of us ‘day 1’ comes with devastation, grief, loss, pain, fear, anger …. ‘day 2’ dawns as we experience depression, resignation, numbness, disobedience, disbelief … but our God is a ‘day 3’ kind of God!  You see, ‘day 3’ brings HOPE.  ‘Day 3’ brings RESTORATION.  ‘Day 3’ brings our hearts in line with His IN SPITE of our circumstances. ‘Day 3’ means we walk with God through our devastation, grief, loss, pain, fear, and anger.  Day 3 reminds us we stand forgiven, and above all else, loved and cherished.  Anton is a ‘day 3’ kind of baby and his "forever family" are ‘day 3’ kind of people! 

Only a third day God could weave such a story of love and hope through faith!  Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV) says “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Through His saving grace, God is uniting a new family, healing old wounds and filling a God sized void with His HOPE! You can be a part of this story when you bid on ‘Hope for Anton’ and

help bring him home.

Materials used in Hope for Anton:

Aquamarine, Quartz, Moonstone, Opal, Freshwater Pearls, Czech Crystal, and Sterling Silver.

Necklace length:  22-inches

Earring(s) length:  2-inches, link and cluster portion is just under 1 ½-inch

What a difference a year can make!

This time last year, I was busy making jewelry to donate to a fund-raising auction.  Our family has been praying for an amazing little boy and the auction coincides with his birthday to raise money for other people who share his condition.  Well, it is that time of year again and Jonah's EB Auction is just about to get underway!

I am not sure how I first discovered the Williams Family Blog.  I am not exactly a 'blogger', but I do follow a few blogs written by friends and occasionally check out some of the blogs they read.  I imagine that is how I first 'met' Patrice, Matt and Jonah, and remain captivated by Jonah almost 2 years later.  If I recall, Jonah was only a few months old when I started reading and this is likely one of the first pictures I saw:

Jonah has an extremely rare congenital disorder that affects his skin ... you know, the largest organ in the human body!  Our skin is an amazing organ designed to protect us from disease, prevent dehydration, insulate and regulate body temperature, as well as register sensation.  Skin is intended to be strong, supple, durable, flexible ... most importantly, our skin is supposed to protect us from harm!  This tough little guy was born with Epidermolysis bullosa making his skin delicate, unreliable, and as fragile as a butterfly's wing. The slightest brush, bump, chaff, or fall causes his skin to blister.  While his skin may not be, he is one resilient little guy … so are his parents!

Last year, in honor of his first birthday, Jonah's auction raised close to $9,000 for DebRA the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America. 

"Throughout its 30 years, Debra has remained committed to funding research toward a cure, while responding to the increased need to provide direct services to patients and their families."  Please check out the links and learn more about Jonah's family, and the amazing way DebRA is helping families like his navigate life with this condition. 

This year, in honor of his second birthday, we hope to knock the socks off of last years total!

 When you're done checking out all these great sites, please save the link to Jonha's EB Auction and check in regularly to bid on some really great items and help raise money for a wonderful cause!  If you're on facebook you can also become a fan of Jonah's facebook EB Auction page.  Jonah's auction will run February 23rd through February 27th, 2011.  If you would like to donate items to be auctioned, please contact Katie (event organizer) at jonahsebauction@gmail.com

I donated the following necklaces last year and plan on donating several again this year!

Not a bloggers' blog ...

I am NOT a blogger.  I'll get that confession out of the way quickly so that you won't be disappointed reading the rest of my first official 'not-a-bloggers-blog-post'!  Since I've told you what I am NOT, I guess it would only be fair to tell you a little bit about who I am.

My name is Laura, I am a daughter, sister, wife, and mother.  I am daughter to the King of kings, sister to many through Christ, wife to a noble husband and gift from God, and a proud mother to three most amazing children who stand to inherit the same Kingdom as I.  If you came here to look at jewelry, you may wonder why I would start off telling you about my Father.  But it is important to me that I explain the connection between who I am as His child in light of the jewelry I make.  You see, I am a sinner, which by its very definition means that I am imperfect, flawed, broken, deficient ... lacking.  Let me not forget the best part though, I am saved by grace, and therefor am perfect in His sight!  Not a perfect person, but perfectly loved!  So when I create jewelry, I have a tendency to shy away from what looks 'perfect' and find satisfaction in mixing materials and colors in a way that compliments the natural imperfections in the materials ... much like God does for each of us!

I hope you will stick around while I get used to the 'blog thing' and enjoy looking at some of the pieces I have made.  There is a story behind the majority of jewelry I have made in the last year.  I may not have the time to tell all their stories, but I'd like to try!  I hope that through their stories you will understand more about my heart, indeed I hope their stories will help you understand His heart for you!  He longs for us to know Him intimately.  His desire is that we accept our imperfections, embrace our brokenness, acknowledge our deficiencies, recognize our flaws, confess our sins, and trust that He is truly ALL we will ever need in this life!  Jewelry might make you feel pretty for a moment, but Gods' desire is to restore us to the Beauty He originally created!  What could be more perfect than that?