The Best of 2014

2014 is almost over and it has been our usual special mixture of amazing/busy/fun/tough!  It’s not easy to narrow down the blog posts, so we’ve cheated just a little, and we hope you’ll enjoy this little look back at the year.  Click the links to read the posts that you missed (or want to enjoy again!).

2014 was full of…

‘Hello’s and ‘Goodbye’s

So many arrivals and departures, sometimes even 'two by two'.  Do you remember when Eli, Charlotte AND Judah arrived? 

Matching!

Hearing that a child has been matched with their forever family is one of our favorite things, and we've been able to enjoy playing 'the asterisk game' more than 20 times this year!

Matching Madness , when seven kids got matched in seven days, was so awesome.  And Lucy/Hannah's big news...?  Happy tears!

Happiness

There is plenty of happiness around here, even in the midst of medical struggles and painful loss.  There is a whole lot of Happy crammed into this video, and this one, featuring some fun glimpses of more than 30 New Day graduates.

Friendship

Some beautiful friendships blossom here...do you remember reading about Adam and Annabel? Enjoying the adorable pictures of Hope and Iris?  

Kindness

We get to see a whole lot of amazing kindness and generosity too.  There is the very touching story of a a very special gift for Talia, and another thoughtful person sent some special sand that has been very well-used in therapy sessions.  Our volunteers are so generous with their time, like when Denise gave up six weeks to be here, being just what Iris needed.

Fun Field Trips

New Day is a wonderful place, but sometimes it's good to good to take the kids out to experience the big wide world.  Do you remember 'Swagman' (a.k.a. Seth)'s Field Trip to the wildlife park?  How about the time we picked (and ate) strawberries?

Delicious Food

Also on the subject of eating, plenty of food has been enjoyed in 2014!  Austyn tried his first lollipop, cake was eaten in therapy sessions, and there was a wonderful chocolate picnic. Yum.

 

Amazing People

This year on the blog we've shone a spotlight on some incredible heroines (and heroes) - the hospital nannies and our foster families.

Answered Questions

As well as telling you all about nannies and foster families, hopefully we've now also told you everything you ever wanted to know about adoption from New Day and our children's names!  Please let us know if you have any topics that you would like us to address on the blog in 2015.

The New Day Song

A blog year would not be complete without a beautiful guest blog post by former long-term volunteer and blog writer, Carrie.  From The New Day Song:

"Each time I come back to this place, the faces of the children are new – but the song is the same. It's a song of hope and redemption and restoration.  A song that says while the past may be full of bitterness, brokenness, and tragedy, today is a New Day and it is worth singing about.  A song that says though the world might see these children as beyond hope, worthless, even discarded, they have value and unimaginable worth."

Here's to more hope and redemption and restoration in 2015.  We look forward to telling you all about it!