09 June 2009
April Rose
This post has been co-written by Angie, Jennifer, and Raechel in order to address a very serious issue as a united front. It isn't an easy post, but it is one that has been prayed over and we are asking you to continue to pray for all of those involved. Each of us has, to varying extents, introduced "B" (Beccah) and her daughter April Rose to you, and we feel a responsibility to our readers to address the recent allegations. Please know that this comes after many attempts to speak to Beccah directly, and as many avenues we could seek in order to believe that the naysayers were wrong. At this point, the three of us are compelled to believe that we have been mislead, and that the Beccah that we have been praying for is not who she presented herself to be. It is not our intention to bring up all of the details to be hashed out, or to begin a conversation that will further the gossip that satan so wishes would come from this. Angie and Raechel got together in person today (Yes, they live very near to each other and each lost an infant daughter last year...Audrey on April 7th and Evie on April 9th), and Jennifer has individually spent time on the phone with both Angie and Raechel in the past couple days. We have all prayed over the whole situation. It is incredible to hear what Raechel has gone through as she has sought to love Beccah well throughout this whole journey. She is as shaken as all of us are, and feels blindsided. She did what any loving Christian sister would have done and reached out to someone she had known in the past, but hadn't had contact with in years. She did her best to be a friend, as we all did. Please hear our (Jennifer and Angie's) hearts on this-Raechel was as much in the dark as all of the rest of us. She made no money, nor did she have any idea that she was being taken advantage of. She and her husband made t-shirts to benefit PASS, and they personally sent the check directly to PASS. Any speculation of their participation in this in this is purely false, and should be immediately put to rest. We are now face to face with evidence that compels us to believe that Beccah's story is fictitious. We will not go into further detail, because at this point, it will just feel like more fuel to the fire. Instead, we would like to encourage you to continue to be in prayer for Beccah as the story develops. Whatever the case, she is a woman in need of prayer, and although the sting is fresh on our cheeks, we must, as a body, continue to seek the counsel of the Lord and trust that He will use this situation for good. Every one of you has a right to be hurt and to feel robbed of your time and your investment in this story, but above all, please remember that this is a person created in the image of God. As difficult as it sounds, we would like to beseech you to be in prayer for everyone involved. We want to assure you that the time you spent in prayer was not wasted...it was a sweet communion between you and the Lord on behalf of someone who needed that intercession. There are incidences like this that occur in the blog world, and each of us has dealt with them. This should serve as a reminder that not everyone is to be trusted; there are people who can use this as a platform for emotional attention, or any number of things. After much discussion, many phone calls to others involved, and much prayer, we feel like this is the best approach. The three of us care about our readers more than we can express, and have become friends outside of the blog world. We all believed it too and we are mourning it the same way you are. It didn't feel right to not say anything at all, but we also don't feel that any further commenting or discussion would be edifying to the Lord at this point, and as a result we will be shutting off comments for this post. Please respect our hearts and our intentions as we seek the Father Who knows what we cannot understand, and allows us to come to Him with our brokenness. He is the God of mercy, and we can only hope to reflect that to the world as His followers… With much love and prayer, Angie, Jennifer, and Raechel
I feel really bad for this family.
ReplyDeleteA very good and very optimistic friend of mine said, "Everyone prayed for a beautiful little unborn baby not to die,....So in essence we should rejoice that there was NO sweet and innocent baby, who is in a MAJOR FIGHT for her life!!".......
ReplyDeleteIt may sounds a little silly, but it's true....I am thankful that there is no baby April Rose struggling to live.....
Celebrity Baby Blog was the first real blog I read. Sad but true. And that led me to Audrey, which led me to Stellan, which led me to others...Harper, Brayden, Cora, Gracie, Kayleigh, Jonah, Gaines, Elise, Baby Bolte, Baby Summons and so many other sweet and precious babies...some that are here with us on Earth, and some that are in Heaven. As I read the words of these mothers and fathers, I have been touched to the depths of my soul so many times. Am I a Christian, yes? Was I before I read these blogs, yes? But they have each, in some way, forever and profoundly changed my walk with the Lord. I look at the heartfelt words on these blogs (along with CJane and NieNie - both of whom are awesome), and I am blown away by their honesty, rawness and faith.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there was Little April Rose. Oh I clicked over for sure. From where doesn't matter as it could have been from any number of places. But the first time I read it I was struck by how sophisticated it was out of the gate. Cool header, check. Button all ready to go for other bloggers, check. Outreach to other bloggers with big followings, check. A "day of the week two way communique", check. A "send in your photos in a particular color campaign", check. Check, check, check - it was as if she had a paint by numbers blog. Like she had studied up on the best of the best and had a distinct and planned timeline of when to rollout all the blog tricks. It was all just a little too slick for me. But still I read.
My initial thought is that she was a reporter doing a story on the blog world - kind of a "look how easy it is to generate a massive following" story. And then at times I would feel guilty for thinking it was a scam and being so cynical. But I never commented. After she started addressing the posters who were calling her out, I thought, "Ok, it's not just me after all."
After reading all the information, I'm not sure if her motivation was money, sympathy or a combination thereof. But I do know this. Either way, she needs help and prayers. And to all the bloggers that tried to help her out, you owe me nothing. I read, and cotinued to read, of my own free will.
I, however, would like to thank you for your faith and example. I hope this situation won't change the goodness you share with others. And to everyone else, impressive detective work! I'm serious!
I know - Longest. Comment. Ever.
4DLife, thanks for the well-written comment. I especially appreciated you saying that those other bloggers owe us nothing. I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteI have been getting really upset with all the people (commenting on the previous post) saying that those "big bloggers", owe us something. They really don't! Angie and MckMama (and Raechel) were fooled like so many of us, and I'm sure they feel hurt, like we do, and probably feel especially bad since so many of us found B through them. (I feel awful because I directed my aunt to the site, so I'm sure they feel even worse.)
So, they agonized over what to do, and jointly put out a response to let us know that they agree this was fake and they were fooled too. I really appreciated them saying that, but they owe us nothing!
Of course, I want more information, but I think that short of Beccah herself explaining things, we will never be satisfied. (And even then, how can we believe anything?) We should not blame anyone else or hound these other people for information.
Also, as I read comments of people demanding proof from R&R, Angie and MckMama, I found myself wondering what kind of proof can they give that they were fooled? I understand that a copy of the check would help, but we are on the internet. Anything can be faked. There is no piece of information or statement that can fix this.
That being said, I was totally sucked in (silencing my doubts and strange observations), and I do appreciate the work that Nobody and Brianne Gibson (and all the commenters) have done.
Here is my question...it seems like so many of us had these doubts, but as people spoke up they got flamed badly. I thought that blog was a bit much from the beginnning. Just because Angie or Mckmama endorses something DOES NOT mean you don't have to use your head and follow your instinct if it doesn't seem right to you. They are excellent writers, yes, but nothing compared to your own heart leading the way. It is terrible how many people felt guilty for not buying it but now are seeing that their gut feeling was right!
ReplyDeleteI was Googling and found these comments from mamarebekaahhere http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-niece-leah.html I wonder if that was really "B" ... I have found several like this, as comments to posts about truly ill babaies, always sending folks to the April Roase Blog and always with a private profile. Seems she might have been doing this herself
ReplyDeleteHere is another from mamarebekaahhere, she always tells the blog owner that April Rose's mother has been praying for whomever the blog happens to be about...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/2009/04/sunday-morning-ministry-please-forgive.html
http://tubrequads.blogspot.com/2009/04/happy-birthday-babe.html
ReplyDeleteAnd check this out, she actually stole other bloggers identities and replied to posts about the baby as them! It blows my mind how much work this warped loser put into this scam. Just think, she could have been putting all that effort into helping others instead...
http://resolved2worship.xanga.com/703234696/posing-to-be-me-identity-theftfrauddeceit/?ref=topblogs
How does Rachael not feel compelled to offer actual answers and anything other than a vague and veiled co-written explanation? She was the "legitimacy factor" in selling "B" to everyone. She "knew" her, she updated for her. Even when things didn't smell right I figured "but she's got other legitimate bloggers and real people saying she's real..."
ReplyDeleteOh my Dan River Mama....I do believe your right. WOW....
ReplyDelete4D Life I had the same feeling the entire time. I never said anything because I wanted the story to be true. I wanted it to be a miracle, but I did feel that her entire blog was too polished from the very beginning.
ReplyDeletePLEASE do not call any number that has been posted (815 -8** 1***) or send anything to the address. (5** T****** Trl) Beccah does not live there. It is a private family that has known Beccah but had absolutely no knowledge of this scam, and they do not want to be associated with the situation in any way.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, has anyone emailed "B"? The email she originally had that is still on the cached version of her site is; little one april @ gmail . com
ReplyDeleteI too felt like it was a little too fake. Especially when she was SO small at 40 weeks (I know people who delivered at 33 weeks with a 5 pound baby, and they definitely looked pregnant). And especially when she continually chose to stay pregnant when the chances of her baby living at that point were few and far between. I feel relieved, I guess, that my judgment of character wasn't so far off. I feel very badly for those who were not at all skeptical and then feel SO betrayed. Like Prarie Mama said - you have to use your own judgment on these things - even trusting legitimate bloggers is not always safe.
ReplyDeletei emailed b at that email address. no response. not expecting one i guess. i told her we deserve answers from HER and that i'm praying for her. because she truly needs it.
ReplyDeleteLet this be a lesson to everyone - (I said it before, during the Pepe affair, and will do it again now) - It is not in your best interests to blindly believe everyone you read or hear, whether it's the internet, a newspaper, your pastor, your neighbor's niece's best friend, or whoever, whether its about politics, other religions, other struggling families, or whatever - nothing you read or hear is unbiased, and sometimes the spin is for personal gain. It is definitely not a good idea to send money to someone on the internet that you've never met for their cause; instead, you have a choice of a myriad of legit agencies, which have been veted and checked out, who would love your hard earned dollars. Speaking as someone in the medical field - it can be detremental to your emotional and physical health to get personally involved in anyone's story *but your own*! Be an interested observer, but go no further.
ReplyDeleteShe also used hopinginpink @ gmail.com
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is how Raechel can claim to have been fooled. In one of her guest posts, when B was in labor, she wrote that she had arrived at 5:00 AM and saw how tired everybody was. Then she posted a series of updates on how the labor was progressing, April's birth, and events following the birth.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very confusing to me. Did B have a baby or not? And if she didn't, then how could Raechel claim to have been fooled when she was supposedly there in person? Can someone enlighten me?
I found this posts while looking for 'fake twitter followers' on Google, but I must admit it's a shocking story. Why would anyone waste their time inventing such a horrible story?! Mark from www.fakefollowerstwitter.com
ReplyDeleteNice pic of red rose
ReplyDelete