What a beautiful picture of the sacredness of life...
Grab a tissue before watching.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Be Warned: Adopting May Cause Refinement
I've been struggling. Again.
We're feeling the squeeze:
Virtually empty savings accounts. A looming paycut from my husband's already modest teacher salary. Rising gas prices. Anticipating another mouth to feed and bottom to diaper.
My heart is heavy wondering how we're going to do this.
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
God has given us a burden for His orphans-- these precious children who deserve so much more than what they have! Royalty, living in rags with bloated bellies and an aching in their hearts for a family to love them and call their own.
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 82:3-4
And here I am, not having to wonder where my next meal is coming from or where I'm going to sleep tonight, but concerned about the cute clothes I can't buy, the new furniture I want, the coffee drinks I won't be able to drink, the kitchen gadget that could make my life easier and more comfortable. Mere things. Things that I love and cling to.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21
Oh, depraved soul of mine, be refined.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9
We're feeling the squeeze:
Virtually empty savings accounts. A looming paycut from my husband's already modest teacher salary. Rising gas prices. Anticipating another mouth to feed and bottom to diaper.
My heart is heavy wondering how we're going to do this.
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
God has given us a burden for His orphans-- these precious children who deserve so much more than what they have! Royalty, living in rags with bloated bellies and an aching in their hearts for a family to love them and call their own.
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 82:3-4
And here I am, not having to wonder where my next meal is coming from or where I'm going to sleep tonight, but concerned about the cute clothes I can't buy, the new furniture I want, the coffee drinks I won't be able to drink, the kitchen gadget that could make my life easier and more comfortable. Mere things. Things that I love and cling to.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21
Oh, depraved soul of mine, be refined.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9
Sunday, February 20, 2011
We're Paperwork Pregnant!!
Last Monday we sent out the last bit of paperwork for our Dossier which means that we're officially paperwork pregnant!! It feels so good to be done with our part of the process. Now we wait for a referral which we're hoping to have sometime in the next four months. As we wait, we'll turn our attention more toward fundraising, preparing the nursery, and getting things ready for this little boy to come home.
I can't help thinking that Lincoln could be alive somewhere right now. I think about what he's doing, where he is, and if his needs are being met. Please pray that he would be getting the care and nourishment that he needs while we're apart, and that the remainder of the process would go as smoothly as possible.
I can't help thinking that Lincoln could be alive somewhere right now. I think about what he's doing, where he is, and if his needs are being met. Please pray that he would be getting the care and nourishment that he needs while we're apart, and that the remainder of the process would go as smoothly as possible.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
How to Take the First Steps in Orphan Ministry
If you're feeling the call to help with the oppressed, but are unsure what to do, watch this two minute video of Tom Davis (adoption advocate, speaker & author of Fields of the Fatherless, Scared, Priceless & Living a Faith that Bleeds) telling how to take the first steps in orphan ministry:
http://www.vimeo.com/19097292
http://www.vimeo.com/19097292
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Valentine Prayer Cards
My husband had the greatest idea this past week for our small group, and I wanted to share it here as well. He talked about how Kay Warren (wife of Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life) was quoted at the orphan summit we went to as claiming that there are over 140 million orphans in the world and most of us can't name five. How sadly true!
We can change that for ourselves though! If you go to http://www.adoptuskids.org/ and click on meet the children, you can find a list of children in foster care in your state. We used store bought Valentine's cards to put kids names on so that we could be praying for them to be placed with forever families. How cool would it be to see their profiles taken off this site as our prayers are answered?!
We can change that for ourselves though! If you go to http://www.adoptuskids.org/ and click on meet the children, you can find a list of children in foster care in your state. We used store bought Valentine's cards to put kids names on so that we could be praying for them to be placed with forever families. How cool would it be to see their profiles taken off this site as our prayers are answered?!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
This Is Where It Gets Scary...
We're about to send the last documents to our adoption agency that we need for our Dossier
(pause),
along with some
(insert deep breath)
big checks.
These checks represent almost everything we have left in savings
(insert short, spastic breaths).
I'm not talking about the "adoption savings account" that we began a few years ago either.
I'm talking about the "adoption savings account" AND the nest egg we'd acquired and had been waiting to use for building a garage or redoing the basement or going on a fun vacation or something like that. You know the chunk of money that makes a girl like myself feel warm and secure just because it's nice knowing we have it.
Scary.
For the past couple of days we've been freaking out. I'm not going to lie, today especially was rough. We fought on and off all day long, and when the kids were in bed and we were able to connect, we sat down and realized what the fighting was all about. Fear, unbelief and spiritual forces of evil at work to destroy our family. We no longer have our security blanket (aka nest egg) to fall back on, and we wasted a day or two worrying that God is not going to come through for us as we take these steps of faith. We were believing lies that our enemy was breathing into our ears--"you're not qualified to do this...you're going to lose everything and gain nothing...this process is never going to end...what you're doing is not going to make a difference..."
In the midst of all this funk, we even considered waiting to send the checks until we were better prepared to take this step of faith. But, when we asked ourselves "why?", we knew we didn't have a good enough answer. Jamey asked me today if I would hesitate to spend the money we're spending to ransom one of our daughters if they were taken from us. The answer was obvious. So why would we wait to get our son when we believe he exists and that he needs us to continue to fight for him?
We knelt down before our great Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, and we prayed. Then, an amazing thing happened--We began to hope again.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." --Romans 8:28
Please pray for us if you think of it. There's still a lot that needs to be done before Lincoln comes home.
Did I mention that our Adoption/Foster Care/Orphan Care small group begins tomorrow? Maybe it's just a coincidence that one of the roughest weeks that we've had in awhile was the same week that we were gearing up to lead this group and finish the last steps to complete our Dossier?
(pause),
along with some
(insert deep breath)
big checks.
These checks represent almost everything we have left in savings
(insert short, spastic breaths).
I'm not talking about the "adoption savings account" that we began a few years ago either.
I'm talking about the "adoption savings account" AND the nest egg we'd acquired and had been waiting to use for building a garage or redoing the basement or going on a fun vacation or something like that. You know the chunk of money that makes a girl like myself feel warm and secure just because it's nice knowing we have it.
Scary.
For the past couple of days we've been freaking out. I'm not going to lie, today especially was rough. We fought on and off all day long, and when the kids were in bed and we were able to connect, we sat down and realized what the fighting was all about. Fear, unbelief and spiritual forces of evil at work to destroy our family. We no longer have our security blanket (aka nest egg) to fall back on, and we wasted a day or two worrying that God is not going to come through for us as we take these steps of faith. We were believing lies that our enemy was breathing into our ears--"you're not qualified to do this...you're going to lose everything and gain nothing...this process is never going to end...what you're doing is not going to make a difference..."
In the midst of all this funk, we even considered waiting to send the checks until we were better prepared to take this step of faith. But, when we asked ourselves "why?", we knew we didn't have a good enough answer. Jamey asked me today if I would hesitate to spend the money we're spending to ransom one of our daughters if they were taken from us. The answer was obvious. So why would we wait to get our son when we believe he exists and that he needs us to continue to fight for him?
We knelt down before our great Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, and we prayed. Then, an amazing thing happened--We began to hope again.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." --Romans 8:28
Please pray for us if you think of it. There's still a lot that needs to be done before Lincoln comes home.
Did I mention that our Adoption/Foster Care/Orphan Care small group begins tomorrow? Maybe it's just a coincidence that one of the roughest weeks that we've had in awhile was the same week that we were gearing up to lead this group and finish the last steps to complete our Dossier?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Today
Today I sent out all of our official Dossier paperwork to our adoption agency, minus the homestudy review that we're still waiting on. We're very close to officially being paperwork pregnant! The day has almost come.
Lincoln, the little boy in this video makes me think of you--we're "counting down the days until we can hold you close and say 'I love you'."....
Lincoln, the little boy in this video makes me think of you--we're "counting down the days until we can hold you close and say 'I love you'."....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)