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Thursday, September 27, 2012

What God is doing

I know most of you come to our blog to see what's happening in our lives in regard to adoption, but I'd like to share something different, yet related, with you today.

Our friend Becky Locke is a recent IWU graduate who served on staff at Brookhaven Wesleyan for awhile before being called by God to go to Poland to work with the youth there. Becky originally had a goal to make it to Poland by July of this past summer but is now aiming for October, after some unplanned delays in August (isn't the Lord's timing awesome though how He knows our futures even when we have our own thoughts of the "whens" and "wheres"?). Anyway, I wanted to share Becky's Facebook post with you today, as her journey has impacted us as we trust God to provide financially and in His timing for our adoption. Becky was appointed as a missionary with Global Partners earlier in 2012 and now, less than ONE YEAR later, she is so very close to leaving all she knows to love the youth of Poland. Here's what Becky shared today:

I want to celebrate and give all glory to God for His mighty power! I give Him praise for raising up a team of His people who believe in His faithfulness and anticipate the mighty work He is going to do through all of us in Poland!! Yes, I mean ALL of us! Even YOU! 

PARTNERS: God has laid it on my heart to share this with you today! Your partnership is an incredible value to me and the Polish people, I pray it will be an incredible blessing to you as well. I am praying and believing that I will be at 100% [funded] by the end of next week and will be heading out by October 26th! Please pray and believe with me! Thank you for being a vital part of our ministry. Please, let me know how I can be praying for you during this journey. These next two years are going to be amazing!


Philippians 1:3-6 "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."


I want to rejoice with you!



-Becky

How awesome our God is to provide so incredibly for Becky and show her that He has INDEED called her! If you want to learn more about Becky's journey and how God has worked in her life or would like to partner with her through prayer or financially, you can find her on Facebook on Becky Locke in Poland or by visiting her missionary page by clicking here.

Praise God for His amazing, perfect, and complete provision!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

James 1:27: The Second Half

This past Sunday, Pastor Tony preached a message that was one of the most compelling I've ever heard, challenging us to live beyond ourselves and to reach out to the lost and hurting people all around us with the love of Christ. While the entire message was an excellent call to action, the Lord used one verse yet again to drive me to keep pursuing His Truth:

James 1:27 "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

As we've mentioned on our blog and in talking with many of you, James 1:27 was the verse of Scripture that first compelled us to action in the area of adoption. While I've had this verse sealed in my heart for several years now as my call to act, I've always been just a little puzzled by the second half of the verse--often just stopping at the word "distress" and leaving off the end. How does caring for orphans and widows have anything to do with refusing to let the world corrupt you? Surely these are two separate thoughts that just happen to be together.

Or are they separate? God is teaching me that they're not. Here is what He's shown me this week:

Our culture's view of children: Without getting too deep into political and cultural battles, I will simply say that our culture often views children as a nuisance, a hindrance to getting ahead in life, and a "nice thing to do" if you are a happy couple looking for completion. But don't dare have more than two of them or you're really pushing what's acceptable, especially since the earth is so rapidly becoming "overpopulated." And, of course, if the timing is inconvenient and an "accidental" pregnancy occurs, just take care of the problem. No harm done (a tragic lie from Satan!).

God's view of children: "So God created human beings in his own image...then God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it'" (Gen. 1:27-28). "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands" (Psalm 127:3-4). Clearly there is a stark contrast between what our culture says about children and what God says about children. Culturally, they are often an inconvenience. To God, they are a significant blessing!

Our culture's view of widows: Let's assume this refers to elderly widows. Unfortunately, our culture is  leaning toward viewing the lives of the elderly as holding less value than the lives of those in their twenties and thirties in the "prime" of life. Certainly many still "respect their elders," but there is a disturbing trend in society that points to those in retirement years as having less value than those further behind in life experience. Let's use our time, effort, and money to better the lives of those in their "peak" stages of life.

God's view of widows: "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life." (Proverbs 16:31) "The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old." (Proverbs 20:29) "Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy." (Psalm 68:5) Again, we see a strong contrast between the way our culture is heading versus how God sees those who have served Him for many years. Culture sees a weak person lacking strength (and therefore value); God sees splendor and a crown of glory.

Now back to James 1:27 "...refusing to let the world corrupt you." Do you see the connection in the verse now? James calls us to take care of orphans and widows in their distress while refusing to let the world corrupt us. "The world" (our culture) tries to tell us that both orphans (children in general) and widows (elderly in general) are insignificant. From a naturalistic worldview, orphans and widows are weak, useless, and therefore lacking in value to society. As we pursue "pure and genuine religion" in caring for orphans and widows in their distress, may we never allow the world to corrupt our minds from seeing God's beautiful creation of humans--ALL humans--young, old, fatherless, and widowed, and from doing everything we can to care for each of them as God's treasured children.





Wednesday, September 19, 2012

1/5 of the way!

Just wanted to post a quick update that we've crossed the line of 1/5 of our financial need being met for our little one's adoption! We are praising God as He is continually blessing us with extra financial opportunities to provide for this adoption. God is strengthening our faith as we have experienced a steady stream of freelance requests, mainly from people calling us "out of the blue" who didn't even know we were raising funds for adoption! We have also had several unique opportunities presented to raise some extra funds as well.

As you can see from our adoption goal meter on the right, God has already incredibly provided the first $6,227! We are thrilled and want you to know we appreciate the way each of you are helping us achieve this financial goal. We can't wait to introduce the next little V to the awesome followers of Christ around us.

The words from 2 Corinthians 9:13-15 best reflect our hearts tonight:
As a result of your ministry, [we] will give glory to God. For your generosity to [us] and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And [we] will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Rivers of difficulty

Wow, what a week! Last week was full of (very) late nights, cranky toddlers, and babysitting all weekend long. We had between two and four kids in our care from Friday to Sunday morning, and we were E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D by Sunday afternoon. And, of course, Nathan did not take a nap at home Sunday, so Mom and Dad didn't get a nap either. Needless to say after experiencing some of the less glamorous parts of parenting, we were I especially was quite grouchy by Sunday night, and we all went to bed early (only after I panicked looking at undone to-do list for the week).

Today didn't start much better. We all woke up still tired, and Nathan didn't sleep enough so was extra cranky. Then, to top off the morning, I tried to make coffee and instead spilled grounds everywhere and shattered the coffee pot. By the time Daniel got home for lunch I was about to have a Mommy meltdown. I even let Nathan watch four episodes of The Wiggles...yeah, I was THAT mom today. By noon I was completely despairing, looking at my sink filled with dishes and floor covered in spilled milk and Cheerio crumbs, thinking what in the world am I doing pursuing adoption when I can't even handle the daily needs of my son and a few of his friends for a couple days?

After collapsing on the couch with my Bible the second Nathan went down for his nap, the Lord allowed me to work through my little personal issue with self control in tiredness and entertained my prayers through the despairing Psalms like "Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die." (Psalm 143:7 for other about-to-die moms). God is so loving like that--even when we are in our worst moments, if we recognize our need for Him, He is right there extending His arms of love and care to lift our burdens. 

The Lord brought peace to my soul as I admitted my deep need for Him and my inability to manage things in my own strength. Then He reminded me of something in His word (Isaiah 43:1b-5a) that He spoke into my heart several years ago when I struggled with fear on a daily basis:

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
 When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.
 For I am the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
    I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
 Others were given in exchange for you.
    I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
    You are honored, and I love you.
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will gather you and your children from east and west.
"When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown...I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west." What beautiful words the Lord spoke to me in my lowest moment today, one of utter despair in the midst of the "river of difficulty" of daily life with small children, reminding me that HE has called me, HE is with me, and HE loves me! In my own strength, I may not be able to handle the repeatedly spilled milk, lack-of-sleep meltdowns, and other small frustrations of mothering small children, but in HIS strength, I will not drown, I will not be burned up, I will not be consumed. Through HIS love I can deeply love my children and show them how precious they are to Him.

May we trust Him today as He lovingly leads us all through the waters, rivers, fire, and flames.







Monday, September 10, 2012

A bazillion blessings

I just have to share the bazillion blessings we've experienced this week from family and friends:

1) This group of friends. What we'd do without them, I have no idea. They are a constant source of spiritual encouragement and "iron sharpening iron." They are also tons of fun and FULL OF LOVE for God and others.









2) Encouragement from sisters in Christ. Yesterday I received two different blessings of encouragement: one in the form of TONS of promises from Scripture, helping us remember the truth and awesomeness of our God as we follow His leading into adoption, and the other from a dear lady who expressed the desire of the older generation to financially support us and other young couples in pursuit of adoption. Each was uniquely uplifting and used by God to encourage our hearts.

3) God's CONTINUED provision for our family as we seek His will. This week I was contacted (again) out of the blue by a missionary who I'd worked with while employed at WGM, asking if there was any chance I'd be interested in helping with a newsletter design. She didn't know if I still did that kind of thing. I smiled as God, for the third time in a few weeks, provided another "coincidental" opportunity to help fund our adoption while supporting another brother or sister in Christ. I am amazed at how He is so lovingly showing me His desire to provide for us in His own time and in His own way.

May you pause to count YOUR blessings today and reflect on the deep love of the Father that He so richly lavishes on us!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Thirty-One Fundraiser!

We are launching our first fundraiser thanks to the generous offer of Thirty-One consultant Lani Stearns who will donate 25 percent of ALL SALES raised through our party and website to our adoption! If you are in the Marion, IN, area and would like to come to the in-home sale, I will be hosting on Thursday September 27 at 7 p.m. If you are out of town but would like to participate in the fundraiser (and can't help but buying more of those awesome Thirty-One organizers), you can just visit my party site online here and order online.

This month's guest special is 31 percent off any catalog item (a few exclusions apply) if you spend $31 or more. You can't beat that option!

I hope you can take advantage of this unique opportunity to both enjoy some Thirty-One products for your home while also helping us bring our little one home. We are so grateful to Lani for this opportunity!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Greatest Cost

Daniel and I are currently in the middle of The Truth Project, a small group Bible study from Focus on the Family focused on, well, truth! We have been learning so much about subtle lies Satan is using in our culture, and tonight's study was on history and the true overarching theme of history--"His story." This Scripture passage really struck me tonight:

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. (Galatians 4:4-5)

In just the right moment of history, God sent His son to buy our freedom, freeing us from the bondage of sin and making us His adopted children!

As we're plugging away through our home study, we have been faced each day with the large cost of adoption. The Lord gently reminded us through these words tonight that He knows exactly what it's like to pay a great cost to adopt a child; He loved us so much He paid the greatest cost of all by allowing Jesus, His only Son, to bear the weight of all our sins so He could adopt us as His sons and daughters!

What a beautiful picture of why He in turn calls some of us to pursue adoption. Adoption is not just about rescuing a child in physical or environmental crisis but is rather following God's example of lovingly paying the price to adopt one of His little ones in order to point them toward their ultimate adoption as a child of the Almighty Father.

May we all reflect on the amazing gift we've been given to be adopted as His children!

Monday, September 3, 2012

God's callings are His enablings

We have heard this phrase so many times in the past few years that sometimes we forget to soak in it's meaning, but we are learning through this adoption journey that when God calls, He really DOES enable! We are just in the middle of our home study, and God has already shown up in ways we didn't expect:

1) The week the Lord confirmed that we should pursue domestic minority infant adoption, we prayed, prayed, prayed, and decided for sure that we needed to follow this call. Our first step was to find a home study agency, and one agency was recommended by several friends. We contacted them right away, but  they informed us it would be weeks before they could even start our process, and it would be a slower-than-normal one after that due to a heavy load of clients (I guess that's great though, right?). A little disappointed in having to wait right at the beginning (even though we know adoption is full of "hurry up and wait"), we prepared to wait until they could work with us. However, we received a Facebook message from our IWU saxophone professor Chris Lessly mentioning a different agency she highly recommended, The Miriam Project out of Anderson, IN, whom she had completed two home studies through. We just had to smile at how God perfectly weaves believers' paths together often with His own agenda in mind. We had no idea that our time spent in wind ensemble and private lessons would some day impact our road to adoption, but God was working perfectly in those details. The Miriam Project replied quickly, saying they could begin our home study on Monday and have it completed in 7-8 weeks. While we aren't in a huge hurry, we also didn't want to drag our feet any more than needed. Working with The Miriam Project has been a joy, and we are blessed to be working with them.

2) We have been following the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps for several years now and are debt free other than our mortgage, have our emergency fund in place, and have started saving for retirement. With the call to adopt, however, suddenly we are faced with a financial burden WAY larger than we can find in our budget. This adoption will cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000-30,000, an amount unfathomable to us as we have been enjoying the blessing of living on one income so I can stay home with Nathan. From the time we knew the Lord was calling us to adopt, we also knew He would have to meet our financial need out of His resources, as our resources were simply not going to make up difference. While we have yet to launch any fundraisers or seek any gifts from family or friends, God has provided ALL OF THIS in the past month: three out-of-the blue freelance jobs, a computer building order, a $20 home study physical, unexpected donations from friends, and a car repair that cost half of what we expected. Oh yes, and the most mysterious one--somehow I have $100 left in my grocery budget for the month. While we have a long way to go before we reach the large goal in front of us, God is already showing us His great faithfulness when we simply say "YES!" to His call.  

We thank each of you who are praying with us in this journey! If you would like to participate financially in bringing our next little guy/girl home, there is a donation link on the right of our blog, and we'd be thrilled if the Lord chooses to use you in this manner. We will also be posting other ways you can be involved soon, so stay tuned to see how you can make a difference in the life of a child!